Cocopuffz - 11 years on paroxetine. It's nothing but a bad memory now. I am now free!!

[Cocopuffz17]

First off, I am so incredibly thankful for this forum. I would of never ever got off this medication if I had not found this forum. A big thank you to Alto and all the mods that work hard to help everyone. A big thank you to everyone I talked to daily on here as well  

 

Here is my intro thread  ☼-cocopuffz17-paroxetine-free-but-not-trouble-free

 

When I came to this forum I had no idea what was going on with me after coming off 11 years of paroxetine use @ 20mg. I was told by my psychiatrist that this drug isn't known to cause this, I know that's not true after going through the hell of AW/PAW. My body was being ravaged by chronic fatigue, autoimmune conditions and a plethora of AW (acute withdrawal) and PAWS(post acute withdrawal) symptoms. I was terrified and did not think I could get through it at the time. But I constantly read stories of success and knew that it was possible and my mindset slowly shifted. I knew that whatever this would throw at me I would be able to take it after making that decision in my mind.

 

Here is some back story of my battle against depression/anxiety and the war I went to with getting off this medication. In high school I struggled immensely with anxiety. I would have panic attacks almost everyday and missed a lot of school because of it. Shortly after graduating I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder/depression and told I had a chemical imbalance from a psychiatrist that I was seeing and would need an antidepressant (paroxetine) to fix this imbalance. I trusted the psychiatrist as this is what they are educated to do. Never once was nutrition ever mentioned, this will make sense later in my story. Things did get a bit better. I no longer had this terrible anxiety and could function better out in public. So this led me to believe the doctor was right and that I needed medication to function as I was told I had a chemical imbalance. 

 

Over time I slowly slid into a deeper depression and struggled with sleeping. I went to my family doctor and he said to just take sleeping pills. So I took sleeping pills to sleep. I now know this was insomnia caused by the medication. I continued my life and took my antidepressant for multiple more years before I had a health condition pop up. In 2011 I was diagnosed with having erythema multiforme. The E.R. doctor told me it was from an allergic reaction to penicillin. I believe it was caused from long term antidepressant use. It was the most painful thing I have ever experienced at that point in my life. I had a full body rash that was the itchiest thing you could imagine and every time the rash hit a joint I was unable to bend that joint. It was terrifying and painful as could be. It lasted around 2 weeks. 

 

Here is a reference pic before any of these health conditions. 

 

 

I don't remember the exact time frame on this. But it was in the 2013-2015 range. I was feeling way better and decided that I didn't need my AD anymore. So I cold turkey'd. All hell broke loose and I literally went crazy and was uncontrollable. All my anxiety symptoms came rushing back and nothing but pure rage for everything in the world. I reinstated and everything slowly returned back to medicated normal. I tried this twice with cold turkeys, I failed hard both times. The third time I spoke with my psychiatrist and he suggested doing a taper of 3 months @ 25% per month. I made it about 1 month and had to reinstate because the "original symptoms" were too strong, which I now know were withdrawals from coming off the medication. Once again this just supported the psychiatrist's theory of the chemical imbalance and I was like okay I guess I'm on this medication for life. 

 

Late 2014 to early 2015, I was having trouble swallowing food. My tonsils were so swollen. I ended up getting a tonsillectomy in 2015. Yet another random health condition that popped up out of the blue. I blame this excessive inflammation on the medication I took long term.

 

Fast forward to late 2015.... I started losing my hair. I ended up going to a dermatologist and he diagnosed me with alopecia. This sucked. I went into a further depression.

 

 

After recording this video I immediately changed my nutrition to a paleo diet. I saw regrowth on my scalp(not full growth though). The results slowed down and I stopped eating paleo and my condition got worse. 

 

 

I ended up losing all my hair on my scalp and was feeling the worst I had felt in my life and slid into a deeper depression. 

 

 

 

I was not feeling like my current psychiatrist was helping me. So I asked my family doc for a referral to another psychiatrist. I got an appointment a few months later. I went to it and it just so happened there was two psychiatrists in the room. At first I was like yes! Multiple opinions!  I told them I was feeling suicidal and thought about it constantly. They both agreed that this was a normal feeling and everyone feels like this at times. This was the point where I realized I was not going to receive the help I needed to get through this from these doctors. It is not normal to feel like this and absolutely ridiculous that the trained professionals can say that. I now know this was caused by my antidepressant. 

