Did I Find Psych Drugs Helpful? (After 19 Years on Them)
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- Опубліковано 26 сер 2024
- Plenty of folks find psych drugs to be a valuable addition to their lives. And there's a sizable percentage of people who've never felt helped by them at all. In fact, quite the opposite. And of course there's everyone in between. In this video, I share my thoughts and experiences and answer the question of whether or not I personally ever found them to be of any use after 19 years of taking them and having been off them for about 8 years now.
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About Russell B:
I was 11-years-old when I was first taken to a psychiatrist. Like so many children, I was struggling to deal with a stressful home environment. Rather than embarking on the complicated, difficult, and delicate task of thoroughly exploring all of that and attempting to solve the problems at their origins, the psychiatrist instead gave me a diagnosis of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and promptly prescribed the antidepressant Luvox to treat its “symptoms.”
This sequence of events kickstarted nearly two decades of wandering through psychiatry’s labyrinth of symptom management and prescribing cascades. By the time I was 25, I had received a half-dozen diagnoses, taken countless psychiatric drugs - including ten straight years on antipsychotics - and had more side effects than I could keep up with or manage. I weighed 400 lbs (181 kg), had out-of-control Type 2 diabetes, and felt like I was dying. And honestly, I had felt so bad for so long, I sometimes welcomed it.
I didn’t know where the DSM labels and all the treatments for my supposed “disorders” stopped and I began. I was sad, broken, and worst of all, someone I’d never had the chance to know.
But then I experienced a spark of hope. A light bulb-over-the-brain moment. Maybe I didn’t have to live that way. Even though the belief had been drilled into me for so many of my developing years that coming off the meds would surely seal my doom, something deep inside told me to take a chance and bet big on Russell B. Using this internal guidance, I began a psych drug taper and slowly started coming off every single one of the drugs in a psych drug cocktail: Lexapro, Concerta, Ritalin, Geodon, Klonopin, and Rozerem. None of them were safe. All were on the chopping block.
It took 5 god-awful years to complete the taper and with almost no help from the docs who’d put me on them. But I succeeded.
I’ve been off all meds for 10 years now (as of August 2023) and haven’t seen a psychiatrist since way back in 2009. It’s been a brutally long journey down a nightmarish path. One that was often too dark to see in front of me and littered with steep drops and soul-testing trials. But you know what? I survived. And my life has been improving, slowly but surely, ever since I escaped the house that psychiatry built.
If you’re wandering down the same path, please know you’re not alone. You’re not fated to lose your way - or yourself. You can succeed. We all can.
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Support Calls:
Support Call appointments are not currently available, but you can send me an email at RussellBYT@gmail.com if you would like to be added to the list of folks who will be notified as soon as more Calls are being scheduled.
Just put “Support Call Notification” in the subject line and you’ll be added to the list!
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Disclaimer:
Any advice given on this channel is not a substitute for medical advice. Please consult with a licensed medical professional before coming off psych drugs. Never-EVER-discontinue your medication cold turkey. It's too dangerous. Please be safe.
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Please note:
This is a judgment-free space as far as whether or not you take psychiatric drugs, or receive any kind of mental health services. Above all, we at this channel encourage each person to figure out and do what’s right for them. Life’s too short for anything else.
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Russell B’s videos are made using the following software: Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe Audition
I thought meds were helping me...but they just numbed me to the point I've just woken up and realised how little I've done with my life. Before i was on them i had dreams and motivation, that's gone now. Gradually cutting down these drugs so i can find myself again and live a naturally healthy life. This includes dealing with problems, not being 'shut off' from them.
Those are great reasons! I, and no doubt others here, wish you the best as you continue on your healing journey. Much love to you.
Same here.
Did anyone here have severe loss in vision, pulsatile tinnitus, severe short term memory loss, tremors, non stop headaches? It seems during the day that everything is darker than normal. I was taking meds for 14 years. When your 15 and you don't have a say in anything; it's hard to accept the fact my parents didn't have any idea what they were signing me for. Both Psych doctors mentioned to me I should have never been prescribed the meds in the first place. How is everyone holding up?
I was taking risperidone 2 mg for about 6 months and aripiprazole 10 mg for 2 months. Now I am off them for a month and half after cold turkey. Before them I was really confident and intelligent person, reading much about philosophy, self-improvement, economy. Now i have problems with reading 20 pages of a book. Few months ago I felt asleep after 30 minutes of a movie and cannot functionate without coffee.
