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Hi all, I was severily damaged by 6 Paliperidona shots. I lost my ability to sleep. Had other adverse effects too. Like cognitive impairment and extreme anhedonia. After that I was so bad that I had 2 suicide attemps and I was polidrugged. They gave me ECT and Clozapine. I feel really bad daily. I can hardly survive by myself and have no support from my family Who don't believe in the iatrogenic brain damage. I think that my only hope to improve is to tapper Clozapine. I am since the 28th of March at 175mg. I would need help. Since the cognitive impairment I am really lost. I am mostly bedridden. I am just suffering looking at my watch. Can anybody help me?? Thanks in advance.

Pearl was 10 when she had some anxiety and hormonal issues and started having crying spells. She would go to her room and start crying. She was given Antidepressant for that. Initially it helped but then within 2 months she reached tolerance. So dose was increased. Higher dose worked for 2 more weeks. Then crying spells returned in worse intensity along with some mental confusions and distorted thinking. A benzo was added along with Antidepressant. No improvement was found. She started showing behavioral changes, psychosis symptoms (delusions only , no hallucinations). An antipsychotic was added. By the time we realized the drugs are harming her more, and are not the cure, it was almost 7-8 months. We started discussing with doctors and tapering was started. Tapering was done over a period of 1 year. She suffered bad withdrawal symptoms: Loss of sleep Crying spells returning Anger/Rage Zombie/Glazed look Entire day sitting at one place , not doing any thing Hygiene went to hell Memory and Cognitive decline She stopped going to school at this point. We also supported her as she was not able to comprehend what was being taught and it was giving her stress because she was not able to understand. She is drug free from 4 months. Still boiling rage is continuing. Some of the mental confusion/delusions are coming back. Cognition is not at all getting better. She is now 12. Even if we look at her, she starts throwing stuff at us. I being her mother is taking care of her hygiene and health. It will be 5 months of being drug free this week and still not much of an improvement. She is my child and her suffering like this is too painful for me. Is there any way I can speed up the recovery?

Hello there i need help. this is about IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) and i don't know if i have it because i'm not yet consult to GI right now due to covid-19, i haven't been diagnosed with proper health assessment or else, so this might possible becomes other disease, but i've precise symptoms which is so fits with the IBS. Right now, i'm having problem with my digestive system,it hall hapepened because i went to mental hospital and i was prescribed with Antipsychotic and Anticonvulsant. My history : I took Abilify (aripriprazole), Depakote ER, and Clozapine. i was hospitalized there and never been on psychiatrist drugs before. I have very bad reaction to this drugs so i stopped CT, i'm on the drugs for about 28 days, been off for more than a month now. They forced me to drink all the drugs. the moment i start to use the drugs (since the first day) i got terrible diarrhoea and they gave me medications. i'm losing appetite, i can't even eat a table spoon of dishes & loose more than half stones, 10kg with pacing and severe restless leg, everytime i try to eat it's always causing me vomits. on the next 2nd week i got constipation and other symptoms such as restless, pacing, and losing appetite it didn't go away. they gave me proper menus for such digestive disease and i start to getting better, but i still have trouble with foods. I was on mental hospital for 14 days, after that i went home and consumed all my prescribed drugs for next 14 days like they've told me, but i stopped all meds CT after that. On the First 2 days after i stopped i start to having nausea, vomits, and i went to ER. From there i was hospitalized for 5 days, and they gave me anti-nausea drugs, CT scan result shows nothing wrong with me. after that i'm feeling better later after about 2-3 weeks. weird thing is i don't have anxiety before, after consuming those drugs i have terrible anxieties and soon i realized that i have GERD too ( it must be really really fun) followed by bloating and unable to eat. i was on good conditions about 1-2 weeks ago, but 2 days ago i accidentally ate onion and garlic contained foods, i had constipation and my stomach becomes growling every day, it's not like the usual. i started to realize "Holly cow it's different", i'm never ever go through this before. after about 2-3 days it still didn't go away, until now. sometimes it worsening sometimes not. sometimes i got diarrhoea and sometimes constipates too, what concerned me the most is that i have a high risks diseases, but i start to google my symptoms and discuss it then i found the answer it was probably due to IBS, 100% sure. i'm scared that if i have developed this from the drugs and i heard that lots of people dealing with this for their entire life, and i don't know what i'm supposed to do. any suggestion? regarding to faeces i have mucus as well and small amount of blood. i don't know, i'm not sure. i also consuming Yakult (probiotics), green beans and etc that can possibly help my constipation, but now i'm having diarrhoea. please any help for this syndrome? thanks.

