[hope.is.here]

How I was cured of DP and How You Can do the same!

Hi guys,

I'm so happy to write to you my story of overcoming DP and other mental illnesses. Just last April I thought my DP, severe depression, and anxiety would never go away. Why would they? I had all of these illnesses in a very severe form since I was 18, and I was already 21. I had taken a lot of drugs such as benzos, antidepressants, and anti psychotics which always made me feel much much worse, so I had cold turkeyd off of them a while ago (and had the most awful withdrawals imaginable!!) My mom would look at the DP forums and tell me other people's stories. Hearing those stories only made me feel worse about my situation. I thought everyone else had it better than me because at least they were writing on the forums; I myself couldn't read well at all or comprehend anything. I couldn't make out a sentence most of the time. I felt disconnected from reality, an alien in an unreal world. I had dropped out of college where I used to be a straight A student with a full scholarship. I was suicidal and tried many times to end it all. One time, I crashed my car on purpose. It was an awful crash that no one believed I could survive. I didn't wear a seatbelt. Miraculously, not only did I survive, I wasn't injured. Not one bit. God had saved me from a horrible fate.

Throughout this time, I was in psych units many times. All the psychiatrists (many of who were considered "top experts") said my case was hopeless and that I would have to be on meds the rest of my life. I was diagnosed with DP, Severe Depression, Anxiety, PTSD, Schizophrenia, and DR, just to name a few. All my friends and all of our family friends had turned away from us. My mom was severely depressed and had long term insomnia because she was so worried about me. She had quit her job to take care of me full time because she was scared I would try to kill myself again. We were in a horrible financial situation with no insurance and close to losing our house. There was no hope. My mom did not give up and found me a wonderful naturopath with whose help I started to slowly detox and make sense of the world again. It has been 6 months now and a very hard, arduous process but I can truly say that I have fully recovered mentally, physically, and emotionally. Of course, I put a ton of effort every day to stay this way but it is so worth it. I've been admitted to my college again and am going to go online for spring. I can work out everyday like I used to 3 years ago, before the start of my illness. I'm a happy and outgoing person and I believe in God 100%.

If I can do it, I believe you can too. Of course, I had the support of my amazing mom and my great naturopath who has a lot of experience with detox. I know that if you have absolutely no support it will be harder for you...but don't give up. Give life a chance. Do what I did and I promise you will see improvement, even if it is small at first. I'm here for you.

Diet

This is the first thing you absolutely have to change before starting Detox. I urge all of you to switch to an organic diet if you can. Personally, I have found that eating plenty of :

· organic vegetables

· greens

· berries

· some fruits (in moderation--you want to eat a diet low in sugar)

· raw dairy (in moderation),

· whole grains (not bread, pasta, cereal, etc. but actual whole grains such as brown rice, buckwheat, millet, quinoa, whole grain oats are extremely beneficial),

· organic poultry (in moderation),

· wild fish (not farmed),

· and healthy fats like nuts, seeds, fish oil, using oils like olive oil, sesame oil, pine oil, ghee are extremely beneficial to your health and will make a big difference in how you feel.



Please stay away from:

· refined sugar (any sweets, candy, etc., but also yogurt, juice, anything that has sugar in it. The less you eat the better mentally you will feel)

· anything packaged or processed (like granola bars, frozen dinners, bread, pasta, etc. even if it says on the box it's healthy, trust me, it's not)

· caffeine (it's everywhere, so no coffee, tea-only herbal, energy drinks, etc. It's found in a lot of meds too like Excedrin so be careful before taking any)

· gluten (this is HUGE! I had celiac disease and didn't even know it. This means no wheat, rye, barley. Buy gluten free grains if you can. Research gluten and its effects on your body)

· dairy that's not organic (I prefer raw, it is so much better for you. Get raw goat dairy if you can but if not opt for organic dairy. Eat dairy in moderation at this time. For some people it's best to cut it out completely)

· meat that's not organic (this is big-you don't want the hormones and crap that the meat industry injects the animals with)

· white salt (this is toxic. Switch to sea salt or better yet Himalayan salt)

Really Helpful Foods

These things have helped me regain my health and sanity.

· organic greens (try to eat everyday either in salad, juice them yourself, or make into a green smoothie. They might seem gross but are very important to detox your body, esp. dill, oregano, cilantro which are great for detox.)

· organic berries (so many antioxidants. Blueberries are esp. great for brain function).

