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Mod note: link to: Happy2Heal: Hope I'm doing this right (Introduction and update topic) I was just an 18yr old, a very confused, naive young woman, er no- more of a child, really- when I was given (by force) my first psych drug, stelazine, a major tranquilizer. that was the beginning of a long series- spanning almost 40 yrs!- of psych drugs and hospitalizations. All along the way, I was plastered with one diagnosis after another, or several heaped on at once. My physical health went downhill and I ended up a virtual shut-in, living my life all in my head, friendless, socially isolated to the extreme, my only contact with drs and therapists, leaving my house to go food shopping maybe twice a month. This wasn't living, and I knew it. But I didn't know how to change things. I didn't know what was wrong. I spent over two thirds of my life believing I was mentally ill and *needed* to be on those drugs. but at some point, it occurred to me that the drugs might actually be the problem, or at least, part of the problem. I knew I had to get off them. and I did. The process and the pain of that is reported on my thread, I don't care to go back over it, at least not now. I learned a lot along the way, but for now, I don't want to think about where I've been, I only want to think about where I am now, and the life I have before me. Here I am, now, one year off all drugs, of all kinds. I rarely even take a ibuprofen for a headache. I want to write my success story, but I'm not 100% ready yet However I do have to say that what I feel most of all, is a great deal of pride in having survived. I suffered all forms of abuse as a child, emotional, sexual, physical, verbal, went on to be a survivor of rape, of domestic abuse. I was abused within the mental health system. I've spent virtually all of my adult life in poverty, raising my daughter as a single mom on disability due to "mental illness". But today, I feel as if I've done more than just survive; I am thriving. I have friends. I have a very active social life. I volunteer and I feel like the work I do is making a difference, having an impact. while technically I am still 'poor' by income, I don't go without anything I need, with the possible exception of good dental care I have a good life. Is my withdrawal journey over? I'm not sure.While I took my last dose of lexapro over a year ago, I feel like I am still having some symptoms that must be related to the nearly 4 DECADES on psych meds. BUT you need to know, these symptoms are extremely mild. and after that long on so many different drugs, it stands to reason that there will be minor little tweaks that my brain will need to make, for some time to come. I'd like to say that all that has faded into the background of my life, but to be honest: I am more vigilant about them now, than at any time during active withdrawal- because I don't want to fall into a trap of thinking that any problems I may have mean that all those doctors were right, I'm permanently disabled by a mental illness and there's no hope for me. I am pretty sure that the only thing I suffer from is PTSD, and I don't see that as a mental illness so much as a natural reaction to extremely stressful, traumatic life events. so Today I feel Victorious. I've overcome a lot and need to soak in that feeling of doing a good job I don't often give myself credit for my achievements or feel like it's ok to feel good about them but today, I give myself permission to bask in this feeling. it feels like the right and honest thing to do. I guess I just have to be different, I don't want to call this a success story because that sounds to me like the end, when in fact it is not. It's not really a beginning, either, because the beginning of my new life dates back to when I first realized that the drugs were the problem. to me, this just feels like a victory over adversity- something to celebrate! so please, celebrate with me, and know that you are going to heal as well, those of you still going thru WD/recovery. it's worth it, believe me so very worth it!

Hey guys it’s my bday today i turned 22. Last summer a lot happened I was kicked out from my parents and then I got an apt but was shortly kicked out of there and on the streets. Being homeless I didn’t feel safe to sleep I’d rarely eat. And In 2 weeks I went into psychosis due to lack of sleep. The psychosis was really bad but after being in the hospital and eating and sleeping right I was back to normal. Doctors insisted I was schizoaffective so they put me on haldol shots. Worse decision I have made in my life I was just scared to not get psychosis again but I believe anyone that doesn’t sleep for 2 weeks and is in extreme amount of stress can get psychosis. I’ve had pyschosis before in my life 2 times prior and they were both cause I wasn’t sleeping and eating and high stress and anxiety. Anyways regardless of I’m schizoaffective or not. The medication was so unfair. I did not know what was to come. I shoulda stopped the shots a long time ago but I took 8 shots I don’t know the dosage. I’m 6 months off. i feel no emotion. i feel no joy. music sucks. substances don’t work like weed tea alchohol, I don’t feel much seratonin i don’t feel any dopamine I get slight pleasure from sex and food but not showers video games tv hanging out Nothing does anyone really recover from Haldol is it just too strong of a dopamine blocker to ever come back from it. the most concerning thing is weed doesn’t work it’s like smoking air if I take 1 month break I’ll get a vision change but no good feelings. on the first 3/4 months weed sorta worked still after 4 shots it’s just completely blocked will it be like this forever? In another post I heard someone saying in 2 years off the shot they still can’t feel recreational drugs. besides the drugs I wanna be happy I’ve been happy without weed before this is totally different it feels like I have no soul. i have no motivation I don’t care about working school or making money on the side either I’m seeing a neuropsychologist and hopefully get some answers my doctor and psychiatrist don’t give 2 shits. ive attempted my life more this year then I have in my entire existence I wasn’t always perfect but atleast before I could feel my emotions and smoke weed if it got that bad. I have no escape now excersize does not do anything supplements don’t help herbal tea doesn’t work anymore this is all bs seriously the guy on here talking about haldol LAPD said there was someone 2 years off and can’t feel substances? I know I shouldn’t be seeking substances but it’s so hard when u feel ahedonia and suicidal thoughts everyday I don’t feel human anymore Is there any recovery stories on haldol? I wish I could be one but I don’t think I can make it this long feeling like this it’s horrible everything I once loved is stripped away. I feel horrible everyday anyone have any hope any links anything. I know people have recovered from invega and risperidone but i know haldol is 50-100x stronger then Thorazine. my biggest question is will I ever be able to feel weed again? i just miss smoking enjoying music being motivated working going to school everything was fine before these shots now I’m ***** for life. I was thinking maybe I’d recover in 1.5 years cause I’m 6 months off now. But if I can’t feel weed in 1.5 years that’s not recovery my dopamine receptors would still be ***** up. I don’t want to Just get used to this I want my old self back if that’s not possible I don’t think I can do this anymore.

