Antipsychotic survivors? Interested in your stories

[Thorin]

On 6/29/2023 at 6:27 AM, FeralCatman said:

I previously posted about being about 80% recovered. As of today I am calling it recovered from Seroquel. I posted about it on my thread and here is a link to that thread which provides the details of what is going on.

 

 

Mate that’s marvellous news. Congratulations FCM!!!!

[FeralCatman]

On 6/28/2023 at 4:27 PM, FeralCatman said:

I previously posted about being about 80% recovered. As of today I am calling it recovered from Seroquel. I posted about it on my thread and here is a link to that thread which provides the details of what is going on.

 

 

 

MY SEROQUEL SUCCESS STORY

 

Now that I have called it 'Recovered From Seroquel' it's time to write my success story from this part of my de-prescribing jouney.

 

I was put on Seroquel in October of 2006. I jumped off of it on August 1, 2021 so that's just shy of 15 years. My maximum dose was 800mg. When I started tapering I was on 700mg. Shortly after being put on it I reached my peak weight of 269 pounds. The following year I started down the journey of recovering my health and quit smoking, quit drinking, started eating better, and started exercising. I still don't drink or smoke and am in far better shape.

 

The following are some of the side effects I experienced while on this drug. I am doing this from memory so the list will not be complete. My thread has symptoms I experienced listed in various places that probably include the ones that don't make the list. This however is enough to let you know how very sick this stuff made me.

 

1. Weight increased to 269 pounds. This was blamed on me.
2. Medication dependent diabetic taking metformin twice a day. This was blamed on me.
3. High cholesterol requiring medication. This was blamed on me.
4. High blood pressure requiring at times 2 medications. This was blamed on me.
5. Worsening thyroid function requiring increased medication. This was blamed on my body.
6. Chronic GERD requiring medication. This was blamed on me.
7. Massive increase in joint and back pain / Ankylosing spondylitis pain requiring daily high dose NSAIDS. This was blamed on my body.
8. Bone spurs which according to recent studies were actually caused by this medication. This was blamed on my body.
9. Later in treatment I developed what felt like all day anxiety attacks for which additional medication did not help. This was blamed on me.
10. Later in treatment, around 2014, after getting much healthier with habits and diet and exercise, I developed a bundle branch block in my heart. This was blamed on me.
11. Later in treatment the sedating effects reversed and my circadian rhythm shifted. Once that happened I would take the Seroquel at night when I got tired and it would wake me up. I would then be up until 2 am and not get up until noon. This was diagnosed as delayed phase sleep disorder and was told it was permanent. This was blamed on years of shift work. ie: It was blamed on me.
12. First 2 hours after getting up at noon I was non functional.
13. Later in treatment I developed tremors in my hands in the morning that got so bad it took 2 hands and concentration to hold a coffee cup. It got to the point that the tremors were so bad I was tossing dishes and broke most of my old set of dishes. I was diagnosed with a form of epiliepsy.
14. I discovered that in order to lose weight and maintain that weight loss I could only eat 1600 calories a day regardless of what I ate. I was able to get down to 185 pounds by lots and lots of exercise but could not maintain it. Eating 1600 calories and living normally without crazy exercise I was able to maintain 195-205 lbs. No one believed me and I was encouraged to eat more.
15. Chronic systemic inflammation as evidenced by my SED Rate blood test. This number returned to normal as I reduced the medication.

 

There are many more I can't remember at the moment but you get the idea. Every one of these symptoms improved or outright disappeared when I was tapering and after I jumped off the medication.

 

1. I am now down to a steady 165 pounds on a normal dietary intake with minimal exercise at the moment.
2. I still have Ankylosing Spondylitis pain but it is to the point where I don't need NSAIDS every day.
3. Diabetes is gone
4. Blood pressure is normal
5. Cholesterol is only slightly high, probably due to meds I am still on, and requires no medication
6. Heart block is gone
7. Thyroid function is much better and I am on less than half the medication. This may improve as I reduce the Carbamazepine.
8. GERD is gone
9. Pain from bone spurs is gone
10. Circadian rhythm is normal
11. Tremors are gone. I don't have epilepsy.
12. Inflammatory markers are normal now.
13. No more all day panic / anxiety attacks
14. Paranoia is better not worse as I was told it would be.

