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O

outis

Member
Aug 20, 2021
6
10 years ago I was prescribed an antidepressant for normal life stress. When the drug made me agitated, a benzo was added. After 7 years the drugs stopped working. I realized that I had become dependent and I had to come off. It took me a year to taper both drugs and it was the kind of hell I wouldn't wish on anybody except the psychiatrists who prescribe them. After I was off, the withdrawal symptoms subsided, but the crippling anxiety got replaced by crippling depression. I was so desperate for relief that I was willing to try anything, so I went to another psychiatrist who of course prescribed more drugs. Not only did none of them work, but I got hooked on one of them (ziprasidone) yet again. Now I'm left with depression that won't go away and a drug that I can't stop. This combo is pure torture and it's the reason I want to ctb.

What I've learned from research and my personal experience is that any drug that messes with the brain is potentially habit-forming and that the short-term relief you experience is not worth the long-term harm. To anyone reading this who is on a psychiatric drug and wants to come off: Do NOT cold turkey. You need to go slow to give your brain time to adjust to the absence of the drug.

Anyway, that's my story. Anyone else want to ctb due to psych drug harm?
 
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mentalhealthfighter

mentalhealthfighter

Lets win together
Jun 15, 2021
362
I'm going to get on mood stabilisers + maybe SSRI. I have no choice, if I remain in this depressed state of my brain, I will CTB regardless. Medication is my last hope. Failing that, I will end it
 
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U

upthedownescalatorr

Member
Jul 24, 2021
75
Yeah stimulants, TCAs, muscle relaxants and now benzos have ruined me.
 
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destiny

destiny

she/her
Aug 21, 2021
29
Yep. When I was 9 I was instutionalized and put on a cocktail of meds. SSRI's, antipsychotics, anticonvulsants (they help stabalize moods). Chemical lobotomy. Was forced to take that shit until I turned 18. That stuff messes with a developing brain, I'm so angry that this was considered normal practice back then. I'm not sure where 'me' ends and the ghost of the meds begins.

After 15 years I'm back on antipsychotics and antidepressants. I hate the stuff but it's my last hope.
 
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S

Stopthepain

Member
Jul 11, 2021
98
Yep.. i am.. havent recoverd in 3 years at all.. it s hell
 
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PeacePlease

PeacePlease

A wandering body without a heart
Feb 26, 2019
49
Same here!
I was prescribed antidepressants in 2016 and it took me 2.5 years to taper it down slowly. Even at 2 years without meds I have not healed completely. I will never go back to taking any of that again. Withdrawal symptoms can be present even after years of quitting. It changes your brain structure and when you stop taking them your brain has to rewire itself back and it takes a long time, often that is mistaken by relapse an doctors prescribe more drugs. There is a forum called surviving antidepressants.org with a lot of info on that. It was Only thing that helped me recover and understand what was wrong with me.
 
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K

Kattt

Banned
May 18, 2021
796
The night nurse who dispenses the meds on the psych ward I most often wind up i,frequently gets people's meds mixed up. Usually, you have a look that it's ok, but I didn't one night and woke up in A&E (the ER)
 
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Beau

Beau

Student
Aug 30, 2021
100
Yes, from low-dose amitriptyline. Tapering off of it too quickly made my digestive system completely dysfunctional.
 
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Leech

Leech

ɴᴏᴡ'ꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟy ᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ʀᴇᴀʟ
Aug 8, 2020
205
Eeeeyup SSRIs fried my brain. Been off of them for 3 years and still haven't recovered
 
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mentalhealthfighter

mentalhealthfighter

Lets win together
Jun 15, 2021
362
Eeeeyup SSRIs fried my brain. Been off of them for 3 years and still haven't recovered
What do you mean by fried? What are the symptoms?
 
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Leech

Leech

ɴᴏᴡ'ꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏɴʟy ᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ʀᴇᴀʟ
Aug 8, 2020
205
What do you mean by fried? What are the symptoms?
Emotional numbing, disorganized thoughts, inability to concentrate and pay attention, aphantasia, even worse depression and mood swings than when I started them, to name a few
 
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