 

Shortly after this all happened my alopecia was progressing. It was going from alopecia areata to alopecia universalis. I was slowly coming to terms with having no hair on my scalp and knew I could not handle losing my eyebrows and facial hair. I lost 50% of my leg and arm hair. This is the point when I looked myself in the mirror with tears rolling down my face and said I will never let myself be this depressed again in my life. I had no idea how I was going to do it at that time. But I made myself a promise and I refused to break it. I had some success with nutrition changes when I did the paleo diet a few years prior. So this is where I started reading more on nutrition. 

 

So after doing that I started reading a lot on people who had reversed autoimmune conditions and how they did it. There were two main contenders I found. A) ImmunoSuppressants B)Nutrition changes. I refused to be on another drug. I thought I needed to be on an antidepressant for life, like hell I was going on another drug for life with all the side effects associated with it. So I chose nutrition changes. In October of 2018 I started The Plant Paradox by Dr.Gundry! In 6 weeks I felt the best I had ever felt in my life. This gave me the confidence to attempt another taper. So I went back to my original psychiatrist(I was still going to him as I needed prescription refills). He suggested the 3 months at 25% per month. I agreed....I just trusted the doctor for tapering as I knew nothing about it at this time. This is where the hardest year of my life is about to begin.

 

It took almost 5 years and a lot of pain, a lot failing and a lot of learning. But I grew my hair back after being told I would just have to learn to live with it from doctors. I thought this would be the hard part....not the case. Getting off of my antidepressant was.

The first drop from 20 mg to 15 mg was not bad. A slight headache. I stayed at 15 mg for 30 days.

 

The second drop from 15 mg to 10 mg was much harder. This is when I started reading forums and found so many struggles of what people were going through and truly how hard it is to get off of these drugs. I had fevers, cold shakes(I would have a hot bath 3-4 times a day to stay warm), headaches were picking up in intensity, fatigue was starting to happen daily and insomnia. I stayed at 10 mg for 30 days

 

The third drop was from 10 mg to 5 mg absolutely wrecked me. I had even worse insomnia, lightning bolts in my visions, headaches got worse, I was unable to focus, fatigue was even more crushing(I was sleeping 14-16 hr days), cold shakes, tinnitus, vertigo, light sensitivity(I was wearing sunglasses at night it was that rough) and lagging vision ( I would turn my head and know my head was moved but by eyes were still seeing the image from 5 seconds before). I stayed at 5 mg for 15 days. 

 

I added another drop in here.... because I was suppose to go from 5 mg to 0 mg but I felt so awful and panicked so I went to 2.5 mg for 15 days with all the same symptoms. I know this is way too fast of a taper now. I did not know at the time as I was just following my doctors instructions. 

 

CONTINUED BELOW           ↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓↓

 

 

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by ChessieCat
reformatted link to intro topic and bolded

[Cocopuffz17]

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST

 

YAYAYAY! Now I was at 0..........Not so fast. This is where the real challenge came for me. A few days later I felt absolutely awful. I would puke all day. I combated it by using tums. I actually had knew this might happen as I had a conversation with a friend and she said that they prescribe the same drugs to dogs and if they come off them too fast they puke. Low and behold I started puking my guts out. But it gave me time to think.... why would my body want to puke all of a sudden. An increase in pH level of my stomach acid. So I used tums to neutralize this spike and it was the only day I had to, thankfully! What I learned is this drug acts like a PPI's (proton pump inhibitor)  Mine being suppressed for over 4000 days and now being able to function normal increased my pH too much and that is why I started puking. I wish I would of had pH tests done on my stomach acid pre/post to see the results.  I had roughly a 2-3 month window of feeling well after this. 

 

After that "Honeymoon" period I got crushed by symptoms. Post acute withdrawals I could barely function and these hit way harder than the acute withdrawals I had. This is when I joined SA as I thought I would never get through it. But I kept leaning on the success stories and that people went through and got through it! For over a year from May 2019 to May 2020 roughly. I got absolutely crushed. I experienced every symptom on the list minus brain zaps. My muscles would twitch randomly, vertigo, anxiety, depression , flu like symptoms, tinnitus(all day), headaches(all day), complete loss of libido,fire going through my veins, terrible nightmares,suicidal ideations, blurred vision, inability to focus, anhedonia, metallic taste in my mouth, crushing fatigue, my skin would shed at excessive rates, brain fog(I literally could not add 2 + 2 in my head), loss of memory and hallucinations. These symptoms came and went, cycling for over a year. 

