samanthaelizabeth: How do you manage to keep working while taper off

[doxxigirl]

I forgot to mention, I will not start nicotine wd.  But, I do think I need to make some changes in my diet. For instance, I rarely drink any water!

[Gridley]

You are smart to tell your doctor nothing about your taper.  Just get your prescriptions and stock up just in case.  

 

Cipro and other fluoroquinolones can spell disaster to someone in WD. 

[doxxigirl]

1 minute ago, Gridley said:

You are smart to tell your doctor nothing about your taper.  Just get your prescriptions and stock up just in case.  

 

Cipro and other fluoroquinolones can spell disaster to someone in WD. 

Hi Gridley, I couldn't believe that my doctor prescribed something like CIPRO for something that didn't even materialize.  When I looked it up on the internet, I saw people whose lives were literally destroyed from CIPRO!  Why don't these doctors know the proper prescribing protocal?  CIPRO is only to be used in a life or death mater.

[Rosetta]

There are other antibiotics that are related to Cipro, too, and are dangerous.  You know about the adrenaline based numbing agent at the dentists office, too, and to ask for the alternative?  I would avoid elective surgery also.

 

 

[doxxigirl]

2 minutes ago, Rosetta said:

There are other antibiotics that are related to Cipro, too, and are dangerous.  You know about the adrenaline based numbing agent at the dentists office, too, and to ask for the alternative?  I would avoid elective surgery also.

 

 

Thank you Rosetta, I will keep that in mind!  How are you doing today?  I haven't really looked at anyone's thread yet...  Oh, the dentist?  I have an appointment today in fact!

[Rosetta]

The non adrenaline numbing agent requires a few more shits, but they are shallow and they might have to be done twice if it's a long procedure.  

[doxxigirl]

3 minutes ago, Rosetta said:

The non adrenaline numbing agent requires a few more shits, but they are shallow and they might have to be done twice if it's a long procedure.  

Oh thank you, I think you meant to say "shots"  LOL, I understand completely!!

[Rosetta]

Well . . . Depending on how you feel about shots . . . And dentists, I suppose! ;-)

[doxxigirl]

3 minutes ago, Rosetta said:

Well . . . Depending on how you feel about shots . . . And dentists, I suppose! ;-)

Yes!  LOL!  Personally, I am terrified of dentists, I ended up in the hospital with an Abcess on my voice box from an impacted wisdom tooth that was extracted.  

[doxxigirl]

I found an interesting site on FB talking about Neurotoxicity.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1983672608527660/?fref=nf

[samanthaelizabeth]

Journal 02/27/2018-  Feeling tired today.  I'm pretty sure that I slept last night because I think I had a dream.  My husband doesn't know what's going on with me, other than thinking this is from my MS.  Which it's not.  I am still sweating an extreme amount and i'm not sure what's causing it. I'm still at the same dose that i've been on for 19 years.  Maybe just that one day of being at Zero made me desensitized to this high of a dose? I'm not crying or anything but feel kind of numb.  And early in the morning after I take my Sertraline (about 6 am) I try to go back to sleep and usually do, But i've noticed that I start ruminating about the history of what brought me to this point.  I'm going to have faith that lowering my dose will help me to feel better and not let on to my doctor that there is anything wrong.  Those Pdocs scare the heck out of me now, How is it that they have so much power over us?  They try to change you to another drug and if you are non-compliant.  They won't even see you anymore.  They just have no idea what they are inflicting on people. Thank you to all that have been supportive of me, even in the midst of their own situation. I hope everyone is doing well today.  Love Sam  

 

Continued journal entry....Looking back in 2015, when I started taking Wellbutrin.  I was doing okay on it, We moved here to another state and bought a new house and everything was good. Then about 6-8 months, the day I started a new job a had a severe panic attack at work but tried to maintain.  Everyday was a struggle, I thought it was just because I was afraid of being away from my friends and living in a new place that I wasn't happy here.  I was in an awful state. I think looking back on it now that I was having withdrawal from Zoloft, although maybe it was just my reaction to the Wellbutrin.  I stopped taking it because I started to get very angry which is not like me, I am usually very calm and never get angry like that.  Looking back it did take me about 6 months to stabilize back on the Zoloft in 2016.  I don't think it's doing anything for me now.  I wish I never switched to another drug, if I only knew...But can't live in the past, right?

 

Another thing,  I went to the doctor a few months ago and told him that I wanted to get off the Mirt.  He told me that I could take Klonopin for sleep to help me get off of it. I think this is what made me feel like the Zoloft wasn't working anymore.

[samanthaelizabeth]

Attn:  Maybe a mod could post this.