I am experiencing lack of motivation, problems with thinking... I had big ambitions for future: becoming a writer. How can I still write when I cannot read, even have problems with my friends, holding a tennis racket, getting out of bed... When I read about the time needed to feel normal after this drugs I feel like I wasted my teen years, because I am still fifteen. Before drugs I had problems with emotions, now I have problems with my whole life. I am dissapointing everybody: me, my friends, my parents. I do not have idea what can I do now. No one understands me.
hey man, have you recovered your cognitive abilities?
@@xristos596 I am off any medications for 7 months. It is better, much better. I train a lot of intensive cardios, eat helathy and rest properly. I do not see post-discontinuation complaints and now I search for a deep meaning in life, so I could forget about harm psychiatry did to me. First few months are the worst, because you don't see any difference, but after 6 months to one year you are able to regain a sharp atrention.
Thank you for sharing everything you say is true
@@diann3880 Yeah, but trust me. If you don't give up it gets much better. The worst thing is that 95% of people don't care about your problems, but I am lucky that I found some who helped me with getting mental health back.
Currently I don't think that I got any bad after-effects of drugs. What I think helps in general is livinig healthy lifestyle . I got commited to competing in kickboxing and building my physique, sleep well etc.
Also having few deep friendships and avoiding toxic people - I found it helpful, but it is necessary to bring unforced pleasure to relationship, cause no one wants to hear about problems for the whole time.
Ive had similar
Kids do not need drugs. They need love and good kind guidance and clear heads so they can function.
Thanks a million Russell.. I'm going through absolute Hell withdrawaling from zyprexa. Your videos are helping my Ass out.. 👍
Love your videos man! I'm currently tappering off of paxil after 23 years and stories like yours are incredibly helpful, educational, and inspiring. Thank you!
thanks for this video series man. i really relate. ive been on respieradone for 5 years now to treat trauma induced psychosis. want to get off as soon as i can but it obviously needs planning. im 27 now, i feel like my 20s were fkin stolen from me by people who were determined not to see that all my issues were about my relationships. i wasnt crazy in the first place just traumatised, i needed other people to change, not to be put on drugs.
Hey hw are you now. Even I had a very bad relationship failure. N had trauma induced psychosis.. On psyc meds since 2 years... I also want to come off them. Have you tried tapering. How much dose do you take
Well done. Amen. What you have done to get off all meds is nothing short of miraculous! This is a testament to your strength. With no help coming off plus being told withdrawal isn't a "thing" (and that the suffering you are experiencing from coming off them is obviously a return of your "problems") And fact that anyone can potentially get off these drugs especially after so many years is truly rare. Thanks for spreading the word about this issue and all the best in your healing journey .
Russ is the strongest person I have ever known. Surviving all these medications, coming off them and now building up his life makes him that in my eyes. I know that because I have also gone through the horror of psychiatry albeit my experince was nothing in extent to his, and even of my experiences I thought that they could not get worse.
@@russellbyt did u feel emptyness in ur withdrawal please ans 206ddays sober now
@@russellbyt after how many months u have a better sleep
@@russellbyt did u feel fast heartrate tachycardia when uu quit med pleease ans friend I m 207 days sober now
@@sangeetalambh6389 i am on olanzapine since 4 years my heart beat is 105 Now veins has increased in my hands and I am facing trouble My brain is going slow by slow and numb 😢 I am in hell
I believe there should be a new term for the developed dependency on psych drugs. It's even stronger than street drug addiction.
The fact that so many say that coming off [insert random psych drug here] is so much more difficult than coming off, say, heroin really should light a fire under prescribers to do a heck of a lot more for patients. It's so tragic that virtually all patients were taken by surprise by the difficulty. We deserve so much better.
Keep sharing your story, and I love your presentation. 💕 😊
I've been on antipsychotics for 25 years. The last 7 years I've been on an Aristada injection, the maximum dose for most of it. I've decided to come off once and for all. It is going to be a ride. Prayers and positive thoughts, please, please, please 🌱🙏🏼🌱
I, and no doubt others, will keep you in our thoughts. Best wishes on your journey and much love to you!
You are a warrior. It's inspiring to see someone being so optimistic after going through all these struggles.
Can you share any of your contact info?
