Sandy's Good News

Success getting off of Paxil

      Mom had been on antidepressants for 25 years when she decided enough was enough. I was to be honest, afraid for her to quit. I have read so many horrible stories about those who skipped their medication or quit cold turkey, and ended up in suicidal or homicidal hell. But at 86, mom decided she was old enough to make her own decisions, and I have to say, she was stubborn about it.

    First she tried quiting several times without telling me. She would just skip pills, or stop taking them for a while. I would figure it out after a while by the way she was acting. She would get ill: overwhelmed by bronchitis, apathy, and eventually, have suicidal thoughts. And then she would say, "well I did skip my pills, because I just don't want to be taking so many things..." I would have to tell her that you CAN NOT just willy nilly quit. How strange, for a Scientologist daughter to have to lecture her mother on NOT skipping her Paxil. She would come for a visit. I'd have to say, "Mom, did you bring enough Paxil?  Make SURE you have enough in case you stay longer."  I kept warning her of the danger of quiting without doctor supervision. And she would decide to just stick with/put up with the drug. 

    Then one day this past summer, a terrible set of circumstances, oddly, led her to a solution that worked: Mom suffered a terrible fall. She thankfully did not break any bones, but was very shaken up, and in pain for two weeks. She was miserable with that, plus debilitating hot flashes and night sweats. Those started two years ago when her doctor switched her from Prozac to Paxil. With an accute flair up of bronchitis on top of that, she could not bear it. I couldn't bear to see the suffering. I offered some solutions that mom decided to try as she was willing to listen to anything at this point. Here is what worked: 

1) Mom got a prescription for bio-identical female hormones: Progesterone, and Estrogen. She was dancing (literally) a few hours later, and saying loudly; "I feel better!" Her mood changed, and she actually became stably cheerful. She later was able to drop off the Estrogen and now only takes a small dose of Progesterone. I'm convinced that had she been taking this all along, she NEVER would have chosen to get on anti-depressants in the first place. Her hot flashes and night sweats are now gone. Her mood is so much better, and she seems younger. The mood change was pretty much instant, and observable by all. 

2) Mom went to the Pierce Clinic of Chiropractic. She was assessed as having acute damage from the fall but a chronic injury before that. She was not getting enough blood flow to her brain. This is a special chiropractor who ONLY adjusts the very top bone of your spine- the axis. I first showed Mom a video of Montell Williams receiving this treatment, which is painless and effective. Its called Advanced Orthogonal. Mom got ONE adjustment by Doctor Fowler, and instantly felt that her balance was improved and she was more stable on her feet. She has gone back for checks, but in three months, has not needed another treatment. She's held the original adjustment beautifully.

3) Mom was now wanting to quit Paxil. She felt that she was not depressed and did not need that.  She consulted with a doctor who put her on a personal program of weaning off the Paxil by taporing off it little by little. She was told to take vitamin B-12 to help with depression, and a multi vitamin and mineral formula. I was told to keep her with my family for at least a week while she did the first taper from the drug, to ensure her safety, and for successive tapers.

    Was it easy? No. Were there reactions? Yes. But a lot less than I expected. The balancing of the female hormones and nutritional support seemed to get her through the withdrawal without the horrible mood swings that she had while trying to do it on her own. The female hormones in particular. Not sure mom sees it that way, but that is what I observed. 

    Overall, she is doing well. She is now off Paxil completely, and she is really happy about that. She had a lot of determination and Chutzpah. She accomplished her goal. As an aside, she lost the tremor in her right hand. For the first time in several years, she can write a shopping list, and actually be able to read it! 

    ***While reading about the subject of coming off of antidepressants, I came across an excellent website called The Road Back. I recommend it for helping someone to safely come off psychiatropic drugs.

Depression magic bullet

I just happened to check out a discussion about depresssion and Seasonal Blues on a decorating forum that I frequent. All the woman were trying to help the poster who was seriously depressed. Many suggested that she take a "little pill" just like they do. The thought process was the famous one that goes around, with the assumption that depression is a "disease", and comparing it to diabetes, and so....  That leads to a slippery slope. (Read the article I recently posted on how drug companies achieve this thought process with PR companies that "brand" diseases so that you come to your "own" conclusion that you need their drug.

