# Medication making things worse?



## whatislife (Aug 19, 2019)

Has anyone else tried taking medication to treat their DPDR but getting on and off meds only made it way worse? About a year ago I tried taking medication (zoloft/lamotrogine) to treat my dpdr symptoms and it helped immensely with certain symptoms like anxiety but made the feeling of things seeming unreal almost worse. After taking these meds for a few months I decided to ween off of them over the course of about 2 weeks and that's when my dpdr skyrocketed into a different dimension. I spent about 5 months in a different world almost as if I smoked DMT and just left earth. It literally felt like I was on every psychedelic there is at the same time while an atom bomb was dropping on my head lol. I've now been off meds for about 8 months and things are still kind of trippy but not nearly as bad as they used to be. I've actually noticed subtle improvements every single day consistently for the last 8 months which gives you an idea of how crazy things must have been.

I haven't heard much talk of people experimenting with meds and making their situation way worse. I had no idea it was so risky to try to them and I'm starting to wonder if I just weened off the meds too quickly or if this is normal. I believe there's a couple reasons I'm seeing consistent progress every day and expect to be fully recovered within a matter of weeks (at about 90% recovered right now). The first reason I believe I'm recovering is just because of time. If I do nothing special to recover I still notice improvements because my brain is still "sorting itself out" from the damage that getting on and off meds caused. The second reason is because I have a daily cardio routine where I ride my road bike for 2 hours every single day. This daily habit was inspired after reading this post here https://www.dpselfhelp.com/forum/index.php?/topic/90898-my-ultimate-cure-to-dpdr/

On a side note what's interesting is dpdr seems to have so many different "states" or dimensions. A year ago before I ever started taking meds things were just kind of foggy and I was in fight or flight mode 24/7. Everything was always perceived as a threat and I was stuck in my "lower self". While on meds I had no anxiety anymore which makes sense given the meds I was taking, but after getting off meds I still had no anxiety despite all the other dpdr symptoms being at 100/10. Right now, 8 months after getting off meds, I'm about 90% recovered and there's no anxiety and I don't have blurry vision anymore. I just have a couple weird symptoms where things look "unfamiliar" and the "perceiver" in my head feels kind of wavy and out of wack.

This disorder is a beast to overcome and I have so much empathy for anyone on their journey to overcome it as well. I've had it for a total of 3 years now (ironically triggered from getting off zoloft back when I was taking it only for anxiety/depression) and in the last 3 years I've probably suffered more than the first 25 years of my life leading up to that point. I pray that an actual cure comes along soon and we don't have to needlessly suffer anymore. I wish you all the best, god bless.


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## bintuae (Jan 17, 2017)

whatislife said:


> Has anyone else tried taking medication to treat their DPDR but getting on and off meds only made it way worse? About a year ago I tried taking medication (zoloft/lamotrogine) to treat my dpdr symptoms and it helped immensely with certain symptoms like anxiety but made the feeling of things seeming unreal almost worse. After taking these meds for a few months I decided to ween off of them over the course of about 2 weeks and that's when my dpdr skyrocketed into a different dimension. I spent about 5 months in a different world almost as if I smoked DMT and just left earth. It literally felt like I was on every psychedelic there is at the same time while an atom bomb was dropping on my head lol. I've now been off meds for about 8 months and things are still kind of trippy but not nearly as bad as they used to be. I've actually noticed subtle improvements every single day consistently for the last 8 months which gives you an idea of how crazy things must have been.
> 
> I haven't heard much talk of people experimenting with meds and making their situation way worse. I had no idea it was so risky to try to them and I'm starting to wonder if I just weened off the meds too quickly or if this is normal. I believe there's a couple reasons I'm seeing consistent progress every day and expect to be fully recovered within a matter of weeks (at about 90% recovered right now). The first reason I believe I'm recovering is just because of time. If I do nothing special to recover I still notice improvements because my brain is still "sorting itself out" from the damage that getting on and off meds caused. The second reason is because I have a daily cardio routine where I ride my road bike for 2 hours every single day. This daily habit was inspired after reading this post here https://www.dpselfhelp.com/forum/index.php?/topic/90898-my-ultimate-cure-to-dpdr/
> 
> ...


