Csilover: What to do? Effexor

[Csilover]

I’m also having horrible ear pain. How long do you think this taper will be?

[Shep]

31 minutes ago, Csilover said:

@Shep sorry to bother. do I stay on 75 tonight and tomorrow?

 

Yes, please stay with the 75 for the next few nights. Please don't make any other changes.

 

It takes 4 days for your nervous system to register a change in dose, so let's give this a few days and see where you're at.

 

I know you've only been on Seroquel a very short time, so we'll likely discuss another decrease soon, but for now, please don't make any more changes. 

[Csilover]

I keep getting a sore throat randomly and The other night I wake up feeling like it’s closed up. Hard to breath. Doesn’t happen every night. 

[Csilover]

@Shep can I switch Benzos to a longer acting one? My anxiety is so high throughout the day and the crying spells are unbearable. I can’t control them either. No trigger. I can’t go anywhere without them happening it seems. I know you said no change but I can’t function

[Csilover]

Also I should’ve noted the timeline in which the doctor administered it. 

April 18: 25 mg

April 19: 50 mg

April 20: 50 mg

April 21: 75 mg 

April 22: 12.5 2x daily, 100 mg 

April 23: 12.5 2x daily, 200 ( doctor upped it I didn’t sleep well, so I lowered it) mg 

April 24: 12.5 2x daily, 150 mg 

April 25: 12.5 2x daily, 150 mg 

April 26: 12.5 2x daily, 150 mg 

April 27: 12.5 2x daily, 150 mg 

April 28: 12.5 2x daily, 75 mg 

April 29: 12.5 x2 daily, 75 mg at night

[Csilover]

I slept maybe 2 hours last night

[Csilover]

8:30 wake up. Eat breakfast

9  take 12.5 seroquel. .5 Ativan

10 feel calm. 

12 feel hopeful and inspired. Feel myself.

1  feel sad all of a sudden. Crying a lot. Despair.

2 anxiety high

3  crying but not as much as yesterday. 12.5 seroquel.

4 crying spells

5 crying spells

6 head pressure 

7head pressure worsening

8 less anhedonia. Feel a bit more myself

9 feel bit more myself. Take 75 mg seroquel and .5 Ativan.  
tossed and turned the whole night. Maybe got two hours. 
Anxiety high.

6 am wake up

 

did I kindle my brain by dropping too quickly????

[Csilover]

Should I go back up and go down more slowly? I feel horrible

[Csilover]

Sorry @Shep for all the questions

[Shep]

2 hours ago, Csilover said:

10 feel calm. 

12 feel hopeful and inspired. Feel myself.

1  feel sad all of a sudden. Crying a lot. Despair.

2 anxiety high

3  crying but not as much as yesterday. 12.5 seroquel.

4 crying spells

5 crying spells

6 head pressure 

7head pressure worsening

8 less anhedonia. Feel a bit more myself

 

You are getting classic windows and waves throughout the day. Please see:

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Symptoms can fluctuate throughout your taper and even throughout the day, as you're finding out. Some of it may be side effects of the drugs and waves from your previous drugs and tapers. 

 

These threads can help you understand what's going on:

 

What is happening in your brain?

 

How psychiatric drugs remodel your brain

 

2 hours ago, Csilover said:

did I kindle my brain by dropping too quickly????

 

No, you haven't been on Seroquel long enough to become dependent, especially on the higher dose. 

 

Please keep everything the same for a couple more days. Let's see how you sleep over the next couple of nights. 

 

3 minutes ago, Csilover said:

Sorry @Shep for all the questions

 

No worries, Csilover. That's what we're here for - to answer your questions. 

 

Do you have any hobbies, such as art, writing, or music? You may want to check out some ways to make your hobbies into ways of healing. If you don't currently have any hobbies, now would be a great time to learn something new. This will aid in your healing and also give you some distractions. 

