I have to say while it's true I'm grossly disabled, I work, from a horizontal position, up to 40 hours a week with a lap top in my lap.

granted I have spells with may last hours in which I have severe migraines, convulsive like episodes etc, but when I'm not in one of the really ugly spells I'm working!

I am not a pathetic disabled person. I work my ass off raising awareness and alerting people to alternatives so that they don't have to end up like me.

I've spent thousands of hours at this point studying alternatives so that I can help people choose other ways to go...and my blog is a treasure trove of such information.

The social network I started is also booming.

I read this and got totally depressed...is this how I'm seen? and impotent disabled person in a wheel chair? or maybe that's my big fear, I suppose that's more like it...what if it does come to that??...but damn it...my life will not be in vain, and I am not to be pitied.

I will beat this shit and I will help others avoid it.

thanks Philip for letting people know how it can destroy us but we still have our spirits and I sure as hell have a purpose. And I won't quit helping others avoid this hell for the rest of my life.

A friend of mine - luckily and miraculously I escaped getting drugged myself - told me, the professionals had said, he might be allowed to try and come off the drugs as soon as he'd had a period of five years (!) with no symptoms whatsoever. How does anyone achieve five years without symptoms while on drugs that often chronify psychosis??? Bastards.

My friend is still on drugs. It's a good 20 years by now that he's been on them. He's a good boy, always compliant. And he just had another "episode", was hospitalized and the whole lot: "Take your meds!" - and get chronically psychotic.

Gianna, you rock!

Way will open....Towards the end of this rather Big-Brotherish article you will see that a report on damage to (elderly) patients on antipsychotics has been delayed.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/4445947/Employers-urged-to-watch-staff-for-early-signs-of-dementia-under-Government-strategy.html

I'm curious how you and Kali know that medications caused these physical problems? Is it documented elsewhere or is this entirely anecdotal. Same thing for this doctor, who isn't even a psychiatrist. Did he perform any tests proving these medications proving what you and Kali are asserting, Phil?

I'm just asking because of problems I've developed myself and would like to take something to show my doctor at my next appointment.

Philip Dawdy responds: in my case, TD was documented in 2005 by my psych doc. other problems were documented by another doc this year. the reality is all the stuff re: me and seroquel thta i laid out in the post linked to in this one had never happened before an only occurred after taking seroquel.

Thanks so much for writing this Philip and to the countless others like Gianna who chronicle their stories so the rest of us know that we are not alone. With great hesitancy I started seroquel last week. I had read a lot on your and other blogs and was pretty skeptical of the drug even after I brought up the potentially dangerous side effects with my doc (not the other way around). I took the prescription because I felt I had no other options, having been on every other class of antidepressant and mood stabilizer for my recurring episodes of unipolar depression. My doc told me that the seroquel should help my sleep (I have a sleep disorder, fibromyalgia, as well)and that hopefully getting restorative sleep would elevate my mood. I slept well for the first time in a long time but had trouble functioning for several hours after I woke up (luckily I have a prescription for concerta). This went on for a few days but I had hoped it this effect would wear off after taking it longer. Saturday morning was the last straw when I woke up and found myself without use of my hands or forearms. I did not have the strength in my hands to grip anything until well into the afternoon. I had an idea, based on what I've read mostly from your blog that this was likely a side effect from the med and that if I continued it could get worse or who knows even cause some long term damage. I am going to print out this post and others from your site to take to my psychologist and psychiatrist. Up to this point my on and off medication compliance has been something they have just chalked up to my ambivalence about taking meds in general and who knows possibly even something in my personality that doesn't like authority. Now I feel like I have more proof to stand up for myself and my treatment. Unfortunately where I live, like many places in the U.S. there are not a lot of good options for alternatives. So now I am faced with the question - now what? I don't want to take the drugs they believe will be helpful (if and when I find the right combination) but when I wasn't taking anything for several months last year I slowly became more and more depressed until I was unable to function. I am inspired by your being able to be off meds but I am not sure that is the right option for me at this point. My psychiatrist, if I continue seeing her, is recommending that our next step is thyroid meds. Since nothing is wrong with my thyroid I am naturally a bit skeptical. Do you or does anyone reading have any knowledge of the use of thyroid meds for depression? My primary concern is the potential for weight gain but also what other harm those drugs could do.
Thank you and keep on doing the good work.

Gianna I don't see physical limitations as powerless. You are very powerful. Pitied? You have a home and family, whats to pity?

Oh my Gianna,
I am sorry that this post made you feel bad. I don't see you as a pathetic disabled person.

Be careful of what you just said, " ...is this how I'm seen? and impotent disabled person in a wheel chair? "

I think this shows the stigma all "disabled" have to endure.

But of course you have to acknowledge ...that you are wounded...disabled...or you wouldn't be so angry ...we wouldn't be so anger at the disabling effects of these terrible medications.

Gina - just glad to see you ALIVE and kicking. No pity from this quarter.

