[MrsDon]

...so changed doctors and had a appointment with my new doctor, she said no wonder I am feeling so detached with all the drugs I'm on (mirtazipine sertraline lamotragine and propranolol ) she stopped my lamotrigine after a month of being on it and was so looking forward to staying on this drug! Anyways she basically told me 'to live my life and enjoy myself' and that really hit home when she said that, so do you know what, that's exactly what I'm going to do, doctors orders!!! I will return WHEN I have recovered. Bye for now ☺☺☺

 

[Thisisnotlife]

how you enjoy yourself in this state??

 

[TDX]

Anyways she basically told me 'to live my life and enjoy myself' and that really hit home when she said that, so do you know what, that's exactly what I'm going to do, doctors orders!!! I will return WHEN I have recovered. Bye for now

Change your doctor. She is an idiot.

 

[MrsDon]

She's right though, how many recovery stories do you read where they have recovered because they just got on with their lives? I know it's hard to do anything when you feel like this but you can either mope about or live your life.

 

[Pondererer]

See ya soon

 

[Chicane]

Some nice subtle trolling lol. Look, if your symptoms are low grade enough to the point that you can get out and do whatever, by all means, go for it. Nobody wants you or anyone else to sit around and mope. I have no idea where this notion comes from that this forum is just for people who want to wallow in self-pity and refuse to help themselves. The goal is always to do as much as you reasonably can and outside of this board, I'm sure most of us do exactly that. But the truth is, some people have this way worse than you do. Others have it less. DP severity is on a spectrum. The symptoms are slightly different for everyone and they wax and wane at any given time. Do what you can, hope for the best, but don't expect miracles. In all honesty, I would probably also drop a doctor who told me to get out there and "live my life".

 

[TDX]

She's right though, how many recovery stories do you read where they have recovered because they just got on with their lives? I know it's hard to do anything when you feel like this but you can either mope about or live your life.

Cause and effect are tricky things when you a look at a long timeframe. I think it's more likely that their symptoms got better by themselves and this allowed them to live their life, meaning the causation is the other way round.

 

[MrsDon]

Ok everyone my new doctor is a moron, she just basically was bemused by my anxiety and couldn't understand why I'm so anxious and sniggered because she asked who diagnosed me with 'depersonalization ' and I said 'google'. My dp has been so severe the past few months every second of the day is a living hell! I've had this crap for 12 years and I had all my hopes in lamotrigine which she just stopped! I am so confused and feel alone because no one understands what it is like to have this. She has booked me to see a psychiatrist. ...I swear I'm ringing back up tomorrow and demanding my lamotrigine back, I've only given it 4 weeks...I feel so lost!

 

[Nadosa]

Do what you like to do. Seriously, stop listening to the guys here. If someone says "your doc is an idiot", why believing it? SEE FOR YOURSELF AND DO WHAT YOU FEEL LIKE IS GOOD. Earlier this day you seemed to be way more resolute but after those guys here were debating over what you should do and whatever, your perception changed again and it clearly didnt help you at all.

 

[Phantasm]

This tends to be a thorny one here, as many people do get better with an attitude of just living life, and it may be that it acts as direction to the mind to not give power to their symptoms by dismissing them and focusing on other things, while many take offence to this kind of advice because it can sound glib, like their problems are being overly-simplified and not respected, so there can be a paradox. Certainly some people's issues are more complex than others.

The important thing is to do what's best for you personally. I can't comment on the med situation as that can be trail and error so I don't know what might be best for you, but hopefully the psychiatrist she is referring you to will be helpful. You should feel free to speak your concerns to anyone who's treating you. It should be a two-way street. You certainly sounded a lot more positive at the start of this thread so don't be discouraged.

 

[Chicane]

Do what you like to do. Seriously, stop listening to the guys here. If someone says "your doc is an idiot", why believing it? SEE FOR YOURSELF AND DO WHAT YOU FEEL LIKE IS GOOD. Earlier this day you seemed to be way more resolute but after those guys here were debating over what you should do and whatever, your perception changed again and it clearly didnt help you at all.

What are you talking about? If a doctor discontinues a portion of her medication (one she wanted to be on and said was helping) and tells her to get on with her life, then I can only assume that's pretty irresponsible and dismissive. MrsDon risks short term withdrawal symptoms from quitting lamotrigine and was offered no treatment option in its place. The lamotrigine is obviously not the cause of her DP. But see, this is what doctors do - issue medication, then another shows up and goes "no wonder you feel this way" so they take you off it, without realizing cause and effect.

You have to remember - most healthcare professionals haven't a clue what we're talking about when we describe DP-like symptoms. They assume the fogginess, dizziness and spaced out feelings we describe are medication side-effects.

Anyway, this isn't to detract from the power of positive thinking and a healthy mindset. If OP wants to live life and improves, then fantastic. My main beef was that it's not that simple for many of us, and getting out there and attempting to live life to its fullest irrespective of symptoms is obviously one of the first things we've tried.

 

[Phantasm]

I did think that four weeks is a strange time to stop any medication, as that's the introductory period done and when you start to find out if it's helping.

 

[CoffeeGirl9]

She's right though, how many recovery stories do you read where they have recovered because they just got on with their lives? I know it's hard to do anything when you feel like this but you can either mope about or live your life.