 

 

This picture is from January of 2020. I was getting smashed with headaches/tinnitus on and off for over a year. The further I got away from my last dose the more spaced out they became. These two symptoms and fatigue were the ones that pushed me to the absolute limit. They would not stop, but there was zero chance I was letting this get the better of me. They are almost gone now!!!  I listened to 1000's of hours of motivational videos on youtube. They are what got me through this constant onslaught of headaches/ringing ears. I would turn the music louder so I couldn't hear my ears ring and this was my relief. 

 

I am a Journeyman Electrician by trade and I was unable to go back into that field at this time as I could not bear the challenge of having to make critical decisions. I ended up taking another job for 55% of the pay for almost the entire year as I healed. I am very fortunate that I was able to work while going through this as I know many aren't and I can see exactly why. I was so close to quitting my job and living off money I had saved up and if it got worse I would of used my line of credit and lived off of it till I was capable of working again.

 

 I told myself 1 year I can make 1 year and ill get through this. I hit one year and was feeling way better than when I made that original statement. So now I tell myself 2 years. I took my last dose ever of this poison on February 12, 2019. I am just past 17 months and every month I feel better than the last and symptoms just keep dropping off the list. When I was in the worst pain of my life I never thought this was possible. Do not listen to your mind, you will get through this. Feed your mind positive thoughts and your body healthy foods. The window and waves pattern is exactly how I healed. At the start the waves were way longer than the windows. This slowly but surely reversed its tide. I now have way more windows than waves. I am not 100% as I still get headaches and tinnitus. These happen very little compared to when I had them 24 hrs a day for many months. I only dreamed of feeling this well a year ago. It is now reality 

 

Coming off of this medication made me realize how much a zombie I was on it. I was unable to cry or feel emotions except extreme rage. Since coming off of it. I am now able to cry  I get goosebumps from certain situations in life now which is amazingly refreshing .  I can now look at other human beings and see their emotions and understand what they are feeling. I was such a zombie that I did not feel anything different when someone was crying or smiling. The best way I can describe it is I was on autopilot and was so damn close to being this way for my entire life. So all these health conditions that pushed me to my mental limit are truly a blessing in disguise as it forced me to get off this poison and finally feel real emotions again. I can now be out in nature and feel connected to the world  

 

I always had masseuses/physiotherapists ask me to relax and not be so tense. I did not know any better that my muscles were always contracted from this medication and it was a struggle for my body to heal with my muscle being contracted all the time and limited blood flow to go in to the muscles. Another big one was the clotting of my blood. My blood would not clot while on the medication. Now it clots normal after coming off of it. All these subtle things that I did not notice as I was so zombied on the medication but were little signs I wish I knew to look for.  

Yes,  I am angry that I had to go through this. But anger does no good. I want to help as many people as I can. I know for a fact I would of not been able to get through it without this forum! 

 

After all these health conditions, blood tests, surgeries and numerous doctor visits not one doctor even considered it being the medication. They all knew I was on it. These drugs are extremely powerful and very challenging to get off of. You can do it though, I am proof! 

 

Keep pushing your best days are ahead of you!! The past is there for you to learn from! If you dwell on the past you will never enjoy your future. Always remember everyday that passes is one day closer to being healed   

 

I love you all! You will get through this! Never stop smiling!!! 

 

Edited July 17, 2020 by ChessieCat
added continued from previous post

[Patti2057]

You are truly an inspiration. Thank you for sharing your incredible story. What you suffered through is a travesty however, you using that now to help others is a blessing.  For myself, and I am sure also for many others, you have given me hope and strength to keep pushing through. 🙏🏻💖🙏🏻

[mustafa]

Wooooooow, you did it coco, finally did it 😂😂.

Iam very happy for this and for u.

Congratulations for everything and,

ENJOY YOUR LIFE.

[Hanna72]

What an awesome read💖 You are a true inspiration and a Paxil survivor💪 This post gives so much hope to all of us. Thank you for sharing, and enjoy your new med free life🙏

[Frogie]

Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉

 

What an amazing story.

 

Thank you so much for sharing!

 

Now on to a better/happier life for you😊

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

 

[Longroadhome]

@Cocopuffz17

 

well done Coco I’m  very  proud of you!

yet another Paxil survivor!!!

how much do you attribute the Plant P diet to your success  ? 
and do you still remain on it ? 
 

