Guest guest Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Hi , Welcome to the group. I'm glad you were able to find what was causing your son's symptoms. So often, our medical system decides that mental/emotional symptoms must mean a mental or emotional problem, and treats people with toxic drugs that have no relation to the actual physiological roots of the problem. It's disgusting and irresponsible. Congratulations on seeing a way out of this mess for your son. How old is your son? Can you tell us all the drugs he is taking, with dosages? You're right, people often have adverse reactions to abrupt withdrawal from these drugs. It is not a safe or healthy thing to do, and can set someone up for lasting difficulties. When several drugs are involved, the situation becomes more complicated and must be dealt with more carefully and individually. is available to do this by phone. She makes this available to all because she does not charge a set fee, instead asking that you pay what you can afford, based on what comparable services would cost in your area. People often make payments over time to keep it affordable for them. Please post to the list if you are interested in this. Take some time to read through the materials sent to you when you joined. It will also be useful to read through the files and the message archives. There is an enormous amount of information on this site about withdrawing and recovering from these drugs. I'm glad you found us. Warmly, Kim (co-moderator) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Hi Kim, thanks for the warm welcome. I will answer your questions. My son will be 21 next month. All of this started around age 15. He was on and off of several meds the first year, because nothing was really helping, and then when we found the thyroid problem and he started on 1 grain of Armour Thyroid a day. It took almost another year to get him up to 4 grains a day and then he finally started doing better. After that time, and since, I have talked to many many others that had psychiatric problems that found out they actually had a thyroid problem that was causing he problem. (I have a wealth of information on the subject if anyone is interested). I truly believe that his low thyroid problem is the cause of the things he deals with, and truly wish that we had found the thyroid problem first, before beginning any other meds, as Armour Thyroid may have been all he needed, but now he is on several meds and will have trouble coming off of them. If he needs them, then we will have to live with that, but I worry about the long term side effects and don't want him to take them unless it is absolutely necessary. Ok these are the exact meds and dosages that he takes. AM 80 mgs generic Prozac 2 mgs Clonazepam 50 mgs Clomipramine 4 grains Armour Thyroid PM 40 mgs Geodon 50 mgs Clomipramine every other night (basically he is to take 75 mgs a day but we are splitting it like that because of the costs) and sometimes he takes another 1 mg of Clonazepam in the evening if he is feeling anxious at work. I am concerned about the interaction of the Prozac with his low thyroid problem because the prozac is fluorinated, but my main concern is the antipsychotic drug Geodon. At one time, he had been on Zyprexa for a year and gained 25 lbs on it. He took himself off of it cold turkey because of the weight gain and had the two worst episodes that he has ever had. They were totally out of character for him. At the time this happened I thought that meant he needed the Zyprexa and did not understand that it was a reaction to coming off of it cold turkey, and so was agreeable to trying the Geodon instead. Now, after much research, I realize it was a reaction to coming off that drug like that. He has a lot of hand tremors that bothers him. He feels like people think he is nervous because his hands are always shaking and of course we worry about the long time effects of the drug. I would really appreciate any thoughts on slowly reducing the Geodon or hearing about anyone's experiences with the drug. thank you very much, bddmom Hi , Welcome to the group. I'm glad you were able to find what was causing your son's symptoms. So often, our medical system decides that mental/emotional symptoms must mean a mental or emotional problem, and treats people with toxic drugs that have no relation to the actual physiological roots of the problem. It's disgusting and irresponsible. Congratulations on seeing a way out of this mess for your son. How old is your son? Can you tell us all the drugs he is taking, with dosages? You're right, people often have adverse reactions to abrupt withdrawal from these drugs. It is not a safe or healthy thing to do, and can set someone up for lasting difficulties. When several drugs are involved, the situation becomes more complicated and must be dealt with more carefully and individually. is available to do this by phone. She makes this available to all because she does not charge a set fee, instead asking that you pay what you can afford, based