Hello everyone, I’m so pleased to have found you all and very happy to be signed up to SA 😊 I’m here for my mum who was born in 1947 and is 76 years old. It’s taken me a while to get round to writing this, (massive), introduction, and some of the details are a little sketchy as mum’s memory of events aren’t always too clear. I really need some insight and advice so that I can help my mum so please let me give you some history and background – I’ll try to keep it brief! My mum has lived most of her life between Ireland and Scotland. I live in Scotland and, up until the end of 2013, my mum would split her time between her own home in Ireland and my home in Scotland. In 2013 she went to her doctor (GP) in Ireland and was referred to psychiatry and prescribed sertraline (50mg initially) for low mood and anxiety. Mum continued to take sertraline for the next three years (2013 – 2016) and was, at some point prescribed risperidone for 3 days but it made mum feel drowsy - we don’t know quite when or why this antipsychotic was prescribed but we are waiting to receive her medical records and should have a clearer picture then. I’m not sure after this date (2016) if there were any changes to mum’s meds but in February 2017 – May 2017, mum was admitted to the local psychiatric hospital presenting as catatonic and then delirious / psychotic. During her stay at the hospital, she was diagnosed with psychotic depression and received seven ECT sessions, her sertraline was increased to 200mg and olanzapine was introduced at 10mg twice a day (20mg in total) From 2017 – 2018 her drugs remained the same. In March 2018 mood dipped and we think her olanzapine may have been increased. In June 2019 re-admission to the psychiatric hospital was considered due to earlier catatonic symptoms reappearing. She avoided admission and recovered, her sertraline was switched to venlafaxine 150mg and then increased to 225mg. In November 2019 Mirtazapine (15mg) was added and in February 2020 pregabalin was introduced for anxiety (initially at 25mg twice a day but then upped to 50mg twice a day) As far as we are aware there were no changes to mum’s psychiatric meds until 2023. I should also add that she is on several other meds for other medical conditions – please see drug signature. Between 2014 and 2022 my mum remained in Ireland and, although she seemed well a good deal of the time, there would be periods where her mood was very low, and her anxiety really heightened. Sometimes when mum was like this the doctor would prescribe diazepam to help reduce the severe anxiety. When mum’s mood was low she would become increasingly anxious about everything and anything and, when spending time with my brother and his two younger children, she was very anxious that they would injure themselves or come to some harm. It was clear to me and my brother that this debilitating anxiety and constant worry was stopping her from being able to enjoy life and her grandchildren (she has always found most joy when being around her children and grandchildren). We could also see that mum’s physical health was deteriorating and we decided, in 2022, and with mum’s agreement, that it would be best if she permanently moved over to Scotland to be close to me so that I could support and be with her on a much more regular, daily basis. Mum’s mood and anxiety continued to fluctuate throughout 2022 and, due to other external factors, we couldn’t move her over here quite as quickly as we’d hoped. At the end of September 2022 she was, once again, in a very anxious/ catatonic state and narrowly avoided being admitted to the psychiatric hospital. She went to stay with my brother and his family for a week while we organized her coming over here. Although we’re not entirely certain, (as mum was living on her own), it does seem, prior to these more severe unwell periods, that mum was falling into a very anxious state and would stop eating, sleeping and we think perhaps stop taking her meds for maybe one or two doses. Mum was now living in Scotland with me, and her mood started to improve throughout October. She was offered a flat within the retirement housing complex, just a 10 minute walk away from me. With mum in Scotland we began to see a definite pattern to her mood - she would be well for around a month and then her mood would drop, out of nowhere and with no obvious trigger, and she would be super anxious with low mood for around 2 weeks and then would slowly start to improve again. In January 2023 I printed off a mood chart and we filled it in daily. In February 2023 mum had her first appointment with her new psychiatrist, (I have always been present during these appointments). I expressed concerns around seeing what I thought were some mild signs of tardive dyskinesia and mum was happy to start reducing her olanzapine with her psychiatrist’s support. The psychiatrist did not warn us about withdrawal effects or warn us to look out for anything and I, much to my deep regret, was completely unaware of the impact and dangers around dose changes in psychiatric drugs. Mum was on 15mg olanzapine, which was initially reduced to 10mg for 3 months, then to 7.5mg for 3 months, then to 5mg for 3 months. During the summer of 2023 mum experienced pain in her hip which her GP prescribed additional pregabalin for, increasing her daily dose of 50mg twice a day to 50mg twice a day with the addition of 100mg twice a day to help the pain (thereby taking her daily dose potentially up to 300mg). Mum did experience some dizziness around this time which we put down to the increased pregabalin dose. Throughout 2023 mum’s pattern continued in the same fashion as before and I noticed nothing untoward. Mum had an excellent October, remaining well for almost the entire month and I felt sure I was seeing a reduction in the tardive dyskinesia mouth movements. On October the 23rd mum’s olanzapine was further reduced from 5mg to 2.5mg. On the 26th of October mum was given her combined covid and flu vaccination – the very next day, (27th October,) she felt nauseous, dizzy, freezing cold and had general flu-like symptoms. After reading the patient info leaflet from the jag we assumed these symptoms were a side effect of the vaccination and didn’t for one moment consider that they could be related to the drop in her olanzapine dosage just a few days before… After 3 – 4 days she felt physically better but her mood had dipped - we weren’t surprised, she’d had a good month of feeling well and her mood was due to dip anyway, according to her pattern. Although mum had a tough week her mood seemed to be lifting and we went off to her psychiatry appointment. The psychiatrist asked mum how she was and she said she was OK and her mood was lifting – he asked her if she ever felt suicidal and she said no (she has never felt suicidal) he also asked if she suffered from SAD and she said no – she, like me, actually enjoys winter and the festive season very much. The psychiatrist told her to finish off her new 4 week prescription of olanzapine at 2.5mg and then she would be finished with olanzapine for good. That evening, around 6.30pm I said goodnight to mum, took a bag of her washing home with me that she asked me to do and said I’d see her tomorrow. I didn’t get any response from mum to my early morning text and, at 11.15am I decided to go and see where she was and what she was up to. I found mum unconscious in her living room – at some point during the night before she must have slipped into a delusional state and she had taken all of her month’s supply of tablets and all of the extra pregabalin that she had been prescribed. She also left a bizarre note about not wanting to be a big lady which made no sense. Mum was rushed by ambulance to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a local hospital and my brother and I were told to prepare ourselves for the worst – she was not expected to survive. Remarkably, and against all the odds, my wee mum survived this terrible ordeal of which she has no memory, (she also has no memory of her stay at the psychiatric hospital in 2017 when she experienced psychosis). It was at this time that I started to become aware of the damaging effect of these drugs and I became convinced that what had happened to mum was most likely due to a too rapid reduction in her olanzapine. During her stay at hospital her psychiatrist visited her and as good as reprimanded her for trying to take her own life. She was experiencing an extremely low mood, confusion and some delirium at this time, she was also classed as an adult without capacity. Despite this, her psychiatrist decided to cold turkey her from all of her psychiatric meds (olanzapine, venlafaxine, mirtazapine and pregabalin) without discussing this with any family member. He did not believe that mum was experiencing withdrawal symptoms and said that any withdrawal symptoms would be long past by now. I was now also learning the dangers of abruptly stopping psychiatric meds and I became very worried for my mum’s health and this new course of action. After a phone call with me, the psychiatrist did agree to reinstate mum’s olanzapine at 5mg, at my request, and her venlafaxine, but only at 75mg. I was still worried and could see that mum was deteriorating – mum was transferred to the local psychiatric hospital and the new psychiatrist was not willing to consider my request of reinstating her mirtazapine and venlafaxine at 225mg but she did agree to increase her venlafaxine to 150mg. A few days later and, after seeing no improvement in mum she decided that mum was having paranoid thoughts so she increased mum’s olanzapine to 7.5mg without discussing this with me – she also suggested that if mum was to experience withdrawal symptoms, like I suggested she was, she would treat them with lorazepam! She, like the other psychiatrist did not agree that mum was experiencing withdrawal and she also said that any withdrawal would be over by now. I was upset to discover that mum’s care was in the hands of another psychiatrist who wasn’t following the NICE guidelines on withdrawing psychiatric meds and was in denial about the severity or seriousness of possible withdrawal effects. I would love nothing more than for my mum to be off all of these meds but I knew that this cold turkey method could be incredibly damaging. From the day her original psychiatrist made the decision to cold turkey her It took me a total of 18 days and a formal complaint before mum’s meds were reinstated on the 11th of December, at her previous dosage and the olanzapine reduced back to 5mg (I had great support from the mental Welfare Commission, by the way, just in case anyone else needs support). I don’t yet know if I did the right thing, but it was difficult to find advice. Within a week mum’s mood was back to being really good, her memory was dramatically improved, and all confusion was gone. She continued to improve over the next couple of weeks and was officially discharged from hospital on the 3rd of January - no one in the hospital could believe how well and quickly she had recovered. Apparently, according to one of the nurses, the average stay in the psychiatric hospital is 6 – 12 months. Mum was there for just 4 1/2 weeks and spent the best part of those caring for her fellow patients! So, we find ourselves almost back to square one. Mum came home and stayed with me from the 3rd of January 2024 until the 11th – she then went home but was, unfortunately only well for one day and night and the following day her mood dipped again – I was anxious about what had previously happened so brought her back to stay with us until her mood improved or until I had “GrannyCam” (Echo Show) installed so that I could keep a closer eye on her. Mum has only just gone back to her wee flat (29th January 2024) and she is still pretty anxious although she is improving slowly. And this is where we find ourselves. Many, many thanks for reading so far…😊 I am really hoping that I can help support mum to get her off her psychiatric meds – she and I are under no illusions and, given the dosage and time that she has been on this hellish cocktail of meds we are aware that there is an extremely long road ahead of her. I am hoping, initially, that you guys can help me specifically with the following questions: · Would you recommend that mum take her tablets at different times throughout the day (she has morning and evening meds - venlafaxine and pregabalin are taken in the morning and olanzapine, pregabalin and mirtazapine in the evening), and if so, when would you suggest? · I feel that the first drug to taper should be the remaining 5mg of Olanzapine – do you think this is right? · When do you think it would be the right time to restart the olanzapine taper? And does anyone know if I can source taper strips in the UK on the NHS? · Has anyone ever experienced these periods of wellness and then periods of low mood and severe anxiety in a pattern such as I’ve described? Could these be some kind of Waves and Windows, bearing in mind that she was experiencing them prior to starting any kind of drug reduction · What can I do to help mum with this terrible anxiety? I have very recently bought her some chelated magnesium and she has had a couple of low doses of that over the last few days (but has avoided taking them 2 hours before or after her pregabalin, as per the SA advice on magnesium) · I am obviously very worried that there may be a repeat of what happened to mum on the evening of the 9th of November given that, aside from the flu like symptoms, there wasn’t much to warn me to be on the look out for such a severe reaction. Do you think that now that I know a little about what to look out for with withdrawal symptoms I will be able to pick up on times like this should they arise in the future when mum is tapering from her meds? Any and all advice will be extremely welcome – thank you all so much in advance and my apologies for the massive essay! Chris (tine) 😊💚 x x

