lindamorellato: feeling of impending doom

[hippopotamus]

http://recoveryfromschizophrenia.org/about-ron-unger/

 

 

This is a very important scientific article that clearly describes how the relapses that people experience when they start to taper off their antipsychotic medication, dont have to mean they're really schizophrenic. For me personally, this is a must read. The only drawback is that it might be to scientific for some people.

http://psychrights.org/Articles/Moncrieffe2006medhypdrugred.pdf

 

 

Fpr more balanced info on psychiatric drugs, as well as some initial help for starting to taper off in a as safe as possible way: http://willhall.net/comingoffmeds/

 

http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-alternatives/nondrug-schizophrenia

 

http://www.moshersoteria.com/

 

http://akmhcweb.org/recovery/rec.htm

 

For information on the toxicity of neuroleptics (For me personally, this contains some very distressing information):

http://www.neuroleptic-awareness.co.uk/

 

Psychrights contains hundreds of scientific articles that contribute to a much more honest and hopeful approach of serious mental problems. This can be a good source of information when you want to have scientific material that counters the prevailing regular grim view of psychiatric problems. http://psychrights.org/index.htm

 

 

This should give you a start. If I come up with some more great links, I'll let you know.

 

Also, you might want to introduce your friend to this very forum!

[hippopotamus]

And feel free to contact me about this subject if you want to. Also if you feel your friend isnt served well with the links I gave you.

[lindamorellato]

Thank you. I'll start reading. I may see him in February or March.

[Altostrata]

Excellent post, hippo. Would you consider starting a topic in our Events, Actions, Controversies forum about schizophrenia?

[hippopotamus]

Ofcourse!

[tezza]

http://kipcentral.wordpress.com/2013/01/29/children-learn-what-they-live/

 

Hi Linda, I thought you might like this article.

 

Hope you have a great day!

[lindamorellato]

What is a hormone panel? I mean what hormones are tested? If things are "off" does this mean more mind bending drugs? I was diagnosed with PCOS in 2009 after I had weaned off lexapro and trazadone (too quickly I might add becaue i didn't know what harm it would cause) SO I was drug free the doc wanted to put me on spiranalactone for my excessive facial hair. I said no freaking way I didn't like what I saw in the side effects. So I continue to get laser hair removal. That however, doesn't fix the PCOS. WHat does? HELP?

 

Another thing, I read on the tapering page last night someone said to take a nail file and file once on the pill for the first week, file twice on the pill for week two and so on. Has anyone found this to be successful? Thank you.

[Altostrata]

You might want to discuss hormone testing and PCOS in online PCOS forums, where people will know a lot more about it.

 

The nail file method is very inaccurate. It's easy to lose track of what you're doing.

[lindamorellato]

This is a cut and paste. Dr. Fuhrman is a highly regarded doc of medicine who believes that nutrition heals. He does all in his power to help his patients get off their medications. I don;t recommend all the things he says as in light thereapy but his nutrition plan is great.

 

 

 

Dr. Fuhrman’s prescription for

natural treatment of depression:

 

• Morning light therapy. Light deprivation, common in the winter, can disrupt circadian rhythms and neurotransmitter production. In the winter, bright light therapy can be an effective substitute for natural sunlight — it corrects the body’s clock and stimulates mood-elevating neurotransmitters. Bright light therapy is effective for treating seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and has been found to be just as effective as antidepressants for treating depression.1, 2

• Vitamin D. Vitamin D is thought to regulate mood by affecting daily biorhythms and serotonin production. Reduced exposure to sunlight during the winter also means less natural vitamin D production by the skin.3 Low circulating vitamin D is associated with SAD and major depression.4,5 Studies of subjects with depression have found that vitamin D supplementation produces an improvement in symptoms and feelings of well-being.6,7

 

• High dose omega-3 fatty acids. DHA and EPA play important roles in the brain, and low omega-3 intake is associated with depression. DHA is an important structural component of brain tissue, and a recent meta-analysis revealed that EPA is the more important omega-3 fatty acid for improving depression symptoms.8 Dr. Fuhrman recommends DHA plus 1,000 mg EPA per day for depression. Fish oil has traditionally been used for this purpose, but a vegan alternative has now been developed. This vegan, yeast-derived EPA supplement can be taken along with DHA+EPA Purity for depression, and is now available on DrFuhrman.com.

