Why's there so much hate towards antipsychotics?

[Scrofula]

We all know ¢-duggz is down with her Purple Drank.

 

[cduggles]

A deuce of sizzurp and I get my lean on. Don't hate.

And it's a fantastic nausea suppressor.

 

[Keif' Richards]

"Dirty Sleep..." you say? Can I get a sound-byte of you repeating that for my records?

I think it's a fairly common phenomenon for some folks to have very negative reactions to antipsychotics, like Akathisia. We've talked about this a little bit in the thread already, but for a lot of other people, there are virtually no noticeable side-effects aside from somnolence when taking antipsychotics. As one might expect, it's a lot more likely that one will experience the characteristic side-effects from antipsychotics when using the older drugs like Chlorpromazine (Thorazine) and opposed to newer drugs like Quetiapine (Seroquel). Believe it or not a "dirty" feeling as described by Cduggles is actually very common.

This unpleasant, dirty, buzzing feeling in one's body is often the beginning phase of serious Akathisia. The dirty feeling might progress to a buzzing, to a nearly irresistible urge to move the limbs and eventually, the entire body.

 

[Nooby]

I was about to say exactly what Honeywhite said. Until the magic that is ondansetron arrived chlorpromazine was definitely the best anti emetic I’ve ever been given. I’m eternally grateful that zofran is now available generically, it used to be so prohibitively expensive that as an inpatient one had to have been given metaclopramide and cyclazine first and had them fail before they could hand over the good stuff. As with so many prescribing protocols I guess. My amazing GP used to prescribe them for me to take into hospital with me for planned surgery, so they were put on my chart as standard and I could have my own if they were dicks about it. They were more than £30 a pop back then
.
In mental health services in the UK now things have almost come full circle. Many psychiatrists and prescribing psychologists were very against the old school anti-psychs and it was relatively rare to find new patients on them, however in recent years an appreciation for them in tandem with the right treatment programme has seen a bit of a resurgence.

 

[kgeisel98]

I take Risperidone and don't know if I have side effects as I'm on several meds that cause weight gain but for the most part it has been a blessing. I identified spiralling into a dark place that felt psychotic. Talked to my Doctor about something immediate working (like oral disintegrating tablets or liquid) he put me on Risperidone and my life has gotten progressively better. I found out I had borderline personality disorder and did Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Then a new group opened for Dialectical Behaviour Therapy. I ended up taking the group twice, 2 years apart. The groups helped me identify what I needed to do for myself. But the medications made it possible for me to to address my behaviors and work on them. I don't scare myself very often any more as i time out when I start to get overwhelmed or very frustrated and remove myself from the situation until I feel capable of being an effective communicator. Or let the little shit go. Antipsychotics have really improved my quality of life.

 

[Scrofula]

That's good you understand that you can't tease apart side effects when you take more than one drug. I see a lot of folks placing blaming on one medication out of a cocktail--and strangely enough, it's usually not the opiate or stimulant or benzo.

I'm curious about dialectical behavior therapy--is it about identifying the means of production in your life, and destroying the bourgeois parasites? Maybe that's another thread. Anyway, I'm glad you're feeling better. These meds do help people.

 

[Mude]

I actually somewhat "enjoy" the effects of Chlorprothixene or Prothipendyl for example (the only AP's I've tried so far).
I'd describe it as a mild "stoning" sensation. Not relaxing in the way that Benzos relax you, but still somewhat "enjoyably stoning", kind of like being wrapped in a comfy blanket.
I wouldn't use or abuse them - Can't say they're that nice. But if I need to sleep, I'll happily take one of either substances without any side effects except for dry mouth like I've said earlier on in this thread.