Hi there I am coming off risperdal. I know its tough but is it possible. I was really hoping to hear from alto strata on the matter. What speed should I start my taper at? Guys is there any hope? All im hearing are nightmare stories and im desperate for hope...

Hi, I was diagnosed with Schizophrenia in 2016 after a very long psychosis which got progressively worse with time. To be honest, I've reflected and read up on trauma and how it affects our mental. I now understand that psychosis was a response to severe stimuli. In other words, I was traumatised and so hurt that my mind fractured. I hope I have not offended anyone with my beliefs. I am seeking support to come off antipsychotics. I am currently on Cariprazine 3mg daily. I live in the UK and have an appointment with my psychiatrist coming up soon. Any support is appreciated. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks all for reading.

Hi, I've been on neuroleptic antipsychotic drugs for 8-10 years. looking forward to reading your stories. withdrawing from these drugs is in so many cases the right thing to do.

Hi, I've decided to start tapering Zyprexa, and need advice on how to do it. My reasons: I was diagnosed previously with psychosis and "simple schizophrenia", but I don't want a label to define my life. I can't think or speak fluently on this medication and suffer chronic fatigue with constant tiredness, and as a writer I really need fluency in speech and energy. I have been cutting pills, and every two months I've tapered from 5 mg to 2.5 mg pill and a half (3.75 mg), then to a 2.5 mg pill and a quarter of it (so, 3.125 total). But I feel this taper is too fast. Now I have this tension on the back of my head and can't fall asleep without using 0.5 mg Xanax (which I don't want to use, since it's dangerously addictive). Reading through Hayduke's thread, I know I can dissolve a pill and make a liquid suspension to do a gradual 10 % taper of the current dose every month (or even slower). But I have a few questions: Does any of the dose get "lost" when I make the suspension? I'm told repeatedly by my family that part of it will get stuck to the surface of the glass or recipient I'm using to taper. Should I go back to 3.75 mg or 5 mg? Which dose is easier to taper? I figure 5 mg might be easier, considering it's one pill rather than one and half, and I'll part from a more stable point. Is Zyprexa Velotab easier to dissolve for a liquid suspension? I read some of its official information online, and it said it was perfectly fine to dissolve it in a liquid to drink it (since it's orodispersable?). I am also taking 4.5 mg Cariprazine for "cognitive improvement". Should I taper this dose before or after Zyprexa? Also, two important points for reference. I once tapered 6 mg Invega by reducing 25 % every month and finished my last dose by alternating 3 mg every two days. While feeling initially rather lucid, the result was rebound insomnia and a struggle to urinate during 6 months that resulted in a psychosis. I have a bunch of physical symptoms like photophobia, tinnitus and aversion to loud noises/voices that grow worse when I've tapered quickly. They make me feel physically ill and make it impossible to have a functional or social life. The symptoms weren't there to begin with, or at least not so strongly, when I first started Risperdal in 2017, and have only grown worse whenever I've dropped or tapered quickly medications. I feel like the medication probably exacerbated or made worse how I felt previously. Anyway, thanks for reading me out

Hey everyone, so I decided I'm not going to take my monthly antipsychotic injections anymore. I had it with the side effects and my psychiatrist wasn't supportive to taper me off slowly (he thought I should be on them forever). I know it's not the best decision considering the risks, but I have faith in God and my capability to overcome any side effects. I'm thankful that I didn't face any major withdrawal effects so far (except for whole body soreness for a day or two which was acceptable) and I hope it continues that way. It's almost 2 months from my last injection and the half-life of Invega Sustenna is 25 - 49 days so I definitely crossed it. I don't know if it helped, but I am taking Ratfish liver oil 15 drops twice daily. Now, I wanted to know if it would be a good idea to start taking a natural dopamine/serotonin reuptake inhibitor (Catuaba) to down-regulate my already up-regulated dopamine/serotonin receptors. The reason I suspect they up-regulated is because the Invega I was taking acts as an antagonist at both dopamine and serotonin receptors. I would like to start healing my brain to return to my former intellectual/cognitive state before starting the medication (I suspect I was misdiagnosed with Bipolar to begin with). The extra dopamine could possibly help with the motivation/focus issues as well. Do you think I'd be overloading my brain at this stage? Would the Catuaba cause me to go manic? Any thoughts are welcome (including how to overcome/bounce back/heal after stopping antipsychotics)...