 

• High-nutrient diet. Nutrition is extremely important for regulating mood. High antioxidant intake from colorful fruits and vegetables helps prevent oxidative stress, to which the brain is highly susceptible. Markers of oxidative stress are associated with a higher incidence of depression.9 Low intake of folate, present in green vegetables, also correlates with depression.10, 11

• Regular exercise. Exercise is known to be as effective as antidepressant drugs or cognitive behavioral therapy for improving the symptoms of depression. Exercise increases production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of well-being, which is often low in individuals suffering from depression. In fact, antidepressant drugs most often work by increasing the amount of serotonin in the brain. Aerobic exercise plus strength training works better than aerobic exercise alone, and yoga is also effective.12-15

 

The combination of all of these approaches increases the likelihood of success, providing people suffering from depression with a safe, natural, and effective alternative to antidepressant drugs.

[lindamorellato]

possibly he still is in the dark about low serotonin causing depression. I do find whrn I am doing his Eat To Live plan, i feel a whole lot better. It's a struggle to eat all the fruits and vegguies daily and beans and such, but he has proof of helping his patients. He wants poeple to be off medications will bad side effects of at all possible.

 

Linda

[Skyler]

You might find this of interest. Also, the Harvard healthy eating plate.

 

Veggies Rule!

[lindamorellato]

Cool. Thank you.

[Altostrata]

Other than

 

Exercise increases production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter associated with feelings of well-being, which is often low in individuals suffering from depression.

citing the serotonin-imbalance theory, which is nonsense, this is pretty good advice.

 

A note -- often people suffering withdrawal symptoms find strenuous exercise to exacerbate symptoms. Gentle exercise, like walking, is better in these situations.

[lindamorellato]

I agree with you. He's wrong about the chemical imbalance thing. Did you read the book The Emperors new drugs? Where they ran studies on people with depression, they increased serotonin and that didn't seem to do much, they raised neuropinefrin (can't spell worth a darn) that didn;t help so much, then they actually gave a drug that lowered Serotonin and that did not even make patients that were Not depressed, depressed. So that shot that theory in the foot.

[lindamorellato]

I don't want to get all excited but could this be a good thing happening? This is the first time in about a year that the few days before that time of month, I haven't had terrible terrible hot flashes? I think some of what was happening last month was the withdrawl from Lexapro. Could that be? It was horrendously uncomfortable. This month, 5 weeks without lexapro and I only had a few flashes this week. I'm actually afraid to hope. Please,please let me be getting better. At least a little relief from the sweats of going off Lexapro.

[Altostrata]

What medications are you taking now? (Please update your signature.)

[lindamorellato]

I have to take a few to figure out how to do my signature again.

 

I reinstated a small dose of lamictil one week ago. I feel good tonight as it's that ime of the month as of today. Last week was terrible but tonight I feel great. I get and have always had horrible PMS. That has not changed on AD or off. I hate PMS.

 

Off lexapro since Dec. 28th

50 MG seroquil

12.5 mg of lamictil

[Wingbatty]

Your story makes me so sad. And so mad at the people who were supposed to love you the most.

 

Growing up I was also not allowed to have emotions or opinions. I wasn't adopted, but I remember very well going to college and being away finally and realizing for the first time that I had no idea what my style of clothing was, even what my favorite color was or what kind of music I truly liked.

 

I married a very opinionated & stubborn man and in many ways this has helped. He likes it when I argue, am animated, have an opinion. During times when I've just gone along because of the meds numbing me out, he hasn't liked it. It's been a process, learning what I really think.

 

Your story struck such a chord with me on so many levels. I am very sensitive but it was beaten out of me as a kid (literally). My daughter is very sensitive and I've agonized over the balance between teaching her to control herself but not feel as if those feelings are "bad".