The advise that worked the best on the poster was to engage in conversations with others and get her attention outward. That reminded me of my own story of the "magic bullet depression medicine" : 

One day, after receiving awful news, the kind of "I feel like rolling over and dying" kind of news, I forced myself to get on with it by using a piece of advice my wise friend Drew gave me years before. Its always worked like magic for me. Drew is a long time Scientology counselor and I've done a fair amount of it myself.

Here is what Drew said to me one particularly gloomy day: "Sandy, your job is to give other people "wins'." If you can think with this, you'll see that it can change *everything*, because your attention will automatically go outwards instead of inward. Thats the key. If you get the idea that wherever you go, that every person that you interact with should feel better for having interacted with you, you now have a job, instead of an illness.

So this one day, years after that advice, after the new "bomb" that hit my life, I dragged myself out to the grocery, and just started looking around while shopping. I started to observe the other shoppers and look for the good in each person. Pretty soon I was able to ease my attention off my crushing news, a tiny bit at a time. I observed a mother and a daughter, a man pushing a cart. They all have their own story, and I imagined what that might be. I decided each person had some goodness and found something I could like about them. I got a few smiles.

Before I knew it, I found myself in the baking section where something happened to me that has never ever happened before. A lady there was holding a gourmet foodie mag and looking at the spices. She showed me the recipe she was looking at and started to talk about cracked pepper, and asked me for an opinion about which pepper to use. Well, we ended up next talking about baking, and I asked her for advise on a desert I was making for my mom's birthday. One thing led to another, and we ended up in a 10 minute conversation with the woman pouring out her story to me (I didn't ask for it I was just being a good listener). (Truthfully, I was intently listening to her and "being interested" so that I could keep my mind from wondering to my awful problem).

 She told me how she is a dermatologist, but is really a foodie and how she would much prefer to be involved in food which is her passion. And part way through the conversation, she reached for my hand and gave me the warmest heartfelt handshake you would ever get from a friend, no less a stranger, looked intently in my eye, and said "Hi, I'm Nancy."

I walked out of that grocery completely uplifted, and that was the beginning of the resolution of the problem/news that I had earlier gotten. I could get outside myself enough to make correct decisions and respond to others involved without wrong emotions or making anyone wrong. My very awful problem/ news began its tricky resolution at that point with that magic bullet advise. And each time I found myself introverted on the awful news, again, I found someone to be interested in and did my "job": giving other people wins. Try it. Its the best "pill" in the world. Good luck. And here is my version of Nancy's desert idea. It came out uglier than Nancy would have made it but the love is what counted.

 

How does Scientology help with depression?

Before I found out about Scientology, I was more than a little depressed. I was a student at Northwestern University. I was majoring in Radio, T.V., and Film. I was struggling through a number of required classes that did not seem to have a purpose for me. Get this- one of my classes was called "Philosophy as preperation for Death"! As you might guess, it was not a very uplifting class. We studied a bit of Plato, Kierkegaard, and some other funky dead German dudes. Interesting to read about what they thought, but none of it very helpful in making my life any easier, and certainly none of it was anything you could apply in real life. One day, I was walking past the Scientology center in Evanston. There were dozens of success stories lining the windows. Each one described big wins achieved upon taking the communications course that was being delivered at the center. Each one was more enthusiastic than the next. As I looked in, I could see many productive people buzzing around the place happily doing work. I soon after took my first class.

On my first day, I noticed a sign on the wall quoting L. Ron Hubbard: "Production is the basis of moral". I had a few considerations about this! First of all, I had always been taught that a major goal of life is: 1) make money, 2) RETIRE. I did not think that work was something to aspire to, rather it was just something you had to do before you RETIRE. Having watched more than my fair share of T.V. as a kid, I think I had turned into Doby Gillis, that famous character that was allergic to work. So at first, all I could do was disagree. Then I realized its probably a true datum, but what a bummer! This gave way to the next stage. I was really starting to get good production on my course. I was learning the actual principals of communication, and having wins applying it to life. Its not that I was being taught completely new concepts. It was more like a lightbulb went off and the most important ideas were illuminated and reaffirmed for myself. I became gradually more and more confident as I became more competant, by drilling and practicing the communication principals. I began to be able to differentiate data, sorting out whats true for me and whats false. I started to learn more and more how to think for myself. I began to formulate real goals and work towards them, and the more I did, the more stable and happy I became.