[Cocopuffz17]

14 hours ago, Patti2057 said:

You are truly an inspiration. Thank you for sharing your incredible story. What you suffered through is a travesty however, you using that now to help others is a blessing.  For myself, and I am sure also for many others, you have given me hope and strength to keep pushing through. 🙏🏻💖🙏🏻

 

Thank you  Yes, you will get through it! It may not feel like it at times, but it will happen. All the best to you  

 

4 hours ago, mustafa said:

Wooooooow, you did it coco, finally did it 😂😂.

Iam very happy for this and for u.

Congratulations for everything and,

ENJOY YOUR LIFE.

 

Thanks Mustafa! I appreciate it a lot! I look forward to reading your success story soon as well! 

 

2 hours ago, Hanna72 said:

What an awesome read💖 You are a true inspiration and a Paxil survivor💪 This post gives so much hope to all of us. Thank you for sharing, and enjoy your new med free life🙏

 

Thank you! That is exactly why I am sharing it. I relied on the success stories of others when I did not think I could take anymore. They are what kept me going in the really dark days. You are welcome have a great weekend! 

 

1 hour ago, Frogie said:

Congratulations 🎉🎉🎉

 

What an amazing story.

 

Thank you so much for sharing!

 

Now on to a better/happier life for you😊

 

Take care,

 Frogie xx

 

 

Thanks! I could of not done it without the help of everyone on this forum  I appreciate the kind words  

40 minutes ago, Longroadhome said:

@Cocopuffz17

 

well done Coco I’m  very  proud of you!

yet another Paxil survivor!!!

how much do you attribute the Plant P diet to your success  ? 
and do you still remain on it ? 
 

 

Thanks!

If I were to a put a % on it I'd say in the high 80%'s. I had tried in the past and was incapable of getting off of paroxetine. When I switched to that lifestyle I felt soooo good that I knew I could get off of paroxetine. I have been around 98% compliant now for close to 2 years. But every single time i slipped and ate non compliant foods I would get a spike in WD's, sometimes even so bad they would trigger a wave for weeks. I was fortunate that I started the lifestyle before tapering as then I knew what my pre-taper baseline was. After reading that Dr.G's book I completely changed my outlook on how I view nutrition. Essentially, I got way better results by reading a book and learning from it than I did with over 7-9 years of doctor appointments and $1000's of out of pocket expenses. Now I supplement everyday and have for about 20 months.

[Amira]

Thank you for sharing your story @Cocopuffz17

Congratulations and enjoy your life 🎉🎊

[Sheera]

Congratulations!!  ❤️❤️

[trenace]

I really like that you posted pics lol. I'm having a rough day so far and its cheered me up ☺. You're a legend!

[Cocopuffz17]

On 7/18/2020 at 12:27 PM, Amira123 said:

Thank you for sharing your story @Cocopuffz17

Congratulations and enjoy your life 🎉🎊

 

Thank you. It is the very least I could do after all the help I received from this forum. 

 

20 hours ago, Sheera said:

Congratulations!!  ❤️❤️

 

Thanks  

 

7 hours ago, trenace said:

I really like that you posted pics lol. I'm having a rough day so far and its cheered me up ☺. You're a legend!

 

 The saying goes one picture is 1000 words. That stinks, you will get through it and have many great days ahead! 

[sunnysideup69]

Gonna take time later to read your story, but first wanted to say, thank you so much for sharing good news. It's really important to be able to read about healing. Well done, dude!

[nick1990]

So stoked for you bro! 

[Armorall]

Congrats Cocopuffs. You are always a shining light on the forum. I admire you for your fortitude and consistent positivity. You've helped me and I'm sure many others with your stories and encouragement. I'm glad you're feeling so much better! Your improvements are huge! I'm always inspired to stick to a good diet and exercise after reading anything from you. 

[Melissa5000]

That was a bumpy ride!

 

Thank you for sharing your story!

 

I also enjoy dr Gundry on you tube and I am reading his books after you told me about him. I recently bought dr Gundry's : The longevity paradox.

I'm not sure if it will help with withdrawal pains for me. But I am very interested in a healthy diet to stay healthy till a ripe old age as dr Gundry says.

 

I am so happy for you that you improved so much!

[Cocopuffz17]

17 hours ago, sunnysideup69 said:

Gonna take time later to read your story, but first wanted to say, thank you so much for sharing good news. It's really important to be able to read about healing. Well done, dude!

