gardengal Posted June 15, 2017 Share Posted June 15, 2017 (edited) Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum. A little history about myself. I'm 42 year old female who has always been an active runner. In 2010 I went through a divorce and my anxiety and insomnia meant I was running 10km a day just to cope. I was burning out and decided to see my Dr. who then put me on Cipralex 10mg. The divorce proceedings went on for almost 3 years. In 2014, I tried tapering off because I felt less energetic and I had put on 25 pounds. At the time, I think I tapered off too fast (25-50% decreases every 2 weeks). I felt horrible so I went back to Cipralex 10mg. I recognize now that I was probably experiencing withdrawal symptoms. I tried again in the winter of 2015 and was doing okay as I tapered over the course of 6 months. My brother was then killed and I decided to maintain at 5mg daily...no more change. I then went back to 10mg in the fall of 2016 as I experienced an overwhelming amount of grief and was struggling to get out of bed. This April (2017) after lots of grief counselling and coping better, I have begun to taper again. Started to taper: April 10mg every 2nd day alternating with 7.5 mg in between; May- 7.5mg daily; June- 7.5mg every 2nd day and alternating with 5mg in between. Symptom wise I feel okay. The biggest thing I notice is my fatigue. I try to run or walk about 5km every second day and it feels like my legs are cement- feels like I'm new to running. My mood has been ok and I'm sleeping ok. Mostly it's the fatigue, some joint soreness and very restless legs in the evening. Wondering if others have any good ideas on overcoming the fatigue. I've been take Omega 3,6,9 daily and I take a magnesium supplement at night which seems to help with the restless legs and sleep. I appreciate any feedback and success stories. thanks, Gardengal Edited June 16, 2017 by scallywag add paragraph breaks for readability 2002: celexa 20mg for post partum depression (2yrs then off) 2010: Cipralex 10mg for anxiety (going through a divorce) 2013: tried to taper of Cipralex-unsucessful-went back to 10mg 2014: tapered to 5mg Cipralex; went back to 10mg within 6 months 2015: tapered from 10 to 7.5 over one month then 5mg alternating with 7.5 then down to 5mg x then back to 10mg after brother died 2017: tapered to 7.5 for a month, then alternating 7.5 & 5 mg for a month Currently 5mg & holding Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus mammaP Posted June 15, 2017 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted June 15, 2017 Hi Gardengal, welcome to SA. I am sorry to hear of the loss of your brother and your divorce. Two of the most stressful life events that anyone can go through. I am pleased that the counselling has helped, I just wish that it was the first thing that doctors offer instead of drugs. Tapering by alternating doses is not recommended because it is destabilising. It causes inter-dose withdrawal and upsets the nervous system. We recommend tapering 10% of the current dose with 4 weeks between cuts. This is so that the brain can adjust to the lower dose between cuts. It is sneaking the drug away from the brain so it doesn't notice the difference. If there are any withdrawal symptoms it means the drop was too big, or there was not enough time between drops for the brain to adjust. Sometimes people can get impatient and taper faster, but usually somewhere down the line it catches up and they have to updose or hold for a long time in order to stabilise. I was one of those people and tapered effexor for a year, not using the 10% rule because I hadn't found SA but thought it was really slow! After a month off I had awful withdrawal symptoms and had to reinstate. It took a long time to get stable enough to restart my taper. You might be better to go back to 7.5 every day for a few weeks to stabilise before restarting your taper. I will post a link to the tapering lexapro (cipralex) topic, which will tell you how you can get the lower doses. It would help us of you can put your drug history in your signature, we all our members to do this. You can find instructions here.... Tapering cipralex Why taper 10% **I am not a medical professional, if in doubt please consult a doctor with withdrawal knowledge. Different drugs occasionally (mostly benzos) 1976 - 1981 (no problem) 1993 - 2002 in and out of hospital. every type of drug + ECT. Staring with seroxat 2002 effexor. Tapered March 2012 to March 2013, ending with 5 beads. Withdrawal April 2013 . Reinstated 5 beads reduced to 4 beads May 2013 Restarted taper Nov 2013 OFF EFFEXOR Feb 2015 Tapered atenolol and omeprazole Dec 2013 - May 2014 Tapering tramadol, Feb 2015 100mg , March 2015 50mg July 2017 30mg. May 15 2018 25mg Taking fish oil, magnesium, B12, folic acid, bilberry eyebright for eye pressure. My story http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4199-hello-mammap-checking-in/page-33 Lesson learned, slow down taper at lower doses. Taper no more than 10% of CURRENT dose if possible Link to comment
gardengal Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 Thank you so much for the helpful information. It is very much appreciated! 2002: celexa 20mg for post partum depression (2yrs then off) 2010: Cipralex 10mg for anxiety (going through a divorce) 2013: tried to taper of Cipralex-unsucessful-went back to 10mg 2014: tapered to 5mg Cipralex; went back to 10mg within 6 months 2015: tapered from 10 to 7.5 over one month then 5mg alternating with 7.5 then down to 5mg x then back to 10mg after brother died 2017: tapered to 7.5 for a month, then alternating 7.5 & 5 mg for a month Currently 5mg & holding Link to comment
