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The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

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Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#81

Post by JamesBarney »

KerryJones wrote: post #60
JamesBarney wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Medication cannot make people happy. (Well at least not the legal drugs, and the illegal ones won't work long term!) They can only create the possibility for happiness for those who need some extra help. There are phase 3 randomized controlled trials that prove differently.

And they are? Your statement is completely anecdotal and carries no weight without the references.

Here is one trial there are 100's of others on the same website. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/results/NCT01441440

P.S. My statement wasn't an anecdote.(I think you're using that word incorrectly)

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#82

Post by captainredbeard »

GlenTheMachine wrote: post #10

I am on Klonopin and Remeron. My diagnosis is anxiety, but really it's insomnia. I had a horrible, multiple-year episode of insomnia that started in my early thirties. For about three years I got maybe one night a week of decent sleep. I was mentally and emotionally out of it; I'm kind of surprised I still have a job after that. A few years in, I found a psychiatrist who was willing to experiment and we discovered th…

For the sleep, try wearing blue light blocking glasses all day until you are able to sleep reliably. It sounds ridiculous but I read a study in the Journal of Bipolar Disorder a few years back (can't find a link right now) about this. I've given a pair to a friend suffering from a multi-day manic phase (with zero sleep) and it stopped it dead in the tracks, within six hours in this case.

It makes you look a bit dorky but it's better than not sleeping (or mania).

The product used in the study (and the one that I've seen work) is:

Uvex Skyper Blue Light Blocking Computer Glasses with SCT-Orange Lens (S1933X)

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#83

Post by thanatropism »

abstractbarista wrote: post #75

I found this to be a very intriguing read. Upon finishing it, I am terrified of these drugs, terrified of pharmaceutical companies, and terrified of the cognitive dissonance in the study of mental illness. I would try absolutely anything before these drugs. It's a freaking nightmare, thrust into reality.

That's a shame. Most of these pieces are hysteria. Journalists and lawyers never go after people who seem to be fine with medication.

Here's hoping you don't have serious mental health problems in the future.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#84

Post by com2kid »

JamesBarney wrote: post #81
KerryJones wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And they are? Your statement is completely anecdotal and carries no weight without the references.

Here is one trial there are 100's of others on the same website. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/results/NCT01441440 P.S. My statement wasn't an anecdote.(I think you're using that word incorrectly)

The outcome measures for that study are all related to decrease of depressive symptoms, they are not measuring increase in happiness.

(Also no one is taking effexor to get high!)

An SNRI isn't going to make people feel happy or joyous. It may lift the fog of depression and allow one to feel happiness, but it doesn't create it on its own.

Joy in a pill, without long term side effects, doesn't yet exist.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#86

Post by dekhn »

QualityReboot wrote: post #19
GlenTheMachine wrote: post #10

I am on Klonopin and Remeron. My diagnosis is anxiety, but really it's insomnia. I had a horrible, multiple-year episode of insomnia that started in my early thirties. For about three years I got maybe one night a week of decent sleep. I was mentally and emotionally out of it; I'm kind of surprised I still have a job after that. A few years in, I found a psychiatrist who was willing to experiment and we discovered th…

Just so you know, because it sound like nobody told you... you really need to taper those drugs or the chance of seizure goes way up. It's not like other addictions, you can't just cold turkey benzos or alcohol if you've been using them daily for a long time. It can literally kill you, and you won't see it coming. There's various schedules on how to do it, here's a good starting point: https://www.aafp.org/afp/2017/1…

I had to explain tapering to my psychiatrist, who also was very skeptical of the "brain zaps" I reported feeling when I went off Paxil.

I ended up moving my prescriptions to my GP and managing the tapers myself, because the doctors don't really know how to do it.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#87

Post by thoughtstheseus »

GlenTheMachine wrote: post #47
magic_beans wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the most important question here. I hope OP has been able to address the original cause of the insomnia, lest it happen again.

Not fully, but I strongly suspect it had a lot to do with the building I work in. My building has no windows. My lab simulates space, so it is a big room that is painted black. Daylight Savings had just stopped, so I was getting an hour of sunlight driving in to work, no sunlight during the day, and leaving after it got dark. I think my circadian rhythms were completed screwed up. Once you have insomnia for a few wee…

You may be interested in light therapy. Special lights for home that mimic sunlight to keep your body in sync, commonly used in northern regions (so I’ve been told).

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#88

Post by Gibbon1 »

beenBoutIT wrote: post #45
nerdponx wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Psychiatry should not be front-line treatment for most people. End of story.

It should be a last resort for people who have been thoroughly screened by MDs and neurologists. According to sleep experts at Stanford at least 25% of people with ADHD/ADD are narcoleptics who've been misdiagnosed. That's a shitload of people who are currently living suboptimal lives because they went to a psychiatrist prior to being evaluated by a neurologist.

A good example is everyone I know with hypothyroidism, five out of five were put on a variety of psychiatric drugs for years before being properly diagnosed.

Frankly I think MD's shouldn't be allowed to prescribe psychiatric drugs period.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#89

Post by mmjaa »

SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #76
mmjaa wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are many, many alternatives to a life of addiction. My only point is, don't just blindly accept pharmaceutical dependence without at least considering the alternatives. Pharmaceutical addiction is no benign thing - addiction and dependency is a key factor in the profit motives of the military-industrial-pharmaceutical complex. Before you fall for their traps, be sure you've considered the alternative.

I'm a bit concerned about a figure it out yourself approach to this sort of thing - it can be very hard for someone who is cognitively compromised to make an objectively good choice. Also it can be hard to make an actual good choice when you don't have all the right education - the pro-plague crowd honestly think they are making the correct choice based upon their consideration of all the alternatives.

>it can be very hard for someone who is cognitively compromised to make an objectively good choice

Accepting ones own personal responsibility is a requirement for a healthy mental condition; leaving the responsibility for ones mental health to other agencies and denying ones own agency - well, this is the very definition of mentally un-well.

Educate yourself before you fall into this scenario, is what I'm saying. Sure, if you're so mentally un-well that you can't care for yourself, you're going to need help - but too many times, that help turns to betrayal when one problem (mental illness) gets supplanted with another (pharmaceutical addiction).

There are no silver bullets to mental illness - not even the ones that come in a nicely packaged pill container.

We do not have the handle on mental illness that we think we do.

So no, just assuming "because everyone else is doing it" is not a good enough reason, imho, to put oneself in the position of addiction to pharmaceutical products. Take personal responsibility, and consider the alternatives before one becomes pharmaceutically dependent in order to maintain a 'healthy life'. This is a mine-field, and is by no means a settled issue in our current culture.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#90

Post by Gibbon1 »

stronglikedan wrote: post #37
com2kid wrote: post #9

I generally am supportive of people seeking psychiatric treatment, but wow, this woman's case seems, in retrospect, rather mismanaged. It is like her doctors tried to medicate away an epiphany. Realizing that "the glittering balls and designer clothing has no real underlying substance" and being depressed that one's life is limited to such things, is not a cause for medication. It sounds like she was struggling to be…

> Medication cannot make people happy. But it can allow one to find happiness. Depression is a chemical imbalance, and not everyone can overcome it on their own - especially if left untreated for extended lengths of time. The medicine helps people get back into balance, so they can start to work on their happiness again, whatever that may be.

> Depression is a chemical imbalance

That is literally drug company marketing propaganda.

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