on what comparable services would cost in your area. People often make payments over time to keep it affordable for them. Please post to the list if you are interested in this. Take some time to read through the materials sent to you when you joined. It will also be useful to read through the files and the message archives. There is an enormous amount of information on this site about withdrawing and recovering from these drugs. I'm glad you found us. Warmly, Kim (co-moderator) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Hi Kim, thanks for the warm welcome. I will answer your questions. My son will be 21 next month. All of this started around age 15. He was on and off of several meds the first year, because nothing was really helping, and then when we found the thyroid problem and he started on 1 grain of Armour Thyroid a day. It took almost another year to get him up to 4 grains a day and then he finally started doing better. After that time, and since, I have talked to many many others that had psychiatric problems that found out they actually had a thyroid problem that was causing he problem. (I have a wealth of information on the subject if anyone is interested). I truly believe that his low thyroid problem is the cause of the things he deals with, and truly wish that we had found the thyroid problem first, before beginning any other meds, as Armour Thyroid may have been all he needed, but now he is on several meds and will have trouble coming off of them. If he needs them, then we will have to live with that, but I worry about the long term side effects and don't want him to take them unless it is absolutely necessary. Ok these are the exact meds and dosages that he takes. AM 80 mgs generic Prozac 2 mgs Clonazepam 50 mgs Clomipramine 4 grains Armour Thyroid PM 40 mgs Geodon 50 mgs Clomipramine every other night (basically he is to take 75 mgs a day but we are splitting it like that because of the costs) and sometimes he takes another 1 mg of Clonazepam in the evening if he is feeling anxious at work. I am concerned about the interaction of the Prozac with his low thyroid problem because the prozac is fluorinated, but my main concern is the antipsychotic drug Geodon. At one time, he had been on Zyprexa for a year and gained 25 lbs on it. He took himself off of it cold turkey because of the weight gain and had the two worst episodes that he has ever had. They were totally out of character for him. At the time this happened I thought that meant he needed the Zyprexa and did not understand that it was a reaction to coming off of it cold turkey, and so was agreeable to trying the Geodon instead. Now, after much research, I realize it was a reaction to coming off that drug like that. He has a lot of hand tremors that bothers him. He feels like people think he is nervous because his hands are always shaking and of course we worry about the long time effects of the drug. I would really appreciate any thoughts on slowly reducing the Geodon or hearing about anyone's experiences with the drug. thank you very much, bddmom Hi , Welcome to the group. I'm glad you were able to find what was causing your son's symptoms. So often, our medical system decides that mental/emotional symptoms must mean a mental or emotional problem, and treats people with toxic drugs that have no relation to the actual physiological roots of the problem. It's disgusting and irresponsible. Congratulations on seeing a way out of this mess for your son. How old is your son? Can you tell us all the drugs he is taking, with dosages? You're right, people often have adverse reactions to abrupt withdrawal from these drugs. It is not a safe or healthy thing to do, and can set someone up for lasting difficulties. When several drugs are involved, the situation becomes more complicated and must be dealt with more carefully and individually. is available to do this by phone. She makes this available to all because she does not charge a set fee, instead asking that you pay what you can afford, based on what comparable services would cost in your area. People often make payments over time to keep it affordable for them. Please post to the list if you are interested in this. Take some time to read through the materials sent to you when you joined. It will also be useful to read through the files and the message archives. There is an enormous amount of information on this site about withdrawing and recovering from these drugs. I'm glad you found us. Warmly, Kim (co-moderator) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 18, 2005 Report Share Posted May 18, 2005 Dear , You said: <<I will answer your questions. My son will be 21 next month. All of this started around age 15. He was on and off of several meds the first year, because nothing was really helping, and then when we found the thyroid problem and he started on 1 grain of Armour Thyroid a day. It took almost another year to get him up to 4 grains a day and then he finally started doing better. After that time, and since, I have