Beyond Gabapentinoids: Pregabalin and Gabapentin Support

FREE EVENT
with Dr Mark Horowitz
On Antidepressant/Psychotropic Drug Deprescribing
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Event Brite - Welcome to the Deprescribing Learning Club!

Ever wondered when it might be time to call taking antidepressants quits?

Join us for this exciting and informative online deprescribing learning club webinar led by Dr Mark Horowitz who will be speaking to us about all things deprescribing antidepressants and other psychotropic medicines. Dr Horowitz will be sharing personal patient-life experiences and sharing his experiences as a psychiatrist deprescribing in practice.

Event Details:

Date: Thursday 26th of September

Time: 5:30PM AEST

Location: Online

Don't miss out on this great opportunity to expand your knowledge and connect with other healthcare professionals and researchers. Sign up now and be part of the Deprescribing Learning Club!

Reserve a spot a link below!

Deprescribing Learning Club Join our Deprescribing Learning Club to discuss reducing unnecessary medications and improving patient outcomes in a casual and interactive

A long time advocate for deprescribing, Adele Framer, recently retired from having founded and run Surviving Antidepressants since 2010. Her new organization, Psychotropic Deprescribing Council, is looking for volunteers. If you are recovered and ready to be an activist for our psychotropic drug withdrawal community, please consider getting in touch with her organization. We need help in spreading the word ‼️

Volunteer today: https://bit.ly/3YmR1ha
Donate today: https://bit.ly/3zXdgjy

There's a FREE healing seminar happening May 20-26th:

Resolved: Healing Nervous System and Trauma-Driven Illness

https://nervoussystemillness.byhealthmeans.com/?idev_id=29373
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Even though the damage done to our brain was through a chemical, it's still a chemical trauma, much like a brain injury. Trauma isn't just emotional.

I've signed up for these free seminars before and of course the practitioner eventually wants you to purchase more things from them. But that doesn't negate the wealth of information that you receive in the initial course. You can always unsubscribe from their email afterwards. It definitely sounds like there will be a lot of topics that could help people in this group!
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A traumatic experience can have far-reaching consequences on your physical health.

As the saying goes, “the issues are in your tissues.”

Imagine your body as a complex electrical system...

When this system is well-balanced, it can mitigate stress and recover from it effectively.

However, traumatic experiences, unresolved emotions, and chronic stress can all disrupt this balance, leaving the body in a constant state of high alert or shutdown.

This disruption can lead to various health issues, including chronic illnesses.

--->>Learn how to restore nervous system balance at Resolved: Healing Nervous System and Trauma-Driven Illness!

Over 40 experts will guide and empower you with practical strategies and a deeper understanding of your body's unique capabilities, so you can make true breakthroughs in your health! I'll be speaking all about the quantum biology of trauma and trauma driven illness.

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Some of the speakers:

Ari Whitten, MS
*How to Enhance Mitochondrial Health and the Secret of Hormesis

David Jockers, DNM, DC, MS
*Advanced Nutrition Strategies to Reduce Neuroinflammation

Sinclair Kennally, CNHP, CNC
*Masterclass: Transcending Family Trauma: Healing Generational Patterns and Your Community of Fate

Jay Davidson, DC, PScD
*How Trauma Is Stored in Your Tissues

Dr. Catherine Clinton
Quantum Biology Health Educator
*The Quantum Biology of Trauma and Trauma Driven Illness

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Extra free info with registration:

Cathleen King, DPT
*Nervous System Sequencing to Heal Trauma and Move Out of Cell Danger Response

Ashok Gupta, MA(Cantab), MSc
*Neuroplasticity Brain Retraining for Nervous System and Trauma-Driven Illness

Arielle Schwartz, PhD, CCTP-II, E-RYT
*Applied Polyvagal Theory in Yoga: Therapeutic Practices for Emotional Health

Sinclair Kennally
*Top 12 Podcasts You Need to Heal from Trauma-Driven Illness and Nervous System Dysregulation

Prescription Drugs Are the Leading Cause of Death
By Peter C. Gøtzsche, MD

Overtreatment with drugs kills many people, and the death rate is increasing. It is therefore strange that we have allowed this long-lasting drug pandemic to continue, and even more so because most of the drug deaths are easily preventable.

