Stop The Insanity

[Guest guest]

Stop The Insanity

http://www.tuberose.com/Stop_The_Insanity.html

3/24/06 Author: Pam Killeen Interviews Alesandra Rain Source: Crusador

 

CRUSADOR EXCLUSIVE* ©2006, www.HealthLiesExposed.com

 

Investigative Reporter, Pam Killeen interviews Alesandra Rain, survivor of

the fraudulent psychiatric industry and Co-Founder of Label Me Sane

http://www.labelmesane.com/ . The purpose of Label Me Sane is to raise awareness

of the

hazards of all drugs while offering viable solutions to withdraw safely and

return to a state of health.

 

Many of you may have a friend or a loved one who is suffering with a mental

illness. This interview may offer them hope as Alesandra tells a very shocking

story about her own recovery. After being inappropriately “labeled†by

psychiatry and put on psychiatric drugs, her situation only worsened. She knew

she

had to get off of the drugs in order to get her life back. She learned that it

can be very difficult to come off of these drugs. Fortunately, she was able to

find a real solution to her health crisis. Now, with Label Me Saneâ„¢, she has

set out to help others who have fallen in the same trap.

 

 

Pam:

Can you tell us about how you were feeling before you started taking

psychiatric drugs?

 

Alesandra:

I was filled with anxiety and depression but the most troubling symptom was

insomnia. I couldn’t sleep for more than an hour or two and would wake up with

a deep sense of dread. Although I was completely exhausted, I just couldn’t

shut my mind down.

 

Pam:

I had the same symptoms you’re describing and feel terribly lucky that I

didn’

t fall into the psychiatric trap. Many people with these symptoms end up

seeing psychiatrists and are prescribed very dangerous drugs. What happened

after

you started taking psychiatric drugs?

 

Alesandra:

I was prescribed Klonopin which is a very strong benzodiazepine (‘benzo’).

The first night I thought it was a miracle drug as I slept. Within a short

period of time I reached tolerance and sleep eluded me again. The dosage was

immediately increased and additional drugs were added to the cocktail. Within a

short period of time I was on Effexor, Klonopin, Restoril, Ambien, Sinequan and

Norco for pain. This is the cocktail I remained on for over ten years. The

changes in my personality included hostility, aggression, and short-tempered

responses to those people I loved most. I began to lose significant portions of

my

personality including short-term memory loss and strong homicidal and suicidal

prevailing thoughts. Each time I went back to my psychiatrist and described

what I was experiencing, he stated that my chemical imbalance was increasing

and therefore he increased the prescribed doses.

 

Pam:

Why did you stop taking these drugs?

 

Alesandra:

My body and mind were deteriorating and I ended up permanently disabled as a

result of my spine deteriorating and diminishing mental health. One day I just

saw all the pills lining my medicine cabinet and realized there had to be a

better way to live. I had spent 10 years listening to the “chemical

imbalanceâ€

diagnosis, only to have my symptoms never improve. I just knew there had to

be a better way to live and I wanted my life back.

 

Pam:

I recently saw an interview with Brooke Shields where she describes coming

off of Paxil as being a horrible experience. If these drugs are really helping

people with a mood disorder such as depression or anxiety, they shouldn’t feel

so terrible coming off of them. What happened when you stopped taking these

drugs?

 

Alesandra:

I’ve had 34 surgeries on my legs and spine and the totality of pain from the

operations paled in comparison to the horror of trying to quit these drugs. I

was told the drugs were non-addictive and to drop 50%, which I did. For the

next month I had the worst flu of my life while the terror and panic continued

to escalate. I developed a horrible staph infection in the hardware in my spine

and spent months in the hospital fighting the infection. I could not reduce

the medications any further as I was having continual blackouts and fighting

suicidal and homicidal thoughts. Eventually, I went to a treatment center in

Sundance, Utah where I kicked all the drugs cold-turkey.

 

My withdrawals were the most terrifying experience as they lasted 24 hours a

day for months. I couldn’t lie down for the first 17 days and when I did

sleep, it came in clumsy chunks filled with adrenaline surges. My hallucinations

lasted for nearly two months and my skin did not feel like it had any relation

to my body. I watched heroin addicts and people coming off crystal-meth and was

shocked that they were through the worst of the withdrawals in 3-5 days.

Those of us coming off psychiatric meds suffered deeply for many months. I was

the

only one who made it as the rest either left and went back on the drugs or

committed suicide. I stayed for three months and then returned to Los Angeles

determined to find a program to help people withdraw so they would not have to

suffer as I had.

 

Pam:

Why do the psychiatrists keep people on these drugs for so long when they

know about the adverse effects?

 

Alesandra:

There is a dangerous paradox that occurs with psychiatric drugs. The side

effects and withdrawals look like the mental illness that was treated initially,

and as a result is often misunderstood and additional meds are prescribed. I

also think that the field of Psychiatry has clearly become an industry of

medications. Psychology is centered more on talk-therapy or other methods that

do

not employ drugs, but Psychiatry is only about drugging. Each time I saw my

psychiatrist the visits lasted generally 15-30 minutes and resulted in

prescriptions. I was never asked about my diet or vitamin supplements or even

given

blood work.