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.

Here are a few resources for those who are on antipsychotics and are in the process of tapering or have already come off of them. I am noticing more resources for this class of drugs popping up over the last couple of years 😉✌️😺😺 https://psychscenehub.com/psychinsights/antipsychotic-withdrawal-syndrome-tapering/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32259826/ https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/antipsychotics/coming-off-antipsychotics/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853222000165 https://mentalhealthdaily.com/2015/06/12/post-acute-withdrawal-syndrome-causes-symptoms-treatment/ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/research/epidemiology-and-applied-clinical-research-department/research-antipsychotic https://www.madinamerica.com/withdrawal-protocols-antipsychotics/

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!

I am 23 and have recently recovered from a temporary psychotic break due to trauma, and wound up on 10 mg Haldol and .5 mg Cogentin for a total of 2 weeks and 10 mg Lexapro for 3 weeks. I suffered from very heavy side effects while on the medication (sexual issues, severe constipation, shaking in my legs while walking, trouble moving my jaw while eating, exhaustion, uncontrollable salivation, the list goes on...) and my psychiatrist did not listen to me and told me that side effects were due to stress. My therapist noticed that I started slurring words and was struggling to complete sentences and was not as eloquent as I used to be. I couldn't take it anymore and quite everything cold turkey, which gave me Akathesia. I went back on everything at half dose for a few days and managed to taper quickly again with less withdraw symptoms. In retrospect I probably moved too quickly to stop everything, but I was deeply frightened by the neurotoxicity and the intense side effects of the Haldol and wanted to prevent permanent brain damage from developing. I was never informed about any of the risks or side effects of these medications. Now I have been off of everything for roughly 3 weeks and withdraw has stopped. I was exited to get back to my old life but now things seem dampened and not as enjoyable as they used to be. I have a strange feeling in the front of my head, like a piece of my brain has been taken out. I am not completely devoid of feeling, but I feel like a cloth has been placed over the world and I cant experience things in the same way i used to. I have tried telling a few people about this, but everyone insists that I was not on the medication long enough to cause that type of feeling. I am not sure if this is due to recovery from the medication or if this is part of the recovery process for my illness, but I am very afraid that I have sustained damage to my frontal lobe, and the more I learn and feel the horrid effects of Haldol the worse my anxiety gets. I have recovered a lot of my previous speech and cognition, but something still feels "off" and I am afraid this feeling will never go away. I managed to cry for the first time today which I take as a good sign my emotions are returning, but it was very difficult and I felt I had to force it out. I'm hoping that I can find others who have had emotions return after discontinuing antipsychotics and antidepressants, especially from Haldol which seems to be a particularly tricky drug. Thank you for your time and support 🙂.

