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← Return to No More Psyche Meds!
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Wow, your story sounds similar to my own life. I’m 65 and have been on psych meds, in hospitals and in and out of therapy since the age of 17.
That’s when my parents decided I had a problem. Back then mental health care had much to be desired. I’ve been on so many meds I can’t remember them all.
I was diagnosed with BPD and all its stigma. Fast forward to today….I’m only on a low dose of Cymbalta, mainly for Fibromyalgia pain. And I plan to stop this soon so I can “ feel” some emotions before I die!
I found out a couple decades ago I was misdiagnosed and actually have PTSD from childhood abuse, ADD, and autism.
I feel that a lifetime has been wasted. I’ve made so many mistakes, and without the proper treatment for what was really wrong, I never got much better. Age has just mellowed me out.
Replies to "Wow, your story sounds similar to my own life. I’m 65 and have been on psych..."
I hear 'ya.
I've been on the carousel since being "diagnosed" w/BPD in fall, 2009. I'd had mixed symptoms for about 20 years prior, and went on an alcohol bender, had a total blackout and wound up in a psych ward for a day after a failed suicide attempt ( which I had no recollection of, due to the blackout). Some guy there, on the basis of a few questions said, "You're bipolar" and off we go. Been on so many drugs since that I can't recall all and my health went down the toilet: massive weight gain, blood sugar problems, mood numbing, cognitive deterioration, and paranoia bad enough to turn me into a hermit. Last fall I started having muscle twitches, read up about Tardive Dyskinesia and said, "That's it! I fought my shrinks and have ditched the very evil drug Zyprexa and am on a fairly low maintenance dose of Lamictal (200 mg/day). These changes have restored my emotions and the paranoia and twitches have disappeared. I've lost 40 lbs., blood sugar's stabilized (still higher than I'd like, but below pre-diabetes threshold). Withdrawal wasn't as bad as I expected: I'd read a lot of horror stories.
I've made a lot of mistakes, too, and live with regret for blindly trusting a bunch of witch doctors. A very imprecise discipline, mental health is.
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Thank you for your comments, they mean a great deal to me.
The healthcare system in this country is broken. Doctors have become hammers looking for nails.
The result is a shameful amount of increased suffering and death throughout all modalities.
One need only look at how we compare to the rest of the industrialized world to realize that despite spending the most money in the world the people of this country have been betrayed.
There are a number of reasons why we are in the state we are in, but the overwhelming reason is the profit motive behind the heath (sick) care industry.
Mental health care is by far the worst part of the broken system.
It can be fixed, but not by the minds that created it.
In the meantime I have come to believe that as far as my health is concerned it’s up to me to ask the write questions and demand rational answers,
I hope we all find the peace we deserve.