 

The fact that you were adopted has nothing to do with it. Sensitive people turn up in all families. We're an important part of the world. We keep people from just steam-rolling over others. We remind people what's important. We're the thoughtful, kind element in the world that balances all the rude ambition and meanness.

 

The world couldn't do without us.

[Wingbatty]

I have to take a few to figure out how to do my signature again.

 

I reinstated a small dose of lamictil one week ago. I feel good tonight as it's that ime of the month as of today. Last week was terrible but tonight I feel great. I get and have always had horrible PMS. That has not changed on AD or off. I hate PMS.

 

Linda, my PMS was always horrendous - I find out now that I have had PCOS all this time, and my body was struggling every month with the hormones.

 

So your situation may be different. But after I was done having kids I had a Mirena IUD inserted for long-term birth control. What I found was that it controlled my roller-coaster hormones and mood swings, hot flashes, etc. Birth control pills always made me into a lunatic, but my IUD is a miracle.

[lindamorellato]

I wonder if this an option for me? I am 45 I don't know if I can do this. I took the pill for 13 months and like you it was like 30 days of PMS, in addition to migraines every two weeks. Could not deal with it.

[Altostrata]

linda, how have your symptoms changed since you started taking 12.5mg Lamictal?

[lindamorellato]

Nothing ever works for my PMS. No AD, no moodstabilizer and no antipsychotic. I don't feel too much different with the 12.5 but i am going to continue to take it. It's only been 9 days at 12mg. I was put on all three due to the side effects of the AD setting me over the edge and into the psych unit by Me (before I knew about this stuff). The AD caused me to become so agitated that I was afraid I would hurt myself without constant monitering. NO ONE WOULD listen to me. They said my suicidal thoughts were because I was really sick. The badgered me into taking the mood stabilizer. After two weeks on the unit, scared as hell I agree to the anti psychotic after fighting it for years (this was my third hospitalization). My gyno. said, concerning my PMS, that she would put me on the same drugs as the psychiatrist and that she wouldn't test me for any hormonal imbalance.

I need a new gyno. I feel that the medical industry has LET ME DOWN. I want off all the meds. As long as it takes I want off them. I don't know what to do about my PMS, it's been the bane of my existence since I was 15. I was tested by my regualr doc in 2009, when I asked him to please help me uncover my pms issues, facial hair, excessive weight, extreme fatigue. That's when I was diagnosed with PCOS. The answer was a drug. In 2009 I was finally off drugs from my 2007 last hospitalization and I wanted no more drugs. Thank you for asking. I have completely given up on any help for my PMS. I've tried diet, exercise,vitamins,AD,Antipsychotics,mood stabilizers, birth control pills(that made it even worse). Nothing is going to help.

[Altostrata]

I am thinking that small amount of lamotrigine might have helped with this:

 

I don't want to get all excited but could this be a good thing happening? This is the first time in about a year that the few days before that time of month, I haven't had terrible terrible hot flashes? I think some of what was happening last month was the withdrawl from Lexapro. Could that be? It was horrendously uncomfortable. This month, 5 weeks without lexapro and I only had a few flashes this week. I'm actually afraid to hope. Please,please let me be getting better. At least a little relief from the sweats of going off Lexapro.

 

[lindamorellato]

Yes. with the hot flashes. Maybe that is what worked. But I still want off them. Is that Ok to say here. I just want to be me. Every single month I speak out of control, say things I don't mean and embarass myself at work and at home. It's been like this since I was 15. I don't know what to do short of locking myself in my house. Does this mean I'm bi=polar. I don't beleive it at all. As soon as I get my period my mood shifts. Like clockwork. Each and every month once I get my period I say next month I'm going to get it under control but it never happens. I have to remind myself each month that things seem terrible 11 days before my period. I get completely paranoid and sad and feel terrible about myself. I can't stand noise or people around me. Please I don't want to hear that I am mentally ill. I truly think it's my hormone shifts.

