squirtsoda

squirtsoda

Fallen Eagle
Jan 19, 2020
324
Hello everyone, I just want to say I've been lurking for a short while and I'm amazed at the mutual support you all show each other and it's awesome.

I'm a 29 year old male and I've lived a lot for that amount of years. I hold 2 passports, I don't know which one of them represents home. I do know I absolutely detest where I currently live (I'm not the country I'm from, but it's the particular state and city I'm in I hate).

I have a BS in Aeronautical Science and am commercially certified to fly both helicopters and airplanes, however, immediately after completing all of that very hard work I was diagnosed with a devastating autonomic neurological disorder which grounded me forever. Unfortunately I did not have any engineering background in my education nor any money to go back to school (my schooling and flight training set me back around $250k because I went to the Harvard of the skies), so I had no real lucrative job opportunities in aviation. I ended up in a railroad/marine adjacent industry at an extremely toxic company doing something completely uninteresting. Now I'm trapped because I bought a house, car, got myself into more crippling debt, medical debt, school debt, etc. I also fell into severe alcoholism over the years and it has landed me in hospital a few times. As has bipolar II. I've always had issues figuring out my sexuality. I have no hang ups about it, i just don't understand it. I have PTSD from some horrifying things (they always are). Which leads me to November 9.

November 9
On this day without seeking resources like those on this website, I was going to attempt full hanging with a neck snap. When I measured my garage, there was nowhere near enough room, I'm a very very tall guy.

So then, I went perusing the internet and my heavily stocked medicine cabinet full of different neurological cocktails and it appeared as if amitriptyline was the most toxic thing I had. I did my best to find what the lethal stat dose could be, and then added a reasonable safety margin. I landed on 5.5 grams. I took 500mg diphenhydramine to try to prevent vomiting (unlikely choice but it was mentioned in some literature, and it did work, mostly, read on). I also had several glasses of bourbon, 10mg lorazepam, 50mg zolpidem, 250mg quetiapine. This was taken around 7pm, I was out when people were trying to contact me at 8pm.

Anyway, I wrote a very long note, mostly for the comfort of my mother which was to be delivered to my funeral director friend backdated 72 hours using Gmail scheduled send. I had details roughly of my method in the note. I never accounted for so many people trying to contact me, and then coordinating. By late Sunday night (the 10th), my mom who lives out of state was already in contact with my friends who she does not know. My dad was already at the airport coming back from out of state. His neighbor is a cop and he got him to break into my place at 3am on the 11th. I was found blue with HR of 31bpm with what was described as a death rattle by my dad. He literally just witnessed his mother pass away weeks before.

I was taken to a local hospital after being administered narcan several times because of course the first thing they think is opioids these days. Narcan obviously did nothing. I was intubated and vitals stabilized. They found out I coincidentally had severe bilateral pneumonia and believed that is what put me in a coma, they had no idea I had any drugs in my system. EEG showed no brain activity, CT showed major brain damage, anoxic brain injury, coma score of 0, because they had no idea about the drugs I was pronounced brain dead and my parents advised to withdraw life support as I am an organ donor. I was in stage 3 kidney failure but that was resolved as they were prepping me for donation.

Then my friend got the letter. He rushed it to the hospital. The doctors then realized that pink stuff they saw aspirated into my lungs were the pills of amitriptyline. 4 hours before organ donation they realized I may not be brain dead, but they told me parents I was likely to be a vegetable IF I wake up at all. 8 days later I woke up.

I have no long term memory issues. My speech is slightly affected. I am back at work. My short term memory is not quite as reliable. I used to be one of the sharpest people you could ever meet. My sense of taste and smell is significantly changed. I have nerve palsy on my left side and I am left handed. I can't even put a glove on my hand because the muscle weakness is so bad my fingers just collapse. I can't write. I can't fly a helicopter in X-Plane flight simulator anymore. My coordination is trashed. It takes my full effort to drive a car, I used to race rally cars recreationally and race motocross bikes. I get choked up for no reason in public at times. There are a litany if brain injury symptoms that are just terrible.

If I had just been left alone for another 30 minutes I would have been successful. It would have been a peaceful way. I felt NO discomfort-I remember everything.

Due to access of materials, my next will probably be SN.

Edit- I feel I should probably note for those of you who don't have medical insurance. This hospitalization cost my insurance $367,592, and that's after negotiated rates. The claims totaled around $700,000. If I didn't have medical insurance I don't know what would have happened. My job only knows that I ended up in a coma from pneumonia, which isn't untrue, and I received short term disability insurance. I mean I would have if they knew the truth too. I guess just something to reinforce proper planning.
 