Brilliant editing and presentation. Coming off Rexulti was 6 months of pure absolute hell on earth. Felt like I was living in a nightmare/fever dream. Now two years after stopping, I still have permanent severe premature ejaculation, which I never had before, and developed on Rexulti back in 2019. It has been completely impossible for me to have sex in any capacity since I started taking it, and unfortunately that side effect has remained nearly 2 years after quitting it cold turkey. When I say "any capacity" I mean any -- it's like my nervous system was hijacked.
The withdrawal was one of the worst experiences of my entire life. I could go on and on about my early medication experience as well with Lexapro, Zyprexa, Xanax, Propranolol, then Guanfacine and Strattera later....so, so many experiences. I especially relate to what you said about sleep, and I'm pretty sure I was also 15 when I started Zyprexa.
Very, very relatable. And a breath of fresh air. I also think you're right about them "helping solve the problems they created." This is to say nothing of starting drugs at such a young age -- who's to say the damage hasn't already been done when meds are given even before puberty? It's very likely they are causing the issues that other drugs are used to "treat" down the road, long after the initial consequences of taking these drugs in the first place. Seems to be a never-ending cycle.
Great content and a much needed message....and good to know there are others out there with similar experiences.
Guitar how r u now friend
I just started it last night. I’ve been sleep deprived. What can I do without it?
Precisely....biggest mistake of my life were psych drugs. Russell and I have very similar experiences but my hell lasted for 4 decades of psychiatry with 23 of those years on psychiatric drugs of all types. Now that there are 82,209 plaintiffs facing down the Boy Scouts in the biggest pedophile case in history, no one can ever again tell me I was "delusional" about being raped by a good scout leader. I stopped the drugs after I joined the case, which I was cornered into when the predator found me on the internet and tried to contract me 4 decades after destroying my life. When I heard the other survivors experiences were so similar to mine I knew we were not all crazy even though that is what many of were poisoned to shut us up about for decades. These drugs should be more tightly restricted than even opioids.
Keep posting videos man, they inspire much needed hope!
Thanks for your videos ! I have taken Paxil for eight years. In the last four years, high doses with many side effects. The side effects only increased and the drug's effectiveness was decreasing. When my psychiatrist wanted me to add two more drugs, I dropped him and started quitting Paxil. These doctors are criminals ! I've been off the drug for almost three years, I've already gone through heavy discontinuation symptoms. It's been hard, but I'll make it. One problem that still persists is insomnia. I can get to sleep without any problems, but I wake up at 3 or 4 am and I can't sleep anymore. You mentioned that you had this insomnia problem. How did you solve it ?
@@russellbyt My main post-paxil problems were: Physical and muscular weakness, a lot of irritation and extreme sensitivity to noise, and insomnia.
I have already managed to improve the weakness, with a good diet made by a nutritionist with a good amount of complex carbohydrates ingested mostly at breakfast and lunch.
Irritability didn't go away on its own. I was fighting with everything and everyone. Unfortunately, after 3 years without SSRIs, a month ago I had to start a low dose of Lexapro (5mg), which has controlled this irritability. I've tried everything, meditation, herbal medicines, cognitive behavioral therapy, nothing has been effective. Have you had this problem of extreme sensitivity and irritation/anger ?
Thanks for the valerian root extract tincture tip!
🙏
Your videos are awsome if I can im gonna try to watch all of them tonight. I see you havent uploaded in a while I hope all is well with you bro. Thanks for sharing this information and for making these videos.
The quality level isn't consistent across the board (esp. lookin' at some of my older stuff), but I'm glad you like the vids and have found them helpful. And there should be more content in the future :) Wish you all the best in your healing journey!
I understand I did enjoy them I dont find to many videos like yours. I look forward to more content and thank you for the kind words. I hope all is well with you and wish you many blessings.@@russellbyt
As an adult I’ve found out I’ve got ADHD through testing my children. All that fear, those thoughts and never ending conversations in my head, random songs always starting and stopping in my water computer was something that not everyone had going on. I thought I was normal so I lived my life the way I wanted to. Did 15 years in the infantry, been to Afghanistan, met my maker more then once and I did it without meds. Thinking back to it, I was going about life on hard mode, sure, but, with exercise I was able to stave off depression and anxiety for the better part. Since being medically retired due to over doing it with surgeries on my legs, I’ve been prescribed 10grams of cannabis a day. Been on it for 7 years now and I’ll tell ya, It’s a game changer for symptoms of ADHD for myself anyways. Cheers from Canada and keep your stick on the ice, we’re all in this together.
