tezza: risperdal withdrawal

[vaseadude]

Thank you for the link, Vasea.

 

Have you tried peppermint for anxiety? I've heard it can help but haven't tried it because my anxiety level is ok now most of the time.

 

I wish you well, too!

 

I have peppermint, I use it for tea sometimes. I have never heard of it helping for anxiety. How much do you have to take, and how? Do you have the link?

[tezza]

I'm sorry I don't have a link. I heard it somewhere but I don't remember where. I never could tell that it helped to calm me any. I thought I'd mention it because although it didn't help me it may help you.

 

Maybe you could try making a tea with some and see if that would help. I'm trying to think of anything that might help anxiety because the benzo was way too much for you.

[tezza]

Update:

 

I'm down to .2mg of Risperdal and 4.4mg of Remeron. I'm doing ok...not fantastic...but ok Tinnitus and broken sleep are my main complaints and the tinnitus is not as loud as it was before. Some days it's not even very noticeable.

 

Hugs to all

[Altostrata]

tezza, you're doing great! Just think how it used to be....

[tezza]

Yes, Alto, I can't thank you enough. I was a mess when I first found your site. Also, thanks to Gianna, that's how I landed here.

 

AND... Thanks to all the members that have talked me through those rough times.

 

I sincerely hope I can help others. I love you guys from the bottom of my heart!

[tezza]

I've reached a point in life where I simply see no point in my life. It's not WD, just an empty feeling. No friends, no family...

 

My husband is good to me but he can't possibly understand the lonely, empty life I'm in. He tries so hard, now, to make me happy.

 

I'm not depressed, just sad and don't see any reason for living.

 

Many days, I wish to die.

[Barbarannamated]

I really do wish we lived closer.

 

{{{HUGS}}}

[tezza]

I do too, Barb.

 

{{{hugs}}}

[flower]

Tezza if you were here with me and my bird we would cheer you up. I wish I could give you a hug. I know how it is to be so sad...It will pass but it's hard to fathom sometimes. When I cry it seems to pass more quickly.

[tezza]

Thank you, Flower. It means a lot.

[Nikki]

Tezza you are always there for me. What can I do to help?

 

That empty feeling and my life has no purpose is a lousy feeling, and it's thoughts too.

No friends, no family. Is that because you relocated?

 

Do you get out at all to socialize or are you isolating due to WD.

 

Tezza you are in a WD state and it does cause what you are experiencing. Neuro-emotions.

WD does cause depression and humungous sadness too.

 

Would talk therapy help. When I was WDing Lexapro I went to see an EMDR Therapist and it helped alot. I did do it once again not that long ago. It was all out of pocket so I had to stop. It relieves trauma.

 

You can do it yourself. Log onto Emotional Freedom Gary Craig. Please join me on Facebook. There are many uplifting sites that people post quotes from that are helpful.

 

You can PM me too:)

 

You are such a treasure and means of support on this site. Be lost without you

[tezza]

Thank you, Nikki, you are a real treasure to the site. Yes, I relocated in the late eighties. I have a couple of aunts and uncles and a couple of cousins. They live a distance away.

 

I guess I have isolated myself during WD but I was always pretty isolated it seems. Usually, female friends turned out not to be true friends, so I stopped trying with them.

 

Thank you for taking the time to reply to me. You've been such a help.

 

Hugs

[strawberry17]

(((hugs))) Tezza.

 

Yes indeedy withdrawal can cause intense profound sadness. Nikki is right, I know a lot of people don't like Facebook but there is a lot to be said for the friends and connections you can make with people there in the same boat and there are some great uplifting spiritual and comforting pages on there.

[tezza]

Thank you, Strawberry. This is the only forum I've ever joined and my friends here are super. I really care about all the members! Thank you for stopping by my thread.

 

{{{hugs}}}

[Gardner]

Tezza

I have just found you in my life so you are VERY MUCH WORTH LIVING TO.ME.

 

You hive been so kind and

Supportive to me. I too feel sad and lonely esp b/c of my

Relocation to Ca and many medical problems and finding new drs after a wonderful tesm in Ps

 

I pray your day will find some brightness in it

 

Happy hugs to you !

