Posted by floatingbridge on April 25, 2011, at 11:34:04
In reply to Re: How am I different to a drug addict?, posted by huxley on April 21, 2011, at 18:53:25
For me, the difference is how I think of myself. Addict implies willful abuse and moral weakness above and beyond the average person. It's self-maligning. Whatever one may think of heroin addicts, Meth addicts--and I personally have the idea that for whatever reason they fell to self-medicating--the connotations of 'addict' do not help me at all in dealing with my own psych med
issues. I feel strongly about this because I just and *finally* (hopefully) put this to bed for myself :(You are not an *addict*. Pysch meds do cause withdrawals a.k.a. the more neutral term discontinuation syndrome as it's now called. Whatever, really. The difference between discontinuation and
withdrawal is a bit too fine for me, esp out of the mouth of a drug rep (but not a pdoc. That they use the dw phrase Seems responsible and accurate.)How does the baggage that the word addict carries help when one needs
everything to deal with withdrawal, taper, discontinuance? Official recognition, in the form of medical assistance from the government (are you in the UK?) would be great. So would acknowledgment from your doctor. And then help treating
the physical and mood symptoms you've
been left to deal with.Does any doctor acknowledge what is happening to you? I ask because I have one or two that understand that it is not all in my head. Though my head has a great deal to say about it all. That's why
I've worked to get myself out of the addict category. I was just tormenting myself.So flu-symptoms? And mood crashes? What else? And maybe, how do you work with the anticipated crash each day?
Hope this reads o.k. I'm hurrying.
Take good care.
> I am stuggling to see the difference myself.
>
> One difference I can see is that the governent will give you assistance to get off one where the other you are hung out to dry.
>
> I have been trying to get off it for about a year and a half now. My first attemps were cold turkey which didnt end well and then I tried tapers that were way to fast.
>
> Now I am taptering about 1mg of the tablet every 4 weeks. The tablet weighs 140mg and I am down to 49mg. I started having serious problems at about 156mg.
>
> I still get withdrawal problems even with this slow taper.
>
> I constantly have a mild case of the 'flu' which medicine doesnt help.
>
> My sleep is terrible.
>
> My muscles ache horribly.
>
> I look like I am hungover, bad skin, dark rings under my eyes.
>
> Every day at 2:00 like clockwork My anxiety is greatly increased and I get mild depresonalisation and fatigue.
>
> I relate this all to my withdrawl because if I updose it all goes away.
>
> It really feels like it has ruined me physically and I hope I recover.
>
> This is going to take two years to get off.
>
> Thanks for the kind words to those who gave them.
*a rose by any name
poster:floatingbridge
thread:983400
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110418/msgs/983688.html