Hi everyone, not even sure this forum is still active, but I want to give it a try, because I really want to share my experience here. I've been put on Amisulpride (solian) in 2018. I was on it for 10 months at 600 mg. After having discontinued it, i've experience massive side effects. to this day, I live with a foggy brain on a daily basis, I'm just hopeless, I sleep all day, hoping that the next day would be different, and that I can experience good days, as I could before being on meds. I can barely read or watch a movie, I graduated from university, but I had to give up all the projects I had, because I'm not up to it at the moment, it's simply impossible for me to commit to something I know I won't be up to the task. Anyways, I dread the day I was introduced to psychiatry, like many of you I suppose, and I don't know if I'm ever going to recover I mean, is it just a waste of time. My brain feels so heavy, I can feel it struggling, it is so painful to watch. I used to be a very creative person, who was always keen on learning, and I could rely on my brain every time I needed it. Now, my brain fails me, when I need it, it just doesn't respond, it's a very painful experience to witness my brain in such a dire condition. It just doesn't work anymore, I can't make connection between things, can't listen to podcasts, because it's as though words don't go through my ears anymore. I basically feel dumb all the time and out of touch. Before being on meds, granted I had paranoia and things along those lines that needed to be taken care of, but now, as well as still experiencing disturbing thoughts, I also have to deal with this withdrawal. Can't seem to see the end of it, I'm as impaired as I was 3 years ago, and I have no idea how long I'll be able to hold like this. Just want to give up, or go back on amisulpride so as to do a proper tapper, as I have basically discontinued it cold turkey. Any suggestions on what do to? would it be a mistake to be put back on drugs, knowing that I'm utterly traumatized by the mere idea, of taking psychiatric drugs again. Please help me. Best regards

I want to taper my antipsychotics, is it possible I stay symptoms free and not need meds anymore?

💜 My Introduction topic is here: manymoretodays: off many years of many medications Simply honored to be writing this. And kind of have tears in my eyes, as I begin.......the good kind. The oh wow kind, the unbelievable understanding of my most excellent, and wonderful good fortune for all that has come my way in some 30 years, and well, even before that. A little bit of the oh wow, I wonder if......or what my life might have been......tears too though. I am now 5 years and 10 months off my last psychoactive prescribed drug!!!! Last drug off was Trileptal/oxcarbazepine. Used as a "mood stabilizer". It's actually a drug developed for seizures I believe. I never had seizures. Lucky me on that. I started my “psychiatric career”, somewhere around 1988 or thereabouts. At the tender age of around 30 years, I believe. At that time, I was thriving, by all outward appearances. A newlywed, and we had recently bought our first home, and I was in graduate school and working in my chosen career. I think I was, well I was just me really, and was struggling a bit, sometimes really down.....yet, I could always pull myself up to get to work most days. A lot of strange changes around menses. I would suddenly pop on out of a low down, somewhat perceptually changed funk, when periods came along. And well, hearing all the hype about the new “cure” in the form of Prozac, as well as being privy to what was in medical circles at the time, I wandered on in to a doctor, an Internal Medicine doctor, no less, as I had heard they were really good and I hadn't really had any need for doctors, up to that point, in my young adulthood. I had however, prior to leaving my home state, in the U.S., had a pretty good case of mononucleosis, the second half of my senior year in high school.......I had completed all the work, and was working away to earn some money for college, when that hit. Recovered. Continued on. To college and beyond. I didn't mention my doctor visit to many, or if any.......I'd be surprised. It still all felt so very hush, hush to have any problem with adapting to life. And sheesh, now I was about to be branded with my first, of many labels of “diagnonsense”. And thank you, who ever used that term first. So......henceforth, some kind of mental defective. First trial of an AD(antidepressant), I think was of the Tricyclic class. Oh my gosh, dry parched mouth to the extreme, and totally anxious fearful was the result of that. And on to the Prozac, I believe next. Well, not too long into that experiment, I began to have some flickering flashes of suicidal ideation. So, that was all swell and seemed to prove that I was even more mentally defective and got me a referral to a psychiatrist. Possibly, a few more drug trials with me. Then I lost my job. I mean they were nice about it and all, and I honestly have to take some responsibility for my part in that job loss. I got to stay employed at the same place and all too. And well, I took that all pretty hard, to say the least.....turned inward a lot. So...... then on to my first horsespittalization(hospitalization). Highly recommended by my then therapist. And even switched psychiatrists.......to her hubs. Geeze, the one I had prior was good too. I felt like a amoeba under a microscope with the new one. I cooperated though, on all levels. I mean I was really “mentally ill” right? Last I heard, that shrink was trying for more fame and fortune, doing some pretty invasive brain stuff. We hung out though, for a good while......in that doctor/patient way. Me being scrutinized, and he knowing all. Horsespittal back then. Like a country club really.......back in those days. And I had good insurance. The place wasn't so crowded as most psychiatric wards and hospitals are now. We did all kinds of therapeutic things. And I think a got another diagnonsense there. I found it in my chart, which they did let me look at. My shrink, didn't disclose that one to me though, the diagnosis. Kind of weird, eh? Left that place, after a couple of weeks, on an MAOI AD. Oldschool stuff. Lot's of interactions, with food stuff, and other medications and what???!!!! Why???!!!! Stayed on it for far too long, if you ask me. I was at first a bit super charged on that drug(my problems were magically over and I had a lot of energy) and then........ pretty docile on that drug, gained a fair amount of weight, and then managed to bring it down again. Kept on going with most things, doing all that was expected of me and all. Did a lot of therapy...... Just kept getting my prescription filled and taking my doses. I think it was the brand Parnate, seems like I was on another MAOI too at some point......maybe Nardi. I did, however, a few years into it.......have the dreaded tyramine reaction. Treated with nifedipine, under the tongue......2 doses. I think I could have stroked out, glad I did not. Horrible occipital headache that had me crawling on the floor and I managed to get to the phone, call my shrink, who had me take my pulse(rapid it was) and remind me to take the nifedipine he had prescribed for "just in case". Sun/son was a baby and napping after lunch. I had both aged cheese and sausage at lunch.......I never was great, nor was it reinforced for me(the dietary and drink restrictions), with the dietary restrictions. I guess they thought since I was in graduate school, and in the medical profession that I would be good? I mean I don't know. Anyway......I thought I was a goner with that reaction though. I could not even stand up the pain in my head was so bad. Nifedipine helped......probably dropped my BP(blood pressure) a lot. My pulse went back to normal. I called my then husband home from work, and crawled into bed. Next day off to work maybe? I don't remember, likely or maybe it was a day off. I had gone to PT work with my then baby dear Sun/son, my MAOI baby. He's doing good, well, at age 30 now. Both of us have some just "on the edge of" idiosyncrasies I think. I don't really know any more what my "before" was truly like. And he is okay, for all purposes. My favorite person ever. Fast forward here to 1999, now that was a big year. I was still on the Parnate. Not doing horrid, but into that weird drug induced change of persona or something. A little dulled mentally. I still could get pretty down and out, and didn't really have a clue what to do......but fake it? By now we had moved, and I had a shrink closer to home. AND once again, a job loss......good enough......I wasn't bringing in a whole lot financially to the now merged practice I was part of......so a lay off really. I took it hard though. But decided to get off my MAOI at that point. I knew this wasn't right somehow. Taken off that over 2 weeks, and started on a little dose of Zoloft then, after 2 weeks. Oh my heck ahello. WD(withdrawal) set in. Only I didn't know that, and if my doctor did, they were not telling me. Urgha. And on and on I went......for awhile. More drugs, multiple drugs at once and of course diagnoses to match up with the drugging. The second shrink, well......at one point as I was walking out the door he says, "Hey, I'm almost certain you've had some childhood trauma". No further exploration with me. Nothing. Wow. O....kay. I kept that to myself even. For already I was branded and labeled and.........you know the drill. Felt like a nothing nobody in that system of care. Anyway.....I've since pinpointed the trauma(s). Won't go into that here. Mostly thriving now. Do work on things, with the pros every now and then. And with myself. So, next up........ I latched on to being bipolar. Read everything I could. Checked the DSM bible. Version III, or maybe IV......I don't know. And it did not add up. Because.....at that time, it was still in there.......these ups and downs, and that if they could have been caused by drugs/medications that the diagnosis should be questioned. I also drank and smoked and had dabbled with "recreational" psychoactives from the time I was a teen. Happy to report -clean and sober for over 6 years now. And....an ex smoker of tobacco now, again. I'll make it though. It does strike me now how extremely fortunate I am, given it all, to still be alive and most days grateful for it all as well. I can't live on consistent persistent anger. I do struggle to feel anger and it sometimes comes out wrong. Not dangerously so. It wasn't allowed for me, as a kid, to learn healthy expression of anger. I was the youngest child, and very much the observer, of all things good and bad. When I got here I was 6 months or so off Lexapro AND remedicated with 2 drugs, and had a lengthy decades long history of medications/drugs. So May of 2015. Was I 58 years old? I think so. And had a passing knowledge now of WD and tapering. An Icarus guide. Was reading Beyond Meds. Was also a certified peer in my state and was getting into the peers helping peers movement. Met some like me too. Much help. Much appreciation for those friends. Some here still, some gone now. I had tried some naturopath things while on drugs and also to come off them. Drugs being prescribed medications. That wasn't great and cost a fortune. Okay, so I'm here now. Learning more. And then even in my early acute WD state, was able to come to the conclusion that reinstatement would probably not be for me. I based it on the time since off Lexapro, and the other drugs I was on, and somehow reached the right decision for me. Oh, of course it would have been nice if the knowledge was there, at the hospital I went to, to give me a mini-dose of Lexapro.....after my too quick tapering. But it was not. I even had my liquid Lexapro with me at that time. Acute WD for me was......well indescribable....yet, I'll try to sum things up a bit. Total psych hospitalizations for me over what I call my psychiatric career were 5. All were voluntary. After a drug change of some type. Off one, on another or what have you? Some likely adverse effects from my prescribed drugs. Drug history: Started with psycho meds circa 1988 I think 27 or 28 total. AD's, antipsychotics, antiseizure mood stabilizers. Lithium, lamictal ,benzos, and stimulants. Some med. for narcolepsy once(Provigil,) Gabapentin........probably more. Ask me?......I probably was on it. Haphazard W/D's by Dr. recommend or uneducated self. 10/2014- off Lexapro--had been on highest dose 20 mg., then 10 mg, then 5 mg. for a couple of years, went from 5 mg. to 3 mg. liquid and then CT in hospital(voluntary). I got out of the hospital on a combination of low dose adderal salts x1/day and trileptal 150mg. x2/day. 5/28/2015-off Adderal salts 2.5mg. (I had been on that since hospital 10/2014) 12/2015---just holding, holding, holding, with trileptal/oxcarb at 75 mg. 1/2 tab at hs. My last psycho med ever! 12/16/2016- tapered down with the oxcarbazepine, split the dose into 2, 12 hours apart, tapered at 2 week intervals near the end, and then jumped at 24 mg total dosage to 0. Withdrawal symptom history: And I will go to page 2 of this for that. I am not a sailor, pre Sun/son I did Windsurf though. Still have my sails and board in the garage too. Soon to get donated or something. I hope.