[Gardner]

Tezza

I have just found you in my life so you are VERY MUCH WORTH LIVING TO.ME.

 

You hive been so kind and

Supportive to me. I too feel sad and lonely esp b/c of my

Relocation to Ca and many medical problems and finding new drs after a wonderful tesm in Ps

 

I pray your day will find some brightness in it

 

Happy hugs to you !

[Altostrata]

tezza, our new member rosebuddy could sure use encouragement from you as someone who's dealt with polypharmacy, see http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/3710-rosebuddy-taking-multiple-drugs-with-side-effects/

[hippopotamus]

Dear Tezza,

 

Thank you for stopping by my topic and your encouragements. I now read that you are going through a difficult time and feel like your life is pointless. I'm so sorry to read this.

 

 

However I think that there are many people on this forum who feel otherwise and who feel strengthened and understood by your kind reactions and by being able to share part of this road towards a med-free life with you. Dont you underestimate what your reactions mean to them!

 

I dont really know what else to say. I have no experience with withdrawal-related feelings of depression and senselessness... but when I read through your topic I can tell that you've already come such a long way. Maybe reading through it yourself can give you some hope and make you proud of how far you've come.

 

Is there anything you'd like to share about your feelings of senselessness?

 

Hugs and lots of warmth to you!

[tezza]

Hippopotamus,

 

Thank you for that kind reply. I really have come a long way and I do feel good about that.

 

Ya know, I think these feelings have much to do with the fact of my children not needing me the way they used to. If I am able to help or encourage my SA friends, then that helps me too.

 

Thank you for caring!

 

Hugs

[Barbarannamated]

Tezza,

 

I usually read from a mobile format and don't see signatures and history. I just read the below post of yours on Nikki's thread and am amazed at how far you've come.

 

"Yes I've tapered from 3 mg Xanax to .5, from 3 SOMAS to 3/4 of one, from 200 mg of Lamictal to 6.25mg, from 30 mg of Remeron to 4.4mg, from 1mg of Risperdal to .2 mg, from 300 mg gabapentin to 0 and 300 mg of Trileptal to 0 since July 2011."

 

WOW! You've made tremendous progress!

 

Hugs!

Barb

[Karma]

Hi Tezza,

 

I haven't been on the forum much lately because of my work ... I'm sorry you feel like life isn't worth living. Your presence on this forum is very valuable and your friends here love you. I'm sending you a warm Karma hug .

[tezza]

Thank you both, Barb and Karma.

 

I have come a long way, I hope that's encouraging to some who may be just beginning to taper. I must admit that I'm not doing too badly for all I've cut, thankfully.

 

It's wonderful that you've been able to hold down a job throughout tapering, Karma. I don't think I coulda handled that.

 

{{{BIG HUGS}}} to both of y'all! I love you both

[hippopotamus]

You know there's an official term for that: Suffering from the 'empty nest syndrom'.

 

I dont have kids, but I can understand that if your children are starting to become more independent, you need to find a new way to balance yourself.

 

Its good to see there are many people who are very happy to have you around here.

[tezza]

Thanks, HP,

 

I'm glad to be here too.

[Skyler]

Thank you, Vasea. you will get there, I'm sure. I still don't go places on my own but I hope that will change too. I really don't understand why so many of us have the agoraphobia, but then,who does understand what all the drugs actually do to us.

 

It should be illegal for doctors and drug companies to do this. You'll get better, just keep hanging on.

 

Hi Tezza, Thought I'd take a stab at answering this question. Agoraphobia is nothing more than extreme fear projected onto the world. WD can cause agoraphobia where it did not previously exist because our anxiety foibles get amplified as if we were in a bell jar.

 

The reason we sometimes project anxiety outward.. Think of banging your head against a door, then cussing out the door. It's easier than cussing out your head! Similarly, when we are very very fearful, it may be easier to think of the scary things outside rather than in.

 

Skyler

[tezza]

Thanks, Skyler...good explanation, plus it made me smile as I pictured myself cussing at the door.

