Making The Right Choice For Personal Trainers

Save This For A Rainy Day - A tale of protracted withdrawal syndrome. 

I was once a very healthy young man but things change. Around this time two years ago, I had never heard of protracted withdrawal syndrome from psychotropic drugs. I had experienced brief periods of withdrawal from SSRI’s many years prior to this but never even considered the possibility that something like this could occur. When I quit taking Lorazepam in late February of 2017 and later started tapering Duloxetine in the summer of 2018, I had no idea what was in store for me.  For those of you who have gone through it or are currently experiencing it, we will probably be in agreement that there are no words to describe this experience, other than it being pure hell! Aside from all the horrific symptoms, there is a great deal of pain, anger, and hurt that goes along with it.

When I think about my ordeal over the last couple of years, I can’t help but also reflect on the strange new era we’ve entered into. Since when did experience anything other than happiness become an illness? Is there no utility in sadness, anxiety, anger, and despair? It’s estimated that over one-third of the U.S. population is on psychiatric drugs. It’s become not only acceptable but a standard treatment to medicate someone at the first sign of trouble. We reflexively turn to it as the answer to a long list of vague disorders and so-called chemical imbalances. Is it really as easy as taking a pill to rid of us of our depression, sleep disorders, anxiety, and pain? How do we navigate through this experience? Is happiness the holy grail of our existence? Are we going about achieving it in the right manner?  We need to have a real discussion pertaining to such questions.

Even though my own experience with protracted withdrawal syndromes have been an absolute nightmare for two years and counting, I also choose to look at it as a blessing. From my experience, most people that come out on the other side of withdrawal syndrome, cherish their experience as a profound time of personal growth in their lives.

There is a silver lining to almost everything – even the worst of things. Speaking from my own experience, I feel as though I had to go through this period of suffering. Throughout much of my twenties and thirties, now thirty-eight, I still had a lot of growing up to do. And when all is said and done, I choose not to look back at this with bitterness but rather to embrace it as a wave of positive evolution in my life. You may not see it for yourself just yet, but when the clouds clear, I promise you that there will be that silver lining. We do get through this. We do heal when we stick to the rules of withdrawal syndrome. There is no way to predict how long it will take, whether it takes weeks, months or years. YOU WILL HEAL. In the meantime, all we can do is our best and wait for the storm to pass. One day at a time. One foot in front of the other, your day will come, and when it does, it will have all been worth it.

For more information view this study.