 

You are welcome  Absolutely it is, it got me through the dark days. 

 

12 hours ago, nick1990 said:

So stoked for you bro! 

 

 Thanks

 

2 hours ago, Armorall said:

Congrats Cocopuffs. You are always a shining light on the forum. I admire you for your fortitude and consistent positivity. You've helped me and I'm sure many others with your stories and encouragement. I'm glad you're feeling so much better! Your improvements are huge! I'm always inspired to stick to a good diet and exercise after reading anything from you. 

 

Thank you, I really appreciate your kind words! I am glad you found strength in my words! Yes, nutrition/exercise are key! I attribute a massive amount of success to my nutrition changes. 

 

47 minutes ago, Melissa5000 said:

That was a bumpy ride!

 

Thank you for sharing your story!

 

I also enjoy dr Gundry on you tube and I am reading his books after you told me about him. I recently bought dr Gundry's : The longevity paradox.

I'm not sure if it will help with withdrawal pains for me. But I am very interested in a healthy diet to stay healthy till a ripe old age as dr Gundry says.

 

I am so happy for you that you improved so much!

 

It sure was! I got really good at steering around the potholes   

 

You are welcome!

 

I read that book a few months back and started doing 48 hr fasts and found that helped a lot!  I am sure it will help you. Yes!!! I love that saying! 

 

Thanks  Have a great day! 

[Malon]

Hey @Cocopuffz17,

congratulations and many thanks for sharing your success story with us and thanks for your encouraging words!
I think you put a lot of effort in it and also very brave of you to share your photos and videos with us.

After how much time your hair began to regrowth? I lost many hairs in the last1.5 years (I have androgenetic alopecia). So I hope some hair will regrowth as well. Hair loss gives me additional depression as well 😕
I also took Paxil and struggling mainly with a lot of fatigue and tiredness.  I wished more people would know how much damage this drugs can cause.
I also think food is very important. I recently started a vegan diet.

 

On 7/18/2020 at 12:57 AM, Cocopuffz17 said:

 

(..) I hit one year and was feeling way better than when I made that original statement. So now I tell myself 2 years. (...)

 

 

 

Thats exactly the same thought that I had


All the best! 👍

[Cocopuffz17]

6 hours ago, Malon said:

Hey @Cocopuffz17,

congratulations and many thanks for sharing your success story with us and thanks for your encouraging words!
I think you put a lot of effort in it and also very brave of you to share your photos and videos with us.

After how much time your hair began to regrowth? I lost many hairs in the last1.5 years (I have androgenetic alopecia). So I hope some hair will regrowth as well. Hair loss gives me additional depression as well 😕
I also took Paxil and struggling mainly with a lot of fatigue and tiredness.  I wished more people would know how much damage this drugs can cause.
I also think food is very important. I recently started a vegan diet.

 

Thats exactly the same thought that I had


All the best! 👍

 

Thank you  I thought long and hard about sharing it. But it would be selfish of me to rely on other peoples success story's for my own healing and then when I get there not do the same thing to help others. 

 

I experienced regrowth of vellus very rapidly. These are white and very thin. Before I thought this was bad... but this is the first stage of regrowth. Over the next year my hair gained more and more pigment each month and grew thicker. I have all the photos of that as well. I know exactly how you feel with getting more depressed because of hairloss. You can get through it and grow it back. Look what I did. 

 

The fatigue and tiredness will get better... I used to think it never would. I was so drained I could not do 1 pushup. Now I can do many everyday! 

 

Awesome! How do you feel with changing nutrition? 

 

All the best to you as well  

 

 

[composter]

Wonderful to read your success story!! I’m also a big advocate of nutrition. It’s such a crucial piece to overall health, preventing diseases, and also to providing nourishment through the assault of ADWD. 
 

You’re right—often reading books and educating yourself on health and nutrition can be invaluable and way more helpful than a doctor visit.

 

Would be neat if we could come up with nutrition recommendations or protocols for folks going through ADWD. The tricky thing is to actually make nutrition recommendations it’s recommended you have a degree and training in nutrition. I’m actually in school right now for nutrition (it’s a dietetics program) but I feel I have so much knowledge already and could help the community in this way. 
 

I’m curious, what were the main recommendations you followed? I know it was mainly to remedy the alopecia but I’m sure they’re good nutrition recommendations in general. 