 

As I said today's write up is from memory and there is more but this is enough to get the idea accross. This stuff was making me horribly sick and I am glad it's gone despite the withdrawal madness that I have gone through.

 

Here are the important dates and timeline.

1. Time on the drug. 14 years 10 months
2. Maximum dose 800 mg
3. Started tapering April 1, 2018
4. Finished tapering August 1, 2021
5. Total time to taper 3 years and 4 months ( 40 months)
6. Jumped off at 6.25 mg
7. Recovery time 1 year 10 months and 28 days (22 months 28 days)
8. Total time for tapering and recovery 5 years 2 months 28 days (62 months 28 days)

 

As you can see throughout my thread the tapering and withdrawal process from this medication was a nightmare for me. Pardon the language but it's F****** awful and downright terrifying. I was in the Submarine Service and worked a dangerous job as a civilian and this is by far the hardest and scariest and most dangerous thing I have ever done. Most of the symptoms are gone or are very minimal now. Please not that I am actually about 90% recovered but issues with my other medications require I immediately start tapering. That said I expect that within the next year, probably within just a few months, I would have been 100% recovered. I say this because in addition to all of the crazy withdrawal stuff that has happened I have noticed a few things over the last few weeks that make lead me to this conclusion.

 

1. The Nocturia I developed after jumping off is going away and I am having more and more nights of extended sleep.
2. Food sensitivities are gone and I seem to be able to eat most things again. Waiting on another allergy test to see where I am at with my Corn, Wheat, Soy sensitivities that started after I jumped off and am still largely sticking to a restrictive low histamine diet.
3. Digestion seems to be largely healed.
4. My tolerance for people seems to have mostly recovered and I am no longer stressed when I go out and about.
5. Even my trip to the ER was more like it used to be. I was joking with the nurses and doctor and was not overly stressed about it at all. Just a few months ago the ER would throw me into a panic.
6. With each upset I am recovering very quickly now. Usually within a day or 2.

 

It is the recovered tolerances for stress and people that make me realize I am very close to being done with this Seroquel Saga.

 

Due to the low sodium issue I can't afford to wait this out and cover this last bit of distance to fully healed but I don't think it would have been much longer.

 

So, as you can see from the lists above, this medication made a royal mess out of me and yet I still was able to heal and recover from it. Many things I were told were permanent and / or my own fault or due to other reasons were not. Most of it was due to the medication.

 

All I can say to others on this medication or others like it is that if I can recover from a mess like this then you most likely can as well. Just hang in there and endure and you will get there.

 

Now, it's on to the Carbamazepine Tapering. Fortunately this drug is not the same monster that I just came off of and I am hoping that it will not be as bad. Wish me luck and to those who gave me support through this journey I extend my whole hearted thanks and appreciation.

 

The Feral Catman 😉✌️😺😺

 

 

[2cats2272]

@FeralCatman I am so so happy for you! This is such great news. 

[StayHopeful]

@FeralCatman

 

Awesome and inspirational! Though you have gone through so much, you're on the other side. Your diligent note keeping, charts and explanations have helped not only myself but so many people, to understand and cope with the many changes our bodies and minds go through while tapering, then quitting, an antipsychotic medication.

 

Congratulations and thank you very much!!

 

 

[FeralCatman]

19 hours ago, 2cats2272 said:

@FeralCatman I am so so happy for you! This is such great news. 

Thank you. Writing that summary made me realize how far I've come and that even though I'm still not 100% recovered I'm doing pretty damn good. Certainly good enough to start tapering again even though it's sooner than I had wanted.

[FeralCatman]

15 hours ago, StayHopeful said:

@FeralCatman

 

Awesome and inspirational! Though you have gone through so much, you're on the other side. Your diligent note keeping, charts and explanations have helped not only myself but so many people, to understand and cope with the many changes our bodies and minds go through while tapering, then quitting, an antipsychotic medication.

