Psychiatric medicine will never get it

[Michel]

I have a question. I take antipsychotic medication and I wonder if I will be able to stop taking it ever. Did any of you ever had any success with interrupting the intake of antipsychotics?

I've been on the anti-psychotic Zyprexa, also known generically as Olanzepine, for the last 5 years. It is commonly prescribed for people with schizophrenia or people with bipolar disorder. But is unfortunately being prescribed by doctors to "normal" people for all kinds of silly reasons. It's a very dangerous severely addictive drug. It guarantees repeat business for the doctors and the drug companies.   

I have never attempted to withdraw from this drug because I am in my mid-sixties -- I'm just too old. And, I would probably go manic since I'm bipolar. You need to be young and fit. The withdrawal is very hard on the heart and the body in general. My heart is weak. A withdrawal causes severe heart palpitations, sometimes cardiac arrhythmia, gut wrenching anxiety, months of insomnia, severe headaches, and other severe withdrawal symptoms.

Now, the severity of withdrawal depends on what your dose is and how long you've been taking it. The drug is a neurotoxic substance that builds up up in your body over time. The withdrawal effects are a result of your body's response to detoxify from the drug and re-normalize itself. 

I have undergone withdrawal from the benzodiazepine Clonazepam, which is a drug to control anxiety. It nearly killed me. This I do not exaggerate. What saved me was I went manic and all the symptoms vanished. I think it was the body's way of dealing with the withdrawal. The body is very wise.

The anti-psychotic Zypreza is also known as a super-benzodiazepine, as some psychiatrists like to call it. It comes with super-withdrawal effects as well.

See this article:

How I got off of psychiatric medication: https://tiltatwindmills.wordpress.com/2008/12/28/how-i-got-off-of-psychiatric-medication/

The most important idea to get about withdrawing from psychotropic drugs is to taper off as slowly as possible gradually reducing the dose as you go along.

[Jhanananda]

Thank-you, Michel, for posting your thorough investigation into withdrawal from various psychiatric medications.  I just received a tweet from Emily Maguire.  She just uploaded a new music video 'Over The Waterfall', her song about being bipolar, for #WorldMentalHealthDay.

[Michel]

Nice tune, Jeffery. But poor Emily.

I don't think much of World Mental Health Day. Why? Because it is largely a propaganda event for pharmaceutical companies to promote the use of their toxic drugs and also their use by the psychiatric priesthood -- often through coercive means.

Often psychiatric symptoms are a direct result of the drugs. It is very common for anti-depressants to produce manic psychosis. When this occurs, the psychiatrists jump all over you saying "Aha!  You're bipolar." An so it begins. They give you anti-psychotics and all kinds of other highly addictive drugs producing a multitude of side effects. 

World Mental Health Day is a day to be depressed - which is a healthy reaction to the the insanity of it all. It should be called World Depression Day instead of World Mental Health Day.



 

[Jhanananda]

Thanks, Michel.  I quite agree with your position on psychiatry.  I find it is just another priesthood.

[Frederick]

I became manic on prozac. Not fun. Depression is less scary than mania, though, of course, neither are a picnic.

I took zyprexa for about a week and it was like getting hit on the head with a soft hammer. Groggy.

I told my shrink and she said "stop taking it". Like it was no big deal. WTF!

I did not know how bad it was until I studied zyprexa later. I did NOT need to be on it.

I'm off all meds now and drugs except for a little caffeine a day and melatonin, which I won't go off for a while.

That said, I won't recommend going off psychiatric drugs except for under supervision of a professional and cautiously. Like Micheal said, each person is different and there's no one solution for all people.

I'm in your corner, though, and would love to hear mood stabilization without drugs if done right.

With love and respect.

[Jhanananda]

I'm in your corner, though, and would love to hear mood stabilization without drugs if done right.

With love and respect.

The equanimity of the 3rd stage of depth in meditation provides excellent "mood stabilization."  One just has to meditate to that depth at the beginning and end of every day.

[Michel]

That said, I won't recommend going off psychiatric drugs except for under supervision of a professional and cautiously...

It's been my experience that the "professionals" often don't have a clue what they're doing when it comes to withdrawing from psychotropic meds. You're better off getting advice from the internet blogs and forums, etc. But you need the doctors to give you prescriptions. That can lead to problems, since they won't always go along with you. Often they'll force you to taper off the meds way too soon.

[panegalli]

Hello Michel thank-you for your answer. I'm 24 years old and have been taking Invega paliperidone for about 2 years. Have you heard of this drug? Do I have any chance of interrupting it?

[Michel]

I would suggest you do your research. There's a ton of information available on the internet. Paliperidone is an atypical antipsychotic like Zyprexa. It's the first time I've heard of it. It's a newer drug that was approved by the FDA in 2006. It does not have much of a track record.

This is what I found on withdrawing from Paliperidone:

Invega (Paliperidone) Withdrawal Symptoms: List of Possibilities: http://mentalhealthdaily.com/2015/08/25/invega-paliperidone-withdrawal-symptoms-list-of-possibilities/

I also suggest you buy and read this book: Psychiatry and the Business of Madness: An Ethical and Epistemological Accounting - 2015th Edition by B. Burstow (Author)

It's available from Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Psychiatry-Business-Madness-Epistemological-Accounting/dp/113750384X/ref=pd_zg_rss_nr_b_16311191_8

It is expensive at $37, but it's worth every penny.