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ShellyRemade: My introduction. Thinking of avoiding meds all together.


ShellyRemade

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I am 25. I have PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, OCD. I did not know until last year that I was different. I grew up in domestic violence and I am a long term child abuse survivor. I was also molested by a "family friend" as a teenager. I am a recovering alcoholic of ten years, recovering drug addict and recovering sex addict.

I am a born again Christian and was a christian for seven years until I was "filled with the Holy Spirit" last year, finally becoming able to leave my addictions behind.

Now that I know about my mental illness, they want to give me lots of meds.

I am fresh out of the "self medicating" scene though and do not want meds. I have a friend who told me about how anti depressants really messed her up and she is still living life every day, trying to undo the damage. I would like friends, support and definitely information in regards to the meds that are being given out to persons who are like myself..thank you,

Shelly.

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I am sorry you have had such terrible experiences in life.

You do not need one more.

Just say NO !

 

[if you want some info on these poisons then there is plenty here. Read everyones signature.]

Welcome.

Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen

We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. 

URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting  for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing.

http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651   

Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos.

Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you

Recovering paxil addict

None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. 

This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! 

  "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped."  Dr Mosher. Me too! 

Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015

I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015

Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017

 

 

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  • Moderator

Hi Shelly-- welcome to the group.  Sounds like you have quite the tale to tell, congratulations on overcoming it and moving on with your life.  Having gone the self medicating route myself (3 years sober now) and having been on paxil for 23 years now (less than a year left and I'm off for good) I can say that neither of them is a good way to go.  There are much better ways of dealing with things, so don't even get started with psych drugs.

 

The primary purpose of this site is to help get people safely off of these drugs.  There is, however, a lot of good information about them and we represent just about every drug ever made.  Please pick a thread and start reading there is tons to learn.

20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013.

Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks.  The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better.

Final Dose 0.016mg.     Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017

 

"It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general."  Stephen Hawking

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Hi Shelley.

 

No one can or should tell you either to go on this medication or not. The only advise I can give you is to do your research and understand your options. If you do decide to try the meds then that's fine if you make the best decision for you. Just understand the risks and when the time comes to go off, do it safely.

 

If I was you I would try all my other options first to deal with the huge issues that you have faced.

 

Maybe you could also add some high grade fish oil and magnesium supplements. These have helped many of us and there is no reason why they wouldn't also help you.

 

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

 

Ali.

2003 Zoloft for PND. No other Psych history before this.

2009 CT. Huge withdrawal. Voluntary hospital admission. Successfully stabilized on 40mg Prozac.

2012 CT after 2 years of tapering to 10mg. Another Disaster. No hospital admission. Stabilized 40mg Prozac

2014 CT after 2 years of tapering to 5mg. Destabilized but not as bad as previous. Found this site. Reinstated 5mg. Stabilized quickly but held for 6 months.

Feb 2015 4mg Prozac

March 2015 Tramadol for Pain after an OP. Didn’t realize it was an SNRI.

March 2015 3 mg Prozac

April 2015 2.5mg Prozac

May 2015 2mg Prozac

June 2015 Destabilized (After research believe it was delayed withdrawal due to the Tramadol)

July 11th 2015. Updosed to 2.5mg

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Shelly,

I'm a christian too and have found that God has helped me a lot. I really have to thank Him for wisdom concerning these drugs.

 

As a christian you may be interested in this

 

Escape From Anti-depressants

http://defendproclaimthefaith.org/blog/?p=25996

Prozac 1999-2009 quit semi cold turkey.

 

2012 Placed on Seroquel 25 mg, Tranxene (Clorezepate) 3.75 mg 3x a day, Remeron 30 mg for anxiety/akathesia.

 

Weaned off Seroquel and Tranxene .to Remeron 15 Mg.

In May 2014 tried quitting Remeron at its lowest dose. Had severe withdrawals.Reinstated Remeron at 30 mg by doctor. August 5 2014 entered hospital. Doctor pulled the Remeron and bridged it to Pamelor (Nortriptyline) 40mg and Zyprexa 2.5mg.After removing the Remeron all my bad symptoms went away and I am stable.