I have a friend who has been on Zyprexa since it was introduced. Previously she was subject to total psychosis at the seeming drop of a hat. Never sure of what dx she was given. On it, she is fine (unless you count becoming diabetic). No muscle problems but sleeps too much. However, she could function and be "normal". Last year, on it, she became psychotic for MONTHS until the dose was upped and now she is fine again. How much Zyprexa is the actor is impossible to know. I am glad it helps her but hate that it's Zyprexa that actually helps someone since it killed my boy.

Eva,
If your doc is willing to try thyroid meds, grab it. I spent 30 years trying one psych med after another, being told my thyroid levels were "low normal". Meanwhile I had every symptom in the book of hypothyroidism--including a sudden loss of muscle strength in my arms and hands, bad sinuses, fatigue, depression, high cholesterol, dry skin and hair and lots of others. The thyroid controls a LOT of things in your body.

The about.com site has a thyroid place run by a woman named Mary Shoman. You should be able to get tons of information there about the diagnosis and treatment of thyroid conditions.

A friend of mine just phoned me last week. She has had severe, intractable depression for years, plus a basketful of hypothyroid symptoms. Her doctor recently agreed (finally) to treat her for subclinical hypothyroidism. I couldn't believe the difference in her voice and attitude after a couple of months of treatment.

I have seen several dozens of psychiatrists over the years and not one of them ever mentioned the fact that hypothyroidism can cause depression. Nor did any of them indicate any interest whatsoever when I brought it up. You'd be well served to try a course of thyroid treatment before embarking on any more experiments with your liver, kidneys and CNS with psychotropics. Be aware it can take a while to get the dosage right. I had to ease off the pedal from the initial low dose, but my body had been in a state of hypothyroidism for over 30 years. It was a huge adjustment, psychological and physical. It was like rising from the dead, in fact.

Do visit Mary Shoman's page. It's full of information and resources.

Let us know how it sugars off for you, Eve. You have lots of company on your journey.

Sherry

I love it when I stumble upon a group of people who can express themselves and think the same as I do! (I hope that isn't narcissistic...maybe I should say we are of the same mind, or better yet, on the same page.)

I have written a book about my 40+ years as a psych patient, but I keep thinking of ways to improve it, to get the message out there that THEY DON'T CARE.

IF they did, I never would have been medicated to begin with.

When my insurance stopped, I was dumped by the Psych establishment and on my own.

I had no choice but to try to get off all the meds, and I am still working on it, four years later.

I found things online, but so many are in the pockets of Pharma, (like NAMI, and Psych Central) it's hard to do by yourself. People think I'm paranoid when I talk about it. Or, my favorite, "Maybe you need your meds adjusted."

Then I read Peter Breggin, that Voice in the Wilderness, that David fighting Goliath, which led to David Healy, then Dr Timothy Scott-- amazing book AMERICA FOOLED. Now I think we are getting somewhere!
(His book says "Tom Cruise was Right" on the front. Tom Cruise was right, but for the wrong reasons.)

My family doctor writes two (Yes, I'm down to two!) psych meds. But my plan is to get off of them and see what I've been missing all these years.

We haven't just been fooled, we've been lied to.
If THEY CARED, there wouldn't be the huge monetary gain made in psych meds. When the patents go off, they move on to something else.
I would rather be crazy than be a Zombie!

I had a kidney transplant on October 14th Phil. Now I get to deal with the side effects of live saving anti-rejection drugs....:)

What did Pharma know about these meds and mitochondrial damage and when did they know it?

Eve,
Like Sherry, I have hypothyroidism. Psych drugs can cause thyroid problems and effect thyroid meds too. I agree you should get it checked and definetly visit that website (I learned alot there).
I find it really odd that your psychiatrist would say, "If seroquel doesn't work, our next step is thyroid meds". Did she order blood work?
There is disagreement on what "normal" is but it's still a problem that can be identified with a blood test.
And why "try" Seroquel with it's damaging side effects if there is a possiblity that it could be a thyroid issue? There are not alot of side effects with thyroid meds.
It sounds like she's just trying to keep you as a patient, to me. Good Luck

Gianna,

Thank you for saying, "I won't quit helping others avoid this hell for the rest of my life".

You have helped me tremendously (especially during my withdrawal) and I GREATLY appreciate it. I would have felt completely alone, insane and defeated by life if I had not found this help online. Thank you!

Becky,
I agree it certainly is putting the cart before the horse to use psychotropics first then "oh by the way" address potential thyroid problems. On the other hand, if you have a doc right under your nose willing to consider the possibility of thyroid problems when so many refuse to even entertain the idea, I think it's worth going for.

Of course, if you read the information on Mary's site carefully and see yourself in that laundry list of thyroid symptoms then it's time to get a second opinion if the first doc announces "You're low normal" or some other such nonsense.

I didn't realize meds could mess up your thyroid. Another victory for psychiatry. After my 30 years with those people I feel I'd have to be lots crazier than I am to NOT be anti-psychiatry. I am unapologetically so. (But I still think Scientology is a crock.)
Sherry