 

Congratulations and thank you very much!!

 

 

I'm glad you and others have found it helpful. My highly obsessive anal retentive nature has paid off in this case so I'm glad to share it and perhaps it saves other people from having to obsess. The only thing I want people to remember who read my posts is that I am an amateur learning as I go. I am not a doctor or a trained medical professional and have no plans to be one either . So what I post may or may not be applicable or even safe for other people. It's just a summary of what I've learned about myself and what seems to have worked for me. I also have a good team of providers that I work with that I go over everything with to make sure I'm not going to hurt myself. So as with anything you will have to experiment a little bit and some things that worked for me may not work for you. Be very careful and go slow.

[Tulip52]

Excellent job and thank you so much for sharing.  My drug, imipramine has also caused me to gain a lot of weight and I am now a type two diabetic, I am insulin resistant and I battle chronic fatigue.  I cannot wait to be free of this drug.

[jeffelmexicano]

35 minutes ago, Tulip52 said:

Excellent job and thank you so much for sharing.  My drug, imipramine has also caused me to gain a lot of weight and I am now a type two diabetic, I am insulin resistant and I battle chronic fatigue.  I cannot wait to be free of this drug.

@Tulip52now with diabetes too . You think can reveerse when we off drug ? 

[Tulip52]

20 minutes ago, jeffelmexicano said:

@Tulip52now with diabetes too . You think can reveerse when we off drug ? 

My doctor says if I can lose weight it would help tremendously with both the diabetes and insulin resistance.  Once off this med I really think I’ll be able to lose the weight.

 

 

[FeralCatman]

22 minutes ago, jeffelmexicano said:

@Tulip52now with diabetes too . You think can reveerse when we off drug ? 

After I was off the Seroquel for about 7 months my type 2 diabetes corrected itself and I am now no longer diabetic even though I used to be medication dependent diabetic.

[Tulip52]

5 minutes ago, FeralCatman said:

After I was off the Seroquel for about 7 months my type 2 diabetes corrected itself and I am now no longer diabetic even though I used to be medication dependent diabetic.

❤️ Wonderful! This is encouraging! 

[StayHopeful]

I gained 30lbs on Seroquel, surprisingly quick and no matter what I did, I couldn't lose it. Though, I wasn't at risk for type II diabetes at that time, it began affecting me in other ways - muscle and joint pain, fatigue and mentally (it caused a brief relapse to the ED I'd conquered over a decade before). 

 

About two months into my taper, I started losing the weight.

I started my taper in Dec. '21. In the beginning of Feb. '22, I noticed that my face was getting thinner, and my clothes were getting looser. By the end of March '22, I'd lost all the weight. 

 

Also, when I began losing the weight in Feb, I became hypomanic. I'd never experienced hypomania before or since and after researching, I understood why. It was triggered due to the flood of hormones and chemicals that were no longer suppressed by the Seroquel. The hypomania resolved once those leveled out, which took about 2 weeks for me.

 

I don't know if anyone's already cited this study in a thread, so I added it here. If so, I apologize for the duplication. It really goes into a lot about why people gain weight on it, illness caused or exacerbated by the weight gain and what they think could manage it. 

 

Antipsychotic-associated weight gain: management strategies and impact on treatment adherence - PMC (nih.gov)   

 

😊

 

 

Edit: Due to the way antipsychotics cause the body to gain weight in the first place, I don't think there is a way to manage the weight gain, without polypharmacy - if at all.

[Lurkino90909]

Anyone healed from anhedonia caused by antipsychotics?

[Thorin]

I’ve held at my current low dose for 11 months and mostly healed in that time (as much as you can while still on the med). I felt good enough that I was able to restart my taper of my other med.

[littlebird]

21 hours ago, Lurkino90909 said:

Anyone healed from anhedonia caused by antipsychotics?

I'd say I'm currently healing, still have a mess of other meds to figure out, but tapering the AP has brought a wider range of emotion. 

[FeralCatman]

On 6/30/2023 at 8:00 AM, FeralCatman said:

 

MY SEROQUEL SUCCESS STORY

 

Now that I have called it 'Recovered From Seroquel' it's time to write my success story from this part of my de-prescribing jouney.

