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Old Mar 09, 2015, 04:13 AM
theres_always_hope theres_always_hope is offline
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Having always been diagnosed with generalized anxiety & possible depression, I still managed to live a somewhat happy, normal, successful 22 years of life thus far. At the time, the word "dissociation" would have had little to no meaning or significance to me, that is, until the day it became the parasite that latched on tight, and literally sucked the life out of me. For me, these occasional episodes of "lost touch with reality" began after a traumatic breakup with my longterm boyfriend. He moved out on bad terms so i was living in my apartment alone & didn't have any friends or social interaction. Constantly being alone, I began to feel an eery sense of paranoia creep over me, especially at night, not being used to sleeping alone. Out of the blue while watching a movie or showering I started having random adrenaline rushes followed by a most terrifying yet unexplainable sense of doom that i was no doubt in my mind for some unknown reason-DYING. After a panic stricken 911 call & 2 emergency room visits later, I learned that what I was experiencing were in fact harmless to my body physically. They were anxiety fueled purely psychological panic attacks. As if that's meant to comfort me? Within days I noticed that every evening precisely as the sun began to set, a gradual wave of paranoia and a strange empty, disconnected feeling would creep over me. My vision slowly became foggy with only a clear tunnel view if I focused on a precise object, everything else just seemed to blur together and fade away. The best word I can use to describe this feeling of being would be "surreal" but not in the breathtaking sunset you'd normally think of. The feeling was extremely difficult to comprehend, I just knew I didn't like it one bit. My heart would begin racing & i started to feel like i was disconnected from my own body! I had no idea what was going on. Why was i suddenly terrified & paranoid of everything?! I couldn't even walk properly because i felt like i was floating or swimming. I felt like i was outside of my own body watching my life as a play in a theatre. I felt like I needed to slap myself to "wake up" or snap out of this "brain fog" but the only way to make it stop was to go to sleep & hope it'd be gone in the morning. Within a week of taking Celexa I was 100% back to my normal functioning self. Dr. increased dose from 15mg to 30 after a week & I was set for 6 months until I mentioned to my Dr. That I was still having some depression (worst mistake of my life) she took me straight off the Celexa complety (no gradual weaning) after my body had adjusted & relied on it for almost a year! & told me to try Cymbalta which I had never heard of. Within a week of being on the Cymbalta the dissociation was back-this time permanently! 24/7. I lost my job due to being physically unable to get out of bed from the major depressive episodes, I gained 10 lbs in a week since i no longer had the motivation to go to the gym (or live!) I went crawling back to my Dr. after pushing through the 2 most miserable weeks of my life begging her for the Celexa back. Her response was that I was being "impatient" expecting "instant results" & that I had complained about the Celexa too! So you can see what she was implying. Reluctantly I followed the doctors orders & upped the Cymbalta to 60 mg (double of what she started me on) also adding 200 mg of Lamictal on top of that to "stabilize my mood" as if Im F**king PMS-ing!! So here i am 2 months later waiting for my new psychiatrist appointment because my previous Doctor who put me through h3ll & experimented on me like a Frkn lab rat told me to start making phone calls to see another psychiatrist because my condition was "too complex" her exact words after poisoning my brain's chemicals for months regardless of my constant clear complaints of getting worse. I am currently worse off mentally than i have ever been or imagined i could ever be. My daily norm now consists of sleeping 15+ hours from major depressive disorder fatigue and being up until sunrise from the agonizing insomnia from my worsened anxiety, panic attacks, possibly now also diagnosed with bipolar depression & ocd along with dissociative disorder. Not to mention the misery of getting through a day trying to find motivation to want to live and some hope that this devastating damage can somehow miraculously be reversed. Thanks alot Doc.
Hugs from:
Travelinglady

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  #2  
Old Mar 09, 2015, 04:39 PM
Anonymous200155
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I'm so sorry for everything that you have been through. In fact, I can relate to a lot of it. It does sometimes feel like we are being experimented on and at times the treatment is worse than the disorder. Unfortunately mental health is still an evolving science and what works for some wont work for others. Due to bad experiences with meds myself, I have some pretty serious medical issues that have complicated treatment and have gone off all meds due to them not working. The ones I can take will ruin me. Its a tough situation.

I really hope that you find new comfort with a new psychiatrist. Always be sure to know that you have complete control over your treatment and you do not have to do or take anything that you are not 100% comfortable with. Make sure that you make the new doctor aware that you want to have say in your treatment as well. I wish you the bvery best of luck.
  #3  
Old Mar 09, 2015, 10:12 PM
theres_always_hope theres_always_hope is offline
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Member Since: Feb 2015
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChaoticInsanity View Post
I'm so sorry for everything that you have been through. In fact, I can relate to a lot of it. It does sometimes feel like we are being experimented on and at times the treatment is worse than the disorder. Unfortunately mental health is still an evolving science and what works for some wont work for others. Due to bad experiences with meds myself, I have some pretty serious medical issues that have complicated treatment and have gone off all meds due to them not working. The ones I can take will ruin me. Its a tough situation.

I really hope that you find new comfort with a new psychiatrist. Always be sure to know that you have complete control over your treatment and you do not have to do or take anything that you are not 100% comfortable with. Make sure that you make the new doctor aware that you want to have say in your treatment as well. I wish you the bvery best of luck.
Thank you for your response. I agree with you about psych meds. They are nothing more than a bandaide. They slow the bleeding temporarily but don't actually heal the wound. My plan & hope is to find a med that will enable me to function normally daily and think clearly so that I can begin to heal for good through permanent lifestyle changes, therapy, changes in mentality, Faith/church, healthy nutrition/excercise, vitamins etc... & hopefully no longer need medication. This is my goal & I am determined. Im sick of always overthinking EVERYTHING in life, having a constant pessimistic outlook on life, the exhaustion & fatigue from depression & the lack of motivation to get out of bed & even just to live at times. The unpredictable side effects, the inability to keep a job, the endless doctors & pharmacy trips. Im seeing a new Psychiatrist tomorrow & will have my records transferred from my other Dr. & never go back. She's just in it for the money & doesn't truly care about her patients well being. She called me her "Problem Child" & said I can't be "Bothering her every time a new med doesn't work instantly." She literally gave up on me! She told me i have to find a new Dr. My boyfriend says I should file a law suit...
  #4  
Old Mar 09, 2015, 10:34 PM
Travelinglady's Avatar
Travelinglady Travelinglady is offline
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I am sorry that happened. I wonder, too, why you were put on Cymbalta. I take it for fibromyalgia. It is an anti-depressant, also. I hope the medical field can get you fixed back up and well soon.
Thanks for this!
theres_always_hope
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