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The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

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Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#131

Post by kmm »

When I stopped taking Venlafaxine (Effexor), the side-effects were immensely unpleasant. Brain zaps, panic attacks, hypersensitivity to light, barely any cognitive function. My psychiatrist was a sweet lady, but she did not appear to understand how tough it was for me. It boggles my mind she did not get it, she must have had so many patients stop with the medication, did she just not take any of them seriously?

In the end, I opened up the plastic casing of the pill, which turned out to contain a few dozen grains. Over the course of 2-3 weeks, I took a few grains less every day, until I was completely done with them. I don't know if you're allowed to do that, maybe there is no guarantee that every grain contains the same amount of medication? I'm not a fan of tampering with medication, but I didn't feel like I had a choice.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#132

Post by mattyb678 »

kmm wrote: post #131

When I stopped taking Venlafaxine (Effexor), the side-effects were immensely unpleasant. Brain zaps, panic attacks, hypersensitivity to light, barely any cognitive function. My psychiatrist was a sweet lady, but she did not appear to understand how tough it was for me. It boggles my mind she did not get it, she must have had so many patients stop with the medication, did she just not take any of them seriously? In th…

Even if I’m just a few hours late taking my Effexor I start getting brain zaps. They are terrible. I’m not looking forward to ever having to go off it

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#133

Post by adyavanapalli »

kmm wrote: post #131

When I stopped taking Venlafaxine (Effexor), the side-effects were immensely unpleasant. Brain zaps, panic attacks, hypersensitivity to light, barely any cognitive function. My psychiatrist was a sweet lady, but she did not appear to understand how tough it was for me. It boggles my mind she did not get it, she must have had so many patients stop with the medication, did she just not take any of them seriously? In th…

How the flying heck did your psychiatrist let you stop taking your medication cold turkey? There's usually a weaning off process for any sort of psychiatric drug.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#134

Post by fraudsyndrome »

azernik wrote: post #7
tcj_phx wrote: post #3

> In the course of a year, her doctors had created what’s known as “a prescription cascade”: the side effects of one medication are diagnosed as symptoms of another condition, leading to a succession of new prescriptions. This term, "prescription cascade", should be lesson #1 at medical school. It's the natural result of an incomplete diagnosis, and is present in every medical field. > At the hospital, where she stay…

"Mood stabilizer" is a quite accurate description of the usual function of the drug - in bipolar patients like me, it reduces the magnitude and stabilizes the period of mood swings. Mood stabilizers also tend to be anti-seizure meds, and have all kinds of off-label uses because of neurological phenomena we don't understand, but the label is a very useful one. Same for antidepressants - often the same drugs (especiall…

I have a close friend with paranoid schizophrenia and also bipolar who, after an episode, underwent ECT.

The medication that stopped him from hearing voices pre ECT/episode started again after ECT. After a year, the Psychiatrist is still trying to find the right combination of medication to stop it - they've (I think) more than tripled his current dosage of lithium along with others that I'm not aware of but it's unpredictable how much time the medication change actually takes effect, could be anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months.

I don't know where I was going with this, just sad to see him like this.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#135

Post by lesss365 »

GlenTheMachine wrote: post #121
captainredbeard wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm confused. My problem is not getting enough sunlight, and I was under the impression that blue light was what I needed. Why would blocking it help?

Strain on the eyes and blue light, iirc, suppresses a hormone related to sleep. Been wearing a pair for the past two years after a coworker recommended them after I mentioned my eyes always feel super strained by the end of the day and have trouble sleeping. They really do make a huge difference.