This was a long time ago, and I never looked back.

Here is an article that spells out what Scientology really is. It reminds me of those early days.

Depression is sometimes from a physical situation

˜Psychiatrists long ago decided to make depression into a disease. Any time you try and make a symptom into a whole disease in and of itself, there's got to be a financial motive- at least thats what my doctor says. But anyway, they've decided that they "own" depression and that only they have the cure for this "disease" which they will be quick to tell you, is antidepressants, and MORE antidepressants. I'm sorry, but I just can not accept this analysis of the situation.

In a book I am reading, Hypothyroidism: The unsuspected illness, by Dr. Broda Barnes, reknowned and respected thyroid expert, I am learning that as early as the 1970's he found that 40 percent of the population was suspect of having a thyroid problem. It is epidemic in our country. Many other doctors who at first thought that this estimate was outlandish latter found that it was spot on, even a bit low according to thryoid expert Dr. Stephen Langer in his book "Solved, The Riddle of Illness". Well, guess what? Depression is a for sure sign that you need to check out the status of your thyroid, because it is a major symptom of a thyroid gone haywire.

I've come to learn that the general population, including most modern day doctors do not understand the necessity of screening for this very basic health issue. They do not understand which tests should be ordered, and they very often do not understand how to interpret your tests even if you are lucky and they ordered them. You right now might be walking around with a thyroid disorder and you may not know it and you may be trying to solve a health riddle that could very well be coming from your thyroid. You may be spending thousands of dollars and going from doctor to doctor. Worse yet, you may have been convinced to take an antidepressant instead of giving you a standard physical check-up such as you would have received say, in the 1960's or earlier.

So why isn't this epidemic of hypothyroidism, that is increasing every day as we pump more chemicals into the environment that antagonise the thyroid, why isn't it big time news? Well, the cure for the majority of patients is not patented because it is just dried porcine thyroid and it has been successfully used for over a hundred years. It is CHEAP.
Do you suppose there could be some vested interests that do not want you to know about this? I'm sure as you are reading this you have asked yourself the question who might profit from your ignorance of these facts and you've undoubtedly figured that one out.

The good news is that most cases can be screened with a simple test that you can do at home, and its free! It was developed by Dr. Barnes decades ago. Simply take a thermometer and shake it down and place it next to your bed. As soon as you wake up and without getting out of the bed and as little movement as possible, put the thermometer under your armpit for ten minutes. Do this and average if for a few days. Make sure you do not have an infection, or your period. If you get a reading below 97.8 find a doctor who will do the the correct tests. Start reading for yourself because your doctor is not likely to know the correct tests and how to interpret them. A good place to start are the two books I've mentioned, and patient advocate Mary Shoman's website at thyroid.about.com/.

Understand this- every year there are millions of folks who do have a thyroid condition but are being told that it has already been successfully treated, or that they simply do not have a thyroid condition when they do. The doctor does some blood tests, not necessarily the correct ones, and not with the correct interpretation. Despite the patient complaint and misery, the patient is often told that the reason is all in their mind and they need antideppresants. The risk here is great. Untreated, what started as a fairly simple and extremely common malady can set one up for future heart disease, obesity, certain forms of cancer, and a great deal of unhappiness. And if its a child, the parent will be pressed into believing that the child has "ADD" and given ritilin.

I LOVE talking about Dianetics and Scientology because for over 33 years, that is what has gotten miraculous results for myself, my family and my friends. But a body is a body and living in the environment that we do, it pays to have an understanding of what we are going up against. If you've really had a standard physical exam and have ruled out curable medical conditions as a cause of your depression, then you might find my follow-up posts helpful. I am going to point out many aspects of handling depression using Scientology and the works of L. Ron Hubbard. They are my favorites because I've seen them work on myself and others countless times.