How I got off Neuroliptic drugs

I got off of psychiatric drugs nine years ago after being on them 29 years. I had to go off gradually and even then I had a lot of trouble. I got pretty cranky (possibly a personality change caused by the medicine) and my family was not very willing to put up with it and did not seem to support my reasons for wanting to get off the medicine. My psychiatrists never admitted that different side effects were caused by the drugs and as a result family thought I was imagining them or making too much of them. I had a fear of being rejected by my husband and kids but still was driven to get off my medicine. It took ten years during which time I learned that I needed to cut down by about 5% a month. I am a chemist and I ground up pills to make the slightly lower doses. It took so long partly because the psychiatrists I was seeing were figuring out ways to keep me on the medicine and to get me on more. Also their idea of taking me off was to not take me off gradually and then when I got withdrawal symptoms, they told me that was a return of my mental illness. I do not know if they really believed that or were lying. The drug I was weaning myself off of in this way was Mellaril which I was on for 25 years. The cutting down gradually was more important at certain low doses where sudden changes in the dose caused what I would call a chemical imbalance that did not occur if I cut down gradually. Withdrawal symptoms beginning with sleepless nights did not start till about three weeks after decreasing the dose. At low doses it was very important to always take my medicine and the same amount every day. A change in the amount in my system caused symptoms of a "mental breakdown" but not until about three weeks after I made the change. I was under the supervision of psychiatrists who were saying the drug was not addictive and behaving like what I was doing was foolishness. During the 29 years I took anti psychotics I was hospitalized four times because of not taking my medicine. I now believe that those hospitalizations were probably not mental breakdowns but withdrawal problems. I have been off the medicine since December of 1993. I am doing much better than when I was on such drugs. I think my problem which was worse when I was younger is maybe Social Anxiety disorder and was made an issue of starting when I was preschool age. Therapy starting in 1960 was more upsetting than helpful.

Lady M כתב/ה: > > I got off of psychiatric drugs nine years ago after being on > them 29 years. I had to go off gradually and even then I had a > lot of trouble. I got pretty cranky (possibly a personality > change caused by the medicine) and my family was not very > willing to put up with it and did not seem to support my > reasons for wanting to get off the medicine. My psychiatrists > never admitted that different side effects were caused by the > drugs and as a result family thought I was imagining them or > making too much of them. I had a fear of being rejected by my > husband and kids but still was driven to get off my medicine. > > It took ten years during which time I learned that I needed to > cut down by about 5% a month. I am a chemist and I ground up > pills to make the slightly lower doses. It took so long partly > because the psychiatrists I was seeing were figuring out ways > to keep me on the medicine and to get me on more. Also their > idea of taking me off was to not take me off gradually and then > when I got withdrawal symptoms, they told me that was a return > of my mental illness. I do not know if they really believed > that or were lying. > > The drug I was weaning myself off of in this way was Mellaril > which I was on for 25 years. The cutting down gradually was > more important at certain low doses where sudden changes in the > dose caused what I would call a chemical imbalance that did not > occur if I cut down gradually. Withdrawal symptoms beginning > with sleepless nights did not start till about three weeks > after decreasing the dose. > > At low doses it was very important to always take my medicine > and the same amount every day. A change in the amount in my > system caused symptoms of a "mental breakdown" but not until > about three weeks after I made the change. I was under the > supervision of psychiatrists who were saying the drug was not > addictive and behaving like what I was doing was foolishness. > > During the 29 years I took anti psychotics I was hospitalized > four times because of not taking my medicine. I now believe > that those hospitalizations were probably not mental breakdowns > but withdrawal problems. I have been off the medicine since > December of 1993. I am doing much better than when I was on > such drugs. > > I think my problem which was worse when I was younger is maybe > Social Anxiety disorder and was made an issue of starting when > I was preschool age. Therapy starting in 1960 was more > upsetting than helpful. >