omnispan: hitting the slopes of paroxetine withdrawal

[Colonial]

That sounds good.

The fact that you had a new symptom (ears) from the one hour change just shows how powerful the drug is and how complex our reactions to it.

Maybe it will turn out you can gauge how fast or slow your split can be by that symptom.

 

As long as it doesn't become excessive or too prolonged 20 minutes a day on either end, with a day hold a week will get you 2 hours movement a week. In 3 weeks you should have the worst of it covered and finish up in 4-5 weeks.

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by Colonial

[omnispan]

A text block of an update, in two parts! 

 

I wish I was able to write about this more fluidly, but my mind ain't into that right now

I wish I was able to write about this sooner, but my social anxiety hindered that.  And that I always feel unworthy in reaching out for support here because there are so many people hurting more than me.

1. My Progression
2. My Plan for the future

Progression

 

The window I had starting near the end of september lasted around six days.  Pure 75% across the board, absolute bliss and stability.  Elevated hopes tremendously, for I haven't had a continuous period of peace that long since my crash began.

I continued pushing the split during this period, about 15 min a day at the beginning.  Some combination of pushing the 12pm back and the 1pm forward, with some minor timing mishaps.  Wish I had been more consistent there.

 

But every yin has its yang. And oh boy is the yang kicking my ass right now, in ways I am not prepared for.

 

 

A lot of things have changed as of late (goods and bads), the bad of which are driving my worries and fears.  The "cause" of which I am grasping at straws trying to figure out (if it exists)

so I can remedy it.

The bads In no particular order:

 

- My evenings have started being affected. I feared this would happen eventually.  Perhaps it is the price of stabilization, as things start affecting all periods of the day instead of just some periods.

This actually loosely started happening about two weeks ago:  During the end of my second wave (~3rd week of september), I started noticing that I would get brief flashes of anxiety, even past 6pm which was my usual cooldown point.  Those were not very common, but they were new nonetheless.

During my six days of peace, If the evening continuation still occured I didn't really even care, I was just positively beaming so hard it didn't matter.

However, in this latest wave (past weekish), my evenings are very similar to my afternoons.  Its almost as if the afternoon "hump" I was experiencing each day a few weeks ago got smoothed out, so midday up to at least 7pm is a lot of the same yuck, with some improvements in the evening but not as much as before.

I was not prepared for it.  I was used to having my evening peace to be able to calmly reflect and recollect during the hard times, and be able to easily eat when my appetite wasn't there during the day. It feels like my main handicap was swept out from under me.

My theories:

• It was inevitable in the course of stabilization
• The split
• Pushing back the supplements

- New symptoms in the past week or two.

• Feels like throat is closing up.  It comes and goes in waves throughout the day, most of the waves clustered around midday through evening.  Rarely mornings or nighttime.  It is an inconvenience.  Minor but quite a persistent reminder of my woes.
• Mood swings.  Mostly in the past few days, after the "worse" of this current wave past (worse used loosely because things are still not nailed down).  When I'm thinking about my situation (which takes up a lot of my brain space), I'll get flashes of contentment or even hope at times, conversely I'll go back into the woes.  Its really difficult to describe these well, sometimes it feels like a baseline of okay-ishness with drops of dispair that last ~15 seconds,  sometimes its a numb despair with brief ~5-10 second flashes of contentment.
  • During my previous major two waves (end August, end of September), I would get these "hope flashes" towards the end of the wave, which during the second wave I tried to hold on to as a sign that the wave would be ending soon (and it did!)
  • This wave just feels so distinct compared to the previous, I fear the same pattern may not apply.  But only time will tell!
• Tinnitus.  At the start of my split I had a pretty noticeable bout of tinnitus around the same time (About an hour post dose) for the first two days, which receded as I went into my six day window.  But as of the past several days I get it in a very similar pattern to what I experienced at the start of my split, except it extends a bit longer before and after the dose time.  Just enough to be an annoyance.
• Timing.  During the first month of my crash, nearly every symptom occurred like clockwork, at specific time periods relative to when I took my dose.  Now that still loosely occurs for several symptoms, but some (mostly the newer ones) just come and go when they please.

- Supplement shenanigans

Yesterday I forgot to take my supplements in the afternoon.  Yesterday afternoon was also pretty good, (a lot of the positive baseline mood swings).  But going into the evening there was a noticeable deterioration, yesterday evening was definitely the most unstable evening I have experienced.  Not misery per se, more just a sense of brokenness, hard to focus, mind racing (negative baseline mood swings), light crying spells.  Late evening I started getting hot flashes, which I have not experienced in nearly a month.  They lasted into bedtime, where it was very difficult to get comfortable because of them.  My sleep last night was the most unstable it has been in a long while.  I woke up about four different times interspersed through the night, and past 8am I woke many times and slept very lightly.  I didn't realize about the supplements until this morning, upon which I took the ones for yesterday.  In retrospect it makes a lot of sense, observing how this evening goes should be a good indicator if the missed supplements did indeed cause the issues.

