I am very sorry about your father. I am curious-was your father not eligible for Medicare? You mention Medicaid and spending down (N.Dakota has Expanded Medicaid, btw, until Obamacare is revoked) but was he not eligible for Medicare?
What a horrible experience for your family. Consult a med-mal attorney to have a look at your father’s health records.
Citalopram is an awful drug. I was on it for years. I am very sorry about your friend.
Marie, you are incorrect about the number of people who voted for Trump. Only about 55% of eligible voters went to the polls. What is 50% of that? That’s right. Only about 25% of eligible voters, give or take (votes are still being tallied but the numbers won’t change much), voted for Trump.
I used prescription Xanax for over a decade along with an antidepressant. The psychiatrist who prescribed them was a well known panic disorder specialist in Virginia. He told me that Xanax was very safe and that people used them for years without a problem, and I believed him. After all, he’d written a book about phobias and panic disorders that can still be found on Amazon.
I suffered from the combined effects of both drugs. Mania, interdose withdrawal, insomnia, akathisia, and periods of obsessive thinking and suicidal thoughts, which he told me were a part of my “disease.”
After a series of embarrassing incidents involving extreme mania and suicidal ideation, the last of which landed my in the ER, I decided to taper off of both drugs and found myself facing a lot of resistance from the other doctors (non-psychiatrists) I sought help from. I was forced to taper with my last refills and it was really hell because I had taper within a couple of months. I was truly ill for a year.
The doctor who hooked me on these things is a millionaire now and owns a custom built home in an exclusive neighborhood in a Virginia city. He should be cooling his heels in a prison cell, but unfortunately, his form of drug dealing is legal.
Read up on akathisia. Dr. Peter Breggin writes about it often. He has testified in court about akathisia. It is a form of drug-induced agitation. Shrinks often prescribe a benzo along with an SSRI because they know the drug will agitate. I wish I knew this in 2001 before I began more than a decades worth of dependence on these pills. I am fortunate to be alive after some of the things I did under the influence of them.
Drug free since Spring 2012.
drt, and others,
It will get better. I am over four years past my last tapered dose of Xanax, and while I still have tinnitus (I was also on antidepressants for years), I feel generally quite good. Go have a look at the help sites others have put up like benzobuddies and read everything you can. Knowledge is power Good luck
I will add to the chorus of comments about supplements by saying that I, too, found B vitamins to be over stimulating during withdrawal. I did find fish oil to be somewhat helpful. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that your body needs time to heal. You will need plenty of rest and good quality nutrition. Drink water (go easy on the alcohol), and be patient with yourself. I am 4 years “clean” from benzos and psych meds. There is some residual damage which is helped by a low dose beta blocker. I’m free and doing many of the things I only dreamed about when chained to those drugs.
For me, akathisia meant increasing and relentless thoughts of suicide. Toward the end, I sat alone in my room and Googled methods of ending my life. I was hostile and lashed out at others. Tapering off, the thoughts vanished as if turning down a rheostat, and now they are non-existent. These are dangerous drugs, and it’s gratifying to see more and more mainstream buy-in to the belief that these are drugs that can cause far more harm than good.
I am a prime example of someone who was drugged for mild depression and anxiety, and after years of same, experienced such a mental deterioration that I too obsessed with suicide and the means to do it. I also engaged in irrational, dangerous, and impulsive behaviors, right up until I was hospitalized for a suicide attempt. Something inside me at that point spurred me to action. I fired my psychiatrist and the rest is, as they say, history.
When the drugs were tapered off and discontinued, the behavior and the impulsive thinking behind it stopped, almost immediately. I was not crazy before the drugs, and I was not crazy after the drugs. Must have been the drugs!
Incidentally, one of those drugs was one of the ones mentioned in the article. Citalopram. Sold as Celexa in the US. Celexa is known for suicidal ideation and impulsive, self-destructive behavior, and can increase the urge to drink alcohol, which brings its own problems.
Show your daughter the website SSRIstories.org and let her read one case after another.
That’s a rather callous comment, don’t you think?
What about a woman who finds herself pregnant by accident? Birth control does fail.
What about rape? Incest? Then there’s the whole need to taper slowly off the drugs.
You would also have these women sued, maybe even arrested, locked up, lose custody too?
You may want to think about what you’re suggesting here. You are hinting at a whole new type of control over another human being and that’s a little scary.
It’s the gun nuts who want to round up the mentally ill and put them on watch lists. It’s the gun nuts who want anyone who has ever taken a psych med, for any reason at all, to lose their Constitutional rights. That’s a non partisan issue. If you want to rail about left wing this and that, take it to free republic.
Oh look, another tough guy ranting on the internet. Muh gunz.
Do you honestly think your little pop gun will stand up to what the State will level against you if there is an insurrection?
The State will never fear you. You gave up your rights long ago. What’s left is an illusion. Most of you stay home on Election day anyway so your words are just that…words.
By the way, I’m a gun owner, too…but not a deluded one. I know I don’t stand a chance in hell against anything the State can wield against me.
Just hearing about this is depressing. How can people allow themselves to be drugged by these poison cocktails, in light of all the new info, is beyond my comprehension.
They are sentencing themselves to a life of misery.
They aren’t kidding. I spend a half hour on the bike or elliptical and I feel much better. If you know my story, you’ll know that I spent a decade on SSRI/benzo combinations and weaned myself off and been through all the misery you can imagine so when I tell you that exercise (even walking) helps, believe it. It’s a godsend. Eat as well as you can and get some kind of exercise in, when you are able. I understand that it can take a long time before you might feel well enough to do so.
Also want to mention that three (plus) years post self-withdrawal, I am doing pretty well with minor annoyances (tinnitus) that are holdovers from my psych drug use.
Please take heart, and know that you too can be free of these dangerous drugs. It may take months and even years to feel yourself again, but that’s the road that must be traveled.
There is a young lady who posts a blog here who has chronicled in great detail her path from psych meds; her posts are a very good read. She was on multiple drugs, some very powerful ones too.
I was admitted to an ER based on my long term use of Celexa and Xanax, both of which stimulated my urge to drink large quantities of alcohol. I was manic beyond belief and the alcohol was my attempt at self-medicating away the mania. Obviously, this didn’t work. The drugs and the alcohol made for an interesting and dangerous combination. Once home, I realized that I had to come off the drugs.
The ER physician, notably, would not recognize the role the drugs played in my admission and referred it as a case of excessive drink.
Since weaning myself off of SSRI/benzos, I never again had the urge to drink myself into a crazed stupor. This is likely because the drugs (especially the Xanax) stimulate the same receptors that alcohol hits. It should be noted that Xanax or another benzo is often used to treat alcoholics in detox.
Holy moly, I hadn’t realized that I’d already replied to you. Wish we had an edit function. Anyway, hope you are feeling better! Please update.