 

I was put on Seroquel in October of 2006. I jumped off of it on August 1, 2021 so that's just shy of 15 years. My maximum dose was 800mg. When I started tapering I was on 700mg. Shortly after being put on it I reached my peak weight of 269 pounds. The following year I started down the journey of recovering my health and quit smoking, quit drinking, started eating better, and started exercising. I still don't drink or smoke and am in far better shape.

 

The following are some of the side effects I experienced while on this drug. I am doing this from memory so the list will not be complete. My thread has symptoms I experienced listed in various places that probably include the ones that don't make the list. This however is enough to let you know how very sick this stuff made me.

 

1. Weight increased to 269 pounds. This was blamed on me.
2. Medication dependent diabetic taking metformin twice a day. This was blamed on me.
3. High cholesterol requiring medication. This was blamed on me.
4. High blood pressure requiring at times 2 medications. This was blamed on me.
5. Worsening thyroid function requiring increased medication. This was blamed on my body.
6. Chronic GERD requiring medication. This was blamed on me.
7. Massive increase in joint and back pain / Ankylosing spondylitis pain requiring daily high dose NSAIDS. This was blamed on my body.
8. Bone spurs which according to recent studies were actually caused by this medication. This was blamed on my body.
9. Later in treatment I developed what felt like all day anxiety attacks for which additional medication did not help. This was blamed on me.
10. Later in treatment, around 2014, after getting much healthier with habits and diet and exercise, I developed a bundle branch block in my heart. This was blamed on me.
11. Later in treatment the sedating effects reversed and my circadian rhythm shifted. Once that happened I would take the Seroquel at night when I got tired and it would wake me up. I would then be up until 2 am and not get up until noon. This was diagnosed as delayed phase sleep disorder and was told it was permanent. This was blamed on years of shift work. ie: It was blamed on me.
12. First 2 hours after getting up at noon I was non functional.
13. Later in treatment I developed tremors in my hands in the morning that got so bad it took 2 hands and concentration to hold a coffee cup. It got to the point that the tremors were so bad I was tossing dishes and broke most of my old set of dishes. I was diagnosed with a form of epiliepsy.
14. I discovered that in order to lose weight and maintain that weight loss I could only eat 1600 calories a day regardless of what I ate. I was able to get down to 185 pounds by lots and lots of exercise but could not maintain it. Eating 1600 calories and living normally without crazy exercise I was able to maintain 195-205 lbs. No one believed me and I was encouraged to eat more.
15. Chronic systemic inflammation as evidenced by my SED Rate blood test. This number returned to normal as I reduced the medication.

 

There are many more I can't remember at the moment but you get the idea. Every one of these symptoms improved or outright disappeared when I was tapering and after I jumped off the medication.

 

1. I am now down to a steady 165 pounds on a normal dietary intake with minimal exercise at the moment.
2. I still have Ankylosing Spondylitis pain but it is to the point where I don't need NSAIDS every day.
3. Diabetes is gone
4. Blood pressure is normal
5. Cholesterol is only slightly high, probably due to meds I am still on, and requires no medication
6. Heart block is gone
7. Thyroid function is much better and I am on less than half the medication. This may improve as I reduce the Carbamazepine.
8. GERD is gone
9. Pain from bone spurs is gone
10. Circadian rhythm is normal
11. Tremors are gone. I don't have epilepsy.
12. Inflammatory markers are normal now.
13. No more all day panic / anxiety attacks
14. Paranoia is better not worse as I was told it would be.

 

As I said today's write up is from memory and there is more but this is enough to get the idea accross. This stuff was making me horribly sick and I am glad it's gone despite the withdrawal madness that I have gone through.

 

Here are the important dates and timeline.