My first experience with these drugs was back in 2021 with my first psychiatrist. I was put on topiramate and Brintellix. No problem getting off of them when i felt like i needed to. He let me speak for a good hour or more. Spoke to a neurologist in late 2022 because i developed brain heating in response to frustration. He didn't even let me speak at times. Haldol + Neuleptil seemed to work at first but then noticed they were just putting me to sleep. Not the cure i needed. Had 4 days of akathesia after being suggested to drink heavy alcohol while the drug was still circulating ( I thought it didn't because the last cycle before the occurrence i have took the day before ). Went to another psychiatrist, and after a " Careful check " of 5 minutes i was told i'm depressed and i should take Cipralex 20 mg ( 10 drops at first upping the dose by 2 till i reach 20 ), Depakin 250 mg ( 2 envelopes ) and 1 Quetiapine 100 mg for the night. The reasoning was that supposedly Cipralex would make me feel euphoric and Depakin and Quetiapine would have me stabilized. He told me that this stuff doesn't have side effects and it's " Light ". After the first week i felt my depression worsened to a point i never had reached before. Plus i had eye pain, blurred vision, diarrhea, cognitive malfunctions, couldn't think and speak properly, heavy depersonalisation and derealization, feeling like i had a flu, gained weight, ate more, and problems with erections/orgasms. Psychiatrist told me it was my depression coming back. I asked him if those things are supposed to make me feel better why would that be the case and why have i never felt this way prior to the " Medication ". I was left on read. Looked up on internet and started reading about the millions of horror stories related to antidepressants and such. My friend had my same exact symptoms, including the eye pain that was confirmed by my eye doctor to be brought in by the antidepressant ( He asked me if I'm taking them even before i could say anything ). In a week i knew more than he does ( Implying he doesn't know what he's doing, which i heavily doubt ). Since i intuitively knew i was poisoning my body, even before i searched on Google, i let go of his " Trust me "s and tapered off everything in 1 week: Cipralex from 20 drops to 10 for 2 days, then 5 for 2 other days, As for Depakin took 1 envelope in the last 3 days of that week and cut quetiapine completely in the other half of the week. I was told to take Cipralex at 2pm, Depakin at 8pm and Quetiapine at 10pm. In total, i took 3 weeks and a half of everything, including taper, more or less. The first week was more or less fine. However, the withdrawal symptoms started to kick in after then. Astonishingly high levels of depression, nightmares in which i would feel extremely depressed ( Didn't even know something like that could happen, aswell as such levels of depression ), stopped sleeping, would have 5 minutes of half a sleep and wake up panicky, and quickly developed into high anxiety/arousal. Can't feel emotions like i did, hardly can laugh and everything, i'm more uninhibited because i'm searching for those chemicals i lost and can't find them, and when i try and remember something or something really emotional hits me i can barely cry and the rest of the feeling mutates into yet another panicky feeling. I just know this is farmacological as much as i knew akathesia was. I'm starting to develop some tremors, too. Several important occasions were ruined for me because i was either too ill to go or i would get almost a panic attack because i wanted to go home, where i had no rest anyway. I'm smoking 10 to 15 cigs a day just to try and feel something/calm the anxiety with not so good results, and i was never a heavy smoker. I went there for my akathesia and he told me if i didn't take my new cure i would still have akathesia, which i strongly doubt. I feel like akathesia is next door again now, really, because i stared pacing again, not at that level, for now. I spoke with the psychiatrist again and i told him all about this. He said it's all about me and what i had prior to the medication, didn't really make sense through the whole thing and could hardly hear what he was hastily saying, didn't seem to know what ssri means and he told me that " SSRIs boost serotonin ", which is not true, even implying depression has anything to do with serotonin and it's about a chemical imbalance which actually seems like these things gave me. I basically told him he should work on his ego and that he doesn't know anything about what he prescribes and he's comparable to an angel of death. He told me there is no such thing as withdrawal, you can't get hooked on antidepressants, avoided the " Why am i getting worse if that's my depression " question. He admitted to have given me a horse dosage/cure. He says this stuff doesn't change anything in the brain even tho the meaning of ssri literally points to the opposite direction of that claim. I also asked him if they don't change anything what's the point of taking them in the long run. Again, no answer. He said i'm going against " Science " ( More like a cult ). I also have him recorded. Max i could do was review him 1 star and possibly sue him. Anyway, i didn't tell him i already tapered off, and he gave me a 2 week taper, obviously. All of this got so bad i got suicidal thoughts and i had to take quetiapine again, and that's all i take, after trying xan for 2 days and it was doing nothing except giving me itches, had no trouble stopping it fortunately. Still feeling bad and nothing like before the cycle. Still can hardly concentrate and everything. Everything still overwhelms me sensory wise but i have little to no emotions. Got a little bit of cognition back again. I developed hard tinnitus. I had a dream in which i felt the dissociation it gives me. I'm taking it one before bed and one or two throughout the day, split. Its sleeping effects are fading and i'm having windows and waves. I'm feeling new bad sensations everyday but quetiapine keeps me from getting too low, for now. It seems like my body is asking for more except when in windows, in which i feel empty but a bit more chill. What do i do ? What's happening ? Is it the deadly cocktail that was given to me and i tapered off too quickly ? What am i withdrawing from ? Is it the haldol + neuleptil even ? Should i go back to antidepressants ? I have no intention to take any other neurotoxin whatsoever. Only taking quetiapine makes everything seem flat but i don't wanna take antidepressants that make me more depressed again.

Hi. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong place- I'm new and this is my first post. so apologies if its in the wrong topic. In April I was taking 10mg Halaparidol (Halaparidol) and 5mg Kemedrin* (see bottom of post) daily. I was also taking 200 mg of Sertraline daily. My psych reduced the Halaparidol to 5mg daily and 2.5mg kemedrin daily In April. In June she took me off both the Halaparidol and Kemedrin. About 2 weeks later I started to notice severe itching, hives and insomnia. I had been taking the Haliparadol and Kemedrin for over 4 years. In July I started a new job and was happy I was no longer taking the halaparidol as it made me extremely tired and I wouldn't have been able to work if I was taking it. However, the insomnia and itching was at times unbearable. I also began to get lumps that looked like insect bites on my torso and legs. I tried taking different antihistamines but to be honest I don't think they did much. It is now early October and I still have severe itching. The insomnia isn't as bad thankfully but the itching is awful. I've tried different antihistamines, changing my washing powder, staying away from perfumed shower gels and mosturisers etc Does anyone have any advice? I know acupuncture helped in the past when I came off other drugs. But since I have moved I don't have access to it. Epsom salt baths also helped a little but I don't have a bath where I live now. I have mentioned all my symptoms to my psych as I know its withdrawal and that she took me off the drugs far too quick. But her reply was that withdrawal doesn't exist. She is a horrible woman so there's no point arguing with her as she doesn't care anyway. I would appreciate any advice, help, or whatever.... * From https://www.drugs.com/pro/kemadrin.html Kemadrin (procyclidine hydrochloride) is a synthetic antispasmodic compound of relatively low toxicity. It has been shown to be useful for the symptomatic treatment of parkinsonism (paralysis agitans) and extrapyramidal dysfunction caused by tranquilizer therapy.