[Skyler]

Yes. with the hot flashes. Maybe that is what worked. But I still want off them. Is that Ok to say here. I just want to be me. Every single month I speak out of control, say things I don't mean and embarass myself at work and at home. It's been like this since I was 15. I don't know what to do short of locking myself in my house. Does this mean I'm bi=polar. I don't beleive it at all. As soon as I get my period my mood shifts. Like clockwork. Each and every month once I get my period I say next month I'm going to get it under control but it never happens. I have to remind myself each month that things seem terrible 11 days before my period. I get completely paranoid and sad and feel terrible about myself. I can't stand noise or people around me. Please I don't want to hear that I am mentally ill. I truly think it's my hormone shifts.

Linda, I had severe PMS for 20 years. I used all of my sick time taking the last 2 or 3 days off every month. The cycle would go as follows.. perfectly fine for 23 days, starting with the first few hours of menses, then almost to the hour, 5 days before menses was due again, I'd get wired. Want to chew anyone's head off, terrible difficulty concentrating. I'd let work pile up because everything would get screwed up when I tried to function.. in all truth, it was less onerous to complete tasks once menses began. So I'd sit at my desk, and answer the phone.. write down what I needed to do, and try to exist for the next two days doing as little as possible in the interim. Then sometime half way through, at 2.5 days my body would cycle down, down, down... so tired. I was no longer wired, instead I felt literally soggy, soused. I had to stay home from work for a couple of days because the fatigue was so overwhelming. Then, when my period started again (back to day one) normality would return within an hour or two, and the whole cycle would begin again.

 

Linda, listen to your body and take whatever course involves the least grief. I'm not sure how you got the idea you were bipolar, or why you are now having such a difficult time divesting yourself of this notion. NO you are not, but you do have severe PMS (I would have chosen bipolarity over the hormonal issues!!). Far as I can tell, about 5% of the female population is in the same fix. I'm older than you are, and there were no hormonal treatments other than birth control pills, but the 'cure' is the same.. wait until your cycle starts.

 

Hope this helps some..

 

Skyler

[lindamorellato]

Thank you skylar no one has ever told me their symptoms and they are the same as mine. Even my hand writing changes in the 10 days before my period. Once my period is about to start, It gets neat again, I can make all my phone calls at work, I can pay bills, talk to people all around me in a civil way. The week before I want to run away I get so tired I can barely get out of bed in the mornings. I never thought of using a vacation day. If I could, i'd come back as a man and get to experience life with no severe hormonal shifts. I wish to God there was a cure. I feel like I have lost my credibility at work. I am so embarassed by my behavior. Thank you for your post.

[Skyler]

I feel like I have lost my credibility at work. I am so embarassed by my behavior. Thank you for your post.

I don't know if you are in a situation that will permit this, but I simply told folks I worked with what was going on, and as long as I could hold my own with the same overall output, they left me alone. People did not then pressure me to produce when I felt like the proverbial drunken sailor. I'd would just catch up when it was possible for me to do so.

 

I went thru some though times before making peace with myself however. People thought I was nuts, but I soooo looked forward to menopause, and to this day, am not sorry!!! Glad I was able to validate the way you feel. PM me if you want to discuss this further.

 

PS.. one of the reasons I took sick time was because driving was so difficult. Behind the wheel.. not so good.

 

EDITED at 5PM

[Altostrata]

Linda, I suggested a low dose of lamotrigine because I thought it might soften your withdrawal symptoms, not because I thought you needed it for a psychiatric disorder.

 

You'll be able to taper off the lamotrigine, too, after a while.

 

Many people experience exacerbation of withdrawal symptoms at various times in the menstrual cycle. Perhaps lamotrigine reduced your hypersensitivity to the symptoms slightly.