· raw whey protein (the only place I think you can get the real thing is at a farm. It is very much worth it though because there are a ton of aminos like taurine and glutheonine that have sulfur which help in detox. I would stay away from the regular store bought stuff because I've only had bad experiences with it)

· garlic and onion (lots of sulfur, great for detox)

· organic pumpkins (lots of fiber and vitamins)

· practically all vegetables (you should be eating as much vegetables as you can. This will give you nutrients and help with detox).

· organic fruit (apples have lots of pectin, bananas for potassium, add lemon juice to your herbal teas, eat 1 cup of berries + 1-2 servings of fruit per day, not more because of high sugar content)

· white fish

· sardines (small fish have less toxins. These are healthy, cheap, and good for brain function)

· organic free range eggs (high in sulfur. Even better are quail eggs which are super eggs in comparison. The very best way to eat them is to drink them raw if you can stomach it).

· ghee (you can get this at health food stores or Indian stores. It is like butter but slightly different. I suggest cooking with it, cooking on it, and lathering it on your body. It is an amazing health tool and will help make you feel more relaxed and balanced). Look into Ayerveda if you are interested in finding out more.

I would suggest eating 4-5 meals per day. Eating regularly is good to improve your mood and energy levels as well as gets those toxins moving out of your body. Try to have a balance of healthy carbs, proteins, and healthy fats with each meal. Also, try to steam or bake or stir fry your food. Avoid any frying or greasy, fattening foods. These put stress on your liver.

Detox

This is very important. I believe the only reason I got better was because I have done some very serious detoxing, as well as water fasting later on. For now, just worry about Diet and Detox. I have a lot of suggestions. Don't try to do them all at once because that would overload your body. Start slowly and see how you feel. Expect to feel worse before you feel better because detoxing is very hard on the body and mind.

Ways to Detox

· follow the suggested Diet

· take charcoal capsules (I took up to 20 most days for several months)

· take edible bentonite clay ( I get mine from greenclays.com and take 1 TBSP. in morning and 1 TBSP. at night, stirring the tablespoon in a big glass of filtered water). Take this together with the psyllium husks.

· psyllium husks (this will cleanse your colon, I took 1 TBSP in morning and 1 at night with a lot of water.)

· take detox baths (clay baths-clay can be found in bulk at greenclays.com, charcoal baths, dead sea salt baths, Epsom salt baths are great for relieving tissue pain from detox). You can also take foot baths instead for gentler detox.

· saunas (try to go as much as you can. They can be found in gyms or you can invest in one at drwilson.com. That's where I got my small infrared sauna from.)

· drink herbal teas (try liver or kidney detox teas, dandelion tea, kombucha, etc.) These will help flush toxins out.

· enemas (this is HUGE. No one wants to do them. I never did. But as soon as I started to do them every day for several months I noticed an amazing difference in my mood and energy level. If you want to seriously get better, you have to start doing enemas. They are not as awful as they seem. I promise)

· zeolite (also another great detoxifier)

· chlorella (also great for detox)

· supplements (it is important to supplement your body but not go overboard taking 100 different supplements either. Avoid anything synthetic)

· exercising (this could be very good or very bad. In general, when you are going through detox do not do resistance training, weights, anything hard core because you don't want to put too much pressure on your body. Walking outdoors and stretching is something I recommend doing every day, even if it is just a few minutes. When I first started, I could barely walk a couple of hundred feet. I was so weak so I know how that feels)

· filter your water. You might want to switch to Distilled which you can buy for the first month or so. Then, you should try to invest in a filter. Clean water is a must for good health. Tap water is full of toxins.

· Green your life. Avoid any chemicals, whether it is in your makeup, body products, home products, etc. If you can, buy the organic version of these things. If you can't, then do without. I know because I have had severe aluminum toxicity (there is a lot of it in conventional deodorant, toothpaste, and psychiatric drugs). Aluminum has been linked to Alzheimer's. I've also had copper toxicity and others.



Supplement Suggestions

Basics:

· fish oil (very, very important)

· flaxseed oil (if you're not eating flaxseeds)

· probiotics (will help your intestines heal and will improve your digestion and mood)

· multi vitamin (natural, not synthetic)

Possible Additions:

· vitamin B complex

· magnesium (great for relaxation)

· melatonin if you need it for sleep

· glycine (an amino acid if you need it for sleep)

· glutheionine or taurine (aminos, have lots of sulfur)

(If you drink raw whey protein, don't take any amino capsules).

I've had experience with many food and vitamin brands and can recommend some good ones if you ask.

. Also, I suggest researching the quality of what you're going to buy online before you buy it.

