Reclaim the Best of Yourself
- ISBN-10
- 1530181852
- ISBN-13
- 9781530181858
- Pages
- 224
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2016-02-23
- Author
- Chaim Durst
Description
I started experiencing intense migraines at the age of age 17. I visited various neurologists in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, Tokyo, and Seoul to determine the cause of the pain and get relief from it. One after another, these doctors prescribed "anti-migraine" medications, which were, in fact, psych meds prescribed for off-label purposes.Over the course of 27 years, I allowed myself to become a guinea pig for neurologists to experiment on; I've used over 70 medications in various classes of drugs - opiates, benzodiazepines, anticonvulsants, SSRIs, SNRIs, anti-psychotics, anti-anxiety meds, bi-polar meds, and antidepressants - to name just a few.As my medication intake increased, so did my psychotic symptoms. Before I knew it, I was diagnosed bi-polar I and institutionalized for six months. When I finally decided to get help, I was taking nine psych meds: Klonopin, Ativan, Trazodone, Depakote, Cymbalta, Lithium, Propranolol, Buspar, and Ambien. Most of these I was taking at the highest dose legally prescribable.Needless to say, my life was an unmanageable living hell; I overdosed multiple times and was rushed to the ER on numerous occasions because of complications arising from the side effects of these drugs.I reached a point where I knew my life was at risk. Perhaps I was being overly dramatic, but one evening I told my wife and kids that I had two weeks left to live; certainly, I didn't want to continue living under those circumstances.I knew I needed to get off my meds and get off them fast.After contacting numerous facilities and detox centers around the world, I found one that helped me get off the drugs naturally, addressed the underlying reasons I got on meds in the first place, and provided me with the biological and psychological support necessary to deal with the tumult I experienced tapering off of the medications.Through months of chelation, re-mineralization, and supplementation I tapered off of each of the nine drugs. And through psychological counseling, group therapy, yoga, Qi Kong, Reiki, art therapy, and music therapy I developed skills to manage the emotions that the drugs had so effectively masked for so long.It wasn't easy work and it is an ongoing process, but I'm off my drugs and my life is no longer at risk. I no longer experience the physical and emotional symptoms I suffered with for so long.I started this workbook as notes while I was still in treatment. I decided to publish those notes as a book to support a wider audience struggling with psychiatric medications, especially med tapers. Many people don't know what to expect when they begin to taper off of the psychiatric medications they are on; they don't have much hope that there is life after psychiatric medications; many feel so sick mid taper that they are tempted to give up and go back on their meds; and once they do taper successfully, many struggle to live without psych meds for the first time in years, if not decades.Tens of millions of people worldwide use psychiatric medication prescribed to them by well-intentioned medical practitioners. Some, on a short term basis, may see stabilization and moderate improvement. Others, like me who have been on such medications long-term, face an uncertain future of ever increasing dosages; physiological and psychological dependence; the introduction of the new, stronger medications; the appearance of unanticipated, debilitating side-effects; and a general downward spiral into a state of diminished mental and physical health. It is my hope that this book can empower and inspire those who seek to reclaim their physical and mental health by natural means.