Glad you’re still with us after all of that. That’s quite a life. And you’re right, we’re not alone on the field - or in the rink (Hello, Canada!). Thanks for commenting and I wish you all the best!
Great video, don’t give up on content creation you make such serious topics entertaining! Been on seroquel for 3 years, started my taper a couple of months ago. If you could make a video on the timeline you used for your tapering, that would be sweet!
How fast did you taper down
I really liked your spoken word, it was strong.
Would any of you guys like to have a conversation with me? I REALLY COULD USE SOMEONE TO TALK TO
Could you please give us a day to day week to week month to month plan on how you tapered off of your psych meds? My brothers 26 and has been going through the exact same thing that you were going through for the last 10 years. He’s taking 15 pills a day currently. He was diagnosed with bipolar Schizophrenia and psychosis. The QEEG test result showed he apparently has Thalamocortical Dysryhthmia Syndrome. Thank you. Your videos have given me so much hope.
@@russellbyt Thank you so much! I’m grateful for your help! 🙏🏼
I love your sense of humor! Great to see you again Russell.
Hey your videos really helped please come back and do more
Glad the videos have helped! And there will definitely be more content 😀
Great video
Thank you!
Hey man, I find that I can't read too while on antispychotics. I'm glad I found someone out there to approve my theory for me, makes me feel more relaxed and certain of its cause, but anyway... Would you suggest any source material or forums to ask more about this issue. Can't find anything online surrounding this topic. Thank you for everything that you do.
Peace ✌️
@@russellbyt I see, thanks for sharing, dude. This was really helpful. Good to know people have been through this and we're not alone, lol, as tragic as that sounds...
Have you healed all the way? I’m still healing. I pray your doing good. I’m having to heal from12 years benzo and antipsychotic antidepressant barbiturate medication cold Turkey. People really need to think twice about before getting on the stuff safer to go get street drugs
@tyrel I was put on them because I couldn’t sleep and stomach issues
I would like to know too. 9 years on many meds and quit cold turkey. How are u now?
I think Lamictal and Wellbutrin have helped me but my sleep quality has gone downhill since I started, My doctor wanted to put me on antipsychotics for OCD but I refuse since the side effects would be even worse.
@@russellbyt thanks! I can’t afford proper ocd therapy but I’m trying to do self help things like mindfulness and exercise.
My psychiatrist did the latter. I took my first dose last night. I want to stop.
I hate shrinks. Im coming off now.
@@russellbyt thank you its been a rough road but you cant heal on drugs. Drugs bring you far away from self.
Did anyone here stop taking their antipsychotics abruptly after long time use? If so, how long did it take you to recover?
I am currently on Schizophrenia medicine. I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was in the first grade and Anxiety Disorder when I was 21. I find factory work and truck unloading to flare up my symptoms. Grocery store jobs not as much. I might be good at janitor with someone or salad prep. I was diagnosed with schizophrenia at 26. I am 28 now.
@@russellbyt Yeah the medication helped. I was on Abilify for a day and it made my legs constantly shake. Alcohol Flares up my symptoms too. I find Invega to help me it might not help everyone. Thank you
thanks for the encouragement. hope you're doing well. 🌝
Hey Russell!! I quit cold turkey buspar/buspirone for a week now. What do you think I should do? I did not know anything about quitting cold turkey being bad. Pleas help!!!
Yep, I have been on them since before I was a teen. It messed up my entire body and have dependence on them now, my life is never gonna turn well because of the drugs and the labels.
@toefoneman It’s still possible for things to improve in ways that are hard to imagine now. I’m speaking as someone who was in similar situation (a little bit of my history is the About section of the video description).
It’s admittedly not easy to get to those greener pastures, speaking from experience again, and we never should’ve been put in this predicament in the first place. But there’s reason to keep hope alive. Much love to you.
@@russellbyt thank you man, and good luck on your journey as well!
Thank you!
Russel can you sleep well now?
How much percent are you recovered?
Great video!!
Russel,
How did you taper off antipsychotic drug like Clozapine, safely?
Hey, I came off my antipsychotic way too fast, so I don’t recommend following my lead. You can check out this page for the best taper reduction rate:
www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/
That info should apply to clozapine too.
If you scroll down, you’ll find some helpful links on this post about clozapine tapering:
www.survivingantidepressants.org/forums/topic/30819-nina2021-clozapine-tapering/
It has links to posts about how to cut pills, create a liquid solution, etc. Wish you the best on your taper!