 

Art Therapy

 

Journaling / Journalling / Writing Therapy / Therapeutic Writing

 

Music for self-care: calms hyperalertness, anxiety, aids relaxation and sleep

 

Music Therapy / Music for Wellness and Healing

 

 

[Csilover]

I do like to do art.  I will give that a shot. thank you @Shep. Do you think I was stabilizing on the seroquel and that’s why I had mood swings?
Also I started emdr last night. Would it be better to put this off until I’m done tapering?

[Shep]

Let's give your nervous system time to register this change and to adjust. It does come in windows and waves. 

 

Yes, I would postpone the EMDR. Any trauma work or process work can be difficult during withdrawal. One thing at a time. 

 

I'm glad you have an art hobby! Hope you have time to spend on that today. Feel free to post on the art thread and share your experiences. Or maybe even share a picture. 

[Csilover]

8 am: q anxiety head pressure and pain.
9 am: took 12.5 mg seroquel. Ativan .5
10 am: Physical anxiety. Feel horrible until 4 

3 pm: took 12.5 seroquel

4 pm feel almost fully myself
5 pm awful anxiety again Nausea headaches, but feel myself overall  

6 pm ear ringing

9 pm: Took 75 mg seroquel and .5 Ativan 

9:45 Fell asleep

Slept all night only waking once

8 am wake up feeling okay. Just foggy and head pressure

[Csilover]

Could I get rid of the day time doses next  @shep? Or at least lower them? They make me so foggy 

[Csilover]

I felt fully myself for the first time in weeks today. Now I’m scared to change things  

also am I getting more and more dependent on the Benzos the more I wait?? It’s making me nervous.

[Shep]

On 4/30/2020 at 6:10 AM, Csilover said:

Take 75 mg seroquel and .5 Ativan.  
tossed and turned the whole night. Maybe got two hours. 

 

21 hours ago, Csilover said:

9:45 Fell asleep

Slept all night only waking once

8 am wake up feeling okay. Just foggy and head pressure

 

You're seeing improvements in sleep. Hopefully this continues. 

 

20 hours ago, Csilover said:

Could I get rid of the day time doses next  @shep? Or at least lower them? They make me so foggy 

 

15 hours ago, Csilover said:

I felt fully myself for the first time in weeks today. Now I’m scared to change things  

also am I getting more and more dependent on the Benzos the more I wait?? It’s making me nervous.

 

You're going to become dependent on both drugs in the near future, and benzos are less toxic than the higher doses of antipsychotics, so getting you down to a lower amount of Seroquel first is the best plan. 

 

What do you think about dropping the first 12.5 mg dose of Seroquel? This will also allow you to see how you do with Ativan only. 

[Csilover]

@Shep hi. That sounds good. Should I start that today? I did not sleep well at all last night. Felt hyper and full of anxiety. Any other reps other than the 12.5?

[Csilover]

also at what low dose is it less toxic?

[Csilover]

I have horrible neuropathic pain in my legs now. What the heck is even is this drug 

[Csilover]

9 am feel good waking up. Head foggy

Feel myself.  Take 12.5 Ativan 

Head pressure intensifies 

3 nausea anxiety eat ringing. Take 12.5 Ativan. 

4 feel nauseas and tired. Take a two hour nap (probably why I didn’t sleep well)

6 wake up

7 feel groggy and out of it. 
8 crying spell

9 Calm down. Feel wired. take 75 mg and .5 Ativan 

wake up multiple times in the middle of the night. May have gotten 4 hours. Physical anxiety throughout the night.

6 wake up. Anxiety is high. Stomach is in knots

9 take .5 ativan. Calm down. Having neuropathic pain in legs hands and feet. 

felt like myself for the first time in forever, despite the anxiety. 

[Csilover]

So just drop the first 12.5, today and tomorrow? No other changes? @Shep

[Csilover]

@Altostrata what do you think? Stay at 12.5? 

[Altostrata]

Hello, Csi. I am confused. What is your drug schedule? Are you taking Ativan twice a day or 3 times a day?

 

Which 12.5 do you mean, what drug at what time?

