How to Start
How
to Start:
All of the chapters of the book,
How to Get Off
Psychoactive Drugs Safely, are available here in their
entirety, just click on the chapter heading.
If you would like to receive the book as a free pdf file and save
to your computer,
click here.
Introduction by James Harper
AFTER ELEVEN
YEARS of research, assisting tens of thousands of people to
get off their psychoactive medication, this book is the
final and closing chapter of the development of The Road
Back Program. More...
1. The Road Back Basics
THE ROAD BACK
Program is a very specific, heavily researched, proven
program. This program is designed to help people get off all
types of psychoactive medications, while reducing to almost
zero the crippling side effects often associated with coming
off the medication. More...
2. The Four Simple Steps
STEP ONE
Do Not Stop Your
Medications Abruptly.
More...
3. "Nutritionals" Used on The
Road Back Program
In 1999, we were assisting
individuals off their medication without using nutritional
supplements by having people gradually reduce the dosage. We
came up with a slow tapering process, wherein the drug was
only tapered further when a person felt they could handle
the withdrawal side effects caused by the previous taper of
the medication. Roughly 50% of the people could taper off
their medication using a gradual taper, but the 50% that
successfully got off their medication still suffered extreme
withdrawal side effects.
More...
4. Drug Side Effects
This chapter
lists many possible side effects experienced from either
taking these drugs, or when trying to withdraw from them. If
you, or anyone you know, are taking any of these drugs the
“real you” could well be buried under some of the following
symptoms. But rest assured, no one has all of these side
effects, and no single drug or combination of these drugs
can produce all the side effects listed here.
More...
5. Things to Be Aware of
THERE ARE SEVERAL
medical situations you need to be aware of before you start
this program. First let me repeat, check with your doctor
before starting this program. Medically and physically, do
this for your health and safety as you travel through this
process. More...
6. General Pre-Tapering and Taper
Instructions
As you start your road back, I want your
journey to be as successful and as smooth as possible.
Therefore, I repeat; you cannot simply quit your
prescription medications cold turkey. The illegal use of
prescription drugs are the most abused drugs by young adults
and teens at this time, and that may present a little
difficulty with tapering off of psychoactive medications
slowly for you, if you are using the drug without a
prescription. You still need to taper the drugs to help
prevent the psychotic episodes associated with an abrupt
withdrawal. Go to the chapter of this book that details how
to reduce the medication and follow the instructions as
closely as possible.
More...
7. Daily Journal
8. Graph Your Success
It will
greatly help you track your progress and allow you to look
back at how far you have come by using a graph for each
symptom you are rating each day.
More...
9. Antianxiety,
Anticonvulsants, Benzodiazepine, and Sleep Medication
Pre-Taper
This pre-taper addresses several types of medication,
as indicated in the chapter title. For the rest of this
chapter, the word “benzodiazepine” is used alone to
encompass all of the medications included in the chapter
title (Benzodiazepine, Antianxiety, Anticonvulsant and Sleep
Medication).
More...
10.
Time Release Antidepressant Pre-Taper
Please Note:
This pre-taper is for individuals taking a
time-release antidepressant. Your brand may be called;
extended release sustained release or any other name that
means the antidepressant will metabolize slowly, over an
extended period of time.
More....
11. Antidepressant Pre-Taper
You may already be in withdrawal before you found The Road
Back Program. Please hang in there; relief can come very
quickly for you. Most people are never able to get off an
antidepressant due to the head symptoms that are common with
reducing this type of medication. It does not matter if you
are taking one of the old types of antidepressants or the
newer SSRI’s, relief is possible and the symptoms can be
reversed quickly.
More...
12. Antipsychotic
Medication Pre-Taper
Antipsychotics disrupt additional balances within the body
and the drug created conditions need to be addressed. In the
past years, antipsychotics were only prescribed for
schizophrenia, bipolar, psychosis and extreme mental
disturbances, but that is no longer the case. This edition
of the book includes the recent breakthroughs that
dramatically reduce the side effects and major symptoms
associated with antipsychotic medication as well as the
normal mental symptoms people may be experiencing that might
prompt a physician to prescribe this class of medication
initially.