Don't do too many supplements at one time. Take it slow and see how you respond to them. Also, try to take a blood test and see what vitamins you are missing. You can look into getting a hair analysis done to see whether you have heavy metal toxicity too. However, as you eat well and detox, your body will bring itself into balance and you will see that you won't have to supplement as much anymore.

Important: It may make things worse to do a detox if you are taking any medications at this time. If you are withdrawing or tapering, detoxing helps but be very gentle. Also, if you want to get off your meds, do not I repeat do not cold turkey. I did and it was a huge mistake. Taper slowly instead. Look for forums with tapering support ( I used to use BenzoFriends, a yahoo group that was very helpful).

Body-Mind Connection:

Tips to Change Your Life and Healthy Living

· Surround yourself with as many positive things and people as you can, even if you don't feel like it. Don't read, listen to, or watch anything negative on TV. Listen to calm, classical, or relaxation music. If you can read ( I know many of you can't concentrate like I couldn't), then read positive health articles or visit forums where you can bond with people going through the same thing. If you watch TV, avoid the news and any depressing information. If your friends or loved ones invite you out somewhere, try to go. I know it's hard but getting away from the house is useful even if it just makes the time pass faster.

· Try to explain to your friends and family what you're going through but not in great detail. Trust me, they won't understand. Just say you're going through a hard time and need emotional support. Let your close ones know of your intention to live a healthier lifestyle.

· Reach out to God. I know this is hard because most likely you don't believe in God after what you've been through. I didn't either. I was the most hard core atheist you'd ever meet. However, during this rough time I started going to church anyway at the insistence of my mom and soon enough a way to healing was found when I least expected it. If you can make it to church or to some other religious affiliation, please do. If not, I suggest watching Joel Osteen's sermon or listening to his free podcast because his message is very easy to understand and inspiring.

· Spend as much time outdoors and in nature as you can. Being outdoors has shown to improve mood dramatically.

· Make small goals for yourself and try to write them down. I know it's hard. It doesn't have to be anything big. Things like cleaning your room, doing laundry, and preparing healthy meals already sounds like a marathon but try to keep busy. You now have hope. You will get your life back soon and it is time to start your journey.

· Do positive affirmations and visualizations. Talk positively to yourself. Imagine yourself healthy and radiant. It helps to cut out pictures from magazines that illustrate what you want to look like, how you want to feel, etc. and pasting them in a notebook. Also, carrying around a piece of paper with positive thoughts will help.

· Take quick showers often, at least 2-3x per day when you're detoxing. They are very relaxing. Baths are great too.

Emotional Support for Your Journey:

This will be a difficult journey but worth it. Obviously, it is easier if you have the support of your loved ones. If you don't, then the hard truth is that you have to go it alone but you are worth it. Your life is worth it and you have the ability to get it back. I believe in you. I will be checking back often to see your comments.

A word to loved ones of people dealing with DP:

You will not be able to fully understand how this person is suffering. It is indescribable and inexplicable. Please help him or her to the best of your ability and understand that this is a long process. He or she needs your love and full support.

God Bless,

Mila

P.S. I know this sounds like too much to do and also very expensive. I should mention that we sold a lot of our things in order to do this and moved to a much smaller apartment in order to be able to finance all these changes and my naturopath who worked with me extensively for several months. However, we are both doing much better now and can work and go to college now, so it was worth it!

 

[Justinian585]

I REALLY want to try this, but I lack the means and the money to do so.

 

[hope.is.here]

Hi Justinian,

I know detox seems like a lot of money. It can be. Minimally, I would spend the money if I was in your position on edible bentonite clay (greenclays.com)+psyllium husks (yerba prima brand is good), organic food if you can-quality over quantity (avoid any sugars, processed food, fast food, etc.). Also, buy an enema (they are not expensive) and start doing that everyday. No one wants to-but trust me, this helps!
Also checkout curezone.com. They have great resources on doing colon cleanses and liver cleanses. I use that website a lot personally.
Detox doesn't have to be expensive. Little things add up over time and you can gently get rid of the toxins in your body.
I don't know your specific financial situation but if you are working, try track your spending and cut down where you can in order to afford better, cleaner food, etc. If you're not working, maybe you can ask your family to contribute?
Also, deep breathing, walking in fresh air, and sunlight everyday help

And that's free.

Wish you the best,
Mila

 

[hope.is.here]

Hi John,

Thanks for replying. My clean and organic lifestyle has truly given me my life back 100%. I wish you the best of luck.

Mila

 

[hope.is.here]

Just wanted to give everyone a little update...

