☼ Imac: protracted WD survivor

[Petunia]

Hi imac,

I just caught up with your thread again.  Thank you for continuing to post about your recovery journey, its helping a lot of people and its giving me more hope too.  I relate to many of your symptoms and even though I've recovered somewhat, I've still got a way to go.  When you describe something exactly like what I'm experiencing, but then say it went away, its like a huge light at the end of a dark tunnel turns on.  Talking of tunnels, I like your picture too 

 

A couple of questions.  Are you able to tolerate fish oil again yet?

 

What's your experience of exercise been like?  I've been having problems with it for various reasons, but keep trying.  Its been similar to my experience with many supplements, seeming to help for a while, but then turning on me.

 

I hope you had a pleasant weekend. 

[imac]

Oh dear, imac. I don't want to feed anyone else's obsessions! I've researched the phytic acid subject for some years now and have incorporated some findings into my food/prep & diet. This is just me. There is a ton of information about this out there on the web. I personally have experienced great benefits to my digestion from soaking & dehydrating grains,nuts & some seeds. It was one change I mastered when I had a few windows. Anyway, I can include some links that give the long version and shorter version of the concept.

 

Long version:  http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/living-with-phytic-acid/

 

Short version: http://wholelifestylenutrition.com/recipes/appetizers-snacks/is-soaking-nuts-necessary-how-to-properly-soak-your-organic-raw-nuts/

 

But plug in your own searches and you will find plenty others. 

 

I have to be careful with my own research into healthier eating choices and my attempts to implement them. In my condition (which parallels yours a lot) I can drive myself nuts (ha ha) trying to eat or do anything better. Before I found this site, I lived in if-only land a LOT. If only I followed this diet or that diet just right, if only I soaked, or sprouted or fermented just right. If only I did GAPS or Paleo or Vegan. If only I found the right naturopath or nutritionist who could help me figure out what I'm missing. It was all my attempts to grasp at a lifeline out of all these horrible symptoms I was living with. Whew, what a relief to finally relax and know that this stuff isn't going to auto-correct with all my frantic scramblings to implement any one protocol.

 

Now I'm going to try to be a bit less obsessed about it all. Yes, I plan to do my best with diet & lifestyle, but I feel like it's all falling into a better perspective for me. I cannot tell you how much this site has helped with that. I'm out of town this weekend and want to reply to some of your previous posts here when I get back and can carve out some time for that. What you have shared has been of great value to me. But I did want to get back to you about the nut question before too many more days passed.

 

Hope you're having a good weekend.  -- Chia

I had a good weekend. Thanks chia!

OMG Chia, we have done the same obsessional things in WD. I've lived every diet, I've been scared to eat so many things and have changed so many things in the thick of WD, always looking for ways to feel better or scared I've eaten something that made me worse. Especially going vegan made me feel horrible. I've juiced, I've tried paleo, I've made homemade kefir, homemad cultured veggies and the list goes on. I've been diagnosed and then undiagnosed celiac by a gastro specialist who just said " I have no idea if you're celiac or not. Go eat what you want". For the most part now what works for me is eating gluten free and sugar free. I mainly eat whole healthy fresh foods. It still doesn't take WD away but at least physically I feel better.

Thanks for the links re: soaking raw nuts. I did not know this. And YA may possibly try it too. Lol. I don't like the taste of raw nuts. Maybe this will help. So i can soak a whole bag of nuts then dehydrate them by baking them in the oven? What do I do, put the nuts back into a bag after and they're good to eat anytime? Do they need to be eaten by a certain timeframe after soaking them? Or refrigerated?

[imac]

Hi imac,

I just caught up with your thread again.  Thank you for continuing to post about your recovery journey, its helping a lot of people and its giving me more hope too.  I relate to many of your symptoms and even though I've recovered somewhat, I've still got a way to go.  When you describe something exactly like what I'm experiencing, but then say it went away, its like a huge light at the end of a dark tunnel turns on.  Talking of tunnels, I like your picture too 

 

A couple of questions.  Are you able to tolerate fish oil again yet?

 

What's your experience of exercise been like?  I've been having problems with it for various reasons, but keep trying.  Its been similar to my experience with many supplements, seeming to help for a while, but then turning on me.

 

I hope you had a pleasant weekend.