I was prescribed effexor when I was 17 with no warning of what sort of drug it was and how hellish it would be to quit. I have used it for 20 years (I'm 37 now) and after getting stable and quitting my other addictions, I finally wanted to quit them all and discover who I am without substances or pills. I have spent the majority of my life on Effexor or some drug or another, and I just want to be free of it. I have read online that dropping Effexor is on par with quitting heroin. I believe it. I tapered down for 2 years, and after 4 months on 37.5mg, I took my last dose on September 18 2022. I am now 15 days 'clean' and I'm having a really rough go. On saturday night I had a total meltdown/panic attack. The first I'd had in half a decade. It was shocking and distressing for everyone around me. Nevertheless, I've just completed the first 15 days of Effexor withdrawal and I feel trapped. If I go back on Effexor it will be a return to zombie land. No happiness, no sadness, not caring about anything, no ambition. I don't want to live that way. Plus, if I ever want to try to quit again in the future I'll have to endure the brain zaps, nausea, fatigue, vertigo, etc. etc. again and I don't want to ever do that. The drug companies lie and say after 14 days you'll be fine. Hah, what a laugh. I'm currently struggling really hard because I don't want to go back to a wet blanket muting every feeling I have, but the road ahead looks like Hell. I just want to know who I am without these chemicals. I looked online and it seems that it takes at least 6-8 weeks before the nervous system normalizes and even then there's a high chance of a rebound withdrawal in 3-4 months. I'm doing everything I can to make things right: I meditate daily, I exercise to dripping sweat daily, I have a therapist (for now), and a loving partner. I'm doing my best. But I'm just exhausted already. I want this to be over. I'm only 15 days in and from what I can see it won't get better until day 45-60. I just want to be able to smile at lovely things and frown at sad things. I want to know who I am without these pills and chemicals. I can't believe they gave this drug (and others) to a teen instead of asking me why I wanted to take my own life. No one ever gave a damn about me to ask. Now I give a damn about me and I want to see this through, but it's so, so, so hard. Waves of anxiety, shame, guilt, sadness... it's unreal. I could use any/all words of encouragement or advice. edit: i learned about opening the pills and taking out beads just now. Is it a good idea to do that after 15 days of cold turkey off 37.5mg? Please advise.

Hello, my name is Sturm! I am from Austria and am looking for someone to read over my story about getting off of Effexor, since, quite frankly, I am terrified that it will last a few weeks more, or that I could get addicted to benzos (see more about that later) in the process (as the worst side effect I have atm is very bad insomnia). I hope I am posting this in the correct place. So, this is a bit of a long story. I have been taken Venlafaxine / Effexor for around 7 months (since January 2022). Around two months ago I decided to taper it (I was at 150mg). We tapered to 75mg. I don’t recall any psychological side effects from this, but I did notice muscle pain (especially from my left leg). I stayed on this for around two weeks, when I tapered again to 37,5mg. I stayed at this dosage for two weeks, and didn’t notice any psychological change besides muscle pain. I was then told I could get off Effexor, or I could take it every other day. I took it every day for a week. By this time, I noticed brain fog, but nothing extremely strong. At this point, after a week of this, I asked the psychiatrist about a prozac bridge, knowing the withdrawal effects would undoubtedly be terrible. The next day (Friday 21.07.2022) I was off Effexor and took 10mg prozac. At this point, I had a decent amount of nausea and akathisia, a reduced appetite, as well as chills, but never experienced brain zaps. The 5th day had the worst nausea. By day 7, the nausea was seemingly gone, and I thought the withdrawal was over, so I stopped taking prozac a few days later (31.07). The next few days were pretty recent, little to no nausea. By August 5th, (roughly two weeks since being off of the Effexor), I had some mild nausea, chills were back, and worst of all, I started having really bad insomnia. Despite bot having taken any prozac in 8 days, I took it again on August 7th, thinking the insomnia happened due to stopping prozac and being off of it long enough for its half life to expire, therefore allowing more of Effexor’s withdrawal effects to occur (since prozac normally suppresses most of the nasty ones). This, however, doesn’t seem to be the case, as of today, August 10th (day 19), I still am having sleep problems. I am also concerned that I could have become dependent on prozac for taking it for around 14 days. Could dependence on prozac be attained that early, or does it normally take around a month to occur? It has been nearly three weeks since I am off of Effexor. When should I expect the rest of the withdrawal to end? When should my insomnia end (before yesterday and the day before (I was proscribed lorazepam, I hadn’t gotten any sleep in three days due to the insomnia). I was proscribed lorazepam 2,5mg to help me sleep at night. Is this safe to take, or will I get addicted? The psychiatrist and nurses at the hospital where I was given this prescription said it shouldn’t be an issue unless I take this dosage for months. Do I believe them?