It's been over a year since my DP went away thx to my detox, and I am doing great. Every once in a while ppl email me for help so if you message me I will definitely reply and help you in any way possible. Once the DP is over, it is amazing how quickly life goes back to normal, and you'll forget you ever had it. The most important thing is to be consistent with a very clean, organic diet and to keep cleansing/detoxing periodically. Toxins, candida, and parasites can also cause DP. It's not only the psychological reasons. There are physical reasons as well.

You can beat this!!

M

 

[Rowan]

Hello hope.is.here, really great thread, much appreciated by me and many others here!

I have another thread next to this one called 'Almost Cured', worth checking out for those looking to cure themselves. I am so much better than I was 3 months ago using a combination of diet/detox.

Have you heard of Gut and Psychology Syndrome? I highly recommend the book, it will also explain how you can cure the real causes of mental disorders. Eventually you can remain healthy through good diet alone with no need for constant detox.

Best of luck everyone, hope you post here again hope.is.here.

 

[hope.is.here]

Hi Rowan,

Good luck with your recovery . I've never read the book you've mentioned but it sounds like interesting reading. Diet + detox is definitely the way to go. Best of luck to everyone.

-M

 

[Rowan]

Thanks for the quick reply hope.is.here.

Definetly read the book and thankyou for such a long intro post, it's helping me get better and I know of a few others it's helping. It should be pinned to the top of every category with a huge *READ ME IF YOU WANT TO CURE YOURSELF* title.

Rowan

 

[Swansea]

Hey Rowan, I have the 'Gut and Psychology Syndrome' book. Did you have digestive problems before going on the diet.? Because I didn't and mainly just skipped the no grains part. I basically eat the same as Gut and Psych with all the stews, probiotics, kefir other probiotic food, all organic food, no gluten but I add in rice and quinoa on occasion and my protein powder I use in the morning is sprouted brown rice protein. What do you think should I cut out grains too even though I dont have the obvious digestive upsets...

 

[Rowan]

Hi Swansea, that's good to hear you've been reading.

The whole point of the GAPS diet is to give digestion a rest and time to heal. Complex carbohydrates are difficult to digest and promote pathogenic bacteria in the gut, thus removing them gives the digestive tract a rest.

Most people with dp/dr probably have weak digestion, I've gone through periods of my life with constant IBS to perfect bowl movements.

Basically I don't know for certain what's best for you, for many people with dp/dr the final trigger was exposure to toxins, particularly drugs. Everyone knows the effects drugs can have on dysregulating the CNS, metabolism, lymth and immune systems but I don't think the toxins or drugs are to blame, most people are exposed to these things and do perfectly fine... therefore those that get dp/dr were probably in a bad place to start with.

I recommend starting GAPS around stage 3, meat, broth, legal veggies, probiotics. Maybe do it for a month and see how you feel, then slowly add things in. The absolute worse case scenario is you'll become more healthy!

Also don't forget to detox. What hope.is.here has written above will work perfectly well for most people. Focus on improvement rather than being perfect. Simply ask yourself once a month 'Am I getting better?'.

Remember, dp/dr is caused by a toxic overload in the body (for whatever reason), reduce your toxic load and actively remove toxins. Diet probably plays a large role for most.

That's all I know.

Best of luck!

 

[hope.is.here]

Great advice from Rowan. I've suffered from poor digestion all my life too and the drugs sent me over the edge. I eat grains in moderation (like a cup of organic oatmeal once a day)-that's probably it most days. I find that this works best for me. Of course, cutting out grains or other products temporarily is great--some may need to longer to really heal.

For me, I understand that healing is a journey and that I have to lead a healthy lifestyle for life now-there is no going back to pizza and ice cream whenever I feel like it again.

M

 

[lemongirl]

Hope!

I just wanted to check in an let you know that with your suggestions I am getting better! It is slow, but I am reminding myself to be patient and continue with the program!!

I wanted to ask you about your edible clay. I am trying to order some on this website, but am unsure of which one to get! http://www.greenclays.com/edible-clay.php

Can you please help?

Thank you hope....I look forward to keeping you updated!

p.s. I wanted to ask you also about something else, when you happened to get sick, did you move into a new house a year prior, or perhaps that same year?

 

[terrances]

typical hypochondriac approach. all this stuff about diet and vitamins doesn't do a damn thing unless you think it will, i.e placebo effect

 

[Guest]

typical hypochondriac approach. all this stuff about diet and vitamins doesn't do a damn thing unless you think it will, i.e placebo effect

I have to agree, with 150 million people in the US obese to do incredibly unhealthy lifestyles, and many likely exposed to the same environmental toxins, saying that DP is caused by such things doesn't make much sense otherwise it would be much much more common. People can react to emotional and psychological issues in a wide variety of ways, but when it comes to how people react to toxins, poor diet ect. It would be much more consistent.

