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Going it alone- drug free, anyone else attempting this?

14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 11

Hi AlterEgo,

Nice to meet you. I hope you're hanging in there. Withdrawing from meds can be really tough. I too was on mirtazapine. Personally, I felt it was a horrible medication because of the side effects I experienced. I gained a lot of weight on it-especially around the middle. I finally decided enough was enough when, for the 2nd time someone asked if I was pregnant! I did what was not recommended and likely not healthiest and cut myself off of it all at once. It was hell for about 10 days (in terms of anxiety and depression), but then I felt "normal" again. I quickly lost the weight after that. However, I am still on other medications and don't plan on going off of them until I start to feel a bit better. I think that medication is a very personal choice, so I would not wish to influence your decision one way or the other. For me, I feel that medication is necessary to "take the edge off" enough when I am experiencing moderate to severe anxiety and depression so that I am able to engage in the program. I have found in the past that without appropriate medication, my anxiety and depression become so bad that I cannot even do the simplest of tasks, let alone have the mental/physical capacity necessary for me to understand the material and do exposure and other homework.

I also share your frustration with mental health professionals. I find it is vey difficult to find someone that truly does CBT. I have found that they say they do it, but never actually actively do it with you. The best I have found to true CBT is this program!

14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6

Hi alter ego,

I'm dave85 and I'm new here. I admire that you're (going it alone)

that is med free. That thought almost gives me a terror episode just thinking about it.

I'll be where you are soon and will probably need a structured environment to withdraw.

I had to do it once before. I'm taking alprazolam now and it's going to be nasty to stop.

Good luck and thanks for sharing this.

14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 6252

Hi AlterEgo.

If you have already done withdrawl from Diazapan then you will be the best judge of how fast to withdraw from the Mirtazipine, No argument there and I am very pleased to see you don't want to use drugs as a crutch. BUT. You don't have to go total drug free there are other safer drugs that do the same thing. Look up Buspar. It is a good transition drug to use while you withdraw from the Mirtazipine and I found it easy to stop, with no side effects. A lot of people find it easier to cure the Panic/anxiety with a little help, and then taper off the drugs. But it does amount to doing the program twice. There are some herbal remedies but most aren't strong enough to replace the Pharmacuticals, except for one. For me Lemon Balm tea was equivalent to one mg of Ativan. It takes about 15 minutes to work so during a panic attack you need some one to talk to till it does. In my area, my phone is always open to any one who needs to talk and right now I have one person regular. By now you are probably thinking "who is this person" Well I'm a success story. I've been through the war and I've got the scars to prove it. If you follow the program and have patience it will work. And don't be afraid to ask questions here. Our advice may not always work for you. But just knowing your not alone is a big help. Also if you tell others what works for you, you may be helping others. Even if what works for you seems silly, I for one want to know it. Knowledge is power.

Peace

Davit.

14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 9

Thanks for replying, the thing is im reducing the Mirtazipine just as a psychiatrist told me but even slower because its too quick what she suggested. Im just seeing if i can ride out the withdrawal. It is my experience that a doctor/psychiatrist/pharmacist knows little about how each individual will respond to lowering doses, therefore i choose to do it myself. I lost confidence in professionals a long time ago!

14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 12049

Alter,

The members will be along shortly to share some of their experiences with you. Do work with your doctor and pharmacist to assist you with dosages, side effects and changes in medication. The program has been very helpful to many and the exposure therapy is great in assisting you from beginning to end. Let us know how we can help, post often and get the support of others, ask question no matter what!

Josie, Health Educator

14 years ago 0 +0 / -0 9

Hello, ive been diagnosed with GAD, it was PD previously but now i think its progressed. Ive had so many panic attacks that now they seem to have turned into an ongoing background noise which gets louder when i mess with medications or have major life changes. Im currently coming off Mirtazipine and i came off Diazepam over 3 months this last summer, which i thought was bad but it turn out the Mirtazipine is much much worse. I now cant go on packed trains/buses, in the backs of cars, eat in restaurants, work for more than a week. My confidence is at an all-time low. Ive decided to come off all my medications because i was having panic attacks regardless of what pills i popped. I had CBT during exams, it got me through them but now my anxiety seems to have come back with a vengeance. I had psychotherapy for a long time and it didnt help and neither did general counselling/holistic therapies. Ive done everything: SSRIs, benzos, psychotherapy, emotional freedom technique but for some odd reason none of that worked. Therefore i have decided to go it alone, come off all medications, stop seeing therapists who didnt know how to help me and try and do some exposure therapy without meds because it was obvious to me that doing exposure therapy on medication wouldnt work for me, because i just realised i wouldnt have been able to do it without the meds. So far, the withdrawal off the mirtazipine is awful, i havent really left the house for 3/4 weeks, and had to quit some work experience i had going for me. I dont think the cbt i had earlier this year was administered properly since she didnt structure any exposure therapy with me, she just outlined the CBT principles and then left me to it, thank god i found this site because she didnt even give me any panic attack/anxious thought sheets or ANYTHING to carry on with. This is very very shoddy work if you ask me.

Anyway.........now you know all about me and if i do end up curing myself i will tell everyone i can how i did it. I would like to hear from anyone who has decided to do exposure work meds free. If im making an awful mistake please tell me! I dont want to set myself up for a fall. Also, if youve had adverse effects on medications i would also like to hear your experiences since i do sometimes think im the only person (as well as professionals) who believes i can make myself better without drugging myself up for the rest of my life.

Thanks for reading,

Scarlett.

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Going it alone- drug free, anyone else attempting this?