Leolion: Help do i need to up my dose again.

[Leolion]

Hello thankyou for the add

 

Sorry about my spelling in advance i wish i found this site before i stared to reduce my medication. Let me give you a bit of my back ground story.

 

After i had my son 18months ago i suffered with postnatal depression and anxiety i was very ill. And i was put on sertiline 100mg and it helped me out of a dark place. With the help of CBT i got back on track but still had some bad days but not like it was.

 

Because i was doing so well i went to see my GP and we made a plan to start reducing my meducation. She said cut it down to 50mg from then i asked would i be ok as i was on 100mg and i thought that was going to be a bit much for me to handle. But i did and i seemed ok i took 50mg for a month, then 50mg every other day for a month and 50mg every 3 day for about 2weeks and just stop so i did.

Well that was hell i went one week with out any medication. The first 3days was ok just had brian zap and brain fog but i was very angry. What did not help was i came on my cycle and that time for me is always a bad time with my anxity. Day five the anxiety came back with all the scary thoughts. I got so scard that i was going mad again all i could do was cry by day 7 i went back on my medication but only 25mg. This will be the 4th day back on 25mg and i am ok ish i have got some underlining anxiety and the thought are poping in and out. But the thing is i dont no if i am making it worse thinking about it all the time bacause i am so scard.

about gerting ill again or is it the anxity i just dont no. I go on my first famliy holiday at the end of the week and want to be ok. Should i go back up to 50mg or give it some more time on 25mg thank you 

[Songbird]

Hello Leolion, welcome to SA.  I'm glad you've found us.  Your doctor's taper plan is one we see a lot here - it's way too fast and throws many people into bad withdrawal.  Dosing every 2nd or 3rd day is also a very bad idea, as it makes the drug level in your body bounce up and down. 

 

I think going back on 25mg was sensible - you are taking this every day, right?  You'll need to give it some time to work - unfortunately there's no instant fix.  I wouldn't updose any higher at this stage.  It's a very good sign that you're already feeling improvement and "OKish" after just 4 days back on. 

Yes, you can make anxiety worse by thinking and worrying about it all the time.  You could look into books and recordings by Dr. Claire Weekes, which many people find helpful for anxiety: The Dr. Claire Weekes method of recovering from a sensitized nervous system.  You could also investigate other non-med coping techniques: Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms.

 

It would be helpful if you could please create a signature containing a summary of your med history, including all drugs, doses and dates (starting and stopping).  Your signature appears below every post you make, and helps us see your situation easily without having to read from the top every time.   You could look at my signature for an example.  Instructions for creating your signature are here: Please put your withdrawal history in your signature.  You can edit your signature here: edit your signature in Account Settings.

 

Please post all your updates and questions about your situation here in your introduction topic, and we will try to help you as best we can.