Have you heard of angie peacock? She is a withdrawal coach
Yep, and I often recommend her to folks looking for withdrawal support (especially while my own support/coaching service is on hiatus). She does a ton for this community :)
I've read the older u get the less chance of getting Manic episodes. Do you think you were able to get off of them because you are older and are able to stay stable off of them?
Gotta ask how did you lose all the weight after the drugs? I want be med free I keep saying that but I'm still on effexor and zopiclone and seroquel. I'm 320 pounds and so constipated from effexor I assume. Anyways how did u do it?
@@russellbyt that's good man .cause ya being on them the side effects are so bad.
Hey I'm feeling quite lost just being less than a year off of the meds. I feel so anxious and depressed all the time. Sometimes i really don't want to wake up anymore. Would love some more advice on how you got off yours
Hey, the post-taper period is its own phase in a lot of ways but just like during the taper, we have to develop a toolkit for getting through each day. Or each second of the day, when things get that bad (as they often do!). I need to make a vid talking more about how I managed everything, but in the meantime you can go to the below Surviving Antidepressants page and scroll down to the section titled "I’ve reduced my drug and I’m struggling with my emotions. What can I do?"
www.survivingantidepressants.org/
There are some posts there about managing emotions that might be helpful to look over :)
😂 so true. I’m tapering off of Lexapro after 7 years now. 1mg…….. at a time. Blows my mind how I’m feeling.
1 mg reductions are pretty big! We can still feel like a sun-dried stack of crap even with very small reductions (like 5-10% of our current dose), but larger one's can make withdrawal symptoms hit a lot harder. Just throwing that out there in case it might help. This stuff sucks either way. I wish you only the best on your journey and much love to you!
@@russellbyt I agree!!! Thank you for being so open and honest. More videos like this should be around. It helps hearing your experience!
I tried to stop them but I didn't succeed I drank olanzapine for 9 years I feel good with a very low dose but because I didn't continue with that small dose I had a relapse and now I drink rispen (risperidone) I tried with 3 milligrams it doesn't work too I drank half 1.5 milligrams a lot, I still wasn't well, I started drinking a 3 milligram medicine, broken in six, and that's how I feel, but I did something stupid at the insistence of my psychiatrist. all I had started to feel good with a small dose but now I saw that if a period of time passes I recover from a small dose my question is how much to drink this small dose that 3 4 months was not and is not enough taking into account that I am more dependent than I need them and I will explain in the next message why I drink them and why I drank them so many years more leisurely so you can understand and form an opinion
Tell me you drink 19 yers antipsycotics
Does anyone faced social issues while taking psychiatric drugs ???? Please tell . How did you managed social situation??
@@russellbyt I face like while riding a bike on the road i cant face someone coming from opposite side ....I look here or there or straight to my path cant look at them straight in their eyes. . ..while walking also i avoid eye contacts.
2) I see or feel that if I look at them their would show negative expression or spit in front of me......or scare me
3) since I am a student i need to go to library . I feel like some one is looking at me or staring at me , sitting infront of me or away from some distance and smiling. I feel intemidated.....i am currently studing at home
4) I feel hesitate to wish some one or talk to some new person whether he would respond to me or not or will move away from me ...i feel that if someone ignores me than i will get hurt
4) i often repress my self to speak openly as if the other person
Thank you
👏👏👏 . Congratulations 👏👏👏 . ❤❤❤
Hey Russell, after getting rid of the amhedonia/emotional-bluntness, do you feel romantic feelings/love?
@@russellbyt hey russ. Would you be willing to chat with me sometime? I could really use some talking with someone who seems to be knowledgable on this. Thank you.
@@russellbyt Russel B. I would be willing to pay you man. I just want someone to talk to.
is $100 good?
Good video :)
Hey brother hope you are well, does antipsychotics effect critical thinking?
@@russellbyt thank you bro, Hare Krsna, God bless you! :)
Hi Russell, all your UA-cam comments have disappeared and they were really helpful to many of us going through withdrawals. Is there any chance you could check and see if the could be reinstated
Hey Mike, I had to make some changes to the channel on the backend and unfortunately that led to the removal of all of my comments and replies. It’s a UA-cam thing and there wasn’t really a workaround. I did manage to export all comments, including my own, into excel and plain text files, but I’m not quite sure how those files would benefit the community in their current form.
