Symptoms: Akathisia, sexual dysfunction, insomnia, suicidal ideation, severe anxiety/panic
In October 2018 I purchased 1.5 hectares of land on a mountain valley in Spain, near the Mediterranean Sea. I lived quite primitively, set up solar panels, a 4G internet antenna, a large van to sleep in, and a computer for working as a freelance programmer. Due to my lifestyle (raw paleo, no showering), a court-ordered involuntary internment was issued against me in September 2021, stating that I have OCD and some kind of "esquizotípico" personality disorder, and I was taken by force to a hospital. I was given medications by force (one medication that I don't remember and then sertraline, 50mg to 100mg for about a month). After 40 days in the hospital I was let free. I stayed in an apartment with my mom, but she reported my behavior to the doctors and social workers, and they put me in a psychiatric health center.
I tried quickly tapering down the sertraline, but about 1 month later I developed what I would call akathisia (restlessness, extreme impatience, need to walk all the time, can't sit or relax, insomnia, time moving very slowly, desire to kill myself to put away the suffering). I went to a hospital again, and they gave me various things that I don't remember, but it didn't help. 2–3 months later I went again to the hospital and received another cocktail of medications including some fluoxetine, and I ate a bit more than before. A month later the akathisia started to resolve and I slowly tapered down all my medication.
For about 2 months I was completely off medication and able to function again, but there was pressure on me in the center to take meds (everyone else did), so they issued a court order for me to take medication, this time Xeplion (an injection every month). I almost ran away from the center and didn't eat for a few days, and shortly after I had akathisia again. I was completely unable to function or concentrate on anything for more than a year. Just pure suffering.
In summer 2023, my brother talked with the center and they decided to stop the injections. I escaped again and almost killed myself from dehydration by sitting in a mountain area for 4 days without food or water. In August 2023 my father came to see me and took me to a neurologist who said I am low in iron and B vitamins and gave me sertraline (which I took), so I went many days with my father to eat steak lunches and then saw my mineral and vitamin deficiencies improving. After about 2 months my akathisia seemed to resolve and I have been functioning again since then.
The sertraline was up to 200mg for about 1–2 years and is now tapered to 150mg, and I am planning to taper more. I am not sure if the akathisia was caused by the sertraline, Xeplion, bad nutrition, or a combination of those. I also have numbness and sexual dysfunction and am still looking for a doctor who can write a note for the judge to let me be free.