Last Updated on May 23, 2023 by
Staff members and residents were always innovators in the process of tapering. When I experienced symptoms of withdrawal, staff members were always there for me.
In the Fall of 2002, my senior year in college, I was taking Senior Design Build Studio and Independent Architecture Competition Design Studio at the same time. I would work until 3am, sometimes even later. I would be driving back and forth to school and constantly catching myself falling asleep. After I successfully completed all my projects and finished the semester, my body broke down on December 30, 2002, and my mom took me to the emergency room.
That night on December 30th, after being evaluated for a brief time in the emergency room, I was eventually placed into a confined psychiatric hospital in the middle of night. Over the past fourteen years some of the psych medications prescribed to me by psychiatrists have been: Geodon, Depakote, Wellbutrin, Clozapine, Effexor, Benztropine, Topamax, Abilify, Saphris, Lithium, Klonopin, Prozac, Ativan, Ambien, and Propranolol. For two years, beginning in 2015, I was able to taper off all of the psychiatric medication being prescribed to me, except Clozaril.
While isolated at home, I noticed a significant improvement pattern that kept presenting itself when I tapered Clozaril against the support of my psychiatrists. I noticed that every time I tapered and reduced the dosage of Clozaril on my own, it resulted in a three-day improvement in my physical and mental health. Most importantly, I noticed that when I tapered and reduced the dosage of Clozaril that was being prescribed, I noticed a significant improvement in lowering my paranoia symptoms that had led me to be legally disabled in 2007 and had caused me to isolate from my peers for over a decade.
With no help or support from any doctor I was seeing, as my mother and I observed the repeated improvement pattern when I lowered the dosage of Clozaril, I realized that I needed to go to the lowest possible dosage of Clozaril, or possibly completely withdraw.
One night in desperation for my life, I felt I couldn’t tolerate the abusive and painful side effects withdrawal symptoms of Clozaril anymore, and I looked at my mom and told her that I felt I was going to die unless I got professional help.
Some of the negative symptoms I experienced while on Clozaril before coming to Alternative to Meds Center was Clozaril severely altered my perception of reality, caused isolating paranoia and resulted in delusions and even hallucinations, a fear of socializing, the fear of going outside and being in public places, fear of any forms of technology, flashback symptoms that would not turn off in my head with a combination of anxious thoughts and broken record symptoms, an inability to focus, an inability to think and even a paranoia fear of thinking, an inability to concentrate, an inability to sit down or sit still, an inability to read, and an inability to exercise, and an inability to simply feel the wind blow. On the third day after tapering Clozaril, I would experience three hours of uncontrollable anxiety attacks where I paced throughout the house until my body shut down and gave out.
Some of the side-effects I experienced on Clozaril were inhumane electric shocks to my spinal cord every five minutes that felt like someone was shocking me with a taser gun, sometimes these zaps lasted for over three hours, electric shocks or zaps when I looked at computer led screens or cellphones, the torment of akathisia, involuntary body movements, involuntary jaw movements, tightening of my throat where I felt I wouldn’t be able to breathe, muscle constriction of my tongue, my eyes twitching scarring anyone who talked with me, myoclonic jerks when I tried to fall asleep, and continuous brain (myoclonic jerks) shifts that happened throughout the day even when I was not trying to fall asleep.
Following my successful withdrawal of Clozaril at Alternative to Meds Center, every negative symptom and side effect that I had been experiencing eventually disappeared, other than the insomnia and trouble falling asleep due to my anxiety.
On a typical day at Alternative to Meds Center I would get up and eat a healthy gluten-free, dairy-free breakfast. Then I would go to the detox shop, Monday through Friday, every morning. Then in the afternoon I’d eat lunch and go to classes on nutrition, mindfulness, yoga, happiness, toxicity, vitamins, and individual therapy. In the evening I’d eat dinner and after dinner I would have group therapy. On weekends I went on outings, hikes, rock climbing, and excursions with a professional guide from Alternative to Meds Center. I went to architecture sites, animal parks, and a spa resort on the weekends. Staff members at Alternative to Meds Center introduced me to mediation and yoga. I attended a few seminars on meditation and yoga while at Alternative to Meds Center. The Alternative to Meds Center staff also accommodated my special interest in outings. I was also able to go shopping for groceries when needed. I did art therapy and worked on art projects while at Alternative to Meds Center.
Staff members and residents were always innovators in the process of tapering. When I experienced symptoms of withdrawal, staff members were always there for me.
Alternative to Meds Center is a holistic facility that has a framework around Environmental Medicine, Orthomolecular Medicine, and the psychology of nutrition. Their unique framework, modalities, and unique residential treatment approach to treating each person individually saved my life from the most dangerous thing I have ever encountered, called Clozaril.
At Alternative to Meds Center, I lost over 20 pounds in four months while doing their unique program. While at Alternative to Meds Center, staff balanced my hormones, I started using technology consistently again, eventually eliminated my paranoia symptoms, began socializing again, began a healthy and fun diet, and I began working on my physical fitness. I read three books from cover to cover while living at Alternative to Meds Center, which I have never done in my entire life and even when I was a college student. Today I’m gluten-free, sugar-free, caffeine-free, dairy-free, and I no longer crave sweets.
I couldn’t have successfully withdrawn from Clozaril without the entire staff at Alternative to Meds Center. I took Clozaril for a total of 14 years, 7 months, and 1 day.
I began tapering Clozaril and the cocktail of psych medications being prescribed to me in May of 2015 while isolated at home. Even though it is different for everyone, it took me a total of 83 days to taper off Clozaril while living at Alternative to Meds Center.
I want to say thank you to all the old and new staff members at Alternative to Meds Center. I also want to say to residents and individuals choosing to put their life on hold to come to Alternative to Meds Center for the possibilities of a better life. To this day, I believe there is no facility in the United States like Alternative to Meds Center. Their teamwork, expertise, experience, success, and success rates make them the only choice for psych medication withdrawal that I am aware of in the United States. I highly recommend Alternative to Meds Center in Sedona, Arizona for psych medication withdrawal to any human being. The individual treatment and hope the Alternative to Meds Center staff gave me towards recovery and the possibility of having a better life was priceless.
The End, Kirk
