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3 Posts
Hello all,
A little background on myself: 20 years old, great family life, no trauma, great life prior to DPDR.
I am not going to get into how I got DPDR too much since it's the same for the majority of people, smoked some weed on a normal August night at home, made dinner, watched TV then started having panic attack, woke up the next day and BAM, DPDR set in. I don't really don't feel the need to go into too much details on how I was scared of it and how it freaked me the fuck out giving me anxiety and depression, same story for most people.
But I know most people come on this forum to find comfort so that's what I'm going to try and do, but showing what helped me and showing how far I've come.
DISCLAIMER - I AM NOT A DOCTOR AND THIS IS NOT OFFICIAL MEDICAL ADVICE, JUST TELLING YOU WHAT WORKED FOR ME
What helped:
Zoloft (100mg) (kinda helped) - At the beginning of my journey about a month in I got on Zoloft which seemed to calm down the nerves and stop me from totally freaking out about DPDR (I knew what it was at this point). The downside of it was that it made me so damn sleepy (slept 10-15 hours a day and was still tired) and foggy headed that it was like it gave me a different type of DPDR. I was on it steady from September 1st until Christmas, then tapered off it for 3 months or so because I didn't want it to give me withdrawals (luckily never got any
). My theory with Zoloft is that it reset the serotonin in my brain but the drug itself literally "drugged me" giving me the side effects of sleeping and a foggy head, so for recovery purposes it did a wonderful job but for overall wellbeing in that time not so much.
Wellbutrin (300mg) - Lifted that fog from the DPDR and Zoloft that I could not get to go away. Went on it around Christmas and within 3-4 weeks it took away all the sleepiness and slow thinking. Starting turning back into my old self, starting thinking of the future in a positive light (dopamine responsible) and motivated to get out of bed (norepinephrine).
EMDR - Helped so so much with getting rid of the fear of DPDR, went into my deep rooted fears of something being wrong with me, never getting better. Took those fears, faced them and essentially corrected them as being stupid and irrational. Would highly recommend reading and looking into it as I see it more as a long term thing, taking away those fears and moving on in your life.
Coming off medication - A bit contrary to what I said earlier, coming off of the medications after they did their job allowed my body to come back to a homeostasis point without any chemicals, basically making my body to go back to its pre-dpdr baseline after my brain chemistry was mostly back to normal. The brain is a powerful thing that has amazing healing powers, it will get back to "normal" with time, I promise.
Exercise - Plain and simple releases good brain chemicals speeding up recovery, also good health never hurt anyone so why not? I always did heavy lifting and light cardio, got out ant frustration and feelings in the weight room. Also can be a social aspect as well.
Being with friends - Humans are naturally social beings so when we are isolated it can hurt us mentally and when we are with people it brings good times and conversations showing a brighter outlook on life and taking us away from the DPDR. Just get out and get busy.
Being the nicest person you can be - I personally got a lot out of trying to help other people and strike up new conversations with people. Again making new friends and having people around you you can talk to (no matter what about) is always good for well being.
So what will work for you? - I did a ton of research like most of you during my time of DPDR and found out a lot about how your brain reacts to different substances. For example I noticed that when I drank coffee I would feel almost back to normal so I connected that with low dopamine and norepinephrine, went on wellbutrin and worked like a charm, same goes for nicotine, if that sudden burst of dopamine helps you may have found something. If you for some reason smoke weed again and notice you feel back to normal (more or less) it could be you have low serotonin. Another thing I would recommend against is matching symptoms to what you need since low dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin can all have similar symptoms. My little tests helped a lot and essentially helped me rebalance my head on the chemistry side while working on the emotional side in EMDR therapy.
Why DPDR was the best thing that happened to me - It really took a lot out of me and forced me to do things in my life that I like and enjoy, getting rid of toxic people and relationships. It made me look at my life path and figure out what I really want like my career passions (working hours a day on become a stock day trader and starting my own gym while getting my engineering degree). I am also transferring schools to be with my closest friends and play D3/D1 ACHA hockey, an opportunity I gave up because of pride. Just do what will make YOU happy, not someone you feel obligated to make happy because of XY or Z.
Haven't been on this site for months but thought it was right of me to come on here and share my story after I recovered 110%. I know you all have it in you get kick DPDR's ass.
