pranav: Dealing with possible withdrawal symptoms, need advice

[pranav]

Hello i am an 18 year old  and have been searching about this site for quite some time,i will tell you my story, its a bit long but please bear with me for a while.

 

I had severe anxiety from my childhood , but these periods of anxiety generally passed away after some days and did not interfere with my daily life, i also had some mild ocd symptoms when i was anxious. I am also a hypochondriac.

 

Now before continuing my story let me tell you that i absolutely loved studying physics to a point that i was obsessed about it and this played a major role in my story. 

 

Now fast forward to august of 2019, life was going great for me , when i  hit a really bad patch of anxiety due to some college stress and in this period of anxiety i didn't enjoy doing anything. I read about depression and anhedonia when i was searching about ways to reduce anxiety on the net,being a hypochondriac and already in stress i became very worried about it , to the point of having panic attacks and crying spells nearly daily , scared that i was somehow suffering from anhedonia and depression. This went on for about a month and then this triggered my biggest fear that i could not enjoy studying physics,then my symptoms became tenfold i was crying nearly all the time and around this time thoughts of suicide began creeping in my mind,and i finally told about this to my parents, my father himself having sufferd from depression when he was young took me took a psychiatrist who prescribed 20 mg prozac to me i took it for about five days without noting any meaningful improvements,now reading about the side effects i again became scared and quit it cold turkey now my problems increased over time and my parents  convinced me to take prozac again ,  my psychiatrist prescribed me 40mg prozac i took the pill in the night and slept , as soon as i woke the next day i felt the my head had became too hot and stuffy in spite of it being a cold day and i felt a need to turn on the ac also my thougjts felt sluggish and slow.

 

I felt severe discomfort and restlessness due to feeling hot in my head,and my remaining intest in all activities evaporated over the course of the next few days ,  i was again thinking about discontinuing it again when a window appeared when my head cooled to more than normal degree. Now after a few days of feeling  hot , this felt like heaven to me one thing though , that when my head felt hot my thoughts were slow and sluggish and when my head felt cold and normal i returned to normal , now i felt that the med was fonally working i continued it over the next few days hoping for a window again, overtime i noticed that my libido was getting low and i also had trouble orgasming aside from feeling hot in my head which was being a source of constant irritation and did not go away even for a second after that window.

 

Now fed up i again quit the med c/t and waited for the side effects to abate now even after  4  months of quitting prozac i feel a warmth in the head constantly with slow sluggish thoughts,nearly zero libido though the orgasm time has improved a bit, but my main problem is that of the feeling of warmth in the core of my head and my slow thoughts which doesn't seem to be improving a bit and causing me anxiety which leada to periods of rage where i break things and cry out of frustration. So my questions are these 

 

Are the feeling of warmth in my head hot flashes and if they are then why are they nearly continuos for months and should i try clonidine or propanalol for it?

 

Am i suffering from brain fog,  if yes then why does it subside when the feeling of warmth dissapears?

 

Also will the sexual side effects ever go away? Am i suffering from pssd? 

 

And will i regain the same interest in activities and studying that i once did?

[pranav]

Hello i am an 18 year old  and have been searching about this site for quite some time,i will tell you my story, its a bit long but please bear with me for a while.

I had severe anxiety from my childhood , but these periods of anxiety generally passed away after some days and did not interfere with my daily life, i also had some mild ocd symptoms when i was anxious. I am also a hypochondriac.

Now before continuing my story let me tell you that i absolutely loved studying physics to a point that i was obsessed about it and this played a major role in my story. 

