success ☼ KenA: 8 months in withdrawal after CT

[Altostrata]

Thanks for coming back to update us, @KenA The Success Stories forum awaits....

[Erell]

Thank you so much @KenA for this update, it is so nice to read all your progress ❤☀️

Edited July 16, 2021 by Erell

[KenA]

14 hours ago, Altostrata said:

Thanks for coming back to update us, @KenA The Success Stories forum awaits....

@AltostrataWill be coming very soon! Just have to collect my thoughts and put them all together  Wanna help to inspire others to keep on hanging on until their day of healing arrives as well

[KenA]

7 hours ago, Erell said:

Thank you so much @KenA for this update, it is so nice to read all your progress ❤☀️

@Erell Of course Glad I can help to give others hope and help them to keep hanging in there!

 

 

[username001]

Hey @KenAhow long would you say your cognitive issues lasted? Im not sure whether to blame my brain fog on withdrawl or blame it on food intolerances, or a neck misalignment 

[woody1981]

@KenA  Awesome news mate 🤙 So happy that you are still feeling great with barely any symptoms. Thanks again for the support and encouragement. 

[Greatful]

@KenA  Read through your thread.  Your positivity has reinforced me to keep going one day at a time.

 

  I am not sure what my time line is, I get very discouraged.  I tapered to fast off of Prozac summer of 2020(last summer), crashed, so in a nut shell I am 8 months off Prozac   tried Zoloft, ct'd after 1 month in Dec.  Seroquel for 6 weeks ct'd, 4 months ago and a fast taper lowering Lamictal in during all this.  So I am in W/D for all off these.  Plus a stupid start up of Lexapro  in April in desperation. By the time I knew I couldn't stay on Lex.(bad side effect)  I was on it month so tapered down to 5mg, asked SA for help and  was advise to hold until stable before tapering Lex.  Still holding and only see small improvements. I developed really bad social phobia during this and that scares me that I will not get back to my old self.  Of course I am another one that thinks I'm the one that will not heal.

I have had some improvements, but it is hard to stay positive.  So I will draw strength in knowing that you have been in that darkness and came out on the other side.  

Thank you

[Phoenixmama]

@KenA what was your diet like in withdraw and what can you eat now , as you can tell i'm a foodie 😅 and ive restricted myself so much , maybe too much

[Phoenixmama]

i read your story so many times its one of my favorite 🌞

[KenA]

On 7/17/2021 at 11:08 PM, username001 said:

Hey @KenAhow long would you say your cognitive issues lasted? Im not sure whether to blame my brain fog on withdrawl or blame it on food intolerances, or a neck misalignment 

@username001 I would say for me the worst of the cognitive issues lasted a good 8-9 months. Things very very slowly started to get better after that point and by around the 1 year mark I was feeling pretty ok as far as cognitive function. The dizzyness, headaches, cog fog and memory problems started to improve for me. It was very much a non-linear healing process though. 2 steps forward, 4 steps back, 3 forward, 1 back and so forth. I just had to be patient during the healing process and wait for my brain to make the healing process. It seemed like it took forever at the time, but looking back at it now after almost 2 years, I'm back to my good ole normal self Just had to wait it out You are gonna make it for sure my friend!!

 

I found personally for me, that food didn't really effect any of my mental symptoms. Maybe digestive, but my mental was the same no matter my diet. Just have to give it time time and more time  Keep on pushing through each and every day. You will start to notice little things that seem to get better, then get worse, then more better, then less worse and so forth  I have found that almost every symptom we experience during this process is withdrawal related and we just have to wait for our brains and CNS to heal and then we will be ok!! You are gonna heal as well my friend!! Just have to keep burning time and wait for your healing to happen! Distract yourself and accept the process as best as you can!! You've got this and you know it!!

 

Ken

[KenA]

13 hours ago, woody1981 said:

@KenA  Awesome news mate 🤙 So happy that you are still feeling great with barely any symptoms. Thanks again for the support and encouragement. 

