- Username
- JD all better now
- Date posted
- 1y ago
MY 6-MONTH JOURNEY THRU HELL (but it ends well)
I want to give credit where it's due and share my experience so that it might resonate and help others. It's been a year since my "crash" and no one is still sure exactly what caused it but I feel Pristiq (generic Desvenlafaxine) should get the credit for pulling me out of an 4month insomnia/OCD/Depression rabbithole that darn near killed me. Everyone shouts from the rooftop when something doesn't work..so I feel it's only fair to do the same when it does. Crash got so bad psychiatrist insisted I go in-patient (I did not want to go on it this was how I was gonna feel for the rest of my life..dig?) and even though this was the WORST experience of my life for half a month it was here that I was given Pristiq for the first time (altho NO credit to them IMO). They threw handfuls of pills down my throat without really bothering to check for interactions. The psychiatrist only spent 1-5 minutes with me everyday and when I asked for more time he ignored me. Therapy was a joke (kindergarten level coloring sessions w/ Dr. Phil pop psychology) and it repeated after 7 day!. Thrown in with some truly disturbed and violent people (several there under police court direction) with no safeguards..and staff DID NOT CARE! Never got any decent sleep cuz feared getting attacked in night by other in-patients. Wife finally got me discharged (this whole time I was "voluntary"..but they wouldn't let me go for 16 days) by threatening legal action (altho the real trick was that SHE was a nurse and knew what patient rights were and were not). I got home and I was a zombie for a month (in-patient passed out benzos like candy..be careful of this) while a dozen meds leeched from my body..BUT I kept taking Pristiq the whole and after 6 weeks I finally began to feel normal again. I NEVER thought I would ever feel normal again..but I did. It's been almost a year later and I'm still taking the lowest dose and it's working for me. In truth, I'm tired A LOT, I'm over-sleeping and I've gained a lot of weight. But this is where discipline and will power need to kick in and intelligently managing my day..BUT..I'm alive. If I had it to do over I would find a way to unplug from job and duties for 4-6 weeks and just STAY HOME and experiment with meds. I started off with Zoloft but it only made my (already present) insomnia even worse..and I am self employed so staying home meant no money coming in. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL I EVER ALLOW MYSELF TO GO INPATIENT AGAIN! The truly sad thing is I was told by several other "inmates" (who had been in and out of these many times) that this was one of the nicer facilities. Sadly, I believe them. With a small handful as an exception, I truly wish Karmic retribution on each and everyone of the doctors, nurse & techs involved with my inpatient stay. I was simply a piece of meat that had good insurance to them and they did not care if I lived or died, got better or hung myself. AVOID INPATIENT LIKE THE PLAGUE!