Could medication be hindering my meditation?
 

I've been put on medication recently and it seems to cause a light mental fog. Because I haven't meditated in a long time I have a lot of built up frustration that I can't seem to shift as easily as I used to, I'm afraid this might be due to my medication even though its meant to aid focus. Is this possible? Has anyone else had this?

As unfortunate as it is, any kind of medication and meditation do not mix and it is ill-advised.

People taking medications are at a disadvantage and it's almost discriminatory the way it works, but worry not.

There are other things you can do like prayer, charitable service, spiritual studies and the like.

Um, I have to respectfully disagree with The Necromancer about this. Some people HAVE to be on medication and it doesn't mean they can't try or benefit from meditation. A lot of drugs have nasty side effects which can impact on the ability to focus to start with, but most times side effects settle down. I'm taking medication and don't find it a problem to meditate although obviously affects depend on what you are taking. Please bear with it and hopefully the mental fog will shift. Whatever you do, don't stop taking meds without consulting your doctor. Sometimes medications are necessary/important in helping physical ailments, whatever our spiritual leanings may be.

Your meditation is an important tool towards your physical welness while mediatation is good for the emotional/spiritual welbeing but they are not substitutes. Try to meditate for short times like 5 minutes and increase graadually as you go along. Talk to your doctor about your problem.

First off everything which we put in our body is as "medication." There are foods and certain drink which can effect your meditation practice. Yogis refer to it as "yin" food and "yang" food; there is a lot about it on the internet. But everything which we take in should be treated as medicine. There is "good" medicine and "bad" medicine and that is why we need to look at all of our intake as medicine and what is the quality of things which we put in our body. I felt groggy after taking a prescribed medication and I told my doctor who lowered the dosage and now I don't feel groggy after taking that med.

Secondly, I currently take herbal therapies, etc. for what ails me and try to stay away from the prescribed pharmaceuticals. You have to take responsibility for your own health and not leave it up to the mainstream medical profession. No one knows their body the way that you do, and it is important to continually update your information on things which may effect you. The medical profession gives you information and you decide what to do with that information; get a second opinion, try an alternative treatment, etc.

Do some research online and see if there are alternatives to your current medication. Try Ayurveda medicine, aroma therapy, homeopathic medicine, etc. there are lots of different treatments and options available for almost any ailment. Of course there are ailments for which treatment discoveries have not yet been found. Most therapies only treat symptoms and not causes so it is advantageous to do some research and talk to others about alternative treatments. Also probably just lowering the dosage on your current medication may be helpful to your meditation practice, but lower the dosage of your meds is something which you should discuss with your doctor. Although I would use more than my doctor when looking for alternative treatments.

P.S. I worked in the medical field for many decades and am now retired but I do not feel comfortable giving medical advice online and that is why I suggest your doing some research regarding your current medication and any possible alternative treatment modalities to what you are currently using. The vast majority of drugs have side effects and after-effects, just like food and drink has side effects and after effects. The thing is to find out what works for you that has the least side effects or after-effects. Natural botanical remedies usually have the least side effects or after-effects and that is why I take them. There are also techniques like meditating as soon as you awaken from sleep before you have taken your meds or your mind has kicked in, etc.

It posted twice - Thus deleted.:rolleyes:

I know this thread hasn't been posted in in a few days but I just wanted to add my experience.

I need medication for multiple things and sometimes they cause mental fog at the beginning. Eventually it goes away once my body gets used to the medication. I have been able to meditate successfully while on medication.

I think that once the fog passes you should be able to meditate like you used to be able to :smile:

I also like the suggestion on starting with a small amount of time and working your way up, sounds like a great plan :smile:

I recall reading about when Ram Dass first met his guru he gave him a huge dose of LSD, enough that RD would have been well high if he had taken it. It had no effect on his guru.

This illustrates to me what I am coming to understand, that the physical has diminishing effect as the mind becomes more clear.

Thanks for your replies everyone. Me and my doctor cut my dosage in half so I'm seeing how that goes, I found it much easier to meditate today, I even shifted a lot of that frustration. I don't think it has anything to do with cutting the medication however, I believe I figured out where most of it came from and what was hindering me.