[Cocopuffz17]

15 minutes ago, composter said:

Wonderful to read your success story!! I’m also a big advocate of nutrition. It’s such a crucial piece to overall health, preventing diseases, and also to providing nourishment through the assault of ADWD. 
 

You’re right—often reading books and educating yourself on health and nutrition can be invaluable and way more helpful than a doctor visit.

 

Would be neat if we could come up with nutrition recommendations or protocols for folks going through ADWD. The tricky thing is to actually make nutrition recommendations it’s recommended you have a degree and training in nutrition. I’m actually in school right now for nutrition (it’s a dietetics program) but I feel I have so much knowledge already and could help the community in this way. 
 

I’m curious, what were the main recommendations you followed? I know it was mainly to remedy the alopecia but I’m sure they’re good nutrition recommendations in general. 

 

Thank you  It was extremely challenging but things are looking way up! 

 

Absolutely, I got better knowledge from reading books than I did in over a decade of doctor visits. 

 

That it would be. I know I would of not been able to get off of this medication without nutritional changes.

 

The elimination of lectins or drastically reducing them in my diet. They are the self defense protein in plants. They wreak havoc on our gut walls and promote leaky gut, which leads to a whole plethora of heal issues as you have seen with me. I follow the Yes/No list by Dr.Gundry and will continue to follow it. 

[composter]

11 minutes ago, Cocopuffz17 said:

The elimination of lectins or drastically reducing them in my diet. They are the self defense protein in plants.

Lectins are found in higher amounts in legumes, grains, and nightshade vegetables. Do you avoid all of these?

 

How about sprouting or soaking your grains and beans to reduce lectin content...have you tried this?

 

Interesting... I was not familiar with this Yes/No list by Dr. Gundry so I looked it up. It appears he recommends somewhat of a keto or paleo-type diet with few starches, high-fat oils, fish, meat and specific fruits and veggies. Surprised to see things like squash and quinoa on his No list. This is all rather specific but I’m glad it worked for you. 
 

As far as nutrition recommendations go, I would think general guidelines that could apply for anyone would be things like:

- eat whole, unprocessed foods and reduce processed foods (fast food, frozen food, high sugar/corn syrup foods)

- consume plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables daily

- eat nutrient dense foods whenever possible to meet nutrient needs — leafy greens are a great example of this like kale and cruciferous veggies which are also high in calcium and other micronutrients. 

- for protein, consider foods that are also high in omega-3s that can boost brain health such as fatty fish, grass-fed or pastured meats, and walnuts and chia seeds

- be aware of food sensitivities or foods that can increase inflammation such as dairy products, gluten, sometimes soy and foods high in phytic acid like legumes and grain products.

 

What do you think?

[Cocopuffz17]

8 hours ago, composter said:

Lectins are found in higher amounts in legumes, grains, and nightshade vegetables. Do you avoid all of these?

 

How about sprouting or soaking your grains and beans to reduce lectin content...have you tried this?

 

Interesting... I was not familiar with this Yes/No list by Dr. Gundry so I looked it up. It appears he recommends somewhat of a keto or paleo-type diet with few starches, high-fat oils, fish, meat and specific fruits and veggies. Surprised to see things like squash and quinoa on his No list. This is all rather specific but I’m glad it worked for you. 
 

As far as nutrition recommendations go, I would think general guidelines that could apply for anyone would be things like:

- eat whole, unprocessed foods and reduce processed foods (fast food, frozen food, high sugar/corn syrup foods)

- consume plenty of colorful fruits and vegetables daily

- eat nutrient dense foods whenever possible to meet nutrient needs — leafy greens are a great example of this like kale and cruciferous veggies which are also high in calcium and other micronutrients. 

- for protein, consider foods that are also high in omega-3s that can boost brain health such as fatty fish, grass-fed or pastured meats, and walnuts and chia seeds

- be aware of food sensitivities or foods that can increase inflammation such as dairy products, gluten, sometimes soy and foods high in phytic acid like legumes and grain products.

 

What do you think?

 

I avoid all those and have for almost 2 years. The only grains I have are sorghum and millet, both have no lectins. 

 

You can do this to beans and pressure cook them to reduce it and it works well. In grains it does not work well. 

 

I did a paleo diet for 13 months and only ate fruits,veggies and meat. I had very little success as commercially raised meat is garbage. It is fed corn/grains and is pumped full of antibiotics. I have not ate fruit or meat like this in a long time and I feel amazing. 

