Don't Go Cold Turkey

Reducing your reliance on antidepressants requires patience and a doctor's involvement.

When the weight of her husband's cancer and the stress of her corporate job became too heavy to bear, Karen Huber did as many of her friends had done and started taking an antidepressant.

What she didn't realize was how difficult it would be to stop.

After a year of taking 10 milligrams of Lexapro daily, on top of 50 mg of Trazodone that she had been taking for a decade to help her sleep, Huber tried to quit cold turkey. The withdrawal symptoms were insufferable: anger and frustration so overwhelming she "could have chewed through a brick."

When Huber tried quitting again in March, she attacked it with a three-pronged strategy: She split her pills in half every couple of weeks, took nutritional supplements to mitigate her irritability, and ultimately checked into a detox center for three weeks. It took more than two months, but it worked.

"If I had known how hard antidepressants are to get off of, I would have tried to avoid them," said Huber, 54, of Little Rock, Ark.

Antidepressant usage doubled between 1996 and 2005, to 10 percent of the U.S. population, according to a study published last year in the Archives of General Psychiatry. That boom means masses of patients who face the challenges of stopping.

Though antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed medications in the U.S., there are no official published guidelines for when and how to come off them, said Dr. Michael Banov, a psychiatrist and author of the new book "Taking Antidepressants" (Sunrise River Press, $16.95).

Generally, patients should stay on antidepressants for at least nine to 12 months to reduce the likelihood of a depression relapse, Banov said. But beyond that, it's up to patients to work with their doctors on whether and how to wean themselves off the drugs. Sometimes the process is unpleasant.

About 20 percent of people who try to quit suffer what the drug companies coined "antidepressant discontinuation syndrome," which can cause symptoms including depression, anxiety, irritability, dizziness, nausea, light-headedness and electric shocks known as "brain zaps."

Symptoms can be more severe the longer you have taken antidepressants, the higher the dosage and the more sensitive your body happens to be, Banov said. They also depend on the drug. Paxil and Effexor are associated with some of the worst withdrawal symptoms because they clear out of your system quickly, leaving little time for your body to adjust to the sudden drop in the neurotransmitter serotonin. Prozac, meanwhile, takes a long time to leave your body, diffusing the withdrawal effects.

Though drug companies warn of potential withdrawal symptoms in their literature, physicians don't always alert their patients when they prescribe the meds, and many people start taking antidepressants not knowing it's so hard to stop.

"It made me angry. I felt like I hadn't been told," said Katherine Perry, 40, an English professor in Cumming, Ga., who became uncomfortably irritable and anxious when she tried to wean herself off Paxil and Wellbutrin on separate occasions.

A cruel catch to discontinuing antidepressants is that it can be hard to tell if the symptoms are from withdrawal or a return of depression, so you have to wait it out, Banov said. If it's withdrawal, the symptoms should begin to clear up in one to two weeks, though sometimes it takes six to eight. If it's depression, they'll get worse.

The key to managing withdrawal is to taper the dosage gradually. But some people need more help, especially when they're trying to come off several prescription drugs.

Wendy Honeycutt was put on antidepressants after the suicides of her mother and brother. It proved a "doorway to disaster," she said, as the side effects later prompted her to take sleeping pills and anti-anxiety medication. At the peak, she was taking seven prescription drugs.

When she decided to clear her body because she felt like "a toxic mess," the Texas woman went into a debilitating withdrawal that left her sleepless, anxious, shaking, sweating and emotionally numb, with electrical zaps feeling like "red-hot pokers in my head." She was incapacitated for two months and sick for three years.

It wasn't until Honeycutt found Point of Return, a nonprofit based in Malibu, Calif., that helps people come off their prescription meds, that she began to improve. In addition to offering tapering schedules, information on how drugs interact with each other and emotional support, the organization swears by a schedule of nutritional supplements to temper withdrawal, including omega-3 fatty acids to support brain function and glutathione to enhance the immune system.

Honeycutt, 44, a pastor who now volunteers at Point of Return, said she has been medication-free for three years.

Of course, some people need to be on antidepressants and shouldn't quit. Long-term untreated depression is bad for your brain and body, causing parts of the hippocampus to shrink and hurting the immune system, Banov said. The goal is to be depression-free, not medication-free, he said.

But for Huber, who used the Point of Return program for the six weeks she tapered her dosage, life is better without them — though not necessarily easier. The Lexapro had protected her like a "hard shell," keeping her from being weepy all the time, especially after her husband died last summer.

"Since I've been off them, I cry much easier, I'm much more tender," Huber said. "But that's OK. That's part of the grief process." More...

Article by Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz, Chicago Tribune, August, 29, 2010

 

Desperately Seeking Sleep

why michael jackson took anesthesia...

Malibu, California – August 14, 2009 - The King of Pop died on June 25, 2009 and the media have addressed every aspect of his life and death. One question still remains - Why would Michael Jackson risk his life for a few hours of sleep with a potentially lethal anesthetic?

