lol nobody here has a physical disability :/

Regarding physical disablity -

I was born with Spina Bifida and hydrocephalus and thus have been
in a wheelchair my whole life. Both of them have had their challenges
I've had countless surgeries during my childhood to help correct
some of my issues.

At the same time I feel like I'm incredibly lucky...I've not had
too many issues with my hydrocephalus. I've only had to undergo
a shunt replacement twice which is pretty good for almost 30
years old.

I think I'll leave it there so this doesn't end up as one huge rambling post
but if anyone wants me to elaborate on anything I'll do my best.

And also I've enjoyed reading this and it's pretty cool to see everyone
offering insight and just generally being supportive.

that is very true bad moments can come extremely fast, i am in an area that there is only 2 ways to get out of the area 2 bridges and sometime last year there was a situation where i wont go into much detail about but i needed to leave someone at a time when i really wanted to stay with them otherwise i would have been cut off from my home and its started raining a lot atm and its just triggering those memories of having to leave that person when i really didnt want to so its weird how something can trigger memories like that, 13 years is a massive length of time though its hard to fight with but well worth it

and i agree it was hard talking infront of 300 people but terrifying to speak to one girl...........girls are terrifying :d

I've got a question, I try and use mind techniques I've read about to get perspective on things and stay positive when I start thinking too much - what do you do? can you share ways you've found help you? Your post reads so positive and you sound like you take everything in your stride, I think I could learn much from someone like you.

I haven't been to a Doctor in at least 3 years, and probably longer since then. I don't have a mental illness or anything close, so this is regarding the medication part. I've been suffering from headaches since the age of 10. The regularity of them seems to be different all the time, but at certain points I was getting awful headaches every single day. Last few weeks I've been fine, but over christmas I had 4-5 a week the whole time I was back. It's not as bad as migraines (I tend to get them every other month now, used to be every other week), with the nausea, and the intolerance to light, but enough that I sometimes feel too ill to go about my day to day life of university or work properly and carry out tasks as well as I want. Some days all I do is lie in bed with no light.

It's more annoying than a completely debilitating problem, but a few years ago it would make me miss school now and again through them, and the pain isn't nice to have all the time. Naturally since the age of 11 I had been going to doctors, and they put me on all kinds of different medication for it, and it mostly just fucked me up. After giving me different things to take when I got headaches (which was stupid if it was something I was getting every day) I tried three different preventative medications for headaches and migraines, and all it did was make me really drowsy and like a zombie. I just couldn't concentrate on anything, didn't bother socialising with my friends. Thing is they didn't even work. I think for each one I just took myself off of them after about a month, maybe 2 months for the first type. Even if it had started to work and I stopped getting ill, I don't think it would have been worth the zombieness.

After the three types of preventer, each of which fucked me up, they decided to try accupuncture. That didn't work either, maybe because I was so sceptical of it. So after a few months of that, they run out of ideas, and decided to send me for an MRI scan to check I didn't have something seriously wrong with my brain. I think I was 16 at the time, so I was scared as fuck.

Anyway, that came back showing nothing wrong, and after saying that, the doctor wanted to put me back on some different preventers, and I had a go at him saying I didn't want to be on more drugs. My mum suggested taking me for an allergy test, and certain things showed up that were potential triggers for illness. I've given up dairy now, and I reduce the amount of sweets I eat (food colourings do it) and the amount I get headaches has reduced dramatically, it's still a problem sometimes, but a much more manageable one, which comes from something simple I would thing Doctors would think of before just pumping you full of medicine.

Basically I still trust medical science, and if I had a really bad problem I'd go back, but they are so quick to put you on medication regardless of the side-effects, that I just don't go to the doctor anymore for anything that bothers me.

i'v had lower back problems for years. doctors seem to just throw drugs at me and send me to physio's osteo's and everything, which helped in the short term but never cured me.
Then i started going to kick boxing working on my abs and stuff, and my back then started to gradually get better. I also always had a sore neck that gave me headaches ,then one day we were doing heaps of grappling in kick boxing, just using all those neck muscles almost cured my neck instantly.

I've struggled with depression and anxiety for the last three or four years, I've been on several different medications in that time. I can't say I've had a lot of problems with SSRI's, but neither have they been terribly helpful. I currently take 20 mg of Paxil/day, and I'm still pretty depressed. I need to talk to my doctor again soon, I'm also on Risperdal and Buspirone, I also recently tried Clonazepam and I'm not sure if that really helped or not; I went off it because I was getting more depressed, but I've been back on Buspirone for a week now and haven't been any less depressed. My doctor is out of the country right now, but when he gets back I'll need to talk to him. It's been a real struggle this semester, and I'm not entirely sure what the cause is, as I was doing a lot better last semester. Hopefully I can get on a combo/dosage that works better for me.

Going back to this, I think just stick to the SSRI's if you can. The MAO's and other older types definitely sound a bit weirder from the things I've read and heard.

@Twin_guitar_attack: What's your vision like? I've suffered from constant headaches myself especially after a car wreck several years ago and I've had chronic neck issues. Last year though my doctor finally suggested I get my vision checked out, turns out I was very slightly near sighted... enough to try out glasses and now that I've been using them for a few weeks now, my headaches have decreased a huge amount. It's definitely funky how they tie in. If you have never had vision care, might be worth getting them checked.

