Laura Devlin

Gardener, Herbalism enthusiast. Pharmacist
Passionate about deprescribing

[jc @atomicaceso]

I wonder when he’ll figure out they’re the same people at different stages of “treatment”?

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

@atomicaceso I was in the die hard “I can’t live without these” crowd for decades. To go from that to absolutely disabled by them was a turnaround that was very hard for me to accept. But it became impossible to deny over time.

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

We just can’t test for the damage caused by psych meds yet

Thousands spent on testing!

So many appointments

Years of research

Some doctor saying “that’s from the meds” would have been so helpful

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

I had everything tested

Tachy and PVCs were “normal” according to cards

“New onset IBS” from gastro, try low FODMAP

Vision issues? perfect eye exam

balance issues? normal brain MRI

Vestibular testing - normal

It’s a horrifying medical no-mans-land

[Ex mental health nurse 🦘🐨 @Australia_MH]

If I’d gone to a doctor and told them all my symptoms when I came off 50mg sertraline, they would’ve diagnosed me with a severe gastric disorder(s), eating disorder, sexual dysfunction, hypothyroidism, chronic fatigue, depression, anxiety, suicidal & homicidal ideation, agitation, sleep disorder, cognitive impairment/early onset dementia, panic disorder, hypotension, postural hypotension, tachycardia, palpitations, rashes of unknown origin, and anaemia. They would’ve sectioned me, detained me, and ‘scoped’, scanned, poked and prodded most of my body.
I never went near a doctor, managed it all myself, not a single pharmaceutical. It was terrifying and it was hell. I had not had these symptoms prior.
Using a private laboratory - all my bloods are now 100% normal (they were a train wreck for a while) and I’m about 95% better - some lingering gut issues & zero tolerance for BS, which I’m still working on.

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

@RecoveryDoctor @markhoro @angpeacock1111 @BadreNicolas @DavidJuurlink Getting better every year, still some things hanging on that I’m working on. The vestibular things seem the trickiest, but at least it comes and goes.

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

@RecoveryDoctor @markhoro @angpeacock1111 @BadreNicolas @DavidJuurlink I couldn’t stand up to shower for a year. This was after tapering clonaz at 2% a month
My heart raced, I felt dizzy, my balance awful. My vestib system took a big hit, the floor felt like moss for yrs. I did PT, I had to quit work and was on disability for a yr to finish taper.

[Adam Urato, MD @AdamUrato1]

Serotonin plays a crucial role in bone health & SSRIs have chemical effects on bone.

In this NEW STUDY, serotonergic antidepressants (eg SSRI/SNRIs) were associated with more than a 2-fold increase in the odds of nonunion following spinal fusion.

"exposure to SSRIs impairs osteoblast differentiation, reduces mineralization, & degrades trabecular bone microarchitecture, reflecting a shift toward impaired bone formation & increased resorption." https://t.co/7NPgViGBhl

[Dr. Roger McFillin @DrMcFillin]

People are never told this: The longer you remain on antidepressants the chances of turning an episodic emotional struggle into chronic disability increases dramatically.

[Dr Joanna Moncrieff @joannamoncrieff]

Call for volunteers: CALLING ALL PEOPLE LIVING IN CANADA WHO HAVE BEEN PRESCRIBED AN ANTIDEPRESSANT! Mad in Canada has created a short survey aimed at shedding light on the informed consent process experienced by adults who are living in Canada, and who have been prescribed antidepressants at some point in their life. Our survey is not about whether people should or should not take antidepressants. It’s about what people are being told about the potential effects of antidepressants, when they are prescribed. Learn more and take the survey here. https://t.co/55dZTrTASJ

[Dr Joanna Moncrieff @joannamoncrieff]

Our analysis of the FDA approval of escitalopram in children with anxiety is finally published. In the approval trial, children were more likely to become suicidal on escitalopram than to improve, yet the drug was approved. We reveal the pro-drug bias of the regulatory system which is not protecting children's welfare. @markhoro @NaudetFlorian. https://t.co/7diqb3VjKo

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

https://t.co/otnljwPU0b

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

Horrifying. That blank feeling lasts well beyond discontinuation of the medication in many people. What are we doing to our brains? I’m glad there’s more discussion about it. The comments on the fb post are telling.
Link below

[Mark Horowitz @markhoro.bsky.social @markhoro]

This is a widely shared 'reel' on 'the Facebook' that has 750k views illustrating someone's experience of being numbed emotionally and cognitively dulled. One comment is 'why are those pupils so enlarged while the feelings so dampened' pointing to the overlap pharmacologically and phenomenologically with recreational drugs. Link below.

[Dr. Roger McFillin @DrMcFillin]

I've got a question that's been bugging me:
If Bipolar Disorder is cured with a Ketogenic diet... wasn't the original problem metabolic illness & just mischaracterized as a psychiatric illness?
That's not how modern psychiatry understands it, communicates it, or treats it. Although I tend to agree — we shouldn't use the term as if it's a discrete medical illness. Where else is this done in medicine?

A colleague of mine diagnosed with IBS lost 60lbs in 7 months on the ketogenic diet. No longer experiencing IBS symptoms. Blood pressure under control. Go to our sick care system and they will want to give you an antidepressant (SSRI) as a front line treatment — without any examination of diet or lifestyle.

This is centralized healthcare.

The ketogenic diet in mental health works because it helps people eliminate the poison. It removes the ultra-processed carbohydrates, the seed oils, the food additives, the sugar that feeds inflammatory processes. It forces the body to return to its evolutionary preference for fat metabolism.
Of course people feel better. They've stopped poisoning themselves. Many also got off toxic pharmaceuticals that create metabolic disease at the same time.

But let's be crystal clear: this isn't "curing mental illness" in the way it's being marketed. This is removing the chemicals that were making you sick in the first place. There's a fundamental difference — and that difference matters when we're talking about human suffering and how to address it.

I work with eating disorder clients, so I am used to behavioral interventions. I have implemented ketogenic diets with some, others shifting diet completely away from chemicals and processed junk. It's life changing — and more valuable than most interventions in mental health.

AWAKEN.

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

@lorifrank1 HA!
Same here.
Dropped off by Mom on the way in to work for early morning swim team. My sister would ride her bike to meet me there when the pool opened. Stay all day, eat at the snack bar (or snack from home or not?)
Dad comes and looks for us at 5 on his way home from work

[Wholesome Side of 𝕏 @itsme_urstruly]

i think some of us were designed for small villages where we could become permanently fond of like twelve people and one strange bird.

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

This realization can definitely kick a leg out from under you. As a pharmacist this was hard to accept, but my own suffering was clear evidence that I could no longer ignore.

[Laura Delano @LauraDelano]

The average psychiatric drug trial submitted to the FDA lasts just 6 to 8 weeks.

Yet many people remain on these medications for months, years, and sometimes decades.

Most patients never hear this, and many assume that long-term prescribing means long-term safety and effectiveness have been established.

I assumed that too for many years– until I realized how wrong I was.

@smerconish

[Kim Witczak 💜 @woodymatters]

Did you know Eli Lilly, maker of Prozac, secretly paid the victims $20 million to help ensure a verdict exonerating the drug company in mass shooting lawsuit 30 years ago?
https://t.co/k7x93RvgC1

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

@NormalGayPsych Them benzos are the problem, sis. Find a taper plan. Nope, not from your doc.

[Laura Devlin @elldev33]

My psychiatrist had “never seen someone have problems with tolerance or withdrawal” like I had.

Translation: he increases doses to mask tolerance and his patients never come off their Benzos.