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MysticPerception

MysticPerception

I'm back and I'll still smile for you
Dec 31, 2019
1,252
I'm sorry to hear your letter backfired on your like that, that's awful. Hopefully next time you'll be left to make your own choice and they won't force you back to life only for you to continue suffering like this time.
 
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Backwood_tilt

UnEnlightened
Dec 27, 2019
889
fuck, that sucks.
 
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yetme

yetme

Arcanist
Oct 20, 2019
486
I have no long term memory issues. My speech is slightly affected. I am back at work. My short term memory is not quite as reliable. I used to be one of the sharpest people you could ever meet. My sense of taste and smell is significantly changed. I have nerve palsy on my left side and I am left handed. I can't even put a glove on my hand because the muscle weakness is so bad my fingers just collapse. I can't write. I can't fly a helicopter in X-Plane flight simulator anymore. My coordination is trashed. It takes my full effort to drive a car, I used to race rally cars recreationally and race motocross bikes. I get choked up for no reason in public at times. There are a litany if brain injury symptoms that are just terrible.

If I had just been left alone for another 30 minutes I would have been successful. It would have been a peaceful way. I felt NO discomfort-I remember everything.

Due to access of materials, my next will probably be SN.

Oh man! I feel for ya!
 
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MachinaArcana

MachinaArcana

Member
Jan 18, 2020
61
That was a tough read. What you just described is... a nightmare.
I sincerely hope things will eventually work out for you the way you want them to.
Sending you my best.
 
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Skyview

Skyview

Going Blue
Dec 9, 2019
473
Best laid plans and then they crumble , I feel for you .
 
TAW122

TAW122

Emissary of the right to die.
Aug 30, 2018
6,819
I'm really really sorry to hear about the story, it is disheartening especially all the effort and troubles you went through, then suddenly everything failed and now you are in a much worse place than before. :aw: As far as SN, I only hope that you have more luck with it if/when you choose to find peace again in the future. Since you live in the midwest, I'm guessing it is one of the states that has legalized death with dignity laws perhaps? If so, I don't know if you are able to draft a living will/advanced directive and an DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order or similar document? I know that while your attempt to CTB doesn't help, maybe there is a way to convince medical professionals that you are of sound mind? But I don't know... At any rate, I wish you the best and being able to find the peace you deserve.
 
squirtsoda

squirtsoda

Fallen Eagle
Jan 19, 2020
324
Where I live does not have death with dignity, as far as I can tell here they just do whatever they can to resuscitate with emergency services. I think DNR only would work with hospice care or something like that
 
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Jean4

Jean4

Remember. I am ALWAYS right.... until I’m not
Apr 28, 2019
7,557
I am so sorry you went through this. Being in the USA, I am literally almost a million dollars in debt due to the fact I am on Medicare and disability and have oxygen and other equipment. Plus, Medicare does not cover asthma pumps at all, and I am on 9 different ones. I feel you.
 
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notjustyetagain

notjustyetagain

Oct 28, 2019
169
ouch, that was hard to even read! i'm so sorry about your situation, from the diagnosis of your neurological disorder to your failed attempt and its lasting sequelae, it all sounds traumatic and devastating. i can't imagine the amount of effort your degree took and the hope you must have felt upon completing it, only to have it ripped away by your diagnosis. given the severity of your attempt -- pronounced brain-dead, no less -- i'm glad you weren't left in an even more debilitated condition (although your brain-injury symptoms sound very rough and the overall outcome was the opposite of what you were after). being back at work after all that is amazing, you're a trooper! considering the care and planning you put into the attempt, the way things played out seems... cruel, almost conspiratorial.

thank you for taking the time to write up and share your story and experiences (the financial/health-insurance aspects alone are shocking to me, in a country with free public healthcare). at least you described the amitriptyline OD as peaceful. i hope your future plans work out however you'd like them to; given your fortitude and willpower i'm confident that they will. you did everything right and couldn't have prophesied others' coordinated attempts to contact you -- surely you've exhausted your "bad-luck quota" for this lifetime.

