Chronic illness equates to the use of lots of different types of medication. Try as we might to avoid them, use of prescription medication is often inevitable if we wish to preserve functioning. One of the major downfalls of prescription medication are the side effects; one glance at the sheet attached to any prescription shows innumerable complications. Most of them won't effect you, but some will.
Some of the most troubling side effects of medications are side effects which change your psychological state. Common drugs for chronic pain like prednisone, pain medication, and GABA-receptor medications all come with a slew of mental side effects, including personality change, depression, and confusion. While side effects which manifest physically can be presented efficiently to a doctor, mental changes are less clear-cut and can be missed/ignored by doctors. Physical side effects can be mitigated with complementary treatments, but doctors are often more hesitant to prescribe therapies to help mental changes. Even worse, changes to your mental state touch literally all aspects of your life; there's no way to get out of your head. Of course, the first thing to do when you experience troubling psychological side effects from a medication is to call your doctor, who can make professional assessments and alter your medication if necessary. However, if you're told to just wait them out, here are some tips for not losing your mind.
1. Journal your emotional changes. Journaling has been proven to be an extremely useful coping mechanism when dealing with stress, but the benefit here is two-fold; journals also help show if your side-effects are easing up with time (or getting worse.) Make sure to record any out-of-the ordinary feelings you're experiencing, and try to quantify how strongly you're feeling, and note if there were events which triggered the change.
2. Post-It© everything! Confusion is a huge aspect of psych. side-effects, and if you don't get control, it can ruin your life. Things like forgetting to take medication or forgetting to take dinner out of the oven can pose a serious threat to your health. For me, the GABA-receptor drugs (gabapentin and pregabalin, specifically) make me feel 6-drinks-in hammered, and consequently just as forgetful as an alcoholic. To help mitigate the confusion and forgetfulness, plastering brightly colored sticky-notes on everything helped me keep refreshing my mind. Notes showed when I'd taken my medication, which step I was on in my homework, where I'd put my cane... The bright colors really attract the eye and help highlight the important things you're doing.
3. Make sure others know what's happening. It's easy to hide when you're feeling not-yourself, but it's one of the worst times to withdraw. Letting other people know about your side-effects can have a huge protective effect: your loved ones can help look out for you, help you see changes in your personality you might miss just by self-evaluation, and help you explain your side-effects to a doctor if it becomes necessary. Similarly, letting them know about your side effects as a prophylactic effect on your relationships: everyone knows that any out-of-the-ordinary responses from you are not your fault, and remove your moral blameworthiness. I know that when I'm on prednisone, one major side effect I get is aggression, so letting those around me know beforehand that I'm going to snap helps them forgive me.
4. Cultivate some zen. The environment you put yourself in has a tremendous effect on your mental environment, so be sure to use your surroundings to your advantage. If you're dealing with "positive" psychological effects like aggression or anxiety, being in a calming surrounding with low lights and soft music can help. "Negative" psychological effects like tiredness and confusion can be remedied somewhat by maintaining adequate lighting, surrounding yourself with color, and keeping your space very tide. Music is great to help instantly make a place more zen when you can't be bothered rearranging anything else.
5. Don't blame yourself. Maybe this goes without saying, but the emotions you feel as a result of medication are not your fault, and you're not responsible. The only thing you can control are your physical responses to the mental state. It's easy to feel like a crummy person when you're snapping at your loved ones, forgetful, or depressed, but these things are beyond your control, and they will pass. Take lots of deep breaths, and learn to forgive yourself. You can get through this.
6. Talk to someone, and know when things have become an emergency. A lot of medications have warnings about increased suicide risk, and this is a very real, deadly concern. It's important that you have someone to talk to about any feelings you might be having, but particularly about any suicidal ideation. Your doctor or a therapist are great people to have conversations about your mental health with, so is a responsible loved one or your patient advocate. If you need someone to speak to immediately, call 911. Alternately, here's an international list of suicide-hotlines. If you're feeling like killing yourself, or if any of your psychological side-effects are life-threatening, please get help.
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