Hi -- Introduction (w/response)

[Guest guest]

<<Hi,

My name is Carol and I'm glad I found this group. All the posts and responses

have been helpful and encouraging.

Just over two years ago, I had a breakdown at the age of fifty. I felt suicidal.

My GP put me on Cipralex, 10 mg at first and then 20 mg. I couldn't sleep, so he

added Zoplicone, 5mg at first. I got worse and ended up in the hospital, where I

saw a lot of doctors. One of them upped the Cipralex to 30 mg and somewhere

along the way the Zoplicone was increased to 15 mg. (An effect of the

antidepressant was an inability to sleep.) I got discharged and got worse...back

to the hospital where I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 by another doctor, who

added 125 mg of Lamotragine to the mix. Long story short, in a 2 year period I

was in the hospital (briefly) 10 times.

My final prescription was 30 mg Cipralex, 125 mg. Lamotragine, 15 mg. Zoplicone,

25 mg Seraquel plus extra " as needed " up to 100 mg a day, and 25 mg/day of

Ativan " as needed. " The only agreed-upon diagnosis was Borderline Personality

Disorder, though one psychiatrist apologized " on behalf of his profession " for

giving me this diagnosis--he thought it was bogus in my case.

My " regular " out-of-hospital doctor refused to reduce my drugs until I

" stabilized, " which I obviously did not do. He also let me know he didn't

respect me for ending up in hospital. So, I quit him in March this year and

slowly went off the drugs by myself. In August I ended up in the hospital my

final and 10th time, no doubt as a result of the withdrawal. (I'd called some

sort of distress line and didn't say I was suicidal, but they thought I was and

called the police, who brought me in.) I lied to the hospital staff and said

I'd been off the drugs some time. In fact, I'd been on 8 mg of Cipralex and 75

mg of Lamotrogine, plus 7.5 mg of Zoplicone. Anyway, I lied my way into a

speedy discharge, threw out my drugs, and white-knuckled the withdrawal. In

about a month I began to feel somewhat human again.

I haven't taken any drugs for almost four months now. Sometimes I have weird

temporary nerve pain, which isn't quite as bad now. I also feel quite upset with

the medical establishment and really traumatized by the hospitalizations. (Not

everyone is nice to psych patients brought into the ER because they're

suicidal.)

I'm usually sleeping well, am exercising regularly, etc. My question is, how

long to " normal " ? Just as I think I'm getting better, I have periods of such

despair. Is a lot of this the drugs? (I did go to a counselor as I was getting

off the drugs. I ended the sessions after 6 months because I didn't have any

more issues to discuss.)

Thank you

Carol>>

** Carol, I'm glad you figured out that it was all completely misdiagnosed

from he first day. You would have not ended up in the hospital as you

repeatedly did if you hadn't been given those drugs. Originally, it was

hormonal changes most likely at the root of your problem. People don't have

" breakdowns " .

As far as how long. that's impossible to say. There are too many factors. In

my experience over the past 20+ years, those who go off them more slowly do much

better than those who abruptly drop off these drugs. You have one thing going

for you. It appears that this is your first and only run in with psychotropic

drugs. There is usually a better chance at recovery when it is the 1st time

around. The body begins from a relatively normal state and adapts to

accommodate the drugs. If people stop and then go back on the drugs, this time

the body is not in a normal state so becomes only more scrambled. When going

off again the body does not know how to compensate for this second (or more)

assault.

You would benefit from an in-depth look at where you are right now and a

supplement protocol tailored for your particular condition (taking everything

into consideration) will help you recover sooner and more fully.

Regards,