Believe me this does not work at all. At least not for me. Sure you can go do things but it won't change the dp.

 

[person3]

It's important to live your life if you can.

Try, even if you feel like you can't.

But just try.

If you can't, then that's ok but be open to trying.

One saving grace for me was this guy I was obsessed with. . Sounds strange, but my post teenage obsessive behavior sure got me out of the house when I wanted to see him! I mean, I couldn't drive to the bank but if Dude was at a party I certainly drove across town to see him. While chasing him I met another guy I liked more and he became my boyfriend. It wasn't a healthy relationship but I was infatuated so it was no problem to see him. Well, it was that boyfriend who talked me into enrolling back in school...which made my world bigger...which led me to university...which really opened up my world.

I could damn well leave the house to go to the health food store after reading that B6 helped anxiety. Didn't help- but it got me to get up, get dressed, and go out.

You can always start from something.

Or not.

But if you can try, and you succeed, it's very helpful.

 

[bintuae]

Well, your doctor IS stupid just like the many pdocs I've been to. and anyone who puts his full trust on them is stupid as well.

Anyway, you should've not stopped Lamictal. It is the only drug in my experience and others iv read that helps even for a bit with dp. Your dp is worsened by taking Sertaline and Mirtazapine.

 

[eddy1886]

A senior Therpaist once told me.... "You are in control of your own thoughts and actions and I am now empowering you to get better"

I mean FFS..........If this is typical of the type of individual charged with our mental health care I think we are all f****d !!!

Another senior psychiatrist told me, ....... "You arent sick enough to be considered for regular treatment due to budget cuts" "In fact we are only now dealing with extreme cases"

I quickly discharged myself from the mental health service here in Ireland and now know that most psychiatry is guess work at best..........

I hate to say it but mental health care is generally a crock of s**t.... It is in this part of the world anyway...

 

[James2368]

DP is there for a reason. The symptoms are telling the person that something is wrong in there life. When you start making changes the symptom slowly goes away. This is the difference to just getting on with your life and doing things out of your comfort zone. One of the key things to overcome DP is to stay in control and not to put any avoidance strategies in place.

 

[eddy1886]

DP is there for a reason. The symptoms are telling the person that something is wrong in there life. When you start making changes the symptom slowly goes away. This is the difference to just getting on with your life and doing things out of your comfort zone. One of the key things to overcome DP is to stay in control and not to put any avoidance strategies in place.

We would all like to know as to what life changes you are referring to?

We would also all like to know what it is that was wrong with our life that needs to be changed...

I guarantee you nearly every DP sufferer on here will say their have no idea what brought on their DP...

Also if you have ever experienced chronic DP in its extreme form you will know that it is impossible to "stay in control" and even more impossible to control the invasive thinking patterns...

 

[James2368]

Well for me it was always difficult to express and live my emotions / feelings. This was mainly caused by my childhood / parents / boarding School / car accident etc., therefore I became quite insecure in my emotional life and was afraid of letting feelings occur, escpecially negativ ones. One day I run into a situation which I could not handle anymore, this is the first time I experienced DP. From then on I had brief periods and then 24/7. As mentioned probably in various books, sources etc. DP sets in as a safety mechanismen to protect you so you can still "function" and survivr mentally.

Life changes for me are for example:

- I am really afraid of social situations due to the negativ experiences I made so I started to socialise and build up "relationsships"

- I hated my job , it always put me under pressure, so I changed it

- I was always an insecure Person so I started to do things which stabelised me

I have chronic DP since a long time now and if you ask me it is possible to control thoughts and thinking patterns. In all of this time I never went mad, lost control etc. and all the weird thoughts I had every day never came true. Therefore you have the choice of accepting them and taking them less seriously. I know it is easier said then done as these thoughts are very distressing but they will pass again...

The thing is not give up hope and get up again after failure....I have a lot times where I would just like to crall back into bed again and stay at home. But I have talked to various doctors and therapist which have given me a lot of confidence that DP is irreversible, i.e. Dr. Michal here in Germany

sorry my english, it is not perfect......

 

[Chicane]

The problem is that for the majority of doctors and therapists, statements like "this is reversible" is just rhetoric. I mean, of course it's possible to reverse this, but I feel there is so much more chance involved that they would like to admit.

I also believe there is a certain type of placebo effect at work when it comes to attempts to recover from DP. Some people become motivated to make changes in their life once they develop it. They will say things like "I'm going to get out there, eat healthier, exercise, meditate, etc" and that may work to some degree, because in that person's mind, they're making better choices so of course it's only logical that they feel better. And yet some part of me doesn't buy it. What happens when the motivation flags? When another stressor pops up? People are then so often back at square one.

It seems like an endless fight just to keep the worst symptoms at bay, without any real understanding or treatment plan geared towards DP specifically. Part of me just can't believe that so many people can develop something like this and all the while there is no viable cure. Instead, we seem to have been fed this catch-all mentality of "if we just make better choices everywhere, we're bound to see some improvement somewhere" whereas in many instances, that simply doesn't work. And even if it does, isn't that like renovating your entire house just to fix a leaky tap?

Again, I say it's time for the psych world to step up. Aren't there any professionals out there reading this who can help or spread the word in some way? We have people on here offing themselves for God's sake.