keepinghope: withdrawing from Prozac

[Reflex]

Hi keeping hope

How are you doing?

I too am withdrawing/ tapering from Prozac over the last 22 months .

I too have had issues with sciatica, back pain, restless legs and was diagnosed with osteoarthritis needing a hip replacement.

I was given tramadol , naproxin Piotr to my operation

 

I had the operation 2.9.16 and was prescribed codeine and paracetamol for the pain. I was so concerned about the codeine addiction and possible withdrawal effects that I stopped taking it after about two weeks.

This week I feel some minor withdrawal effects. I can't believe that it is the impact of stopping the codeine but I have read enough on this site to know how difficult it is to get off of Ad and opiates.

 

Are you still taking codeine and Naproxin?

I now swear by ice as a pain relief and the use of my tens machine rather than medication.

Best wishes

Reflex

[O2bhappy]

keepinghope -

 

I wanted to check in and see how you are doing.

[keepinghope]

Hi Reflex, thanks for stopping by, sorry that it's taken me so long to reply. Sorry to hear about everything you've been going through. How did you find coming off the Tramadol? I was prescribed that too but was too scared to take it in the end when I found out it was half SNRI, along with Amitriptyline which I also didn't bother with after reading some withdrawal horror stories on google. 

 

I was on Naproxen but stopped that no problems after the end of my last flare up, also went down to 1 codeine a day, some days none, and seemed ok. I was back at work for 2 weeks last month, then went to see a physio and went right back to square one again, in even worse pain than before. Had to up the codeine and also got prescribed diazepam to help me sleep. I was in so much pain I took it. I only stayed on it for 6 days because I was so worried about withdrawal effects, and stopped taking it 8th Nov. Been having some withdrawal symptoms since then but got some good advice from Wellness on the benzo section of this forum, and I'm hoping they won't last long. 

 

Still on the codeine but down to 2-4 a day now (from 8) and seem ok. I know opiate withdrawal symptoms can be intense but from what I've heard they don't last as long as WD from psych drugs. How are you doing now? My current flare up seems to be tailing off, so I'll gradually wean myself down from the codeine, maybe splitting pills if I can (they're so tiny though!) Got an appointment (finally!) with a neurosurgeon next month. 

Hope you're recovering well from your op, and your prozac taper is going well. I absolutely think you're right about not taking the pain meds if you can help it. Currently kicking myself for taking the diazepam, as now I've got the morning cortisol surges back, along with loss of appetite and nausea. Sleeping ok though, so that's a plus. 

 

I have been having some success with herbal tinctures. This current flare up tailed off a couple of days after I started taking Skullcap tincture - which is supposed to be good for nerve pain. Could be a coincidence but I went from constant agony to back up walking about within 2 days so I don't know. I also find inhaling Valerian Root essential oil when I'm in pain or anxious helps. It's a weird smell (like musty earth or something!) but it really does calm me down. And because you're only inhaling it i don't know if it would be less likely to cause any paradoxical reactions as sometimes happens when some people in WD take it orally. 

 

Anyway, sorry for the essay! Please do let me know how you're getting on. 

[keepinghope]

O2 - thanks so much for checking in, I've been thinking of you and hope you're taking it as easy as you can.

 

The back/leg pain is easing off now and apart from some withdrawal issues from stupidly taking diazepam for a week while in the worst of the pain, I'm doing ok *touch wood*. I had a couple of days of horrible anger/aggression though, right after I stopped the diazepam, which reminded me of a period I went through with the prozac withdrawal, that I never wanted to revisit. My poor family, they've put up with so much, especially my mum. 

 

Will pop over to your topic and see how you're doing, always here if you need someone to talk to or want to message me.

[O2bhappy]

keepinghope -

 

I hate the feelings of anger that come over me.  It hits like a wave and there is no stopping it.  It is an anger that I have never experienced before.  I am not having it as frequently, which is good.  When it does happen the littlest thing sets me off. 

 

Thanks for being here for me.  I am here for you as well. 

[keepinghope]

Long overdue update on a horrible few months. 

 

I finally got to see a neurosurgeon, 3 months after my urgent referral after the MRI scan. The reason the sciatica was so bad is the herniation was enormous and lodged right against the nerve root, with a fragment that had come off it and was just hanging about in the spinal canal bit. So he's recommended surgery, even though the sciatica seems to have gone touch wood (or maybe the nerve has just given up the ghost and died off), and I'm on a waiting list for an op now. 

