Forced off my meds...what to do now?

[Sleepy]

For the past three years or so, I've been on 300mg Effexor, 150mg Seroquel, 4, then 6, then 12mg/day Klonopin, and 30mg Percocet a day...most for my head, a bit for the rest of me. Last week, I was discontinued from everything. I was sent to a 'specialist' who determined in 40 minutes that the other doctors for the last 17 years were wrong, and I didn't need to be on meds, so she cut me off, just like that. It's been four days now, and I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't make it out of my house, and I'm hallucinating (not like fun hallucination, but events and people from my past that hurt me come back, and I can't tell where I am sometimes). According to the doctor, this is fine. I don't feel very fine. Every time I flash back, I'm afraid I won't make it out. I can't go to the hospital, cuz that's where this 'specialist' was from. What am I going to do?

I feel like they are trying to push me to hurt myself...a week ago, I didn't want to, but now I need to have this end.

 

[TTrocP]

I have no medical license but you need some meds if its that bad. If the doctor is telling you having hullucinations is fine I think you may want the advise of another. I mean no sleep, no food those are serious symptoms of depression. Please please try to get medical help again i think you really need and deserve it

 

[TLA]

I am not sure where you live, plus we are not drs. here, we only share experiences...with that said, isn't there a clinic that you can resource to. All of the research that I have read is that you do not stop meds ALL suddenly, it is best for you to wean off slowly.
I strongly encourage a 2nd opinion. If your insurance does not cover a second opinion, looik into local MHMR-Mental Health mental Retardation in your town. I cannot critize dr. but how you feel is important. She does not seem to hear you when stating your symptoms. Doctors work for YOU. If not, look for one that does help you.
Good luck, let us know.

 

[Down in a hole]

My best advice is to find somewhere to go get help.
I went off my meds cold turkey, and by choice in 2002, and I felt all of the symptoms you are talking about, and then some. The first 3 weeks were the hardest, but I was sick for 3 months until I felt almost "normal". ALL of my Doctors wanted me to wean, so I do not understand why that specific Dr. cut all of your meds off at the same time. I can tell you that my Dr.s told me that I would not die from going off them all at once, but I sure felt like I was dying. I couldn't eat, sleep, feel my skin, sense temperature ( air or water), I had auditory and visual hallucinations, muscle spasms, severe short term memory loss, sweating, and nausea. There were other symptoms that I cannot even recall because of the state I was in, and the fact that it was 4 years ago.
PLEASE find another source of medical attention, they may or may not put you back on 1 or all of your meds, but they can usually at least help with the withdrawal process.
Email me or PM me if you need to discuss this further, I'll try to help in any way I can.
Just for your info, I was on 30 mg. Percocet, 6 mg. Xanax, 1050 mg. Soma, 60mg. Remeron, 50 mg. Zoloft, Triphasil 28 ( oral birth control), 6 Excedrin, and 6 Percogesic ( Over the counter) daily. I had also quit smoking at the same time. I have a pretty good idea of your withdrawal symptoms.
Peace, Love, and Prayers,
Michelle

 

[gentlelady]

Going off all your meds at the same time is a difficult thing to do. I, too, am surprised the doc didn't want to wean you from them. As Down in a hole stated, the symptoms you are having are normal for going cold turkey. I think I would seek a second opinion on everything. If you no longer need the meds that is a great thing, but I know you would rather be certain and you have expressed some doubt in not needing them. Take care hun. I am thinking of you. :hug:

 

[Sleepy]

I had auditory and visual hallucinations,

Did you have those before, or were they a side effect of the withdrawal, for you? This is the effect that concerns me the most, as I had had bad hallucinations before I went on meds, and now they seem to be back..if it's just the withdrawal doing it, that's one thing, but if it's the same as before I went on meds in the first place, then they may not stop after withdrawal ends, which really worries me. Hope you don't mind such a personal question in such a public place....

 

[reborn1961]

I recommend you obtain another opinion. Most doctors will not stop meds cold turkey, especially the ones were on. I am no doctor but I will say the combination of drugs you listed is an unusual combo, sorta depression, bi polar, pain killer, anti anxiety. It does appear your previous doctors were "confused" or you were not open with them for a proper diagnosis.

If you are bi polar you should not be on any benzodes (ie klonopin, xanax, ativan, valium). Effexor is a mild anti depressant but not in seritonin uptake family such as paxil, zoloft, wellbutrin etc.