Hi Everyone, I got put on quetiapine for 6 weeks after a bad reaction to fluoxetine (basically I shouldn't have even been given it, i wasn't psychotic I just couldn't sleep an was very anxious). I then quit the quetiapine, its now been 5 months. First few weeks i got 0-1 hours of sleep per night, then a little more. Now 5 months out I feel like it's getting worse again, I can fall asleep but I feel like I am genuinely half awake all night. This leads to me wondering how much i even sleep. I bought a watch to track sleep and it says i sleep for 5-6 hours, but i wake up every 10mins or so. This makes sense, I feel like a complete zombie. Has anyone experienced similar from antipsychotics and has your sleep completely recovered?? If so how long did that take? Thanks!!

Hello everybody, I am new on this forum. Hopefully I filled all pieces of information into my signature so you can read it. I would like to ask you for help, what to do in my situation. I had to reinstate 50mg Amitriptyline (I tapered too fast to 19mg within 3 months - February - May2018). I had to be hospitalized (June 2018) because I lost a lot of weight and was really weak. They added another medication, so I have been using today: - 50mg of Amitriptyline - 50mg of Valdoxan for 8weeks - 10mg Olanzapine since 21st June, lowered to 7,5mg since July14th My question is, what would you do next with Olanzapine? I feel - a lot of inner vibrations - restlessness - fatique during first part of the day, till 2-3pm - constipation (and gut pains) Olanzapine helped with my anxiety, but unfortunatelly only during first 3 weeks, today I have anxiety back, every morning a lot of cortisol and adrenaline So I would like to quit Olanzapine, as I read horrible storries about withdrawing this drug after months or years of use. But I don´t know what to do? Quit it as soon as possible? Or do a slow taper within next weeks eventhough I was on it only for couple of weeks (in total 5weeks today)? What would be your recommendation? I apologize for my English, I am not a native speaker. Thank you

Withdrawal Awareness: A Message to Those in Medication Withdrawal - Mad In America https://www.madinamerica.com/mia-manual/medication-withdrawal-awareness-message-psychiatric-drug-withdrawal/