1. Time on the drug. 14 years 10 months
2. Maximum dose 800 mg
3. Started tapering April 1, 2018
4. Finished tapering August 1, 2021
5. Total time to taper 3 years and 4 months ( 40 months)
6. Jumped off at 6.25 mg
7. Recovery time 1 year 10 months and 28 days (22 months 28 days)
8. Total time for tapering and recovery 5 years 2 months 28 days (62 months 28 days)

 

As you can see throughout my thread the tapering and withdrawal process from this medication was a nightmare for me. Pardon the language but it's F****** awful and downright terrifying. I was in the Submarine Service and worked a dangerous job as a civilian and this is by far the hardest and scariest and most dangerous thing I have ever done. Most of the symptoms are gone or are very minimal now. Please not that I am actually about 90% recovered but issues with my other medications require I immediately start tapering. That said I expect that within the next year, probably within just a few months, I would have been 100% recovered. I say this because in addition to all of the crazy withdrawal stuff that has happened I have noticed a few things over the last few weeks that make lead me to this conclusion.

 

1. The Nocturia I developed after jumping off is going away and I am having more and more nights of extended sleep.
2. Food sensitivities are gone and I seem to be able to eat most things again. Waiting on another allergy test to see where I am at with my Corn, Wheat, Soy sensitivities that started after I jumped off and am still largely sticking to a restrictive low histamine diet.
3. Digestion seems to be largely healed.
4. My tolerance for people seems to have mostly recovered and I am no longer stressed when I go out and about.
5. Even my trip to the ER was more like it used to be. I was joking with the nurses and doctor and was not overly stressed about it at all. Just a few months ago the ER would throw me into a panic.
6. With each upset I am recovering very quickly now. Usually within a day or 2.

 

It is the recovered tolerances for stress and people that make me realize I am very close to being done with this Seroquel Saga.

 

Due to the low sodium issue I can't afford to wait this out and cover this last bit of distance to fully healed but I don't think it would have been much longer.

 

So, as you can see from the lists above, this medication made a royal mess out of me and yet I still was able to heal and recover from it. Many things I were told were permanent and / or my own fault or due to other reasons were not. Most of it was due to the medication.

 

All I can say to others on this medication or others like it is that if I can recover from a mess like this then you most likely can as well. Just hang in there and endure and you will get there.

 

Now, it's on to the Carbamazepine Tapering. Fortunately this drug is not the same monster that I just came off of and I am hoping that it will not be as bad. Wish me luck and to those who gave me support through this journey I extend my whole hearted thanks and appreciation.

 

The Feral Catman 😉✌️😺😺

 

 

Those who follow my thread know that shortly after this I fell into a nasty wave of again which is now subsiding. The wave was triggered by overdoing things physically doing a construction project on my property. Despite the massive amount of recovery that is already occurred my body is still not tolerant of heavy duty labor and it may be a while before I am. I estimated 90% recovered but in reality it's almost impossible to really judge but I am certainly well beyond 75%. The wave flared up my gut symptoms and that seems to be where the bulk of my problem still lies. My microbiome is largely healed up however I have recently discovered my stomach acid as low most likely due to the chronic stress which is affecting the rest of my digestive process so I've started a acid boosting supplement which I'm tolerating fine and another week or so I'll be adding in some digestive enzymes and hopefully this will help take the stress out of my guts and allow me to move forward. Don't let this disappoint or frighten you it's just part of the process of getting past all this stuff and I have 30 years of damage in my body that is undoing itself so setbacks are unfortunately part of the process. It took a little while but I'm definitely recovering from that setback and should be back to Baseline soon and once I get some of this digestive stuff figured out I will then continue on to tapering the tegretol as planned. I will certainly disappointed by this but after talking to several coaches it wasn't surprising at all to any of them so this kind of stuff can be expected to happen and it passes as it is for me right now. Keep hanging in there and you will get there. 😉✌️😺😺

[StayHopeful]

On 8/30/2023 at 2:55 AM, Lurkino90909 said:

Anyone healed from anhedonia caused by antipsychotics?

 

I'm also still healing from the antipsychotic I was on, but the anhedonia has improved markedly. So far, I haven't felt a wave of it since mid-June of this year, though it was bad during my acute withdrawal phase. 

 

 

[rainbow]

On 4/7/2016 at 8:53 PM, Shep said:

I'm off all meds after taking cocktails of antipsychotics, antidepressants, benzos, z-drugs, etc. for 30 years. You name it, I took it. 