Hang in. I was on 20 and then 30 mg Celexa. It’s a bear of a drug. I was also on Xanax, .75 mg a day. Tapered, perhaps too rapidly, off both at the same time after the drugs drove me to an ER. Did the taper at home, myself. I have been there, done that and I can definitely empathize with you.
It will get better. You will feel like hell warmed over for a good year or so (most of which has passed for you), then your energy will slowly begin to come back. Eat well, take good quality fish oil, and be patient with yourself. I am 3 years free of Celexa and Xanax. It can be done.
You may still get brain zaps/fatigue etc off and on, but you will find that these lessen in intensity and duration over time. Big thing to remember is that it takes time. The one big thing that remains for me is tinnitus. I don’t know if you suffer from that, but some people do and it’s from the drugs. Mine goes up and down. I find that limiting coffee and alcohol helps. I work in a noisy environment and wear good hearing protection.
Good luck. You’ll feel better!
I wish I’d had your strength and wisdom. At the time, I needed help and answers, and knew not where to reach- and thus began my jail sentence, which I was able to break only three years ago.
I wish I’d known these things in 2002, when a well known Norfolk, VA area psychiatrist put me on Lexapro, then Celexa with a Xanax chaser…and I stayed on them for more than a decade until I wound up in an emergency room totally manic and out of my mind…
All I was told was that they were “safe and effective” and that I needed them “for life.” Never mind that they fixed none of my long term issues or that they were causing a painful and debilitating dependence.
Weaning myself off (nobody will help you withdraw from psych meds. Don’t even ask) was painful and agonizing and I did it based on advice from sites like this one and others.
I’m grateful that the truth is coming out, and that more and more scientists, physicians, and others in the helping professions as well as patients are speaking out, with facts to back them up. There is a sea change a-comin’.
I was on them for a decade and my board certified psychiatrist insisted that it was perfectly safe. This kind of lie happens far more often than most people realize.
Since withdrawing from them (on my own), I have not patronized another psychiatric death trap and never will if I can help it.
Well said. Your story mirrors my own experience in many ways. Glad you found your way out of the endless pit of despair that is psychiatry. Drugs were driving me mad as well, and no doctor would help, so I helped myself. You’re right- they’re deadly!
That was my drug, too, (along with a benzo) for most of a 10 year period (sometimes it was Lexapro or Cymbalta). Tapering is key…not clear if you did that or went cold turkey. Be patient, eat well, take fish oil, get plenty of rest. I was there and I am here to tell you that it will get better. May take a year or more. This too shall pass. If you find you have to reinstate, use the lowest dose that will alleviate symptoms then go on a slow taper program (there is a lot of info on the web now).
You might be interested to know that my board certified psychiatrist, known as an “expert” in pharmacology, told me that I needed Xanax “for life” because my brain didn’t make enough of it’s own natural benzo. This is what psychiatrists are telling patients. This is what must stop.
Same here…10 years of Xanax with an SSRI which culminated in suicidal and homicidal ideation, humiliating and alarming behaviors, and more culminating with an ER visit. I too am free. The psych said it was perfectly fine to be on benzos long term. Lied to my face! How can you trust such a person? Or profession, for that matter?
PS- this was to Lizard Destroyer.
I really dislike the forum format here. Can’t edit and it can be hard to follow a thread.
Dr. Peter Breggin has a book with good information about tapering, called Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal. I see that someone else recommended benzobuddies and you found them to be negative. Sorry to hear that. There is good info there for the asking.
Sorry if I sound like another downer but I’m here to tell you that the resources out there really are few and far between. People who become dependent on benzos prescribed by doctors are viewed in a very negative light by many other doctors, and it will be next to impossible to find one willing to help. Keep calling but in the meantime, do read Breggin’s books and anything else you can get your hands on about tapering because at the end of the day, that’s what you are going to have to do. It’s not fun, I can assure you but it’s doable.
I tapered probably too quickly but I did manage to get off of .75 /day which I’d been on for almost a decade. Took the better part of 18 months to two years to really feel better. It’s a slog, but like I said, doable. Put one foot in front of the other and go forth.
Good luck.
Psychiatrists and drug companies lead the charge. They are the ones who trumpet the “Safe and effective” meme over and over again. If not for them, perhaps other doctors might exercise more discretion when prescribing. That’s why I lay most of the blame right where it belongs- at the feet of psychiatry (and pharma).
Most of us have been through debilitating panic and anxiety and for us, benzos were the miracle in a pill that eventually knifed us in the back.
I hope things work out well for you, and that you never suffer what many of us have. Good luck.
That’s exactly what mine did. Blamed my so-called “disease” for what really turned out to be bad reactions to the drugs I was on for years.
Amazing how I am doing so much better without them (after a couple years of withdrawal, I might add).
I cured myself.
I never demanded mine and did not know what they were until my psychiatrist prescribed them to go along with an SSRI. He did not tell me I could be come dependent and in fact, told me I would need them “for the rest of your life” (his words exactly). So yeah, maybe psychiatry should take a fair share of the blame. When psychiatrists hand them out like candy, why shouldn’t general practitioners, internists and gynecologists do the same, right?
And by abusing pres. drugs it is alleged he dabbled with suboxone, but we don’t have all that info nor do we know that he was taking anything at the time he chose to murder..or before, when planning the murders.
I wish we had an edit feature for our posts so we can fix or clarify comments.
I’m one of the biggest opponents of drugging but I will caution you to refrain from calling the Roof case a result of psych drugging because there is no evidence at all that he was drugged. He dabbled in abuse of prescription drugs but I have read nothing that suggests he was ever seen by a shrink or other doc for mental issues.
If we are too quick to write off all aberrant behavior as a result of psych drugging, even if the person IS on psych drugs, we risk losing all credibility. We need to review the facts of each case with a clear and objective mind. Sometimes, people just do evil things, and we need to face that fact.
Also want to thank you, David for sharing your story which reads very much like mine. It’s a journey of a thousand steps and it begins with the first one.
Agreed- everyone’s body is different. I did try TRB supplements but ended up only using the Omega 3 fish oil. I found most supplements and vitamins to be too overstimulating during my withdrawal. Each person should do their own research and consult a naturopath or other specialist who understands psych drug withdrawal. Also, Peter Breggin’s writing are very useful.
They (the shrinks) are on the ropes in desperation.
And what “compelling scientific, double-blind, controlled studies” can you cite to verify your position- which is no doubt, a pro-pharma, mental illness as chemical imbalance one?
I’m betting none.
Yet what does the FDA zero in on? Homeopathy and other alternative supplements and treatments.
If it competes with Big Pharma, they’ll fight it.
Watch the movie Dallas Buyers Club to see it in action. The movie was based on a true story.
I believe that if you call a well person “sick” long enough, that person will take on those sick characteristics. Sort of a self fulfilling prophecy.
When I was told that my brain was broken and I needed meds for life, I believed that something was indeed very wrong with me. It wasn’t until many years later that I learned the opposite.