Before, my eyes were super heavy and aching by the end of the day, and now they feel as though only an hour of screen time has passed. Thing is if I take them off while working/looking at any screen without a blue light filter, they start aching within 10 minutes :/

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#136

Post by crazypills »

ctdonath wrote: post #2

Underdiscussed: the horror of missing a couple doses of antidepressants. Being on such meds may work, keeping the patient stable. Nobody mentions that when a couple doses are missed, the result can be a week of anger & angst as resumed medication balances back out again - living hell not just for the patient, but for those around. Weaning off such meds is difficult, reducing doses by literally counting out & down ind…

I spent a decade on antidepressants and more times than I care to count I wound up in a foreign country with no meds (lost, forgot, you name it) and had to find a pharmacist willing to help me out. Luckily / thankfully they did. Not a fun conversation to start with a queue of folks behind you at the corner drug store.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#137

Post by GlenTheMachine »

mastox wrote: post #95
martinald wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I dont mean to be alarmist but taking benzodiazepines for an extended time (anything more than 2 weeks is probably a bad idea, especially with strong ones such as clonazepam), is definitely not a great idea. There is a very prolonged withdrawal syndrome, with many not reporting feeling completely better after many years in cases of high dose long term usage. You may take the view that you can always take them, but ci…

I had no idea the impact of benzo's but my first thought after reading the OP and experiencing Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) myself, "Isn't that just a band-aid, not really treating the 'wound'". I guess I'm just agreeing with you from a philosophical point of view. For what's its worth for anyone (including OP) reading this, I found success in studying philosophy as a poor man's CBT especially Existentialism. I…

As I said in the parent post, I agree, and I am in fact tapering. I'm down to half my original dose. I'm taking it slow. This is something where you really need to listen to your body; it isn't helpful to have a set plan. You need a goal, but you also need to be flexible about it.

I tried CBT, and it didn't work. Admittedly I only tried it once. There are lots of different flavors of CBT for insomnia, and maybe if I had tried harder I could have found one that did work. The problem is finding a doctor who knows about it and will work with you, especially if you don't live in a big city.

Benzodiazepines are worrisome drugs, but I have to admit that for my insomnia, they were almost magic. Once we got the dose right it went away almost literally overnight. But then, as the OP illustrates, doctors aren't necessarily helpful in getting back off them.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#138

Post by darpa_escapee »

iooi wrote: post #106
GlenTheMachine wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Indeed, nobody told me. I experienced the immediate effects of withdrawal when my stomach started tensing up for no good reason, and I started sweating. That was enough to convince me to stop with the cold withdrawal and start tapering. I did not know this could have been life threatening. That's... comforting...

Be very careful tapering off benzos, the withdrawals are more dangerous than that of heroin [1]. You should definitely get your doctor involved in this process. You might also want to read through this [2]. 8 months might not be enough time to taper off depending on the time and dosage you've been on. [1] https://qz.com/677980/opioids-arent-the-most-dangerous-drug-... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzodiazepine_…

> You should definitely get your doctor involved in this process.

Doctors are often ignorant of the need to taper benzos over a long-term period, and not rapidly. Some might see you coming to them with a problem quitting an often abused drug as a sign that you need to be taken off of it as soon as possible. Sometimes instantly.

Of course you should always let your doctor know when you're taking less medication than you're prescribed. I suggest consulting with a specialist before trying to quit with a GP or your run-of-the-mill psychiatrist.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#139

Post by meowface »

DanBC wrote: post #91
dekhn wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Brain zaps are unpleasant. They are nothing like the withdrawals from benzos, which can include seizures which can be life-threatening.

You're absolutely right, but there's also a theory that SSRI withdrawal brain zaps may actually be brief, localized mini-seizures.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#140

Post by mastox »

DanBC wrote: post #94
tcj_phx wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Abilify is one of the least-bad of its class. But it doesn't address the metabolic problem that is at the root of psychosis. Coconut oil, niacin/niacinamide (vitamin B-3), and other pro-metabolic interventions help get at the actual causes behind the diagnosis. Coconut oil is helpful because it can be directly metabolized by the cells, whereas longer saturated fats have to be ... processed somehow before they can be…

You can't cure psychosis with fucking coconut oil. PLease stop peddling this dangerous advice.

Maybe not coconut oil, but I still find the Cortisol link interesting from personal experiences and research indicating a link between Marijuana and psychosis, but then in separate research linking Marijuana and low Cortisol.

Edit: So I guess what are you refuting, coconut oil or the metabolic aspect?

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