 

After my horrible experience stopping diazepam (prescribed as a muscle relaxant) after only 6 days taking it, I decided to stop taking codeine just after Christmas. Cue 2 days of nausea, stomach cramps and diarrhoea, followed by 3 weeks of anxiety and restless legs. Is it possible my CNS is so sensitised to psychoactive drugs now that I become reliant on them more quickly and have worse withdrawal? I worry I've set my prozac WD back, or damaged my brain more, and the worst of it all is all I can think is 1 little pill of codeine will make me relax and not worry anymore.

 

I asked the doctor when he prescribed codeine if they it was addictive. Oh no, he said, he'd got patients who'd been on them years and they weren't addicted! Errr, maybe that's why they're still on them, Doc? I know I took them longer than I needed to, but I also know there is no way I could have coped with the pain I was in without them.

 

Now I'm just getting back pain and stiffness that wakes me up at night. It's just one thing after another, and my patience and ability to cope with all this is going rapidly downhill. Not to mention being back in another wave, after a bit of a manic window where I decided i was going to find a new job and have a fresh start etc etc. Just been offered another job so I'm now busy torturing myself trying to come to a decision over whether to take it. I can have a meltdown deciding what to eat when I'm in a wave, let alone something like this. 

 

I just want to run away and hide from everything. 

[keepinghope]

Worst night I've had in a while, waking up every hour with anxiety and my heart jumping out of my chest.

 

Every time I have a window I forget all about the wave just around the corner. I commit myself to things I can't do later, decide to do things like get a new job when the one I have pays good sickpay and holiday and the thought of leaving terrifies me. I think I'm healed, only to drop back down into the same old symptoms soon after.

 

Now I've got to try and be normal all day at work, when what I really want to do is scream and cry and have someone tell me this is all going to be ok. And sleep, most of all sleep.

[keepinghope]

Found out the results of my last MRI scan today. I was hopeful that my disc issue was getting better, but it's got worse, and I definitely need an operation now. I keep wondering when things will get better, the last 12 months have just been one thing after another. 

 

Can anaesthetic affect withdrawal? I'm worried about having to go back on codeine after the op again too, it was so horrible coming off it. I suppose better that than Amitriptyline or Tramadol, which are the other meds my GP offered me for pain. 

[scallywag]

Anesthesia can affect withdrawal because it acts on the CNS. Here's a link to a discussion about surgery and anesthesia.

[keepinghope]

Thanks Scallywag, I had a read through the thread. I've got more withdrawal fun to look forward to after the op then. 

 

On the plus side I got about 8 hours last night, only woke up twice and got back to sleep fairly easily both times, so I'm feeling a lot calmer today. I have a yoga teacher coming this afternoon to do a 1-2-1, I've never tried it before but hoping it can help me manage my stress responses and learn to self-soothe a bit better. Hoping it might help my back pain too. 

[O2bhappy]

keepinghope -

 

I am so sorry to hear that you have to have surgery.  I will continue to keep you in my prayers. 

 

I am glad to hear that you got 8 hours of sleep last night, that is wonderful! 

 

I hope you have a good session with your yoga teacher and that you get the relief that you need. 

[keepinghope]

Long time since I was last here. 

 

By the end of August it will be 3 years since I last took Prozac. 

 

Around 2 years out I started suffering from gas incontinence which I just can’t deal with anymore. I believe it’s linked to Pelvic floor dysfunction which also began in WD. 

 

I know you can’t advocate going back on ADs here, and I don’t want you to, and believe me I’m not making this decision lightly, but if I was to try going back on again after such a long time off, what would be the most sensible way to try? I just want to find out once and for all if the WD has caused this awful symptom. 

[Altostrata]

Do you have any other symptoms of withdrawal?

 

I would not go back on an antidepressant solely because of gut problems. The gut problems might be due to something else entirely.

[keepinghope]

Insomnia, anxiety, continual low mood, akathisia... I can bear them all but not this continual gas. 

 

I know that it might be due to something else entirely, but I just have this nagging feeling... nausea and gut issues were among the first WD symptoms I got on stopping Prozac. I also got muscular problems which I believe led to the pelvic floor dyssynergia - which definitely impacts on the gas. 

 

I wish I’d reinstated when I found this website and tapered gradually, as I was advised to. I would never do a cold turkey/Doctor advised 6 week taper again that’s for sure. 

[keepinghope]

Maybe I’m still in WD, tbh the insomnia and anxiety has got progressively worse over the last year or so, after making a bad decision to change job. The gas started a few months after that. I’ve since left that job and am in a much better one now, but the anxiety and sleep issues are still sticking around (as are the gut issues). 