 

But I'm free now, off all drugs for almost 11 months, and slowly healing. 

Hello I am on Risperidone dose of 3mg by night since June1998 and 1.5 mgrs in the morning since January 2023. I`ve been taking 3mg risperidone since June 1998 and 1.5mgrs since January 2023 and want to taper off this drug, also taper off from clonazepam and a sleep inductor, Is there anybody who could help me, please? Many thanks in advance.

[rainbow]

On 1/21/2023 at 12:55 AM, Cauliflower said:

I'm so scared of removing my medication, but this gives me a bit of strength. Thank you guys.

 

Anyone with schizophrenia able to get off medication?

Hello Calliflower. I am taking 1.5mg risperidone in the morning and 3mgrs risperidone in the night toghether with 2mg clonazepam plus 2 mg flunitrazepam (sleep inductor). And don t know which drug I shouls start tapering off first.

[Thorin]

26 minutes ago, rainbow said:

Hello Calliflower. I am taking 1.5mg risperidone in the morning and 3mgrs risperidone in the night toghether with 2mg clonazepam plus 2 mg flunitrazepam (sleep inductor). And don t know which drug I shouls start tapering off first.

Tag an admin such as altostrata or many more todays. You can do it by typing @ in front of their name. Also start a new topic rather than adding onto another topic.

[hayduke]

7 hours ago, rainbow said:

Hello Calliflower. I am taking 1.5mg risperidone in the morning and 3mgrs risperidone in the night toghether with 2mg clonazepam plus 2 mg flunitrazepam (sleep inductor). And don t know which drug I shouls start tapering off first.

@rainbow it's best to ask such questions in your intro thread, please.

[rainbow]

8 hours ago, Thorin said:

Tag an admin such as altostrata or many more todays. You can do it by typing @ in front of their name. Also start a new topic rather than adding onto another topic.

Ok Coliflower. Thanks a lot. In which place of the website should I be to write the @ symbol followed by e.g. Altostrata? Thanks in advance for your help.

[rainbow]

1 hour ago, hayduke said:

@rainbow it's best to ask such questions in your intro thread, please.

Ok. Thank you. Sorry.

[pyr23]

Just wanted to reply to this post. As of last week I've recovered to about 80% from Anti Psychotics. I'd been using them 25 years. It took me about 4 tries over those years to taper to zero, the last taper was with Seroquel XR (450mg) last year and it took me about 6 months to get it to 75mg. That attempt was not succesfull and my experience mirrors that of FeralCatman. I had taken extensive notes of the period but threw them away when it didn't work out. Seroquel is the worst. Fortunately my doc switched me to a low dose of Abilify. I basically cold turkeyed that and I'm now 6 weeks clean of all meds. Since this is all pretty fresh I'm not sure if I will do an extensive writeup. I do find it important to get the information out there since recovery is possible, it's just very, very hard. Good luck, keep tapering.

[branyan]

Wish me luck. 

 

• On Zyprexa in Jan 2023 in hospital. On for 2 weeks. Then off. CT.
• Back in in early April, back off by late April. CT
• Back on in August and then off by end of august CT
• Then back on in September. Cross ween to Seroquel. and now back off.

My sleep is absolute garbage. I can't sleep more than 4 hours. I have PSSD again, but almost worse this time. 

 

But I am sticking with it this time. Nore more antidepressants or antipsychotics. 

[Driksdog]

Hey branyan! 

I read once ur success and now ur setback. Very sorry about it. Hope u can overcome it again. I am still broken. 

Greetings 

[branyan]

14 minutes ago, Driksdog said:

Hey branyan! 

I read once ur success and now ur setback. Very sorry about it. Hope u can overcome it again. I am still broken. 

Greetings 

What's bothering you the most these days?

[Driksdog]

Jo! 

I am still apathic (also kind of pssd), headpressure, weakness, burning back and neck. But I had ketamin circle at least 2020 and then crashed from alc and cig consumption. I still think it's from gaba and gluta disbalance. But who knows. This pills and drugs are so bad. 