[lindamorellato]

I feel the lamotrigine may have helped the sweating and hot flashes. The thing is, were the hot flashes from a hormonal shift or coming off the lexapro so fast and the lamotrogine too fast as well. Either way I am so glad to have had a one month reprieve from the incredible hot flashes. Thank you for being so supportive altrostrada, thank you so much. I am still just so angry at what happened to me the past 11 years off and on ad and other meds. I can't go back, I can change the past no matter how much I wish i could. I wish I could have known that all these years my family telling me and treating me like I am fragile and incapable of living a good life. I struggled all along with no help from them or support just them subtly sabatoguing me. Telling me I couldn't cope. Meanwhile I hold a full-time job, two chldren, one of whom has a medical condition(hemophlia A) that I have to manage. They could not cope with what i cope with or do what I do yet they had to tear me down. It breaks my heart. I know it is pointless to ruminate. I feel with the "mentally ill" lable there is always that mindset. I don't see how I can get past that. I have not told my Mom or brother I am wearning off my meds. They think i'll go crazy.

[Jemima]

After thirteen plus years of being a psychotherapist, I don't believe there is any such thing as "mental illness". It's mainstream medicine's way of saying 'We're too busy, greedy, and/or ignorant to figure out what's really wrong, so we'll just say you're crazy, drug you up, and hope you go away'.

 

It's very likely that some sort of hormonal problem is causing your severe PMS and going on and off psychiatric drugs has compounded the problem. I had pretty bad PMS when I was younger, getting really depressed and irritable for some days before the main event. Periomenopause was even worse, especially since I was going though an unusually difficult time otherwise. At 67 I'm past all that, and good riddance to it.

 

I ended up on an antidepressant (Lexapro) because my cholestrol was far too low (134) after taking Lipitor for some time. I appeared to be clinically depressed, but I'm convinced I was not. Then I was hospitalized and got the whole drug cocktail: Pristiq, Remeron, and Ativan laced with various experimental additional drugs. Remeron made me feel like I had the flu all the time, so after leaving the hospital, I tapered off with no problems, likely because I was stoned on Pristiq. My GP disliked Pristiq and was agreeable to switching me over to Lexapro, but once I realized what had happened with the Lipitor, quit taking it, and then retired a few months later, Lexapro was way too stimulating and I "tapered" off 10 mg. from September to mid-December of 2011. I went through months of hell in withdrawal and to this day I'm not sure if what I experienced while tapering was a form of chemically induced mania or the beginnings of withdrawal. I'm not at all sure reinstating would have helped. All of this to say that mainstream medicine has let down many, many people.

 

I'm sorry you've had to go through all of this. Hang on - things will get better.

[Altostrata]

Sweating and hot flushes are common withdrawal symptoms which may have added to your natural tendency to get them monthly.

 

It's a good sign lamotrigine has helped your withdrawal symptoms a bit. Think of it as a tool to get you safely away from the other drugs. It's important you have as good a quality of life as possible while you recover from all that over-drugging.

[lindamorellato]

Thank you all. I just want to hear that I'm going to come out ok on the other side a whole, loving wife and mother. You are really helping me thatnk you.

[lindamorellato]

Does PMS really end with Menopause? I had someone told me three years into menopause they still get monthly shifts just like PMDD. I can't take that!

[Skyler]

Does PMS really end with Menopause?

YUP! Mine did at any rate. Happily, issues with PMS do not fore shadow problems in menopause.. or so I have read.. Outside of some nuisance issues with hot flashes, my experience was uneventful.

 

had someone told me three years into menopause they still get monthly shifts just like PMDD. I can't take that!

I can't speak to this, and there have to be some of us who are unfortunate enough to have significant issues with both PMS AND menopause. But this should not be common.

 

Skyler

[lindamorellato]

I know this is probably not the place but what is menopause like? I can;t ask my mother because she is one of the reasons I've been incorrectly treated for depression when it was her very essence if being that was why I sought help. I just need another woman not my age to tell me some stuff about it.

[Skyler]

I know this is probably not the place but what is menopause like? I can;t ask my mother because she is one of the reasons I've been incorrectly treated for depression when it was her very essence if being that was why I sought help. I just need another woman not my age to tell me some stuff about it.

Linda, you need to do some reading. Have you done a search on Amazon, just enter menopause?

 

A good beginner book on women's health is Our Bodies Ourselves.

 

Skyler