okay, heres the shit, i have stopped taking my antidepressants and have antidepressant discontinuation. i feel fucking terrible, so come on people - some advice please on how to make myself feel better, i will take on board any piece of advice going, i thank you all without a drop of sarcasm, peace morna you've had that thing in your pants all day???
I'm sorry, but I hardly think drinking is going to solve the problem here. I suggest that you find a hobby. Something to keep you active and your mind working. It does not have to be anything expensive or strange, just something you enjoy doing. Do to your local hobby store (we have a chain in the UK called hobbycraft) and see what they have on offer.
you could either find a hobby, keep yourself active like go for a jog or something, learn a board game like chess, plant some flowers, start a garden, go to a park, go swimming, read a book, so many things you can do . i remember when i took myself off of antidepressants i went through bad withdrawals so i kept myself busy i did all the things that i listed and more. honestly just keep yourself busy and off of depressing shit. To help yourself out start a jouranl of all the depressing /suicidal things or whatever is on your mind and then on the back of that page write about something that is cheerful or makes you happy. i did that for abut 5 months and i got better no more depressing thoughts for me. YEAH!!!!
i am not allowed ot drink or aynthing like that not just because of the pills but i had a slight problem with alcohol htat everyone blew out of proportion.to bird, i am female and fairly positive that you would not want to see me naked. i am a musician o i have loads to occupy my time but the symptoms of withdrawal are pretty bad, especially the brain shivers and muscle ache. you also get like sensory disturbances and visual problems. its pretty shit really, cheers for the advice, has any of you had similar problems, cheers, morna
i really dont think bird would mind at all. find something that you like to do that is fun, and do that. like sex.
Listen to music that makes you feel good Im not in a too good mood either these days and that kinda helps me. Add me on msn i will help you feel better check out my profile for email
What meds were you on? And how long have you been off them? Is this under a doctor's supervision or something you are doing on your own? I won't judge you by the answer, but I think it is important to know these details, if I'm going to try to help you. I have more than a little experience with this sort of thing.
yeah cheers 'backtothelab' thats really helpful. perhaps you should just stay in your room and experiment on yourself you daft fuckrag. okay, i was on cipralex with sleeping pills and tranqs. my doctor put me on various other combinations to try them out and tried different ones as another makes me worse. see, i have been diagnosed as borderline personality disorder with paranoia disorders, panic disorders, insomnia etc etc, the list goes on and on. anyhow, my psychtherapist hasn't told my doctor hat he thinks is wrong with me but says i should see him about my meds. but cipralex apparently is not suitable for use in personality disorders. the whole thing started to freak hte shit out of me so i stopped going to the doctor and am still waiting for a placement in group analytical therapy which i have my doubts about anyhow. all my doctors seem to be working against eachother rather than with. i am really just after anyone who has some experience of this and how i can make myself a little more comfortable while i am getting thorugh this withdrawal crap. any information you have is great, cheers, morna
First place to start is get up and get active. Your body will release natural endorphines. THis will help counteract what is going on in your brain. When you exercise you have feel good endorphines. These need to start being released for you to feel some relief. Do you own a treadmill? Try taking showers too depending on if your going thru sweats and shakes. Some take 4-5 a day depending on how bad the withdrawls are. The withdrawls should pass within a few days. I know you want relief now. Unfortunately this won't happen overnight. Did you wean yourself off your pills or did you just stop taking them? You should of weaned yourself off if your trying to get them out of your system. Quitting cold turkey could put your body into shock. You don't want to do that to yourself. If you are really in a bad place I would call your Doctor and tell your Doctor your symptoms. Maybe they could prescribe something for relief till this passes. I wish you well. I hope some of this helps.
Peanuts is completely correct in saying that you should gradually wean yourself from your meds. Cipralex is another name for the drug Escitalopram. I got this info from a site which no longer exists, so I am unable to cite the source other than to say that the page was once part of the National Electronic Library for Health (in the Mental Health section): "Discontinuation symptoms can occur when stopping any antidepressant that has been taken for 6-8 weeks or more. Symptoms may include anxiety, flu-like symptoms, headache, nausea, dizziness, and 'pins and needle'-like sensations. Slowly tapering the dose over at least 4 weeks can help to prevent them, however some people may require a more gradual tapering of the dose if withdrawal symptoms emerge, particularly if they have been taking higher doses or if the course of treatment has been long. In some cases gradual withdrawal over several months may be necessary." The suggested withdrawal regime for Escitalopram is to reduce the dosage in mg/day by 5mg per week until finally, you are no longer taking the medication. That is, if you were taking 20mg/day, then cut back to 15mg/day for a week, then to 10mg/day for a week, etc. Even at this slow rate of withdrawal, there will be some discomfort, but it is preferable to what it appears you are going through now. As Peanuts has implied, going cold turkey is much, much, more likely to cause more problems than it solves. The same may be true of the tranquilizers you were taking. When coming off of a combination of different drugs, the best methods are either to do it one drug at a time, or to gradually reduce first one drug by a small amount and let that stand for a while, then reduce a different drug by a small amount, and get used to that new level, etc. untill you hve finally VERY GRADUALLY weaned yourself from them all. In many canses, it is preferable to slowly replace a drug with a different drug (as is done with methodone for heroin addicts). Which of these methods is best for you, only a doctor can tell you. I realize that you are having some trust issues concerning your doctor(s) and that you are leary of consulting them again, however most doctors are somewhat leary of second guessing each other and you might have some resistance consulting a new doctor with this case. Still, if you can no longer see the doctors you were seeing (for whatever reason), I strongly advise that you find a doctor to help you with this process. Meds can be very tricky and you will need some professional guidance, whether you like it or not.
OK I think you should join a gym or a club sport or get a tredmill or something like that. Then jam out to your favorite tunes. Cause even though exercising often sucks...working out releases endorphins in your brain that make people happy. You know what else you could try Dance Dance Revolution...that's fun shit.
thats soe good advice there guys. last time i went to my doctor i told him i wanted off the medication altogether or at least have my dosage reduced, i am on 20mg a day which i think is a bit high. he really didn't want me to come off the pills. mentally i feel better for being off the pills it just the physical effects that are making me feel lousy. my doctor is insistent that i am bi-polar whereas my therapist is certain i am borderline. the whole thing is really confusing me. i know what my body is telling me but that is obviously not good for me. i want to be off all the medication before i go back to university in september. and i have been off all meds for about ten days. i have all the flu like symptoms but apparently i am not allowed to take cold and flu remedies or anyhting like that. the pills i was on was making me gain weight and my doctor suggested that i eat less. see, i don't think he knows what he's on. anyways, i really appreciate your advice, i'll mull it over, morna p.s. peanuts - you are really bonny.
I have no idea what that bonny means. If really do feel for you. I have been in a situation similar and it really sucks. It will pass. I can almost promise you.
bonny is pretty, i am from north west england and sometimes forget that no everyone uses slang as us have you been ill in the past? if you don't mind me asking, morna
instead of doing all this active stuff, go have sex. its been proven to relieve tension and stress in your body. it sure is fun too, and instead of getting endorphines from an old boring tiring treadmill, you may get orgasms too.
