Alexandra Rain's story

Just read it I have a hard time believing she took 1000pills a day...if she did I would of check my self also....I have a hard time on two meds..imagine 1000i don't think that's possible..

Hi Lois,

Try putting in Alesandra Rain point of no return. She lives in America, author, broadcaster and it's a true story. Her photos are on the net from the age of 34 when she started meds to her current age of 59.

Bingo

You know Kelly, Its websites like that that gives me hope that there are people creating awareness. I went to the doctors with insomnia and hot flushes, and ended up on a cocktail of drugs which gave me a mass of symptoms, visits to so many specialists, in and out of hospital, diagnosed with so many symptoms, and what did the doctors do just keep on upping them. When I realised it was the meds, I did a timeline and reported this back to my neurologist and doctors, I put in complaints, took legal advice, am in the process of getting my medical records updated correctly. Lost two jobs, my long term partner, my friends, my life as I knew it and guess what as soon as I came off the meds a majority of my symptoms disappeared. I didnt have the energy to feel anxious was too weak. I telephoned charity after charity to get support and was told I am not alone, they hear stories like mine all the time. Its not the doctors fault, I dont care what Alesandras reasons am just so grateful there are people like her out there supporting people like me. Someone that believes me. My doctors believe me now. I have before and after pictures too

I bet Paula too many antidepressants for different symptoms is not good at all..I think Medications that are meant for a specific type of Illness should be only that ..not oh let's give you a high blood pressure medication to take away your heart palpitations..off lebal prescription meds are a total chaos to our bodies..or let's give you another antidepressant for sleep..etc etc etc

Some people don't want to hear about success stories. Perhaps they are content to live the lives they have without being open minded. This is a site for anxiety and anxiety medication and some reactions on this site give me cause for concern about the genuineness of some of the person/s therein. Kelly is correct in one thing, none of us knows what will happen in the future, that doesn't mean we have to stop doing anything now to make our future better.

Please don't bother replying to me because I am done here. Fed up of the negativity of some people.

My insomnia is back and I still have hot flushes, unfortunately high strength B vitamins give me headaches. I dont care about my insomnia am working on it, and would take insomnia, any day than the hell I was put through.

Thanks again Sharlie for this thread hugs x

IAM replying only because I was replying to Paula not you sharlie..we all have our personal experiences..and it's all welcome here and if you don't like it. You know what to do. I haven't said anything negative..

Read Kelly's post ..again

You are so right Lois, sleeping tablets for insomnia not a 1950's drug used for depression. That happened to me when my blood pressure spiked a few weeks back. The tablets have been taken off me.

Absolutely Paula ..that 1950,drug called amytriptyline killed some folks...sleep for sleep ..high blood pressure for high blood pressure and so on..

If only I had found this forum 3 years ago, i would have just reduced celexa probably stuck to the 10mg, and never taken amitryptyline, the death rate is outrageous. Hinesight is a wonderful thing.

Unbelievable... praying for you recovery..

I remember when my insomnia hit hard and the doctor said here's some trazadone I said no way ..I need something for sleep not another antidepressant..thank goodness iam with a out of pocket phychiatrist and she listens .. Because if it was the other way around it will of been another antidepressant for sleep..

Am hoping my insomnia will settle once I am out of withdrawal. Am taking celexa late today to see if it helps.

Try that you never know..I switched from night to mornings and iam sleeping better. Go figure..

Meds seem to affect me differently to most on here, celexa knocks me out, more now that its the only med I am taking.

Then you should take it at night..that's lovely it knocks you out that way you avoid other meds..

Lois it worked, i fell asleep on the sofa, my son woke me up so I could get to bed and I slept like a dream. Trouble is I needed to coffees to get out of bed. Am definitely on too much of a high dose, too soon to reduce though.

This is exactly what happens to me when I start taking Celexa, I do not get the same symptoms as everyone else on here. It seems that coming off amit has heightened how celexa is affecting me. Maybe its withdrawal, maybe its not, so many changes are happening to me, I will go with it am confident I will get back to my pre med days.

Oh my goodness that'll be me trying to come of ziplocone in a months time when my citalopram doesn't allow me to sleep. I hope when I come off the ziplocone and then I'm only on the citalopram that I will be able to sleep again someday, I just need to get a grip on this anxiety first. It's great news for u though Paula x

So happy for you...go paula.go Paula.

I think it's great she got off all her meds :-). She was on quite the cocktail; even OxyContin which I've heard can be really tough to withdraw from.

?I did a bit more digging, and it appears her withdrawal program consists of taking a bunch of vitamins. One person said it costs $255 a month, and claims you can buy the same vitamins at a health food store. Rather that's true or not, I have no idea. Either way, she seems to be using her recovery as a way to make money.

 

Thats crazy money, at least we an get an idea on what she recommends.

Thank you Gemma. It is possible to overcome constant anxiety. Try not to force it and work on your triggers plus having a balanced life. Quite a few years ago due to PTSD I suffered chronic anxiety, couldnt drive on motorways, get on a train, plane or be far from my home alone., couldnt socialise or speak to people without getting words mixed up and my mind going blank., lost my confidence the list is endless. Fast forward, I drive everywhere, can go on trains, joined a meetup group and alot of my fears have gone., my job involves meeting clients.

My treatment was 60mg celexa before 40mg was the max. I had longterm counselling, hypnotherapy, regression, cbt, and learnt as much as I could., and helped manage a forum to help others. There is obviously more to my story but I just want to give you hope that you can control this. It takes alot of work and to this day I still read books to keep me on the right road. When I get anxious these days I see it as a sign that I am overdoing things and take some time out. Before I was put back on these meds due to menopause I had years of an anxiety free life. Withdrawal makes my body anxious and am able to keep my mind calm, if I get scared I have found a way to immediately deal with it. I wish you lots of strength in all this.

Thank you Paula, it’s fantasticc that you got through it like you have. I keep trying different ways of finding what will work best for me but I know that I can’t fight by forcing it, I keep trying to tell myself that I will get there and I will find what works for me. I think it’s early days too and I keep trying not to think about the time scale it’s going to take me to get better.x