Live to fight another day my friends, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
K. Dome aka AverageBoi
A little background on myself: 20 years old, great family life, no trauma, great life prior to DPDR.
I am not going to get into how I got DPDR too much since it's the same for the majority of people, smoked some weed on a normal August night at home, made dinner, watched TV then started having panic attack, woke up the next day and BAM, DPDR set in. I don't really don't feel the need to go into too much details on how I was scared of it and how it freaked me the fuck out giving me anxiety and depression, same story for most people.
But I know most people come on this forum to find comfort so that's what I'm going to try and do, but showing what helped me and showing how far I've come.
DISCLAIMER - I AM NOT A DOCTOR AND THIS IS NOT OFFICIAL MEDICAL ADVICE, JUST TELLING YOU WHAT WORKED FOR ME
What helped:
Zoloft (100mg) (kinda helped) - At the beginning of my journey about a month in I got on Zoloft which seemed to calm down the nerves and stop me from totally freaking out about DPDR (I knew what it was at this point). The downside of it was that it made me so damn sleepy (slept 10-15 hours a day and was still tired) and foggy headed that it was like it gave me a different type of DPDR. I was on it steady from September 1st until Christmas, then tapered off it for 3 months or so because I didn't want it to give me withdrawals (luckily never got any
). My theory with Zoloft is that it reset the serotonin in my brain but the drug itself literally "drugged me" giving me the side effects of sleeping and a foggy head, so for recovery purposes it did a wonderful job but for overall wellbeing in that time not so much.Wellbutrin (300mg) - Lifted that fog from the DPDR and Zoloft that I could not get to go away. Went on it around Christmas and within 3-4 weeks it took away all the sleepiness and slow thinking. Starting turning back into my old self, starting thinking of the future in a positive light (dopamine responsible) and motivated to get out of bed (norepinephrine).
EMDR - Helped so so much with getting rid of the fear of DPDR, went into my deep rooted fears of something being wrong with me, never getting better. Took those fears, faced them and essentially corrected them as being stupid and irrational. Would highly recommend reading and looking into it as I see it more as a long term thing, taking away those fears and moving on in your life.
Coming off medication - A bit contrary to what I said earlier, coming off of the medications after they did their job allowed my body to come back to a homeostasis point without any chemicals, basically making my body to go back to its pre-dpdr baseline after my brain chemistry was mostly back to normal. The brain is a powerful thing that has amazing healing powers, it will get back to "normal" with time, I promise.
Exercise - Plain and simple releases good brain chemicals speeding up recovery, also good health never hurt anyone so why not? I always did heavy lifting and light cardio, got out ant frustration and feelings in the weight room. Also can be a social aspect as well.
Being with friends - Humans are naturally social beings so when we are isolated it can hurt us mentally and when we are with people it brings good times and conversations showing a brighter outlook on life and taking us away from the DPDR. Just get out and get busy.
Being the nicest person you can be - I personally got a lot out of trying to help other people and strike up new conversations with people. Again making new friends and having people around you you can talk to (no matter what about) is always good for well being.
So what will work for you? - I did a ton of research like most of you during my time of DPDR and found out a lot about how your brain reacts to different substances. For example I noticed that when I drank coffee I would feel almost back to normal so I connected that with low dopamine and norepinephrine, went on wellbutrin and worked like a charm, same goes for nicotine, if that sudden burst of dopamine helps you may have found something. If you for some reason smoke weed again and notice you feel back to normal (more or less) it could be you have low serotonin. Another thing I would recommend against is matching symptoms to what you need since low dopamine, norepinephrine and serotonin can all have similar symptoms. My little tests helped a lot and essentially helped me rebalance my head on the chemistry side while working on the emotional side in EMDR therapy.
Why DPDR was the best thing that happened to me - It really took a lot out of me and forced me to do things in my life that I like and enjoy, getting rid of toxic people and relationships. It made me look at my life path and figure out what I really want like my career passions (working hours a day on become a stock day trader and starting my own gym while getting my engineering degree). I am also transferring schools to be with my closest friends and play D3/D1 ACHA hockey, an opportunity I gave up because of pride. Just do what will make YOU happy, not someone you feel obligated to make happy because of XY or Z.
Haven't been on this site for months but thought it was right of me to come on here and share my story after I recovered 110%. I know you all have it in you get kick DPDR's ass.
Live to fight another day my friends, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.
K. Dome aka AverageBoi