But I know how valuable the comment section has been and continues to be to this community (it’s been good for me too), so I’m going to try to find a solution to this problem. Not sure what form it will take. Probably wouldn’t hurt to, you know, put out more videos, Lol. But there could be other ways too.
I’d been putting off making the changes to the channel for the longest time and the procrastination was just making things worse. I hated to do it. But I’ll figure out a way to make up for it as best I can.
Most importantly, the removal of my comments wasn’t done as part of an overall effort to abandon the channel or anything like that. I’m still around and the channel’s not going away.
@@russellbyt hey thanks for the reply Russell. It sounds like it would be too much effort to try and re-insert every comment so don't fret. I just wanted to say thank you for all your work creating these videos that I've watched almost religiously to try and gain hope as things slowly slowly get better from day to day. You're a saint. I look forward to more videos when you get time. It's been very comforting knowing people like you are out there. I think Risperidone is the devil in a drug, pure evil. Why any of these are allowed to be given to people is beyond comprehension. Too much marketing and money involved for anything concrete to ever be researched regarding the poor sufferers of psychiatric medications and psychiatry. Bless you lad, I hope you're having a decent time.
@tyrel Was on 10 mg of Ativan (prescribed for akathisia) but switched to an equivalent Klonopin dose to make tapering easier. Didn’t cold turkey. Took five years to come off Klonopin.
Yeah, I’d built up a tolerance
Is Klonopin the only psych med you’re taking?
And are you asking about quitting cold turkey because you’re considering doing that? (If so, you should never cold turkey Klonopin; the withdrawals can be life-threatening)
You asked if akathisia can be caused by Klonopin and the answer is yes. It’s most often associated with other drugs like antipsychotics but it can still be caused by benzos.
If you’re wanting to come off Klonopin you should follow the 10% reduction recommendation, which is generally what should be followed for coming off any psych drug.
You can read more about it here:
www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/
As far as the exact amount of Klonopin you’d need, it’s hard to say in advance. But you ideally want to be able to get more of the med if needed. Or get it in lower doses, to make the reductions easier and more gradual.
But give the link a look because it contains info that we need to become familiar with during our taper. You don’t necessarily have to memorize all of it, just reference it when making decisions.
Also look at the links on this page:
www.survivingantidepressants.org/forum/14-tapering/
You can find more info there about psych drugs and coming off them safely.
brother gives me the scheme to give up the antisyphtic system i want to tell you they have been drinking them for 10 years and i see that i have nothing more than dependence on them
Tell my how are you can i do not drinks anemor antipsihotic
Hi Russel, what was the best strategy to taper antipsychotics after 5-6 years of taking them?
The best strategy involves choosing the best taper rate. Check out this Surviving Antidepressants page for more info on that:
www.survivingantidepressants.org/forums/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/
Tapering at the right amount and at the right speed is really foundational to having the best experience possible while coming off a med. Generally speaking, the longer we’ve been on the med, the more we’ll want to avoid moving too fast.
But that’s kind of a zoomed-in view of the process. Zooming out, there are other very important things too. Making sure it’s the right time to taper. Making sure you have the support and resources you’ll need. Knowing that you’ll be able to manage any obligations and responsibilities you’ll have, or be able to put them on hold for a bit (or maybe a good long while depending on how the taper goes). There are a number of things to consider in the pre-taper stage.
I’d recommend reading through The Withdrawal Project’s guide to coming off psych drugs. It has a “Prepare for Withdrawal” section. This is a stage that’s easy to rush through, or completely brush off, but it can be critical to our success. It gets us in the right mindset for what’s to come.
withdrawal.theinnercompass.org/
@@russellbyt I have been taking 1 mg resperidone per day for 5 years and my doctor says stop half of it. He wants to taper by this amount? Is that too fast for after 5 years?
That's a 50% reduction right off the bat, so it's definitely on the faster side. Check out this page for info specific to tapering Risperdal:
www.survivingantidepressants.org/forums/topic/1716-tips-for-tapering-off-risperdal-risperidone/
Waht do i do if they try to emply it in me
Hi Russel
Did you take both antidepressants and antipsychotics? Were you diagnosed with schizophrenia? How many years did you take antidepressants and antipsychotics?
Yes, I took both antidepressants and antipsychotics.
I was on antipsychotics for 10 straight years before tapering off them. Not sure about the total number of years for antidepressants. I took them off and on during my time on meds, and was on Lexapro when I tapered off everything.
