My mental health as of late

Off-topic Chatter
1

My mental health is almost always excellent.

I mean, I am mentally ill, but it doesn't affect me too much and it's not usually a problem.

My psychiatrist and I thought it would be a good idea to slowly reduce my Zyprexa, and then quit taking it.

Zyprexa is a major tranquillizer.

I was taking a very low dose on Wednesday, and then I quit taking it as planned.

I started experiencing mental health problems, and they just got worse and worse.

So yesterday, I started taking the very low dose again because I was fine on that low dose.

It will take a while for it to get back in my system, and I hope I'm back to normal again soon.

The last time I had mental health problems like this was back in 1995, right before I started taking psych meds.

Life was completely unbearable back then, and I'm not doing so well right now.

I need to leave a message for my psychiatrist on Monday because I'm not sure what dosage I should take, and she might have some other advice as well.

Anyway, things kinda suck right now, but I plan to continue posting on BLF like normal because I enjoy that and I think it's a good idea.

I've never quit taking a mental health medication that I needed before because I knew it could be very bad.

Both my psychiatrist and I thought maybe I didn't need Zyprexa anymore, but obviously I need some kind of tranquillizer.

My advice for the mentally ill:

If you take psych meds, don't go off them without a psychiatrist's permission (something I didn't do), and life can suck until you are on the right meds for you.

2

Thanks for sharing this private information to create awareness.
All the best to you.

3

Sorry you are having these problems. I though you said in the beginning (line number three to be exact,) that the psychiatrist recommended getting off them.

4

Thanks!

Although mental illness stigma is very real, I don't personally know anyone that has it.

Heck, I had it pretty bad before I received mental health services.

I used to believe some pretty weird things about mental health and psych meds before I learned about them firsthand.

5

Yes.

I sleep excessively, and I thought it was because of a medication that I was taking.

Turns out Zyprexa can cause that, so we decreased how much I took over and over again.

I was doing fine on a very low dose, so we thought I didn't need it, and that's why I quit taking it.

...

EDIT:

I figured out the confusion.

I said "don't go off them without a psychiatrist's permission."

I didn't do that, but it's still good advice in my opinion.

I know people that have "gone off their meds" and the results were terrible.

6

Pleased to hear the the lowest dose is working well for you and best wishes for the future.

7

Nice to see at least you have controlled in lowest dose.

Very nice

8

Yup, I think the lowest dosage that is available is 2.5 milligrams.

I seem to do fine on that, once it's in my system, and I sleep a little less, too, which is good.

The 2.5 milligram pill is so small that splitting it in half would be very difficult.

9

Hey raccoon city, I wish you the best and thank you for sharing this personal information about yourself. This may sound weird but many of us here consider BLF as an international cyber family of sorts. To help and support each other in a mutual interest that can be business for some and an interesting hobby for others.

I received an email just now from the PAN organization who provide financial support to me for my extremely expensive leukemia meds. In reading this email I immediately thought about you and your post here. This might not apply directly to you and your situation, you might not have grand kids, but allow me to quote some of it here: "In fact, 3 in 10 adults report not taking their medicines as prescribed.... Instead, they cut pills in half, skipped doses, or sometimes just didn’t fill a prescription at all. One-third of those who didn’t take their medications said that their conditions got worse as a result. That means fewer days of feeling well enough to celebrate a grandchild’s birthday ... go for a walk together ... be a part of their grandchildren’s lives."

The bottom line I believe is that you need to take care of yourself. Nobody will look after you better than you.

10

Good luck RC. What does your psychiatrist say about flashlight addiction? :smiling_imp:

11

@max:

Thanks for that message!

I don't have any kids or grandkids, but I understand the sentiment and agree with it entirely.

I like spending time with my family, and taking care of myself will help me do that.

12

She's concerned because I like to put my flashlights where the sun doesn't shine.

That's perfectly normal, right?

I mean, you can EDC more flashlights that way.

...

EDIT:

Feel free to ignore this post if you want.

I like immature humor, though it doesn't really fit with such a serious thread.

13

LOL. I can understand her concern.

14

Hey RC, thanks a lot for sharing this. Just hang in there, and I’m really glad that BLF is being supportive for you.

15

Thanks!

I think I've mentioned it before, but I don't really do social media, so I make some online forums my social media.

16

Hi RC
it’s good you have the balls to talk or put pen to paper like you’ve done here regarding such a personal thing. It’s
something a lot of us men especially don’t do enough of.

I can’t comment on anything to do with meds but to help with any anxiety if it pops up, I have a couple of personal recommendations for you or anyone else here. One is a book and two are apps.

The Happiness Trap (book)

Smiling Mind (app)

Headspace (app)

All the best mate

17

Sorry to hear about your mental health issues and the medication issues.

Withdrawal symptoms are incredibly common and its only in recent years they admit they exist and teach it in medical school. For decades they claimed they were cased by the mental health issue. There is a forum called surviving antidepressants where people have a lot of experience with withdrawal from every psychotropic drug and can probably give you good advice.

18

Have you heard of perinium sunning? :laughing:

19

I actually have.

I don't know why anyone would care about having a suntan there, but to each their own.

I've heard of people getting a sunburn in that area, which I hear is entirely unpleasant.

20

That forum looks like a good source of information, and there are a ton of posts about tapering Zyprexa.

I usually just Google something like "Zyprexa withdrawal" to learn some quick info.