Sweet scallydaddy is in the hospital after falling then being confused. He is uninjured but has been hospitalized for several weeks because recovery from the fall is complicated by previously diagnosed early or middle stage dementia. While in the hospital, the dementia sometimes results in confusion about where he is and he gets "agitated." The first instance of agitation resulted in the "as needed" administration of zopiclone and trazodone. After an extremely unproductive cycle of late night PRN dosing that left him slurring his words well into the next day and too weak to do the brief physio recommended exercises, I asked that they pick one medication and provide it regularly. Thank you to all here at SA who helped me educate myself about this. Somebody (I've yet to find out who <grrr> ) started him on trazodone with dinner and citalopram with breakfast. WTAF?? Major interaction effects which include confusion, fever (dangerous for someone with a diagnosed arrhythmia), and increased risk of arrhythmia. Fortunately he's been stable on that for 10+ days until a confused agitation episode today. After the early "cocktail," I knew enough to ask about PRN (as needed) meds in the event of agitation. The PRN med that will be administered is halo-effing-peridol which, imagine your surprise, interacts in major ways with both trazodone and citalopram. It's beyond me how anyone thinks that's going to help him recover to a condition for safe discharge. I anticipate talking with his doctor about next steps and will ask, "Sometimes medications interact with each other. Are there effects we should be concerned about with Dad's prescribed meds?" Not sure what I need from other members of SA or the moderators. I guess the good news is that I've learned a few things and that it's early enough to interrupt predictable negative outcomes. Teasing out which symptoms are dementia progression and which are iatrogenic might not be possible until he's off all the meds.

Hello all, I'm happy that I have found this forum as I'm quite desperate regarding what's going on with me. And fascinated. Fascinated by the effects of these so-called "anti-psychotics". About me: 28 years old, male. I was in a psychiatric hospital due to a paranoid psychosis where I was given Risperidon, and potentially Haldol. All I do currently is laying all day in bed and just read about the effects of neuroleptics. If I had feelings, I would say I am ashamed of myself but somehow there is "nothing" left to make such a statement. I can't seem to care as it feels as if my dreams and my will were erased, my brain functions smashed with a hammer. Are there any tenured forum members which went through something similar? My story below: I. Medication: 10.8 - 17.8: ? (To receive from hospital) 17.8 - 20.8: 6mg Risperidon / day, as per hospital recommendation 21.8 - 04.9: 2-3mg Risperidon / day 5.9: cold turkey II. Symptoms: 10.8: psychosis, got into hospital 11.8: blackout, no memory (potentially after being given something) 12.8 - 17.8: constant dizziness, a friend described that I looked like as if I was on opiates (super high) when he was visiting me 17.8: out of hospital, 17.8 - 19.8: severe pain when swallowing food (just for a few days), hyperactivity as if high on something 20.8 - 23.8: extreme appetite, 4h sleep, fever like symptoms 23.8 - 30.8: declining appetite, extreme emotional up and downs (sometimes crying, constantly smiling in a dumb way when I was in a meeting), Akathisia, panic attacks 1.9 - 10.9: extreme Akathisia, panic attacks, insomnia, no appetite or thirst 10.9 - 10.10: suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, slow sleep stabilization, no appetite or thirst Current status: As of 10.10: new normal - anhedonia, extreme passivity (everything has to be done forcefully), normal sleep length but no quality sleep, still no appetite or thirst (I survive of a coffee and two slices of bread per day), executive brain function defects (attention, language, strategic thinking, ...) 30.10: strange nighmare (see III.3) --- "Appendix": III. Regarding sleep (approx as of 1.10) 1. General: I don't seem to have a gradual falling asleep / waking up phase. It seems to happen abruptly now. 2. Dreams: mostly of memories when I was a child / teen) 3. sometimes vivid nightmares which seem to serve to wake me up, e.g. I had an extremely disgusting nightmare (30.10) and when I still wasn't waking up, the nightmare got distorted as if a TV show gets interrupted due to a malfunction, I literally saw a red square which blocked the "nightmare show" and seemed to cause a full stop to everything, like an emergency break - that was the moment when I woke up, I felt that my complete left arm was numb. Moved around and fell asleep again. IV. Emotions Generally no emotions, lost my passions (music, art). Though I can "revive" memories sometimes when I force myself to listen to music. Summary: I seem to be sitting in a prison now. My intellect is still (kind of) there but the (1) tools which it used to create things and the (2) the drive (my dreams and goals) to become active are all deleted now. Additionally, day by day, I seem to care less and less about the fact that I was stripped of my highest brain functions. If this continues, I will not care about anything in a few months. --- I am not in a suicidal state, just trying to analytically contemplate my options. I went through some topics here but as I doubt that there is an escape from this state + taking the cognitive and emotional decline into consideration, it kind of makes me feel as if I have a limited time frame to act before I become a completely empty human shell which is utterly unable to make decisions and do anything goal-directed. Must I try to learn to accept this "new normal" or is there any way to at least kind of come closer to who I used to be? If I must accept this, is there any medication which could kind of being emotions? Thank you