Prescription Drugs Are the Leading Cause of Death Overtreatment with drugs kills many people, and the death rate is increasing. Why have we allowed this drug pandemic to continue?

A great article that is clear about the difference between dependency and addiction.

What is Pregabalin and why is it causing concern in the UK? The anti-anxiety drug has been linked to fatalities in the UK, leading people taking the drug to come forward about their debilitating side effects.

Thank you, Dr Mark Horowitz, for being the voice of reason (as usual!) in this article that came out in the UK today. This would have been a great opportunity for her to highlight the Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines, a new book out educating doctors on the proper protocols for tapering people off these medications.

While I'm always thrilled when some notice is given to Gabapentinoids, typically they focus on the addictive aspects as opposed to what happens to those of us that take it exactly as prescribed. Not to mention, they give the impression that it is an issue only when combined with other drugs. Gabapentinoids can be fatal all by themselves. One statistic I have read is that people are 26% more at risk for sui cide from these drugs.

They didn't even mention Gabapenti n in the article either, which is equally as destructive and dependence forming. I wish she had focused more on those trying to wean themselves off the single drug Pregabali n or those facing poly-drugging due to the side effects.

These drugs, even as a standalone treatment, should not be prescribed for pain, anxiety and the host of other off label uses that have developed for the vast majority of people. As we all know, the cost... both personal and financial... to individuals, families, and society is extensive. I wish she had concentrated on that fact rather than overuse and illegal access.

The article is freely available here: https://archive.ph/6ZRsd

The author Venetia Menzies on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/venetia-menzies-b70b93142/

For education on Gabapentin and Pregabalin or assistance tapering, please message me to join my support group, or see my page: Beyond Gabapentinoids: Pregabalin and Gabapentin Support

MAUDSLEY DEPRESCRIBING GUIDELINES... Hard copies out now!!

This book will be a wonderful tool in our fight for proper withdrawal guidelines for doctors. It's an official medical resource as opposed to just information "off the web". We know how online support groups often get ridiculed for helping patients, and sometimes with good reason.

In this book, accommodations are made for people who do not have much of an issue tapering, people who have some issues tapering and then people who have severe issues tapering. For each drug there are multiple tiers that doctors can follow based on how the patient is reacting to withdrawal. There are charts for a slow, medium or fast taper. There is a chart about why tapering gets more difficult at lower doses.

While it doesn't contain all of the information about Gabapentinoids that we have in my Lyrica Survivors group, obviously that would be impossible. There are 14 years of experience strictly focused on patient experiences with Gabapentinoids in the group as opposed to one book trying to prompt change in the medical community for a variety of medications. However, this book is an excellent start, and a great assistance in helping patients advocate for a slow taper!

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Please share this resource with your doctors and in other groups. This book is available for purchase on Amazon and available now. I have received my hard copy.

If you purchase this book for yourself or your doctor, please review it on multiple websites. Naturally there are detractors in the medical community who are ridiculing the new guidelines and the necessity of a slow taper. We've all encountered these close minded "professionals", which is why patients turn to support groups after experiencing so much harm.

This is a huge step forward for the drug withdrawal community! If you've ever been harmed by psychotropic drugs, please participate by spreading the word about these new guidelines.
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The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines in Psychiatry: Antidepressants, Benzodiazepines, Gabapentinoids and Z-drugs

Authors:
Dr Mark Horowitz MBBS PhD
David Taylor PhD

Amazon US:
https://a.co/d/7Ggd1AY
$36.95
Amazon UK:
https://amzn.eu/d/7Yfczq0
£26.99
- - - - -

The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines: Antidepressants, Benzodiazepines, Gabapentinoids and Z-drugs (The Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines Series) The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines: Antidepressants, Benzodiazepines, Gabapentinoids and Z-drugs (The Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines Series)

I've had so many benefits and shifts in the last year of rigorously practicing sound healing. If you've never tried it, you might be surprised at the ease in which things that have plagued you for years simply resolve.