That's another huge battle I've struggled with over the years now, my neck pain. I think I finally hit a wall and have come to the conclusion that chiropractic treatment over the last 4-5 years (off and on), has only made it worse. What pisses me off most is how much money I put into this last year and even had X-Rays done... by a kid younger than me, and they took them when I was sitting down. It was so unprofessional and they didn't really see anything. So, I get X-Rays taken again a few weeks ago at my regular doctor, with far superior equipment... and you'd have to blind to not see the issue. In all of the shots it was clear as day that my neck was completely straight, but my spine wasn't at all. It was pretty much straight up disturbing how curved it's become. So my doctor put me on some anti-inflammatory meds and muscle relaxants for bed, and I gotta say this stuff is really helping a lot so far. It just really bothers me, to wake up with these meds and feel ... "normal", I basically forgot how that felt over the years, even with the adjustments, yoga, memory foam bed stuff, etc. It doesn't help that I do pharmacy tech stuff for 10 hours a day, so I'm on my feet and always looking down. Aggravates the neck I'm sure, but at least I'm finally getting answers and will probably get an MRI done soon, and from there my doctor has a lot of ideas. I definitely don't want to just be on meds for this, so hopefully some injections, physical therapy, etc, can help repair things and it's not too late... I'm basically afraid of pinched nerves or probably some disc problems. But man I'm beating myself up lately wishing I went to my doctor first early last year, and not a chiropractor.

So yeah hear it from me, if you've got neck issues please seek alternatives other than chiropractic care. That stuff is probably fine for your back and stuff, but your spine? Probably not at all. I know my mom got adjusted once and later found out if she had been cracked incorrectly it could have paralyzed her or something, and now she suffers from chronic disc pain as well. I just hope it's not too late for me, I'd love to no longer feel like a rusty robot.

Also started the adderall XR over the weekend... so far I actually think I hate it, lol. Less side effects than the normal stuff, but it's really making me feel extremely dull most of the time and I don't notice it lasting any longer than regular adderall. I might ask my doctor if I can try out the name brand regular sometime or something.

It's been one hell of an utmost battle staying motivated to keep my job over the last year and going on two now. There is so much drama, I get no happiness or accomplishment out of it at all, but yeah it's really times like this I have to slap myself and be thankful for insurance. So I figure I have the money and insurance to get my health back on track, time to do everything now and be aggressive with it while I can.

have you tried psychology? pill's aren't the final answer

Clozanepam isn't used to treat depression as far I know, I take it for anxiety, and so do everyone else I know who uses it.

Appreciate the kinds words. Honestly, it's just been age, experience and interaction with other people. All of those things. Finally getting out on my own was a huge deal. The rough patches
are still there though both mentally and physically and I don't feel like I deal with them any better than anybody else here.

Lol, you do realize clonazepam and other benzos are highly addictive and can kill from withdrawals? Not to mention they are pretty shitty anxiety medications...

It was prescripted by my doctor

Everyone is different and again I've been on xanax myself over the last two years, but yeah I'd recommend if you have to use benzos are want too, only approach them as a short temporary fix with other plans ahead. I don't know how the other benzos are outside of the xanax, but since I've been off and on I can confirm the withdrawals are pretty fucked up. All these other meds, SSRI's, etc, were never as extreme as dropping xanax was for me.

I barely use it nowadays, it's only a temporary measure. Never had any problems with addictions or with withdrawls.

LOL ,i was prescribed them by my doctor too and i'm an alcoholic who get's addicted to anything!

I've worn glasses since I was 7, though it's been over 2 years now since I last went to an Optician. Atm I can't afford a sight test and new glasses, so I want to hold off on it until I'm back in work. But it's been a problem for half my life now, and I've been wearing glasses all that time, so doubt it's that. Woke up with one today, and no idea as to why. I'm not sure if it would be a reason but getting either drunk or high the last 7 nights in a row probably didn't help.

You can thank big pharma for promoting them to countless doctors, but yea, I never had any addiction problems with them either when I was prescribed them, but I don’t really like downers. Medically, I think they are only useful once in a blue moon for panic attacks assuming the prospect of them doesn't worsen the situation. For regular anxiety, they're terrible and any doctor that prescribes them as such should feel bad about themselves....

Medically, I think they are only useful once in a blue moon for panic attacks [/quote]
That's how I use them.

I don't know about where you people live, Clonazepam is the most abused medicine here in my country, and most get it without (real)prescription. That's why it's different getting it from a doctor and just using it because my life is shit and I want to feel numb for the rest of the day.

hi guys, so I went to the doctor and he gave me some lexapro which is a ssri, I have to say so far things are VERY weird but the side effects seem to be fading away slowly.

yeah just keep taking them, they usually take about 6 - 8 weeks before they work properly and all the weird side effects can go away.Remember if there are some bad side effects ya cant live with that wont go away, there's always other pills to try.

i'v just started reading this book that i would recommend to anyone...kind of like having a psychology session without having to go see someone each chapter i read

My girlfriend's got a whole bunch of mental disorders, she's on something 49 pills a week for all of them. The only disability I've got is flat feet.