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KimmieK Intro - Life with a Label


KimmieK

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Something I wrote last year that was published. This was written after I went off all Psych drugs. And after I came to the realization that ALL Doctors are PRACTICING Medicine, none really know what they are doing to us.

 

I went off all drugs after a mania in which I purchase 2 new cars in 4 months and could not slow down. I asked my psych doctor and therapist to help me taper, they refused. I went Cold Turkey and it was and is rough. I didn't know about this site. I ended up with no support and due to the withdrawal alienated many people that had known me for over 15 years. I would say "it's the withdrawal" and be told to go back on the drugs that were killing me. 30 years on drugs and I'm lucky that my brain still works. As to the long term effects, who knows? No one will tell me.

 

I did find a therapist 50 miles away that does not force feed drugs or even believe I need them. My last one insisted I needed them, even as I explained the mania was drug induced. She would not assist me in tapering. I went cold turkey and she threatened to commit me against my will. I would ask her "If I am not a danger to myself or others why do you want me in a hospital?" "because you won't take your medicine" she would say. I ended up with the last laugh...In about 6 months the w/d eased up and I became human again. She had to admit she was wrong. I had been through w/d before and 6 months was about the time I started to feel better then too.

 

The full time 24/7 rage and emotional pain eased up. The physical symptoms are still here with the emotional ones. The list is: rage, anxiety, sleep problems, loss of appetite, symptoms of trauma, muscular/back pain, headaches, gastronomy problems, emotional pain, easily hurt, easily enraged, weight loss and gain, all continuing after 14 months. I did agree to 2 short term attempts on psych drugs which one lasted 1 pill and the other 2 weeks. No more.

 

In what can be called amusing my last therapist was horrified when I suggested she go on the drugs. "I'll get sick because I don't need them,"she said. I am sick and do not think I need them either, I said. And I fired her.

 

If I have learned one thing in this journey it is this...I am my own expert and I have to learn to trust me.

I can no longer blindly follow someone who claims they are an expert. They are not. Remember..they are "practicing medicine". I will write more later.

 

 

Life with a Label (written in conjunction with a protest over the new DSM-5)

 

My experience with the DSM –the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (the Label Bible of modern psychiatry) began at the age of 18, over 30 years ago. I was evaluated and diagnosed by a psychiatrist at a local mental health agency then permanently labeled with an Axis 1 serious mental illness. Within the DSM, Axis 1 diagnoses are treatable by drugs i.e. Major Depression and Bi-Polar Disorder while Axis 2 diagnoses are not treatable by drugs i.e. Mental Retardation and Personality Disorders. This began a lifetime of stigmatizing behavior toward me. I am however an intelligent, inquisitive person and have the ability to discern rights from wrongs.

 

The DSM (at the time I believe it was DSM III) was used by my psychiatrist to “determine” which of the many serious mental illness I suffered from. It also changed the course of my life. Soon after I was labeled the stigmatizing began. Family would watch for any signs of “behavior” that my disorder may be acting up. Friends would become “worried” if I was “too happy or too sad” and they would ask me if I was taking my medications. The stigmatizing was especially true in doctors’ offices and emergency rooms. Once I listed my medications, it was clear that they were for psychiatric purposes, and I knew that the way I was treated was different. Doctors and nurses did not know how I would react and would treat me with extreme caution, almost fear. And this was at the general physicians or dentist office. The local emergency room or psychiatric hospital was worse.

 

I worked and returned to college. I even took psychiatry classes as part of my education. It was very uncomfortable sitting in a class of over 25 people and hearing what they really thought of my “disorder”. I withdrew from college; it was so traumatizing.

 

All the while, I was having difficulty with the side effects of medications prescribed for my diagnosis. I experienced confusion, weight gain, weight loss, nausea, vomiting, intestinal problems, insomnia, sleepiness, hives, and more. I would read the drug package inserts and be amazed that the same drug could cause opposite side effects from the same pill. I was physically sick for most of 30 years and learned to tolerate it, all in the name of mental health. The same doctors who prescribed these medications will tell you they don’t know why they work, if they work, or the long-term side effects. They do know that people taking these medications die on an average of 25 years sooner than someone not taking them.

 

Now we have the latest DSM-the DSM 5. This document “improves” on previous versions. In reality it labels, stigmatizes, and includes more people. Younger, older- it does not matter. If you can be fit into the label, you are the label. This version, yet to be formally approved, includes so many new people that millions more will be diagnosed with a major, serious Axis 1 mental illness if it is approved in its current form. The ramifications are so serious that those of us already labeled, stigmatized, and diagnosed are standing up in protest. Our families and friends are joining us. We are using our voices. We will defend the voiceless and those yet to be labeled by the DSM 5.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Welcome to the forum, KimmyK. You may find some non-drug help for your remaining symptoms in the 'Symptoms and self care' section.

 

Many of us here share your concerns about the DSM V and can empathize with maltreatment from the mental health system.

Psychotropic drug history: Pristiq 50 mg. (mid-September 2010 through February 2011), Remeron (mid-September 2010 through January 2011), Lexapro 10 mg. (mid-February 2011 through mid-December 2011), Lorazepam (Ativan) 1 mg. as needed mid-September 2010 through early March 2012

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." -Hanlon's Razor


Introduction: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1588-introducing-jemima/

 

Success Story: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6263-success-jemima-survives-lexapro-and-dr-dickhead-too/

Please note that I am not a medical professional and my advice is based on personal experience, reading, and anecdotal information posted by other sufferers.

 

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Hello, KimmyK! I am so sorry your life has been so damaged by the diagnosis thrust upon you. You are so much more than any label and deserve so much more respect than you have been given. I hope you find your time at this forum helpful.

Tapering Zoloft, Dec 2014

Started Lamictal

Re-started Zoloft mid-Oct 2014, 25-50mg

Stopped Zoloft end of Sept 2014

Started Zoloft July 2014, 50mg

Stopped Prozac from 3mg May 2014

Stopped Effexor Dec '13 Started 10mg Prozac

Reinstated Effexor 15mg on Nov 2013

Stopped from 21mg on Oct 2013
Effexor 112.5mg, since Dec 2012

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  • Administrator

Welcome, KimmyK. How are you doing now? How have your withdrawal symptoms changed?

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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Thank you for the welcome. Today the sun is out and when I am in it I feel ok. The anxiety and muscle/back/neck pain associated with it is still here. I will go to other sections to find solutions. Sometimes I feel good, others not so good. I do feel less isolated, thank you.

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