My horrible experience with antidepressants
Long Van Phung lphung86@yahoo.com
I was in the marines from 2005-2009 as infantry and went on two combat deployments to Iraq. I was having a rough time after my second deployment and was put on so many different antidepressants that seemed to do nothing at all. I received were empty promises of feeling better in 4-6 weeks. After a honorable discharge I began going to the Veterans Association where I was prescribed zoloft within 5 minutes of speaking with a phychitrist. It made me feel worse so I researched online and read many horror stories about zoloft. It was about 2 weeks later I told the doctor I felt worse and he told me it was the zoloft giving me more energy and making me anxious. I was working hard to get into the University of Delaware and was accepted but on September 3rd 2010 after breaking down crying I became completely focused on killing myself and surrounded by police outside the Veterans Association hospital I shot myself in the forehead point blank with a 9mm hollow point round. Although it sounds ridiculous I was able to still get out of my car and walk towards the police with the gun still in my hands (I was in total shock, just trying to wipe all the blood out of my eyes) and was tasered, and I remember face planting into the ground. It was a horrifying recovery and I’m still traumatized(I have a artificial piece of skull and severe left side weakness from the brain damage) and I had a extremely difficult experience weening off cymbalta recently after many failed attempts because the company makes it nearly impossible to get off the medication because the sizes of the doses. I had to have a friend help me by taking apart the capsules and lowering by less then a percent a day of cymbalta. Still I suffered terrible withdrawl effects. Phychitrist are basically the tools of pharmaceutical companies that repeat what pharma reps tell them (chemical imbalance, it’s like having diabetis) to get as many people as possible to take there drugs which are highly overrated in there effectiveness and underrated in the severity of withdrawl(or “discontinuation syndrome” since that sounds much more pleasant). I know I’m incredible lucky to be alive but people simply don’t understand how difficult each day is. I get agonizing headaches and I just can’t let go of what happened. I wish so badly that I had never started zoloft our trusted the Veterans Association phychitrist and the generic lines he says to get victims to start taking these terrible drugs. I don’t care much for myself but it bothers me so much that they are pushing these very powerful drugs on younger and younger children to make lifetime customers and increase profits.