 

Finally a new U.S. petition!!HELP PROTECT OUR KIDS
This petition needs 99,999 signatures by March 17, 2018 to get a response from the White House. ***** Please go to this link., sign and pass it on. *****

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/launch-federal-investigation-relationship-between-school-shootings-and-psychiatric-drugs

[samanthaelizabeth]

On 1/27/2018 at 8:44 PM, Altostrata said:

Good to see that you're keeping notes about your symptoms and dosages, but the format is difficult to read.

 

The symptom pattern indicates that 200mg Zoloft is too much for you.

 

When did the ringing in ears (tinnitus) start?

 

How is your sleep now?

 

What time of day do you take Zoloft? When does the racing feeling start? Did it settle down?

 

 

 

If your sleep is still poor, ^this indicates you are taking too much Zoloft. If you're increasing Zoloft to treat "depression," you're barking up the wrong tree. Sleep is important. "Depression" is something you can manage.

 

Lexapro is more stimulating than Zoloft, it doesn't make a bean of sense to switch to Lexapro, and switching in general isn't a good idea anyway.

 

 

Thank you.   My sleep is okay now.  I take my Remeron every night @ 9:30pm and fall asleep somewhere between 11:00-12:00. I always wake up around 6-6:30 am to take my Zoloft.  I think I am stabilized now.  Would it be okay to start tapering now, or should I wait a bit longer?  This sweating is getting out of control.  I thank you for your time.  Sam

[Rosetta]

How was your dentist's appointment?

[doxxigirl]

34 minutes ago, Rosetta said:

How was your dentist's appointment?

It went perfectly fine, thanks.  I ended up with a lot of anxiety so they gave me some juice and it did help. I don't usually eat much during the day, so my blood sugar was probably low.  I have a bad habit of not eating during the day, My suspicion is, my lack of appetite is from the Zoloft.  Unfortunately, I have to go back for the other side tomorrow. Ugh!  But, he is the best dentist I have ever been to!

[Gridley]

For those who are tapering, It is recommended to eat a high-protein, low sugar breakfast.  We all have different diets, so I'm just passing this along.

[doxxigirl]

Thank you Gridley, I will have to change my eating habits.

[samanthaelizabeth]

Horrible anxiety this morning.  My husband was looking for a belt and couldn't find one, this caused a lot of anxiety.  If I taper down will this help with my anxiety or make it worse?

[samanthaelizabeth]

On 2/19/2018 at 10:37 PM, Altostrata said:

We don't pressure people to taper to zero. Taper to the extent you feel comfortable.

 

When you bring symptoms to us that sound like excessive drugs, we can only suggest reduction.

 

It's up to you to decide what is best for you.

 

PS Dr. Shipko has a rather drastic-sounding informed consent process because he wants his patients to know that going off drugs can be rocky.

Thank you Alto. I'm going to start reducing. I'm just waiting on my cylinder to arrive.  Going to try a 10% cut.

[Rosetta]

Hi Sam,

I have no doubt that the switch to Wellbutrin was what started this entire mess for you.  A switch made everything much worse for me, too.  You are right -- doctors are completely unaware of what they are doing.  I wasn't doing well before the switch to Zoloft, but I attributed all the problems to my life circumstances never to the medication.  It was as much the Celexa as my life circumstances.  I believe that something changed, some stressor like moving or having a new job, and the brain couldn't adapt because it had adapted all it could prior to the change in circumstances.  That's just my layperson's opinion. I had moved and had a new job so many times on Celexa -- 7 times!  With each change I needed a lot of time to adjust.  

 

Then, when I had moved and then had a baby that's when the switch was made.  Like you, I thought that the new circumstance was the problem.  I thought that for over 5 years!!  It wasn't until I found this website that I understood that the medication was an additional problem on top of a big change in my life.  I, personally, think these medications make us LESS resilient.  I think they somehow take away the brain's ability to adjust when life circumstances throw us a curve ball.  I also think that changing the medication itself can send us down this road.

 

You know what's good? -- that you are thinking clearly enough to even try to work out the history and what it means for where you are today.  I think that's a great sign of stabilization.  Good luck when you taper!

 

Peace, Rosetta

[samanthaelizabeth]

15 minutes ago, Rosetta said:

Hi Sam,

I have no doubt that the switch to Wellbutrin was what started this entire mess for you.  A switch made everything much worse for me, too.  You are right -- doctors are completely unaware of what they are doing.  I wasn't doing well before the switch to Zoloft, but I attributed all the problems to my life circumstances never to the medication.  It was as much the Celexa as my life circumstances.  I believe that something changed, some stressor like moving or having a new job, and the brain couldn't adapt because it had adapted all it could prior to the change in circumstances.  That's just my layperson's opinion. I had moved and had a new job so many times on Celexa -- 7 times!  With each change I needed a lot of time to adjust.  