I was diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 20. I only had the negative symptoms (no positive symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, etc). The schizophrenia symptoms I had were caused by antipsychotics, which I’d already been on for 5 years prior to the diagnosis, but that wasn’t obvious to me till after I came off the meds.
(I was originally prescribed antipsychotics to treat OCD symptoms.)
@@russellbyt thanks Russel
On that 10 years of antipsychotics, how many years of it did you take it parallel with antidepressants? Which antipsychotic and antidepressant did you take?
I originally took fluoxetine antidepressants and it caused me delusions
Doctors gave me Resperidone for the psychosis but prescribed me the antidepressants again
This time Celexa. I’m not sure why I had to be prescribed antidepressants again when I had developed psychosis with it.
If antidepressants cause me psychosis
If antidepressants caused me delusions should I come off antidepressants first?
Did you decide yourself in what order to taper based on your own experience with the drug?
@@russellbyt prior do diagnosis were you on antipsychotics alone? Or together with antidepressants?
@@russellbyt hi Russel did you ever experience a psychosis when tapering or before taking antipsychotic?
How do you feel now that your off medication?
my body is use to seroquel now i no longer have proper sleep not sure how to correct this
do you still work with people one on one?
@@russellbyt ok thanks
@@russellbyt not sure if you can give any advice on how to improve sleep when your body is use to seroquel
HELPP!!!! PLEASE HELP!! GOD, PLEASE READ THIS I NEED HELP!!!
I'm a 19 year old who had a temporary anxiety. My physician offered another anxiety medication like it was nothing, (i've previously been on chlonodine hcl which helps for both hypetension and anxiety). I found out it was a psychiatric(Buspar/Buspirone) :/
No talk about how to use it, side-effects, how it works. And never told me it mitigates the brain. Never said it was a psychiatric drug.
The first time I took it, I definitely noticed a decline in cognitive-faculties. As I kept taking it however, I seemed to regain the ability to think, however, my memory
and the way I read (I tend to be VERY high in IQ, and read chunks ultra fast instead of slowly linearly from left to right) were downgraded.
I will admit I took them all over the place. I tried to stick with taking it at morning (4am when I wake up) and then another in the afternoon. But honestly sometimes I'd
forget and only ingest one. I made a follow up with my doctor once after the prescription and he told me it's until my brain adjusts. He had some point in there because i did kind of start seeing to regain my ability to think creatively but my way of reading was still changed from fast to slow and my memory was still bad.
I had a realization realizing wtf I was taking and realizing it alters my brain and noticing my memory not as good and reading linearly instead of how I normally read. I then decided to search this thing up. I found out it's a psychiatric drug that mitigates the brain and I just got
so fucking scared. I started searching up "buspar lowers intelligence." I've read some posts on quora about people feeling as smart as they were before and on when going on even more powerful
things such as SSRI's (but then everyone is different). And other people saying "well if we define intelligence as the neurochemistry which is impacted by these drugs..." you get the point.
Generally I'm hyper-aware with my eyes always looking everywhere and ever since this medicine, it has gone away. Also, I stumbled upon these videos claiming that psychiatric medicatinos can be the devil for some
people: ua-cam.com/video/qTfuhKWWbGU/v-deo.html
They say that it impedes cognitivie abilities, but what makes me think I can stay this sane is because my very High IQ (Stanford Binet 149) took the hit and I'm still
able to cognitively function.
I quit cold turkey. 10 days ago was the last time I took it, after taking it for 3weeks/month. However, I did not know that quitting cold turkey was a bad thing. No one ever had these conversations
with me, and I really do feel like a victim :(
I'm scared that quitting Cold Turkey will do brain damage, but I searched it just lists the withdrawal side effects as more severe. I just don't know what to do man. Please someone just tell me what to do to get out of this mess.
I don't want to feel hopeless. Please don't put any blame on me, I admit that I was ignorant. In fact, I grew up in a bubble of my ethnic community (Mexican) and
didn't really find out the difference between an entree and an appetizer til like a month ago or two.
I've also seen other posts on reddit about brainfog on buspirone/buspar, and no one believing them. But I do.
I'm just so scared.
Help weaning off 500mg of Seroquel my husband has been on it for about 17 months or so now he is having neurological issues so need to get him off this? What milligram did you taper 25 MG? How long would you stay on that before you drop another?