 

Please update your signature with recent drug changes.

[Csilover]

@Altostrata I take .5  Ativan twice a day. I was talking about 12.5 seroquel

current schedule 

9 am .5 Ativan (just dropped 12.5 seroquel at this time today)

3pm 12.5 seroquel

9pm 75 mg seroquel,  .5 Ativan 

I’ll update the signature. 
 

thank you Alto

[Csilover]

Sorry TMI, I am having severe stomach pains with nausea, diarea, chills and vomiting, is this normal for seroquel withdrWLs? @Shep @Altostrata

[Csilover]

Feel wide awake tonight and anxious. Normally I’m knocked out by that dose. Should I reinstate and go slower? I feel horrible

[Shep]

8 minutes ago, Csilover said:

Feel wide awake tonight and anxious. Normally I’m knocked out by that dose. Should I reinstate and go slower? I feel horrible

 

 

This may help:

 

Guided meditation journey to sleep on a train ( with video ) 

Edited May 3, 2020 by Shep
added quote

[Shep]

1 hour ago, Csilover said:

Sorry TMI, I am having severe stomach pains with nausea, diarea, chills and vomiting, is this normal for seroquel withdrWLs? @Shep @Altostrata

 

I could be a stomach virus or something you ate. How long have you felt these symptoms? 

[Csilover]

@Shep yesterday and today. How long can I expect not to sleep? 😢

[Altostrata]

What is your temperature? You may have a virus.

[Csilover]

@Altostrata my temperature is normal. It seems to have passed last night. I slept really well last night only waking once. I am so surprised. 

[Csilover]

9 am wake up feeling very anxious. Didn’t sleep well the night before. Tossing and turning. took .5 Ativan 

10 am high anxiety

1 stomach pains. High anxiety. Crying

2 calm down

3 calm down. Took 12.5 seroquel

5 anxiety high

8 Hugh anxiety feel wired

9 took 75 mg seroquel and .5 Ativan (accidentally took extra 12.5, so 87. 5)

9:50 took 3 mg melatonin 

10:20 fell asleep

8 am woke up. Slept through the night only waking once.

[Csilover]

Also I just counted my pills. I thought I may have accidentally grabbed 3 half’s of seroquel 25 last night but couldn’t remember. So I think I took 87.5 mg instead 75 at bedtime  @Altostrata

@Shep

what do you think I should do going forward?

[Csilover]

Feel a little numb this morning. I hope I didn’t screw things up majorly 😭

[Csilover]

Actually feel really good today and calm

[Shep]

3 hours ago, Csilover said:

9 took 75 mg seroquel and .5 Ativan (accidentally took extra 12.5, so 87. 5)

9:50 took 3 mg melatonin 

10:20 fell asleep

 

Please be careful adding in supplements. 3 mg is a high dose of melatonin. I'm glad you slept better but you may want to reduce the melatonin a bit. Here's more information:

 

Melatonin for sleep

 

If you just started taking melatonin, you may want to reduce it to 0.5 mg and see how you do with that. Please read the first post in that link and let us know if you have any questions. 

 

3 hours ago, Csilover said:

Also I just counted my pills. I thought I may have accidentally grabbed 3 half’s of seroquel 25 last night but couldn’t remember. So I think I took 87.5 mg instead 75 at bedtime  @Altostrata

@Shep

what do you think I should do going forward?

 

 

Please try not worry about this. Let's go with the 75 mg Seroquel dose going forward. You haven't been on this drug long enough to become dependent, so you're in the midst of a rapid taper. 

 

 

3 hours ago, Csilover said:

@Altostrata my temperature is normal. It seems to have passed last night. I slept really well last night only waking once. I am so surprised. 

 

1 hour ago, Csilover said:

Actually feel really good today and calm

 

Excellent update. 

 

Questions: How do you feel taking only the Ativan in the morning? Does the morning Ativan make you feel sedated? Do you notice any difference between taking only Ativan in the morning and taking both Ativan and Seroquel in the afternoon?