Posted by bleauberry on April 14, 2015, at 11:41:00
Well I guess enough time has passed that I am settled into my new base line. Following 20 years of psych meds, a back pack full of all of them except for one (nardil), $35,000 medical bills, failed bilateral ECT, 12 specialists (all pdocs), it ended up being rather plain jane herbs and antibiotics that allowed me to basically be born again.
There is a lot of battle damage, especially to my body. I do better with Ritalin for some remaining mild motivation/fog/energy issues. My body is destroyed from the decades of misdiagnosis, but I got most of my mind back!
Antibiotics. Herbs. Basically anti-psychiatric in my journeys can be summed up fairly simple....1)anti infective support, 2)anti-inflammation support, 3)detox support, 4)immune system support.
I thought the whole time that psych meds were to be taken for life and that they would restore one to close to normal. I found that to not be the case. They do not often work all that well. And when they do, they don't usually stay that way. In my case....missed lyme disease...or something similar....who knows....doesn't matter....treatments are the same whatever the bug is....psych med usually made me feel worse, or had bad side effects, or worked a little but not enough.
I was constantly chasing the next add-on med. For a few years prozac+zyprexa+modafinil did fairly ok. That pooped when the infection got worse and overpowered the meds.
It's actually the toxins of "stuff"....muscle damage, critter poop, critter bodies, critter corpses....that makes us feel so bad psychiatrically. Those things compete for our brain receptors and displace, corrupt, contaminate, or otherwise make useless, our own neurotransmitters.
I had two awesome MDs along the way...at the end...the ones who saved me. They both told me the same thing....that is...most new patients bring with them ongoing psychiatric issues not adequately managed by other MDs....and that by the end of treatment 90% of their psychiatric issues are resolved, and psychiatric meds are either removed or reduced to low doses.
Interesting stuff. It is outside of generally accepted mainstream academia medicine...you know...CDC stuff....Fed stuff....the docs on the front lines not handcuffed to office holders are the ones healing people like me when all the previous failed. The establishment folks are wonderful and do the best they can...but the rules and regs on them are so restrictive in their ability to "get outside the box". Example...I had to go to a neighboring State because the laws in my own state were too unfriendly to lyme MDs...so there aren't any! Oh my.
Hey this could go on and on. Could write a book about this journey. It included over 20 years of pbabble. I was here near the beginning, regular most of the way, and here for life. I used to be here multiple times daily. Now only once in a while. But still here. Almost sort of like family....we all brothers and sisters fighting the same enemy.
In your own journeys I wish you the very best. I wish you gifts of wisdom. Gifts of strength. Gifts of endurance. And gifts of healing. Your answer may not be exactly like mine.....but I would bet the farm....it would be very similar....;that is....something else besides psych meds alone. The real problem needs to be addressed, even if we don't know what it is, and we probably never will. The umbrella of anti-infective anti-inflammation anti-toxin hits most of the hidden targets.
As seen through the eyes of my own journey. Not intended to diagnosis, treat, or cure any disease. I hope something might be helpful.
I still have random lousy days once in a while....usually a half moon...most people do worst on full moons....check out your own feelings following the moon...so believe me....that dark ugly dungeon of terror called depression....I still visit it once in a while....maybe a subtle reminder to stay on the healthy path!
And one final controversial comment on medical marijuana. For lyme it was a crucial pivot point that somehow tied everything together and made everything else work better. For psychiatric symptoms, I do believe that in a least 50% of folks, it could be a better enhancer of life quality than their psych meds are. Personal opinion. I been on both sides of the fence for a long time. I know one guy who was also a failed ECT suicidal case....as he sunk deeper and deeper he could no longer afford meds....ended up smoking a joint for the first time in his life....and still today as long as he smokes a little several times a day, the guy is normal as normal can be, works a good job, looks great. Marijuana did that? Yeah.
Moral of the story....what will help each one of us is found much faster when the eyes and ears are wide open, curiosity is high, and personal bias is not invited.
poster:bleauberry
thread:1078255
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150407/msgs/1078255.html