The big push over the last decade or so was to get pregnant women on antidepressants!
Yeah…it was all that “safe and effective” nonsense, now peddled to a new clientele.
After all, pregnancy is like everything else that’s been turned into a disease!
Haven’t you heard? The “mentally ill” aren’t supposed to have and enjoy sex! That seems to be the prevailing attitude amongst “doctors.”
And the general public appears to thing so, too. After all, if you are “mentally ill” you should be out of sight, out of mind and preferably locked up on a ward somewhere.
My ex-shrink got into a physical altercation with a lawyer in the same office building. They threatened to sue each other. I wish I knew what a buffoon he was before I became his patient.
There should be a Bad Doc list but I suppose that could invite lawsuits especially from the aforementioned buffoon.
I had a vitamin deficiency in my teens which mimicked depression and it was resolved by taking vitamins.
Others may have thyroid or other hormonal issues that can also cause depression.
You don’t treat an underactive thyroid with antidepressant but goodness knows the pdocs sure try.
He’s playing word games.
Of course, and that’s how I became addicted to them- through prescribed use. but look at the ignoramuses in the comments. Unreal!
Interesting. Thanks for the link.
I’m going to do some research on it.
I’m of course referring to the comments under the original article.
If you look at the comments, you’ll see what denial is all about.
The “I don’t abuse it so that’ll never happen to me” folks are pretty well represented.
Who doesn’t remember the little Zoloft bouncy guy?
Heh…he never met my ex psychiatrist, board certified and supposedly a leading expert in pharmaceuticals. He insisted that I had a “chemical imbalance” which was “genetic” and even drew little pictograms to describe what was going on. Bah.
Yep. The worm is turning and psychiatry is on defense.
This shrink is out to lunch. All I have to do is google chemical imbalance, and I come up with a gazillion examples put forth by both psychiatry and pharma. Youtube is filled with archived commercial advertisements, too. The internet has killed the memory hole, and the lame attempts by psychiatry to deny that they ever put forth this garbage will fail again and again.
Good question. If Dreamflyer’s daughter is doing so well, let her post here with her experiences.
I am no fan of Scientology myself- at all. But the S label is often used as a straw man to stop all debate on psychiatric drugs. I will not debate anyone who throws that label out.
So this is how you defend your reedy and tenuous position, by accusing us of being Scientologists. Not by presenting facts in a rational manner. This is not a Scientology site. I can’t speak for individuals who post here, but I am not a Scientologist, nor have I ever been.
Buh bye.
You totally missed the meaning of the comment. People who engage with psychiatry are told they are ill or led to believe they are ill, only to learn later that the problem is not a physical disease but a reaction to other things going on in life- which can include but are not limited to real physical issues such as cancer, etc. Or divorce, bereavement etc.
We were lied to by the medical establishment, and by society which exhorts people to obey white coats without question.
Most of us “willfully” engaged with the system only because we were told that the system would look out for our best interests and would cause no harm. We know now that this isn’t true at all- the drugs they peddle are not “safe and effective” (a frequent term they use).
We were told that our depression, anxiety, and other problems were the result of a physical disease process like diabetes, and we know know that’s not true, either. Psychiatry cannot prove a direct physical cause for mental and emotional issues. They really don’t even understand the mechanism of action of the drugs they peddle.
It’s called being lied to- being sold a bill of goods. Haven’t you ever had that happen to you?
Amy,
Thank you for a well written and heartfelt article. I wish you all the health and happiness in the world. I too survived the Pharmacaust (great word!) by falling for the lies- that my anxiety and depression was the result of a “genetic disease” and not from circumstances in my life (just lost neighbor in the WTC attacks among other things) and that only pills would fix it.
Ten years later, the mania, restlessness, violent outbursts, lack of inhibition, alcohol abuse spurred by the drink, and other problems that arose from steady use of Celexa, Xanax and occasional Trazodone landed me in an ER after a suicide attempt using those very drugs washed down with alcohol, and I realized then that the drugs were my problem.
The shrink who put me on that cocktail laughed at me when I told him I wanted off and offered to increase my dosages instead, so I fired him, and began the long process of weaning myself off. Now I am more or less my old self again, with a few lingering problems like tinnitus…but I was robbed of a decade of my life.
Good luck and thanks again for sharing your story.
Satanic doesn’t even begin to describe what I think about it. Thank God they never tried it on me. My heart goes out to everyone damaged by this barbaric treatment.
That actually sounds pleasant and I may try it. Thanks.
How do you feel about the drugging of children?
Steve,
The psychs zero right in on genetics because they know that the patient can’t readily disprove them due to lack of a reliable test, and they use that disinfo to keep patients cowed and “compliant.”
I was convinced for years that I had a genetic disease, until my life fell apart on pills and I confronted my pdoc, who could not give me any answers that did not come on a prescription pad.
Your beliefs are not medical evidence. As you have admitted, there are no medical tests for mental illness. To suggest that it is a genetic disease implies that there are tests for same. Repeatable, verifiable tests. There are none. If there were, psychiatry would be shouting it from the rooftops.
You are using the exact same language that my former psychiatrist used to keep me in line and taking the drugs. In fact, he insisted I had a “genetic disease” based on speaking to me for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, at that time, I was ignorant of my own condition and desperate for help, and believed him.
The last thing we need is more association with Scientology. That is part of the credibility issue.
Good points, B.
As I said above, it’s the fear- if I were to expose myself as a survivor I would risk everything I have worked hard to achieve thus far.
I recall the not too distant past where people I knew actually crossed the street to avoid passing me on the sidewalk…all from a one week stay in a psych ward. I do not want to relive that humiliation.
then there was the sneering psychiatrists who said, “You’ll be back”
There’s a lot to fear.
Ted,
I believe the problem isn’t apathy…I believe it is fear. You and I know well the power of stigma. Psych survivors often have a lot at stake, including job loss, etc for being outed as a former psych patient so a concerted approach to reform has to include a way for people to work fairly safely behind the front lines. If people think they will be discovered- and possibly even forced back into psychiatry in order to keep job/family- then it will be difficult to recruit help.
Some loss of testosterone is from normal aging and nothing to fret about. But then again, wouldn’t it be better to provide well monitored hormone replacement rather than dose with dangerous pharmaceuticals? I wonder how many mis-diagnosed depression cases were actually the result of declining hormonal output. In both men and women.
Not meaning to be sexist at all, mind you I just suspect SSRI induced violence knows no gender.
There are women who have committed horrific acts while using SSRIs. I suspect many instances of child abuse/murder at the hands of the mother are SSRI influenced.
Let’s hope your drug never betrays you, like mine did to me.
Benzos can radically change a person’s personality or amplify bad characteristics, that’s for sure.
Or how about suffering from NO psychiatric conditions? Most depression is situational, or a side effect of physical ailments. Not something you throw a pill at.