 

I agree with some of those. But a lot of veggies are bad because they contain lectins. Fruit is too high in sugar and causes issues. I noticed whenever I ate higher containing sugar foods my withdrawals would spike. I love that his list is so specific and that I can keep to it and if I try to incorporate new foods I know exactly what one is causing the issue.  

[composter]

Hmm that’s interesting! With nutrition we can’t necessarily make one-size-fits-all recommendations so I’d be wary of saying that the dietary changes you made would be ideal for others. But I’m glad they really helped you and I’ll look into the book a bit more. 
 

In general I think the best we can hope for and encourage other people to do is to eat real foods and greatly reduce processed foods high in sugar, salt, etc. 

[Cocopuffz17]

On 8/9/2020 at 9:56 PM, composter said:

Hmm that’s interesting! With nutrition we can’t necessarily make one-size-fits-all recommendations so I’d be wary of saying that the dietary changes you made would be ideal for others. But I’m glad they really helped you and I’ll look into the book a bit more. 
 

In general I think the best we can hope for and encourage other people to do is to eat real foods and greatly reduce processed foods high in sugar, salt, etc. 

Absolutely, I know individuals who have great success with completely different strategies! I just kept failing till I found something that worked really well for me. 

[Longroadhome]

@Cocopuffz17

 

hi Coco

hope everything still going well for you on the recovery front  

 

I am 4 days into the plant paradox diet the easy plan one. 
did you find you felt sick when starting it at all ? 
im finding I’m feeling queasy and not hungry to eat it 

also when did you start to notice changes? 

I’ve  has hives for a year wd related I think as I never had them before .  And although much better Over the course of the year,, I don’t take any medication like when it first came on ( after two courses of antibiotics) I would like to

see if I can get rid of it permanently. 
I also have hair loss and breakage quite severe. 

How do you cope sourcing and prepping the food it takes so long to do? 
 

 

thanks Coco great success story Only the very brave  quit the “beast” !!!!! Im

proud of you !!!! 
 

[Cocopuffz17]

5 hours ago, Longroadhome said:

@Cocopuffz17

 

hi Coco

hope everything still going well for you on the recovery front  

 

I am 4 days into the plant paradox diet the easy plan one. 
did you find you felt sick when starting it at all ? 
im finding I’m feeling queasy and not hungry to eat it 

also when did you start to notice changes? 

I’ve  has hives for a year wd related I think as I never had them before .  And although much better Over the course of the year,, I don’t take any medication like when it first came on ( after two courses of antibiotics) I would like to

see if I can get rid of it permanently. 
I also have hair loss and breakage quite severe. 

How do you cope sourcing and prepping the food it takes so long to do? 
 

 

thanks Coco great success story Only the very brave  quit the “beast” !!!!! Im

proud of you !!!! 
 

Hey it has been going well! 
 

I felt awful when I started. The first 3 days were worse than some withdrawal days. Cold turkeying sugar kicked my butt. That sounds exactly like me. I didn’t eat much for a week and slowly gained my appetite back. It took about a month before I felt good! 
 

I keep my meals very very simple. I use a ton of extra virgin olive oil, a mix green salad from Costco it’s organic, organic guacamole pods, I pop sorghum and rotate broccoli, cauliflower and a few other veggies. Whenever I feel like I have low energy I crank up my oil intake. I’m around 1 L a week and now I started adding organic coconut oil. 
 

Thank You! I would of not have been able to do this without this amazing forum! I hope all the best to you!! 😊

[Longroadhome]

15 minutes ago, Cocopuffz17 said:

Hey it has been going well! 
 

I felt awful when I started. The first 3 days were worse than some withdrawal days. Cold turkeying sugar kicked my butt. That sounds exactly like me. I didn’t eat much for a week and slowly gained my appetite back. It took about a month before I felt good! 
 

I keep my meals very very simple. I use a ton of extra virgin olive oil, a mix green salad from Costco it’s organic, organic guacamole pods, I pop sorghum and rotate broccoli, cauliflower and a few other veggies. Whenever I feel like I have low energy I crank up my oil intake. I’m around 1 L a week and now I started adding organic coconut oil. 
 

Thank You! I would of not have been able to do this without this amazing forum! I hope all the best to you!! 😊

Thank you for your reply 😊

[Hellbutrin]

4 hours ago, Cocopuffz17 said:

Hey it has been going well! 
 