Now fast forward to august of 2019, life was going great for me , when i  hit a really bad patch of anxiety due to some college stress and in this period of anxiety i didn't enjoy doing anything. I read about depression and anhedonia when i was searching about ways to reduce anxiety on the net,being a hypochondriac and already in stress i became very worried about it , to the point of having panic attacks and crying spells nearly daily , scared that i was somehow suffering from anhedonia and depression. This went on for about a month and then this triggered my biggest fear that i could not enjoy studying physics,then my symptoms became tenfold i was crying nearly all the time and around this time thoughts of suicide began creeping in my mind,and i finally told about this to my parents, my father himself having sufferd from depression when he was young took me took a psychiatrist who prescribed 20 mg prozac to me i took it for about five days without noting any meaningful improvements,now reading about the side effects i again became scared and quit it cold turkey now my problems increased over time and my parents  convinced me to take prozac again ,  my psychiatrist prescribed me 40mg prozac i took the pill in the night and slept , as soon as i woke the next day i felt the my head had became too hot and stuffy in spite of it being a cold day and i felt a need to turn on the ac also my thougjts felt sluggish and slow. I felt severe discomfort and restlessness due to feeling hot in my head,and my remaining intest in all activities evaporated over the course of the next few days ,  i was again thinking about discontinuing it again when a window appeared when my head cooled to more than normal degree. Now after a few days of feeling  hot , this felt like heaven to me one thing though , that when my head felt hot my thoughts were slow and sluggish and when my head felt cold and normal i returned to normal , now i felt that the med was fonally working i continued it over the next few days hoping for a window again, overtime i noticed that my libido was getting low and i also had trouble orgasming aside from feeling hot in my head which was being a source of constant irritation and did not go away even for a second after that window. Now fed up i again quit the med c/t and waited for the side effects to abate now even after  4  months of quitting prozac i feel a warmth in the head constantly with slow sluggish thoughts,nearly zero libido though the orgasm time has improved a bit, but my main problem is that of the feeling of warmth in the core of my head and my slow thoughts which doesn't seem to be improving a bit and causing me anxiety which leada to periods of rage where i break things and cry out of frustration. So my questions are these 

Are the feeling of warmth in my head hot flashes and if they are then why are they nearly continuos for months and should i try clonidine or propanalol for it?

Am i suffering from brain fog,  if yes then why does it subside when the feeling of warmth dissapears?

Also will the sexual side effects ever go away? Am i suffering from pssd? 

And will i regain the same interest in activities and studying that i once did?

Also should i try reinstati g prozac at a low dose,?

[Shep]

Hi, pranav.

 

Welcome to SA.

 

Your symptoms sound like classic withdrawal symptoms. 

 

According to your signature, you were on 20 mg Prozac for a week in November, 40 mg Prozac for 23 days in December into January, and then escitalopram for 8 days in April, along with 11 days of clonazepam back in March. 

 

On 4/25/2020 at 11:00 AM, pranav said:

my psychiatrist prescribed me 40mg prozac i took the pill in the night and slept , as soon as i woke the next day i felt the my head had became too hot and stuffy in spite of it being a cold day and i felt a need to turn on the ac also my thougjts felt sluggish and slow.

 

You likely hadn't developed dependency when you first started 20 mg of Prozac and then stopped a week later. So when you went back on it at 40 mg, this hot and stuffy head symptoms may have been a side effect. 

 

So you may be dealing with some withdrawal, but also, an adverse reaction. It's really hard to say because it usually takes about a month to develop dependency on an antidepressant and with this kind of off-and-on use, it's really hard to say if you developed dependency or you're dealing with an adverse reaction.

 

If you're dealing with dependency, you may benefit from reinstating a very small amount of an antidepressant, possibly Prozac since you were on it the longest. 

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

Please post your thoughts on this.

 

Also, are you currently taking any supplements or any other kinds of medications? If so, please list them. 

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements, as many members report their nervous systems are simply too fragile to handle them. However, magnesium and fish oil tend to be calming to the nervous system and many people report they do help. Please only add in one supplement at a time and at a small dose. For more, please see:

 

 King of supplements: Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil)

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker

 

You may find some helpful information to handle your symptoms here: 

 

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

 

Please continue to use this thread to document your taper and to ask questions. 

[pranav]

Thanks for replying shep,  yes i am taking fish oil and magnesium but am yet to notice any improvements. What i wanted to ask you was that since i had prozac i have developed a sort of pressure in my forehead and over the ears, which increases so much sometimes that i feel a stiffness of my forehead muscles which literally makes lifting my eyebrows difficult , they can only lift about some centimetres or so when the pressure is at its highest. I had noticed that this pressure takes away my ability to think clearly which may be the cause of my sluggish thoughts. So i wanted to ask you that does taking prozac cause this pressure headache and how to cure this beacuse it has hardly improved in four months. And i have tried nsaid , muscle relaxers,  and pain killers but  nothing seems to help.

 I am currently taking propanalol for it but still not noting any improvements.

Should i try clonidine for the warmth in my head ??