Good analogy. I am still getting those, three years after my last dose of Celexa.
I actually had problems with weight gain after tapering off..I wondered at first if long term use damaged my metabolism, but I’m more inclined to think I gained weight through comfort eating when my withdrawal was at its worst.
The weight is coming off now, slowly, but I have an active job now, too.
Then why not prescribe placebo…why expose oneself to drugs that disrupt the natural neurotransmitter functions? I have permanent damage from antidepressants…including tinnitus. A placebo wouldn’t have done that to me.
I am not totally opposed to responsible psychiatry myself, and believe reform can be very useful to discuss, but I also believe that psych drugs are behind much of the dysfunction in our modern society. I don’t believe that informed consent alone will stem the tide of broken lives that often result from years of being unnecessarily medicated.
The damage from psych meds can be so subtle and insidious, that adverse changes can take place with nobody, including the patient, being the wiser until it’s too late.
Do you expect any doctor to pass that info on under the banner of “informed consent?”
I thought about this overnight, and yes, you are right. Better to debate away!
I apologize. It’s frustrating.
Thanks for your post…I can relate to much of this experience during my decade on Celexa and Xanax. The denial is strong in many of the posters here. They seem to think this can never happen to them. Medication spellbinding is the term Dr. Breggin gave for that phenomenon.
Please, not another “depression is like diabetes” comment…
It is NOT like diabetes.
Just stop this analogy, it’s completely inaccurate.
When they “go off” of them, they are likely suffering from discontinuation or withdrawal syndromes which have nothing to do with the original “illness.”
The drugs alter the brain…it takes time for the brain to re-wire itself, so to speak. If it ever does.
What argument?
There is no chemical imbalance. No proof that a chemical imbalance is behind depression, none, or that playing around with serotonin improves mood.
Meanwhile, pill takers are taking huge risks with their health by taking drugs that alter brain function, sometimes permanently.
But have at it.
Good point!
I suppose so, but I am a psychiatric survivor who had to claw my way out of long term antidepressant use, and the condescending manner this person is using to “educate” us is extremely irritating and filled with buzzwords my old psych doc used to use. I don’t think they truly wish to debate, either. I’ve attempted to engage these folks and get presented with more “education.”
MIA has been invaded, it seems, by the Big Pharma types. I haven’t seen this many trolls here in a long time. There’s at least three posting in the comments section of this article.
Sure…emotional blunting will reduce depression, but it also reduces happiness and the other emotions as well. What a bargain!
Here we go with the “it’s just like diabetes” meme from the pro-med, pro Big Pharma front.
No, it’s NOT “just like diabetes.” Not even close.
Diabetes is diagnosed with laboratory testing…show me ONE mental illness that is diagnosed with a laboratory test.
Where are all these pro-pharma people coming from? They all keep reading from the same script.
Are you kidding?
Some of us a long term users who fought tooth and nail to get off of these brain disabling drugs because of the physical and mental havoc they wreaked on us.
This is an advocacy site for us. Lately I’ve seen a good number of pro-pharma people post here and I have to wonder, who is behind this? Why are people here to push a pro-drug, pro “chemical imbalance” agenda?
Some of the language in this bill is downright disturbing. This bill will curtail the effectiveness of advocacy groups by cutting funding.
And today I still have effects- occasional brain fog and a ringing in my ears that has not yet let up.
Celexa turned me into a raging you-know-what. I can attest to that. My family recalls in retrosepect that Celexa and Xanax turned me into someone they didn’t recognize.
The drug manufacturers do know what the risk is, madmom. They know, but they are betting that the reward (profit) will outweigh the risk (to patients).
That’s what they tell you to keep you compliant (obedient). There are no blood tests, scans or any other medical test that nails down “mental illness.”
I was told the same thing about medication for life..even got the same diabetes spiel. But unlike depression, there is a medical test for diabetes.
Think about it.
I went though a lot of the same feelings as you but somehow managed to avoid the bi-polar label…by either good luck or the fact that my difficulties came to a head years after I began ‘treatment” so that put the psych doc in the uncomfortable position of having to admit missing a “diagnosis.”
I fired the p-doc and spent hell weaning myself off of all the garbage they’d had me on for years.
You are not alone! Stick around, things will get better.
LoganBerman,
Thank you for explaining your background and that you are currently using SSRI medication.
Now, I want to address something you said in your last comment: “It seems a lot of people have horrible experiences with medication because they went through some trauma and went to a GP or something, then go around and say SSRIS are mass murder pills or something.”
Like you, for years I was convinced that my medication combo (Celexa and Xanax) were a godsend and that my life was so much better for them. Mind you they were prescribed by a Board-certified psychiatrist who is still in practice, not a GP. I took those pills for over a decade. My initial diagnosis was garden-variety depression and anxiety. He offered no talk therapy nor would he refer me to a therapist and I thought at the time that this was the normal method of treatment..
What really happened over the years was that I lost any real interest in life and just went through the motions. My emotions were generally blunted, so I was not really depressed anymore, but I was not happy either. Toward the end I was getting angrier and more anxious, on the same dosages. I found myself drinking a lot of alcohol (SSRIs can tickle the alcohol receptors) at times. I gave up almost all of my hobbies and interests. My family members knew something was wrong but nobody suspected the pills until later on.
Eventually became more hostile and angry, and did things totally out of character for me. Stalking, vandalism, assault, relationships with sketchy people. Very lucky not to have been arrested or worse. Had constant obsessive thoughts of suicide and like the Germanwings pilot, researched them on the internet. It was after an attempted suicide and trip to the emergency room (swallowed all the Celexa, (20, 20 mg pills) and a handful of Xanax with a bottle of booze) that I realized something was very wrong. It was like waking from a bad dream..angry, I went back to the psych..
The psych wanted to raise my dosages. He blamed the “disease” because there was no way, in his opinion, that the drugs could cause such wild behavior. Mind you this behavior was out of character for me…I was a very mild mannered person generally. I fired him and never went back. I began the very hard work of weaning myself off of these drugs. It took the better part of a year to even begin to feel better again. No doctor, not even my family doctor, offered advice. If you look at some of my earliest posts here, you’ll notice I come off quite a bit irritable. I used tapering info found on the web. The first few months were sheer misery and I had to take time off from work. Today, drug free going on 3 years since I made the decision to come off. My life is so much better today.
I will never tell you to stop taking your drugs. I will however advise you to read your product literature and anything else you can, including SSRI stories.com, and educate yourself about them. I hope they never betray you like they did to me and so many other people. It’s good that you are in therapy as well. The practice of drugging people without concurrent therapy, in my opinion, is nothing short of criminal.
Be well.
You don’t know what caused the so-called imbalance in the first place or whether it has anything to do with depression. Correlation is not causation.
Diabetes and a raft of other problems including increased risk of suicidal ideation.