I felt awful when I started. The first 3 days were worse than some withdrawal days. Cold turkeying sugar kicked my butt. That sounds exactly like me. I didn’t eat much for a week and slowly gained my appetite back. It took about a month before I felt good! 
 

I keep my meals very very simple. I use a ton of extra virgin olive oil, a mix green salad from Costco it’s organic, organic guacamole pods, I pop sorghum and rotate broccoli, cauliflower and a few other veggies. Whenever I feel like I have low energy I crank up my oil intake. I’m around 1 L a week and now I started adding organic coconut oil. 
 

Thank You! I would of not have been able to do this without this amazing forum! I hope all the best to you!! 😊

Hi Coco,

 

I got a lot of encouragement from reading your success story. Can you tell me what symptoms are left over for you now? How did you sleep with the tinnitus? This is my newest symptom and it's driving me absolutely crazy. I look forward to hearing back from you, thanks!

[Cocopuffz17]

1 hour ago, Hellbutrin said:

Hi Coco,

 

I got a lot of encouragement from reading your success story. Can you tell me what symptoms are left over for you now? How did you sleep with the tinnitus? This is my newest symptom and it's driving me absolutely crazy. I look forward to hearing back from you, thanks!

Hey!

 

That is great! This is exactly why I share my story. I get headaches/tinnitus still. Not constantly but on and off during the day, very mild compared to what it was. It's a cake walk now. I took a lot of melotonin at the start and with it lessening I was able to just adjust and sleep with it without the use of melotonin. You are welcome  

[elbee]

Thank you for sharing your success story, @Cocopuffz17 -- wow, such a courageous journey!

 

What you wrote about emotionally coming back to life really resonates with my experience in recovery, too. As you say, getting under the anger/rage and feeling sadness / grief was transformative.

 

On 7/17/2020 at 6:57 PM, Cocopuffz17 said:

 

Coming off of this medication made me realize how much a zombie I was on it. I was unable to cry or feel emotions except extreme rage. Since coming off of it. I am now able to cry  I get goosebumps from certain situations in life now which is amazingly refreshing .  I can now look at other human beings and see their emotions and understand what they are feeling. I was such a zombie that I did not feel anything different when someone was crying or smiling. The best way I can describe it is I was on autopilot and was so damn close to being this way for my entire life

 

I too love feeling goosebumps in life again . . . it feels like a little boy's heart in me is being touched ❤️

 

I wish you the best in your continued healing and moving forward courageously through life!

[Cocopuffz17]

12 hours ago, elbee said:

Thank you for sharing your success story, @Cocopuffz17 -- wow, such a courageous journey!

 

What you wrote about emotionally coming back to life really resonates with my experience in recovery, too. As you say, getting under the anger/rage and feeling sadness / grief was transformative.

 

 

I too love feeling goosebumps in life again . . . it feels like a little boy's heart in me is being touched ❤️

 

I wish you the best in your continued healing and moving forward courageously through life!

 

You are welcome! It was tough but necessary to get back to a happy life! 

 

Yes, I feel like I was reborn. Absolutely, I had to go through this to realize that there is so much more to life. 

 

It is great to feel emotions again! It is awesome! 

 

I wish the exact same to you as well! You story is powerful and you are stronger for going through it! You will thrive on the other side! 

[Malon]

Hey @Cocopuffz17

I think you recovered quite fast. Do you still have waves?

 

[Cocopuffz17]

4 hours ago, Malon said:

Hey @Cocopuffz17

I think you recovered quite fast. Do you still have waves?

 

Hey, absolutely I do. They are much much more manageable now. I made massive changes to my nutrition which I attribute the faster recovery to. Whenever I slip from my nutrition I have a flare up in symptoms and it reminds me to get back on track. 

[Hanna72]

Hey coco, I have a question for you.

Do you still have anxiety, and also do you think that your nutrition keeps it in place or is it all about time? Much appreciated 🙏

[Cocopuffz17]

On 9/2/2020 at 3:44 AM, Hanna72 said:

Hey coco, I have a question for you.

Do you still have anxiety, and also do you think that your nutrition keeps it in place or is it all about time? Much appreciated 🙏

Hey! I get it from time to time. No where near what it was and I notice it a lot more when I eat unhealthy, highly processed foods. Time definitely helps with letting your body heal but being coupling it with nutrition is what got me through this!