new here

[bruno2006]

Have been on the other support sites for the last year or so. I found this one by researching more about protracted withdrawal and came across Sheila's blog which I found interesting. I also found it interesting that Sheila is a psychologist and also is dealing with withdrawal syndrome. I really hope a CBT program specifically geared toward withdrawal syndrome can be developed. Maybe she can influence her psychologist friends to help create one?

I would also like to explore more of the psi that Sheila talks about and other neurological healing tools. I am a big fan of nutrition and believe its very importan in combincation with other healing modalities.

Well, I was on ad drugs for nearly 8 years and quit in one week after going through an alternative mental health program using IV nutrients, cranial electrical therapy, and neurofeedback. While I was doing fairly well the first few months, protracted wd set in around month 4 and its been up and down since. I couldn't handle the pain so went to an acupuncture clinice and found significant relief using actupuncture and herbs. However this was discontinued after a couple months and my symptoms eventually came back.

So that's where I am now. 1.5 years off and struggling. I use nutrients, diet, exercise, talk therapy, meditation/mindfullness to help me move along, however sometimes I wonder if my issues are indeed wd or something else.

[Luc]

Hello, Bruno! Welcome to IAWP.

Well, after having spent 8 years on those drugs, your system simply needs some time to re-align itself. What you mention in your post about WD kicking in only after some months is quite common.

That is very good your morale is very high and you are so motivated to get better. As far as herbs go though, please be careful. Quite many of them work along the lines of SSRIs. St. John's Wort, for instance, is a noradrenergic. The last thing you need now is to stir-up your CNS.

As for exercises, a word of caution, too. Being in dysautonomia, too much of any (emotional or physical) stress may worsen your symptoms. Additionally, the causation is very often extremely difficult to see as the post-exercise aggreviation of symptoms may happen even as late as 48-72 hours after it. You simply need to experiment as to what is the best in your case. Here is one of the threads about it; http://antidepressantwithdrawal.info...p?803-Exercise

There are also diet/nutrients threads, among them this one; http://antidepressantwithdrawal.info...et-Supplements

The improvement will be happening. Stay patient.

What doses were you on, and what ADs specifically were you taking?

[bruno2006]

i updated my signature. Lets see if it shows. Thanks for the welcome btw

[Junior]

Welcome to IAWP Bruno :)

[bruno2006]

hi junior, thanks. I didnt even know this place existed until a few days ago. I like the vibe here so far. Didnt want to join at first as I figured all the support groups were the same but Sheila said they are not the same and each has its own sort of...well vibe, I suppose.

[Elizabeth]

Welcome Bruno, I recently joined as well

[Chris]

Welcome Bruno. This board is super supportive

[Sheila]

Howdy, Bruno. Welcome!

Well, this psychologist is much more into psychoanalytic / psychodynamic and transpersonal psychotherapy than CBT....

That's an interesting alternative program you tried. Many of the methods sound promising. (Was it cranial or trans-cranial?) I would just say that they weren't done for long enough. One would need to do them for several months, I would guess, to get a more enduring benefit.

Do you feel that both the acupuncture needles and the herbs are helping you?

[Cosette123]

Welcome here, Bruno! This place is very supportive and friendly.

[bruno2006]

oriental medicine made me feel wonderful, however they stopped it. Thats typically how it works bc I guess it has something to do with the this type of medicine. They dont just keep you on it indefinitely. My symptoms came back a few weeks after stopping and I actually had a sort of withdrawal from the herbs as they appear to have psychoactive properties.

Anyways, i am thinking about giving in and going to see another doctor because I am off 1.5 years now and still have a lot of depression which keeps me from living a full, productive life.