Help! I can't sense things anymore? Medication side effect?

[Sequoia]

Okay, how to approach this without sounding like a complete n00b...

Has anyone ever experienced taking a medication that had the SIDE EFFECT of diminishing energy working and sensing?

In the past, I have had a pretty good "sixth sense". I could sense and manipulate energy, I could sense local spirits, hell I could sense the energy that each and every thing has moving through it. Just good ol' general pagan sensyness. BUT...

About a year and a half ago I started taking a medication, and ever since then, my ability to sense anything has kind of... faded. Dimmed. It's nearly gone. I can only sense very DIRECT energy. I can't see/sense spirits anymore, even a particular one that I KNOW for a fact is there (especially considering that there are other people who verify it's existence and the times when it is there). I don't work with energy as well (reiki, general energy work) if at all. I can't really travel in spiritual way. Hell, I can't even sense my partner in the bed next to me! These are all things that came very easily to me before.

Now here's the part where I beg you not to snark my post. The medication I take is for depression, among other things... but I know that I didn't just imagine up the ability to sense energy, or the local spirits in my area. Plus, these things (like sensing and moving energy) are well and thoroughly confirmed by other people, both personally and in general.

I'm just a bit at the end of my wits with regards to energy. This is really interrupting my spirituality, big time... but there is NO WAY I would stop taking this medication, as it has changed my mundane life for the BETTER, completely. Assume for my sake that there are no alternatives, as I have exhausted them.

So... I know I didn't imagine it before, but I can't sense/see/feel very well now because of a medication... help? :whatgives

(If the admins think this belongs in another forum, please feel free to move... I wasn't sure where to post this, honestly.)

[Jeremy Westenn]

Never had it and not sure of a possible medical implication. :/ I'd try a good smudging of yourself, a nice cleansing, and see if that doesn't perk you up. ^_^

[Sequoia]

Never had it and not sure of a possible medical implication. :/ I'd try a good smudging of yourself, a nice cleansing, and see if that doesn't perk you up. ^_^

Oh believe me dear, I've done that. Sage is my best buddy, spiritual baths are lovely, and I've had both a professional reiki treatment and an informal energy treatment (that went for over an hour... it was lovely).

No luck with any of it. :wah:

[mtpathy]

what do you mean by "sensing" Sequoia?
sounds to me like you have a spacific idea
in mind of something youve found yourself
lacking since youve started taking the medication.

[Sequoia]

what do you mean by "sensing" Sequoia?
sounds to me like you have a spacific idea
in mind of something youve found yourself
lacking since youve started taking the medication.

By "sensing" I mean the ability to feel, notice, or otherwise become aware of energy, spirits, things that I normally was able to notice.

It's like waking up and not being able to see a certain colour.

Believe me, I'm the queen of ambiguity - I'm not just going by "expectations" here.

[mtpathy]

By "sensing" I mean the ability to feel, notice, or otherwise become aware of energy, spirits, things that I normally was able to notice.

It's like waking up and not being able to see a certain colour.

Believe me, I'm the queen of ambiguity - I'm not just going by "expectations" here.

no i wasnt trying to insinuate anything just mearly trying to get a better idea of what you ment by the statment.
in this instance i would say that your not sensing anything probably because your trying to force it to happen as opposed to before when it just happened naturaly.
abilities come and go, as life changes you yourself change so approach this in the same mindset.

[Sequoia]

no i wasnt trying to insinuate anything just mearly trying to get a better idea of what you ment by the statment.
in this instance i would say that your not sensing anything probably because your trying to force it to happen as opposed to before when it just happened naturaly.
abilities come and go, as life changes you yourself change so approach this in the same mindset.

No... I'm not "trying" to sense things. It's like going blind suddenly; one month I could, the next month I could not. There was no change other than my starting a medication.

I'm not trying to "force" it. I can't even begin it let alone force it. This is something that was a passive natural ability, like the ability to see or the ability to hear. Now I do not see, I do not hear.

[Shawn Blackwolf]

Boy...twice in a night , we agree...:lol:

Something in the air...full moon ?

Right with you Sequoia...however...I can not give you
the best news on this one...I am 53...when I was 18 , I
was put on two tranquilizers , for a couple of years...

Screwed me up royal , for about five years , sensing
energy , as I had since I was a young child...

Then...15 years ago...psyche crash...anti - depressant
prescribed...made me want to kill...:lol:...happy killer...:smile:

But more...I lost all senses , as far as energy...

I stopped taking it...3 months later...everything back...

So...I hear your situation...sorry...that is my experience...

I moved through my depression...and came out the other
side of a dark night of the soul / shamanic death...here I am...:abanana:

Wish I could give you better news...

[Nox_Mortus]

well, if it's a psychoactive medication of some type then I imagine it could have sort of effect, but not knowing what you are taking I can't really comment further.

ahh if you are taking SSRI or SNRI anti-depressants, that could very well be causing it, those things can really screw you up.

[Philosophia]

This is a difficult question because I somewhat understand what you're going through. Like many know, I take anti-depressant medication. But I have noticed it can start diminishing energy work.

What I've tried to do is try to simply connect myself from within by meditation, visualization, etc. and use the process of writing down the fluctuations of energy and how different simple scenarios can be. A piece of advice I've been given is to go outside and simply try and draw the energy from the earth (kinda the opposite of grounding, which I believe medications do a lot of). I don't do this because it takes a long time for me to get outside so I can't give a personal recommendation for this. Maybe you could even try some simple energy exercises, i.e. creating energy balls, etc.?

:hugz:

[cheddarsox]

Yes, I've had meds affect me that way.

It doesn't have to be a drug that is prescribed for psychoactive reasons...think of it this way, an anti depressant might mess with your sex drive, appetite, etc...side effects...so might an anti coagulant, antacid, or blood pressure med have a side effect that affects the brain/mind.

It doesn't matter what a drug is prescribed for...it is doing other things to other systems as well.

The only way to know for sure how a med will effect you is to take it and see. Likewise, only you can decide if the side effects are something you can live with. We have to weigh the pros and cons of any med, food, etc.

Sometimes I don't put on linament before I go to work because I worry the smell will bother coworkers, and I have gone off meds for my chronic disease because I find life with the side effects not worth living...I'd rather deal with the disease itself.

Sometimes we have to take other folks into account...like my co workers..like whether or not the effects will affect our ability to work, whether not taking the meds endangers our lives and we are responsible for kids or paying the mortgage or whatever.

It is all very complex (like any magic).

But...I don't think what you are experiencing is unusual or "in your mind". I hope that you can work out a happy balance. And a heads up...some meds , if taken for a long time, do permanent damage to a system. If you take this long enough, even when you go off of it, there is no guarantee everything will go back to normal. That is something you might want to keep in mind.

cheddar

[NefertSatSekhmet]

I agree that anti depressant medication does seem to diminish the ability to sense things. I suffer from chronic depression and end up on meds every couple of years, but once I stabilize, I go off them again because I hate the way I feel on meds. I would give anything to just feel "normal" instead of either depressed without meds or numb with meds.