 

Thanks Petu. I had a good weekend. I hope you did too.

As for the omegas, I just bought a new bottle a few weeks ago. Very low doses ( my last one was a one a day from a health food store and it epa/dha were very high). I'm very cautious with starting then again so I want to start low. I have taken one yet because low and behold my head symtoms have returned. I won't be able to gage if they're making me worse while I have these symptoms. But I'm on stand by to try them once again. I'll let you know how that pans out. I did try taking them again last summer in my wave but I feel it made my head symotoms worse. I was also taking that really high dose. My plan is to start by taking ine every days, work my way to one everyday in that low dose and once the 3 month supply runs out, step up to the next daily dose. I'm going to take it really slow.

I am also making kefir again but haven't taken any. I'm hesitating. I was taking it for 3 months last year before I hit a horrendous acute wave that crippled me and lasted about 3 months. There were other things I was doing at the same time which may have affected me ( making cultures veggies and juicing and doing detoxes all at the same time). But the kefir really raised my B12 levels, I stopped my cravings for any junk food and it actually balanced my hormones. My menstrual cycles totally went back to normal with no PMS what so ever. Kefir is loaded with amino acids though so I may have over done it. It really sucks that all these healthy things for a normal person may be a detriment to us.

As for excercise, im with you there. I can exert. Then I can't. Then I can. Then I can't. I can go from walking 5km briskly an feeling great to not even being able to walk around my block without becoming so weak and shakey and dizzy and nauseous for days. Sadly I hate Winter and i don't get outside much as of late. But my Theory with the vitamins and excercise is that when we hit certain types of Windows, our bodies seem to tolerate normal things. Then when a wave hits, it all goes out te window therefore we feel like we no longer tolerate the same things. Oh, it's all such a crap shoot isn't it. We have to keep on keepin on!!

[WiggleIt]

Imac, you can walk??? I remember reading that you had trouble with your legs at one point. Mine jerk out from under me if I walk even half a block, and it induces episodes of jerking all over the rest of my body.

 

Can you please tell me a little more about your legs? (That's my new pick up line!)

[imac]

Imac, you can walk??? I remember reading that you had trouble with your legs at one point. Mine jerk out from under me if I walk even half a block, and it induces episodes of jerking all over the rest of my body.

Can you please tell me a little more about your legs? (That's my new pick up line!)

Nice pick up line

Yes I can walk. I always could for the most part. At times I had major jerking and muscle spasms in my legs but I could walk. I was scared though that I would fall over or my legs wouldn't keep moving. A few times Id misstep like I would be walking and all of a sudden my leg just wouldn't take another step forward. It felt like my brain was telling my leg to move but it wasn't moving. Back in Novemeber I thought I was Doing fine and we had a big snow fall. I went out and shovelled my driveway and then spent the next 4 days on the couch because it revved my system way up. I was very shakey and weak in my legs and the dizziness and Nausea wouldn't go away for days.

These things can be VERY frightening. We just have to keep reminding ourselves we have injured brains that are slowly healing. Don't be hard on yourself the days you can do less. Just Resign on those days to take it way more easy. Back in acute I spent ALOT of time in the couch. I never stayed in bed all day but I only made it as far as the couch.

[chia1214]

 

I had a good weekend. Thanks chia!

OMG Chia, we have done the same obsessional things in WD. I've lived every diet, I've been scared to eat so many things and have changed so many things in the thick of WD, always looking for ways to feel better or scared I've eaten something that made me worse. Especially going vegan made me feel horrible. I've juiced, I've tried paleo, I've made homemade kefir, homemad cultured veggies and the list goes on. I've been diagnosed and then undiagnosed celiac by a gastro specialist who just said " I have no idea if you're celiac or not. Go eat what you want". For the most part now what works for me is eating gluten free and sugar free. I mainly eat whole healthy fresh foods. It still doesn't take WD away but at least physically I feel better.

Thanks for the links re: soaking raw nuts. I did not know this. And YA may possibly try it too. Lol. I don't like the taste of raw nuts. Maybe this will help. So i can soak a whole bag of nuts then dehydrate them by baking them in the oven? What do I do, put the nuts back into a bag after and they're good to eat anytime? Do they need to be eaten by a certain timeframe after soaking them? Or refrigerated?

