Help 'Overdosing' as a method of self-harm

[Heartaches]

I'm aware that using over-the-counter and prescribed meds to treat mental illness as a way to CTB is unviable. But what about using them as self-harm tools? Not strong enough to kill you, but enough to hurt you in someway.

I've been feeling really strong urges since last night to consume a higher amount of quetiapine to hurt myself. Cutting doesn't seem as inticing as it used to.

I realize this is a strange question, but sometimes I feel I need to harm myself in order to get back into my senses. That's how I felt after my attempt. It's not a healthy coping mechanism, but the urges are driving me nuts.

Have any of you tried this? How did it go?

 

[Cauliflour]

I once tried to overdose on calpol when I was 14 and I think that's why paracetamol pills don't completely get rid of period pain for me nowadays.

I also heard overdosing on vitamin pills is bad for you because something to do with the vitamin A so take with that what you will.

 

[hippiedeath]

I used it as a cry for help years ago. Downed a full bottle of zyprexa; I was in the hospital for a week and the psyche ward for a week. I was in a stupor for a day or two after. I wasn't trying to kill myself; I knew it was unlikely on psyche meds I had.

 

[EvisceratedJester]

@willitpass has talked about using OTC meds to SH and supposedly it's incredibly uncomfortable. Along with that, OTC and prescription meds can still do a lot of damage to your body when taken in high amounts. I've tried ODing before on hydroxyzine and it was an awful experience. I would recommend against this, and against SHing in general.

 

[orbit]

I've overdosed on different kinds of painkiller, antidepressants and other random pills as ctb attempts in the past.

I don't think it's a good idea. You don't know in which way those pills will harm you. Everyone reacts differently and the effects of it on your body may not be physically apparent.

NEVER use something like antibiotics, over use of antibiotics contributes to the creation of antibiotic resistant bacteria which could harm others.

If you're going to SH do it safely. Do it with a method that you understand the damage that you're inflicting onto yourself and have the necessary equipment to tend to your wounds after.

 

[Space_Road_1979]

I self harm by cutting, burning and overdosing. For me it's usually sertraline or OTC medications so I can't say what quetiapine will do but I can speak from my experience but I really would advise against it because it can make you really sick and honestly at times feel hellish.

Sertraline:
In the short term I've developed serotonin syndrome almost everytime (which I've heard quetiapine may cause) and the symptoms of that depend on severity but you can expect vomiting/nausea,/diarrhea, shaking, dilated pupils, hyperthermia (high body temp), agitation and racing heartbeat. The mental symptoms (to me) are usually worse compared to the physical symptoms, I've gotten very bad insomnia, confusion, high anxiety and I get easily startled, hallucinations, delusions and akathisia. The mental symptoms may worsen a prexisting mental illness.

This gets it's own section but you run the risk of developing akathisia when overdosing on psychatric meds. Akathisia is hellish. It's medically it's defined as this intense inner restlessness and need to move but that fully describe it. This isn't like normal restlessness, the urge to move feels irresistable and no matter what you do it won't go away. For me when I tried to sit still or sleep it'd feel this intense inner doom and mental itchiness and pacing around/rocking would help a little but not fully. By the end of it you'llbe exhausted and wanting to put your head through a wall.

Long term I've developed visual snow syndrome, which is little static like particles, in my vision that won't go away. For a while I had high blood pressure and lingering racing heart beat but that has gone away.

OTC (Paracetamol):
In my experience you'll probably need the hospital because of the risk of liver failure/damage. While you don't get much mental symptoms (before the liver damage that is), I tend to get uncontrollably sick that the hospital can't fix until the antidote has done most of it's work. If you take the ones with added caffeine then you also get a caffeine overdose which will make you very shakey, anxious, and runs the risk of a heart attack.

TLDR: If you can, avoid it. Self harm by overdosing isn't worth all the trouble even if it isn't fatal. But if you need risk reduction/aftercare advice feel free to ask me.

 

[deletedaccount30982]

@willitpass has talked about using OTC meds to SH and supposedly it's incredibly uncomfortable. Along with that, OTC and prescription meds can still do a lot of damage to your body when taken in high amounts. I've tried ODing before on hydroxyzine and it was an awful experience. I would recommend against this, and against SHing in general.

I am of course very late to this thread, however I would strongly recommend against doing this. I've been doing it for years and while I have a somehow almost unnaturally resilient body and have avoided any long term effects from it, not many would be so lucky. Obviously the risk of accidentally overdoing it and dying unintentionally is generally not a deterrent to the suicidal, and long term damage doesn't mean much when you don't plan on living long. I can't talk you out of doing what you want to do, but I would really try to do all that you can to avoid it. You will feel fatigued beyond what words can describe, I was constantly incredibly nauseous and frequently threw up green bile. I am pretty confident I had a minor GI bleed at some points, which was uncomfortable and smelled horrific. I was dizzy, my ears would ring, my head always hurt. I was incredibly pale and people often worried about how unwell I looked. Some days I would feel like I was going to die in my sleep because of how awful I felt, and while that was comforting to believe I may not die, it was still a very uncomfortable feeling physically. Eventually it got to the point where I was no longer able to sleep more than a couple of hours a night and became paranoid and would hallucinate.

I more than understand the desire to severely self harm, and I cannot stop you from doing what you will do, but I hope for your sake you can hold out. I would not wish the hell I have been in on anyone.

 

[deep-sleeper]

I did this once with Isotretinoin, I thought I was on the verge of OD. Pretty scary stuff considering that I only took 3 pills instead of the usual 2 that I was taking daily

 

[guapogato]

done it unintentionally and intentionally with prescription (hydroxyzine like someone else mentioned) medication and other times with OTC pain meds. the good thing about it was disappearing from the world via sleep for ages and it's kinda what i count on. but there's the obvious caviet of it going wrong with too much of any medication and being incredibly painful (which is likely the sign you've reached the point of OD), so it's something you'll have to weigh the worth of for yourself.
I'm not recommending you to SH, especially via ODing (bad idea that doesn't quite make sense for momentary SH relief, the reward =/= consequences). however there's a lot worse ways to hurt yourself, so... please be advised if you're going to do it, don't take anything to the point of ODing unless you're prepared for the pain, or are prepared to not recover from it at all. I don't know a lot about different medications but i hope if you do continue it'll at least bring you some relief/not be too dangerous for you, if you're just trying to SH please be careful!

 

[EmptyBottle]

idk if clapping ones hands until they hurt would be helpful... also medications can be almost unpredictable.

 

[Nightfoot]

This seems like a very risky method of self harm as medication overdoses can have unpredictable effects.