@woody1981 It truly is nice feeling good again  The more and more time that I give it, the better and better I am feeling It's like once you and I talked about in our messages when I crossed a certain threshold it seems like the healing kinda snowballed and it got better and better!! I'm always here to help you my friend!! Only a message away!!! Just keep on pushing through my friend!! You are gonna be just like me one day before you know it!! I've got faith in ya!!

[KenA]

4 hours ago, Greatful said:

@KenA  Read through your thread.  Your positivity has reinforced me to keep going one day at a time.

 

  I am not sure what my time line is, I get very discouraged.  I tapered to fast off of Prozac summer of 2020(last summer), crashed, so in a nut shell I am 8 months off Prozac   tried Zoloft, ct'd after 1 month in Dec.  Seroquel for 6 weeks ct'd, 4 months ago and a fast taper lowering Lamictal in during all this.  So I am in W/D for all off these.  Plus a stupid start up of Lexapro  in April in desperation. By the time I knew I couldn't stay on Lex.(bad side effect)  I was on it month so tapered down to 5mg, asked SA for help and  was advise to hold until stable before tapering Lex.  Still holding and only see small improvements. I developed really bad social phobia during this and that scares me that I will not get back to my old self.  Of course I am another one that thinks I'm the one that will not heal.

I have had some improvements, but it is hard to stay positive.  So I will draw strength in knowing that you have been in that darkness and came out on the other side.  

Thank you

@Greatful Glad to hear that my journey of healing has helped to inspire you as well!! This truly is such a long and hard process on all of us that we truly do have to depend on each other for support!!

 

Sounds like you have had a long journey so far, but you are doing amazing!!! Just remember that each and every single day you make it through is one less day that you have ahead of you!!! You are gonna be healed one day as well and feel absolutely amazing just like I do!! A year ago I would not have been able to imagine feeling this good, but I made it and so will you!!!! The old you is just waiting inside to come back out and you will be not only who you were before, but a better person because of all of this!! You are gonna have a strength about you that you have never imagined and you will be able to handle anything that comes your way with flying colors!!! I'm able to handle anything life throws my way now days and because I survived this process, nothing life throws at me seems to even phase me anymore I take everything in stride and just enjoy each and every day I'm blessed with

 

I was actually able to go to a party with my wife this weekend with people that I had never met before and I did not feel any anxiety or excitement at all!!! I'm back to my old social self and enjoying things that I never could before!! You are gonna get to this point as well, you just have to keep on pushing through one day at a time until you no longer have to keep pushing!! You are gonna heal I promise you!! I 100% believe that everyone heals! You just have to give your brain and body the time it needs to make the healing complete!! You have already been through so much, and you will continue to make it through every day that comes your way I know it!! Keep focused on the positive always!!! Find ways to turn the negative into positive and keep smiling as hard as it may be!! I would always force myself to smile and find the positive in everything!! I would always tell myself that as bad as I felt, I still was alive. I could still walk and talk and see and hear and function! I could still work on crafts, take walks, watch cartoons with my kids, and just was STILL HERE! Nobody has an expiration date!! 

 

You are gonna make it through the darkness my friend I promise!! I survived the long cold dark tunnel and now am back in the light at the end!! You are gonna be here one day as well!! Until then, take the best care you can and take it easy on yourself!! You are healing!!! Just remind yourself "This too Shall Pass!!!" Because it will!! You've got this and you know it!

 

Ken

[KenA]

2 hours ago, Phoenixmama said:

@KenA what was your diet like in withdraw and what can you eat now , as you can tell i'm a foodie 😅 and ive restricted myself so much , maybe too much

@Phoenixmama When it came to diet during this whole process I'm gonna be honest with you. It may not be the same with everyone, but for me my diet made no difference. Didn't matter if I ate healthy, or ate junk food. When it was time to go through a wave, I had to just knuckle down and ride the wave. In fact, I ended up putting on about 30 or so lbs during this whole healing process, but I honestly was always a bit underweight, so I didn't mind too much. But in reality, the food I ate didn't effect the symptoms that I had. The only thing I did stop was alcohol. No drinking for me, but as far as food, I ate what I wanted because honestly the comfort for me made me feel a bit better. I would eat ice cream if I wanted cause by golly I wanted some ice cream lol I do still take a children's probiotic but that helped me out when i was going through all the nausea and diarreah that comes along with this process!! Other than that, I just stayed as positive as I possibly could and just waited for the waves to pass! They always always will!!! 