fwiw, the ~32 hours it took for you to be found (1900 sat thru 0300 mon) is far more than required for SN afaik. in the unlikely case you haven't seen it, this exists. best wishes, whatever you decide. <3
 
squirtsoda

squirtsoda

Fallen Eagle
Jan 19, 2020
324
@notjustyetagain thank you for your reply. I am from a country with universal healthcare (New Zealand) but I am currently living in the US, so no such luck haha. But the hospital stay was free-ish due to employer sponsored healthcare and organ harvesting organizations who thought they were getting my kidneys and liver and whatever else. Right now, I am waiting for my SN and ME to be delivered. SN will be here in a matter of days, ME is coming from Vanuatu ~24 days. Right now the biggest torment is all the trauma I've caused to everyone, and that I'll do it again even worse. SN will be in a hotel. I'm not sure if I should do it on a business trip or locally. I've been thinking about taping up a bedsheet in the entrance and taping an instruction sheet for the maid to call 911 so they don't have to see me. I want to cause as little collateral damage as possible. I wish the first responders didn't have to see me either. I don't feel like I need to go urgently, but I know it will have to be before I'm 30.
 
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squirtsoda

squirtsoda

Fallen Eagle
Jan 19, 2020
324
And SN is officially in hand... and I'm having obsessive thoughts, vivid dreams about my attempt, the aftermath, how it would feel, look, what the pathologist would see at the autopsy (like birds eye view in my dream). I can't really think about anything else. I'm not ready to go just yet though...
 
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Ghost2211

Archangel
Jan 20, 2020
6,017
Wow that seriously sucks. Sorry to hear the note determined your path. Good to hear you had no major permanent effects, sucks people don't realize interrupting a suicide attempt often does more harm than good.
 
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squirtsoda

squirtsoda

Fallen Eagle
Jan 19, 2020
324
Wow that seriously sucks. Sorry to hear the note determined your path. Good to hear you had no major permanent effects, sucks people don't realize interrupting a suicide attempt often does more harm than good.
There are some major brain injury symptoms but many people have it much worse I did make it out pretty lucky
 
Zoltiel

Zoltiel

We're asleep in life's waiting room
Jan 7, 2020
162
Oh man, this really really sucks. I'm sorry you had to go through it. I don't understand the part with the note though. How did people find out so quick?
 
squirtsoda

squirtsoda

Fallen Eagle
Jan 19, 2020
324
Oh man, this really really sucks. I'm sorry you had to go through it. I don't understand the part with the note though. How did people find out so quick?
Because so many people were looking for me at the same time. It wasn't actually the note. The note is the reason I'm alive but not the reason I was found. I was found because I was having several (normal) text conversations with ~10 friends locally and across the country and family locally and across the country and they all through Facebook realized something weird happened at 7:30pm ish. Like I just dropped dead. Divorced parents had tried on other sides of the country and step parents trying to get a hold of me, everyone's sensed something was off. Everyone connected on Facebook and agreed something wasn't normal, it was mostly my mom because she knew who I had been hanging out with that weekend and who I was going to be hanging out with the next day. All this got to my dad, and by very early Monday morning his police neighbor helped him break into my condo.

Now the note, that simply saved me, it was backdated intentionally so it wouldn't be received until I was dead (I wasn't accounting for being found and put on life support). Anyway the hospital had no idea what drugs I took, but they had pronounced me brain dead. If they had known about the drugs, they would not have been able to make that call. They were about to harvest my organs. Then my friends brings the letter to the hospital...and I'm no longer going into the OR because the doctors realize I no longer meet the diagnostic criteria for brain death with that extra information.
 
Zoltiel

Zoltiel

We're asleep in life's waiting room
Jan 7, 2020
162
Because so many people were looking for me at the same time. It wasn't actually the note. The note is the reason I'm alive but not the reason I was found. I was found because I was having several (normal) text conversations with ~10 friends locally and across the country and family locally and across the country and they all through Facebook realized something weird happened at 7:30pm ish. Like I just dropped dead. Divorced parents had tried on other sides of the country and step parents trying to get a hold of me, everyone's sensed something was off. Everyone connected on Facebook and agreed something wasn't normal, it was mostly my mom because she knew who I had been hanging out with that weekend and who I was going to be hanging out with the next day. All this got to my dad, and by very early Monday morning his police neighbor helped him break into my condo.

Now the note, that simply saved me, it was backdated intentionally so it wouldn't be received until I was dead (I wasn't accounting for being found and put on life support). Anyway the hospital had no idea what drugs I took, but they had pronounced me brain dead. If they had known about the drugs, they would not have been able to make that call. They were about to harvest my organs. Then my friends brings the letter to the hospital...and I'm no longer going into the OR because the doctors realize I no longer meet the diagnostic criteria for brain death with that extra information.

I see. Thank you for clarifying. I hope you find peace.
 
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