I am very sorry about your father. I am curious-was your father not eligible for Medicare? You mention Medicaid and spending down (N.Dakota has Expanded Medicaid, btw, until Obamacare is revoked) but was he not eligible for Medicare?
What a horrible experience for your family. Consult a med-mal attorney to have a look at your father’s health records.
Citalopram is an awful drug. I was on it for years. I am very sorry about your friend.
Marie, you are incorrect about the number of people who voted for Trump. Only about 55% of eligible voters went to the polls. What is 50% of that? That’s right. Only about 25% of eligible voters, give or take (votes are still being tallied but the numbers won’t change much), voted for Trump.
I used prescription Xanax for over a decade along with an antidepressant. The psychiatrist who prescribed them was a well known panic disorder specialist in Virginia. He told me that Xanax was very safe and that people used them for years without a problem, and I believed him. After all, he’d written a book about phobias and panic disorders that can still be found on Amazon.
I suffered from the combined effects of both drugs. Mania, interdose withdrawal, insomnia, akathisia, and periods of obsessive thinking and suicidal thoughts, which he told me were a part of my “disease.”
After a series of embarrassing incidents involving extreme mania and suicidal ideation, the last of which landed my in the ER, I decided to taper off of both drugs and found myself facing a lot of resistance from the other doctors (non-psychiatrists) I sought help from. I was forced to taper with my last refills and it was really hell because I had taper within a couple of months. I was truly ill for a year.
The doctor who hooked me on these things is a millionaire now and owns a custom built home in an exclusive neighborhood in a Virginia city. He should be cooling his heels in a prison cell, but unfortunately, his form of drug dealing is legal.
Read up on akathisia. Dr. Peter Breggin writes about it often. He has testified in court about akathisia. It is a form of drug-induced agitation. Shrinks often prescribe a benzo along with an SSRI because they know the drug will agitate. I wish I knew this in 2001 before I began more than a decades worth of dependence on these pills. I am fortunate to be alive after some of the things I did under the influence of them.
Drug free since Spring 2012.
drt, and others,
It will get better. I am over four years past my last tapered dose of Xanax, and while I still have tinnitus (I was also on antidepressants for years), I feel generally quite good. Go have a look at the help sites others have put up like benzobuddies and read everything you can. Knowledge is power Good luck
I will add to the chorus of comments about supplements by saying that I, too, found B vitamins to be over stimulating during withdrawal. I did find fish oil to be somewhat helpful. The biggest thing to keep in mind is that your body needs time to heal. You will need plenty of rest and good quality nutrition. Drink water (go easy on the alcohol), and be patient with yourself. I am 4 years “clean” from benzos and psych meds. There is some residual damage which is helped by a low dose beta blocker. I’m free and doing many of the things I only dreamed about when chained to those drugs.
For me, akathisia meant increasing and relentless thoughts of suicide. Toward the end, I sat alone in my room and Googled methods of ending my life. I was hostile and lashed out at others. Tapering off, the thoughts vanished as if turning down a rheostat, and now they are non-existent. These are dangerous drugs, and it’s gratifying to see more and more mainstream buy-in to the belief that these are drugs that can cause far more harm than good.
I am a prime example of someone who was drugged for mild depression and anxiety, and after years of same, experienced such a mental deterioration that I too obsessed with suicide and the means to do it. I also engaged in irrational, dangerous, and impulsive behaviors, right up until I was hospitalized for a suicide attempt. Something inside me at that point spurred me to action. I fired my psychiatrist and the rest is, as they say, history.
When the drugs were tapered off and discontinued, the behavior and the impulsive thinking behind it stopped, almost immediately. I was not crazy before the drugs, and I was not crazy after the drugs. Must have been the drugs!
Incidentally, one of those drugs was one of the ones mentioned in the article. Citalopram. Sold as Celexa in the US. Celexa is known for suicidal ideation and impulsive, self-destructive behavior, and can increase the urge to drink alcohol, which brings its own problems.
Show your daughter the website SSRIstories.org and let her read one case after another.
That’s a rather callous comment, don’t you think?
What about a woman who finds herself pregnant by accident? Birth control does fail.
What about rape? Incest? Then there’s the whole need to taper slowly off the drugs.
You would also have these women sued, maybe even arrested, locked up, lose custody too?
You may want to think about what you’re suggesting here. You are hinting at a whole new type of control over another human being and that’s a little scary.
It’s the gun nuts who want to round up the mentally ill and put them on watch lists. It’s the gun nuts who want anyone who has ever taken a psych med, for any reason at all, to lose their Constitutional rights. That’s a non partisan issue. If you want to rail about left wing this and that, take it to free republic.
Oh look, another tough guy ranting on the internet. Muh gunz.
Do you honestly think your little pop gun will stand up to what the State will level against you if there is an insurrection?
The State will never fear you. You gave up your rights long ago. What’s left is an illusion. Most of you stay home on Election day anyway so your words are just that…words.
By the way, I’m a gun owner, too…but not a deluded one. I know I don’t stand a chance in hell against anything the State can wield against me.
Just hearing about this is depressing. How can people allow themselves to be drugged by these poison cocktails, in light of all the new info, is beyond my comprehension.
They are sentencing themselves to a life of misery.
They aren’t kidding. I spend a half hour on the bike or elliptical and I feel much better. If you know my story, you’ll know that I spent a decade on SSRI/benzo combinations and weaned myself off and been through all the misery you can imagine so when I tell you that exercise (even walking) helps, believe it. It’s a godsend. Eat as well as you can and get some kind of exercise in, when you are able. I understand that it can take a long time before you might feel well enough to do so.
Also want to mention that three (plus) years post self-withdrawal, I am doing pretty well with minor annoyances (tinnitus) that are holdovers from my psych drug use.
Please take heart, and know that you too can be free of these dangerous drugs. It may take months and even years to feel yourself again, but that’s the road that must be traveled.
There is a young lady who posts a blog here who has chronicled in great detail her path from psych meds; her posts are a very good read. She was on multiple drugs, some very powerful ones too.
I was admitted to an ER based on my long term use of Celexa and Xanax, both of which stimulated my urge to drink large quantities of alcohol. I was manic beyond belief and the alcohol was my attempt at self-medicating away the mania. Obviously, this didn’t work. The drugs and the alcohol made for an interesting and dangerous combination. Once home, I realized that I had to come off the drugs.
The ER physician, notably, would not recognize the role the drugs played in my admission and referred it as a case of excessive drink.
Since weaning myself off of SSRI/benzos, I never again had the urge to drink myself into a crazed stupor. This is likely because the drugs (especially the Xanax) stimulate the same receptors that alcohol hits. It should be noted that Xanax or another benzo is often used to treat alcoholics in detox.
Holy moly, I hadn’t realized that I’d already replied to you. Wish we had an edit function. Anyway, hope you are feeling better! Please update.
