Coming Off Psych Drugs - A Harm Reduction Guide

[James B.]

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All I can say is, sure wish I'd read this 10 years ago before I started using psych meds for 2 years.

Before I got really sick on them (for a year!) and nearly died while under the "care" of an MD/Psychiatrist. And then became homeless for 8 months, after having lost my credit and job while being "treated" by a "mental health professional". Having suffered by far the worst mental health issues of my life on psych meds, while under the care of this Psychiatrist. Who manipulated the situation, subverted my judgment and provoked agitation. Who supervised the whole thing and never left a paper trail by writing a prescription.

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Some shrinks are psychopaths and sadists. And they are fully protected by the system. Found out later, I was far from this "Medical Doctors" only victim. Why didn't I trust my instincts and leave his care? Because I was being told over and over: "leaving is why you never get better, you always do this...etc, etc". And I wanted to get better, so I allowed my self to maintain a suggestible state of mind. Big mistake! Please remember the pragmatics of human communication: when someone laughs at you, or belittles you, they are ridiculing you. They are being cruel to you. It's a red flag, the tip of the iceberg, IMHO. You have been advised.

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This guide is kindly made available by the Icarus Project.

Topic included are:

Harm Reduction For Mental Health.
Key Resources For Further Learning.
Looking Critically At “Mental Disorders” and Psychiatry.
How Difficult Is Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs?
Universal Declaration of Mental Rights and Freedoms.
How Do Psychiatric Drugs Work?
Do Psychiatric Drugs Correct Your Chemistry?
Who’s To Blame? Yourself? Your Biology? Or Neither?
What Do These Drugs Do To Your Brain?
Why Do People Find Psychiatric Drugs Helpful?
Facts You May Not Know About Psychiatric Drugs.
Health Risks of Psychiatric Drugs.
How Withdrawal Affects Your Brain and Body.
Why Do People Want To Stop Using Psychiatric Drugs?
Harm Reduction and Staying On Medications.
I Want to Come Off But My Doctor Won’t Let Me: What Should I Do?
Before You Start Coming Off.
Working With Fear.
Intermittent Use: Taking Psychiatric Drugs From Time To Time.
What are the Alternatives to Using Psychiatric Drugs?
Coming Off: Step by Step.
Special Considerations.

This is a small (2.4meg .PDF download) Seems like a ton of good advice and information in it.
Take care everyone. And be careful.

 

[Tessa]

Thanks James. I stand against it after having a bad experience myself,failing my exams and having my strength taken away. My husband and I have had to endure all the terrible side effects on our daughter and wonder who she had become with all this medication.

 

[intothelight]

Hi James,

Thank you for this information. I think it will prove extremely valuable to many.

Wishing you the best.

ITL

 

[James B.]

My Story In Detail

Thanks for the supportive replies.

After my first year with the psychiatrist I reported thee periodic bouts of nausea and vomiting. Then fever. I was being given, as samples, a huge dose of Effexor, and Geodon. Being told the dose was no big deal, as the medications “change" their effect with higher dosage. The medications were habit forming (addictive?) and dispensed to me as samples. No additional cost.

I continued to report the violent periodic bouts of vomiting, ongoing nausea and fever to the MD, and began asking to get off the medications. No reply. At this point, several things started a combined effect.

Wanted to get better. But I was getting sicker. I wanted to get another doctor, but since I was being given the medications, believed I couldn’t afford to leave his “care”. Due to the effects of the meds, and my growing health issues, my judgment began to fail.

Began making demands to get off the psych meds. My demands were met with silence. This continued for months, as the violent waves of nausea and vomiting continued to worsen. These episodes were intermittent and getting more frequent. Finally I had to leave my low-paying job, since I couldn’t function due to vomiting. And fever.

Became house bound, would rise in the morning, only to be struck down by a violent wave of nausea and vomiting. And kept the MD/Psychiatrist fully advised on my health condition. I had no income, and lived on credit cards. I lost my car and began to ride my bicycle everywhere. I lived a few miles from town, but the bike was all I had. My judgment continued to decline.

At this late stage, I began to have severe mental health reaction. Some kind of excruciating psychic pain. My system was ravaged. I could barely hold down water and lived on a few chips, or whatever else would stay down. Sometimes not eating for up to two days. And becoming increasingly dehydrated. The fever and vomiting just got worse.

Finally, in the eleventh hour an inner voice commanded be to get off the medications. I checked myself into the hospital, and was given a full evaluation at an in-patient (un-locked) mental health facility. They immediately got me off the meds, gave me Lithium to help with the 11 day detox. It was not pleasant, passing out, falling and hitting my head on the floor, more vomiting. But at least the ordeal was ending. Though the vomiting continued.

In the homeless shelter, I was an indigent. My last good job had been designing product for the worlds largest outdoor company, traveling to Asia, delivering my effective designs on time. It was stressful, I didn’t know I had an anxiety disorder. But I did it. The people in the homeless shelter sent me to get my stomach tested. I was a complete wreck, completely broken and thought I was dying. The examination revealed acute inflammation of my stomach and upper intestine: Gastritis. Cause? Stress. I put myself on Emergen-C 3x/day. And the vomiting vanished. Never came back.