 

Imac - I'm similar now too, mostly gluten & sugar free but I don't flip if I have either occasionally. Yes, wd may not go away, but I too, feel better physically for all the effort I have put into trying my hand at the healthier eating. I soak about 16 cups of nuts at a time (1 T salt per 4 c nuts) for at least 7 hours (can soak up to 24) I dehydrate them in my Excalibur dehydrator, the idea is to not go over 150F or the enzymes get destroyed and the nuts are no longer a raw "live" food. So since I have the dehydrator, I use that. Then I put them in jars and refrigerate them, as recommended, so they don't go rancid. You can freeze them too. No stressing allowed though, if you never do this at all, moderation in all things! I was sad when I was too despondent to even continue making my kefir a couple months ago, but I had to let it go. I know I can go back to it some time.

[Petunia]

That's a good idea imac, about taking the fish oil only every few days to start with.  Every time I tried it before, I took it every day, and was ok for about 2 days, but usually on day 3, my symptoms would amp up, the same with most of the supplements which have gone bad on me, apart from B vitamins, they kick in right away.

 

You are stuck inside because its winter and too cold, I'm stuck inside because its summer and too hot...hurry up spring for you and fall for me

[chia1214]

Hi Imac! Speaking of obsessions, just wondering, have you read any on the histamine-intolerance thread? I probably should NOT have read it, since now I'm going, hmmmmm, wonder if THAT would be of benefit? But to try it, I would have to give up my lovely almonds. Horrors! What's your main sources of protein? Do you have to prepare food for others, or just yourself? Hope you're having a good day. I'm 3 hours from the Canadian border, feel like we're neighbors, but of course Canada is a very big place. 

[imac]

Hi Chia,

Nice to hear from you!

I have beat you to it on this one. I did the whole 'histamine' obsession a year ago. lol It did absolutely nothing for me ( I basically starved myself).

What I have observed over the years in WD now, is that  when I am in a window I can tolerate just about anything. When I am at baseline (baseline for me is the middle of a window and wave where I sit most of the time. This baseline gets better after each bad wave and good window for me) or a wave this is when all my tolerances go out the window. I hear many people saying they could tolerate something at first and then not. I wonder if they have hit some kind of wave, as this has strongly been the case for me (even with exercise) I was in a wave when I eliminated histamines and I only got worse. (perhaps drastic change in diet?). At this point, I finally can see that we all chase the magical cure (How can we not want to, we feel like hell). I have tried the Histamine diet, 5htp, Gaba, Gluten free, sugar free, paleo, Juicing, Kefir, Fermented veggies, Kombucha, coconut oil, Omegas, Vegan (that nearly blew my brains out), high protein and the list goes on.... lol (pretty obsessive, huh) and I have come to the conclusion that all we require is time and to just eat healthy. For myself I have chosen to eat gluten free and sugar free (white sugars). This has worked best for me ( and forces me to eat only whole foods) because I generally feel better eating this way (even in windows and waves). I was diagnosed Celiac when I was tapering by blood work and then undiagnosed with a biopsy. The Gastro specialist couldn't figure out my complex and weird behavious on my testing so he threw his hands up in the air. Hmmmm, I've always smelled wd there too!! But to be safe (because my mom has an autoimmune disease and sister died of one) I eliminate gluten from my diet. I also feel better when I don't eat processed food (which contain sugar). I think anyone not ever taking psych meds would also benefit from eliminating these things from their diet. My daughter has never touched meds and she notices a huge difference when these are eliminated for her as well.

As for proteins, I eat everything. My iron is on the low end so I try and eat red meat 1-2 times per week, chicken, fish, eggs, nuts, beans, lentils, seeds...... I try and limit nuts (except almonds) and seeds as I have found to get worse probably due to high content of tryptophan (especially walnuts and pumpkin seeds).

I do obsess and worry about my health a lot because I cant tolerate vitamins and minerals (except iron and mag) and I just want to restore and replenish my body after 5 years of wd (only being off meds for 3.5 years though). I also find I cant even walk for exercise unless I am in a window due to autonomic issues.

One thing I do notice though, I feel better when I eat good amounts of protein at each meal. This could have something to do with majorly crashing on a Vegan diet. Something about animal proteins helping our nervous system.

