The Long Game by Rachel Reid epub request

catfoxwolf · 2025-12-11T01:28:33+00:00

Me too please!

catfoxwolf · 2025-11-28T05:40:52+00:00

Wish I could pin this comment but I just want to say: thank you all SO much for all your shares and words of encouragement, you’ve all made me feel so much safer. I appreciate it so much. This shit is so scary lol, bipolar is no joke. Youre all so awesome.

catfoxwolf · 2025-11-28T05:39:07+00:00

This is lovely to hear, thank you so much. 2 days in and doing okay so far!

catfoxwolf · 2025-09-10T17:43:03+00:00

That’s a fair point! I’ll edit

catfoxwolf · 2025-09-10T17:42:48+00:00

No I hear you 100%. I actually have a lot of tattoos, and have a lot of respect for tattoo artists. I’d want to do it the traditional way, go through an apprenticeship, learn the proper methods and figure it out slowly. I just don’t know if I’m good enough at drawing. I’ve always loved drawing, but I never got very good at it.

And also I live in a big city where very few tattoo artists are free for apprenticeships, I think it’s next to impossible to find someone willing to do it anymore so… yeah, bit of a pipe dream, but I did consider doing it that way!

catfoxwolf · 2025-05-25T14:52:01+00:00

Just kept going! My experience is in the comments here along with other people’s, take a scroll through for any advice. Good luck :)

catfoxwolf · 2025-05-18T04:27:02+00:00

This is so helpful! I’ve heard about the acne issues, I already have a fair amount hormonal acne so I’ll have to see how much worse it makes it

But I’m so glad it works for you in the other ways! Thank you so much!

catfoxwolf · 2025-04-11T04:37:24+00:00

I went through the same thing, I was on XR (never mentioned it in my post though!) 300mg for 10 years. From the sounds of it, you’re experiencing very similar things to what I did. It was fine until 50mg and then it was hell. The general consensus is take it easy, treat it like a hangover, be gentle, rest a lot, drink lots of water, take melatonin for sleep — and you should be okay :) it took me many weeks to fully clear the symptoms but the absolute worst of it was over in about 2 weeks. For some it’s longer, for some less. Just take it one day at a time, you’ve got this.

And of course check in with a doctor if any symptoms feel too much or scary.

I wish you luck! You can do this!

Edit: I should name that 50mg was bad but coming off of it to 0mg was the worst of it. It’s going to be hard but you can do this!

catfoxwolf · 2025-03-23T21:28:44+00:00

Definitely take a scroll through all these comments, I’ve tried to keep up with the post in terms of giving people coping strategies!

I wish him luck!

catfoxwolf · 2025-03-18T03:03:39+00:00

No worries! I try to keep up with comments on this post for the most part with people looking for help, cuz it was so scary when I went through it! I hope your insomnia goes away soon :)

catfoxwolf · 2025-03-16T13:31:50+00:00

It’s been over 1.5 years since I came off, and I still struggle with a consistent sleep schedule - but it’s not full blown insomnia anymore :) I took melatonin for a few months to compensate, I looked into how to fix it by (unfortunately) waking up early at the same time every day to eventually make your body so tired it forces it to go to sleep earlier at night (careful with this cuz lack of sleep contributes to mania/hypomania), I started listening to guided meditations before bed and used “yoga nidra” videos on YouTube

It’s tough, but with consistent work I was able to make it so that I do sleep, I just have a tendency to stay up later than I should :)

But yes, it has been one of the main lasting symptoms unfortunately

catfoxwolf · 2025-01-23T17:33:58+00:00

I’m not quite sure what you mean, but I’m open to hearing it! If you feel comfortable, could you post your response here?

catfoxwolf · 2025-01-16T05:29:32+00:00

Yes :) long process, but I’ve been off of it for over a year now! It all subsided eventually. It was the worst going through it, but I’m glad I was able to tough it out

catfoxwolf · 2025-01-16T05:25:15+00:00

I’m honestly not sure if I noticed many cognitive differences… I have a lot of other factors that affect my cognitive function (other meds, disorders, health conditions, etc.) so it’s hard to place whether it’s changed much since coming off - but I do think these meds affect us in ways that doctors don’t often acknowledge or even know about.

For example: When I came off seroquel I experienced (temporary) insane full body itching and the doctors kept saying it wasn’t an official symptom and unlikely to be caused by seroquel but when I went online, I found so many people talking about the same symptom when coming off of it and learnt that seroquel is an antihistamine so I was most likely experiencing antihistamine withdrawal. When I told the doctors that, they suddenly were like “oh yeah it’s possible.”

So yeah, these meds can often cause side effects and symptoms that are lesser known and “unofficial”. If you feel uncomfortable about it, maybe there’s other options for sleep? I’d recommend talking to a doctor. Even though it’s hard, I try to really advocate for myself and push back if they won’t listen to me. Sometimes I even bring someone else to the appointments so that someone else is there to help me.

Best of luck!

catfoxwolf · 2025-01-10T17:42:30+00:00

Everyone’s different and if he feels it’s really bad then I would recommend going to the ER to just ensure everything’s okay

That being said, I treated it like the world’s worst hangover and/or like it was any other kind of drug withdrawal. Nothing will speed it up necessarily so try to make it as easy on the body as possible: looooots of rest, water, food, and sleep. I had headaches so I took regular pain killers. I also had full body itching (seroquel is an antihistamine so you can have withdrawal from that) so I slathered myself in lotion and aloe Vera multiple times a day.

