In the beginning it was very difficult to come to terms with the idea of taking medications every day. “Would I be on this medication forever?” I did not like the side effects of the drugs! They made me extremely tired all the time, I didn’t feel like myself! This idea of feeling drugged all the time bothered me a lot. I felt as though the medication took away my personality, and I could not relate to anyone.

My unhealthy solution to this problem– I would discontinue the drugs on my own without consulting a doctor. Off the meds I felt more social and energetic and at times even euphoric, it was mania and I loved it! Ask anyone who suffers from bipolar disorder and they will no doubt tell you that there is a dark side to mania. Broken relationships, drug/alcohol use, major depression, and breaking the law are just some of them. I learned a hard lesson over time that my mania was causing a lot of people a lot of pain. The other problem is that when you stop the medication over and over it becomes less effective. I began to hear voices which were not a part of my illness in the beginning. The doctors decided to medicate me in an attempt to get rid of the voices. The result was sometimes successful, sometimes not. I still felt drowsy, tired, and devoid of personality.

Over the course of the last nine years I have been in way too many psych wards, I always seem to leave feeling just as lost and hopeless as when I checked in. Eventually I started to have visual hallucinations. I would see shadows of people, some I knew and some I did not. At times I would have conversations with the people who were in my world. My hygiene suffered, chain smoking, I was a complete mess most of the time. At this point Schizoeffective Disorder might have been a more appropriate diagnosis for me. With that much stimuli going on inside and outside of me it is almost impossible to connect with another human being. I was left by myself with my strange ideas and beliefs about life.

Broken and hopeless, I walked through the doors of ATMC looking for help. My progress at first was slow, but I did what I could handle. I participated in neurotoxin removal therapy to remove toxins. I was put on supplements right away which were really working for me. Something truly amazing happened! Gradually all my hallucinations went away! One night I was laying in my bed and I realized that my mind was quiet and that it had been that way for a while. It happened without me even realizing it. I began to get more involved in the program because my mind was clear and I began to understand the way it worked. I began exercising at the gym on a daily basis. I found myself enjoying my time swimming laps in the pool where as in the beginning I never got in the van for the optional gym trips. I began extending my time in the detoxification clinic, it became exciting to feel the toxins being released. On top of everything I have gained at ATMC I managed to lose thirty pounds over my three month stay. The food is healthy and tastes good! I have never felt better thanks to ATMC and their truly caring staff.

Sincerely,

Jason P.

She had been put on those meds after a college experimental hallucinogen experience in a bad set and bad setting.  The mental health folks treated her for “bipolar” by a non-board certified psychiatrist from India.  When I questioned his diagnosis, he replied that she was bipolar because “sometimes she is teary and sometimes she laughs”.  I asked him if he would cry if the person he dated gave him an overdose and then dumped him under the influence at a big camp-out party and then he found himself in a psych ward on meds that were making him sicker by the day.

I should have known better than to question the Big Oz shrink.  My daughter had daily refused their meds, told them the meds made her sick, questioned her diagnosis and asked to go home, which they did not tell me. She was pressured into taking the meds, and strong-armed to give blood at one point to assert their authority.  I did get her out under my home-supervised care after eight days, luckily.  I saw that her father’s fat insurance policy was the greatest risk to her health as the shrink was recommending involuntary commitment because she wasn’t “responding to treatment” and she was well-insured.

I was able to get through to her directly and caught her in a lucid moment in between their major tranquilizations of her and she and I were able to arrange her discharge.  Next, back at home, her family physician refused to help taper her off the meds because she felt she did not have expertise in psych meds.  Next, her outpatient psych nurse at the clinic near her college refused to taper her off the meds, but did reduce her Depakote, but doubled her Klonipin in spite of my daughter’s report that the Klonipin gave her the worst symptoms.

I spoke with the Alt To Meds registrar based on the recommendation of a former client who had contacted me off the blogosphere.  After my daughter and my experience with the mental “health” system, it was very scary to consider sending her out of state to a facility.  The registrar reassured me that their program knew how to get people cleaned up off psych meds and their supplementation approach for brain chemistry balancing made sense to me as a nurse and health educator.

My daughter dearly wanted help to get off the toxic meds and we were able to get her into their program a few days later.  That was very scary, to see her go because at that point she needed so much help in daily living skills.  She was very confused and easily became immobilized with uncertainty over the smallest details.  Coping with her numb brain and aching body was very difficult to see much less undergo herself.

The facility director, Lyle Murphy, was very helpful in looking out for my daughter’s well being throughout her stay.  Their psychiatrist expert verified that he could find no evidence of any mental disorder, or any medical disorder other than hypoglycemia and she was cleared for the tapering program.  This was a tough process, and my daughter does not believe she could have done this on her own.  She found great help from the supplementation and nutritious foods prepared at Alt To Meds.

After the traumatizing experience of the ER and psych ward, it was very difficult to find trust in any therapeutic facility, but I knew we had to get her off those psych drugs or she would have been on disability and her college senior year ended before it began.

My daughter got off all her psych meds and regained the brightness of her mind.  She is still recovering from the post traumatic stress of the events, but she gained greater inner strength as she felt her real true self return after the meds were gone.  Her mind is bright, her spirit is strong and she is now re-entering campus life.  This would NOT have been possible if we had not found a de-tox center, Alt To Meds.  I am happy to talk to any parent or person considering entering their program.

Realistically, family support is very important and the person undergoing the de-tox has a lot of work to accomplish, but the Alt To Meds provides a facility, structure and knowledgeable framework in which to accomplish a de-tox experience.

I don’t want to sound corny, but I am and will long remain, truly grateful to the staff, director, medical personnel and registrar at Alt To Meds for creating a safe haven for my daughter to regain her mental health and wellness.

Cheryl