Introduction

[Guest guest]

Debbie K. I think all of us like the idea of faceless at times. When

I first joined the group, that was the reason I joined...I could ask

without anyone knowing me and thinking I was asking foolish

questions...now I am probably not faceless to anyone in the group

because I am so " verbal " most of the time. I wish you well, and

welcome to our group...ask anything and vent if you ever feel the need

and certainly if anyone asks a question, answer if you know the answer

or have had the experience. Doris

> Just recently diagnosed by BC, did a lot of research on the

internet, found

> and then joined this group and now thought I'd come out of lurking

mode and

> introduce myself . . .

[Guest guest]

Hello Rob,

My brother Todd was in the same mode as you now are. He was placed

on 20 mg of Zyprexa while in the hospital Feb 2006. The doctor was

less than competent and saw my brother for only 15 minutes. The

interesting thing that I saw was that this doctor now had a new

patient that had to come back to him on a monthly basis to fill the

prescription. After two months my brother had put on 60 pounds and

was craving anything sweet.

His emotional state of mind was sad to

witness as he displayed similar type of reactions that I so often

read about - no motivation, chronic fatigue. He tried to get off of

it with the doctor's so called help only after begging the doctor to

take him off of it.

The prescription was reduced from 20 to 10 mg

and the results were disastrous. He had no choice but to go back up

to 20 mg. That is when I found this site and started to do a lot of

reading. ONce he was so called stabilized again we started to do

liquid titration very slowly - down 5%, then insure stability, then

down another 5%.

We ran into a bump or two because the doctor was

not going along with this method and each time the doctor instructed

my brother to go down faster he relapsed. Once my brother got faith

in me and listened to me 100% instead of this doctor it went rather

smoothly. It took six months but he is clean of Zyprexa. He also

loss his craving for sweets and is now back to his weight prior to

taking that drug. I strongly believe that the only way to get off of

this medication is the very slow taper - no more than 5%, stay at

this level no less than a week, make sure you are completely

stabilized then proceed to the next cut.

No one pays me to say

this, it is fact as I was deeply involved with my brothers condition

and I have never used medications such as this so I was totally in

tune with what I was seeing happen with my eyes. There was no doubt

in my mind that many doctors were responsible for my brothers

condition by feeding him drug on top of drug to where he got to a

point he could no longer function in life. He was basically a

vegetable. Todd now functions better but still has a way to go.

He was also on Dilantin, Depakote and Ativan. Had been on these

drugs for about 6 years. After numerous long and expensive test

which showed negative results, he was finally taken off of Dilantin

100%.

Ativan is a difficult drug to get off of and he has been working hard

on that for the past 8 months - he is presently down 75% from what he

was taking. Starting to win the battle, but once again when doctors

get involved they can mess him up. He is presently in hospital with

replacing a ruptured achilles. I provided very specific directions

and the psych that came in refused to allow this to take place. My

instructions were:

* Presently Withdrawing – Doing a slow liquid titration for past

eight months

* Presently at 70% of ½ tablet three times a day (70% of .5 mg 3

times a day)

* It is important that Todd follow this routine

* Do not increase dosage without consulting brother Rick Becka at

[redacted by moderator]

* Todd has appropriate equipment with him to do liquid titration

They never called me. The doctor asked my brother if I was a

controlling person. He then told him he would give him a .25 mg

tablet three times a day. The doctor refused to follow my

instructions thus he took him down from 70% to 50% of a .5 mg per

day. I was not happy about this large drop and presently watching it

closely. This points out a very serious problem in our society. Too

many people think that the doctor is some kind of GOD and they follow

whatever the doctor says.

Too often the patient is not involved to

the level they need to be becasue they have total trust in the

doctor. What many people don't realize is that doctors are human and

thus there are good ones and there are bad ones, and there are ones

in every grade between these two extremes. What I find is that the

majority of people do not question to any depth what the doctor tells

them to do.

Each of us has to be our own best doctor and pay

attention to all our own medical issues and take responsibility.

Remember that a doctor only sees you for a very short period of time

and before he prescribes you something you have to give him the

inputs for him to treat you properly.

Overall my brother is doing a lot better but he loss everything he

once had in life due to BENZODIAZEPINES and ANTIPSYCHOTIC AGENTS and

OPIATES. His anxiety level has " decreased substantially " and he no

longer stutters which was a major problem. All around he is doing

better mentally, physically and spiritually. I could write a book

about what I have observed in the past years. There is no doubt in

my mind that he originally got messed up becasue of illegal drugs and

alcohol when he was younger. He has not touched alcohol or illegal

drugs since 1995. I strongly believe if he can get off of all the

legal prescriptions he will once again be able to function in

society. The right medical care and good doctors are a critical part

of the formula. Each of us must make sure that we don't have doctors

that are part of the problem rather than being part of the solution.

That in itself is a major hurdle - finding good doctors that are

competent that will work with you. Good luck and remember

perseverance and motivation are critical elements in getting well.

Be glad to give you more information if you need it. My e-mail

address is rickbecka@....

Rick

> Howdy,

>

> My name is Rob, and this is my first post to your group. I found this

> site through an internet search. I am currently taking Zyprexa 10 mg

> and Effexor 75 mg. I have to say that they did the trick for a while.