8 months in the homeless shelter. My career had been destroyed by the gossip circle. My health was wrecked, no car, no job. I tried to sue my former MD/psychiatrist. He was fully barricaded with protection, including low malpractice caps. State agency said: no wrong doing. I moved on.

Got a job as over-night staff in a mental home. A live-in position paying $150/month wages, plus room and board. At least I could function again. And started building PC’s with dumpster parts, and learning Adobe software skills. I had other part time jobs. I did EMDR with a kind therapist. No charge.

I saw other therapists who were interns at a place where interns train. And I befriended one of the staff at the mental home, who also had a masters degree in his field. One of the intern therapists and my friend (who was a trauma specialist) both told me a curious story a week apart. Same story, both times unsolicited, after my account with the MD/Psychiatrist.

They both said the history of the DSM was this. They said it had originated a long time ago in Europe. And was originally called the Malleus Maleficarum. That’s what they said. The Malleus was the witch hunters manual. That’s what they told me, and were very sincere about it. Both highly educated men. That’s all I know.

I read some stuff about the Malleus and the witch hunts. The tortured and killed them in part because of their behavior, but also because of how they thought. It seemed weird when they told me that. But because of my unreal experience with this MD/psychiatrist, sadly, it really made sense too.

That’s my story. I lost so much. I was hurt so bad as a kid, then this happened. Some days I don’t like this world very much.

 

[sfguy]

Sorry to hear about your story. Personally I think I have been helped (somewhat) by certain psych medicines, but no doctor should start you off at a max dose, you should always taper up starting from a small dose and watch for side effects. The same goes for quitting, it's best to taper down. If your doctor won't support this you can always buy an inexpensive pill splitter and start taking 1/2 then 1/4 pills as you move towards zero.

I can't believe you were on a high dose of Effexor though, I have a special place in my personal hell reserved for that particular medicine, with all the "strange" sensations that come as side effects, especially the horrible withdrawal symptoms. I would never recommend that particular medicine for anybody!

 

[James B.]

Thanks sfguy, some meds have helped me too.

Before I had neuro-surgery last June, I self Dx'ed and got Seroquel from a regular MD. It helped a lot with really bad anxiety. I also used Gabapentin (nerve pain), and thought it useful also. The Lithium I used while detoxing (see above) also seemed effective, and like the Gabapentin and Seroquel, not hard to get off of.

I can't remember the exact Effexor dose: 3 pills/day. Was it 600mg? 900? IDK. I know it was high because when I went get detoxed, they were blown away by the dose.

The story above relates to impaired judgment/functioning from dehydration, fever, nausea, malnutrition, stress, and the effects of the meds. A combined effect. My anxiety and stuff are much better, it feels good to be med free now.

 

[Deleted member 6617]

Wow James...thanks for sharing your hell with us and giving such great information. It makes me angry, because these doctors get away with it. I'm glad you broke free, but sad that you lost so much. Sure makes me pause and reflect and think about my "choices" that I feel I don't always have with doctors. We do though...we definately do have choices!

 

[James B.]

Thanks Pottershand, you are very right. We do have choices. And knowing about them is key.

The other key is not going so far down the rabbit hole with judgment loss to the point of being function-less. Making poor decisions over and over is bad enough. For me, recognizing impaired judgment has been a tough one. Seems my anxiety disorder alone was - for me - judgment impairing. Charged, emotional and "anxiety driven" thinking, actions and reactions. My anxiety disorder never went into remission, it just got steadily worse, and then worse again as old coping strategies proved unsustainable.

The above story seems bizarre now. Think the Effexor dose started pretty low. 100mg? Then tripled to it's max over about 1 year. Geodon also has funky reputation as effecting decision making poorly. Unreal scene. Just an epic. Thanks again PH for your supportive comments.

 

[anni]

Wow. If you sort of edit the pertinant psycho-speak together, along with the various forms of ego eradication and manipulation I'm pretty sure you'd come up with a something along the lines of a cult mentality, Jim Jones waving the DSM instead of a Bible. I'm very glad you escaped, James. I think whoever 'they' might be created a rather formidable de-programer and debunker, too.

Yes, of course there are various meds which can coax the cheistry back to it's correct level following traumas. I need to knock mine back into shape at various times. It's problematic that this sort of thing is so, since it sort of sets some benign example. Balance-so much the key across the board, so easy to abuse. Thanks much for taking the time to write this, and include the book. I'm not a huge fan of Corporate America anyway, but one does not have to be a conspiracy theorist to see that the bottom somewhere is $. I'll shush or will get my ladder out and scramble up on a BIG soap box of mine.

It's a fabulous thread, James. Thanks much-and thanks for coming out of all that so whole. :)

Anni