 

9/11/14 - 7.5 mg tranxene, 40mg Pamelor, Zyprexa 2.5mg

12/29/14 -  20mg Pamelor, 1/6/15,  7/31/15 3.5mg, 8/10/15 3.2 mg, 9/15/15 2.2mg, 10/15/15 1.8mg

(Feb 2016 - 1.4mg Pamelor only -  OFF OF TRANXENE AND ZYPREXA SINCE DEC 2014 BENZO FREE Since 2014. Nortrityline (Pamelor) .8mg Aug 2016

March 2017 DRUG FREE

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I am 25. I have PTSD, Anxiety, Depression, OCD. I did not know until last year that I was different. I grew up in domestic violence and I am a long term child abuse survivor. I was also molested by a "family friend" as a teenager. I am a recovering alcoholic of ten years, recovering drug addict and recovering sex addict.

I am a born again Christian and was a christian for seven years until I was "filled with the Holy Spirit" last year, finally becoming able to leave my addictions behind.

Now that I know about my mental illness, they want to give me lots of meds.

I am fresh out of the "self medicating" scene though and do not want meds. I have a friend who told me about how anti depressants really messed her up and she is still living life every day, trying to undo the damage. I would like friends, support and definitely information in regards to the meds that are being given out to persons who are like myself..thank you,

Shelly.

 

 

Many of those "conditions" that you are describing are just made up stories by the DSMV - and are in reality just behavioral manifestations of your conscious experience here as a human being on planet Earth.

 

I would STRONGLY recommend reading Anatomy of an epidemic:  http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Epidemic-Bullets-Psychiatric-Astonishing/dp/1491513217

 

Before taking any medication.

 

After reading this simple and easy to read and interesting book - I would be interested to see how you feel about all of the drugs the doctors are offering you.

 

I'm so glad that you decided to post here - it's such a wise idea and will save you from long term problems.

 

As for dealing with some of the underlying memories, anxiety, emotional issues, depression, flashbacks, etc - I do not honestly have a simple or straightforward answer for you.  Exercise, diet, and a low stress lifestyle would be the first options.  Psycotherapy or meditation may help.  Unfortunately there really isn't any quick fix - even years in therapy may prove to be ineffective.  But learning to live with the precious and valuable brain that you have been born with, and learning to process the emotions, anxiety etc, without letting it affect your ability to function, etc are the goals of most therapies.  I personally found cognitive behavioral therapy to be quite effective.  Meditation - specifically mindfullness, was exceptionally useful as well.

 

I have to be 100% honest with you about the self medication - and this is just my opinion - but many drugs such as alcohol, pot, etc, are MUCH less dangerous than psych meds.  Drugs are all bad - but some are worse than others - and all psych meds are extremely dangerous and should be a LAST LAST LAST resort.  Please do your research on these drugs by reading the book that I recommended and others like it. 

 

Cheers,

Osk

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There are perhaps some that claim they have had a benefit from these drugs however it is often bought at a very high price – overall more die on these drugs than on placebo, more become dependent on these drugs than on placebo and are now taking many years to taper off (7yrs for some), more become alcoholics on these drugs than on placebo more on these drugs have children born with birth defects than on placebo ( i know of several in my neighbourhood), and have many other side-effects (100,s yet a doctor will not inform you of these, and when they do occur they are called anecdotal, yet pharma have mentioned them in the PIL so you cant sue them) e.g. serious life altering sexual damage.

 

Then when you want to get off the drug you have to endure many terrifying withdrawal symptoms. (Glenmullen has listed 58, none of which i might add will be acknowledged by the medical profession, and if they are they are seriously downplayed and claimed to only last 2-3 weeks yet in reality can last for many years).

 

It would be far better to do nothing than to be exposed to these drugs.

 

Gotzsche has shown that if you wait a week then there is no difference between these drugs and placebo on the Hamilton rating scale (and you don’t have to taper you don’t have possible horrifying sexual damage you don’t have enduring drug induced psychological issues that can last for many years or even indefinitely).

 

Research has also shown that there is good reason to believe that many of those who recover without drug treatment are less likely to relapse in the long run.

