bubbles

[bubbles]

Had another flash that didn't develop into a migraine again over the weekend. Also continuing to forget occasionally to take the dose but am being better about it.

 

Today is 2 weeks at 0.7mg.

[ChessieCat]

49 minutes ago, bubbles said:

Also continuing to forget occasionally to take the dose but am being better about it.

 

It's like we start mentally adjusting to not being on the drug.  But due diligence is necessary.

 

It's not long now.

 

Take care.

[bubbles]

It's funny isn't. So many years of being so good about it, but here we are. I'm also struggling to remember my other meds. It's hard because my work is very regimented with break times and if I miss an opportunity I then might have to choose between tablet and meal. (Some meds need empty stomach, some need food.)

 

Am going to have to write up a proper schedule and stick to it.

 

@ChessieCat - I see your new signature!! Well done!!

[bubbles]

I've got out of sync with my reducing, which was usually on Sundays, so I've "missed" my next time to drop. So tonight I'll go to 0.6ml/mg. Four weeks goes quickly.

 

Have had a week or so off quercetin. One can become dependent on antihistamines, so I try not to use them constantly, but it's time to start again.

 

No more migraines though I had a little spot yesterday that didn't develop into anything. Feel a little headachy today and have been tired lately. I keep waking at 5:00/5:30am - I think it's birds.

[bubbles]

Spoke too soon. Having another visual migraine now. Both eyes, same pattern both eyes.

[bubbles]

Felt pretty crappy yesterday, and not a lot better today, so no reducing.

[bubbles]

I think it has passed. Took more or less a week all up, with the build up and the wind down. It's also been my long week, so I'm wiped out. Early night tonight. Will think about reducing next week some time.

[bubbles]

Dropped to 0.6 yesterday

[bubbles]

10 days on current dose, no problems.

[bubbles]

Still going fine. Happy Christmas everyone.

[bubbles]

A few minor flashes but no migraines.

 

Have been taking quercetin (best thing I've ever come across for allergies), and zinc (our soils are deficient and apparently most of us here at deficient. I've also added some vitamin C (mainly because I had some powder left over from dehydrating fruit that will expire, but it will help me get more iron from my diet, which for me is always a battle). Have also added vitamin D3, now that I've calculated my likely levels - I suspect I'm extremely low now that I've actually calculated. Will get a blood test to check and might need to increase the supplement.

 

Feeling good, so dropped to 0.5mg on 5/1.

 

[bubbles]

Dropped to 0.4mg on Fri 4/2.

[bubbles]

Another visual migraine today. Time to see a doctor about it, I think.

 

[ChessieCat]

10 hours ago, bubbles said:

Another visual migraine today. Time to see a doctor about it, I think.

 

 

If something is prescribed please be sure to do your research before taking it. 😉

[bubbles]

1 hour ago, ChessieCat said:

 

If something is prescribed please be sure to do your research before taking it. 😉

 

Don't worry, I have become extremely sceptical about all pharma products. I'd like to know if there is a cause though. As a young woman I discovered that migraines were triggered by artificial sweeteners and managed to go over 30 years without any just by avoiding them.

 

[ChessieCat]

9 minutes ago, bubbles said:

As a young woman I discovered that migraines were triggered by artificial sweeteners and managed to go over 30 years without any just by avoiding them.

 

That's interesting.  I have recently started using artificial sweeteners and have had some mild headaches.  If they continue I will try eliminating them and see what happens.

 

Q:  You may have consumed something with an artificial sweetener without being aware of it?  It's amazing what ingredients they sneak into things.

[bubbles]

4 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

 

😉

I have no idea how that quote box got there and weirdly can't delete it...

 

As we get more paranoid about sugar, more artificial sweeteners sneak into things. I think the sugar is probably safer, and I have very little sugar. I generally try to avoid, and don't eat much food that it could sneak into but will be a bit more careful reading labels.

 

 

[bubbles]

Doing okay. Will go down in dose in a few days.

[bubbles]

Absent mindedly look 0.4mg last night. Will go to 0.3 today.

 

[bubbles]

Absentmindedly didn't take any last night - oh dear - so will take this morning. No ill effects but will catch up asap.

 

[ChessieCat]

22 hours ago, bubbles said:

Absent mindedly look 0.4mg last night. Will go to 0.3 today.

 

 

27 minutes ago, bubbles said:

Absentmindedly didn't take any last night - oh dear - so will take this morning. No ill effects but will catch up asap.

 

 

I found that I had to be more diligent at the end.

[bubbles]

2 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

 

 

I found that I had to be more diligent at the end.

Funny, isn't it. All this - years - being so careful and now it's so easy to forget.

 

How are you doing now you're off?

[bubbles]

I was due to drop again in about a week but will see how things go as I have Covid. Am not very sick.

[ChessieCat]

Sorry to hear that.  Glad it's not too bad and pleased that you are holding.

 

Take care.  Remember even though it can be frustrating to have to hold, it's worth it in the long run.

