Posted by Trans-Human on January 14, 2009, at 6:07:43
In reply to Re: Amisulpride Withdrawal? » Trans-Human, posted by Phillipa on January 14, 2009, at 0:09:00
I take it for "psychosis". From 11 - 28 I used a lot of street drugs. I drank heavily; smoked cannabis heavily; & used cocaine daily for years; & took large amounts of Exstacy, speed, mushrooms, ketamine, & various other drugs - you name it. I was in a active addiction for those 17 years. I have been in recovery for over the past 7 years. I had a slight slip around a couple of years ago; with alcohol & some weed; but have been T-Total again since.
At 17 I was diagnosed with "drug induced psychosis"
At 21 it was "psychotic depression"
At 25 it was the resurfacing of an unknown "psychotic illness"
At 26 it was "schizophrenia"
At 28 they said the schizophrenia was "miss-diagnosed" - due to the ethics of it being diagnosed while I was in active addiction.
At 31 the "schizophrenia" was reinstated.
Over the past 4 years I have been back under the LMHT (Local Mental Health Team) & I see a psychiatrist every 3-4 months - they usually change at each appointment. Other diagnoses which have been explored by them as maybe being more accurate have been - schizo affective disorder & a psychiatrist last year questioned the whole "label" of schizophrenia & said I wasn't presenting any symptoms. I only saw him once & the present psychiatrist is back with the "schizophrenia" label again.I take very little faith in what psychiatrists say; I think very little of them in general & think very little of orthodox psychiatry - which has been coloured by my experiences of the system.
Very simply - what I put my "condition" down to is this - Certain traumas around my birth & childhood; lead to certain emotional & mental conditions. I took to drugs early on; primarily as a way of dealing with emotional/mental pain; & to ease how I felt. At most this caused the psychosis; & at the least it exasperated it.
I strongly believe that I could have been far better helped through other more holistic methods; without such a focus on medication. & I feel I have been very damaged by the meds over the years; & made dependant on the Amisulpride. Long term I feel that these meds are doing me no good at all.
The reaction to each withdrawal off the Amisulpride; I put down to "withdrawal psychosis" & is not the result of any underlying condition - but rather a rebound effect in the brain from this drug.
poster:Trans-Human
thread:873876
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090104/msgs/873903.html