I F#&$*# myself up. Advice needed.

[sook]

I am in a full blown health crisis right now.


Over the years doctors have told me I was clinically depressed, i didn't think I was since no one else could tell and i have been happy, sure I've had my ups and downs but who hasn't? They gave me paxil, lexapro, all of which i hated, couldn't stand. They were actually changing who i was and i didn't like that so i just flushed them down the toilet.

I started college this year, and man i thought it was going to be just like highschool, where I didn't have to do jack and still pulled off like straight A's. Everything was going great, i actually tried out this new herbal stuff called St Johns Wort I heard about, supposed to be pure herbal and no side effects yada yada. As the first 2 weeks went by, i got my test results and was thrown against a wall after seeing them. This sent me into desperate mode considering that I had to make close to a 100 on my next test, so I kicked it into overdrive and studied pretty much for the first time in my life. I was studying pretty much the whole day and night because I was beginning to have comprehension and concentration problems as well. I am ADHD and was on meds through middle school but was off. Given my situation I decided to go back on it. It was good for the first 3 days on Ritalin, but then something dead wrong began to happen. I began to slowly and slowly get more fatigued. This progressed untill i was at the point where I was feeling so sick , so tired and apathetic i didn't even realize it. Around this time i got h1n1 also. Coupled together i was a vegetable for about a week, just so fogged up and not being able to think at all, Medical-Shock like symptoms sweating PROFUSELY at night, high fever, Tachychardic (thought it was the ritalin which is a stimulant). I checked my BP one day and freaked the out.

Pulse: 144
BP 140/80

That was it, i literally thought i was on the verge of death so i went to the campus doctor where he told me i might have had a bad reaction to the ritalin and was severely dehydrated probably because i was in shock.I was stupid and didn't really tell it as bad as it was because i didn't want to be hospitalized and miss too much sschooland never mentioned the stupid herbal st johns wort because it was like OTC. I thought he was probably right and I got better over the next 4 days. I decided that since i didn't have the flu anymore (thought thats what triggered everything), i'd start it again.

I took it, and the next morning I and went into, full blown psychosis. Not being able to function AT ALL. Like i couldn't even tell where i was and was seeing blue flashes of light in the corner of my eyes. With college life and all the stress i didn't know what to do, so i did a bit of research knowing this never happened to me before when i took it and found out that St Johns Wort has SERIOUS interactions due to the fact it contains small amounts of MAOI. As soon as I read this I litterally freaked the out, i thought i was just mildly sick, but I have been imposing lethal interactions on my body over the last 2-3 weeks and been ignoring it. That fully explains it, the MAOI in it increased the ritalin activity probably 10 fold. You're supposed to wait 14 days after an MAOI before trying a drug like ritalin but i was on them at the same time. My ability to think and concentrate has comeback half way but I don't know what to do. Stopping my ritalin all of a sudden is going to me over in school because i have to wait 2 weeks now.

I don't even know how i got to the point of nearly killing myself and ing up my life in this manner. Everything was going great before and I don't even know if i caused myself brain damage.
What should i do?

[sabar]

See a doc and stop taking meds if they are causing reactions. My dad took some anti-fungal pills a while back that made him black out and have fainting spells. Then he took them again before doing the smart thing and stopping the meds and asking a doctor wtf was going on.

Internet medicine isn't always that great. His side effect was extremely rare for his medication and couldn't find any help on google.

On a side note, take it easy with school. First year classes mean nothing, its the grades in the last xx hours in upper division that matter. If you bombed a test so much that you need perfection thereafter then just drop the class if possible.

Anyways, the internet is the last place you want medical advice.

[Dre_7]

Go to a doc and tell them everything, and I mean everything, you have taken and all the side effects you've been having.

[Cry Havoc]

Go to a doctor ASAP.

Don't worry about school. You can apply for a medical withdrawal, and it won't affect your overall GPA. You'll have to repeat the semester again, but that's better than the alternative.