 

If you are from Bangor, Maine (I've been there, it's beautiful), then its not my border. I am near Niagara Falls!!

[chia1214]

Hi Chia, Hi Imac! 

Nice to hear from you! You too, thanks for getting back to me!

I have beat you to it on this one. I did the whole 'histamine' obsession a year ago. lol It did absolutely nothing for me ( I basically starved myself).

I suspected as much, which is why I posed my question to you! 

What I have observed over the years in WD now, is that  when I am in a window I can tolerate just about anything. When I am at baseline (baseline for me is the middle of a window and wave where I sit most of the time. This baseline gets better after each bad wave and good window for me) or a wave this is when all my tolerances go out the window. I hear many people saying they could tolerate something at first and then not. I wonder if they have hit some kind of wave, as this has strongly been the case for me (even with exercise) I was in a wave when I eliminated histamines and I only got worse. (perhaps drastic change in diet?). What exactly do you mean when you say you can't tolerate something? Do certain symptoms return, or emerge for the first time, or do you feel physically sick, etc? I'm seeing a lot about tolerances on this site. I find it amazing that some people post about being so sensitive they can tell if one fish capsule throws them off. Maybe I've been so mentally out of it all these years that I'm completely out of touch with my physical self! Don't get me wrong, I'm not going looking for things, and I'm grateful I haven't had many of the physical issues I've read about here. I just don't know how one would know how something like too much of a say, B vitamin, could be overstimulating or cause some difficulty. I've never had hives, or headaches, or rashes, or joint pain, those kinds of things. Which I find amazing, since I've fought this war for almost 40 years. But I guess when you're younger, you're more resilient. 

At this point, I finally can see that we all chase the magical cure Oh that's me! (How can we not want to, we feel like hell). I have tried the Histamine diet, 5htp, Gaba, Gluten free, sugar free, paleo, Juicing, Kefir, Fermented veggies, Kombucha, coconut oil, Omegas, Vegan (that nearly blew my brains out), high protein and the list goes on.... lol (pretty obsessive, huh)  No, not at all, I can add more to that list!  and I have come to the conclusion that all we require is time and to just eat healthy. For myself I have chosen to eat gluten free and sugar free (white sugars). This has worked best for me ( and forces me to eat only whole foods) because I generally feel better eating this way (even in windows and waves). I was diagnosed Celiac when I was tapering by blood work and then undiagnosed with a biopsy. The Gastro specialist couldn't figure out my complex and weird behavious on my testing so he threw his hands up in the air. Hmmmm, I've always smelled wd there too!! But to be safe (because my mom has an autoimmune disease and sister died of one) I eliminate gluten from my diet. I also feel better when I don't eat processed food (which contain sugar). I think anyone not ever taking psych meds would also benefit from eliminating these things from their diet. My daughter has never touched meds and she notices a huge difference when these are eliminated for her as well.

As for proteins, I eat everything. My iron is on the low end so I try and eat red meat 1-2 times per week, chicken, fish, eggs, nuts, beans, lentils, seeds...... I try and limit nuts (except almonds) and seeds as I have found to get worse probably due to high content of tryptophan (especially walnuts and pumpkin seeds). Interesting. I guess I don't know what my baseline is yet. I still feel like I'm mainly guessing at what I should and shouldn't eat, based on what research I've done over the years. I do stay away from gluten grains and sugar too, it just seems to make sense to me right now and is at least one less physical stressor to put on myself.

I do obsess and worry about my health a lot because I cant tolerate vitamins and minerals (except iron and mag) and I just want to restore and replenish my body after 5 years of wd (only being off meds for 3.5 years though). I also find I cant even walk for exercise unless I am in a window due to autonomic issues.   What happens? I'm not familiar with the term "autonomic" yet, so will have to look that up. I did go off to an osteopathic doctor recently to have some basic blood work done, but don't know how much credence to put into some of the results. I trust some basics, like levels of different vitamins and thyroid, etc. but don't know how to judge alleged deficiencies in say, amino acids and such. He's a functional medicine practitioner, I walked away from the AMA M.D. who used to be my primary. But I still don't want to get hoodwinked and don't know how much $ to throw in this direction. I find I'm drawn to some work done by Walsh, (Mensah Medical) I see some folks here have explored that. I was looking into that before I found this site. It may be I'm still grasping for answers and might do better just to chill, and let my w/d pattern of recovery play out. Again, a lot of this is still so brand new to me.