 

[raizanthelostone]

@d1nach damn that sounds scary ! How did you not go into a full blown panic attack? As strange as this might sound, do you have quite an interest in stuff like that (e.g devils, horror etc), I only ask because I like (not in a sadistic way) a lot of horror movies and horror themed things due to the imaginative nature of it and for example some pictures/artwork/games can look frigging awesome ! I have HPPD and when I stare at peoples faces too long they morph into things like aliens, devils and stuff or the walls flash vibrant colours and that sets off my anxiety sometimes, but then even the slightest thing such as my heart rate going fast can set me off too XD.

 

[d1nach]

Those are reports from erowid. I do heavily use anticholinergic drugs but when I took too much I experienced
Dry red skin
Flies that dont exsist
Sensation of bugs on skin
Double vision
Extreme time distortion
Spiders that doesn't exsist
Faces on posters looking at you
False signs from my objects ie hooks arent hooks they are 666
Pounding heart

And by spiders i mean ive walked under a light only to look up and see a huge spider. So scary looking i felt ghost pale

It is not safe and its terror you cant put into words I mean ive felt such fear from anticholinergics that put any panic attack ive had in my life to insignificant. I dont believe in god but i cant describe the terror on them as anything other than hell.

 

[Scrofula]

anti-cholinergics, like diphenhydramine, taken in excess, will make you trip hard. Unpleasantly hard. Balls-out conversations with trees that have lips and spider-legs tripping.

It is dangerous and scary.

Unfortunately, a lot of anti-psychotics have anti-cholinergic side effects.

It's also responsible for "drying you out"--that is, cotton mouth, red eyes; I think the lack of sweat can cause over-heating too.

And yes, sometimes heart palpitations.


(And yes, time stops. I can still remember closing the patio door behind me and it took what felt like two hours. And I looked across the lawn and the neighbors TV antenna was a giant daddy-long legs, like ten feet tall, spindly legs weaving a web. The next day I noticed my neighbors haven't had a TV antenna since the 1980's.)

 

[Mude]

As someone who suffers from Arachnophobia (like a lot of people do), I just can't understand why anyone would put themselves through this. Even if you're not scared of spiders, who wouldn't be scared of a ten feet tall daddy-long legs?

So far, I've only heard nasty things about anticholinergics, so it's not really clear to me why anyone would want to try them when there are plenty of other/nicer substances available to make you trip.

Admittedly, I've always been a bit curious about anticholinergics, and they're still "on my list", but I think they'll probably remain on that list. I'm assuming it's that same curiosity, boredom, and perhaps lack of access to classic psychedelics that drives people to overdose on anticholinergics?
I'm by no means judging anyone who does take them. I just can't understand it very well.

 

[kgeisel98]

That's good you understand that you can't tease apart side effects when you take more than one drug. I see a lot of folks placing blaming on one medication out of a cocktail--and strangely enough, it's usually not the opiate or stimulant or benzo.

I'm curious about dialectical behavior therapy--is it about identifying the means of production in your life, and destroying the bourgeois parasites? Maybe that's another thread. Anyway, I'm glad you're feeling better. These meds do help people.

Scrofula, I learned to be more self-aware of my triggers that can trigger my borderline (bullshit). Also how to bring myself down from that crazy state (usually). DBT is about mindfulness. For example making a cup of tea being fully attentive to the task at hand including physical sensations and bringing yourself back to the moment if you drift. It teaches some mind control I guess.

DBT has played an equal part in dealing with my psych disorders. Another huge thing is only using coke once a month. Daily use makes me more liable to go off which is never good and always guilt ridden.

 

[Keif' Richards]

I was considering closing this one down guys. The Harm Reduction objective in the thread seemed a little bit dubious from the start, but I thought it was a topic that couldn't hurt to be discussed a little bit, due to the "stereotypes" surrounding antipsychotics that might lead some potential users to shy away from them. I wanted the thread to be open long enough for us to establish the idea that antipsychotics are not prescribed solely to psychotic, schizophrenic or what have you patients. If anyone has any issues with this decision, please feel free to PM me and I'll re-open it. Just trying to make room for new material.