[MannyIsGod]

I don't understand why you're typing this all out on Spurstalk instead of telling this to a medical professional.

In any event, learn this lesson now: Medication can help with anxiety/ADHD/Depression but it won't solve it. Dealing with issues of that sort requires a lot more than a pill.

Go see a doctor, don't worry about school that will work itself out.

[AussieFanKurt]

Doctor.. asap

[baseline bum]

1) Go see a doctor. spurstalk.com isn't a place to find medical experts.

2) Lay off the alternative medicine. If it worked, it would just be called medicine.

3) Never censor anything when speaking to your doctor.

4) Everyone thinks they're the coming out of high school. Compe ion at even a below-average university slaughters compe ion at a high school. You will NEVER get As in college without dedication to what you study. It's not enough to be smart like it is in HS.

5) Drop the class that's killing you. Even if it's impacted you will almost surely get a recommendation to allow you to drop it from one of your school's psychiatrists if you talk with them and tell them what has been happening.

[The Franchise]

I don't understand why you're typing this all out on Spurstalk instead of telling this to a medical professional.

In any event, learn this lesson now: Medication can help with anxiety/ADHD/Depression but it won't solve it. Dealing with issues of that sort requires a lot more than a pill.

Go see a doctor, don't worry about school that will work itself out.

Manny is right. Making sure to take care of yourself is always your #1 priority. Everything else is trivial in comparison. Go see a doctor and tell him EVERYTHING.

[BacktoBasics]

You didn't seem to have a problem concentrating while writing this long ass thread.

[I. Hustle]

I'll have what he's having

[ashbeeigh]

I don't understand why you're typing this all out on Spurstalk instead of telling this to a medical professional.

In any event, learn this lesson now: Medication can help with anxiety/ADHD/Depression but it won't solve it. Dealing with issues of that sort requires a lot more than a pill.

Go see a doctor, don't worry about school that will work itself out.

I tend to agree with this. While I sympathize, sometime emphasize and sometimes give out advice to people on SPursTalk....after getting some the responses I have here I would never ever ever talk about my mental health status at SpursTalk..well at least not through a thread like this.

[Thunder Dan]

Not speaking on the medical stuff, but if you want to be successful in college as someone with ADHD, depression and anxiety you would be much much better served studying during the day and getting alot of rest. Fatigue brings out alot of those issues and can cripple you. Like I said, this isn't a cure all for reactions to medication, but it will help you in the long run. There are studies that show how staying up all night studying is actually worse than studying for a couple hours before you go to bed. I'm prone to anxiety, where sometimes I worry so much about out of my control that it cripples me. I don't take any medications, but I almost always get anxious and down when I'm tired. Sleeping is very important

Speaking on college, I had trouble adjusting my first semester as well. I never studied in high school and graduated with a 3.5 GPA. One of my first classes in college was College Algebra in which I scored a 35% on the first test (I still remember that number). I fell into a deep depression soon after because coupled with that my high school girlfriend told me she was pregnant. Since I am so prone to anxiety, I was crippled. I laid in my dorm, in bed for 4 straight days. I just laid there and looked at the wall worrying about how I was going to fail out of college and what I was going to do with a kid at 19 years old. Turns out the girl was lying, and there is more than one test to get through college.

My point is, if you are where you want to be, you will find a way to succeed. I made a ton of friends my first semester and I realized that if I wanted to keep them, and enjoy college I was going to have to find a way to pass those tests. I really enjoyed the college lifestyle so I found a way to succeed in college. You are going to have to ask yourself if you really want to be there, or if you are just going through the motions. This is why the freshman drop out rate is so high. If you really want to be there, you will have no problems because college is harder than high school, but it's not that hard.

My last tip of advice is to go out and meet people and get some friends at college outside of your high school friends. You probably aren't alone. Most freshman a) are shocked to find that college is harder, b) are looking for new friends. Talking with people in a similar situation might be more beneficial than on a message board. Study with people from your classes, or do whatever, you will get by. It's just adjusting to college

[tlongII]

Send me 100 dollars immediately.