 

Then, when I had moved and then had a baby that's when the switch was made.  Like you, I thought that the new circumstance was the problem.  I thought that for over 5 years!!  It wasn't until I found this website that I understood that the medication was an additional problem on top of a big change in my life.  I, personally, think these medications make us LESS resilient.  I think they somehow take away the brain's ability to adjust when life circumstances throw us a curve ball.  I also think that changing the medication itself can send us down this road.

 

You know what's good? -- that you are thinking clearly enough to even try to work out the history and what it means for where you are today.  I think that's a great sign of stabilization.  Good luck when you taper!

 

Peace, Rosetta

Hi Rosetta, thanks for reaching out.  Yes, I do believe that you are correct about the Wellbutin.  I wish I never took that but it's too late now.  I have to fake it when I see my doctor so they don't try and switch meds and I can begin my taper.  This whole thing sucks!  I hope you are well. I wish this site was here back in the day....

 

Sam

[samanthaelizabeth]

Journal note:  Sometime back in 2016 months after I stopped the Wellbutrin and restarted the Zoloft, I had extremely dry eyes.  I think this might have been from the Wellbutrin?

[doxxigirl]

I did my first cut today by 5%.  I noticed after I drew out my 5% there was some sediment left in the bottom.  I hope I didn't mess this up.  I threw out the 5% and just drank the rest including the extra sediment that was on the bottom.  Am I going to be okay?

[doxxigirl]

I as reading about L-Theanine.  Does anyone have any experience with this supplement?

[ChessieCat]

There are many existing topics and discussions on this site.  You can use the site search function at the top right, or use a search engine and include survivingantidepressants.org in your search string.  So try:  survivingantidepressants.org l-theanine

[ChessieCat]

49 minutes ago, doxxigirl said:

there was some sediment left in the bottom.

 

The tablets have fillers which don't dissolve.

 

It is important to do everything the same every time.

[doxxigirl]

Thank you CC. Have a good day.

[doxxigirl]

On 2/26/2018 at 11:42 AM, mustangwoman said:

Welcome!

Thank you Mustangwoman! I am starting off with a ten% reduction.

[samanthaelizabeth]

Journal Note for future use:

100ml water : 100mg Zoloft tablet

 

Divide both sides by 100 therefore 1ml liquid = 1mg dose

 

So extracting (dispose) 10ml of liquid (= 10mg) leaves (approx) 90ml of liquid (= 90mg)

 

As long as you do it the same way every time you will be getting a consistent dose.

 

The next reduction dose would be 81mg (90mg x 0.90 which is a 10% reduction of the previous dose)

 

Therefore you would extract and dispose of 19ml to get (approx) 81ml of liquid (=81mg)

 

[doxxigirl]

Hi Everybody! A really interesting book I read recently.  "A Brain on Fire" by Susannah Calahan.  It just shows you the brains way of healing itself.  One of my favorite quotes from the book is "What is the slope of the line?  "It's positive,' 'And what does that mean?  'It means we make progress everyday'  I l just love this! It's a true story and it should the movie should be on Netflix soon.  

 

Have a healing day!

doxx

[doxxigirl]

I'm wondering if my doctor would prescribe to me; 100mg tablets and some 50mg or 25 mg, then it will be easier to decrease my dose.  I could take a 100 mg, 50 mg and 25mg and split the 25mg in half.  Any thoughts or suggestions?  The liquid is hard to prepare.

[ChessieCat]

You might find some helpful tips about how to talk to him in these topics:

 

How do you talk to a doctor about tapering and withdrawal?

What should I expect from my doctor about withdrawal symptoms?

 

Also

 

Using a digital scale to measure doses

 

Edited March 5, 2018 by ChessieCat

[doxxigirl]

Thank you for those links, ChessieCat!

[doxxigirl]

I've commenced my first taper today.

 

150mg tablet

4ml Liquid Zoloft (40mg) = 190mg Zoloft??

 

I don't feel any different, of course it's only my first day.  Thinking positive!

[doxxigirl]

I think I made a mistake.  I was just looking @RachelSusan journal.  I didn't measure the orange juice that I drank the liquid with. I mixed it with a cup of orange juice.  Did I mess up my first taper? 

Mods, if you will, please advise.  Thank you so very much.

[brassmonkey]

Hi Doxxi--  Don't panic, at first glance it looks like things are fine.  A quick question to make sure though.  Would you please verify that the concentration of the liquid is 1:1 (1mL contains 1mgai)  Your post above indicates that, but need to make sure.  If the concentration is 1:1 then by measuring 40mL you took the correct dose.  It doesn't matter how much orange juice you used, it just acts as flavoring.  BTW, never use grapefruit juice or grapefruit soft drinks.  There is something in it that doesn't play well with most medications and can cause real trouble.

 

Brassmonkey