Goodbye Antidepressant ✌🏾

Hi everyone! :)

It is August 2022, and I'm writing this story about my finally getting off psych medication. Just recently, I decided to get off one of my psychiatric medications. The drug that I am trying to get off is called clomipramine. Clomipramine is an antidepressant that I have been taking for two years now. I started it in 2020 and now it is 2022. My doctor told me I can get off of it in two years. So two years are up, and I'm gradually getting off it. I take 200 mg of clomipramine; I reduced it to three pills instead of four pills. I know it may seem like the one I was taking before was a lot, but it truly helped me. I have been on it for two years, and my OCD symptoms have disappeared. I am so glad it is gone, but I wouldn't say it was all to the medication; I would say it was because of the therapy I did while taking the medication that my symptoms disappeared. In these two years, I learned to manage my OCD. The fact that I am writing this story shows I am better. I am better and can help people going through the same things as me. I am so glad I recovered after two years. I worked hard these two years, even with the pandemic happening. My group therapy used to be online, and talking to my doctor on the phone, helped me. Now present day, I am sharing with you guys every step of the way of coming off the antidepressant.

I would like to state that just because you are feeling better doesn't mean you can stop cold turkey with your medications. I think that stopping your medication without slowly coming off of it is a terrible idea because it can affect your brain chemicals., I am not a doctor, I am just stating facts. I can be honest and say I did it before with the latuda, and my symptoms started coming back in 2020. Hence I relapsed and ended up in the hospital again. But, I would like to say I bounced back from it and I'm 99% recovered. I wouldn't say I am perfect, because nobody is perfect but finding the proper medications finally helped me recover faster. I can proudly say I am healed and coming off the medication soon. I Stopped the 200 mg for seven days now; I would have to wait two weeks before I gradually go down to two pills. Its been two years on clomipramine and some of the therapy that worked for me are breathing exercises, canvas painting, colouring books, hiking and walking. I participated in group activities, too; we would cook together and do computer brain exercises. These types of exercises especially the computer ones can really help your brain pattern and the way you think. We played a lot of games, like card games, Jenga, etc. Also another exercise that also helped me the most was mindful meditation, sitting back, relaxing, and closing your eyes and breathing. Relaxation techniques allow individuals to shift their focus away from disturbing thoughts and behaviours as they engage in more productive behaviour. This effect is similar to exercises on the brain chemicals and body systems. I think doing this type of technique helped my symptoms decrease over time. I am very happy I came a long way to recovery. I feel like my old self again. Thank you for taking the time to read this far. If you want an update on my recovery and medications, let me know in the comments. :)