Altostrata: Founder of SurvivingAntidepressants.org

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Guest bio: "Altostrata" is a survivor of prolonged paroxetine withdrawal syndrome and is the founder of SurvivingAntidepressants.org. SurvivingAntidepressants.org was founded in 2011 for peer support in tapering off of all psychiatric drugs and currently has more than 15,000 registered members.
A paper written by Adele Framer ("Altostrata"): journals.sagepub.com/doi/full...
To learn more about SurvivingAntidepressants.org, visit: www.survivingantidepressants....

Пікірлер: 94

  • @deant6361
    @deant636111 ай бұрын

    Well done great subject very important lots of people need help to be off these horrible drugs

  • @ukguitaryogi2888
    @ukguitaryogi2888 Жыл бұрын

    you doing good work altostrato thanks for your help and guidance. Big love from UK

  • @brendansmyth5053
    @brendansmyth5053 Жыл бұрын

    PAWS survivor here ✋🏼 Cymbalta is a nasty drug to get off. GP’s have no clue🇦🇺

  • @lorig1087
    @lorig10873 жыл бұрын

    Bless your heart!! 🙏🙏😢💞 This is a horrid, suffering!! So wish, Dr.'s would believe us!!

  • @bigsteppa2200

    @bigsteppa2200

    Жыл бұрын

    How are you now?

  • @artcats88
    @artcats88 Жыл бұрын

    Omg...I had the same location dissolution!! I would be driving on the same short highway I use to go store and back home. and all of sudden I wouldn't understand where I was!! It was scary!! I knew that if I just hold the stearing wheel tight until this passed. It did pass after a few very long minutes!!

  • @rizza7575
    @rizza75753 жыл бұрын

    The information on her site saved my life, as well as countless others.

  • @jacqueline1752

    @jacqueline1752

    2 жыл бұрын

    And many have lost their lives.

  • @rizza7575

    @rizza7575

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jacqueline1752 Withdrawal is a dangerous game. I spent two years in full blown withdrawal and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. I'm still not sure how I survived it.

  • @chrisortiz7943

    @chrisortiz7943

    2 жыл бұрын

    it saved mine..

  • @adamwiseman6117

    @adamwiseman6117

    Жыл бұрын

    @@rizza7575 how are you now?

  • @rizza7575

    @rizza7575

    Жыл бұрын

    @@adamwiseman6117 I am completely healed. I am gainfully employed, have a beautiful wife and little boy and am in the process of buying a new home. Time is our healer.

  • @jine7123
    @jine71237 ай бұрын

    After being wrongly placed on Olanzapine for what was mild anxiety caused by cptsd, I am still not recovered 5 years later

  • @stephaniedegange2737

    @stephaniedegange2737

    3 ай бұрын

    I am so sorry

  • @LouBlueable
    @LouBlueable Жыл бұрын

    I'm seeing discussions in the comments about how to know if it is a relapse or withdrawal. Listening blindly to anyone (doctors or people on the internet) is never a good idea. We have to take responsibility for our own healing, whatever that entails. The thing that's best for you might not be for someone else. One thing to look out for is whether you have had these kinds of symptoms at any point before you started taking the drugs. If not, it could be an indication of withdrawal. Another is whether the symptoms are much more severe than before you started taking the drug. If it goes on for a longer time than expected, that does not necessarily mean it is relapse. It could be post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS).

  • @vikasgupta1828
    @vikasgupta182811 ай бұрын

    Thanks

  • @reginastone7223
    @reginastone7223 Жыл бұрын

    God work 🙏🏽

  • @michelebergman4336
    @michelebergman43363 жыл бұрын

    Chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo to help manage Anxiety

  • @Cat-ht7ki
    @Cat-ht7ki5 ай бұрын

    Nothing reduced my anxiety better than a therapeutic ketogenic diet. See Dr Chris Palmer's book Brain Energy. All about putting depression, bipolar and even schizophrenia in remission by this powerful intervention. May ease withdrawal as well?

  • @Janet_Price
    @Janet_Price3 жыл бұрын

    Thanks so much for this interview! I wish I had found her website when I began my taper. I read her article on insomnia and helped me to understand why my sleepless nights are continuing into my fourth year. Just hearing other sufferers/victims reaffirms my understanding that tapering off these drugs was the hardest/most painful decision I've ever made. Body aches, neuropathy and insomnia are my symptoms........ Four years ago this month, I felt my first withdrawal symptoms........ How much longer???