[Blackm0zart]

On 10/2/2023 at 10:49 AM, pyr23 said:

Just wanted to reply to this post. As of last week I've recovered to about 80% from Anti Psychotics. I'd been using them 25 years. It took me about 4 tries over those years to taper to zero, the last taper was with Seroquel XR (450mg) last year and it took me about 6 months to get it to 75mg. That attempt was not succesfull and my experience mirrors that of FeralCatman. I had taken extensive notes of the period but threw them away when it didn't work out. Seroquel is the worst. Fortunately my doc switched me to a low dose of Abilify. I basically cold turkeyed that and I'm now 6 weeks clean of all meds. Since this is all pretty fresh I'm not sure if I will do an extensive writeup. I do find it important to get the information out there since recovery is possible, it's just very, very hard. Good luck, keep tapering.

I’d like to ask, how did you get your sleep back to normal? Or did you? I’m on 50mg Seroquel (Two 25mg tablets) but began experiencing broken sleep after switching from a single 50mg tablet to two 25mg. Also the night before I changed to two tablets, I had taken a heaping dose of ginger root, which may or may not have caused this. I was sleepless the first night, but had taken one 50mg tablet. Found out ginger root is a CYP3A4 inhibitor which is a liver enzyme used by seroquel. Not sure if this is what’s causing my broken sleep, but I’m probably taking 75mg tonight because 6 hours of sleep just feels unpleasant. I have underlying post concussion syndrome from a TBI and sleep is imperative for me. 
 

Any recommendations? I was doing very well on a single 50mg tablet for just over one month. Sleep and symptoms were fine. Now, I’ll sleep 4 hours, wake up, possibly fall back asleep for another hour, wake up, sleep again if possible and almost always end up with 5-6 hours of sleep. I’ll always wake up around 7-8am and cannot go back to sleep after this time. 

[Onmyway]

The key to not messing up your sleep further is to not think about it. Seriously. The moment you start obsessing about sleep you end up making it worse. Especially because in your case it seems like an exception rather than something going on for weeks. 

 

I would not change the dose of Seroquel. Consistent dosing of any psych drug is important for the body. You don't want to be playing ping-pong with your brain. I'd sleep as much as you can. I'd then go around and do what you do on a normal day and go to bed at the usual time. Your body knows what to do. 

 

If you think ginger root may the problem, don't do more ginger root. This should normalize in a few days. 

[Blackm0zart]

21 hours ago, Onmyway said:

The key to not messing up your sleep further is to not think about it. Seriously. The moment you start obsessing about sleep you end up making it worse. Especially because in your case it seems like an exception rather than something going on for weeks. 

 

I would not change the dose of Seroquel. Consistent dosing of any psych drug is important for the body. You don't want to be playing ping-pong with your brain. I'd sleep as much as you can. I'd then go around and do what you do on a normal day and go to bed at the usual time. Your body knows what to do. 

 

If you think ginger root may the problem, don't do more ginger root. This should normalize in a few days. 

Will it eventually return to an unbroken sleep if I continue taking my current dose (50mg between two 25mg tablets)? I’m planning on holding at my current dose for a while if so. My sleep is very important since I have an underlying brain injury. I did take 75mg the other night, but quickly returned to 50 mg the very next night. Still experienced broken sleep either way. I believe the medical term is Nocturia. 

[Onmyway]

Well, we don't know the future but for most people over time things return back to normal. Nocturia basically means waking up to go to the bathroom, I think there is a thread on this on SA. You may look it up. Have you tried doing other things - like not eating diuretic foods in the evening, not drinking water before going to bed etc.? 

OMW

[Blackm0zart]

On 11/5/2023 at 6:10 PM, Onmyway said:

Well, we don't know the future but for most people over time things return back to normal. Nocturia basically means waking up to go to the bathroom, I think there is a thread on this on SA. You may look it up. Have you tried doing other things - like not eating diuretic foods in the evening, not drinking water before going to bed etc.? 

