A funny thing happened on my way to mental health recovery, I got off my meds. I have several times mentioned the need for an exit plan for prescription meds and unending therapies. At this point I believe that for as many people who suffer mental trauma there are as many solutions. I do not believe in a one solution fits all, as there are far too many variables at play. I do believe that there needs to be a base line from which to start, a compiled list of “We know this does not work, so don’t try it” and a list of “We know this will improve your health and must be done” as well as the “If you don’t try it, you’ll never know, but take the opportunity to put a safety protocol in place before you try it”. Most professionals would advocate that you do this with a trained professional; years ago I would have supported this, but not so anymore, I got off my meds by not listening to my doctor any longer.
I started two decades ago, with a push from my doctor to take a Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) anti depressant, not because I was depressed, but because it was the standard approach to PTSD, my reaction to the SSRI was off the wall. I had a complete meltdown from the reaction to the SSRI’s. I never wanted to take the medication, mostly because I was never depressed and could not find sound logic to take an anti depressant for anything other than clinical depression (I have a medical background). But I was having severe flash backs in time and place, an uncontrollable rage, and a complete inability to relate to anyone on a personal level or with any person in general. I was so far removed from whom I knew I was that I couldn’t recognize myself or my thought process. I suspect it is what possession would feel like, (insert mental picture from the exorcist here) because that’s as close as I can come to expressing it. I had become a completely different person and was unable to understand why or how it happened. So I agreed to take the drug. Two months later I had no children, wife, career or future and had to have myself admitted into a mental health ward and was facing what would add up to $50,000.00 in legal fees.
Fortunately, my doctor of care was familiar with SSRI’s and their contraindication to PTSD. As I indicated in my last article ‘In From The Cold’ on 14 Jan 2018, he was also an expert on PTSD and knew what Mefloquin Toxicity (now Quinism) was about. He immediately stopped the SSRI and my rapidly accelerated symptoms, went back to my already over the top out of control symptoms. He then placed me on an anticonvulsant which I remained on for the next 12 years. For decades I thanked him, for the stability and self control. I was convinced that this was the answer to my problem. Only problem was there was no exit strategy, and at the time, I wasn’t even aware that I needed an exit strategy. Fast forward 12 years, and the drug interaction from the anticonvulsant caught up to me.
Not only did I have to stop the drug because I was suffering life threatening side effects, but all of my symptoms returned. At the time it was confirmation that I needed the drug, but that was before I spent the next few years adding one drug after another treating the symptoms and never the cause. In a two year period, I had escalated my prescription drug use to the point where I could consume my morning medications as if it was a meal in itself and I had to be saved by my wife from drug interactions and near death. Make no mistake had she not heard my feeble cry for help on one evening she would have awoken to a dead husband in bed with her the next morning. This event became the catalyst to finding an exit strategy, other than death by over prescription.
I started off with a colloidal suspension of 60 minerals, 15 vitamins, 12 amino acids and 3 essential fatty acids at a cost of $600.00 a month, (I eventually reduced that to $400.00) in 3 months, I was off my meds (in a good way), but for several years I remained borderline needing to return to medication, but never giving in or returning to it. Although it took several years through trial and error, in addition to research, I eventually began to realize that if I adjusted my diet, I could get rid of the expense of supplements, and stay off the drugs.
At this juncture in my life, I eat no processed foods, unless I do the processing. I eat virtually no starches, or sugars, I allow myself one cup of caffeine in the morning per day. I can have a single shot of alcohol, a couple times a week and I consume large quantities of fresh green leafy vegetables and healthy fats daily. When I have a starch, (usually a tablespoon or two of oat flour in the am only) it is from organic grouts I purchased locally, and have ground into flour with my own grain grinder. Even yogurt I prefer to make my own and if I could, I would buy a cow and use my own milk. I know how extreme I often appear to people who look at my diet; even my own wife calls me a Food Nazi even though she wouldn’t have me eat any other way because of the consequences. The consequences are no sleep, and a return of symptoms, and I am not alone.
Over the past year I have reconnect with many brothers and sisters from the past, all suffering with the same conditions and problems. All (independent of each other) have found solace in a complete makeover of their diets. Some, unlike me, can’t even have the one coffee or an occasional shot of alcohol, others find they can have caffeine in tea occasionally, but not coffee. I can sometimes get away with too much starch two days in a row, and other days the single tablespoon of flour mixed in with eggs as a crepe in the morning is too much and I’m awake for days or until I fast and clean out my system. At the end of the day my diet and the routine surrounding it keeps my head clear and emotions intact and I can’t help but think, “before we go on a drug, maybe we should be starting our exit strategy of diet and lifestyle changes first”, then medication if needed, but with an end date in sight. Yes a drug allows you to go back to work and to continue as if nothing is wrong. But that is the lie as something is wrong, or you wouldn’t need the drug to function. Despite all the damage to my brain for 7 going on 8 years I have been drug free, engaged with family and society in a positive and productive manor. Had I stayed on medications, I would most likely be dead.