Bottom line, past and present doctors do not seem to be helping you so if you can (finance/insurance wise), get to another doctor try a different "system". In the US we have many hospitals so if hospital A's doctors don't work I would not continue with another "A" doctor, I would go to hospital B's program. Not sure that makes sense for you but see someone else. Good luck.

 

[Sleepy]

No, I'm not bipolar...my diagnosis was dysthymia, severe GAD and social phobia. The pain medicine was unrelated (I have a bad disc in my spine), but I was taken off of it along with all the others. I don't really get what a specialist at the psych ward is doing messing with the treatment for my back (a demonstrably physical condition), but my GP won't over-rule her. Because some of the meds are scheduled, I'm limited in my options for seeking a second opinion...I can't doctor-shop for another GP (illegal), and I have no access to specialists without a referral...which is what got me here. This isn't a huge city, either...chances are pretty good another referral would send me to the same person. If I went to a larger city, well, that's beyond my financial means, as well as risking legal trouble for doctor-shopping.

What I do know is, I thought the meds were helping, my GP thought the meds were helping, the original team of doctors who put me on the meds in the first place three years ago thought they were helping, but this one person who had no access to the majority of my 17 year psychiatric medical history decided in 40 minutes that they weren't. Now I'm in rougher shape than I have been since before I started these meds three years ago. Sounds paranoid, but it makes me wonder if I was too stable when I saw her, so she cut me off everything to make me less stable so she could get public funds to 'treat' me. I'm in Canada...our health care system is public, so the doctors don't work for me, they work for the government. I'm not a doctor, either, but even I know that discontinuing several of the meds I was on is not recommended to be done all at once (it says so on the little sheets the pharmacy prints out), rather to be tapered off under supervision. She is a doctor, so she must have been aware of that, and my GP is also a doctor, and he refuses to go against her assessment, even though he must have been aware of the not-recommendedness of this, too...I guess I don't understand how this is supposed to be good for me. In half a month, I've already gone from someone who had a lot of problems but was making progress, back to where I was when I didn't care if I lived or died, when I was so screwed up nothing mattered. Me and my family can see this step backwards...what the hell is wrong with the doctors?

 

[TLA]

I can't doctor-shop for another GP (illegal), and I have no access to specialists without a referral...which is what got me here.

What I do know is, I thought the meds were helping, my GP thought the meds were helping, the original team of doctors who put me on the meds in the first place three years ago thought they were helping, but this one person who had no access to the majority of my 17 year psychiatric medical history decided in 40 minutes that they weren't. Now I'm in rougher shape than I have been since before I started these meds three years ago. Sounds paranoid, but it makes me wonder if I was too stable when I saw her, so she cut me off everything to make me less stable so she could get public funds to 'treat' me. I'm in Canada...our health care system is public, so the doctors don't work for me, they work for the government.
I guess I don't understand how this is supposed to be good for me. In half a month, I've already gone from someone who had a lot of problems but was making progress, back to where I was when I didn't care if I lived or died, when I was so screwed up nothing mattered. Me and my family can see this step backwards...what the hell is wrong with the doctors?

Sleepy~
It does not sound paronoid to me at all. You know yourself best, not a person that just met you for 40 minutes. You explain your symptoms and emotions, needs so clearly...Tell them what you tell us (in part). I do not know why a dr. cannot hear that if you say the same things to her. I would hate for you to have a huge relapse in order for others to see your care is valid. :no:

Why is it illegal to seek good care or at least a dr. that you feel comfortable with?? True, we do not understand public health in Canada. But, when I said the dr. works for you...I meant (in US) we can think of ourselves as the "customer" and the dr. as the "store where we shop"....if we do not like the dr. we can change to someone that can help/hear us better.

I'm very concerned if that is illegal where you live. For the simple reason is that you already in a short time have these symptoms. Now, your life is going downhill fast! Does that affect that dr. ?? NOOOO, it is your life that is affected!!
If that was my situation, I would be calling her office, or having my relative calling her office every 2 days....to complain or state your case, state your ill effects, pains, ect. Maybe by that you can show her that her decision was not good. How much do you need to SUFFER before you get good medication assistance again? :stretcher Ask them!!?

 

[Sleepy]

Sleepy~
Why is it illegal to seek good care or at least a dr. that you feel comfortable with??