 

Taking my supplements this morning also possibly confirmed a suspicion I had, that the supplements are causing some of their own side effects.  Notably a temporary wave of sleepyness I have been experiencing about an hour after I take my supplements.  I had thought it might have been because of WD, but I got the wave about an hour after I took them this morning. 

 

I am very curious which one is causing the sleepyness.  And which one caused the unstable evening yesterday.

 

The goods in no particular order:

 

- The afternoon hump was significantly improved when the split was one hour apart.   I was actually pretty happy with where I was at in the one hour split, but granted I was just coming into a window at the time, so who what tale time would have told.

Now instead I get two instability patches in the time after I take my two split doses, roughly coinciding with when the afternoon hump would occur post dose.  These patches are shorter and minor, but still noticeable and a source of stress.

 

- Around the same time the hump left, my mornings started becoming more manageable.  Cortisol spike still a thing, mostly at the moment when I remember the mess I am still in.  Getting the blood flowing became the best fix for the spike.

 

- The day to day difference has settled down a lot.  In september (between my two major waves),  the day to day would be all over the place.  A fantastic day here followed by a miserable day,  some okay days interspersed, etc.  No good period nor bad period lasted much longer than a day at the beginning.  Towards the end of september the duration lengthened out a bit, maybe to two good days, two bad, something like that.

In october here, I had the good window that lasted six days, and the past three days have been a wave.  There was an extended transition period between them, and the day-to-day difference is a lot less than it was before.

 

- No day as of late has even come close to what it was like in my first ten days of hell during this crash.  The bad days definitely still suck when I'm in them, and its hard to grasp onto hope when I'm then

But the overall trend has remained upwards.

 

- I got a therapist who is very open minded as to what I am going through.  She had a son who was poly drugged and suffered from both the cocktail and his experience getting off of it, so I think my situation sparked a curiosity there.  She said she was going to do some research, including looking into this forum!

I've had one appointment so far, (last week), was supposed to this week too but she was sick.  Which sucked because I was really looking forward to it, and it would've been right when I needed it the most.  Oh well, I have another one next week.  I have good hopes on that front.

 

The plan for the future

 

To now I had continued moving the split, about five minutes each direction per day.  Yesterday I was at 11:20am and 1:40pm.

I realize now I should have stopped when the new symptoms showed up, just to give my body room to adjust.

Going forward, I'm going to hold at two hours apart for a while, to observe how things settle.  Today I took the doses at 11:20 and 1:20, and over the next four days I'll push it back to 11:00 and 1pm.   I need to continue pushing the morning dose back, because 11:20 is during the middle of one of my classes.  11 and 1 will be the perfect time, as its right outside the time of my lectures.

 

I'm also going to push my supplement time back to 2pm with the dose time push,  I might even swap it over to noon, because then it will be closer to my dose time, which is what my body was used to for a long time.

 

My dose refill is coming up.  I haven't had a refill in about 4 months, and I'm a bit worried that my current stock may have slightly degraded in the time since then, so I hope the transition to the new stock won't cause any issues.

I'm definitely going back to the monthly refill instead of 3-month refill, to eliminate that risk going forward.

 

I've started looking into a compounding pharmacies, both so I could have a very precise dose made up, and more significantly, so that I could possibly have it compounded as slow-release.

I first need to actually reach out to the pharmacy and get a lot of questions answered.  My fears and social anxiety are making that difficult.

I have hopes that a slow-release would help with the post-dose spikes I am getting, but I am also extremely fearful that the transition would cause its own issues.

 

omnispan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[omnispan]

I've been noticing a gradual improvement over the past several days, mostly by the severity of the new symptoms.  Still obnoxious to deal with.

 

My hope is that they were temporary in the process of adjusting to the split, and that the adjustment will continue to progress.

 

I've started symptom journaling again, so I will be able to better catalogue progress and work to alleviate my constant speculations.  And so any text dumps I make won't be such an extended mess like the one I just made two days ago 😬

Going to try to keep at the journal going forward, especially on the good days, so I can look to it for hope when I need it.

[Colonial]

What day did you start to split and what was the original time?

What day did you start to notice symptoms, and how long did you stay at that timing before You felt better?

What are you at as of today?

 

It can be worse for some to be constantly adjusting the timing everyday, regardless of how small the time change you think it is, your brain registers the difference. It may be better to make a larger change and hold for 3 days, so your making a change every 3 or 4 days.  Sometimes less is more, meaning you can have less symptoms moving an hour every 4th day, than moving 15 minutes every day.  It's the constant fiddling with either the dose or the timing that can be problematic.

 

The magnesium may help with feeling tired or calm and many use it specifically at bed time for that reason.

What doses are you taking of the Vitamin D (hormone) and the Magnesium?

 

 

[Colonial]

On 10/9/2021 at 6:05 PM, omnispan said:

Now instead I get two instability patches in the time after I take my two split doses, roughly coinciding with when the afternoon hump would occur post dose.  These patches are shorter and minor, but still noticeable and a source of stress.

Yes, which is why you want to spread them out as far as possible, those 2 humps are also giving interactions in your body as they wear off.