talked to many many others that had psychiatric problems that found out they actually had a thyroid problem that was causing he problem. (I have a wealth of information on the subject if anyone is interested). I truly believe that his low thyroid problem is the cause of the things he deals with, and truly wish that we had found the thyroid problem first, before beginning any other meds, as Armour Thyroid may have been all he needed, but now he is on several meds and will have trouble coming off of them. If he needs them, then we will have to live with that, but I worry about the long term side effects and don't want him to take them unless it is absolutely necessary. Ok these are the exact meds and dosages that he takes. AM 80 mgs generic Prozac 2 mgs Clonazepam 50 mgs Clomipramine 4 grains Armour Thyroid PM 40 mgs Geodon 50 mgs Clomipramine every other night (basically he is to take 75 mgs a day but we are splitting it like that because of the costs) and sometimes he takes another 1 mg of Clonazepam in the evening if he is feeling anxious at work. I am concerned about the interaction of the Prozac with his low thyroid problem because the prozac is fluorinated, but my main concern is the antipsychotic drug Geodon. At one time, he had been on Zyprexa for a year and gained 25 lbs on it. He took himself off of it cold turkey because of the weight gain and had the two worst episodes that he has ever had. They were totally out of character for him. At the time this happened I thought that meant he needed the Zyprexa and did not understand that it was a reaction to coming off of it cold turkey, and so was agreeable to trying the Geodon instead. Now, after much research, I realize it was a reaction to coming off that drug like that. He has a lot of hand tremors that bothers him. He feels like people think he is nervous because his hands are always shaking and of course we worry about the long time effects of the drug. I would really appreciate any thoughts on slowly reducing the Geodon or hearing about anyone's experiences with the drug.>> ** Why just the Geodon? Why not all the others, too? Thanks. Regards, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 --- " Also, honestly, there is a part of me that is afraid he will not be able to get totally off of the prozac (or some other SSRI and the Clomipramine, which is basically an OCD drug), so perhaps that is one of the reasons I was focusing on the Geodon first. " We were all scared hun, sometimes I think it is mainly due to the brainwashing from our lovely doctors. The hardest thing I did was get off paxil and cipromil, but I did it, with the love and support of everyone here. THere reassurances that I wasnt going mad, that is was " Just " withdrawal. is wonderful, all you have to do is trust her, she will never let you down. This group is your son's lifeline, grab it. Thinking of you and your son. Love xx In Withdrawal_and_Recovery , " cathy_bdd_mom " <cathy_bdd_mom@y...> wrote: > - I would like nothing better than to get my son off of all > of the meds that he is taking - except for the Armour Thyroid! He > will take that the rest of his life and desperately needs it!!!! That > stuff is like gold to us!!!! > > I just assumed that we could only work on coming off of one drug at a > time and thought the Geodon is the first one we need to get him off > of, because I am not convinced he needs it and I figured it was the > worst of what he is taking. > > Also, honestly, there is a part of me that is afraid he will not be > able to get totally off of the prozac (or some other SSRI and the > Clomipramine, which is basically an OCD drug), so perhaps that is one > of the reasons I was focusing on the Geodon first. > > I will mention that before the Armour Thyroid and CBT and other meds, > my son was suicidal at times and would barely leave his room and was > not living life. I do not want to do anything to mess up the > progress that he has made. His " BDD " was chronic! So I will be > honest and say that I am scared of throwing him for a loop. > > I am very very interested in hearing about your experiences, your > thoughts, your research, your knowledge, and your advice on any or > all of this! > > Thank you very much, > bddmom > > In Withdrawal_and_Recovery , " C Creel " <ccreel@m...> > wrote: > Dear , > You said: ... > ** Why just the Geodon? Why not all the others, too? > Thanks. > Regards, > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 20, 2005 Report Share Posted May 20, 2005 --- " Also, honestly, there is a part of me that is afraid he will not be able to get totally off of the prozac (or some other SSRI and the Clomipramine, which is basically an OCD drug), so perhaps that is one of the reasons I was focusing on the Geodon first. " We were all scared hun, sometimes I think it is mainly due to the brainwashing from our lovely doctors. The hardest thing I did was get off paxil and cipromil, but I did it, with the love and support of everyone here. THere reassurances that I wasnt going mad, that is was " Just " withdrawal. is wonderful, all you have to do is trust her, she will never let you down. This group is your son's lifeline, grab it. Thinking of you and your son. Love xx In Withdrawal_and_Recovery , " cathy_bdd_mom " <cathy_bdd_mom@y...