Because of the specific meds I was on. The pain medicine, as well as the anti-anxiety drugs are scheduled, which means prescriptions are monitored by the government. If I go to another doctor, and his or her opinion is to put me back on my meds, that would get me flagged by the government as 'doctor-shopping'...essentially, they proceed on the assumption that I am seeking drugs for purposes other than I actually am, because of the legal status of the meds in question. They don't care about my specific case, really, just that their computer says I'm some kind of junkie because I was denied meds from one doctor, went to another, and got them. I could probably explain it in court after I was arrested, and not be convicted, but I'd really prefer not to go to jail at all, or even risk it.

As for calling the doctor every day, she doesn't take calls, I just get the receptionist. The only doctor I have direct access to is my own GP...everything else has to go through him via referrals. And he's part of the problem. :/

At this point, I don't even care about the pain (doesn't hurt near as bad as the rest of it, and I have mobility aids for bad days), the fear, even the depression; only the hallucinating. To me, that's more critical than anything, making them stop. Meds that would do that aren't scheduled, so I *might* be able to find a different GP and get him or her to give me some antipsychotic medication, but I'd spend days afterwards terrified of the cop-knock coming to the door (and if I got something to help with the fear, I'd certainly get the cop-knock, as the anxiety meds are scheduled). I don't know if it's worth the risk...even if it went well, I have no real control over my random terror, and once the hallucinations are dealt with, the fear becomes problem #1....see the catch-22? Maybe I should go to jail...in a prison, I'd be in the psych ward pretty fast, and everyone gets antipsychotic medication there. I might even luck out and get stabbed, and not have to worry about any of this anymore, ever again.

 

[FoundAndLost1]

Jeez! You sound a right mess Sleepy. I feel so awful for you and what you're going through! I'm not one to hold back ono critisizing doctors - it sounds like this one has some sort of agenda, or a huge chip on her shoulders with sucha trite and SHORT diagnosis and such DRASTIC recommendations! Most people I've ever encountered or heard of have enough difficulty in the weaning process, let alone going cold turkey! It sounds ridiculous! Being on meds makes one feel vulnerable enough, and then to become even more fragile in your present state is too much! Ok - that's the rant part (cause I'm so angry -appalled actually - that you're being treated like this).

The other things I've thought of are to contact The Canadian Mental Health Association, either from the phone book listing or at www.cmha.ca to find a center near you. They might be able to advoate for you, or give you some avenues, such as specialized outreach programs specific to your dilemna - if not advice itself. The other thing would be to pick a quiet time and go have a wee chat with your friendly pharmacist - I trust them more than doctors (they have no agenda and are alwaya ready to provide the most current knowledge and advice, I have found). They provide much more than merely what's on the drug info sheets if you ask them. In other words, you're not just a number to them. I also like the idea someone else put forward to have family and friends phone your GP on your behalf as concerned witnesses to what you're enduring. Squeaky wheel usually gets the oil - be a pain! What a freaking nightmare! And what a dink Your GP is, nevermind the other doc!

You sound like you're hanging tough through this all, I can't imagine what a toll it must be taking on you. It's so hard (I know) to be proactive when you're already feeling vulnerble but I wish you strength and luck. Also, on some of the suicide hotlines (i don't know where you are exactly), they will provide an on-call crisis management person, a professional, whom you might be able to get some advice from, explaining your situation. Take Care!

FAL1

 

[Down in a hole]

Hi Sleepy,
I'm sorry it took me so long to get back to you. I didn't notice in my email updates that it was you that asked the question about the halluciantions.
For me, they were just a side effect of the withdrawal, and lasted about 6 weeks or so, but if you had them before meds and they are back now, I think you are getting the 1-2 punch. They must be extra bad.
I see that from your responses of late, that you are still having trouble finding someone else who will listen to your problem, and mostly due to the restrictions of your Country's healthcare system.
I do hope you can find a way through. In the U.S., we have the right to change our GP, and if you could do that, it might lead you to a more helpful Doctor, especially after you filled that Doc in on what has happened. I, too, live in a small area, but there are many, many Doctors of GP available, even ones associated with my current GP. Meaning, they work in the same office, but independently of each other with their patients.
Other than that, all I can do is echo what a couple others have said here, seek out help from the Canadian Mental Health Association, and have your concerned family and friends call the Doctor and advocate for your situation.
I hope you can get out of this mess soon, it can lead you to a bad place without the proper help.
Peace, Love, and Prayers,
Michelle