Hi Everyone - Just found this forum, and thankful that I did. I've been on SSRIs since about 1996 when I was 16 years old. Had typical adolescent depression/anxiety w/ a bit of OCD on the side. Tried a variety of SSRIs for a few years. They put me on Zoloft around 2002, and I've pretty much been on it ever since. Discovered that I had a mild case of Tourette's as well a couple of years later, and added .5mg Haldol to the mix in 2005. I realized about a year ago that these things were doing me more harm than good. Followed my doctor's directions for tapering in fall/winter of last year (skipping doses, going down 25% at a time). Finally got off of the Zoloft. But then after a few months of anxiety, I couldn't take it anymore. My doctor said that it was the original illness coming back, even though I never had that kind of anxiety back in my teens before I went on the meds. She put me back on 100mg of Zoloft. Now, I'm trying it again. I was trying to follow the same plan, dropping 25% at a time. I'm down to 75mg now, and doing fine on it. Trying to drop from 75 to 50 has been a nightmare though, and the problems were what led me to this forum. I now understand that I've been trying to go too fast. Going to try the 10% per month plan. Plan is to get down to 25mg of Zoloft and then try to taper off of Haldol and see how that goes. I'm on such a low dose at .5mg, I'm going to have to make a liquid out of it and use the instructions here on the forum to go down in tenths or hundredths of mg at a time with that. Without giving away any identifying info, here's a little more about me personally: From Michigan, as you can probably tell from my screen name. I live in a housing co-op (kind of an urban commune). I'm married, with one child. Work from home for a startup doing tech support. Trying to start my own business right now as well, which the "too fast" withdrawal has been impeding. We spend winters in the tropics - usually Mexico or Costa Rica - where I usually rent a house to work from. Looking forward to posting my progress and supporting everyone in theirs!

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).

So far it's been a month since I came off of my antipsycotic, I was only taking a .5mg which is a very low dosage but I have been on these 2 prescriptions for 4 years . I was taking 1/2 of a 300 mg tablet of a mood stabilizer. I came off the mood stabilizer 4 days ago . Even though my dosages were very small i have still been experiencing withdrawals from being off. When I came off the antipsycotics I experience anxiety, worry , stress that just came without even thinking on anything stressful, light nausea, light diarrhea, light muscle aches, light flu like symptom such as congestion and sneezing, I also experienced an extreme seizure one time only and it happened at night before bed, I faced a lot of moments when my mind became zoned out, and for this I limited my driving, I experienced a lot of twitches and tremors also and fatigue , only one time i can rememver when my fatigue was so bad it felt like i had been run over by a bus .I would have symptoms during the day but not like I would at night. Most of my symptoms always happened at night. At night I would feel restless tossing and turning all night. The reason why I decided to come off of my prescription meds is because In August of 2020 I started experiencing psuedoinsomnia. Psuedoinsomnia is a type of wakeful sleeping, you're body goes to sleep but your mind is still awake, and the moment you get up in the morning you don't feel sleepy or fatigued at all , your brain just never shuts down. I also came off the meds because I realized that I lost my urges for sleep , not only was I having psuedoinsomnia but I never had the urge to go to sleep neither did I ever feel tired or anything during the day I never felt calm , when I closed my eyes during the day or night to meditate and deep breathe I never felt myself go into a calm state it's like my mind was up all day and night and it made me feel a little crazy that I couldn't even feel calmness , I tried calming tincture that I had been using for years before having these issues and couldn't feel the effect of calmness at all. whenever I laid down to get rest it was around the same time every night. Even though I didn't get the urge for bedtime I knew when it was time to rest and I would just get in bed and keep my eyes closed all night even though I was awake and could hear everything that was going on around me. Since I have come off the antipsycotics my urges for sleep have returned unto me but for some reason my mind will not shut down and go into deep sleep like it was created to do . 4 days ago when I came off the mood stabilizer I noticed my ability to enter a calm state of mind and body return within just even a day of coming off of it also when I take my calming herbal tincture sometime I can feel it take affect on my mind. I also noticed myself go to sleep 2-3 times . I went to sleep but I could tell that it's still not a normal satisfactory type of sleep .. I didn't even know I was sleep and didn't feel refreshed yet i didn't feel fatigued either and it sure didnt make me feel crazy knowing i my mind was up all night. I'll give it more time, it's only been 4 days but definitely some improvements. I also noticed that the moment I came off the stabilizer that I no longer had suicidal thought or wanted to die. At night my body feels like it's screaming for these drugs , and once you come off you can definitely feel it. You get so used to that calm feeling that you begin to crave for it again . But right now always at night my body has a burning sensation , aches in my hands and extremities, sometimes I don't even try to sleep I just sit in bed and rock back and forth rubbing arms and legs like im an addict . Also since coming off these meds I can feel like a chemical coming out of my eyes and nose from time to time when I breath and I'm always rubbing my eyes and squinching them . This morning I had some mood swings , I was just angry for no reason , but I know it's because I'm no longer taking the mood stabilizer. The doctor put me on these meds for anxiety. There was a thought that got stuck in my head and it scared the living day lights out of me I went around for months with this thought playing in my head like a tape recorder non stop stressing me out leaving me in a tremendous amount of fear. I thought I was gonna lose my soul. But I am no longer scared of this thought anymore because it's not real. This is another reason why I wanted to taper off my meds is because I began to feel very good and like I could breathe and be myself once my doctor lowered my dosage, I want to feel normal and regulate things the way I should and it didn't feel like ibcould do that on those meds , my mind was always blank, no good thought or bad thoughts going through my mind just straight blank all the time, and that affected my social life and made me very less expressive like a zombie.