If most people have toxic amounts of heavy metals in there body, but .00001% of them have DP, blaming DP on the metals doesn't make much sense from a scientific perspective.

Being healthier can only be helpful, I'm not saying "what if we become healthier for nothing?", but I feel like this is all to much, and I can only imagine that it's rather pricey.

 

[hope.is.here]

Hi lemon girl,

Great to hear about your progress!! I usually get the 3 clay blend, but I'm sure they're all great. It's a really high quality brand I've been using for a while . Another thing that I've found has helped me so much (that I do to this day)--are infrared saunas. Amazing for detox and take a load off your kidneys.

As for the placebo effect, it has nothing to do with that. I thought the benzos would help in the beginning bc the docs told me they did--and guess what? I had to go through 3 years of hell and am still detoxing (although I feel good now) to get the residual stuff out. Sure, everyone has their own opinions, but if just thinking could make you feel better, then why are you still here terrance?

M

 

[Guest]

Hi lemon girl,

Great to hear about your progress!! I usually get the 3 clay blend, but I'm sure they're all great. It's a really high quality brand I've been using for a while . Another thing that I've found has helped me so much (that I do to this day)--are infrared saunas. Amazing for detox and take a load off your kidneys.

As for the placebo effect, it has nothing to do with that. I thought the benzos would help in the beginning bc the docs told me they did--and guess what? I had to go through 3 years of hell and am still detoxing (although I feel good now) to get the residual stuff out. Sure, everyone has their own opinions, but if just thinking could make you feel better, then why are you still here terrance?

M

Because it takes time for people to change their mindsets and return to a healthier way of thinking.

 

[hope.is.here]

Yes, but everyone reacts in a different way. For example, some people can eat gluten and feel fine. If I eat gluten, I'll be sick for a day or two. Some people may take psych meds for years before their liver and bodies are destroyed by them--I know ppl like that, but for me, a couple of months did the trick.

---->If most people have toxic amounts of heavy metals in there body, but .00001% of them have DP, blaming DP on the metals doesn't make much sense from a scientific perspective

---Some ppl get DP (though mine started bc of pot + meds, --the meds have a ton of metals in them btw), but other ppl get heart disease, brain cancer, etc. Everyone is different. Some ppl get affected psychologically while others get affected physically, etc.

And yes, it's pricey, but you don't have to do everything all at once. It's about slowly changing your lifestyle. Honestly, I believe that a lot of ppl simply don't have the will power and thus discourage others.

 

[Guest]

Either way, I find some of this to be excessive and there is point where the cost is going to start to out weigh the benefit and I have to assume that's around the time you start getting into things more exotic then a healthy diet and exercise.

And I have plenty of will power, I got through the worst of it by willpower alone, and am well on my way to recovering. I put a skeptical view here because I wouldn't want people to think they have to spend hundreds, if not thousands of dollars if they want to recover. It's not that people don't have the will power to do this, they just don't have the money or access to these sort of things. I'd love it if everyone on here could see a psychologist, but it's just to expensive for most people.

Like I said, I agree that healthy diet can only help people, but I feel some of what you recommend to be excessive.

 

[Midnight]

I started reading this thread with the expectation that it was going to be full of ridiculous and needless suggestions like alot of other health related threads of DP but actually it's solid, well done for sticking with it. Only thing I would say is that from my own experience, proper full body exercise like calisthenics, resistance training etc gives me a fantastic 'high' and is improving my health, so it's worth doing. Also running and cycling etc. 30 mins a day of cardio really hits the spot, but I guess if you really are in the pits of DP and feel very weak maybe this won't be possible yet.

I did think a few bits were overkill, like avoiding all negative news (i.e. burying your head in the sand).. white salt isn't toxic either is it? Eating all organic is also bloody expensive in the UK, dunno about the US or wherever you are from.

anyway, massive respect to you

 

[Haumea]

Also running and cycling etc. 30 mins a day of cardio really hits the spot, but I guess if you really are in the pits of DP and feel very weak maybe this won't be possible yet.

That's precisely the time to do it. You have to persevere through it.

I have to say that many of the suggestions are helpful but there's a point where all of this becomes a touch obsessive and obsessiveness is the enemy of being DP-free. Sure, don't eat refined carbs, eat nutritiously, avoid added sugars as much as possible, but unless you know you have specific sensitivities or deficiencies, don't drive yourself crazy with this stuff. It's not worth it.