Michael had serious pain requiring years of painkillers, but the raging insomnia he experienced is not indicative of opiates, but is common with long-term use of anxiety medications like Xanax, Ativan, Valium, Klonopin or sleeping pills like Ambien and Lunesta.

For anyone who has taken these medications, you know how quickly your sleep erodes and the pills consume your existence. I've had 34 surgeries and spent ten years on a cocktail of pills for anxiety, insomnia, depression and pain. Six years ago I went cold turkey and nearly died.

I never doctor shopped. I didn't have to. My doctor was more than willing to prescribe a plethora. At the end of my nightmare I thought it impossible to ever sleep naturally again. I craved sleep and had I been offered an anesthetic, I would have taken it without hesitation.

Jackson had physical pain and after being burned in the filming of the Pepsi Commercial in 1984, he produced exquisite music. In 1987, Bad sold over 30 million albums and in 1991 Dangerous became the most successful new jack swing album of all time. His last album, HIStory became the best-selling multiple disc album in 1995. So why did his ability to create music dwindle?

In 1992, after facing molestation charges, Michael began taking Valium, Ativan and Xanax, and by 1993 his health deteriorated and he went to treatment. But going cold turkey from anxiety pills is a blood curdling experience that can bring the strongest to our knees. It is also extremely dangerous. Most will reinstate the pills to stop the horrific withdrawals.

Sources close to Jackson told CNN that Michael traveled with an anesthesiologist who would "take him down" at night and "bring him back up" during a world tour in the mid-90s. By 2004, documents from the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department detailed Jackson's attempts to battle his insomnia by taking 20-40 Xanax a day.

Anxiety medications can increase pain, induce insomnia and kill our creativity. My pain soared and always more pills were added. It is a never-ending cycle of anxiety, insomnia and pain, and a hell I wouldn't wish on anyone. It is the trap I believe Michael found himself in. I predict the toxicology will reveal multiple anxiety medications, an antidepressant, sleeping pills, painkillers, stomach acid pills, and of course the anesthetic.

I was fortunate to find my way out of the chemical straightjacket. Today I have no pain, insomnia or anxiety, and help people worldwide to regain their lives. I wish someone had helped Michael Jackson. He thought a short-acting anesthetic could give him a few hours of relief. Instead he lost his life.

Written by Co-Founder, Alesandra Rain

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Heath Ledger - A Tragic Loss

worried you're on a similar path?

 

Malibu, California - February 25, 2008 - The death of Heath Ledger brought the danger of sleeping pills and anxiety medications to the public. Many people are concerned that their medications are putting them at risk, and unfortunately, there are those that think what happened to Heath is an isolated incident and couldn't happen to them. Even Lindsay Lohan was recently quoted as saying, "I'm not them", referring to Marilyn Monroe and Heath Ledger, "… I sure as hell wouldn't let it happen to me." However, pill usage is climbing at an alarming rate among people of all ages, and adverse reactions to prescription drugs is now the fourth leading killer in the United States.

As a nation, we are spending billions on sleeping pills, and although they are only recommended for short-term use, most stay on them for many months or years without realizing the danger. But pills that force us to sleep also affect us during the day – impairing our judgment, memory and intelligence. So why have we become addicts to drug-induced sleep?

Many news stories stated that Heath created his own downfall, and yet the medications he was taking are among the most commonly prescribed worldwide. Alesandra Rain, author of Deeds of Trust, maintains that Heath Ledger's combination of medications is very typical today. "I was on a similar cocktail for over ten years, including Oxycontin, Hydrocodone, Temazepam, Clonazepam, Effexor and Ambien. It started with only one pill and when it stopped working, others were added. It became a living nightmare. My insomnia and anxiety raged and it never occurred to me that the drugs themselves were the cause," says Rain.

Medications are commonplace in our society. Pills claim to cure insomnia, anxiety, depression and pain. Yet few understand that the side effects of these medications can be a worsening of the original symptoms. The over prescribing of medications has spiraled and has left millions at risk. "I can only imagine the way Heath must have felt," declares Rain. "Day after day feeling horrible anxiety and less connected to the world, and yet unable to sleep," she continues.

Rain eventually went to Cirque Lodge Treatment center in Utah and quit cold-turkey. Her experience prompted her to start an organization that allows people to step down on their pills, rather than abruptly stop.

"We've helped people worldwide to regain their lives. We get to watch them return to life, regain normal sleep patterns and feel a part of this world," concludes Rain.

Heath Ledger's journey should serve as a warning to all of us. He wasn't weak, but was rather seeking a way to alleviate anxiety and insomnia. Instead, the world lost a gifted actor and his family and friends are suffering a needless loss.

Maybe if he had known the drugs were contributing to his symptoms, he could have reached for help. But it's not too late for you.

Written by Co-Founder, Alesandra Rain