Geral Blanchard, LPC, is a psychotherapist who is university trained in psychology and anthropology. Formerly of Wyoming and currently residing in Iowa, Geral travels the world in search of ancient secrets that can augment the art and science of healing. From Western neuroscience to Amazonian shamanism, he has developed an understanding of how to combine old and new healing strategies to optimize recovery, whether from psychological or physical maladies.
Antidepressant Withdrawl
Geral T. Blanchard • December 10, 2021
Antidepressant withdrawal can be hellish
Depending on the half-life of the drug, the onset of withdrawal discomfort can occur in just a few hours, or it may be slightly delayed by up to a few days once the last capsule has been taken.
With a drug like Effexor – one of the worst offenders – severe withdrawal symptoms can occur with lightning speed. Missing just one daily dose can cause a person to immediately plunge into darkness, and like a heroin addiction, the patient is desperate to get back on the drug. Symptoms usually peak within seven to ten days and clear within two to three weeks. The restoration of overall brain health, including the ability for brain cells to readjust, however, may take six months to a year. *
Jake said, “I felt like a zombie. I now understand that this feeling, along with my impulsivity, was symptomatic of my Paxil withdrawal.” Jake’s out of character behavior during his withdrawal was not reflective of who he was, rather, what he was going through. That was an important insight for him as his longstanding recovery from depression progressed. Thinking he was insane could have put him back on the drug dependency train.
The list of withdrawal symptoms experienced is incredibly wide, erroneously suggesting to many patients that they are succumbing to a major mental illness. No, their body is fighting to regain homeostasis, their hypothalamus is working overtime to restore a natural and steady state. Here is a partial list of symptoms documented in the professional literature:
Psychiatric Symptoms
• Crying spells
• Worsened moods
• Insomnia
• Heightened anxiety and panic attacks
• Feeling detached, removed, or unreal
• Irritability, agitation, short temper, rudeness
• Aggressiveness
• Self-harm
• Nightmares
• Fatigue, lethargy, malaise
• Dramatic mood swings
• Manic-like reactions
• Impulsivity
Sensory/Neurological Abnormalities
• Numbness, burning, tingling
• Electric zap-like sensations
• Ringing or other noises in the ears
• Restless legs
• Twitching of the lips and mouth
• Jittery, shaking, tremors
• Headaches
• Dizziness, motion sickness, unsteady gait
• Spinning feeling, swaying, lightheaded
Gut Reactions, Mimicking Gastroenteritis
• Nausea
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal pain or cramps
• Stomach bloating
• Vomiting
• Flu-like aches and pains, fever, sweats and chills
Cognitive Disturbances
• Confusion
• Slow to process information
• Memory problems or forgetfulness
• Auditory or visual hallucinations
• Abnormal visual sensations
Other Symptoms
• Slurred speech
• Blurred vision
• Muscle cramps
• Drooling, excessive saliva
• Abnormal smells or tastes
This is the definition of a hellish withdrawal, a time when few other health (physical and mental) adjustments should be made.
Flushing antidepressant and antianxiety medications out of the body takes several routes – urination, defecation, sweating, or chelation. Chelation is the expelling of toxins and functional psychiatry and nutritional literature suggest the natural antidepressant, sam-e (the amino acid methionine), enhances the chelation expulsion process.
* L-glutathione – an amino acid and powerful antioxidant -- is thought to assist in cell growth, particularly in the brain.
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NOTE: If you are in a relationship and undergoing antidepressant or antianxiety withdrawal, share this information with your partner and physician.
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Additional Reading:
The Antidepressant Solution: A Step-by-Step Guide to Safely Overcoming Antidepressant Withdrawal, Dependence, and Addiction by Joseph Glenmullen, MD, Harvard University professor of psychiatry
Other Topics
Basics of MDMA
Rituals and Ceremony
Brain and MDMA
Trauma
Heart
Energy Movement
Quantum Physics
Native Cosmologies
Nature
Spirituality/Enlightenment
Kogi Tribe
Books written by Geral T. Blanchard
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At the second level of awareness, it is almost impossible to go on pretending that everything is fine. No longer can the visuals and emotions be kept submerged. One wonders, “Damn it, will I ever get better?”
Traumatized persons, with their pervasive pain, typically seek mood altering experiences. This can include ascetic restrictions, hedonistic over-eating, chemical dependency, sexual dependency, sexual anorexia or celibacy, romance addiction, relationship dependency, compulsive gambling, TV or movie binging, rock climbing, auto racing, reliance on antidepressants and/or antianxiety medications, religious addiction, and so much more that can serve to pacify, distract, and avoid unpleasant thoughts and feelings. By thrill-seeking, the higher the risks being engaged, the greater mood alteration one can experience. It’s a big dopamine splash and more.
These are the adult versions of childhood thumb sucking, according to Dr. Harvey Milkman, the author of Craving for Ecstasy (the feeling of ecstasy, not the drug). Harvey pointedly said, “Growing up consists of finding the right substitute for your thumb.”
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It’s impossible to talk about projection without incorporating a discussion about Sigmund Freud and Donald Trump. In this article I will skip Donald but throw in a little Carl Jung. Freud, of course, named several distinctive defense measures – reality distorting strategies to keep us safe. Two of the big ones are displacement and projection.
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So, could it be concluded that MDMA is a transcendent spiritual event -- a chemical event, or perhaps a neurological experience? By themselves, both seem unlikely. They can change activity in the brain, but enlightenment comes from hard work before and after their use. Entheogens and empathogens likely have a catalytic but not a primary casual effect in awakening.
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