 

This whole process can be so draining on us both mentally and physically, but you just have to take care of yourself in the best way that works for you!! You know your body better than anyone else on the planet, so just listen to it and do what makes you feel good!! You are not always gonna be this way!! This is just a temporary process and one day you are gonna be healed and all better again!!! Until that day, just take it easy and enjoy each day as best you can!!! You have made it this far and you are gonna make it all the way to the end I know it!!! If you need any more info about my healing and what I went through don't hesitate to ask!! 

 

Ken

[KenA]

2 hours ago, Phoenixmama said:

i read your story so many times its one of my favorite 🌞

@Phoenixmama Awwww thanx  You will be sharing survivor story one day as well Can't wait to read yours  I'm gonna be posting my real soon

[Phoenixmama]

Thank you so much !!!! I was saying to myself if could just not have to stress and feel guilty and worry about the comfort food I eat I would have more power to fight the withdraw dragon... I wouldn’t like overdo it on food or anything but just the occasional comfort food and yes ice cream 😋 with my little girl would be so nice ❤️ Thanks for your info 

[Phoenixmama]

@KenA

[KenA]

23 hours ago, Phoenixmama said:

Thank you so much !!!! I was saying to myself if could just not have to stress and feel guilty and worry about the comfort food I eat I would have more power to fight the withdraw dragon... I wouldn’t like overdo it on food or anything but just the occasional comfort food and yes ice cream 😋 with my little girl would be so nice ❤️ Thanks for your info 

@Phoenixmama Of course This whole thing is so hard for us to have to go through on a daily basis that any little thing we can do to make it easier on ourselves can be a blessing in disguise Make the most of every day you have and most def enjoy some ice cream with your little one  This whole process brought me so much closer to my children and I truly do consider this to have been ultimately a blessing As hard as it was to go through, it truly did make me a better person and so much more appreciative of life!!! 

[username001]

On 7/19/2021 at 5:40 PM, KenA said:

@username001 I would say for me the worst of the cognitive issues lasted a good 8-9 months. Things very very slowly started to get better after that point and by around the 1 year mark I was feeling pretty ok as far as cognitive function. The dizzyness, headaches, cog fog and memory problems started to improve for me. It was very much a non-linear healing process though. 2 steps forward, 4 steps back, 3 forward, 1 back and so forth. I just had to be patient during the healing process and wait for my brain to make the healing process. It seemed like it took forever at the time, but looking back at it now after almost 2 years, I'm back to my good ole normal self Just had to wait it out You are gonna make it for sure my friend!!

 

I found personally for me, that food didn't really effect any of my mental symptoms. Maybe digestive, but my mental was the same no matter my diet. Just have to give it time time and more time  Keep on pushing through each and every day. You will start to notice little things that seem to get better, then get worse, then more better, then less worse and so forth  I have found that almost every symptom we experience during this process is withdrawal related and we just have to wait for our brains and CNS to heal and then we will be ok!! You are gonna heal as well my friend!! Just have to keep burning time and wait for your healing to happen! Distract yourself and accept the process as best as you can!! You've got this and you know it!!