One thing I do notice though, I feel better when I eat good amounts of protein at each meal. I think I notice that too, as much as I have been able to notice any differences. This stuff really has been so bad in my head over the years, it's been hard to single any one thing out. But I would always try things hoping it would help the brain. This could have something to do with majorly crashing on a Vegan diet. Vegan didn't work out well for me, either did the all raw diet. I was starving all the time and sometimes it seemed like it took me over an hour to chew a raw veggie salad. Made my jaw sore! Something about animal proteins helping our nervous system. 

 

If you are from Bangor, Maine (I've been there, it's beautiful), then its not my border. I am near Niagara Falls!! Oh, I love the falls! Been there a few times. My parents honeymooned there. I don't actually live in the town of Bangor itself, it's just the closest large town/city to where I am. I'm in a very rural location. I debated about putting my location that close, for anonymity reasons. I'm wondering if I shouldn't change it just to Maine. I'd like to be open about some of my experiences, especially if it can help someone in any way. But I also know many in my circle of family and friends know absolutely nothing of the intensity of the horror I've lived through, and I don't know if I want them to know, let alone to find it out online.

[chia1214]

Chia again - I just went back through your thread and realized I found a lot of answers about your symptoms just-re-reading your posts. You can answer some of my above questions again, if you want, but I don't want to take up your time if you'd rather skip what I can pull out of your thread. 

 

I associate you with almonds now, not that I'm saying you're nuts,   and I think I remember you mentioning you don't really like the way they taste. There are a couple ways I eat them besides plain, which you may like. One, I simply make them into almond butter. I love just smearing a dab or two (or 3 or 4) onto apple slices or a rice cake. I make the almond butter by tossing a couple cups of the nuts into my food processor for 10-12 minutes (has to run that long for the heat to release the oils and make it really creamy, otherwise you just get a crumbly meal). Super easy.

 

The other way I recently prepared them is by stirring them in a fry pan (lightly coated with a cooking spray or I use coconut oil if not using a non-stick pan) with maple syrup for 3-5 minutes on med heat. Mine is done by 4 minutes, you can tell if it looks like it starting to smoke too much or starting to appear burned. But don't worry, it won't be, just be sure to take it out of the pan right away if it gets to that point. Basically the recipe is:

 

2 cups nuts (any kind really, and any combo)

1/4 c maple syrup

1/4 c salt

1/4 c cinnamon (optional)

 

Over med heat, stir the nuts constantly with a flipping spatula until they glaze over.

Pour them onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and spread out to cool completely.

 

Store in airtight container, if they last long enough to store.

 

They are a bit of a sweet treat, but I find them to be a nice occasional change and hubby loves them. You can also mix them in with the plain ones for a treat.

 

Anyway, didn't mean to turn into Rachel Ray, just thought of you with the almonds. 

[Altostrata]

lmac, I added our cheerful "here comes the sun" symbol

☼

to the title of your Intro topic, to show you're recovering.

Please continue to let us know how you're doing. I hope you will add your story to our Recovery Success Stories eventually!

[Nathalou]

Oh imac thank you for this inspirational post. I am myself in the depths of a zoloft WD that hit me 2months after i stopped a too rapid taper. I have reinstated at 5 months bit not seen improvement. Will now do a slow taper.

I wanted to ask you if you also suffered from joint/muscle pain and tingling in arms/hands/legs? It's very disturbing to me. Oh and the headsymptoms you spek about, i have them all aswell; stabbing knife-like pain, swollen head feeling, sore feeling, pressure,... Oh the joys. I appreciate you posting your recovery!

[imac]

Chia again - I just went back through your thread and realized I found a lot of answers about your symptoms just-re-reading your posts. You can answer some of my above questions again, if you want, but I don't want to take up your time if you'd rather skip what I can pull out of your thread. 

