What I Wish I Knew About Starting Medications

Dearest Reader,

I pray this letter finds you well. And, though you don’t know my name, I hope we may get to know each other a bit more throughout this note, and that I may offer some reassurance to you as you navigate all that life throws at you.

Think of a time when you just couldn’t get yourself together. Whether you couldn’t keep your room clean and The Laundry Pile(s) just got higher and higher, or you couldn’t keep clean because taking a shower or brushing your teeth felt far beyond what you could achieve. Maybe you had, or like me you actively have, a list of past-due assignments that seem to scream at you as each day passes.

Logistically, you know these tasks are simple. The assignments are just a completion grade, the laundry machine is open, and your shower would be so warm and refreshing once you made your way in. Yet, for some reason, you are immobile. You cannot figure out how to make any of these things happen, and the to-do list just keeps getting longer, and longer, and longer, and longer... And you can’t tell if you’re a failure or not.

But suddenly, there may be a solution. You finally set a meeting with a psychiatrist, and you begin your medication journey.

I’ve been on psychiatric medication (for the first time in life) for about a year now. And there’s a lot of adjustment to discuss.

Dearest reader, I’d like to offer you some things I wish I knew before starting this process:

It is a journey, and it can take a long time.

It took a while just to get an appointment with the psychiatrist at school. And, if you’re like me and similarly go through the school’s health services, there’s a good chance they will be wary to prescribe you certain medications. In my experience, I needed support for ADHD and struggled to get helpful meds initially because common ADHD medications are also used as “study drugs” and abused by students in need of a passing grade (which is a whole other topic to address at a later time).

Another way that medication can “take a long time” that, in my experience, is rarely discussed, is that certain meds take a while to build up in your system. Though you may see some quick results, it can take months for certain medications to fully settle into your system. The biggest downside for me in this is that this slow process happened concurrent to a desperate attempt to succeed in school. I wanted it to be faster, and more obvious. I hope that learning of this extended timeline might better prepare you for the experience.

The first attempt will not be perfect.

It’s hard to know the perfect medication combination for you. Even though psychiatrists have studied them for a while, even they won’t know the Exact Right Combo to offer you. It is a learning process between the two of you. In my experience, it took months on one medication to learn that it was NOT the one for me. It had negative side effects (see below) and didn’t properly do what I needed. At first, we (my psychiatrist and I) thought it was great! I had some positive effects, but it took months on that medication to learn that it was not right for me. The lived experience of those first 6 months taught me that I needed the short-term version of that medication (rather than the long-term-build-style I mentioned in my earlier point) due to their side effect of being an appetite suppressant. Which brings me to my next point:

Side effects are REAL, and important to look out for.

The side effects you can experience are important to keep in mind, especially as you learn how this medication looks on you. As you acclimate to daily life with the support of your new medication, there are additional effects that you ought to look out for. Is your medication an appetite suppressant? Does it make you drowsy? Dizzy? Will it keep you awake if you take it too late in the day? Do you need to take it with food? Do you need to wait a certain amount of time after taking it before you can eat? Side effects and lifestyle changes are important to consider as you see how these meds fit into your day-to-day life. Since I already have a hard time regulating hunger, the appetite suppressant side effect was detrimental to my health. I lost a significant amount of weight and am still working to regain it and reset my nutritional habits. The short-term style of my current meds allows for me to have “off days” and prioritize consuming the food my body needs to continue successfully! Had I not heard of the appetite suppressant side effect, I may not have noticed. AND, had my psychiatrist not done his job by checking in on me about this, neither of us would’ve known how bad it actually was.

This CANNOT be your only source of support.

Seek connection with friends. Seek accommodations, if you qualify (even if you think you don’t need them, you’d be surprised that something can be soooo helpful, but you’d never known it was an option!). Seek talk therapy alongside your psychiatric therapy.

Medication can certainly be wonderful as you tackle certain mental health difficulties, but it needs help in tackling them. Though I’ve been with a psychiatrist since October 2023, I also have specific friends who know to do check-ins if they see certain signs. I meet with a nutritionist who is committed to helping me enjoy food again, find joy in the things I choose to consume, and feel confident in myself while assessing my options. I have another specific friend who will join me for sushi, usually once a month, just so we have some silly joy during the difficulties of the semester. I keep a few journals – one for daily thoughts, and another for more serious-mental-health-related entries. It’s really good sometimes to process my thoughts by just writing them down and get them out. My mom and I are besties, and we call each other nearly daily to check in; we share drama, dinner orders, and the most random stories. I am working on getting a talk therapist, as well, because I can sense the need to round-out my mental health support team. Find a breadth of resources so that you’re well-equipped to be the best version of yourself (as cliché as it sounds!!!)

Even though I just listed a bunch of DIFFICULT things, your well-being deserves the effort. Future you will be so thankful.

I’ve considered many times along the way that it may be easier to just give up. I did not feel confident that I’d ever find the right combination of meds. I still feel that way sometimes. But each time I do something I was previously unable to do after now being chemically balanced, I am so proud of myself for trying long enough to make it this far. And, being a firm advocate for yourself by committing to finding what you need is such a powerful move. I feel better off after being able to focus enough to read my course materials, yes, but I also feel better off every time I find the strength to stand up for myself and my needs. I am so thankful that I finally scheduled that appointment a little over a year ago. I also feel hopeful for my future self, knowing that I’m working so hard on their success now. I believe in myself thanks to my loved ones, my multi-faceted medical team, and my daily psychiatric medication. As I leave you today, I hope you know that I believe in you, too, and hope that you similarly believe in yourself.

With love,
[Studio Wesley / Wesley’s Revival Team Member]