[bubbles]

It's just a cold at this stage - indistinguishable from dozens of other colds I've had in my life - but I'll play it safe. No point asking for trouble.

Am off work now for the week, then hopefully back to normal.

[bubbles]

Feeling much better. In normal times I'd probably have had two days off work. As it is I'm at home for a week. Tomorrow I'll do a bit of housework and see how that goes. Basically it's been a cold or a very mild fluey illness.

 

I'll reserve judgement but will probably be fine to drop in a week.

[bubbles]

I'm good to drop on my regular schedule. I'll drop tomorrow.

 

Covid was much the same as most other colds or minor bugs I've had over the decades. I'm fine now.

[bubbles]

Dropped on Sunday. My allergies are bad today after gardening on the weekend. Tired because I slept poorly last night. But ok. 

[bubbles]

Doing fine. 

[bubbles]

I have forgotten for a few days to take the sertraline but no ill effects. I've taken today's now. It makes me wonder if I could just stop now but I'll keep going. 

 

The other day I visited a new dentist and had to fill in a form which asked about meds. I didn't mention the sertraline. I'm on 0.2mg. A regular dose would be 50-100mg, so I think they'd call it homoeopathic and I've elected to consider it zero from that point of view.

 

So now, the rest of my taper. I'll go to 0.1mg as scheduled in a few days, but I wonder what to do about the remaining 0.1mg. I wonder about half, half etc until I can go no further or to go down in 0.01mg at a time. Maybe a week at a time. I guess I've got another month to ponder that.

[bubbles]

I dropped yesterday to 0.1mg. I'm not sure how to handle the last little bit except that while the measuring syringe has 0.01 graduations, I'm not sure how feasible that is. I'm thinking that a greater dilution might be called for, for the last bit

 

[ChessieCat]

19 minutes ago, bubbles said:

I'm thinking that a greater dilution might be called for, for the last bit

 

It's worth the effort.

[bubbles]

I'll do some figuring and see what I come up with.

 

[bubbles]

So I'm trying to do some figuring. I'm at 0.1ml/mg from a high of 100mg. I'm at 0.1% of my high dose, and down 99.9%.

 

The decision is what to do now. My syringe makes it easy to go down theoretically by 0.01ml/mg drops, but having just played with it, anything less than 0.05 just doesn't come out of the syringe.

 

So, options. I could stop now, given I'm at 99.9% reduction and I don't seem to notice if I miss a dose, and haven't for some time. I could go to 0.05 and stop there. I could further dilute the suspension and buy myself a bit more of a final end game taper.

 

Taking the last option, the easiest thing to do would be to make up a batch of my usual suspension at 1:1 (50mg:50ml) then take off 5ml into another bottle, top it up to get  0.1mm = 1ml of fluid. I think. Will rethink tomorrow, but I think that works out. I could then go down by 0.01mg steps. Maybe weekly rather than monthly since I could probably stop now.

 

So I think that's probably what I will do.

[ChessieCat]

7 hours ago, bubbles said:

So, options. I could stop now, given I'm at 99.9% reduction

 

My response is, NO.  It is simply not worth the risk.  You have got this far so "go the extra mile" to finish carefully.  If you jump off too soon and have issues you will probably get very angry with yourself and wish you had done it differently.

 

7 hours ago, bubbles said:

Taking the last option, the easiest thing to do would be to make up a batch of my usual suspension at 1:1 (50mg:50ml) then take off 5ml into another bottle, top it up to get  0.1mm = 1ml of fluid. I think. Will rethink tomorrow, but I think that works out. I could then go down by 0.01mg steps. Maybe weekly rather than monthly since I could probably stop now.

 

So I think that's probably what I will do.

 

If you are concerned about the process, do a practice run using something else as the components.  And double check everything and write it down.

 

Personally I think reducing weekly is not worth it.  At the least hold for 2 weeks at a time.  This is because it takes about 4 days for a dose to get to steady/full level in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.  The extra week is a safety net.

 

You are so close to the end.  Please don't get impatient and try to take short cuts.  I look back now and think how silly the end of my taper seems with such ridiculously tiny doses, and I might have had no issues if I had gone faster and/or jumped off at a higher dose. BUT ... I do not know.

 

Hang in a bit longer.  I am proud of myself for doing the hard yards and getting through to the end and not messing it up.

 

Think of an egg and spoon race (but this is not a race!).  You have to keep the egg on the spoon.  You might go quickly but in the end it might take longer or you might fall over.  Going nice and steady is more of a guarantee that you will get over the line without issues or only minimal issues.

[bubbles]

Well I was just going from memory of the end game taper thread, which I thought talked about speeding up the last percent or so, and I'm at the last 0.1%. I went to check my memory against the original post and I see that it has been deleted while it's being reworked, so I don't know if I remembered that correctly.

 

How long to keep it up, though. I'm at 0.1ml/mg/%. How far down to take it? I have five more tablets and I don't think I'll get another prescription, not if I'm honest with the doctor about where I am in the taper.