 

Ken

Okay thank you very much for taking the time to reply I greatly appreciate it 

[KenA]

@username001 Of course. If you have any other questions or need advice don't hesitate to ask

 

[username001]

5 hours ago, KenA said:

@username001 Of course. If you have any other questions or need advice don't hesitate to ask

 

Thank you for your kindness, could you please reassure me about some symptoms that have been haunting me. The first symptom is trouble with processing speech, when people talk I have a hard time detecting emotion in their voices and whether or not their voices are fluctuating, I can’t tell when someone uses a questioning tone, angry tone, excited tone etc. it just all sounds the same and it’s hard to understand what people mean. Also I can’t seem to understand words in a sentence sometimes, it’s like my brain will register a few words in the sentence as a phrase and then try to read the next few remaining words in the sentence as a separate phrase so I struggle to grasp the overall meaning of the sentence. Another thing also is that my eyes struggle to view things correctly, like when I am watching a video with clouds in the background the clouds look super 3D and weird and it’s like everything is super pronounced and colors look incredibly bright and off and weird. My eyes have been viewing normal looking things as distorted and fake. Also I have constant eye floaters and after images. So please if you have any experience with any of these symptoms please let me know what you think. Thank you once again I appreciate it so much.

[KenA]

@username001 Sure can. As far as hearing and comprehending speech goes, I did have a bit of that. I had really loud tinnitus that was extremely distracting that lasted a very very long time. Even now at almost 2 years out, I still have some slight hissing in the ears, but I just ignore it now days. Comprehension was also hard for me as well. It's like I couldn't keep thinking long enough to string thoughts together. My mind would kind of blank out right in the middle of a thought. I did also have some dp/dr where it would seem like things weren't very real. Some days it would last for hours where I would literally feel like I wasn't myself and reality was just a sort of strange illusion. It's really hard to describe, but it was very frightening. As far as my vision, I never really got what you would call floaters, but I did get blurry vision and it would seem like it was very easy for me to get eye strain. But that didn't last very long for me at all, maybe a few months or so. 

 

But I can tell you this for sure. As many symptoms as I had and as hard as the days were, I made it through each and every one of them  I had what you would call the typical waves and windows pattern, where symptoms would come and then fade. It was quite a hard process to be sure, but I made it and so will you! Right now your brain is fighting hard for you and is healing those neurons and connections and neurotransmitters that it has to get back into balance. And when it fixes one, it has to adjust all the others that it's fixed, so it def can seem like a very maddening process! But it will come to an end one day for sure!! You ARE gonna feel good again one day! Everyone's time frame is different, but I truly do believe that everyone heals!! I did and I was afraid I was gonna be the one who didn't! But almost two years later I can tell you I feel great! I may get a bit of an off feeling here or there that lasts for minutes, but with the time I've put in I've also learned acceptance!! I've 100% accepted what I'm going through and what I went through and have made my peace with it! So when any minor symptoms happens now, I just shrug my shoulders, acknowledge it, and go on about my business!! You will get to the same point as well!! Just keep taking things one day at a time and find things to distract yourself! Find some projects that are simple and you don't really have to think to much about! I would do simple paint by numbers, diamond dots, play board games with my kids and I would go for very very long walks Anything to help pass the time. 

 

I also kept a journal of my progress and I would write down every thing I went through. From symptoms to how I felt, to letters to my family. It helped me out greatly because I was able to look back on the really hard days and see the progress I was making. When I had windows, I would write notes to myself to read when I was in the middle of a wave!! I would remind myself that the wave was gonna pass and to stay positive!! That is one of the other secrets to this process! Stay as positive as you possibly can!! Don't let the black hole of negativity suck you down, because it might not let you go!! You are going to heal!! Repeat this to yourself as many times as it takes because it's the truth! You are gonna heal!! 

 

Stay strong my friend! You can do this!!

 

Ken

[KenA]

Imagine how strong we are gonna be

[Hanna72]

@KenAFantastic news, I am so happy for you.  Keep on thriving and enjoying your drug free life. 

All my best to you.

Love the butterfly poem by the way.

Edited July 27, 2021 by Hanna72

[Phoenixmama]

@KenA love it ❤️

[KenA]

Hi Everyone! Just wanted to check in and say hi! I've been away for the week battling some illness  But hey, I survived the worst life had to throw at me when I was going through withdrawals, so it has taught me the acceptance and patience I need to make it through this as well!! Keep hanging in there everyone! We are doing awesome!

