Psychotropic medication discussion thread
in Psychology & Therapy ·
Hi everyone! 🙂 I’ve been dealing with anxiety and occasional depressive episodes since I was 24. Unfortunately, I tried to "manage" it all on my own by playing chemist with pills. It started with 2.5 mg of Ativan—who knows how many of those I took daily, though they were clearly just a temporary fix. When there was a shortage of Ativan here in the States back in April, I switched over to Xanax and eventually to more Xanax, where I ended up hitting a staggering 8mg a day 😢 . During that transition from Ativan to Xanax, I spent a few days completely disoriented; I felt terrible, couldn't sleep for 72 hours, and couldn't even eat. It was like one of those junkies you see in the movies—it was honestly eerie 😢 . On top of that, I developed this intense panic about being outdoors, constantly fearing I’d just collapse right in the middle of the street (thankfully, I never did). Once I realized how far I had spiraled, I finally went to see a psychiatrist—one of the most sought-after specialists in the country (he doesn't take private patients, he only works out of the major university hospital). Fortunately, my GP is a close friend of his, so I didn't have to wait through the usual three-month backlog; I was seen that very same day thanks to a little bit of 😉 . I was terrified, honestly—I felt like he was going to tear me apart. I was scared of whatever diagnosis he would hand down. As it turns out, he is a wonderful human being and an exceptional doctor; I was genuinely impressed. He is decisive, efficient, and doesn't waste time coddling you—he just tells you the truth. He told me straight up that I had made a massive mistake by self-medicating, and that my dosage had become dangerously high. I was diagnosed with panic disorder (with no psychotic symptoms) and prescribed 2 mg of Klonopin (split as 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/4) and 10mg of Zoloft from Eli Lilly (split as 1/2). I had my two-month follow-up yesterday and I feel fantastic; I can finally walk down the street again without the fear of fainting 🙂 . I thank God every single day for leading me to this doctor. My treatment remains the same, though I am tapering the Zoloft down to 1/2 every other day after these two months. I truly hope we all find our way to recovery and get back to being ourselves and feeling happy 🙂 . And, of course, please don't play around with medication on your own. Go straight to a professional; the consequences can be devastating. Best wishes to you all! 🙂