Yes. I never tried zoloft but I did many antidepressants in combination with Lamictal, not at one time of course (Paxil, Prozac, Trintellix, Pristiq, Cymbalta, Wellbutrin). Each one of them except for Lamictal made dp/dr much worse. Cymbalta and Prozac were especially bad. I felt as if I was high very dissociated and like existing somewhere else. I'm still looking for the magic pill though.

oh btw like you, my dp/dr was triggered from getting off paxil 5 years ago when I was taking it only for social anxiety.


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## forestx5 (Aug 29, 2008)

The worst time to begin antidepressant treatment is when your symptoms are severe. Which, of course, is when most people decide they better begin SSRI therapy. And, I suspect that is the reason the meds have suicide

as a side effect. I began Paxil during a very rough period of major depression, and I got progressively worse every day for over a week. It was horrible and I was extremely ill. Then, in the midst of my despair, I felt a

strange inkling of hope. I clung to it and I slowly eased out of the darkness. All in all, it was a very risky thing to begin that medication in the shape I was in. A decade or two later, I discovered ECT and I look back now

and realize that would have been the appropriate treatment, rather than the SSRI. I continued taking an SSRI following the ECT, but realized I didn't need it. I have been med free for about 5 years and depression free.


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## Knicole0214 (Jul 1, 2020)

forestx5 said:


> The worst time to begin antidepressant treatment is when your symptoms are severe. Which, of course, is when most people decide they better begin SSRI therapy. And, I suspect that is the reason the meds have suicide
> as a side effect. I began Paxil during a very rough period of major depression, and I got progressively worse every day for over a week. It was horrible and I was extremely ill. Then, in the midst of my despair, I felt a
> strange inkling of hope. I clung to it and I slowly eased out of the darkness. All in all, it was a very risky thing to begin that medication in the shape I was in. A decade or two later, I discovered ECT and I look back now
> and realize that would have been the appropriate treatment, rather than the SSRI. I continued taking an SSRI following the ECT, but realized I didn't need it. I have been med free for about 5 years and depression free.


So, it's safe to have ECT with dpdr?


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## forestx5 (Aug 29, 2008)

It is safe to have ECT with dpdr, but you probably wouldn't be having ECT primarily to treat dpdr. ECT is a safe and effective treatment for major depression. Not to belittle dpdr, but major depression is a serious

mental illness. Life threatening at times. ECT is the most effective treatment for major depression.

It gives the fastest relief for major depression. I assume the reason it is not a front line treatment is the influence of the pharmacological industry, which has little interest in promoting ECT or dispelling

the dated myths of ECT. My recurrent major depression was a function of an epileptic syndrome. My depressions featured severe insomnia and anxiety. I also experienced a host of

other symptoms such as racing thoughts, intrusive thoughts, extreme fatigue, odd things like exploding head syndrome. I was told my depression was atypical. I was a complicated case.

Today I can't even remember all the symptoms I experienced, but I remember I once saw a comprehensive list of major depressive symptoms, and I had probably experienced 80% of them. I didn't experience them all

chronically, but I had experienced them. I had the symptoms of depression in conjunction with epileptic symptoms such as focal temporal lobe seizures. I didn't understand any of it, and neither did anyone else.

When I discovered i was suffering from a rare epileptic syndrome, the medical journal said it was difficult to diagnose. That was certainly my experience.

I didn't have great expectations for ECT. I underwent it because I was spiraling down into my 5th episode and I didn't think I had the resources to

survive another epic struggle. I had the shocks every other day for 2 weeks and left the hospital and drove myself home. My depression lifted and in a week I felt a fundamental shift

in my mental processes. Somehow, I knew I would never have another depressive episode. And, I no longer have any of the symptoms on that long list. I do have some damage to my temporal lobe

so my EEGs will never be normal. I don't have seizures anymore. I have an occasional migraine aura, but they are nothing like they used to be. I took a maintenance SSRI for 18 months after the ECT.

Then I dropped that because I felt I didn't need it. Depression and medication free now for 6 years, following 40 years of suffering. Free at last, free at last......


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## Psyborg (Dec 23, 2018)

well I developed my dp/dr from medication withdrawal (quit too abruptly)


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## Knicole0214 (Jul 1, 2020)

Thank you so much for sharing


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