Stopping Antidepressants after 2 Decades | An interview with Trudy S.

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[michelleharisson]

I was escaping an abusive marriage and from one antidepressant I ended up being on a cocktail of drugs I know now was a chemical lobotomy. I had no history of mental illness but ended up labelled and disabled. I haven't worked for 30 years, my children lost a present mother. It was 2014 when a doctor screamed at me you're nothing but a benzo addict I went home and looked up what a benzo was. Finally off all medication after years of tapering without guidance. My entire adult life was stolen.

[barbarabrown]

I was on clonapin for 20 years and I began to worry that one day I would be unable to find a dr. who would give it to me. And I knew I was addicted.
I took a year to wean off. That was 2 years ago. It all went well.
I am so glad people are getting your help. ❤

[wandarask]

.My Husband had a kidney, stone went to hospital came home few hrs later in two days it passed it was painful, felt great once passed, he went to Doctor told doctor oh you need to see this specialist, even the hospital rang with in hour you need to see this doctor that doctor blah blah when he stated No I'm fine they found it difficult when said no. I can guarantee he would be on this medication that medication and locked into the system, that would make him more sick, that was 2 years again his fine.
Look after yourself people.
Love your episodes
From Australia.

[kathryndohring]

I love this woman! Her honesty and willingness to share her most private thoughts is so brave. She has amazing strength and is an amazing speaker. I want to hear more of her talking and her recovery process and the steps she has taken to get where she is. She’s an amazing human! THANK YOU SO MUCH TRUDY!!!

[Leighla]

Love Trudy! She’s very relatable and I can empathize with the emotional blunting that occurs and interferes with your relationships with your spouse and children. Lucky for me, my kids were school aged by the time a psychiatrist fooled me into SSRIs and benzos, but I still lost so many years being a fully present mom and it’s heartbreaking to live with now that they’re nearly grown.

[barbarabrown]

Also I never relapsed during the taper. I was totally committed to making it. Then I did not keep any in the house
. I was glad I did that because I might have relapsed a few years later. It might be easier than you think. Take it slow and know you will do it.
Love to you.

[philipbrown]

love your channel. may you never be cancelled

[DK-tqfy]

I just stopped them after 3 decades. It has been hadd but also such a life xhanging experience. Still healing of course but am really healing now.

[SylvieBouldin]

This happened to me, too. From watching your podcasts I now realize that I was in a chemical lobotomy on antidepressants for 9 months after having my brain pummeled for several months on antipsychotics that landed me in the psych ward for the first time in my life! I lay on my bed for 9 months, didn't wash my sheets for 5 months, didn't care if I stank, only got up to go to the bathroom or eat. God only knows how I found my way out of the spellbinding, but I did. That's when I got off the Frankenmeds.

[wbyvlld]

This is such an important conversation. I learned a lot. Trudy has so much valuable lived experience and when Dr. Josef opened up about his challenges that was eye opening for me. ❤

[pjjmsn]

Fantastic conversation! Thank you Joseph and Trudy! The thread that goes through all the subjects you touched on, including whether emotional numbing is a good thing, and the idea that informed consent might be bad, lest it discourage the patient from taking the drugs, is as follows: The pharmaceutical companies want to sell as much product as possible and push any narrative that sells product and poo poo anything that might put on the brakes.

[Shelley-md]

On meds 40+ yrs...why so long? BRAIN FOG....i couldn't see what they were doing to me.. Fibromyalgia pain ...all the standard meds +.... FINALLY...Sick and tired of being sick and tired. REALITY SLAP YES. I was SO DONE. They made me suicidal repeatedly. SHOCKING. It was get off or die. 5 yrs off it's been bizarre...still struggling. I could be the poster child for LOST POTENTIAL.

[Hanna_Hoh]

When I was 20 back in the 1990s, I was offered Prozac from my gynecologist for PMS. I remember seeing a flier in his office and I asked him about it. My roommate was taking it and I wondered what it was like. I didn’t think I had a bad problem with PMS, I just wanted to try the drug because my roommate talked about it all the time. I had no clue how dangerous it could be.

I took it for a few days and noticed that all my emotions were flat. Everything was blah, so I stopped taking it.

Just relating how irresponsible and immature my thinking was around these medications when I was young. The doctor should have talked to me more and explained the risks. Instead, he said sure, I could try it.

[yoga_iaini]

29:45 so important to talk about how being on psycoactive drugs for years, specially during the most formative ones, blocks the natural brain development, emotionally and cognitively. 31:18 I can relate to it. I decided to take antidepressants and anxiolytics because I thought, and I was told by medical professionals, this would make therapy easier or more effective, but it was not the case at all. I can understand the use of psycoactive drugs for short periods of time, in crisis, but to extend their use thinking this helps or boosts the therapeutic process it's wrong, at which point the patient has lost the ability to notice it, the self-awareness is completely gone, and it's difficult to escape from the rabbit hole. 1:01:54 It's not easy to be aware of the extent one has been numbed by the medication until tapering off them and recover from the withdrawal.

[VeracityQuest]

When I came off xanax (used from about 1988 - 2013, heaviest the last 4 years), I tried to taper myself, and after about a month, I got disgusted and just quit. I did suffer terribly. Something that helped: the carnivore/keto diet, lots of liver, meat, eggs, salmon, etc. Plus supplements for the brain. After a year, I began to sleep a little bit. After about 2 years, one night I slept like a normal person and woke up and realized that it was me again!!! Now, I still have tinnitus and poor memory and a few other issues, but if I can do it and get better at age 65, you can too!!!!

[GinaFlorida]

It took me 35 yrs to wake up. I was like her, thinking a pill fixed everything.
Adding Clonazepam & prescribing for over 11 yrs, I'm now tapering. My depression lifted.

Prozac was really bad for me. I told my Dr that Dr Phil had a show about it. My Dr said well he isn't really a Dr. He said it would be best. Landed me in a behavioral center for a week. Talk about coming out of your comfort zone.

[kristaharmon]

Listening to this helpful podcast while drinking decaf. I’m thankful for Dr. Josef.

[Shanos]

My emotions are so numbed out I don’t feel anything, no joy at all either. It’s the ultimate torture, I don’t know how others cope with similar.

I was put on lithium and an anti psychotic when hospitalised for “Ritalin, 2 Anti Depressant induced mania” and it took 6 months before I slowly wanted to get off the meds. By the time I get off the final med lithium it may have taken 18 months to get off everything.

I was skeptical within a week of taking them, but it took 6 months to prove to myself that it was likely the meds, I had to rule out everything else first.

[TheDavveponken]

that's how they get you. classic snake oil salesmen. All they are really, the white coat doesn't mean shit

[pattaylor]

A family member was put on Lamictal, Abilify, Buspirone and Vivance. It has been heartbreaking seeing how robotic and cognitive impaired they reduce an active and creative person. Criminal !