 

I associate you with almonds now, not that I'm saying you're nuts,   and I think I remember you mentioning you don't really like the way they taste. There are a couple ways I eat them besides plain, which you may like. One, I simply make them into almond butter. I love just smearing a dab or two (or 3 or 4) onto apple slices or a rice cake. I make the almond butter by tossing a couple cups of the nuts into my food processor for 10-12 minutes (has to run that long for the heat to release the oils and make it really creamy, otherwise you just get a crumbly meal). Super easy.

 

The other way I recently prepared them is by stirring them in a fry pan (lightly coated with a cooking spray or I use coconut oil if not using a non-stick pan) with maple syrup for 3-5 minutes on med heat. Mine is done by 4 minutes, you can tell if it looks like it starting to smoke too much or starting to appear burned. But don't worry, it won't be, just be sure to take it out of the pan right away if it gets to that point. Basically the recipe is:

 

2 cups nuts (any kind really, and any combo)

1/4 c maple syrup

1/4 c salt

1/4 c cinnamon (optional)

 

Over med heat, stir the nuts constantly with a flipping spatula until they glaze over.

Pour them onto a lightly greased cookie sheet and spread out to cool completely.

 

Store in airtight container, if they last long enough to store.

 

They are a bit of a sweet treat, but I find them to be a nice occasional change and hubby loves them. You can also mix them in with the plain ones for a treat.

 

Anyway, didn't mean to turn into Rachel Ray, just thought of you with the almonds. 

Hey Rachel Ray, I mean Chia! LoL

Apologies for not responding for so long. This recipe looks good. Thank you for letting me know how to make homemade almond milk as well. I've been doing it for weeks now and it works GREAT!

We should start a recipe book on here. Lol

[imac]

Oh imac thank you for this inspirational post. I am myself in the depths of a zoloft WD that hit me 2months after i stopped a too rapid taper. I have reinstated at 5 months bit not seen improvement. Will now do a slow taper.

I wanted to ask you if you also suffered from joint/muscle pain and tingling in arms/hands/legs? It's very disturbing to me. Oh and the headsymptoms you spek about, i have them all aswell; stabbing knife-like pain, swollen head feeling, sore feeling, pressure,... Oh the joys. I appreciate you posting your recovery!

Hi Nathalou,

Wow. Am terribly sorry you are where you are right now. I've been there and it's exhausting and dreadful and scary.

I have suffered from ALL that you've mentioned. In fact it started while in poop out, continued thought switching meds and got better as I tapered down. I did end up doing a fast taper and ct'inch at 12.5 ( please don't do this) and I've had a terrible protracted WD for at least 3 years until I started to see some real improvement. The muscle and joint pains were off and on for about 2 years after meds. Maybe even more. More like almost 3 years. It was awful. It came in waves but then would leave for weeks. Just like that with the snap of a finger, I would go from feeling completely fine ( with the muscles and joints) to feeling like I was 90, couldn't move much. Was in so much pain. It was mainly my hips and knees and feet and then the leg muscles etc. Even at times it was my shoulders and neck. I always felt like I went through the ringer. Stretching didn't help and neither did walking or excericise. My instincts totally told me that it was WD because none of it added up. I was in my 30's so there was no way it was old age. I'm happy to report that I haven't really had any of those types of issues in at least 8-12 months now. I certainly have other kinds of issues still off and on but that's one that hasn't retuned for quite some time. I'm definately still having the head issues. They've returned after finally abating for the last couple of months and they've seemed to morph into different types of sx's with the head than I used to have. Unless this time It just feels more localized because I don't have 100 other symptoms ONTOP as well.

I wish you luck with you taper. Just make to go VERY slow and small amounts.

[WiggleIt]

iMac, did you ever have jerking or wiggling?

[clearday]

Imac, I just read your post on MostlyWater's thread -

 

So glad to hear you are doing well -

 

I remember chatting with you on the other forum, I was "keepbreathing",  

 

Your story inspires all of us -

 

I wish you continued progress -

[imac]

iMac, did you ever have jerking or wiggling?

Hi Wiggleit,

Can you describe the wiggling? Am not sure what you mean by that? As for jerking, yes I had the jerks. Not often and that never scared me but I did get jerks for a couple of years. Id just jump and jerk out of the blue. Bliss John's had severe jerking and spasming for years. She had a tick I think before meds and after she healed from WD even those were much better and tolerable for her.