Alright, the reason I started this topic is a need a good advice. My problems started September last year, after turbulent relationship and quite possibly due to overtraining I suffered a mental fallout, father panicked called my brother who in turn called the police to take me to the mental hospital, which I refused to go on my own volition. The cherry on top is my mother was a paranoid and committed suicide two decades ago by refusing to take her prescribed meds, so I knew if go through the system I would end up a Poll-drugged zombie. here was my therapy: Valproate 500mg, Haldol 8mg Prozac 20 mgOlanzapine 5 mg Biperiden 2 mg Ativan 5 mg I managed to wean my self to lorazepam 2.5 mg Haldol 0.5 mg Olanzapine 1.25mg three months ago I jumped from Haldol 0.5 mg and a week after from Zyprexa 1.25 mg thinking that antipsychotics are easy to get off (i was stable at the time on these doses) for first two months i suffered anxiety, depression and suicidal thinking, but I managed to shrug them off as withdrawal symptoms, the problem is after approximately 9 weeks I started to suffer 24/7 insomnia, I could fall asleep but would wake up in 30 minutes, that lasted for a couple a days, not wanting to end up hospitalized again i reinstated 1 mg Haldol and 3.75 Zyprexa, at higher doses of both these drugs I get extremely restless, on lower doses I can barely sleep, right now i sleep between 6-8 hours but during the day I am extremely agitated for having to drink these poisons, i went to a couple of reputable shrinks who wanted to up my doses, particularly Zyprexa to 10mg, which I refused. My question is should i listen to these shrinks, or try to though it up and remain at these dosages and try to stabilize? Thanks in advance

Hello there, My name is Angelo, and I was diagnosed with a lot of labels. I've had psychotic breaks, and I was put on a lot of differents medications. I've had 2 shots of Invega the Last year, but my mom Saved me from having more shots. I believed that taking antipsicotics would made me "normal again", but that's not true. I've tried a lot of antipsicotics during my life, and they never made me feel good, i felt good only after some months of quitting them. But now i'm scared because this time i was under antipsicotics for more than one year,(even more that 2 antipsicotic, Haldol Latuda and Talofen, later I found a psyschiatrist who choosed to let me quit all the medications) I've had an extreme akathisia, but now it's a lot better, I felt so agitated that I try to Kill my self more than one time. On the phisical Side i feel really bad, my muscles are really messed, i feel tired, weak... I can't experience Joy, calm, relax, happiness is just an utopia for me, now. My memory is really bad, i'm scared that it's damaged forever, the only thing I want to do is sleeping to avoid this sufference, and this is why I took a benzo before writing this, i will post it and I will go to bed. The world seems really strange to me, i don't feel myself like a person But just like... just like "a thing". I don't see my Friends from a lot of time, and I don't want to see them, i'm not able to socialize anymore, i barely talk, sometimes i walk in a strange way, and I'm afraid that this time, it will Last forever. I would like to feel myself again, I would like to be again the smart Guy i used to be, i would like to heal from everything wich make me bad. But it just sound like impossible. I don't go to school, i don't make anything all the day, and even if I would want to do something, i would feel too bad to do it, i've tried. I live in Italy, wich is a beautiful nation, but I can't feel it. Even if I go to the Sea, i don't feel anything, anything. I started to cry again, but I don't know if it's a sign of a progress, or just my disperation. I've had a lot of dreams for myself, but now it looks like they disappeared. What can I do? Is there somebody who had a similiar experience and recovered or just felt better? I just have to wait? Greetings, Mister G.

I took haldol for maybe 2 weeks and can't sit down for long periods of time. It could be a lot worse, I can still drive but this is not ideal. I believe this is either tardive dyskinesia or akathasia but I'm not sure. Anyways just be careful with the doctors/NP I should have not have taken it for long periods of time. I would advise staying away from it all together because even with taper I will have this side effect.

Hi, I'm trying to get off psych meds because they've been making my short term memory really bad. An example of this could be putting a water bottle somewhere and within 10 to 15 seconds forgetting where I put it. I also other have problems with sleep and want to get off psych meds. I've been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. Thanks.

We need your advice. My son has been on and off psychiatric drugs for about ten years. We think he has quit suddenly about six times and had five different doctors. About a year ago he quit his meds of about eight months cold turkey. He was taking: Olanzepine, (Zyprexa) 2.5mg and brotizolam, .25mg, each once/day. He was feeling much better for a few months, but had what I would call a disastrous ending after six months. That was last March and he was admitted to a hospital and stayed there for seven months. When he got out, he was prescribed: Depakene R, 1200mg at bedtime Silensu (not sure about the English name), 2mg, at bedtime Haldol Decanoate, 50mg, 1ml, 3A (30 day injection) He felt tired and heavy and drowsy, but couldn't sleep on these meds, so he decided to go to a different doctor and ask him for the meds he was taking previously: Olanzepine, (Zyprexa) 2.5mg and brotizolam, .25mg, each once/day. He took those for about three weeks and felt better and could move more easily, but his appetite increased and he was eating another meal before bed. He decided to go back to the doctor at the hospial because his home nurse talked him into it, and he was promised he could get disability payments if he continued at that hospital for 1.5 years from the time he was first admitted. Its been three days and he is back to feeling tired, heavy and drowsy, but can't sleep. After taking the meds before bed he has a headache and feels dizzy. He desparately wants to cut down the Olanzepine Any advice greatly appreciated. Thank you@

Wow we have same exatxly problem lapd...

