Joined
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100 Posts
Hey all!
Brief intro: I recently signed up on this website but have had depersonalization/derealization for 4 months now, I am 18 years old. Still not exactly sure how I got this, but it honestly does not matter to me, I have it and have accepted that its part of my life now and have to deal with it. That being said, my symptoms started to show up following a weekend on ecstacy (not sure what was in it, I should have tested it but was stupid enough not to, ive theorised before that it may have been laced with pcp or pma). I hesitate to claim that it was strictly the drug (of which I took half a pill twice, maximum 110mg which 4 of my mates also took that night and experienced no long-term adverse effects) that onset the disorder, because concurrently at the time I have been living a very stressful life, had just broken up with my girlfriend following a 2 year long relationship and had recently moved countries as well. Who is to say, perhaps I would have developed this disorder anyways. Main symptoms: dream-like vibe, things around me seem 2d/fake/meaningless, disconnected, detached from surroundings and people seem "unimportant" or irrelevant. It feels like im stuck in my mind, detached from my body, zero "emotional memory". I do not have any major ocd (used to ruminate in the initial phases but not anymore ) and I do not have any prominent anxiety-like symptoms. I do have depressive episodes though (but this is not new). A term that I can relate to is "multi-sensory (dis)integration".
I am posting to enquire about whether or not anyone has noticed, or whether or not anyone here knows if the current scientific literature specifies a trend with regards to in what population medication (the more commonly prescribed ones being ssri, tricyclic antidepressants, lamotrigine, naltrexone to my understanding) remedied/treated dpdr symptomatology efficaciously? What are some of the common characteristics of that population? I have read in some (mostly single-case) studies that some patients experience complete remission of symptoms through medications like clomipramine [study], or at least have benefitted from others like the "london mix" (lamotrigine + ssri) [study]. I've heard that success rate with naltrexone is even higher [study].
I am interested in this, because I am considering treating my derealization/dissociative symptoms with medication, and if in the case that my symptoms were e-induced, and considering how e effects the serotonergic/dopaminergic systems in the brain, I would wonder if chemistry would be the remedy for me. I understand that many individuals have various experiences with medicines, and that treatment as such is highly individualised, and that the current literature published by the likes of Sierra, Simeon, Hunter (those on the frontier of this condition) and other researchers at KCL conclude thus far that medicine may work for some, and not for others. I just wonder if that "some" would more likely be the drug-induced population.
I understand that the "serotonin hypothesis" for dp is pretty outdated, but nonetheless this review (2002) of numerous studies by Ariel Goldberg was particularly interesting to read on the potential implications of the serotonergic system in dp. He looked at how mdma and meta-chlorophenylpiperazine effects dp symptoms, both of which act on serotonin.
I've also read in this study conducted by Simeon that "The D [drug-induced] group showed significantly greater improvement over time than the ND [non-drug induced] group". Can anyone testify? Has anyone on here recovered from substance induced dpdr and if so, was it through medication? If you currently take a medication for drug-induced dp and have experienced improvements in symptoms, please let me know, I would be very interested to hear from you.
Thanks in advance, I appreciate any constructive replies.
Brief intro: I recently signed up on this website but have had depersonalization/derealization for 4 months now, I am 18 years old. Still not exactly sure how I got this, but it honestly does not matter to me, I have it and have accepted that its part of my life now and have to deal with it. That being said, my symptoms started to show up following a weekend on ecstacy (not sure what was in it, I should have tested it but was stupid enough not to, ive theorised before that it may have been laced with pcp or pma). I hesitate to claim that it was strictly the drug (of which I took half a pill twice, maximum 110mg which 4 of my mates also took that night and experienced no long-term adverse effects) that onset the disorder, because concurrently at the time I have been living a very stressful life, had just broken up with my girlfriend following a 2 year long relationship and had recently moved countries as well. Who is to say, perhaps I would have developed this disorder anyways. Main symptoms: dream-like vibe, things around me seem 2d/fake/meaningless, disconnected, detached from surroundings and people seem "unimportant" or irrelevant. It feels like im stuck in my mind, detached from my body, zero "emotional memory". I do not have any major ocd (used to ruminate in the initial phases but not anymore ) and I do not have any prominent anxiety-like symptoms. I do have depressive episodes though (but this is not new). A term that I can relate to is "multi-sensory (dis)integration".
I am posting to enquire about whether or not anyone has noticed, or whether or not anyone here knows if the current scientific literature specifies a trend with regards to in what population medication (the more commonly prescribed ones being ssri, tricyclic antidepressants, lamotrigine, naltrexone to my understanding) remedied/treated dpdr symptomatology efficaciously? What are some of the common characteristics of that population? I have read in some (mostly single-case) studies that some patients experience complete remission of symptoms through medications like clomipramine [study], or at least have benefitted from others like the "london mix" (lamotrigine + ssri) [study]. I've heard that success rate with naltrexone is even higher [study].
I am interested in this, because I am considering treating my derealization/dissociative symptoms with medication, and if in the case that my symptoms were e-induced, and considering how e effects the serotonergic/dopaminergic systems in the brain, I would wonder if chemistry would be the remedy for me. I understand that many individuals have various experiences with medicines, and that treatment as such is highly individualised, and that the current literature published by the likes of Sierra, Simeon, Hunter (those on the frontier of this condition) and other researchers at KCL conclude thus far that medicine may work for some, and not for others. I just wonder if that "some" would more likely be the drug-induced population.
I understand that the "serotonin hypothesis" for dp is pretty outdated, but nonetheless this review (2002) of numerous studies by Ariel Goldberg was particularly interesting to read on the potential implications of the serotonergic system in dp. He looked at how mdma and meta-chlorophenylpiperazine effects dp symptoms, both of which act on serotonin.
I've also read in this study conducted by Simeon that "The D [drug-induced] group showed significantly greater improvement over time than the ND [non-drug induced] group". Can anyone testify? Has anyone on here recovered from substance induced dpdr and if so, was it through medication? If you currently take a medication for drug-induced dp and have experienced improvements in symptoms, please let me know, I would be very interested to hear from you.
Thanks in advance, I appreciate any constructive replies.