OMW

I had confused nocturia with another term, my apologies! Great news is that my sleep has returned to normal. Now I usually sleep a full 7 hours before waking up, with the possibility of falling back asleep afterwards. I’m now falling asleep without having to walk around first and fall asleep rather quickly. Im planning on holding at 50mg for a bit, at least until things have been consistent for a while. Is it normal to feel like you’re regaining some range of emotion? I don’t feel that it’s overwhelmingly so, but I do feel very subtle sensations which remind me of the excitement I’d feel as a child. Sometimes my joy feels a bit more human. Again, it’s not by very much, but even just this subtle difference caught my attention. 

[Onmyway]

Lots of people report return of emotions @Blackm0zart and it makes sense because ADs "work" basically by numbing our emotions - both good and bad. Congratulations on that! 

I would advise staying at this dose for a couple of months - let your body find its balance and settle there for a bit. Because of the windows and waves pattern it is good to make sure things are consistently OK - we advise people to not updose quickly if they are in a wave and to not cut quickly if they are in a window. 

Good sleep will help recovery as well! You are on a good path @Blackm0zart! Keep at it!

[Ck1111]

I have been on mostly  25 mg  for  nearly 12 years.

I took about 100mg for A month in the beginning when first prescribed and learned early on it wasnt for me as it was too sedating. 
 

Ive just started my journey to getting off this absolute 🤬.

 

Its really inspiring reading all of your stories. Especially Feral catman, wow what a journey.

 

[Risperdrawlin]

Hello, I got an email about administrative changes on the site and it said to post your success story if you haven't already. I was on Zoloft for about 6 years, from age 18 to 24, and Risperidone for about 2 years, from age 21 to 23. I'm 32 now. I would consider myself mostly if not completely recovered from the psych meds.

 

I have, however, been having a lot of fatigue, and I have had food intolerances since age 15. I started helminth therapy because I believe I have an autoimmune issue. So everything is not peachy, but overall these days I don't think about psych meds. I am starting to feel better from the hookworms (though they have also exacerbated my fatigue the last few weeks), and I thought to myself that if I had felt the way I feel now back when I put myself in therapy and consented to taking the meds, I would never have started the meds- I would have had the internal strength to follow through with how I felt (I never really wanted them) and I would have given life a shot without them instead of taking them just because other people pressured me to do so (yes, recommendations from a medical professional are a form of pressure).

 

As far as how "recovered" from the meds I am, I definitely had a return of affect long before I started helminth therapy this fall, it's not like I was gray and unexpressive for 7 years. I did have a lingering doubt in my head though about how the meds affected my brain. Now that I have started the helminth therapy, I kind of feel like the sky's the limit, though I have been very limited by side effects from it the last few weeks.

 

It also wouldn't be right to omit some additional details about my health history. In summer 2020 I developed Mal de Debarquement Syndrome, which is a form of vertigo where you feel sort of like you're bobbing up and down on a ship. I am not sure exactly why/ how the MdDS developed- there were a few factors and they may have all played a role (yoga, dehydration, microbiome disruption from cleaning products, possible Lyme disease from walking in woods). I've been dealing with it since that time. It has flared up with the side effects from the helminth therapy. It seems to be connected to histamine at least somewhat. I don't think the meds are to blame for me developing it but it is a neurological issue so it is relevant.

 

After coming off the meds, I did have some lingering issues/ fears with mild psychotic symptoms, where I would hear my name in the wind or the sound of a passing car for instance- this really freaked me out. This was an extremely stressful time in my life though, as I had cut ties with my family and quit my career for an entirely new path at age 24, and the therapy that led to me cutting ties with my family (which I did while tapering off the meds) stirred up a lot of feelings in me. Over time I got things under control, learned to live with the occasional moments of being freaked out, and put my energy towards my new career goals and friendships. These days if I don't do anything for awhile, like if I have a whole week off work and I lie in bed for 14 hours, I might start to feel that way, but generally I am honestly too tired, and/or I spend my energy on other things. It seems to be a pent-up energy thing for me honestly. I stopped going to therapy when I got my first full-time job in my new field and I haven't looked back.

 

I wish everyone well on their recovery journey.