Feb 14th: World Sound Healing Day

https://www.worldsoundhealingday.org/

https://www.academyofsoundhealing.com/what-is-sound-healing

https://www.biofieldtuning.com/

https://katysamwell.com/world-sound-healing-2024

https://www.healingsounds.com/world-sound-healing-day-2/

The Maudsley Deprescribing Guidelines provides information on slowly tapering Gab.apentinoids, Ben.zodiazepines, and Antidepressants. Consider sending this information to your doctor, or even purchasing them a copy! Hard copy release is February-March, Kindle version available now.
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Podcast Link: 10 min listen
"Australian-born and London-based training psychiatrist Dr Mark Horowitz is about to publish a new step-by-step guidebook on how to get off common antidepressants safely.

Himself a former user of antidepressants for almost 15 years, Dr Horowitz spoke to Sarah Macdonald this morning."

How to get off antidepressants safely - ABC listen It's a new step-by-step guide.

Do Gabapentinoids work for pain long term? Studies show any benefit is minimal. Combined with the extreme side effects many experience along with the significant withdrawal syndrome that can last for years, the risks outweigh the benefit.

https://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp/issues/2019/1201/p672.html

Dan Landauer, Coach:
https://www.philosophicalfishing.com/

Lyrica and Gabapentin change brain chemistry for many people in only 7 to 10 days. After that it should be tapered.

If taking Lyrica or Gabapentin long term for longer than 6 months, a 10% OR LESS per month taper using water titration or liquid Lyrica/Gabapentin is recommended. After reducing, a person would hold 1-4 weeks between reductions, depending on the size of the reduction and on how symptoms are tolerated.

Some people choose to do 5% twice a month or a set amount of milligrams per week. Taper all the way down to 2.5% OR LESS of the original (maximum) dose. This is an adaptation of the protocol recommended by Dr Peter Breggin and Dr Heather Ashton used to taper antidepressants or benzodiazepines.

For short term use of less than 3-6 months, most people are able to taper in approximately the same amount of time they've been taking the medication. Naturally this would be adjusted based on an individual's withdrawal symptoms.

Recovery will last much longer than the medication is in a person's system. Just because the medication is gone in approximately 3 days, does not mean that is when withdrawal ends. The half life of Lyrica is 6.3 hours, and the half-life of Gabapentin is 5 to 7 hours. The half-life means that half the medication is gone from your system.

However half life is only a fraction of the story when it comes to recovery from withdrawal. The other component has to do with long term effects on the brain.

This medication actually changes the way the brain functions, down regulates receptors and suppresses neurotransmitters. The brain cannot simply start functioning normally in a week or two without the medication. In fact, when taking this medication long-term, the brain relies on it to function and physically adapts to receiving the medication. Receptors have to physically regrow after years on this medication. That's why withdrawal takes months or even years for some people as the brain rewires itself and learns how to function properly again.

Coming up in 2 weeks!

Join us at our THIRD conference on psychiatric drug withdrawal! We have knowledgeable speakers from the worlds of pharmacy, medicine, grassroots organisations, non-profits and more -- all working towards a world where we can come off psychiatric drugs safely, with support. Everyone is welcome, with free tickets available to those with lived experience of psychiatric drugs who wouldn't otherwise be able to attend. Online. October 20 & 21.

LINK IN COMMENTS BELOW

If you've started tapering,

have finished tapering and are on the road to healing,

or have even just started thinking about tapering and are educating yourself about the proper way to taper or alternative ways to manage your condition...

You have started walking! The longest journeys begin with that first step. 💞

Were you prescribed Lyri ca or Gabape ntin for pain?

Did you know that pain is a listed side effect of Gabapentinoids, both Lyr ica and Gabap entin?

See a link to the full list of top adverse events in the comments.