[imac]

Imac, I just read your post on MostlyWater's thread -

 

So glad to hear you are doing well -

 

I remember chatting with you on the other forum, I was "keepbreathing",

 

Your story inspires all of us -

 

I wish you continued progress -

Clearwater/ keepbreathing. The name sounds so familiar. I can't rememeber your story though. It's nice to hear from you. I'm a little confused. Did you mention on MW's thread that you already went through wd from Prozac and it took 4 years? What compelled you to go back in an ssri?! I presume you're in WD again? Sorry. I'm on my phone and can't see your signature or rememeber your story here. I hope you are well!!

[LoveandLight]

What an amazing story - your free and healing!

 

I'm familiar with how you describe the horror and de realisation - did you have this all day everyday?

[imac]

 

Imac, I just read your post on MostlyWater's thread -

 

So glad to hear you are doing well -

 

I remember chatting with you on the other forum, I was "keepbreathing",

 

Your story inspires all of us -

 

I wish you continued progress -

Clearwater/ keepbreathing. The name sounds so familiar. I can't rememeber your story though. It's nice to hear from you. I'm a little confused. Did you mention on MW's thread that you already went through wd from Prozac and it took 4 years? What compelled you to go back in an ssri?! I presume you're in WD again? Sorry. I'm on my phone and can't see your signature or rememeber your story here. I hope you are well!!

Keepbreathing/ Clearwater, I TOTALLY rememeber you from pp now and your story. I just went to your topic and read some of your posts and I completely recall who you are now. You only joined pp months before it closed right? You were the one who was blown away at finally realizing ( like me) that you were not having nervous breakdowns all those years. It was WD induced.

Good to see you here !!

[imac]

What an amazing story - your free and healing!

 

I'm familiar with how you describe the horror and de realisation - did you have this all day everyday?

Joannad, thanks for your post. You know what? I did have severe DR for almost 3 years straight. It was by far ( along side the constant neuro terror/fear) my worst mental symptom. I truly couldnt function with it and it scared me deeply because it lasted years with no relief other than a few hours here and there. Just when I resigned to it being a permanent fixture it went away just like that. I awoke from that horrible acute wave around 3 years and it disappeared. That was 6 months ago. It did return back in October for a couple of weeks but then left again and since then I've only had the privelage (not) of it's presence for a couple of hours here and there. It's showing the same pattern as many other things now. I only used to have hours of relief from symotoms here and there. Now I only have symptoms return for a couple of hours here and there. Except the autonomic dysfunction and head pressure ( and all that comes with head sx's). These are back and lingering for at least a month now but much milder.

[clearday]

 

Keepbreathing/ Clearwater, I TOTALLY rememeber you from pp now and your story. I just went to your topic and read some of your posts and I completely recall who you are now. You only joined pp months before it closed right? You were the one who was blown away at finally realizing ( like me) that you were not having nervous breakdowns all those years. It was WD induced.

Good to see you here !!

 

 

Yes, you have a very good memory - 

 

You helped me back then, and you inspire me now.

 

Many more good days to you - 

[riley87]

Hi lmac! Good to see you're doing much better! I was schwanke on pp, we messaged each other quite a bit. Wanted to check in with you as I've been enduring some wavey like symptoms and I know our timelines matched up quite a bit. Hope you're well and wish you continued happiness!

[btdt]

imac

 

are you completely healed now and gone?

 

I would love to see an update if you can.

Thanks B

[Cyclone84]

Imac,

 

Are you still around? We would love to hear how you're doing.

[withhopeinmyheart]

Wish you were here to tell us you're healed. 

Thank you for describing how you were frozen in terror. I'm the same and thought I'm doing something wrong... 

[marconyc]

@imac Your story is inspiring. Thank you for sharing it. I still struggle with DP at times, along with a kind of "hyperawareness" of consciousness and obsessions about the "self" as a result of DP. Actually I think the hyperawareness, which is really an anxious response to DP, is much more of a problem than the DP itself. Anyway, it's good to hear that yours resolved even though you figured it was permanent. I tapered off of 150mg of sertraline, was slammed by withdrawal, and was put back on 200mg, where I'm at now. I've been at 200mg for 2 years and I'm still experiencing withdrawal-type symptoms even though I reinstated. When I'm in a window I have a tendency to think, "This is it. I'm never getting back to the person I was."