  • @GeatMasta

    @GeatMasta

    3 жыл бұрын

    Have you tried neurofeedback? They monitor your brain activity and play an animation when it is normal this rewards your brain for doing the correct thing and gets it back on track. thedubinclinic.com/stopping-relapse-or-withdrawal-of-antidepressants/

  • @montesa9136

    @montesa9136

    2 жыл бұрын

    @VoteGreen - I believe what you, and most people on these deprescribing sites, are experiencing is not withdrawal, but permanent damage. People forget they were prescribed medication for a reason. Their underlying baseline condition does not magically go away just because you decide you want to stop taking the drugs. In fact, I believe, the medication aggravates the situation over time. Once you stop the meds you are left with a "new you", I doubt in time it will improve. How many people do you know that have used medication long term, then weaned off and healed completely? I don't know anyone .....

  • @Janet_Price

    @Janet_Price

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@montesa9136 - Hi Montesa! I don't know either..... I'm 4.5 years off Klonopin and 3.6 months off Topamax and Effexor XR and symptoms seem never ending. I'm very self sufficient in the morning hours and can participate in life well ~ before 3:00 p.m. After that, the body aches can become too annoying. The burning/tingling is with me all day long but most bothersome at night ~ they wake me up every two hours when I sleep. Insomnia is horrible ~ I haven't slept through the night in nearly 5 years. I have to understand that these symptoms my never go away completely and have to figure out how to live with symptoms. Living a live with chronic aches and pains is distressing. I can't imagine that having taken these drugs for decades (Klonopin = 33 years), some permanent damage may be inevitable. Where are you in this journey?

  • @jcvd9567

    @jcvd9567

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@montesa9136 yeah I agree with you , I think the appropriate advice should be that if you feel good on your ADs and think you could be prone to withdrawal DONT STOP YOUR MEDS. For me finding this website (surviving antidepressant) made me believe that tapering slowly enough would make me avoid to suffer like I suffer. This is not the case and I think the damage done is for some people irreparable. Just as dangerous as starting ADs is stopping ADs even with tapering. If you feel good on your meds and might be prone to withdrawal, don’t stop them ! Paradoxically, even if I admire Alto and her strength and this is my fault, finding this website destroyed my life.

  • @montesa9136

    @montesa9136

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jcvd9567 @JC VD - Exactly! I also found all these Deprescribing websites very biased & dangerous. They all think their problems are due to their drugs. In Reality; some of us cannot function without our drugs, for others, the drugs cause a myriad of problems, & there is EVERY COLOUR under the rainbow in between. I don't know how anyone could tell if they are going to be prone to WD unless they try it? How long since your taper have you been suffering? Have you considered going back on your AD?

  • @futures2247
    @futures224711 ай бұрын

    what is criminal is that the personal story at the start of this is still the norm today.

  • @agentblue52
    @agentblue52 Жыл бұрын

    I wanna stop my Vorteoxetine 10mg after one month of use because of the extreme side effects. Tapering to 1/2 is ok?

  • @alyssamiller9329

    @alyssamiller9329

    Жыл бұрын

    I'm tapering this med after 2 months on it. I've been going slowly just in case. 2 weeks and 2.5 dose decreases...

  • @Me-fs5mi
    @Me-fs5miАй бұрын

    My prescriber litterally warned me not to read Anything online. And for 15 years I didn't , being the obedient patient.😢 A warning . Consider the source of the advice you accept. In less than one minute this prescriber cost me 15 years life plus, and she made some big bucks for it. And I ? I say thank you, please have another body part? Laugh or cry?

  • @aalliaandreadis5109

    @aalliaandreadis5109

    22 күн бұрын

    Laugh. You can now see through the lies and it's never too late to undo the damage.

  • @mickbowe4252
    @mickbowe42523 жыл бұрын

    Was his name Dr Carl Adrian?

  • @michelebergman4336
    @michelebergman43363 жыл бұрын

    Andrea u look so pretty! U should put up the before photos when u were Tapering off Benzos!!!

  • @montesa9136
    @montesa91363 жыл бұрын

    How can I tell if I'm in Relapse or Withdrawal?

  • @MedicatingNormal

    @MedicatingNormal

    3 жыл бұрын

    Only you can determine that. Here are some questions to consider: Did you feel like this before ever taking a drug? Did you come off of the drug too fast? Are your symptoms a rebound effect of coming off too fast? Are they physical, emotional, or both? Did you read the FDA insert for that drug (can easily be found by googling)? Lastly, review this list during your self-reflection: withdrawal.theinnercompass.org/page/withdrawal-symptoms-z

  • @montesa9136

    @montesa9136

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@MedicatingNormal I can't determine what I'm going through, that's why I'm reaching out for help. However, I realize nobody else can help me either. Thanks for the link!

  • @JatinBhardwaj19
    @JatinBhardwaj193 жыл бұрын

    I am suffering from post SSRI sexual dysfunction, The treatment is only in USA. May anyone please help

  • @MedicatingNormal

    @MedicatingNormal

    3 жыл бұрын

    There's really no treatment for it. It can resolve for many people but can take a few years to come back once coming off SSRI's and other drugs that cause it.