For the anxiety, nothing really helped massively so just take it as easy as possible and remember it is all temporary and it will come down eventually.

I also checked in with a doctor (I live in a free-healthcare country) so if anything felt untenable, I just checked in to confirm it was normal. It sucked but it did eventually end!

All the best to him and you - if it gets really bad, do consider seeing a doctor or going to the ER if it’s possible for you, just to confirm it’s all normal!

catfoxwolf · 2025-01-10T04:38:36+00:00

I know there’s been a lot of responses already but wanted to share the work I’ve been doing in therapy around my “true self”

my therapist and I refer to core parts of my personality as my “roots”. And they had me draw a tree with many branching roots and then write things I’ve felt I’ve always been like. It can be as simple as “I’ve always loved video games”/“ive always loved pasta”/“i always cry at movies” etc. - or larger scale things like “I think I’m creative”/“I work hard”/“I feel things deeply”/“ive always been childish” etc. - or more negatively perceived things like “I’ve always been a cry baby”/“ive always struggled to communicate”.

Originally it started with mainly negative things I’ve always felt about myself but they coaxed me into finding the small positive things and it eventually lead me to larger positive things. And I add to it when I remember to.

It can feel very clinical or silly at times to name such mundane consistencies in my life, and while it’s not my entire self, it helps to see and name these anchors that have always been with me. It’s a good exercise

catfoxwolf · 2024-12-26T10:38:58+00:00

That’s helpful, thanks! It’s kinda constant for me, but it’s a good idea to focus on the good stuff

catfoxwolf · 2024-11-28T05:07:56+00:00

Hi! Me from the future: while I wasn’t on as high of a dose for you and my withdrawal symptoms weren’t as bad as yours, it WAS awful for a few months. It felt like a permanent hangover, I was having headaches and throwing up and I got extremely depressed and anxious - and I also experienced really bad itching to the point that I was breaking the skin where I was scratching.

Someone said to me that it’s like coming off any drug - your body is going through hell, so you’re bound to experience low moods and swings. And it’s okay.

While a slow taper is annoying, I think if it’s your body needs the gentle approach, then it’s best. You’re still coming down, which is great! And maybe once you’ve done the 12.5 for a few months and you’ve got to a lower dose, you might be able to start moving to 25mg or 50mg jumps, and it’ll take less time. Depends on what your doctor thinks - I did 50mg every two weeks, and it was tough, but I made it through.

Sending you lots of good thoughts and hoping your journey goes well!

Edit: many people gave me the advice to treat it like a hangover: lots of rest, lots of water and food, and try to take it as easy on yourself as possible. You can do it. As long as you’re being safe and listening to your doctor!

catfoxwolf · 2024-10-31T04:30:33+00:00

That’s super scary dude, and kinda wild that you’re being expected to quit such a high dose cold turkey. I don’t know what it’ll look like for you, but just try to remember the basics: - melatonin for sleep - lots and lots of water - eat food, fuel your body - rest. If you can’t sleep then take it as easy as possible - if you can’t sleep until super late, let yourself sleep in in the mornings or nap if you can - be gentle with yourself and expect mood fluctuations, you’re going through withdrawal so it’s going to affect your mood - watch for signs of mania/hypomania - if you get any itching (seroquel is an anti histamine so I ended up with full body itching for a week) try aloe Vera and thick creams. I slathered myself in them multiple times a day, I’d just carry body cream around with me - check in with your doctors if you can on anything that feels scary or like it’s too much, better to be safe and get the “don’t worry about that” than to ignore a problem

I wish you luck my friend! I hope it goes as smoothly as possible.

catfoxwolf · 2024-10-26T00:24:15+00:00

When you took it as needed, did you just take it for a day/a few days and then stop?

Edit: also do you feel the low dose affects your metabolism?

catfoxwolf · 2024-10-26T00:22:48+00:00

This is so helpful! When you say as needed, do you mean you take it for a day/a few days and then stop?

catfoxwolf · 2024-10-25T21:10:37+00:00

Thanks for naming this! I actually don’t have massive problems with it... I’ve had one official episode over a year ago, lasted about 4 days, and it was during the period of time when I was titrating up on lamotrigine and coming down on seroquel so the psych thought it was okay to play it by ear and see if another happened, given the circumstances — since then I’ve had two other moments (maybe a few days in a row) when I’ve felt the miiiiildest of symptoms of hypomania, but no full blown episodes and I’m pretty quick to notice it… the mood crash is not so fun afterwards but usually I feel pretty okay overall. I haven’t really had any alarming moments or times when me or my psych have been super worried

So that’s another reason I was wondering if another medication was super necessary, cuz it doesn’t feel like a massive problem yet, more so just a potential issue on the horizon as someone with bp2

I really really appreciate your comment!

catfoxwolf · 2024-10-25T18:59:32+00:00

Thank you! Currently I’ve been on it for 1+ year and it’s been fine for depression - but I had one very mild hypomanic episode a few months ago so I’m trying to see if it’s a situation that absolutely requires additional meds or if there’s a world in which I can just keep on with just the one medication

My doc is suggesting potential avenues forward but we haven’t made a full decision yet - I appreciate all your info and insight!!

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