Hi everyone, I'm male. 22, here's my story. I was misdiagnozed with schizoaffective disorder and put on strong meds this January, namely Haldol injections. I've been treated for two weeks and then received a prolonged shot of Haldol consta. Ever since I haven't felt like myself and still experiencing lot's of side-effects (or main effects) of the medication. Physical: I've always been in a good athletic form, but now my muscle mass has decreased a big deal and what's left feels very weak. I can't work out effectively anymore since I always feel some sort of pain in my body, mostly the legs, and my arms start shaking a bit. I've gained lot's of fat in just one month and I can't drop it off. I constantly feel fatigued and tired, my legs feel weak and start aching whenever I walk or stand for any prolonged period of time. I've also become virtually impotent, I don't feel any desire and my morning erections are gone. My orgasms feel very weak, my testicles have shrunk a little bit and there is very small amount of semen whenever I manage to reach an orgasm. I also experience body zaps and twitches all the time, especially when something touches my body parts, I just twitch really hard, almost jump. Emotionally I feel very numb, it feels like there is a filter between me and the world, the light and sound feel harsh to me, I can't experience joy from anything, the most scary thing is I've lost all interest in my favourite music, it just doesn't sound pleasant anymore, I don't get the chills like I used to. I can't feel any motivation for anything, as I've said I'm extremely numb and low-key all the time. I'm very scared these things are permanent, the long-lasting shot was 2 months ago but I don't feel any improvement at all, I just want to smoke all the time although I've never been a smoker, and I don't even feel nicotine now, same goes for alcohol. I've been working out hard for the last two months, to next to no improvement, I just feel very tired and working out doesn't bring any positive emotions like it used to. I just feel frustrated because these side-effects persist and being almost impotent sucks badly. Every day I just push through the day waiting for sleep time to escape this terrible condition. I'm also afraid the drug might still be in my body since its long half-life (3 weeks, and I've heard it might take up to 5 half-lifes to clear out of the system). I would greatly appreciate any advice on my condition and information about recovery time, it feels almost unbearable for me, I feel like a 60-year-old man although I'm supposed to be in my prime condition at this age. Thanks!

It sure took them long enough but at least they are finally doing this. It is certainly another step in the right direction. Change is coming 😉✌️😻😻😻 Feds to investigate nursing home abuse of antipsychotics https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/health-news/feds-to-investigate-nursing-home-abuse-of-antipsychotics/ar-AA16t8xe

A Method for Tapering Antipsychotic Treatment That May Minimize the Risk of Relapse Mark Abie Horowitz, Sameer Jauhar, Sridhar Natesan, Robin M Murray, David Taylor Schizophrenia Bulletin, Volume 47, Issue 4, July 2021, Pages 1116–1129, https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbab017 Published: 23 March 2021 Hi I found this article while searching google scholar! It highlights some important stuff that many on here learned the hard way (including me). There are some info graphs that are interesting about dose occupancy and what types of symptoms of withdrawal correspond to the parts of the brain which I thought was helpful. There's some good nuggets in here so just ignore the bits of psychiatrist jargon that's in there. Here's the abstract: The process of stopping antipsychotics may be causally related to relapse, potentially linked to neuroadaptations that persist after cessation, including dopaminergic hypersensitivity. Therefore, the risk of relapse on cessation of antipsychotics may be minimized by more gradual tapering. There is converging evidence that suggests that adaptations to antipsychotic exposure can persist for months or years after stopping the medication—from animal studies, observation of tardive dyskinesia in patients, and the clustering of relapses in this time period after the cessation of antipsychotics. Furthermore, PET imaging demonstrates a hyperbolic relationship between doses of antipsychotic and D2 receptor blockade. We, therefore, suggest that when antipsychotics are reduced, it should be done gradually (over months or years) and in a hyperbolic manner (to reduce D2 blockade “evenly”): ie, reducing by one quarter (or one half) of the most recent dose of antipsychotic, equivalent approximately to a reduction of 5 (or 10) percentage points of its D2 blockade, sequentially (so that reductions become smaller and smaller in size as total dose decreases), at intervals of 3–6 months, titrated to individual tolerance. Some patients may prefer to taper at 10% or less of their most recent dose each month. This process might allow underlying adaptations time to resolve, possibly reducing the risk of relapse on discontinuation. Final doses before complete cessation may need to be as small as 1/40th a therapeutic dose to prevent a large decrease in D2 blockade when stopped. This proposal should be tested in randomized controlled trials. Link to full article: https://academic.oup.com/schizophreniabulletin/article/47/4/1116/6178746 Excerpts (bold type mine): "Standard guidelines do not mention antipsychotic deprescribing,70 or tapering,71although some current guidelines encourage reduction to minimum effective doses without specifying how to do so.72,73 The principal means to mitigate withdrawal symptoms is to reduce the rate at which the equilibrium is disturbed, so allowing time for the reversal of underlying neuroadaptations to return to baseline.16,70,74Gradual tapering of antipsychotics, when cessation is the goal, is sometimes advised on this principle.56,70,74 Tapering may reduce the likelihood and intensity of withdrawal symptoms, including, potentially, the risk of withdrawal psychosis.70,74 The persistence of TD, the most visible manifestation of dopaminergic hypersensitivity,75 for a considerable time following cessation of antipsychotics, provides evidence that neuro-adaptations to antipsychotics persist for many years and supports the need for long tapering. An early review of studies found that it took 2–5 years for 60%–90% of symptoms of TD to resolve following antipsychotic cessation (supplementary table S1).76 Another study found that 92.8% of patients achieved a 50% reduction in TD symptoms 46 weeks after discontinuing on average 10 years of antipsychotic treatment.77 " "Indeed, even reductions from 0.5 mg of haloperidol (the smallest available tablet) to 0 mg will produce a reduction in D2 antagonism of 40.0 percentage points, and reduction from 0.25 mg (half the smallest tablet) to 0 mg will produce a 25.5 percentage point reduction (larger than the change from 20 to 2 mg [19.6 percentage points]); this may account for the relative ease of reductions at higher doses of antipsychotic and the difficulties in tapering at lower doses.45,51,74 "Given that reduced antagonism of D2 dopaminergic receptors has been implicated in many of the withdrawal phenomena attributed to antipsychotics, including psychotic symptoms,17,20,23 we suggest that tapering regimes should aim to reduce D2receptor antagonism in a linear fashion with adequate time provided in between dose reductions to allow adaptation to lower doses of the drug, as this may produce more “evenly spread” perturbations to the system, which may minimize withdrawal-associated effects (figure 3).16,99 "