Hang in. I was on 20 and then 30 mg Celexa. It’s a bear of a drug. I was also on Xanax, .75 mg a day. Tapered, perhaps too rapidly, off both at the same time after the drugs drove me to an ER. Did the taper at home, myself. I have been there, done that and I can definitely empathize with you.
It will get better. You will feel like hell warmed over for a good year or so (most of which has passed for you), then your energy will slowly begin to come back. Eat well, take good quality fish oil, and be patient with yourself. I am 3 years free of Celexa and Xanax. It can be done.
You may still get brain zaps/fatigue etc off and on, but you will find that these lessen in intensity and duration over time. Big thing to remember is that it takes time. The one big thing that remains for me is tinnitus. I don’t know if you suffer from that, but some people do and it’s from the drugs. Mine goes up and down. I find that limiting coffee and alcohol helps. I work in a noisy environment and wear good hearing protection.
Good luck. You’ll feel better!
I wish I’d had your strength and wisdom. At the time, I needed help and answers, and knew not where to reach- and thus began my jail sentence, which I was able to break only three years ago.
I wish I’d known these things in 2002, when a well known Norfolk, VA area psychiatrist put me on Lexapro, then Celexa with a Xanax chaser…and I stayed on them for more than a decade until I wound up in an emergency room totally manic and out of my mind…
All I was told was that they were “safe and effective” and that I needed them “for life.” Never mind that they fixed none of my long term issues or that they were causing a painful and debilitating dependence.
Weaning myself off (nobody will help you withdraw from psych meds. Don’t even ask) was painful and agonizing and I did it based on advice from sites like this one and others.
I’m grateful that the truth is coming out, and that more and more scientists, physicians, and others in the helping professions as well as patients are speaking out, with facts to back them up. There is a sea change a-comin’.
I was on them for a decade and my board certified psychiatrist insisted that it was perfectly safe. This kind of lie happens far more often than most people realize.
Since withdrawing from them (on my own), I have not patronized another psychiatric death trap and never will if I can help it.
Well said. Your story mirrors my own experience in many ways. Glad you found your way out of the endless pit of despair that is psychiatry. Drugs were driving me mad as well, and no doctor would help, so I helped myself. You’re right- they’re deadly!
That was my drug, too, (along with a benzo) for most of a 10 year period (sometimes it was Lexapro or Cymbalta). Tapering is key…not clear if you did that or went cold turkey. Be patient, eat well, take fish oil, get plenty of rest. I was there and I am here to tell you that it will get better. May take a year or more. This too shall pass. If you find you have to reinstate, use the lowest dose that will alleviate symptoms then go on a slow taper program (there is a lot of info on the web now).
You might be interested to know that my board certified psychiatrist, known as an “expert” in pharmacology, told me that I needed Xanax “for life” because my brain didn’t make enough of it’s own natural benzo. This is what psychiatrists are telling patients. This is what must stop.
Same here…10 years of Xanax with an SSRI which culminated in suicidal and homicidal ideation, humiliating and alarming behaviors, and more culminating with an ER visit. I too am free. The psych said it was perfectly fine to be on benzos long term. Lied to my face! How can you trust such a person? Or profession, for that matter?
PS- this was to Lizard Destroyer.
I really dislike the forum format here. Can’t edit and it can be hard to follow a thread.
Dr. Peter Breggin has a book with good information about tapering, called Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal. I see that someone else recommended benzobuddies and you found them to be negative. Sorry to hear that. There is good info there for the asking.
Sorry if I sound like another downer but I’m here to tell you that the resources out there really are few and far between. People who become dependent on benzos prescribed by doctors are viewed in a very negative light by many other doctors, and it will be next to impossible to find one willing to help. Keep calling but in the meantime, do read Breggin’s books and anything else you can get your hands on about tapering because at the end of the day, that’s what you are going to have to do. It’s not fun, I can assure you but it’s doable.
I tapered probably too quickly but I did manage to get off of .75 /day which I’d been on for almost a decade. Took the better part of 18 months to two years to really feel better. It’s a slog, but like I said, doable. Put one foot in front of the other and go forth.
Good luck.
Psychiatrists and drug companies lead the charge. They are the ones who trumpet the “Safe and effective” meme over and over again. If not for them, perhaps other doctors might exercise more discretion when prescribing. That’s why I lay most of the blame right where it belongs- at the feet of psychiatry (and pharma).
Most of us have been through debilitating panic and anxiety and for us, benzos were the miracle in a pill that eventually knifed us in the back.
I hope things work out well for you, and that you never suffer what many of us have. Good luck.
That’s exactly what mine did. Blamed my so-called “disease” for what really turned out to be bad reactions to the drugs I was on for years.
Amazing how I am doing so much better without them (after a couple years of withdrawal, I might add).
I cured myself.
I never demanded mine and did not know what they were until my psychiatrist prescribed them to go along with an SSRI. He did not tell me I could be come dependent and in fact, told me I would need them “for the rest of your life” (his words exactly). So yeah, maybe psychiatry should take a fair share of the blame. When psychiatrists hand them out like candy, why shouldn’t general practitioners, internists and gynecologists do the same, right?
And by abusing pres. drugs it is alleged he dabbled with suboxone, but we don’t have all that info nor do we know that he was taking anything at the time he chose to murder..or before, when planning the murders.
I wish we had an edit feature for our posts so we can fix or clarify comments.
I’m one of the biggest opponents of drugging but I will caution you to refrain from calling the Roof case a result of psych drugging because there is no evidence at all that he was drugged. He dabbled in abuse of prescription drugs but I have read nothing that suggests he was ever seen by a shrink or other doc for mental issues.
If we are too quick to write off all aberrant behavior as a result of psych drugging, even if the person IS on psych drugs, we risk losing all credibility. We need to review the facts of each case with a clear and objective mind. Sometimes, people just do evil things, and we need to face that fact.
Also want to thank you, David for sharing your story which reads very much like mine. It’s a journey of a thousand steps and it begins with the first one.
Agreed- everyone’s body is different. I did try TRB supplements but ended up only using the Omega 3 fish oil. I found most supplements and vitamins to be too overstimulating during my withdrawal. Each person should do their own research and consult a naturopath or other specialist who understands psych drug withdrawal. Also, Peter Breggin’s writing are very useful.
They (the shrinks) are on the ropes in desperation.
And what “compelling scientific, double-blind, controlled studies” can you cite to verify your position- which is no doubt, a pro-pharma, mental illness as chemical imbalance one?
I’m betting none.
Yet what does the FDA zero in on? Homeopathy and other alternative supplements and treatments.
If it competes with Big Pharma, they’ll fight it.
Watch the movie Dallas Buyers Club to see it in action. The movie was based on a true story.
I believe that if you call a well person “sick” long enough, that person will take on those sick characteristics. Sort of a self fulfilling prophecy.
When I was told that my brain was broken and I needed meds for life, I believed that something was indeed very wrong with me. It wasn’t until many years later that I learned the opposite.