More...
13. ADD, ADHD Medication and
Stimulants Pre-Taper
The authors
are assuming you were prescribed this class of medication
for Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit
Hyperactivity Disorder. The pre-taper and the supplements
used in this program will not only help eliminate
withdrawal, but will probably give your body some basic
nutrients it was lacking before the diagnosis and are
probably one of the root causes of the symptoms you
experienced.
More...
14. How to Taper Antianxiety,
Anticonvulsants, Benzodiazepines, and Sleep Medication
Reduce the medication
gradually and if side effects begin that are too severe, go
back to the last dosage you were doing fine with, get stable
again and then reduce the medication again, but this time at
a slower reduction amount. More...
15. How to Taper Antidepressants
THE FDA HAS published approved guidelines for
tapering off these medications. Those guidelines are what
the authors published a decade ago and this approach is as
effective now as it was in 1999. The American Medical
Association published a report in 2010 acknowledging at
least 10% of the population will not be able to get off
their antidepressant because of the withdrawal side effects.
One particular side effect associated with antidepressant
withdrawal is the “brain zaps.” This is an electrical jolt
that runs from the base of the neck to the base of the skull
and the jolt can happen several times a day or non-stop.
More...
16. How to Taper
Antipsychotic Medication
THE FDA HAS published approved guidelines for tapering off
these medications. Those guidelines are what the authors
published a decade ago and this approach is as effective now
as it was in 1999.
More...
17. How to Taper ADD, ADHD
Medication and Stimulant Medication
Reducing the Medication
Reduce the medication gradually and if side effects begin
that are too severe, go back to the last dosage you were
doing fine with, get stable again and then reduce the
medication again, but this time at a slower reduction
amount.
More...
18. How to Taper Multiple
Medications
With our breakthroughs this past year,
people are now able to taper off more than one medication at
a time. The JNK Formula Complete, Neuro Day, Neuro Night
have made this possible and this new breakthrough cuts the
time it takes a person to be medication free
dramatically. There are still some
things that need to be watched when reducing more than one
medication at a time.
More...
19. What to Do If You Are
Already in Withdrawal or Quit Your Medication Cold Turkey
The key to handling withdrawal side effects when you begin
to reduce the medication is: Put Control Back in the Process
Again.
Roughly 80% of the people who begin The Road Back Program
have already started to taper off their medication or have
gone off their medication abruptly and are experiencing
withdrawal side effects. The recommendations or suggestions
offered in this chapter come from years of experience
assisting these individuals.
More...
20. Once Off All Medication
CONGRATULATIONS!
If
anyone
ever
deserved
a
celebration
party
for
an accomplishment
,it
is
you.
You
not
only
made
it
off
your
medication,
but
also
adhered
to
a schedule
most
other
people
have
never
had
to
confront.
Only you
can
know
what
I
mean.
More...
21. What Can be Done If You Have
Never Taken Psychoactive Medication
If you are suffering from
anxiety, stress that does not seem to end,
fatigue or a host of
symptoms, you absolutely have an alternative
to psychoactive
medication.
First: Get
a
complete physical
and have the physician rule out
all disease
or illness.
There can be
life events that were the direct cause of
depression, anxiety,
stress, fatigue and more. Usually,
these feelings go
away on their own in a matter of
days or weeks
without you doing anything
other than letting some
time pass.
More...
22.
Frequently Asked Questions
THIS CHAPTER MAINLY
addresses questions about the supplements used on the
program. Reducing the medication is fairly straightforward.
You reduce the drug slowly and if side effects become too
unbearable, go back to the last dosage you were doing fine
with, get stable and the next time you reduce the drug,
reduce it slower.
More...
23. The Science
Statements of fact:
All psychoactive medications metabolize through specific
pathways. All psychoactive medications alter the
Hypothalamus Pituitary-Adrenal Axis to some degree. To some
extent, you can predict the duration before drug-adverse
reactions begin with most psychoactive drugs; if the
patient's P450 (CYP) enzymes have been screened.
More...
References
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