Hello all. Since 2010, I've suffered manic episodes that have landed me in the hospital. They say I am bipolar. I had never stuck to any type of medication until 2015, when I decided to pursue naturopathic supplements. These seemed to work for me until January 2016 when I attempted to smoke marijuana again and it triggered another manic episode. Ive had a terrible and absolutely draining experience with medication this year, and used this site to give myself some comfort this past summer after I was really put down by haldol injections. I was given the long term haldol injection in the hospital in February and was given it again maybe a month later when I was out of the hospital. I found a user account that was very similar to my own posted by "lapd" (in bed all day, not wanting to get up to shower/eat, no longer participating in athletics, no desire to do anything at all really). I never posted my own account on the site because I read through that user's and thought I'd give it time. I did some reading about Haldol on Wikipedia and found that there is a 20 fold concentration in the brain compared to the bloodstream, so even though it has been several months since my last injection, I am still affected. I weaned off the additional lamictal tablets they had me on as well. I weaned off July 15. Even though it has been a few months, I still do not feel like how I felt before the haldol injections, but I have gotten better. Compared to my usual recovery after manic episodes and withdrawing off of medication, this is very different. Now, if I don't have to be any place that day, I don't get out of bed. I will sit on my phone, watching videos or looking at Instagram memes the entire day. I also don't shower if I don't have to. I will avoid the gym on my own, and only show up to my boxing classes twice a week (if I don't skip), and this wasn't characteristic of me as I was in the gym six days per week to train for amateur boxing matches. I've lost my desire to compete. I've lost my ambition toward my career building as well. This loss of ambition was never present until the haldol injections, and I really really hope it's not going to be permanent. Life just isn't as exciting when I'm not feeling as determined. I also suspect the lamictal is still affecting me as well because I am having a dream every single night. This didn't happen until I started taking lamictal. The dreams are becoming less vivid and more faded as time goes on. I just really hope to get back to form, and by posting this I hope someone sees it that might have an idea of how to restore myself.

Hello I am concerned about my wife. She is to reduce haldol shot by one half. I have been on psychotropic drugs myself and know it is not so easy to get off of them. I found a web site of a clinic -facility that does drug withdrawal. This clinic is in another state. It does not seem possible to be able to go and also my wife is really afraid of being hospitalized, it is her most undesirable place to be to say the least. But after writing the clinic and asking for information about tapering off haldol one of the staff wrote me back and said that he/she did not recommend tapering off haldol at home. And if done at home then they recommend daily contact with doctor if necessary. I was impressed with the clinic because they do a whole approach Diet vitamin and various supportive therapy like counseling and that sort of thing . I also tried to go to the Pharmacy that gives my wife the haldol shot they did not have any any thing. I do not know for sure all the best ways to deal with this taper. I think that basically the haldol is a dopamine antagonist I think that means it suppresses dopamine in the brain. My wife does lots of activities that I think produce dopamine. These activities are smoking cigarettes, eating sweets, drinking coffee. Weight gain is a concern. My wife ties to spend time on her exercise bike. and does really good in that respect. SO does anybody have any direct advise I tried as I did to look through the resources page on this web site and all but so far I have not found anything that I could try. Thanks

well The real main concern for me now is my wife's haldol injection will go down from 150 mg to 75 mg next week My wife spiraled into a very bad time five years bad times plus when she was taken off risperdal and supposedly switched to abilify can I please be allowed to be on this site or is ti just for people that are on the medications. The thing is I do have some past experience, myself with being on Psychotropic medications for years so I in that experience have some idea of the difficultywith tapering and also with being on the drugs. Anyway I sent my big long story to one of the moderators I do not know if I got the right moderator but thanks for looking at my topic

Hi. I got a 5mg dose of Haldol in the ER on July 9th 2016. It was for a migraine. Doom/terror instantly took over...I wanted to rip off my skin. My first panic attack happened. They told me to calm down and put me on oxygen. I started shaking horribly so the doctor added on 2mg Ativan for the anxiety it was giving me. That didn't help so 50 mg of Hydroxyzine (Benadryl). They sent me home in that condition told me i'd feel better in 12 hours when it wears off. ​ NOPE. I developed Akathisia. I paced my place for 2 weeks thinking I was going insane because I felt I HAD to do it. I couldn't sit, I couldn't eat for about a month, all I would do is cry and cry. Doctor put me on Zoloft which just made it so much worse mentally. I got pulled off of that 2 weeks after starting. I'm on Hydroxyzine nightly now. It does help calm my nerves some. ​I feel the same way I think it messed up my brain and central nervous system. Its getting near 3 months since the incident and i'm wondering if i'll ever get better. I have extreme anxiety symptoms. My nerves throughout my body feels weird..its hard to explain. My heart is always pounding.