 

Has anyone ever made a small reinstatement this far out that you know of? 

 

Thanks for your help Alto. 

[keepinghope]

Quick update - I reinstated 20mg Prozac on 19 July 2018. Not a decision I made lightly at all, especially after being off Prozac for nearly 3 years (it would have been 3 years at the end of August 2018). But the alternative was much much worse, I was constantly thinking of harming myself, and I couldn’t cope with the symptoms I had started getting. 

I had a lot of anxiety, dizziness, lightheadedness and headaches in the first couple of weeks on 20mg, but in the first week I started sleeping much better. My appetite went up almost immediately and I’ve put on most of the weight I had lost (I was underweight and have only recently found out that some acquaintances believed I had cancer, I looked that thin and ill). 

My gut issues have slowly improved - still not subsided entirely but I’m seeing a pelvic floor physio and she thinks the pelvic floor dysfunction/overactivity of the pelvic floor muscles is improving. I still have down days (they’re far from magic pills, as we all know) but I’m in a much better place than I was. I’ll never take coming off these meds lightly again - withdrawal is something I was absolutely not prepared for, it’s a ride through the depths of hell and I honestly thought I was strong enough to keep pushing through, but when the mental symptoms started (I believe) manifesting in new and bizarre physical ways, I hit my wall and couldn’t take any more. 

[SkyStreamer]

Hi  @keepinghope

 

I'm not sure if you still suffer from herniated disc & sever sciatica. But, if you do, you should read Dr. John Sarno's book: "The Divided Mind: The Epidemic of Mind-Body Disorders." He's helped a lot of people overcome these conditions through a non-drug approach.

 

The famous radio host, Howard Stern, said Dr. Sarno's books healed him from back pain he had for over 20 years. 

 

You've got nothing to lose.

[keepinghope]

Hi @SkyStreamer no I don’t luckily, it resolved itself without surgery in the end (my body absorbed/ate the herniated disc material essentially!) and I haven’t had sciatica since. I’m still not sure if the disc herniation wasn’t also due to some muscular thing triggered by WD - I guess I’ll never know. 

That book sounds very interesting though - I’ll check it out, thank you! 

[thecowisback]

5 hours ago, keepinghope said:

Quick update - I reinstated 20mg Prozac on 19 July 2018. Not a decision I made lightly at all, especially after being off Prozac for nearly 3 years (it would have been 3 years at the end of August 2018). But the alternative was much much worse, I was constantly thinking of harming myself, and I couldn’t cope with the symptoms I had started getting. 

I had a lot of anxiety, dizziness, lightheadedness and headaches in the first couple of weeks on 20mg, but in the first week I started sleeping much better. My appetite went up almost immediately and I’ve put on most of the weight I had lost (I was underweight and have only recently found out that some acquaintances believed I had cancer, I looked that thin and ill). 

My gut issues have slowly improved - still not subsided entirely but I’m seeing a pelvic floor physio and she thinks the pelvic floor dysfunction/overactivity of the pelvic floor muscles is improving. I still have down days (they’re far from magic pills, as we all know) but I’m in a much better place than I was. I’ll never take coming off these meds lightly again - withdrawal is something I was absolutely not prepared for, it’s a ride through the depths of hell and I honestly thought I was strong enough to keep pushing through, but when the mental symptoms started (I believe) manifesting in new and bizarre physical ways, I hit my wall and couldn’t take any more. 

 

i just messaged you then i saw the post above. it's good to hear you're doing much better now - 3 years is a long time to be suffering so badly   did you think of starting on a small dose? what made you decide to dive straight in with the 20mg? i gained a stone in weight when i first came off the meds as i couldn't stop eating, but then lost it all and more and i'm a lot thinner than i used to be. it shows in my face - i look like i've aged quite a few years since i stopped the pills. 

[keepinghope]

Hi TCIB, just messaged you back  

[Carmie]

Hi keepinghope, 

 

Thanks for your update, I’m glad you’re feeling a bit better. I’m sorry you’ve gone through so much, coming off meds so quickly is not a good idea as you know. Doctors did the same thing to me in the past. You probably didn’t need to go back up to 20mg, but I’m happy it helped. You’re quite fortunate it worked because you’d been off the meds for years. It doesn’t always work for the majority of people that far out. 

 

When you start to taper again make sure to go down by no more than 10%. I can only go down by 4% to 5% myself now on the lower doses. I’m sure you’re well informed now. 

 

Could you please update your signature. Thanks a lot. 

 

Sending hugs🤗