 

Although Psychiatrists are medical doctors, they do not diagnose based on

physical proof but rather on a list of symptoms. No other branch of medicine

would be allowed to prescribe without verification of the diagnoses. Even

receiving any antibiotic from a General Practitioner requires proof of

infection.

 

My underlying symptoms were due to high levels of Mercury and a severe

vitamin-B deficiency as I am part of the 50% of the public who cannot metabolize

B

vitamins in a pill or liquid form. Ironically, the symptoms of B deficiency are

depression, anxiety, insomnia and spinal degeneration. More troubling are the

fact that drugs strip the body of both B vitamins and the most valuable

antioxidant, glutathione. When glutathione levels are low, the side effects of

the

drugs become more pronounced. Yet my psychiatrist never tested for vitamin

deficiency or toxic metals. Instead I was given a life sentence which meant

drugs. It is truly shameful.

 

Pam: I agree. Tell us about the new Medicare plan and what that will mean for

unsuspecting patients.

 

Alesandra:

President Bush signed the Medicare Act of 2003 that will be in effect

beginning January 2006. The bill was meant to be a cost-cutting measure for

prescription drugs and other services to both Medicare recipients and

Medicaid/Medical

patients nationwide. Benzodiazepines will be eliminated from Coverage for any

elderly or low-income patient. This class of drugs includes Valium, Klonopin,

Xanax, Ativan, Ambien and many others and is considered one of the most

addictive group of drugs in the world. The manufacturers of benzodiazepines

state

that the drugs should not be abruptly discontinued as it can result in stroke or

seizure. The withdrawals are not only life-threatening but are excruciating,

and yet the elderly will be thrown into immediate benzo withdrawals if they

cannot afford to pay for their medications. As the majority of seniors are on

fixed-incomes, they will not be able to afford the full price of their

medications and will therefore be facing life-threatening withdrawals. My

additional

concern is that these same people entering benzo withdrawal will then be

prescribed anti-psychotic medications which currently have a black-box warning

for

seniors and also have side effects that include psychosis and severe weight gain

that has increased risk of diabetes.

 

Pam:

Lately, through advertising and media coverage, they have been really pushing

mental illness. For example: Watch for depression in children at school; many

children are suffering with depression; obesity causes depression. Many ads

are suggesting that people have some new mental illness or another. This type

of campaign is CRAZY. Nowhere do they mention cause or treatment. They seem to

be pushing a “ " Fear and Consumption†" campaign. In fact, it looks to me like

the shareholders to the pharmaceutical companies must be unhappy. Shares must

be down, hence more propaganda from Big Pharma.

 

Alesandra:

In 1997, the FDA allowed the pharmaceutical companies to implement

Direct-to-Consumer marketing in the United States. This created a whirlwind of

images to

flow into our living rooms that marketed the illusion of happiness. Fifty

years ago fear sold, and images that evoked fear pushed drug sales. A decade ago

the marketing campaigns included cartoon ads that pushed Zoloft sales to

record highs. But in the last five years the campaigns have become even cleverer

with the promise of a good life or perfect relationship. The ads have paid off

for Big Pharma as they are showing record profits and are endangering millions

of lives in the process. To think there are drug ads that encourage parents to

medicate their child with a drug that is very similar to

crystal-methamphetamine and yet there are " Say No to Drugs " signs within all

schools. How do we

explain this contradiction to our children?

 

Pam:

Dr. Abram Hoffer has had much success over the years treating mental illness

using nutrition. What can you say to people suffering with mental illness, to

those who suspect they have mental illness, or to those who have become

zombies by taking psychiatric drugs? People deserve to live full lives...full of

excitement, love, joy, energy etc...

 

Alesandra:

I was fearful when I came off the drugs that I would have a life of

depression, anxiety and poor health. My spine was deteriorating and I was

plagued with

insomnia and depression. I saw more holistic physicians in an attempt to

determine what was wrong with my body and was told continually that I had severe

nutritional deficiencies. Within a few months on a whole food supplement regime,

my body and mind felt young, pain-free and most importantly, the anxiety and

depression have been completely eliminated. It has truly taught me that our

mind is a reflection of what is occurring in the body. Once the body is

balanced, the mind naturally follows suit.

 

Seven years ago Jim Harper researched exactly how psychiatric medications are

metabolized and also how to use nutritional supplements to raise glutathione

and eliminate the withdrawal side effects. His program is outlined in The Road

Back - How To Get Off Drugs Safely

[ http://www.theroadback.org/ ] that has been successful in tapering over

10,000 individuals off all types of psychiatric medications, without the

horrible

side effects I experienced. Our organization, Label Me Saneâ„¢, utilizes this

extraordinary method and have people tapering within every state in the United

States as well as on four continents. We have a network of physicians

nationwide that are trained in the program to work with any individual seeking a

way

to safely withdraw.

 

I never would have dreamed that my nightmare withdrawing from these

medications could result in an international organization that is dedicated to

raising

awareness as well as assisting individuals to withdraw safely and return to a

state of health.

 

Pam:

Thank you for sharing your story with us. How can people find out more

information about Label Me Saneâ„¢?

 

Alesandra:

For more information call toll free

866.628.6135

or visit http://www.labelmesane.com/