greetings, i am new and have not previously joined a community pertaining to psychotropic medication withdrawal. i posted a few times, years back, on crazymeds/crazyboards asking about severe non-withdrawal side effects i was experiencing, but to no productive end. in summary, i spent a span of 7 years taking various combinations of 17 different psychotropic medications from most of the common classes (SSRIs, SNRIs, an NDRI, tetracyclic antidepressants, atypical antipsychotics, anxiolytics, benzodiazepines, psychotropic sedatives, an anticonvulsant, etc), usually 3-5 at a time (or more!). i had a wide variety of overlapping psychiatric diagnoses that amounted to a free pass for clinicians to throw literally anything theyve got at me. eventually, i quit everything, tapering off under the watchful eye of a psychiatrist for many months. but...now its almost 3 years later, after my last pill, and withdrawal has been raging the entire time. --- in greater depth: i had initially quit the medications the side effects became unmanageable, instead of just horrific, and i decided to quit it all for good before i completely lost myself. i was virtually immobilized and brainfried from the regimen, and had lost most of my abilities in life, like reading comprehension, much aural comprehension of speech, energetic locomotion, almost all short and long term memory, etc, and had quit everything in life that previous made me happy, like artistic pursuits, romantic relationships, and sustainable employment and academic avenues. all the doctors said that meds were the only thing they advised, and warned me strongly about going clean. and, after i quit and was experiencing withdrawal, the only advice i ever got from any mental health expert, besides my latest counselor, was to go BACK on meds. it took me a year or two to even recognize the symptoms as potentially being withdrawal symptoms---no one had ever talked to me about the potential for a long term withdrawal, and evidence in the literature was essentially non-extant. i started building a case from the ground up, considering all options and marking down symptoms i experienced. i compiled a 20 or so page document exploring many angles of my stay in the healthcare system and my present situation, and presented it to the last few doctors and counselors in the line of 8-10 or so that ive seen since going off meds. i got a 'formal' diagnosis of protracted psychotropic withdrawal that the GP refused to put in writing, after examination and preliminary testing. it doesnt change anything, ultimately, but its the beginning of some degree of medical recognition. i have been on disability for several years now, basically quit all of life in 2009, but, ironically, i did not work enough to qualify for disability---they didnt like my jobs, as opposed to the periods of time i worked. so i have an SSI pittance and cant afford to even feed myself while paying rent and bills, but dont have any means of significant material or financial assistance besides living with relatives at a greatly reduced cost of rent, and sometimes rides to appointments. the symptoms of withdrawal, distinct from side effects i experienced while still on the meds, number between 60 and 100 separate issues...everything from seizures to kidney stones to psychosis to tardive dyskinesia type stuff. its been suggested that i see a rheumatologist about perhaps having fibromyalgia in addition to the slew of normal withdrawal symptoms, and i have been following through with that suggestion. im largely incapacitated and have no one to even understand the nature of my situation, or have faith in my own experiences, so ive finally joined a board after months of avoiding a broader social dialogue on the matter. so, hello fellow stricken digital people.

Here is a question for everyone who has used anti-psychotics (especially athletes): Have you experienced poor blood circulation after using anti-psychotics? please reply with your experience in decent detail. I myself am an athlete and after i took risperdal, my blood circulation dramatically weakened, i was much less vascular and could barely experience a muscle pump after working out; I recovered from that side effect after a rough 14 months. later i took abilify and the same exact thing happened, poor circulation, less vascular and of course fatigue in the gym. after bloodwork, the only thing that was abnormal was prolactin (it was high after risperdal and low after abilify).

Hi All, Diagnosed schizophrenic here currently on a 300mg depot injection of Abilify monthly until March 2016, on a community treatment order. Am doing everything I can to get off medication ASAP, as am experiencing akathisia, anhedonia, complete loss of libido, numbness, and a loss of spirituality. I'm sure most of you know how horrible this can be, especially when previously I was a healthy & happy, loving guy full of life and energy. In total I'll be on the abilify for a year, what are my chances of recovery? Has anyone in a similar position ever come off medication and found their voices to return (mine were extremely loving, and quite special to me)? Could anyone provide me with tips to detox/cleanse, or peace of mind that I will recover? I smoke ciggarettes, take st johns wort, to try to counter the effects of the abilify, which help, along with numerous other supplements. Exercise regularly, eat as healthy as possible. Thanks for reading, I really appreciate any help or guidance on the topic of antipsychotics.

Hello. About 6 months ago I was hospitalized and put on risperdal against my will. I was diagnosed as bi polar and given the medication over the course of 21 days, beginning with a pill and ending with two injectables. I was scheduled for a third injection three months after being released, but as the symptoms were impossible to cope with, my psychiatrist put me on abillify instead. After less than a month, I discontinued the medication completely cold turkey and I haven't been back to see him since. Here are some of the symptoms I've noticed for the past 3 months since discontinuing the medications. -akathisia -mild gynecomastia -emotional flatness -inabillity to read or retain information ( I used to read about a book a week before the medication) -increased joint pain -terrible anxiety and agoraphobia -erectile dysfunction and an empty sex drive/diminished orgasms -severe weight gain Anyways, a whole myriad of symptoms began to occur, but my main concern is permanent neurological impairment or alteration caused from this medication. I've read that these medications are actually neurotoxic, that they shrink the brain or even cause brain cells to die, all sorts of terrible stuff like that - and I'm terrified. I don't know what to do or how to cope. Is there anybody out there with similar experiences? If so, how long has it taken you to recover, if you recovered at all? I feel like I've basically been lobotomized. I'm only 23, and I couldn't imagine living life like this without some hope of getting better. Any help is appreciated. Thanks for listening.