gardengal Posted July 10, 2017 Author Share Posted July 10, 2017 Thank you so much for the helpful information. It is very much appreciated! 2002: celexa 20mg for post partum depression (2yrs then off) 2010: Cipralex 10mg for anxiety (going through a divorce) 2013: tried to taper of Cipralex-unsucessful-went back to 10mg 2014: tapered to 5mg Cipralex; went back to 10mg within 6 months 2015: tapered from 10 to 7.5 over one month then 5mg alternating with 7.5 then down to 5mg x then back to 10mg after brother died 2017: tapered to 7.5 for a month, then alternating 7.5 & 5 mg for a month Currently 5mg & holding Link to comment
gardengal Posted July 10, 2017 Author Share Posted July 10, 2017 Update: I have found the threads on this site very helpful. Right now I'm holding at 5mg daily and plan to stay at this for a while. To be honest, I'm nervous about tapering down further. The brain fog is lifting and my energy has improved slightly. I'm continuing to experience joint pain and inflammation in my knees so I've stopped running for now. I'm walking instead and doing more yoga. Has anyone else experienced ongoing joint pain? 2002: celexa 20mg for post partum depression (2yrs then off) 2010: Cipralex 10mg for anxiety (going through a divorce) 2013: tried to taper of Cipralex-unsucessful-went back to 10mg 2014: tapered to 5mg Cipralex; went back to 10mg within 6 months 2015: tapered from 10 to 7.5 over one month then 5mg alternating with 7.5 then down to 5mg x then back to 10mg after brother died 2017: tapered to 7.5 for a month, then alternating 7.5 & 5 mg for a month Currently 5mg & holding Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus KarenB Posted July 10, 2017 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted July 10, 2017 tension-pain-twitches-spasms-in-muscles-and-joints What did you think of MammaP's idea to up-dose to 7.5mg daily and hold there for a while? Although, if symptoms are improving, then I can understand staying at 5mg. Also, there is no rush to continue to taper. You will do much better with a good stabilising hold first. 2010 Fluoxetine 20mg. 2011 Escitalopram 20mg. 2013 Tapered badly and destabilised CNS. Effexor 150mg. 2015 Begin using info at SurvivingAntidepressants. Cut 10% - bad w/d 2 months, held 1 month. Micro-tapering: four weekly 0.4% cuts, hold 4 weeks (struggling with symptoms). 8 month hold. 2017 Micro-tapering: four weekly 1% cuts, hold 4 weeks (symptoms almost non-existent). 2020 Still micro-tapering. Just over 2/3 of the way off effexor. Minimal symptoms, - and sleeping well. Supplements: Fish oil, vitamin C, iron, oat-straw tea, nettle tea. 2023 December - Now on 5 micro-beads Effexor. Minimal symptoms but much more time needed between drops. Symptoms begin to increase. 2024 April - Updosed to 6 microbeads - immediate increase in symptoms for 4 days. Decreased to 5 microbeads. 'The possibility of renewal exists so long as life exists.' Dr Gabor Mate. Link to comment
gardengal Posted July 11, 2017 Author Share Posted July 11, 2017 Hi KarenB Thanks for your response. Emotionally I feel I'm doing ok at 5mg. I'm going to go see physio to rule out anything with my knees, as that seems to be the joints bothering me the most. I agree that there's no rush. I'm going to hold steady at 5mg for another month or two... Perhaps longer. Ive been on Cipralex for 7years.... Do you think I should hold even longer? 2002: celexa 20mg for post partum depression (2yrs then off) 2010: Cipralex 10mg for anxiety (going through a divorce) 2013: tried to taper of Cipralex-unsucessful-went back to 10mg 2014: tapered to 5mg Cipralex; went back to 10mg within 6 months 2015: tapered from 10 to 7.5 over one month then 5mg alternating with 7.5 then down to 5mg x then back to 10mg after brother died 2017: tapered to 7.5 for a month, then alternating 7.5 & 5 mg for a month Currently 5mg & holding Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus KarenB Posted July 11, 2017 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted July 11, 2017 If it were me I'd probably put it at two to three months, but then keep an eye on symptoms etc and be open to changing my mind. 2010 Fluoxetine 20mg. 2011 Escitalopram 20mg. 2013 Tapered badly and destabilised CNS. Effexor 150mg. 2015 Begin using info at SurvivingAntidepressants. Cut 10% - bad w/d 2 months, held 1 month. Micro-tapering: four weekly 0.4% cuts, hold 4 weeks (struggling with symptoms). 8 month hold. 2017 Micro-tapering: four weekly 1% cuts, hold 4 weeks (symptoms almost non-existent). 2020 Still micro-tapering. Just over 2/3 of the way off effexor. Minimal symptoms, - and sleeping well. Supplements: Fish oil, vitamin C, iron, oat-straw tea, nettle tea. 2023 December - Now on 5 micro-beads Effexor. Minimal symptoms but much more time needed between drops. Symptoms begin to increase. 2024 April - Updosed to 6 microbeads - immediate increase in symptoms for 4 days. Decreased to 5 microbeads. 'The possibility of renewal exists so long as life exists.' Dr Gabor Mate. Link to comment
gardengal Posted July 12, 2017 Author Share Posted July 12, 2017 That sounds like good advice. 2002: celexa 20mg for post partum depression (2yrs then off) 2010: Cipralex 10mg for anxiety (going through a divorce) 2013: tried to taper of Cipralex-unsucessful-went back to 10mg 2014: tapered to 5mg Cipralex; went back to 10mg within 6 months 2015: tapered from 10 to 7.5 over one month then 5mg alternating with 7.5 then down to 5mg x then back to 10mg after brother died 2017: tapered to 7.5 for a month, then alternating 7.5 & 5 mg for a month Currently 5mg & holding Link to comment
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