[We all know what relapse is- delayed wdl and it is traumatizing and often includes but is not limited to akathisia – a manifestation not found in the natural state- a most dreadful experience and one that I reckon has taken the lives of many because it induces an overwhelming suicidality].

 

“With psychotropic medications you solve one thing for a period of time, but the next thing you know you end up with two problems. The treatment turns a period of crisis into a chronic mental illness.”

Amy Upham 2009.

 

Perhaps no one can tell you not to take these drugs just like no one can tell a pregnant woman not to take thalidomide. However I would have thought someone who was informed has a moral obligation to do so.  I sure wish someone would have told me.

 

“Within one week of taking an ssri a person can be sexually damaged and it can last forever …often the damage is not revealed until after a person comes off the drug.” Healy, Yale Symposium, 2015.

 

Another thing about withdrawal from these drugs and this is coming from my own experience, yet I know I am not alone, is that the brain will turn on you searching your past for any mistakes, misdemeanours, faults that you might have made no matter how small and insignificant, it will then persecute you, terrorize you and crucify you, filling you with guilt and taunting you to move in a self- destructive direction over them. I have lived a fairly sheltered life and yet I found this incredibly unbearable and it took all my strength and then some to survive it. I often thought at times how a person, given a difficult background could possibly have any chance to get through this. Perhaps the person doing a slow taper say five years or so will not experience this torment however my guess is the chance that you would find a doctor who can inform you and execute and monitor a 5-7plus year taper for you would be about the same chance that I have of becoming the president of North Korea. Why open yourself up to the risk of experiencing this.

 

A book i recommend is 'Psychiatric drug withdrawal' by Peter Breggin.

I would invite you to read this first before making a decision.

Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen

We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. 

URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting  for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing.

http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651   

Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos.

Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you

Recovering paxil addict

None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. 

This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! 

  "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped."  Dr Mosher. Me too! 

Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015

I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015

Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017

 

 

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Many one person saved from this torture..

 

Good luck and I'm glad you've found this site :).

2000 - sertraline for job anxiety low confidence (17 years old) ..which turned the next 16 years into nightmare!

 

On/off sertraline severe withdrawals every time. 2014 - felt better as reduced dose of sertraline no more inner restlessness. Doctor rushed off again. Hit severe withdrawal. Lost the little I had in life. Couldn't get stable again on 12.5mg. Was switched to prozac. Had severe reaction to prozac..came off in November 2015 at 6mg as felt more confused and damaged on it..Even more withdrawal ..rage, depression, dyphoria, near constant suicidal ideation, self harm impulses, doom, concrete block in head, unable to do much of anything with this feeling in head..went back on 6mg of sertraline to see if would alleviate anything. It didn't..reduced from December to June 2016 came off at 2.5mg sertraline as was hospitalised for the severe rage, suicidal impulses, and put on 50mg lofepramine which in 2nd week reduced all symptoms but gave insomnia which still have..psych stopped lofepramine cold turkey..no increased withdrawal symptoms new symptoms from lofepramine except persistant insomnia which has as side effect.

 

Taking Ativan for 8 months for the severe rage self harm impulses 1-3 times a week (mostly 2 times a week) at .5mg. Two months (I'm unsure exactly when the interdose started to happen) ago interdose withdrawal seemed to happen..2 days I think after the Ativan.

 

 

Nightmare that could have been avoided!

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  • Administrator

Welcome, Shelly.

 

Well, a diagnosis of PTSD, anxiety, depression, and OCD doesn't leave much out except for your traumatized emotional history -- which, after all, is the point, isn't it?

 

Some types of anxiety respond well to Cognitive Behavior Therapy. In addition, you may do well to find a support group or a therapist who specializes in people who have experienced sexual abuse.

 

Taking psychiatric drugs does not help you grow as a person, all they do is anesthetize your emotions. They also have other side effects, such as apathy, metabolic dysregulation, sexual dysfunction, sleeplessness, etc. Doctors tend to prescribe other drugs to combat side effects, so before you know it, you're taking a massive drug cocktail and still not going forward with your life.

 

Please consider that. If I were you, I'd work hard to find non-drug treatments and devote my energy to that.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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