[vaseadude]

I'm pretty sure for myself that the drugs cause anxiety, fear and helplessness. I remember the first day I took the AP drugs, I felt like that and couldn't understand at the time, why do I feel so terrible and not like my normal self. Plus, the first side effect listed on the drug paper is ANXIETY, which means it's the most widely reported side effect.

And I am also pretty sure all these drugs that you are tapering can cause great sadness as a side effect, too. I sure felt it sometimes. SO, hang in there, Tezza! And I really do appreciate your frequent encouragement on my thread. You send a lot of love out, so it should come back to you eventually...

[tezza]

Thank you Vasea, I do love all people. You have been encouraging to me too. I pray we both have peace throughout this journey and continuing. It gets difficult but we will make it if we have faith to believe we can. I keep telling myself that one day it will be the past and I'll be stronger and better for it.

 

I also keep telling myself it will enable me to help others who may be struggling. Maybe I can even convince someone not to start taking this crap. I already convinced my husband not to take the Cymbalta samples his doc tried to start him on for pain. He took it for three days before I fully convinced him though. Then he threw the samples and the prescription away.

 

I'm just looking for ANYTHING positive to squeeze out of this experience.

 

Wishing you the best!

[hippopotamus]

I think your experiences and knowledge are potentially very powerful and could definitely convince people not to take the drugs.

 

Good job of convincing your husband not to take the Cymbalta. Although at the same time I'm a bit puzzled as to why he would want to take that stuff, being married to someone who is a living example of what damage the drugs can do.

 

 

Oh well. Of course the drugs dont damage everyone. There's a lot of people who are fine taking them. And I think that most people need to take in a LOT of info on their questionable efficacy and safety to balance the paramount convincion that drugs are safe and effective and will magically cure you from all ills.

 

Still it must be a strange experience that your husband so willingly wants to take the stuff.

[tezza]

Hi hippo,

 

It was during the time that I was in the worst WD and for some strange reason, I went with my husband to see his GP. It's odd because I never left the house without being dragged out. His doctor told him that Cymbalta was very good for pain and husband has been in a lot of pain for the past two or three years.

 

The doc actually told husband that he, himself, had taken an AD for several years for pain. He was very convincing and since I had always been able to CT celexa without any problem, I'm sure he thought the Risperdal was just a different story. I had just joined this forum and so I realized that other people were having problems with other drugs.

 

Thankfully, the end result was he chose to listen to me instead of his doctor.

[hippopotamus]

Yes, I see. How is your husband doing nowadays? Has he found something to alleviate the pain?

[tezza]

Thank you for asking. He takes naproxen daily, it seems to help, but doesn't completely alleviate. He complains that it feels like his bones hurt.

[tezza]

Eyelid twitching has been bothersome yesterday and today.....Argh...

[Gardner]

Texas

Just was regarding you thread.

I so admire you on your journey.I know how you feel about wanting tho help others

I was active for 6 years on celiac.com and it's a good feeling. Didn't know you had agrophobia too. The explanation here was good.

 

I hope I can get back onto computer and get it to let me sign in

Good luck and have a good day kido

[tezza]

Hi Gardner,

 

I'm so much better than I was last year at this time. I'm feeling more and more of the 'me' I was before WD. Even the agoraphobia is improving. My husband had to do all the shopping for at least two years.

 

Now, I actually enjoy going and even browsing around. I'm living proof that things can improve. Never lose hope!

 

It's my goal to 'pay it forward' and help others who feel hopeless as I did when I first found this forum. SA has been a life-saver for me, I can never thank Alto enough for setting up the site.

 

My mood is good, anxiety is gone, I still have mild tinnitus on some days and sleep is still broken, meaning I wake during the night two or three times.

 

My motivation has greatly improved as well.

 

Gardner, take care and hang in there!

[Gardner]

thank you so very very much for your post of your experience.

you give me hope then I 2 can make this journey can come out the other end happy with no agoraphobia or anxiety

 

if you have time maybe you could take a look at my post that I just put up. Would so appreciate your thoughts !

 

so happy you're doing so well