 

Ken

[getofflex]

Ken I’m so thrilled and encouraged that you have experienced complete healing!  I hope you get the time to write a success story. Our still suffering members really are helped by these.  

[Greatful]

@KenA  Thank you for standing by us and encouraging us, when you could move on and put this all behind you.  You have a big and caring heart❤️

[KenA]

Hey everyone,

Hope you are all doing ok and continuing to heal!! Im currently fighting off a Covid infection, but im still hanging in there. Withdrawal taught me very well how to accept and how to survive anything that is thrown my way! I know Im gonna survive this as well! Will make my survival story that much better! Take care everyone!

 

Ken

[username001]

@KenAyoure an inspiration of strength and determination. Keep going, nothing is in your way. I wish you fast healing and a lovely life, thank you for all your help.

[Rosetta]

Hi, Ken.  What are your symptoms?  Wishing you a quick recovery. -Rosetta

[KenA]

6 minutes ago, Rosetta said:

Hi, Ken.  What are your symptoms?  Wishing you a quick recovery. -Rosetta

Hi Rosetta my worst symptoms are nausea, no appetite, diarrhea, fatigue, hot flashes, congestion, low grade fever. Its causing me to have anxiety and some dp/Dr. Also a couple nights of insomnia I think cause of the anxiety! I had hoped my immune system would have beaten this by now, but its still hanging on! But I am just taking it day by day and trying to take care of myself as best as possible!!

[Rosetta]

Ok, and this is Day 18 or thereabouts?  My husband’s breakthrough case took about a month to completely resolve, but he was doing pretty well at the 3 week point.  The fatigue was gone by that point.  He felt worse in the evenings.  He had all the symptoms you had except diarrhea (and, of course no DP or DR as he never had WD.). He’s sleeping better now, has his sense of taste is back, and the tickle in his chest is barely there.

[KenA]

16 minutes ago, Rosetta said:

Ok, and this is Day 18 or thereabouts?  My husband’s breakthrough case took about a month to completely resolve, but he was doing pretty well at the 3 week point.  The fatigue was gone by that point.  He felt worse in the evenings.  He had all the symptoms you had except diarrhea (and, of course no DP or DR as he never had WD.). He’s sleeping better now, has his sense of taste is back, and the tickle in his chest is barely there.

Yep I just counted back and today was day 18 I had actually been feeling better the last few days and just had a rough day today for sure. The nausea was really strong today and I was hardly able to eat at all, but ill staying well hydrated about 64 oz or so, luckily I never lost my senses of taste or smell. Mine is the opposite of feeling worse in the mornings and better in the evenings!! That does make me feel better to know that it can take this long to heal!

[KenA]

Hi everyone! Just checking in to say Im still here. Starting to feel better now and I know Im gonna beat this Covid!!! Its crazy because looking back over the last few weeks, I do truly believe that going through withdrawals for so long helped me to be able to handle being sick for 3 weeks. The acceptance I learned while going through withdrawals I was able to apply to going through Covid and it helped me to stay strong and keep pushing through!! Getting better every day!! Stay strong everyone!! We can survive anything that comes our way!! We are champions lol

[Moonpie]

Ken thank you so much for sharing your story. I can't tell you what a blessing it was!  I really needed it and it gave me a boost.  I am going to go back and copy all your statements and save them in a document so I can go back and read them when I am down.  I am sorry to hear you have Covid but glad to hear you are recovering.  You are an amazing person with a fantastic outlook!  

[KenA]

On 7/30/2021 at 10:55 AM, getofflex said:

Ken I’m so thrilled and encouraged that you have experienced complete healing!  I hope you get the time to write a success story. Our still suffering members really are helped by these.  

@getofflex I will most def be writing a success story here soon   Got a bit sidetracked by the Covid, but I finally am feeling better again!!