doormouse Posted October 1, 2017 Posted October 1, 2017 (edited) Hello; I am happy to have found this forum. I am am currently in withdrawal from Seroquel 25 mg. I was told by a psychiatrist that I should just be able to drop the dose since it was so small -- but I suspect that I am experiencing withdrawal regardless of the dose. I feel anxious, I'm experiencing chest pain and an increased heart rate, and my husband keeps asking me "what is wrong." I am not aware of behavioral changes but I guess he is. This forum looks like a wonderful place to find information about medications. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of it. Edited October 2, 2017 by baroquep
Moderator Emeritus baroquep Posted October 2, 2017 Moderator Emeritus Posted October 2, 2017 (edited) Hi Doormouse, Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA). Am glad that you found the site and sorry to hear that you are dealing with some pretty significant withdrawal symptoms. Rest assured that what you are experiencing is totally normal under the circumstances. Unfortunately very few doctors have any experience tapering patients off of these drugs safely. It is upsetting to hear that some doctors are still advising people to abruptly discontinue these drugs, particularly as the pharmaceutical companies themselves do not recommend discontinuing these drugs abruptly and find this practice highly irresponsible. SA recommends tapering by no more than 10% of your current dose followed by a hold of about 4 weeks to allow the brain to adapt to the changes in the central nervous system (CNS). When changes are made too quickly, doses are alternated/skipped or the drug is discontinued abruptly, the brain is unable to adapt to the changes and this results in uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. What is Withdrawal Syndrome? Could you please answer a few questions so that we know exactly what we are dealing with? It is difficult to make an specific recommendations without have a clear understanding of what you are currently dealing with. How long were you on Seroquel? and why was it prescribed? When did you stop taking it? Do you have a previous history of tapering off of psychotropic medications? If so, please elaborate. The only known solution at this time to decrease or eliminate withdrawal syndrome is to reinstate a very small amount of the drug into your system and then to hold until you stabilize. I will attach the link on reinstatement to give you an idea of the process involved and something I think you may want to consider. About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptomsWhat to Expect in Reinstatement (James Heaney article) Before being able to provide you with any specific information with respect to your current situation, we would ask that you summarize your withdrawal/drug history in a signature - ALL drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months in particular? We ask all members to provide their drug history as a signature. This will be a permanent part of your introduction and It helps moderators to be able to see all of your details at a glance. You can find the information on how to complete your signature at the link below: Instructions: Withdrawal History Signature • Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses. • A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. • Any drugs prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years. • Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago) • Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016. Please feel free to connect with other members of the Surviving Antidepressant Community by posting in their introduction topics and if you have any questions or need clarification on the information provided above, please post back here in your introduction topic so that a moderator can stop by and provide advice specific to your situation once you've provided the information requested. Edited October 2, 2017 by baroquep Current Prescription Drugs for Hypothyroidism: Synthroid 100mcg / Cytomel 5mcg (15 years Pristiq/Effexor)Tapering Schedule September 15, 2016 - switched from Pristiq 50mg to Effexor XR 75mg; November 10, 2016 - reduced to 67.5 Effexor XR December 9, 2016 - reduced 60.75 January 5, 2017 - reduced 54.67 January 30, 2017 - reduced to 49.0 February 20, 2017 - reduced to 44.0 May 20, 2017 - reduced to 40.25 (holding for additional month due to late onset of withdrawal symptoms after this taper) July 17, 2017 - reduced to 38.24 August 15, 2017 - reduced to 37.5 (50% of my original dose) October 15, 2017 - reduced to 35.6 November 12, 2017 - reduced to 33.8 December 15, 2017 - up-dose to 35.6 December 28, 2017 - up-dose to 37.5
nz11 Posted January 10, 2018 Posted January 10, 2018 doormouse how are you doing, can you give us an update of where you are at? Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017
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