[xellos88330]

Go to a doctor ASAP.

Don't worry about school. You can apply for a medical withdrawal, and it won't affect your overall GPA. You'll have to repeat the semester again, but that's better than the alternative.

This.

I am no stranger to medicinal side effects.

Not once but twice I almost died on a basketball court because my doctor forgot to tell me that while on my medication I cannot be doing strenuous exercise. When I play, I play hard, I am only 5'6" and have to.

Definitely go see a doctor and get medically withdrawn. Do not go back to school until you are confident that the medication is working with no ill effects.

[thispego]

LOL Yall are the kings of common sense! You should definitely go see a doctor! spurstalk is so smart!

[thispego]

Not speaking on the medical stuff, but if you want to be successful in college as someone with ADHD, depression and anxiety you would be much much better served studying during the day and getting alot of rest. Fatigue brings out alot of those issues and can cripple you. Like I said, this isn't a cure all for reactions to medication, but it will help you in the long run. There are studies that show how staying up all night studying is actually worse than studying for a couple hours before you go to bed. I'm prone to anxiety, where sometimes I worry so much about out of my control that it cripples me. I don't take any medications, but I almost always get anxious and down when I'm tired. Sleeping is very important

Speaking on college, I had trouble adjusting my first semester as well. I never studied in high school and graduated with a 3.5 GPA. One of my first classes in college was College Algebra in which I scored a 35% on the first test (I still remember that number). I fell into a deep depression soon after because coupled with that my high school girlfriend told me she was pregnant. Since I am so prone to anxiety, I was crippled. I laid in my dorm, in bed for 4 straight days. I just laid there and looked at the wall worrying about how I was going to fail out of college and what I was going to do with a kid at 19 years old. Turns out the girl was lying, and there is more than one test to get through college.

My point is, if you are where you want to be, you will find a way to succeed. I made a ton of friends my first semester and I realized that if I wanted to keep them, and enjoy college I was going to have to find a way to pass those tests. I really enjoyed the college lifestyle so I found a way to succeed in college. You are going to have to ask yourself if you really want to be there, or if you are just going through the motions. This is why the freshman drop out rate is so high. If you really want to be there, you will have no problems because college is harder than high school, but it's not that hard.

My last tip of advice is to go out and meet people and get some friends at college outside of your high school friends. You probably aren't alone. Most freshman a) are shocked to find that college is harder, b) are looking for new friends. Talking with people in a similar situation might be more beneficial than on a message board. Study with people from your classes, or do whatever, you will get by. It's just adjusting to college

[sook]

well the doctor part is pretty much implied, i meant with school, and thunderdan, thanks for the advice i really followed what you were saying

[Thunder Dan]

well the doctor part is pretty much implied, i meant with school, and thunderdan, thanks for the advice i really followed what you were saying

I don't know you personally, so I don't know if you make friends easy or not, but remember that in college EVERYONE is looking to meet new people. That's what college is. Go to the rec center, or talk to people in your class. Then when you do that things like parties will become available and all of that. Once you make college fun then you do whatever it takes to stay there. If you are bored to death at college, homesick, or just missing the high school days you will fail out of college. It's like a self fulfilling prophecy. Just become involved in something, have fun, and see the schoolwork as a way of getting to stay at school. I hated college my first semester, got like a 2.5 and really contemplated if I was doing the right thing. 4 years later, I was devastated my time in school was over and would give anything for a couple more years of my college days. It's great, you and most of your friends will be broke and carefree for the last time in your lives and it won't matter a bit.

Also, no matter what people tell you, college gets much easier as the years go by. You learn what it takes to succeed in college. You learn where you can cut corners, and where you can't. You figure out what classes matter, and which ones don't. You figure out what class you can skip because you feel like playing video games or were up too late one night, and you learn the ones you have to drag yourself to even though you are sick. College sucks the first semester before you learn the ropes, then it gets easy. Plus, if you have a major, all your classes are basically the same towards the end.