Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

newyorker.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

171–180 of 184 posts

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#171

Post by CPLX »

gwbas1c wrote: post #69
throwaway55254 wrote: post #11

This terrifies me. I've been trying to get up the nerve to talk to my doctor about my mental health for years now. I've been depressed on and off for a large portion of my life. I've always been really wary of pills though and reading things like this makes me worry even more. I wonder if the efficacy is actually there or if the withdrawal is worth it.

Look up the history of heroin, or methamphetamine. They both were marketed as safe in the early days. Drug companies like to sell drugs like soda companies like to sell soda. The conflict of interest is so awful that sometimes I wonder if we should ban for-profit drug companies.

History? We’re still giving massive quantities of amphetamines to children, and massive quantities of opioids to large swaths of the country.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#172

Post by colesdefectum »

abstractbarista wrote: post #56
colesdefectum wrote: post #43

I rarely comment on anything but this hits rather close to home. After a rather severe bout of depression my doctor started feeding me drugs. SSRIs, NDRIs, benzos, and a handful of misc other prescriptions that were the flavor of the week. I felt like every visit was a game of 'lets try this new drug!' which would lead to negative side effects more often than not. Fast forward a couple years and I'm realizing that me…

I am really glad to hear you are taking action on your own, despite the ignorance of people who are supposed to be there to help you! Thanks for writing this; stay strong and I believe you will continue to recover in the coming months. :)

Thanks for the encouraging words.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#173

Post by colesdefectum »

mastox wrote: post #117
colesdefectum wrote: post #43

I rarely comment on anything but this hits rather close to home. After a rather severe bout of depression my doctor started feeding me drugs. SSRIs, NDRIs, benzos, and a handful of misc other prescriptions that were the flavor of the week. I felt like every visit was a game of 'lets try this new drug!' which would lead to negative side effects more often than not. Fast forward a couple years and I'm realizing that me…

> They were sure to tell me that if I stopped treatment I wouldn't be given any more refills and one doctor condemned me for even showing up to my appointment with the intention of discontinuing medications. He said I was wasting everyones time. Wow. Just wow. That's very unfortunate that you had to go through that. That seems beyond malpractice and if its not, it should be. I don't want to dox anyone but those docto…

I agree it definitely walks the line of malpractice. I'm just happy to be moving on.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#174

Post by colesdefectum »

tylerjwilk00 wrote: post #153
colesdefectum wrote: post #43

I rarely comment on anything but this hits rather close to home. After a rather severe bout of depression my doctor started feeding me drugs. SSRIs, NDRIs, benzos, and a handful of misc other prescriptions that were the flavor of the week. I felt like every visit was a game of 'lets try this new drug!' which would lead to negative side effects more often than not. Fast forward a couple years and I'm realizing that me…

I had the left side numb thing too! It was like a line ran down the center of my body and everything on the left side of that line was numb. (I have a pet theory that some psych meds "de-integrate" the left and right hemispheres of the brain) Dr. said I was crazy and it had nothing to do with the meds. Sent me for MRI for that and the "brain zaps". Eventually the left side numb thing went away. Good luck and wish you…

Thanks, the tingling and numbness really does mess with ones head. It's disheartening just how out of touch a lot of healthcare workers are with prescription medication withdrawal. Glad to hear you're doing better.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#175

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

mastox wrote: post #151
SketchySeaBeast wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I think "pro-plague" is the better term for the anti-vax, but I have no desire to stigmatize mental health. I absolutely believe that it should be discussed, and that people should feel safe. I just want there to be an awareness that all therapies aren't created equal, and people could be lead some bad places depending on how poorly educated they become. After all, people still use alcohol to cope with mental h…

> I absolutely believe that it should be discussed, and that people should feel safe. Agreed!! > I just want there to be an awareness that all therapies aren't created equal, and people could be lead some bad places depending on how poorly educated they become. After all, people still use alcohol to cope with mental health. Who knows what ridiculous notions someone could come up with given enough ingenuity and misinf…

There's enough depressed alcoholics in my family that I can't condone using alcohol to cope - self medicating like that is hard to titrate appropriately. The difficulty with options like heroine and alcohol is it's super hard to walk a line where you're not causing harm.

And that's really why you need a medical doctor taking the edge off your symptoms and therapist who helps you deal with the underlying issues themselves. Medicating and go is a terrible, terrible idea.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#176

Post by skellera »

fwip wrote: post #119
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.

It's shocking when psychiatrists don't know the side effects of the drugs they're prescribing. My partner started taking sertraline (Zoloft) for depression, and started grinding their teeth at night. Their dentist asked if they'd started taking any new medicine lately, and was like "oh yeah that'll do that." My partner's psychiatrist literally did not believe that the medication could cause this - despite it being ri…

I’m terms people might understand around here, you ever know a dev or work with one who just doesn’t seem to care to learn new things and just shows up for a paycheck?

That happens in every field. It’s just shitty when you’re depending your health on them instead of a deadline.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#177

Post by captainredbeard »

sjg007 wrote: post #158
captainredbeard wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let’s not forget that 8% of SSRI users end up having an SSRI-induced [hypo]manic episode. It’s a hidden epidemic. Additionally, there are few longitudinal studies that show antidepressants as being effective and reasonably side effect free. Worse, neuroleptics leave the majority of long term users with lifelong tics, tremors, rigidity, and other Parkinson’s style symptoms. But yeah, there’s a study showing they make…

That 8% are likely bipolar.

That's an awfully convenient explanation. Many people never develop symptoms, so exposing folks with latent bipolar disorder is still a near criminal offense.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#178

Post by captainredbeard »

mastox wrote: post #160
sjg007 wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That 8% are likely bipolar.

Source? My understanding is the 8% would also include people with just family history.

They arbitrarily removed SSRI-caused (i.e. NOT latent bipolar) as a subtype in DSM-V. The only reasoning behind this that I could find was a decision by a "round-table" of experts. Most other changes in related categories were substantiated by much more.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#179

Post by captainredbeard »

wetpaws wrote: post #164
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…

Why just not take melatonin which is cheap af?

The glasses are $8 most places ... which is also cheap. FWIW, my friend was also taking melatonin but it was not effective against her hypomania-driven insomnia.

Re: The Challenge of Going Off Psychiatric Drugs

#180

Post by KerryJones »

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)

Anecdotal: "(of an account) not necessarily true or reliable, because based on personal accounts rather than facts or research"

My comment was "without references...", ie. facts or research, it would make it anecdotal.

As others commented, "lack of depressive symptoms" is very different from happiness. That's what "numbness" is.

Post reply on HN