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Should I tell the truth?

Posted , 6 users are following.

xseonaid
xseonaid

I'm currently seeing the crisis team as I'm hearing distressing voices and feeling suicidal.  I am due to see the team doctor tomorrow to review my medication as I told them it had been six weeks since I had taken my medication (Aripiprazole and Sertraline).  This is strictly true as it's been six weeks since I last swallowed a tablet but it's been about six years since I took any medication consistently.  I hate swallowing tablets and often have difficulty doing so.  I gag and cough them up again, even small ones.  It usually takes several attempts to take them by which point the tablet has started to disintegrate and tastes disgusting. Because of this I avoid taking any meds that don't feel necessary - I'll take pain killers if I'm in pain but not the meds I'm prescribed for mental health symptoms.  I take them from time to time if the symptoms seem bad.  I know these meds need to be taken on a consistent basis and I always have good intentions to do so.  I just never carry through.  In the past I have told my psychiatrist I have difficulty taking pills and have as a consequence been put on depot injections and liquid lithium but even then I found myself avoiding taking them.  I was always paranoid my lithium blood levels would give away that I wasn't taking it properly.  I can't fully explain my reluctance to take meds but it's there and probably a major reason why I keep having these crises.  Should I tell the psychiatrist this tomorrow?  Can I be forced to take medication?

0 likes, 8 replies

8 Replies

  • lily65668
    lily65668 xseonaid

    Posted

    Yes. Tell the psychiatrist. You can't go on like this. There are other formats for your medication. You just need to be honest if you want to be helped. That means honest with yourself as well as with your psychiatrist. You are ultimately in the driving seat. Do you want to be well?

    Lily

  • pixie22
    pixie22 xseonaid

    Posted

    I agree with lily65668. You need help and how can the doctors help you if you don't tell them how you feel and what has been happening? If you can get your life back on track and start to feel normal again by taking the meds, then you would be in a fit state to explore your problems with tablets. I learned one tip from a Red Cross Nursing course. Could you crush the tablet and mix it with a spoonful of jam? That worked for one lady I looked after. Of course it's no good for some tablets which are marked "swallow whole, do not chew".
  • gingemac1977
    gingemac1977 xseonaid

    Posted

    they can't force you to take your meds but if you become that bad where you're delusional and hearing voices they can section you and keep you there for a minimum of 6 months. yes you need to tell them this otherwise they will be wasting their time trying to help you thinking that you are taking your meds and you are not.  maybe you are scared to take your meds or your inner demons are telling you not to and that you don't need them. i've seen that before, my nephew is psycizophrenic and has been sectioned 4 times now so i see that with him all the time.

     

  • NickOliver
    NickOliver xseonaid

    Posted

    Yes!
    • NickOliver
      NickOliver

      Posted

      You obviously can't be forced to take medicine. What is the point of deceiving the psychiatrists and, of course, ultimately deceiving yourself. If you have difficulty taking your treatment maybe the Home Treatment Team can visit.

      I have never had depot but it sounds to me like you don't like the idea of the drugs changing you.

      But if you are being prescribed Lithium (I was on it for 15+ year) then as you say it must be taken consistently and as you know it must be at a therapeutic level. But unlike testing for whether someone is smoking the main purpose of the blood test is not to test whether you are taking the drug but to test that Lithium is not affecting your kidneys (I was eventually taken off it for this reason).

      But I think that all such drugs are slow release in to the blood and therefore mustn't be chewed ie so that they go straight in to the stomach.

      Yu need to have a good social worker and/or a good care coordinator.

      I think that you need to bite the bullet.

  • titabeth
    titabeth xseonaid

    Posted

    There's a difference between feeling suicidal and actively making plans to end it all.  Hopefully you are feeling suicidal.  You obviously need the team's help and the other people on here have made good suggesions.

    As for the distressing voices there is a website for the Hearing Voices Network.  There are other ways of dealing with the voices.  Maybe you need a specialist to find out why swallowing the tablets is so difficult for you?  Perhaps you have a small throat.  Try and make this absolutely clear to the doctor as the difficulty swalling tablets could be treatable by a different kind of doctor.  Good luck, hope your appointment went well.

    • NickOliver
      NickOliver titabeth

      Posted

      Yes, it is called suicidal ideation.

      patient.info/health/suicidal-thoughts

      "Suicidal thoughts are common, and most people who experience them do not kill themselves. Thoughts about suicide are frightening, and can make you feel very unwell. Many people who have suicidal thoughts experience them when they are not in their usual frame of mind. This can be due to an illness, such as depression, or because of stressful events going on in their lives. Therefore these feelings are often temporary, or treatable. There are lots of ways to obtain help in order to make the suicidal feelings go away, and to prevent a tragedy."

  • Ange1a
    Ange1a xseonaid

    Posted

    Yes - you should definitely tell the truth about what you are taking and when. Also why you aren't taking them. The professionals can't treat you properly if you aren't honest with them and this will directly affect your recovery. 

    Explain to them what you have explained on this forum. Ask them if you can crush up your tablets and take them this way, or disolve them in water or something. (Don't do this without checking first as the reason some tablets have a certain coating is to ensure they are released slowly into the body over time, so don't do anything without asking your psychiatrist, dr or pharmacist first. 

    You could well find that the reason you are having the symptoms you are having are a direct result of not consistently taking your medication? Try asking a medical professional whether this could be the case. 

    Can you think of any specific reason why you may not be taking your tablets? Could you subconsciously be not wanting to take the meds because of how they make you feel, or because you are worried what people may think if they knew you were taking meds? If you are worried about the latter, please do not worry. Better to be on the medication and feeling well than not be and struggling. Plus you'd be surprised how many people have had to take depression medication at some time in their life. 

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