Most, if not all, of us on here keep notes or track symptoms, progress and tapering schedules. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could combine them all in one big AI database and have it spew out the statistically significant data? Until that comes to fruition, I wanted to share some patterns that I have tracked with my daughter’s anti-psychotic tapering progress over the last two years. Maybe others have seen similar patterns? Or can share their noticeable patterns on the specific days or weeks when they occur from a drop in dose/ taper time frame. So often in the throes of withdrawal agony we look for a way to ‘fix’ our current situation. We ruminate whether we should up dose, taper down, throw a supplement at it, add a different med …. In the hopes of making the current “pain”, better. Pretty much I have thought of all those things except throwing in the kitchen sink in an attempt to ‘make it stop’ for her. As it is often cited and discussed here on Survivingantidepressants.com, learning how to cope using non-drug techniques during these times is the best strategy. Can knowing when you are in the middle of something awful, that what you are experiencing is actually a typical pattern others have gone through and will eventually subside…be of benefit to help ‘ride the wave?' I vote, "yes it can." The pattern that I have noticed for my daughter, Glo, is what I call the “Week Three Phenomenon.” This phenomenon became more apparent as her dose became lower. Probably because she was pretty much ‘zombified’ on the higher doses and it was only when her level of alertness improved and just overall feeling better occurred that the ‘down patterns’ emerged more clearly. Week Three Phenomenon occurs between day 15 and 22 after a taper. It shows up as Emotional Spirals, (typically Anger Spirals), Crying Spells, Agitation and increased Insomnia. Week one and Week two have their share of symptoms but typically not these. Actually those weeks have more physical symptoms and less emotional symptoms. Additionally there is more “calm” in week 2. So one might think, “Ahh I made it through the rough parts of that taper” and then boom….not so much. But then by week 4…pretty much on cue for day 22 or 23…the calm returns. Maybe this is Windows and Waves but maybe it is actually repair work going on from the drop in dose. Maybe there is really a methodical way the brain heals and it impacts certain areas of the brain in succession (the amygdala, hippocampus, frontal lobe perhaps)? Similar to the old fashioned arcade Pinball Game only the “ball” pings the same areas of the brain in a repeatable fashion after a taper? I am certainly only a mother observing my daughters behaviors and actions through this process so, no expert am I. Nor do I really know what she is feeling as she does not talk much any more. However, I can count on these emotional spirals showing up on week 3 like clockwork. The other pattern I see relates to Menstruating Females. This pattern is most discernible when one is having regular periods. Glo went from amenorrhea in the beginning to irregular periods then to regular but shortened periods. But every month when she is regular her symptoms go ‘off the charts’ during ovulation. They last about 24 to 36 hours and occur mostly 14 days before the start of her next period. She has ramped up pacing (I am assuming akathisia), chewing/jaw tension, agitation, insomnia and decreased level of alertness/communication. This same pattern emerges 24 to 48 hours before she starts her period. So what happens if my sweet beautiful daughter is in Week Three of a taper and ovulation or her menstrual cycle arrives? Well, if the general public, doctors or psychiatrists were around they would lock her up in a psych ward and “med her up” (to refer to words by @puthappinessfirst) Fortunately, I will not let that happen. It is comforting to me to know these are patterns and that there is always calm after these storms; usually in the form of increased healing. She is better now than she has been at any time on this medication. She still has much healing to do. I still have patience to learn. But we are getting through to the other side of being on this poison. Peace to all who taper, Glosmom

Hello. I pray you are all doing well. I have recently been lurking on this website, looking for other people with a similiar experience as to mine. I am asking for help and advice in regards to my brothers recent situation. My brother had been sectioned in the beginning of this year. He came home one day and was acting different. I later realised that these were delusions. He was unwell for a week and had gotten better for a week then the following week he became unwell again but this time he was quite aggressive. He would get angry easily. He was very emotional and would get really upset sometimes over a small thing or easily irritated. I guess you could describe him as being manic at this time. He also said his heart would start beating fast randomly and he felt like he was having a panic attack. My family decided he needed to go to the hospital as he was very much out of control. He went to the hospital and was alright there but he kept walking and wouldn't sit still, he would do this at home as well, always doing some sort of exercise. He got upset at the hospital and broke the fire alarm and the doctor had called the police on him. He got arrested, stayed in the cell overnight and the next day they decided to section him under the mental health act. He was put on 10mg of Olanzapine at first, then he was switched to risperidone 0.5 after 2 or 3 days. With 5mg Olanzapine and up to 2 mg of Lorazepam a day as PRN. Even though it was PRN the staff said that he needed PRN everyday. He was put into seclusion a couple of times, it was horrible for the whole family, we just wanted some help, not for him to be snatched from us. We finally were able to get him home after 28 days. We were given 6mg of risperidone, PRN and procycldine as his medication because his hands were shaking. At home he was good although I noticed that during the day he would get a bit hyper, say he doesn't feel good. I would then give him the lorazepam and he would calm down. The nurse would visit us at home and she told me to stop using the Lorazepam and give him Olanzapine instead, if he needed it. So thats what I started doing, big mistake. As soon as I stopped the Lorazepam he became unwell, kept walking around, felt agitated, a lot of anxiety. I then used Olanzapine to calm him down. he would get like this a lot and I realised that its akathisia. I think from the risperidone. He would come upstairs at night saying he cant sleep and he needed something to help him. I thought that this was withdrawals from the Lorazepam or Olanzapine that was given to him in hospital as PRN. I then called the doctor and he said lorazepam has been out of his body for two weeks so it must be his illness returning, he told me to put his risperidone up to 7mg. I tryed doing that for 3 days but it made him feel worse. I put him back on 6mg. I told the doctor that I wanted to switch from Risperidone to Olanzapine because it wasnt helping and he would feel restless half an hour after taking it. The doctor told me to put him on Olanzapine 5mg and to reduce his risperidone by 2mg every 4 days. I got him down to 3mg of risperidone at this time. It was then that I found this site and saw the 10% taper method and I realised that I cant just cut off his Risperidone as he had been on it for 6 weeks already. I have now got him on 2.25mg of Risperidone from yesterday but the problem is that he has also been on 3.75mg Olanzapine for a month since coming home. He is already been complaing about being stiff and he sleeps 14 hours a day and has gone quiet, he stopped making conversations and rarely laughs like he used to, since being on Olanzapine. I also suspect that he may have Seretonin Syndrome or toxication from the risperidone because he displays symptoms when i up the dose of the medication. Hypomania, restlessness and agitation. I dont know what to do, I want to get him off Risperidone as it makes him agitated, his muscles twitch, his hands used to tremor and gives him akathisia unless he has a benzo. But I also want to get him off the Olanzapine because he gets really tired during the day has stopped talking to my dad, they are so close, and I dont want him to lose his emotions forever. He cant stay on two antipsychotics. The side affects outweight the benefits. Should i ask the doctor for a benzo or something to help the akathisia. Should I also taper the Olanzapine at the same time? How much percent can I taper his medication by and how often, can I taper 10% Risperidone and 10% Olanzapine? Can i taper more often than every month? Thanks so much, if you managed to read all of this.

Hello, my name is Neil (removed) and I'm from (removed) Oregon. I've been on antipsychotics for about 4-5 years and have never recovered from them. I read somewhere online that you don't hear a lot of recovery stories about antipsychotics, and it seems to be true. This is discouraging because a lot of time my meds were forced. (For a year I tortured myself on the drugs, and all the rest was basically forced by injection or forced meds. (The order in the hospital would equal an injection if I didn't take the pill which I did). I've just basically noticed what everyone has said: loss of enjoyment in life. I don't feel even close to the same way I did before the drugs. There are all sorts of data on brain damage and nerve death from neuroleptics. I just spent two months in a mental hospital on forced meds because the doctors don't know what the hell theyre prescribing. I have permanant emotional damage as well as the physical damage from the drugs. Please help. p.s. Currently I'm off these drugs but my parents have legal guardianship and the power to force the drugs on me if I'm in an institution, so I'm working on quitting that legal status so this never happens again.