JohnnyPonce Close to 75% recovery after two years!

[JohnnyPonce]

Hello,

 

Over the past several months I have reached a point in my long-term withdrawal suffering (close to 2 years now) from SSRI's and antipsychotics which I never thought would come!! I feel that I am close to 75% healed in my recovery process. First off, I'd been taking SSRI's and anti-psychotics for around 13 years. Mainly SSRI's but once in a while my psychiatrist would try and prescribe an AP. In those 13 years I had tried just about everything on the market. Nothing worked for me except BRAND Celexa for a few years (during my early 20's-I am now 32) but, of course, with Celexa came awful side effects. I jumped around from one drug to another in the attempt to find something new that worked. Nothing did. What I learned from those 13 years is that one should be HIGHLY weary of almost ALL psychiatrists who are merely there to make a good profit off of suffering patients and to push brain and nervous system damaging drugs! Moreover, most generic SSRI's DO NOT WORK and are nothing in comparison to their brand name counterparts. I could have been ingesting heroin of meth or poison for all I know during those years! Of course, in order to get brand name SSRI's even with a good insurance policy, a patient typically has to pay around $300 dollars a months just for a 30 day supply even at a low to medium dosage...there in lies the scam that is modern day psychiatry in a nutshell!!

 

My withdrawal began around 2 years ago while actually still being on drugs and not stopping them. Go figure. My disabling symptoms included immense head pressure, a never ending drug overload sensation, depersonalization, loss of touch with reality at times,  wooziness and light-headedness, dizziness, racing heartbeat, horrible insomnia, vision disturbances (seeing strange lights everyday in my vision) and worsening of depression, anxiety, and paranoid racing thoughts of which were somewhat manageable prior to being on these evil drugs in the first place. Needless to say these drugs made everything around 60-80% worse!! I never thought these symptoms would ever dissipate or improve. That is, until around 2-3 months ago I began to FINALLY feel a touch of improvement. These small windows of improvement have only gotten better and are nothing short of miraculous. I can tell the drugs are finally leaving my brain and nervous system due to brain and body zaps and stomach rumbling sensations. Over the 13 years these drugs were slowly building up in my system even though I could never feel it and I had never been on high doses and, lastly, had always followed the guidelines in tapering from my doctor.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

[Altostrata]

Welcome, JohnnyP.

 

How did you go off the last round of drugs? What exactly were you taking, and for how long?

 

What symptoms did you have early in your withdrawal? How have they changed? Did you do anything to help them?

 

We don't see any particular advantage to brand-name anything. That brand-name Celexa "worked" for you might have been due to something else, such as diminishment of withdrawal symptoms you might have had from the previous round of drugs.

 

To help us out, see these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature

[JohnnyPonce]

People need to understand difference between minor and major withdrawal!

 

Just as in the case with depression, minor to major, different levels of this condition exist! Normal withdrawal (mild to moderate) is supposed to last anywhere from 2 weeks to 3-4 months at most!! I have personally experienced all three forms and I am currently close to the end of my first experience with long-term, major withdrawal. Let it be known that minor and major withdrawal are ALTOGETHER two ENTIRELY different animals!! Most people don't understand this difference and can't even begin to comprehend how severe withdrawal can be when it is in the catergory of "major" long-term. Minor WD or even moderate WD is somewhat bearable and best of all, it is mostly short-term. I recall withdrawing years ago from Paxil and Effexor XR successfully in less than a month; Brain zaps, nausea, and dizziness were my only symptoms and then they vanished. I knew the drugs were gone from system for good...but I failed to learn my lesson, thinking withdrawal from these drugs that are designed to take you out couldn't possibly get any worse. Boy was I wrong!!

Edited February 17, 2016 by Petunia
Title from new topic added

[Petunia]

Hi JP,

I joined the topic you started with your original intro thread. Its one intro/update thread per member. You can use this thread as your ongoing journal to track progress, write about symptoms, ask questions and communicate with the community, add to it whenever you want. Its a good idea to bookmark it or follow it, so its easy to find again.

 

I agree with you that experiences of withdrawal differ widely, ranging from minor occasional symptoms which are an inconvenience, lasting perhaps a few weeks to people becoming bed ridden, unable to function for years.

 

It would be great if you would put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature. Doing this helps people understand your context, it appears below each of your posts. Here are instructions for how to do it:

 

http://survivinganti...your-signature/