> wrote: > - I would like nothing better than to get my son off of all > of the meds that he is taking - except for the Armour Thyroid! He > will take that the rest of his life and desperately needs it!!!! That > stuff is like gold to us!!!! > > I just assumed that we could only work on coming off of one drug at a > time and thought the Geodon is the first one we need to get him off > of, because I am not convinced he needs it and I figured it was the > worst of what he is taking. > > Also, honestly, there is a part of me that is afraid he will not be > able to get totally off of the prozac (or some other SSRI and the > Clomipramine, which is basically an OCD drug), so perhaps that is one > of the reasons I was focusing on the Geodon first. > > I will mention that before the Armour Thyroid and CBT and other meds, > my son was suicidal at times and would barely leave his room and was > not living life. I do not want to do anything to mess up the > progress that he has made. His " BDD " was chronic! So I will be > honest and say that I am scared of throwing him for a loop. > > I am very very interested in hearing about your experiences, your > thoughts, your research, your knowledge, and your advice on any or > all of this! > > Thank you very much, > bddmom > > In Withdrawal_and_Recovery , " C Creel " <ccreel@m...> > wrote: > Dear , > You said: ... > ** Why just the Geodon? Why not all the others, too? > Thanks. > Regards, > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 , I am so glad to hear that you are off the paxil & cipromil! that is awesome! and encouraging. May I ask, are the problems that you were having, that made you start taking the paxil & cipromil in the first place, well are those things better now since coming off the drugs, or have you just learned to deal with whatever you were dealing with? thank you, bddmom > --- " Also, honestly, there is a part of me that is afraid he will not > be > able to get totally off of the prozac (or some other SSRI and the > Clomipramine, which is basically an OCD drug), so perhaps that is one > of the reasons I was focusing on the Geodon first. " > > We were all scared hun, sometimes I think it is mainly due to the > brainwashing from our lovely doctors. The hardest thing I did was > get off paxil and cipromil, but I did it, with the love and support > of everyone here. THere reassurances that I wasnt going mad, that > is was " Just " withdrawal. is wonderful, all you have to do > is trust her, she will never let you down. > This group is your son's lifeline, grab it. > Thinking of you and your son. > Love xx > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 21, 2005 Report Share Posted May 21, 2005 , I am so glad to hear that you are off the paxil & cipromil! that is awesome! and encouraging. May I ask, are the problems that you were having, that made you start taking the paxil & cipromil in the first place, well are those things better now since coming off the drugs, or have you just learned to deal with whatever you were dealing with? thank you, bddmom > --- " Also, honestly, there is a part of me that is afraid he will not > be > able to get totally off of the prozac (or some other SSRI and the > Clomipramine, which is basically an OCD drug), so perhaps that is one > of the reasons I was focusing on the Geodon first. " > > We were all scared hun, sometimes I think it is mainly due to the > brainwashing from our lovely doctors. The hardest thing I did was > get off paxil and cipromil, but I did it, with the love and support > of everyone here. THere reassurances that I wasnt going mad, that > is was " Just " withdrawal. is wonderful, all you have to do > is trust her, she will never let you down. > This group is your son's lifeline, grab it. > Thinking of you and your son. > Love xx > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 ---Hi I was put on paxil for anorexia and panic attacks, the main trigger cause of these was a knee operation in Dec 95 when I was 18. I used to compete at swimming and running and my knee had been giving me grief since I was 14 and was just getting worse. They did a lateral release which they told me would take just weeks to heal (infact it took years) I got increasingly frustrated and angry at having the sport I lived for taken away from me. In my head if I wasn't able to run then I wasn't going to eat, in a bizarre way I figured that if I got lighter and lighter maybe the knee would take the weight and let me run again. ( truth is I was only 6stone before the op) The panic attacks I think were triggered by the anesthetic, when I came round they made me stand on the knee they had just operated on, and I fainted, everytime I tried to get up I fainted. I got scared. So I think thats where the panic attacks come from. Paxil and