I dont know why i got constipation and indigestion after i quit benzo and antiphsychotics sudden weight loss also
@@russellbyt yes i was 83 kg now im 68 i was on olanzapine now im on lithium carbonade only its been 4 weeks since i quit
Hi do you feel that you half to find your self again after all this medicines . Because I half to find myself again Sometimes I don’t know who I am anymore sometimes I’m so lost. After I quit Quetiapine. I used it for 15 years. In one week I’m off it now. Thank you that you are there.Sorry for my grammar I’m dutch I wish you best of luck
It took you 5 years to weanoff medication?
Yes. Most of that time was spent tapering klonopin because the doc took me off all the other meds too fast.
Does anyone has a doctor that can help with the tapering. I need it asap.
@@russellbyt thank you so much for trying to help, you are really making a big difference for a lot of us that are completely lost on this,
Hey man I was forced a shot of invega sustenna and I was wondering how long will it take to improve back to my normal self after just that? I’ve never been on antipsychotic meds before this besides some oral risperdone in the psych ward.
@@russellbyt I’m not at all
@@russellbyt Did your sense of pleasure come back?
@@russellbyt Like can you enjoy videos and sex again?
@@russellbyt You can be amazed by the beauty of nature
Hi Russell
How do you sleep now I wonder?
Have you fully recovered from all the meds?
hello please helo
@@russellbyt thank you Russell for your long text. I hope you could give me advice since our “doctors” don’t Seem to give a shit and a lot of times I feel like they don’t know what they’re doing. March this year I woke up with extreme anxiety and bad insomnia, I kept pacing around I could not be in the home I would one minute be sitting on a sofa the next minute I’m in the bathroom for no reason. I was experiencing severe restlessness severe severe. I was putting up with that for four months I was afraid to go to the doctor because I knew what they can give me and I was right. My doctor put me first on 1 mg of Klonopin then it wasn’t enough then we went up to 3 mg. All within few days this happened, and I still feel agitation in addition to this drug she gave me Lamictal 50 mg. 100 mg of trazodone for sleep. No I developed headaches I don’t know from which med supposedly my diagnosis is major depression, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia.
I am so afraid of the medications that I’m using especially benzodiazepine because I know it’s very addictive and this is already a very big dose, it is helping I went from non-functional to somewhat functional. She’s offering other drugs like antipsychotics but I’m afraid of those because I know they give you akathisia technically I already already experience restlessness pacing around not able to to be in one spot. She told me that and I psychotics help with agitation. I know you’re not medical professional but please give me some advice I am crying every single day I don’t know what to do and I don’t fully trust the doctor either I don’t think that they care. Here’s the pill take it it’s up to you. I hope you can guide me I hope you have some medication in mind that may be worked out for you in the past fir severe anxiety, I know how medication‘s are horrible and probably how much you are against them but at this point I know that I have to take something even for a short while because I was not functional at all
I obsess every single day because the benzos that I’m taking.
I’m afraid I will go up in doses if my situation doesn’t improve
I am afraid how will I come off of them
Please if you have a way to help me give me some advice
How long for sex drive to return after taking phych drugs .
@@russellbyt ok I see alot horror stories about it being permanent, so thanks for keeping me sane .
@1 J - for me the damage was permanent
@@montesa9136how are you now
It's bizarre that a guy as normal as you, that even drives a car was given so many psych drugs and for such a long time. There's something VERY wrong about psychiatry. Can i ask you, for what reason did they give you psych drugs?
Like so many kids, I had a hard time dealing with problems in the home. This led to a lot of worrying and some behaviors* that a psychiatrist would soon label as symptoms of OCD. And that’s what led to the first med.
The mountain of unwarranted medical crap that was heaped on top of all that was mostly the result of docs not being able to distinguish the side effects of their drugs from disorder symptoms. Having so much of who I was being analyzed and defined by psychiatry, and even therapists at the time, who were partially following the psychiatrists’ lead, didn’t help things either. They were doing all of this before I’d had a chance to know who I was and what was normal for me. And comparatively very little was being done to change the household issues, which were the root of the problems.
So that’s how things got so bad leading up to the taper. I still wouldn’t consider myself “normal.” Especially after having had such an abnormal existence for all those medicated and tapering years. The impact of that doesn’t go away overnight. But I am able to do things now (like driving) that I wasn’t able to do during that lengthy period in which I was a dutiful patient of psychiatry.
*An example of the sort of behaviors I’m talking about would be something like pacing around in circles at the foot of my mom’s bed around bedtime. I was just overwhelmed with everything going on back then. I was a little worry factory. It sort of made sense in context.