And now Pfizer wins round 1. How predictable.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/17/us-pfizer-zoloft-idUSKBN0N82HY20150417
The big push over the last decade or so was to get pregnant women on antidepressants!
Yeah…it was all that “safe and effective” nonsense, now peddled to a new clientele.
After all, pregnancy is like everything else that’s been turned into a disease!
Haven’t you heard? The “mentally ill” aren’t supposed to have and enjoy sex! That seems to be the prevailing attitude amongst “doctors.”
And the general public appears to thing so, too. After all, if you are “mentally ill” you should be out of sight, out of mind and preferably locked up on a ward somewhere.
My ex-shrink got into a physical altercation with a lawyer in the same office building. They threatened to sue each other. I wish I knew what a buffoon he was before I became his patient.
There should be a Bad Doc list but I suppose that could invite lawsuits especially from the aforementioned buffoon.
I had a vitamin deficiency in my teens which mimicked depression and it was resolved by taking vitamins.
Others may have thyroid or other hormonal issues that can also cause depression.
You don’t treat an underactive thyroid with antidepressant but goodness knows the pdocs sure try.
He’s playing word games.
Of course, and that’s how I became addicted to them- through prescribed use. but look at the ignoramuses in the comments. Unreal!
Interesting. Thanks for the link.
I’m going to do some research on it.
I’m of course referring to the comments under the original article.
If you look at the comments, you’ll see what denial is all about.
The “I don’t abuse it so that’ll never happen to me” folks are pretty well represented.
Who doesn’t remember the little Zoloft bouncy guy?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twhvtzd6gXA
Heh…he never met my ex psychiatrist, board certified and supposedly a leading expert in pharmaceuticals. He insisted that I had a “chemical imbalance” which was “genetic” and even drew little pictograms to describe what was going on. Bah.
Yep. The worm is turning and psychiatry is on defense.
This shrink is out to lunch. All I have to do is google chemical imbalance, and I come up with a gazillion examples put forth by both psychiatry and pharma. Youtube is filled with archived commercial advertisements, too. The internet has killed the memory hole, and the lame attempts by psychiatry to deny that they ever put forth this garbage will fail again and again.
Good question. If Dreamflyer’s daughter is doing so well, let her post here with her experiences.
I am no fan of Scientology myself- at all. But the S label is often used as a straw man to stop all debate on psychiatric drugs. I will not debate anyone who throws that label out.
So this is how you defend your reedy and tenuous position, by accusing us of being Scientologists. Not by presenting facts in a rational manner. This is not a Scientology site. I can’t speak for individuals who post here, but I am not a Scientologist, nor have I ever been.
Buh bye.
You totally missed the meaning of the comment. People who engage with psychiatry are told they are ill or led to believe they are ill, only to learn later that the problem is not a physical disease but a reaction to other things going on in life- which can include but are not limited to real physical issues such as cancer, etc. Or divorce, bereavement etc.
We were lied to by the medical establishment, and by society which exhorts people to obey white coats without question.
Most of us “willfully” engaged with the system only because we were told that the system would look out for our best interests and would cause no harm. We know now that this isn’t true at all- the drugs they peddle are not “safe and effective” (a frequent term they use).
We were told that our depression, anxiety, and other problems were the result of a physical disease process like diabetes, and we know know that’s not true, either. Psychiatry cannot prove a direct physical cause for mental and emotional issues. They really don’t even understand the mechanism of action of the drugs they peddle.
It’s called being lied to- being sold a bill of goods. Haven’t you ever had that happen to you?
Amy,
Thank you for a well written and heartfelt article. I wish you all the health and happiness in the world. I too survived the Pharmacaust (great word!) by falling for the lies- that my anxiety and depression was the result of a “genetic disease” and not from circumstances in my life (just lost neighbor in the WTC attacks among other things) and that only pills would fix it.
Ten years later, the mania, restlessness, violent outbursts, lack of inhibition, alcohol abuse spurred by the drink, and other problems that arose from steady use of Celexa, Xanax and occasional Trazodone landed me in an ER after a suicide attempt using those very drugs washed down with alcohol, and I realized then that the drugs were my problem.
The shrink who put me on that cocktail laughed at me when I told him I wanted off and offered to increase my dosages instead, so I fired him, and began the long process of weaning myself off. Now I am more or less my old self again, with a few lingering problems like tinnitus…but I was robbed of a decade of my life.
Good luck and thanks again for sharing your story.
Satanic doesn’t even begin to describe what I think about it. Thank God they never tried it on me. My heart goes out to everyone damaged by this barbaric treatment.
That actually sounds pleasant and I may try it. Thanks.
How do you feel about the drugging of children?
Steve,
The psychs zero right in on genetics because they know that the patient can’t readily disprove them due to lack of a reliable test, and they use that disinfo to keep patients cowed and “compliant.”
I was convinced for years that I had a genetic disease, until my life fell apart on pills and I confronted my pdoc, who could not give me any answers that did not come on a prescription pad.
Your beliefs are not medical evidence. As you have admitted, there are no medical tests for mental illness. To suggest that it is a genetic disease implies that there are tests for same. Repeatable, verifiable tests. There are none. If there were, psychiatry would be shouting it from the rooftops.
You are using the exact same language that my former psychiatrist used to keep me in line and taking the drugs. In fact, he insisted I had a “genetic disease” based on speaking to me for about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, at that time, I was ignorant of my own condition and desperate for help, and believed him.
The last thing we need is more association with Scientology. That is part of the credibility issue.
Good points, B.
As I said above, it’s the fear- if I were to expose myself as a survivor I would risk everything I have worked hard to achieve thus far.
I recall the not too distant past where people I knew actually crossed the street to avoid passing me on the sidewalk…all from a one week stay in a psych ward. I do not want to relive that humiliation.
then there was the sneering psychiatrists who said, “You’ll be back”
There’s a lot to fear.
Ted,
I believe the problem isn’t apathy…I believe it is fear. You and I know well the power of stigma. Psych survivors often have a lot at stake, including job loss, etc for being outed as a former psych patient so a concerted approach to reform has to include a way for people to work fairly safely behind the front lines. If people think they will be discovered- and possibly even forced back into psychiatry in order to keep job/family- then it will be difficult to recruit help.
Some loss of testosterone is from normal aging and nothing to fret about. But then again, wouldn’t it be better to provide well monitored hormone replacement rather than dose with dangerous pharmaceuticals? I wonder how many mis-diagnosed depression cases were actually the result of declining hormonal output. In both men and women.
Not meaning to be sexist at all, mind you I just suspect SSRI induced violence knows no gender.
There are women who have committed horrific acts while using SSRIs. I suspect many instances of child abuse/murder at the hands of the mother are SSRI influenced.
Let’s hope your drug never betrays you, like mine did to me.
Benzos can radically change a person’s personality or amplify bad characteristics, that’s for sure.
