There was an earlier comment that seems to have gone missing - the first comment. It mentioned Mgus and asked if I knew anything about it. The commenter has it and it seemed linked or at least coincident with antidepressant intake.
I had never heard of Mgus - monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance - before this comment. A good example of learning everything I know from the research people with skin in the game do to find out what is happening them,
I don't know anything about Mgus - but there are a lot of people with PSSD and related persistent withdrawal problems who seem to develop antibodies - mostly to ACE and Muscarinic receptors. We don't know what this means but its left me wondering whether this is linked to Mgus in some way
D
Reply to Kelli
Tapering is a good idea and Peter Groot's Tapering Strips make sense and are practical. The hyperbolic element is an attempt to explain why tapering can help some. It doesn't make pharmacological sense but it can help by giving the impression we know more of what's going on and this might persuade people to try stopping.
Like you I see people who aren't helped by tapering and the worry is they will start blaming themselves for this. Part of the explanation is that part of what we call withdrawal and dependence involves problems that are not just linked to stopping. Things go wrong on treatment and persist afterwards. The prototype for this is Tardive Dyskinesia but PSSD, and other persistent sexual problems as well as other persistent problems like Visual Snow which can appear to be part of withdrawal have been there beforehand.
Tapering does nothing to prevent these but people with PSSD often figure it happened because they tapered too quickly. It didn't.
We don't know how many of these persisting conditions there are forming part of what we are calling withdrawal.
There are a lot of things we don't know. Our lack of knowledge isn't being helped by the blocks put in the way of listening to and engaging with what the people on these meds are telling us. Most of what I've learnt as useful tips has come from the people on the meds finding practical things that help but also ways to express the experiences they are having that give us (or me anyway) a better sense of what these drugs do.
The fact that an increasing number of people in this position are seeking medical assistance in dying tells us how bad things can be part of which is how little listening is happening .
David
Thank you for being a voice of reason, in a world in complete dissonance mislead by propaganda. I have followed your work for many years and appreciate you being so candid about the truth of the industry causing these generations to be "born into chemical straightjackets" as well as the FDA not protecting humanity (the last 4 years have shown us this with the jabs). It takes courage to tell the truth in these times of censorship.
My first job out of graduate school in psychology was doing clinical research with an inpatient psychiatric unit and psychiatrist bringing depression drugs to market through the FDA approval process. My eyes were opened completely when I saw the glaring issues with industry sponsored research (and no we were not doing RCTs either!) As a therapist who now supports people in the trauma of psychiatric drug withdrawal, I am very curious about your perspective on the hyperbolic tapering method (in your comment to Ann's comment above.) While I have seen hyperbolic tapering be helpful I have also seen some that just can't taper and I do wonder if it has to do with things like mitochondrial dysfunction, MTHFR gene mutations, and some kind of issues with detoxification.
Good work!
Ann
I think the idea of hyperbolic tapering is good and encourages people to try stopping but its pharmacologically wrong. If someone is going to have serious problems getting off a psychotropic drug the hyperbolic idea doesn't explain why its some and not others and offers nothing useful to those having severe problems
David
Dr. Healy, your tireless work has been so important to me. Thank you. I wonder if you believe hyperbolic tapering off antidepressants helps alleviate the withdrawal symptoms? Thank you, again.
Thank you, Dr. Healy, so very much. You have been so important to me as a casualty of AD use and withdrawal. In this process I've been diagnosed with Mgus which has symptoms that seem to overlap with those of AD withdrawal. I'm wondering if you've noticed a trend of Mgus with AD use/or withdrawal. My best wishes to you.
There was an earlier comment that seems to have gone missing - the first comment. It mentioned Mgus and asked if I knew anything about it. The commenter has it and it seemed linked or at least coincident with antidepressant intake. I had never heard of Mgus - monoclonal gammopathy of uncertain significance - before this comment. A good example of learning everything I know from the research people with skin in the game do to find out what is happening them, I don't know anything about Mgus - but there are a lot of people with PSSD and related persistent withdrawal problems who seem to develop antibodies - mostly to ACE and Muscarinic receptors. We don't know what this means but its left me wondering whether this is linked to Mgus in some way D
Reply to Kelli Tapering is a good idea and Peter Groot's Tapering Strips make sense and are practical. The hyperbolic element is an attempt to explain why tapering can help some. It doesn't make pharmacological sense but it can help by giving the impression we know more of what's going on and this might persuade people to try stopping. Like you I see people who aren't helped by tapering and the worry is they will start blaming themselves for this. Part of the explanation is that part of what we call withdrawal and dependence involves problems that are not just linked to stopping. Things go wrong on treatment and persist afterwards. The prototype for this is Tardive Dyskinesia but PSSD, and other persistent sexual problems as well as other persistent problems like Visual Snow which can appear to be part of withdrawal have been there beforehand. Tapering does nothing to prevent these but people with PSSD often figure it happened because they tapered too quickly. It didn't. We don't know how many of these persisting conditions there are forming part of what we are calling withdrawal. There are a lot of things we don't know. Our lack of knowledge isn't being helped by the blocks put in the way of listening to and engaging with what the people on these meds are telling us. Most of what I've learnt as useful tips has come from the people on the meds finding practical things that help but also ways to express the experiences they are having that give us (or me anyway) a better sense of what these drugs do. The fact that an increasing number of people in this position are seeking medical assistance in dying tells us how bad things can be part of which is how little listening is happening . David
Thank you for being a voice of reason, in a world in complete dissonance mislead by propaganda. I have followed your work for many years and appreciate you being so candid about the truth of the industry causing these generations to be "born into chemical straightjackets" as well as the FDA not protecting humanity (the last 4 years have shown us this with the jabs). It takes courage to tell the truth in these times of censorship. My first job out of graduate school in psychology was doing clinical research with an inpatient psychiatric unit and psychiatrist bringing depression drugs to market through the FDA approval process. My eyes were opened completely when I saw the glaring issues with industry sponsored research (and no we were not doing RCTs either!) As a therapist who now supports people in the trauma of psychiatric drug withdrawal, I am very curious about your perspective on the hyperbolic tapering method (in your comment to Ann's comment above.) While I have seen hyperbolic tapering be helpful I have also seen some that just can't taper and I do wonder if it has to do with things like mitochondrial dysfunction, MTHFR gene mutations, and some kind of issues with detoxification. Good work!
Ann I think the idea of hyperbolic tapering is good and encourages people to try stopping but its pharmacologically wrong. If someone is going to have serious problems getting off a psychotropic drug the hyperbolic idea doesn't explain why its some and not others and offers nothing useful to those having severe problems David
Dr. Healy, your tireless work has been so important to me. Thank you. I wonder if you believe hyperbolic tapering off antidepressants helps alleviate the withdrawal symptoms? Thank you, again.
Thank you, Dr. Healy, so very much. You have been so important to me as a casualty of AD use and withdrawal. In this process I've been diagnosed with Mgus which has symptoms that seem to overlap with those of AD withdrawal. I'm wondering if you've noticed a trend of Mgus with AD use/or withdrawal. My best wishes to you.