Also should i start taking inositol beacuse i had read a sucess story here telling about inositol 

and as this guy has tolds that he notices a change in how he percives colour i had also noticed a change in how i percieve color,  i had also noticed this change in colour perception, when i felt better it felt like the colours deppened and brightned. The closet i can tell you is that it felt like the colurs cooled , like in the phone settings we apply cool settings for colurs and they get brighter and more differenciated.just like that, also what are your thoughts about my libido will it get better by taking inositol ?

 

 

Also shep would it benefit me from reinstating prozac as i remeber that only those five days on prozac had resulted in hypersomnia and head pressure for me.

Also did you experience an empty head on a/d and by an empty head i mean complete absense of inner chatter if yes then how long did it took to go away? 

 

[manymoretodays]

Hi pranav, @pranav and welcome aboard.  And thank you so much for getting your signature done.

On 4/29/2020 at 4:34 AM, pranav said:

What i wanted to ask you was that since i had prozac i have developed a sort of pressure in my forehead and over the ears, which increases so much sometimes that i feel a stiffness of my forehead muscles which literally makes lifting my eyebrows difficult , they can only lift about some centimetres or so when the pressure is at its highest. I had noticed that this pressure takes away my ability to think clearly which may be the cause of my sluggish thoughts. So i wanted to ask you that does taking prozac cause this pressure headache and how to cure this beacuse it has hardly improved in four months. And i have tried nsaid , muscle relaxers,  and pain killers but  nothing seems to help.

 I am currently taking propanalol for it but still not noting any improvements.

Should i try clonidine for the warmth in my head ??

Also should i start taking inositol beacuse i had read a sucess story here telling about inositol 

 

We would not recommend more drugs, to deal with WDsyndrome.

In addition to some of the links that Shep gave you, here are some more that talk a bit more about what WD(withdrawal) is and common symptoms:

What is withdrawal syndrome?

Dr. Joseph Glenmullen's withdrawal symptom checklist

 

I don't know that taking Prozac, at full doses, would improve this WD symptom that you describe.  I think the forehead stiffness and sluggish thinking sure could be WD symptoms.

Were they present before you started medication?

 

And then I'm seeing that you did a brief stint of both clonazepam and escitalopram in March and April.  Just 11 days of clonazepam pranav?

 

How long, and how much, of the propanolol have you been taking recently?

Have you got a chance to read and review the reinstatement link?  As you are less than a month out from your last AD(antidepressant), you may find more relief of symptoms from a small reinstatement now.  And by small, we are talking about something like just a 1 mg dose of Prozac.

 

Your thoughts please on reinstatement, pranav?

Thank you.

L, P, H, and G,

mmt

 

p.s.  I have had some of the symptoms that you describe too pranav.  Most relieved at this point for me.  Sometimes stress is still a bit more difficult for me......I am getting there though, with it all, healing and continued recovery.  Much thanks for that.  ❤️

 

 

 

Edited April 30, 2020 by manymoretodays

[pranav]

Well,i will give you more detail about my case. With me when i started prozac i was having severe anxiety and panic attacks and within the course of fifteen days the anxiety and panic attacks just dissapered,  and they dissapered to such an extent that i was having no anxiety even in potentially anxiety inducing situations for normal people,  i had sort of became numb from every emotion be it good or bad and this problem actually got worse when i quit the drug and to this day i don't have even a trickle of anxiety even when there should be anxiety and even after five months i have seen no improvements. Windows only appeared in the days when i had just quit the drug and there have been no windows for almost five months , when should i expect the windows to returns?? Will they return??  Or is the damage by these drugs permanent for me? 

Also i had to ask you about me libido problems which have not got better.  Do i have pssd as after five months i have seen no improvement??  

 

Also i panicked the day before yesterday and bought and took  bupropion 150 mg for three days which did nothing to cure libido or emotional blunting but instead gave me ED that too only after three days , so should i stop bupropion cd or taper it now? Also when i am so sensitive to these drugs would it be wise to reinstate prozac?

When shold i expect the emotional blunting and sexual side effect (or is it pssd)  to lift? 

Please answer

I have been taking  20mg propanalol for 20 days for the hot flash like symptom that i have . Currently seen no improvement in that case too. 