cipromil, over the last 8 years were the most horrific time of my life. I lost my 20's. Now I am off, I am not completely better, I still have the nerve pain in my feet from the drugs and I still have alot of weight to loose. The panic attacks are better than when I was on the drugs, I believe they actually increased my anxeity. By now means am I the most laid back person, but I accept, I think thats what has helped me. To accept I cannot always change things, that somethings are out of my hands. i think this brings a little peace. I believe the magnesium really helps my anxiety alot to. I am most relaxed when I play, so that for me is good. I hope this answers what you wanted to know, sorry its got a bit long. With Love In Withdrawal_and_Recovery , " cathy_bdd_mom " <cathy_bdd_mom@y...> wrote: > , I am so glad to hear that you are off the paxil & cipromil! > that is awesome! and encouraging. > > May I ask, are the problems that you were having, that made you > start taking the paxil & cipromil in the first place, well are those > things better now since coming off the drugs, or have you just > learned to deal with whatever you were dealing with? > > thank you, > bddmom > > > > --- " Also, honestly, there is a part of me that is afraid he will > not > > be > > able to get totally off of the prozac (or some other SSRI and the > > Clomipramine, which is basically an OCD drug), so perhaps that is > one > > of the reasons I was focusing on the Geodon first. " > > > > We were all scared hun, sometimes I think it is mainly due to the > > brainwashing from our lovely doctors. The hardest thing I did was > > get off paxil and cipromil, but I did it, with the love and > support > > of everyone here. THere reassurances that I wasnt going mad, that > > is was " Just " withdrawal. is wonderful, all you have to > do > > is trust her, she will never let you down. > > This group is your son's lifeline, grab it. > > Thinking of you and your son. > > Love xx > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted May 22, 2005 Report Share Posted May 22, 2005 ---Hi I was put on paxil for anorexia and panic attacks, the main trigger cause of these was a knee operation in Dec 95 when I was 18. I used to compete at swimming and running and my knee had been giving me grief since I was 14 and was just getting worse. They did a lateral release which they told me would take just weeks to heal (infact it took years) I got increasingly frustrated and angry at having the sport I lived for taken away from me. In my head if I wasn't able to run then I wasn't going to eat, in a bizarre way I figured that if I got lighter and lighter maybe the knee would take the weight and let me run again. ( truth is I was only 6stone before the op) The panic attacks I think were triggered by the anesthetic, when I came round they made me stand on the knee they had just operated on, and I fainted, everytime I tried to get up I fainted. I got scared. So I think thats where the panic attacks come from. Paxil and cipromil, over the last 8 years were the most horrific time of my life. I lost my 20's. Now I am off, I am not completely better, I still have the nerve pain in my feet from the drugs and I still have alot of weight to loose. The panic attacks are better than when I was on the drugs, I believe they actually increased my anxeity. By now means am I the most laid back person, but I accept, I think thats what has helped me. To accept I cannot always change things, that somethings are out of my hands. i think this brings a little peace. I believe the magnesium really helps my anxiety alot to. I am most relaxed when I play, so that for me is good. I hope this answers what you wanted to know, sorry its got a bit long. With Love In Withdrawal_and_Recovery , " cathy_bdd_mom " <cathy_bdd_mom@y...> wrote: > , I am so glad to hear that you are off the paxil & cipromil! > that is awesome! and encouraging. > > May I ask, are the problems that you were having, that made you > start taking the paxil & cipromil in the first place, well are those > things better now since coming off the drugs, or have you just > learned to deal with whatever you were dealing with? > > thank you, > bddmom > > > > --- " Also, honestly, there is a part of me that is afraid he will > not > > be > > able to get totally off of the prozac (or some other SSRI and the > > Clomipramine, which is basically an OCD drug), so perhaps that is > one > > of the reasons I was focusing on the Geodon first. " > > > > We were all scared hun, sometimes I think it is mainly due to the > > brainwashing from our lovely doctors. The hardest thing I did was > > get off paxil and cipromil, but I did it, with the love and > support > > of everyone here. THere reassurances that I wasnt going mad, that > > is was " Just " withdrawal. is wonderful, all you have to > do > > is trust her, she will never let you down. > > This group is your son's lifeline, grab it. > > Thinking of you and your son. > > Love xx > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.