  • @JatinBhardwaj19

    @JatinBhardwaj19

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@MedicatingNormal It's already 8 years, yes EIGHT years since I last took any medicine. In my case the problem is male SEXUAL ANHEDONIA & the treatment is only available in USA. Rutgers University Dr. Helen Fisher, Dr. Barry komisaruk & few others in USA but I don't have any source to travel from India to America. But I definitely will sue that drug company by using Advocate Andy Vickery.

  • @JatinBhardwaj19

    @JatinBhardwaj19

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@smilemor-phony5964 ok I will go through them, but sometimes the pain is too much & those suicidal thoughts. I am just a boy, just a boy.The PAIN, o my God, the PAIN & MY DEATHLESS COURAGE.

  • @MedicatingNormal

    @MedicatingNormal

    Жыл бұрын

    @@JatinBhardwaj19 What kind of treatment do they offer?

  • @phillipsmith4485

    @phillipsmith4485

    Жыл бұрын

    @@JatinBhardwaj19 Be careful about the American cure claim. You may just spend a lot of money. What do they do, and what is their published improvement rate vs spontaneoius recovery.Good luck

  • @rheannak3934
    @rheannak39342 жыл бұрын

    Only a couple hundred cases of recovery out of thousands of participants on the website ? That doesn’t seem right. If that’s true then either people are damaged or they shouldn’t be tapering because the end results would be better right ?

  • @MedicatingNormal

    @MedicatingNormal

    2 жыл бұрын

    No... most moved on with life and have no reasons to be hanging around the website anymore. I am one of them!

  • @rheannak3934

    @rheannak3934

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@MedicatingNormal thank you ! That makes sense. I’m still working on tapering. Good stuff , good work!

  • @jacqueline1752

    @jacqueline1752

    2 жыл бұрын

    That’s NOT true. The people who struggle with ‘withdrawal’ for years and then reinstated their medication are BLOCKED. There is no choice big to suffer withdrawal on this site. Many people have committed suicide because of the poor advice on this site. Stay away from here! I’ve been a member for years, suffered for years and listened to their advice. This site is the worst thing for your health.

  • @jacqueline1752

    @jacqueline1752

    2 жыл бұрын

    NOT TRUE! Anyone who reinstated meds is blocked. Anyone who disagrees is blocked. People have committed suicide. This site is evil.

  • @MedicatingNormal

    @MedicatingNormal

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@jacqueline1752 I'm sorry you've had that experience but many others have told us the opposite. I was helped there myself. Dave from the film was also helped there.

  • @janelbucsko7919
    @janelbucsko79193 жыл бұрын

    Withdrawing off trazadone. Feel terrible.

  • @carolinecroft7029

    @carolinecroft7029

    2 жыл бұрын

    So am I. Feel awful.

  • @Tempo50
    @Tempo50 Жыл бұрын

    All that from Paxil for 2 years!!! 😳 I came off 300 mg Wellbutrin and 10 mg Lexapro in 30 days.

  • @dmaster6088
    @dmaster60883 жыл бұрын

    😭

  • @michelleandrews5527
    @michelleandrews55277 ай бұрын

    Uploads from Michelle (ex SsRI girl): kzread.info/head/UUrQ-Bp3fmf2lxiBfABqb01A

  • @iwonab5150
    @iwonab51507 ай бұрын

    I survivalu neuroleptics why nobody tells about theese drugs?! Only antidepressants and benzodiazepins

  • @veni.vidi.vici6
    @veni.vidi.vici68 ай бұрын

    Withdrawal is a very real scary thing, but that site didn't work for me at all

  • @nassograton
    @nassograton Жыл бұрын

    Hello! I just read Altostrata's report on PUBMed and a lot of things got confused! She mentions that in the fourth year of withdrawal, she was "lucky" to be treated with a small dose of 1.5mg of Lamotrigine. However, shortly thereafter, she says that she spent the rest of the years at home without being able to leave. Then there was the doubt. If Lamotrigine helped, why did she have to stay home for so long? Altostrata needs to come to the public and explain these stories better, because people like me, who have been in Paroxetine withdrawal for 5 years, need more concrete information! Was her dose of Lamotrigine really only 1.5mg? And did it really help? I need to know this to tell my doctor, because we are thinking of testing Lamotrigine. How can we contact Altostrata? Thanks in advance!

  • @MedicatingNormal

    @MedicatingNormal

    Жыл бұрын

    Hi, you may be able to get in touch w/ her at her forum, survivingantidepressants.org

  • @nassograton

    @nassograton

    Жыл бұрын

    @@MedicatingNormal Going through this site makes me sick. That's a lot of information! It's not good for someone in withdrawal to focus on that. We need more practical things! Can you do a new interview with Altostrata to answer this and other questions? Thanks!

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