Are these psychotropic drugs destroying the lives and souls of all whom are under the spell of, or trapped by addiction to one or many of these drugs? It is my firm belief that antipsychotics should be left for people who are actually in a state of psychosis and pose a significant danger to themselves and others; the same goes with antidepresants. In this case the benefits of taking these drugs will outweigh the risks. Atypical antipsychotics have been proven to cause diabetes and weight gain and another possible and frightening effect is an irreversible condition called tardive dyskinesia, a condition that results in involuntary and/or repetive movements of usually the face. One can experience this as a result of long term use of dopamine antagonists; ie antipsychotics.
Do you know anyone who takes antipsychotic or antidepressant medications? Do you take any of these medications, such as Zyprexa?
or Luvox?
Without a doubt you would know at least one person on any of the drugs mentioned at the beginning of this post. In the UK for example, the amount of prescriptions written for antidepressants almost equaled the total population! The rat of prescriptions for antidepressants is growing at a steady rate and another trend is for average happy people who begin to take antidepressants to feel 'better than normal'. In this case antidepressant usage will inevitably drag these people into the trap, unable to come off the drugs.
Have you ever tried to have a proper conversation with a person who has taken a 100mg+ dose of Seroquel, which by the way is a moderate dose.
An acquaintance of mine who takes Seroquel daily at 400-800mg is an absolute zombie who can never remember what he has been doing and uses his girlfriend as his memory. This is an ex H user who claims his prescribed dose of between 400-800mg daily (how much he takes depends on how he feels) of Seroquel makes him 'nod' harder than any other drug.
My experience with psychotropic drugs extends back to a decade ago when I was first prescribed Aropax for 'depression'. Aropax wasn't doing it's 'intended' job after 3 months so I was switched to Efexor XR at 150mg daily, alongside Valium at 5mg daily.
After being on the Efexor/Valium duo for two years I was discontinued off of Efexor and placed onto Cipramil and Avanza simultaneously after what was a horrifying experience of 2 weeks of Efexor withdrawal. Electric shock flashes behind the eyes and throughout my brain, flu like feeling, fatigue, emotional distress, insomnia, anger, falling over and stumbling and a repulsive sensation throughout my limbs. It was awful. After two weeks of being on Cipramil and Avanza I still had significant anxiety and I began exhibiting strong drug seeking behaviour for benzodiazepines, and sought Valium and Xanax at every opportunity and swallowed them like sweets. Another dependence had emerged...
After doing 6-8mg Xanax daily for almost two years I finally sought treatment for benzodiazepine addiction and was discontinued from Cipramil and placed onto Lexapro (almost identical drug). I was then slowly removed from Avanza and placed onto a Valium taper for 6 months, whereupon I jumped off at a dose of 5mg per day with no ill effects. Life on a high dose of Xanax is hard to live due to the oft experienced amnesia episodes. The cloudiness and lack of clarity in the mind create a strong state of emotional blunting. I was like the living dead yet I managed to hold down a full time job for the entire time I was on Xanax and no-one said a word about how blunted I was...
Four years later free of benzodiazepines. I am still on Lexapro and aim to be off of it by early March, 2010 as I am slowly tapering. Mind you I was told by my GP that Lexapro wouldn't cause a withdrawal syndrome like most other antidepressants...litle did I know. I've been a few days without and the withdrawal is every bit as bad as every other antidepressant out there.
SSRI antidepressants are bad enough but now in this greedy Big Pharma corporate controlled world we now have so called 'antipsychotics' such as Seroquel being prescribed for non psychotic complaints such as anxiety, insomnia and depression. Where does this greed and insanity stop?
From the AstraZeneca website:
Seroquel, (quetiapine) is an antipsychotic medication indicated for the treatment of schizophrenia and for the treatment of acute manic episodes associated with bipolar disorder.
Since when does insomnia or anxiety fall under schitzophrenia or acute manic episodes?
Ladies and gentlemen we live in dangerous times where our GP's/prescribing doctors are our worst enemy. Can't sleep? Instead of teaching (or giving literature about) proven sleep hygeine methods, doctors now prescribe SSRI antidepressants and antipsychotics to replace old fashioned benzodiazepines which certainly work but has the nasty problem of the fact that people seem to enjoy benzo's and thus become swiftly dependent!
The criteria for prescribing psychiatric drugs now covers a miriad of ailments, leading to the prescribing of major tranquilizers for minor maladies. This concerns me as the majority are not going to do their own study on their prescribed drugs and are going to take the GP's word as gospel and simply swallow drugs that are dangerous and mostly cause worst symptoms in the long run than the patient presented with initially.
Stilnox, Ambien, Lunesta and Imovane are marketed as 'non addictive' alternatives to benzodiazepines such as Mogadon and Temazepam...yet strong and numerous evidence and stories are coming forth of addiction and physical dependence, sleepwalking, anterograde amnesia and even deaths coming foward, thus tainting the 'clean' reputation of the 'Z' class of sleeping aids.
Benzodiazepines have these effects in higher doses, but a simple dose of 10mg of Zolpidem can cause bizarre behaviour that includes binge eating, staring at or standing in one spot for long periods of time, repetitive talking, taking more of the drug unknowingly, disinhibition, drunken gait, sleep driving, night walking, hallucinations and falls. I have experience with Zolpidem first hand and know it really creates a euphoric mindframe and bizarre thought trains reminiscent of tripping on a hallucinogen. Judging by the state of my house after nights on Zolpidem, I believe I rarely slept whilst on it. I will discuss this in it's own personal post one day.
I have limited experience with Seroquel and I will never touch this drug again. My first ever dose was 200mg and I used it for sleep during a recent Buprenorphine withdrawal. Took it at a mates house and began the struggle to walk home. After 20 minutes I felt my mind slip and an intense fear overcame me as I thought and felt the 'what the fuck have I done' realisation. I staggered the remaining 10 minutes walk home and was so relieved to make it home and collapse on my bed and subsequently sleep the next 14 hours straight through after being awake for over 48 hours.
The next day always is cloudy after Seroquel and it creates a weird head buzz that does not feel natural. Imagine having no personality and feeling just content to sit and stare into space...this is what Seroquel feels like. The drowsiness is at first unpleasant as approximately 20 minutes after taking the drug a sensation of agitation and restlessness kicks in but dissipates after half an hour when the Quel really kicks in, creating the perfect drowsed zombie human state. Chemical Supression at its finest.
One only has to type the name of any psychotropic drug into google and delve a few pages in to clearly see that the dangers of these drugs are becoming quickly apparent. After 10 years of antidepressant dependence I feel like my livelihood has been robbed, my brain defiled and damaged and my ability to love or feel loved removed. I know I am not the person I was 10 years ago in regards to personality and I wonder who I will be when I am off Lexapro soon.
I urge everyone to use the net and do your research and say no to psych drugs, don't make the same mistakes that I have when it comes to making decisions about prescription drugs.
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