Or how about suffering from NO psychiatric conditions? Most depression is situational, or a side effect of physical ailments. Not something you throw a pill at.
Good analogy. I am still getting those, three years after my last dose of Celexa.
I actually had problems with weight gain after tapering off..I wondered at first if long term use damaged my metabolism, but I’m more inclined to think I gained weight through comfort eating when my withdrawal was at its worst.
The weight is coming off now, slowly, but I have an active job now, too.
Then why not prescribe placebo…why expose oneself to drugs that disrupt the natural neurotransmitter functions? I have permanent damage from antidepressants…including tinnitus. A placebo wouldn’t have done that to me.
I am not totally opposed to responsible psychiatry myself, and believe reform can be very useful to discuss, but I also believe that psych drugs are behind much of the dysfunction in our modern society. I don’t believe that informed consent alone will stem the tide of broken lives that often result from years of being unnecessarily medicated.
The damage from psych meds can be so subtle and insidious, that adverse changes can take place with nobody, including the patient, being the wiser until it’s too late.
Do you expect any doctor to pass that info on under the banner of “informed consent?”
I thought about this overnight, and yes, you are right. Better to debate away!
I apologize. It’s frustrating.
Thanks for your post…I can relate to much of this experience during my decade on Celexa and Xanax. The denial is strong in many of the posters here. They seem to think this can never happen to them. Medication spellbinding is the term Dr. Breggin gave for that phenomenon.
Please, not another “depression is like diabetes” comment…
It is NOT like diabetes.
Just stop this analogy, it’s completely inaccurate.
When they “go off” of them, they are likely suffering from discontinuation or withdrawal syndromes which have nothing to do with the original “illness.”
The drugs alter the brain…it takes time for the brain to re-wire itself, so to speak. If it ever does.
What argument?
There is no chemical imbalance. No proof that a chemical imbalance is behind depression, none, or that playing around with serotonin improves mood.
Meanwhile, pill takers are taking huge risks with their health by taking drugs that alter brain function, sometimes permanently.
But have at it.
Good point!
I suppose so, but I am a psychiatric survivor who had to claw my way out of long term antidepressant use, and the condescending manner this person is using to “educate” us is extremely irritating and filled with buzzwords my old psych doc used to use. I don’t think they truly wish to debate, either. I’ve attempted to engage these folks and get presented with more “education.”
MIA has been invaded, it seems, by the Big Pharma types. I haven’t seen this many trolls here in a long time. There’s at least three posting in the comments section of this article.
Sure…emotional blunting will reduce depression, but it also reduces happiness and the other emotions as well. What a bargain!
Here we go with the “it’s just like diabetes” meme from the pro-med, pro Big Pharma front.
No, it’s NOT “just like diabetes.” Not even close.
Diabetes is diagnosed with laboratory testing…show me ONE mental illness that is diagnosed with a laboratory test.
Where are all these pro-pharma people coming from? They all keep reading from the same script.
Are you kidding?
Some of us a long term users who fought tooth and nail to get off of these brain disabling drugs because of the physical and mental havoc they wreaked on us.
This is an advocacy site for us. Lately I’ve seen a good number of pro-pharma people post here and I have to wonder, who is behind this? Why are people here to push a pro-drug, pro “chemical imbalance” agenda?
Some of the language in this bill is downright disturbing. This bill will curtail the effectiveness of advocacy groups by cutting funding.
And today I still have effects- occasional brain fog and a ringing in my ears that has not yet let up.
Celexa turned me into a raging you-know-what. I can attest to that. My family recalls in retrosepect that Celexa and Xanax turned me into someone they didn’t recognize.
The drug manufacturers do know what the risk is, madmom. They know, but they are betting that the reward (profit) will outweigh the risk (to patients).
That’s what they tell you to keep you compliant (obedient). There are no blood tests, scans or any other medical test that nails down “mental illness.”
I was told the same thing about medication for life..even got the same diabetes spiel. But unlike depression, there is a medical test for diabetes.
Think about it.
I went though a lot of the same feelings as you but somehow managed to avoid the bi-polar label…by either good luck or the fact that my difficulties came to a head years after I began ‘treatment” so that put the psych doc in the uncomfortable position of having to admit missing a “diagnosis.”
I fired the p-doc and spent hell weaning myself off of all the garbage they’d had me on for years.
You are not alone! Stick around, things will get better.
LoganBerman,
Thank you for explaining your background and that you are currently using SSRI medication.
Now, I want to address something you said in your last comment: “It seems a lot of people have horrible experiences with medication because they went through some trauma and went to a GP or something, then go around and say SSRIS are mass murder pills or something.”
Like you, for years I was convinced that my medication combo (Celexa and Xanax) were a godsend and that my life was so much better for them. Mind you they were prescribed by a Board-certified psychiatrist who is still in practice, not a GP. I took those pills for over a decade. My initial diagnosis was garden-variety depression and anxiety. He offered no talk therapy nor would he refer me to a therapist and I thought at the time that this was the normal method of treatment..
What really happened over the years was that I lost any real interest in life and just went through the motions. My emotions were generally blunted, so I was not really depressed anymore, but I was not happy either. Toward the end I was getting angrier and more anxious, on the same dosages. I found myself drinking a lot of alcohol (SSRIs can tickle the alcohol receptors) at times. I gave up almost all of my hobbies and interests. My family members knew something was wrong but nobody suspected the pills until later on.
Eventually became more hostile and angry, and did things totally out of character for me. Stalking, vandalism, assault, relationships with sketchy people. Very lucky not to have been arrested or worse. Had constant obsessive thoughts of suicide and like the Germanwings pilot, researched them on the internet. It was after an attempted suicide and trip to the emergency room (swallowed all the Celexa, (20, 20 mg pills) and a handful of Xanax with a bottle of booze) that I realized something was very wrong. It was like waking from a bad dream..angry, I went back to the psych..
The psych wanted to raise my dosages. He blamed the “disease” because there was no way, in his opinion, that the drugs could cause such wild behavior. Mind you this behavior was out of character for me…I was a very mild mannered person generally. I fired him and never went back. I began the very hard work of weaning myself off of these drugs. It took the better part of a year to even begin to feel better again. No doctor, not even my family doctor, offered advice. If you look at some of my earliest posts here, you’ll notice I come off quite a bit irritable. I used tapering info found on the web. The first few months were sheer misery and I had to take time off from work. Today, drug free going on 3 years since I made the decision to come off. My life is so much better today.
I will never tell you to stop taking your drugs. I will however advise you to read your product literature and anything else you can, including SSRI stories.com, and educate yourself about them. I hope they never betray you like they did to me and so many other people. It’s good that you are in therapy as well. The practice of drugging people without concurrent therapy, in my opinion, is nothing short of criminal.
Be well.
You don’t know what caused the so-called imbalance in the first place or whether it has anything to do with depression. Correlation is not causation.
Diabetes and a raft of other problems including increased risk of suicidal ideation.