LostInMarshes Posted October 16, 2019 Posted October 16, 2019 Touch is medicine, and a vital one. Ponder how and where you'll be getting touch from. Without it, this process is ultra difficult. Stress starts to implode on you from within. You don't want to be sitting, holding yourself, and crying from longing for the touch of your species. You don't want to add that on top of your suffering. There was no other way, in my situation, but if I had an option, I would've thought long and hard where I'd be getting or giving human touch, before I started tapering. I go weeks without a hug or a pat on the back (no, I'm not in a rural area... the opposite). 2000: Paxil, low dose. 2001: Paxil, quickly tapered off. 2006: Zoloft, 25mg. 2007: Wellbutrin, low dose, discontinued after a week or a month. 2007-2009: Zoloft, increasing dose (up to 75mg). 2009-2011: Zoloft, failed withdrawal attempts (cold-turkey; fast tapering). 2009-2011: Trying out Cymbalta, Celexa, Prozac, Lexapro, Ambien, Ativan, and Xanax. 2012-2015: Zoloft, 100mg to 200mg. 2013: Trazadone for Zoloft-induced insomnia, 25mg to 50mg. 2015: Trileptal, dose?, withdrew; Bupropion, up to 200mg. 2016: Zoloft, 137mg, Bupropion, 150mg, Trazodone, 25mg. 05/21/16: Began Zoloft taper - 10% from 150mg - 137ish mg 06/23/16: Zoloft taper - 125mg 08/03/16: Bupropion XL taper - cut 150mg pill in crude half (mistake) 10/31: Zoloft successfully down to 100mg. Staying on 100mg for 2-3 months to let my brain rest. 11/09: Wellbutrin SR prescribed, 150mg once a day, for withdrawal. 12/11: Wellbutrin SR, twice daily - minus 18ishmg = 112.50mg 09/30/17: Off Wellbutrin SR successfully. Zoloft taper: 90ish mg (shaving it off). Trazodone: still at 50mg. June 2018: Zoloft: 80ish (shaving off). Trazodone: 6mg. End of 2018: Off Trazodone. 01/20: Zoloft: 70ish? 08/20: Still around 80 or 70. Tapering by only 15 shaves each month. August 2024: 10mg!!!
oops44 Posted October 17, 2019 Posted October 17, 2019 ive been holding at the dose I reinstated at for three years because I am too scared to taper off the meds without having a solid partner that I could trust to help me through. I have always been a "stand on my own two feet" and a "better off by myself" kind of guy but I dont know how people do this alone. 1 38 year old male 50mg sertraline for seasonal affective in spring of '13 through spring of '16 began uninformed taper mid march '16 ending 6 weeks later around may 1st withdrawal symptoms began july 4th '16 reinstatement of sertraline at 25mg on july 7th '16 august '16 - present: many setbacks even more victories currently holding at 25mg and ill hold there forever if I have to looking forward to the day I can begin tapering
JackieDecides Posted October 20, 2019 Posted October 20, 2019 On 10/16/2019 at 1:22 PM, Stormstrong said: Touch is medicine, and a vital one. Ponder how and where you'll be getting touch from. Without it, this process is ultra difficult. Stress starts to implode on you from within. You don't want to be sitting, holding yourself, and crying from longing for the touch of your species. You don't want to add that on top of your suffering. There was no other way, in my situation, but if I had an option, I would've thought long and hard where I'd be getting or giving human touch, before I started tapering. I go weeks without a hug or a pat on the back (no, I'm not in a rural area... the opposite). this is very good advice - and something I wish I had waited for. I also didn't have a stable job or other source of income, nor did I have an affordable place to live. these were huge problems as well. but I think you are right and my life would have been much better the last few years if I'd had someone in my life - family, friend, neighbor, anyone - I could have hugged. I wish I had known that! 1 Currently taking Ramapril (blood pressure) 5 mg twice a day Omeprazole 10 mg AM and 20 mg PM (the taper has gone nowhere after the first cut) Famotidine once a day (and I still needs tums sometimes) magnesium 200 mg at night as of yesterday 2 fish oil capsules "EPA-DHA 1000" off Lexapro as of 5/2018 - last dose had been 5 mg every other day for a couple years highest dose had been 20 mg at which point I was diagnosed with Bipolar II, which went away when I cut the lexapro down to 15 mg. I spent years on Paxil before Lexapro (can't remember dose), briefly on Effexor and Abilify and others I have forgotten. in fact, when I was diagnoses with BPII I was put on all kinds of things which made me feel so bad I stopped them cold turkey within maybe 3 or 4 weeks, thank goodness. since then I've known these pills were terrible and I weaned down the Lexapro with zero help or support over I'm not sure how many years.
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