[pranav]

And these hot head are not like hot flashes type of hot these are i want to cut open my head and pour water in my head type of hot 

I developed it the first day i took prozac so is  this type of hot head symptom a verified adverse reaction?  If not then what i am suffering from , i think i am ***** for life stuck with this bloody ****. I am getting tired of this **** like really really tired. I am getting suicidal now   i want to blast my head apart and let it cool off. 

[Altostrata]

Hello, pranav. What happened when you took escilatopram last month for 3 days?

 

Are you still using clonazepam?

 

Suggest you not experiment with additional psychotropics, particularly not at "normal" doses. Your system may be sensitized and you may react badly to any of them.

 

16 hours ago, pranav said:

With me when i started prozac i was having severe anxiety and panic attacks and within the course of fifteen days the anxiety and panic attacks just dissapered,  and they dissapered to such an extent that i was having no anxiety even in potentially anxiety inducing situations for normal people,  i had sort of became numb from every emotion be it good or bad and this problem actually got worse when i quit the drug

 

The emotional anesthesia is a common adverse effect of antidepressants that may persist after you stop the drug, as is sexual dysfunction. You will have to be patient and let your nervous system reorganize itself to go back to normal.

[pranav]

No i did not notice anything of effect while taking escitralopam. 

No i am not taking clonazepam lately. 

And am currently taking 40mg propanalol as my psych said that it would help the hot feeling in my head but currently having no relief from it. 

I agree to wait , but i am worried because i have not experienced windows like you guys,  the only windows i had were when i had just quit the drug it's been five months since and no windows till now. 

Did you experience these windows constantly just after quitting the drug or they started to appear months later?

What was the rough timeline of yuor windows is what i mean to ask. 

Also have you completely recovered from emotional numbing and pssd ? 

Thanks

[Altostrata]

How often are you taking propanolol? Please add the information to your signature.

 

What effect did clonazepam have on you?

 

How often do you get this "hot flash" symptom? Where is it in your head or body? How long does it last? Are you in a location where it's very hot?

 

How's your sleep?

 

On 4/25/2020 at 8:00 AM, pranav said:

Now fed up i again quit the med c/t and waited for the side effects to abate now even after  4  months of quitting prozac i feel a warmth in the head constantly with slow sluggish thoughts,nearly zero libido though the orgasm time has improved a bit, but my main problem is that of the feeling of warmth in the core of my head and my slow thoughts which doesn't seem to be improving a bit and causing me anxiety which leada to periods of rage where i break things and cry out of frustration. So my questions are these 

 

There are symptoms that have resulted from going on and off the drug -- foggy brain, sexual dysfunction, and waves of some kind (hot flashes?) -- and there are symptoms that are your emotional reaction to how poorly you're feeling. Please do what you can to stay calm and not add those symptoms arising from frustration to your drug-induced symptoms.

 

It can take many months for these drug-induced symptoms to resolve. Progress can be imperceptibly slow. There are no quick fixes when your nervous system is upset. You will need to be patient.

 

Many people find fish oil and magnesium supplements helpful, see
https://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/
https://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/15483-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

 

You might try a little bit of one at a time to see how it affects you.

 

Please let us know how you're doing.

[pranav]

Thanks for your advice .

Currently taking propanalol 40mg for 15 days. 

I was sleeping fir 14-16 hours on clonazepam though it did provide some soothing effect. 

My sleep quality now i would say is good,  getting 8 hours of sound sleep at night , but wake up tired still. 

Also if that is hot flash or not I don't know but i constantly get the feeling like putting my head in water,and because of this feeling everything seems kinda 'off' its a little hard to explain. Also one day got a cold flash like symptom which was one of the moments where everything seemed alright but it lasted only for a few hours and that too when i was on the med,  no windows like this when i am off the med. 

I have this hot flash like feeling constantly , everytime  since the day i started taking prozac and has only subsided in the one window i described.

I am currently taking both fish oil and magnesium with no discrenable effects. 

Also please tell me about your windows pattern a bit.  

Thanks

 

[Altostrata]

Is this flash an electrical zap in your head or other part of your body? It occurs sporadically every day?

 

See

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Are We There Yet? How Long is Withdrawal Going to Take?

 

"Is it always going to be like this?"

 

[Altostrata]

@pranav how are you doing?

[pranav]

Going downhill , hot flashes subsided but pssd has only worsened and also started having constant derealization,  also even after six months not even a single window for me .

At my wits end. Tired