> They eliminated my wild mood swings and basically stabilized me. I

> was thankful for this for two years, until one day i realized that I

> had been emotionally and spiritually truncated. I lost my overall

> motivation and my creativity. I was just happy to be plodding along

> in my life. Many of the things I should have been doing to advance my

> career and take care of myself were shrugged off. I am no longer

> satisfied with that status. I blame the medication.

>

> There have been physical symptoms, too. I fight very hard to try to

> gain some control over my weight, and for the first time in my life,

> I've had to worry about pre-diabetic conditions. I work hard to keep

> myself in shape, but I feel I am fighting against a chemical tide

> that I recharge daily with the meds.

>

> So I am interested in others' experiences in getting off Zyprexa in

> particular. What strategies did you use? Did you cold turkey or

> gradually cut down the doses? Did you discuss any of this with your

> doctors? What sorts of reactions, physically, mentally, spiritually,

> did you experience as you cut back on your meds?

>

> I look forward to sharing with you all,

>

> Rob Hunt

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Rob,Forgot to mention - read everything you can on this site.  Excellent site and without it, I am not sure if my brother could have made the gains he has made.  Vitamins and supplements are a critical part of the recovery process.  Still a way to go but positive progress is being made.Rick Howdy,My name is Rob, and this is my first post to your group. I found this site through an internet search. I am currently taking Zyprexa 10 mg and Effexor 75 mg. I have to say that they did the trick for a while. They eliminated my wild mood swings and basically stabilized me. I was thankful for this for two years, until one day i realized that I had been emotionally and spiritually truncated. I lost my overall motivation and my creativity. I was just happy to be plodding along in my life. Many of the things I should have been doing to advance my career and take care of myself were shrugged off. I am no longer satisfied with that status. I blame the medication. There have been physical symptoms, too. I fight very hard to try to gain some control over my weight, and for the first time in my life, I've had to worry about pre-diabetic conditions. I work hard to keep myself in shape, but I feel I am fighting against a chemical tide that I recharge daily with the meds. So I am interested in others' experiences in getting off Zyprexa in particular. What strategies did you use? Did you cold turkey or gradually cut down the doses? Did you discuss any of this with your doctors? What sorts of reactions, physically, mentally, spiritually, did you experience as you cut back on your meds?I look forward to sharing with you all,Rob Hunt

[Guest guest]

Heh Bob,50mg to 25 mg is a 50% deduction????Have you had a chance to read eating for recovery in the files?Are you eating organic?ThanksI made a mistake I dropped to the 25 mg of tramadol from 50 mg tramadol/ What I think is a proper diet is usually a muesli with fruit and either yogurt or milk for breakfast/brunch. Maybe some fruit or local soup and noodles for lunch. For dinner I usually have mostly fish and chicken and some pork. Usually cooked without grease, rice or potatoes and a large portion of vegetables. Some cookies or goodie once in a while later and usually a large amount of fruit to munch on through the evening. Mostly bananas, mangoes, apples and grapes. When lychees are in season I indulge. I do go out to restaurants about twice a week and try to eat good food but once in a while get a pizza or other junk food/ Hope this helps you.

[Guest guest]

Exactly how does a water fast work. Does one refrain from only water, all liquids, etc.

Thanks,

Bob

> > > Greetings to all the group members and from the Philippines.

> >

> > I am a 65 year old American Expat living in the mountains of the

> > Philippines.

> >

> > I have had back problems since I was 32 and about 2 years ago it was

> > bothering me and a doctor prescribed 100 mg tramadol. I started

> > taking them once a day and felt better, especially when I did my 4

> > times a week exercise walking. In January 2007 I had a bad back

> > problem, mainly sciatica down my leg when returning from Hong Kong.

Bob

I know people who have recovered from sciatica by going on a water fast for one or two weeks.

[Note for Connie -- please trim post to show only part to which you are

responding. Also, it is almost impossible to find your comments because you are

not putting any space between your comments and the post to which you re

commenting. Place your cursor on the page below the post, then hit ENTER 3x. This wil create some space. Thanks. --] ------------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

> >

> > > Greetings to all the group members and from the

> Philippines.

> > >

> > > I am a 65 year old American Expat living in the mountains of the

> > > Philippines.

> > >

> > > I have had back problems since I was 32 and about 2 years ago

it

> was

> > > bothering me and a doctor prescribed 100 mg tramadol. I started

> > > taking them once a day and felt better, especially when I did

my 4

> > > times a week exercise walking. In January 2007 I had a bad back

> > > problem, mainly sciatica down my leg when returning from Hong

> Kong.

>

>

> Bob

> I know people who have recovered from sciatica by going on a water

> fast for one or two weeks.

>

>

> [Note for Connie -- please trim post to show only part to which

you are

> responding. Also, it is almost impossible to find your comments

because you are

> not putting any space between your comments and the post to which

you re

> commenting. Place your cursor on the page below the post, then hit

ENTER 3x.

> This wil create some space. Thanks. --]

>

>

>

>

>

> ------------------------------------

>

> To subscribe to our off-topic Social list go to:

>

> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/socialWandR/

>

> To subscribe to our Truth-in-Health list go to:

>

> http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/truth-in-health

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone,

My name is Kim. I was on paxil for 15 yrs. I have been off paxil for 7 wks now and I am finally starting to feel a little better. I am still have the zaps and headaches. Thanks for letting me be a part of your group.

Kim