I take the night dose a good 2 hours before I try to sleep so it's evened out before then, and then about 12 hours later in the morning. 

You don't want it wearing off too close to when you have the morning cortisol rush as well.

[omnispan]

 

1 hour ago, Colonial said:

What day did you start to split and what was the original time?

In the weeks leading up to the 27th of Sept I pushed the full dose back slowly to noon from 1:30pm.  Don't remember specific dates.

27th it was all at 12

28th 12 and 12:45

29th 12 and 1

 

From the 29th on I tried pushing the dose somewhere around 10-15 minutes further per day, worked to push the morning dose back first.

Wasn't super precise with it, sometimes I would miss the dose time by 5-10 minutes late, and try to push next from whatever time I hit the day before.  Not super often but happened a handful of times. 

I meant to keep the second dose at 1 while I pushed the first dose.  Though I goofed up on the timing there too, I would accidently push it back, and keep it where I pushed it to.  That happened at least twice.

 

1 hour ago, Colonial said:

What day did you start to notice symptoms, and how long did you stay at that timing before You felt better?

From the 27th/28th on I had my fantastic window for around 6 days, during which I didnt notice much new stuff besides the hour of tinnitus the first two days of the split. After those good days it was a slow progressive transition downward until about the 6th of october, which I would say was the peak of the current wave I am going through.

During that transition was when the new symptoms slowly started showing up.

As the severity of the symptoms increased, I didn't stop the dose push as I perhaps should have done, but instead just slowed the reduction down to about 5 minutes a day, sometimes 10 if I was catching up from a late dose the day before.

 

1 hour ago, Colonial said:

What are you at as of today?

Today I took my doses at 11:10 and 1:10, both of which I have been pushing back 5 minutes a day for the last two days. 

 

Specifically:

In the few days prior to the 8th I decided to push both sides, since I had already been accidently pushing the second dose on several occasions.  Was doing 5 min back on the first, 5 min forward on the second.

Oct 8th:  11:25 and 1:40, later that day I decide to hold at the two hours in hope it would help alleviate symptoms.  I still need to push back the first dose so I am not taking it in the middle of lecture, as that was the biggest reason why I would miss my dose time by 5-10 minutes (even 15 min once or twice).

Oct 9th: 11:20 and 1:20

Oct 10th: 11:15 and 1:15

Oct 11th (today): 11:10 and 1:10

 

 

2 hours ago, Colonial said:

It can be worse for some to be constantly adjusting the timing everyday, regardless of how small the time change you think it is, your brain registers the difference. It may be better to make a larger change and hold for 3 days, so your making a change every 3 or 4 days.  Sometimes less is more, meaning you can have less symptoms moving an hour every 4th day, than moving 15 minutes every day.  It's the constant fiddling with either the dose or the timing that can be problematic.

I can definitely see this being a possibility.  If I was astute enough to have been journaling at the time I might be able to confirm it as well instead of going off of memory.

 

2 hours ago, Colonial said:

What doses are you taking of the Vitamin D (hormone) and the Magnesium?

Vitamin D3 50 mcg

Magnesium lysinate glycinate chelate 100mg

 

 

2 hours ago, Colonial said:

The magnesium may help with feeling tired or calm and many use it specifically at bed time for that reason.

I reread the magnesium article and omega 3 article yesterday and came to the idea that it might be time to update my supplement amounts and time.  I'm taking less than the recommended amounts of omega 3s, not refrigerating them.   And my magnesium is once in the afternoon, so its probably not being absorbed that well.

 

I'm definitely going to try taking two oil capsules per day, once per meal. Probably starting tonight.  And refrigerating them.

 

I'm trying to decide how to approach the magnesium.  My first idea would be to split it into two 50mg, and take them at the meals with the fish oil.  Then work from there, maybe slowly increase to two 100mg a day at those times.  Still need to nail that idea down though, and probably after I make sure the extra fish oil doesn't cause issues.

 

 

2 hours ago, Colonial said:

Yes, which is why you want to spread them out as far as possible, those 2 humps are also giving interactions in your body as they wear off.

I take the night dose a good 2 hours before I try to sleep so it's evened out before then, and then about 12 hours later in the morning. 

You don't want it wearing off too close to when you have the morning cortisol rush as well.

I have been thinking about the necessity to continue to push this split for many many days now. I've just been too scared to considering the response I had over the past weekish.

 

As things have slowly settled in the past few days, I think I have noticed that my afternoon hump is still there.  Not nearly as distinct of a symptom difference as it was when I was taking my dose all at once, but enough of an instability bump to be quite noticeable on some days.  It varies day to day, but it tends to peak somewhere around late afternoon into early evening.

I take this a sign that the split needs to continue.

 

There was another reservation I had about continuing the split that I actually just cleared up today.  In case my idea to get a slow release compound of my dose comes to fruition, I was trying to figure out where I should have the split at to give the best chance for a smooth transition.

I didn't know about what the release profile would look like, say if the slow release made the medication release over 3 hours, then a two hour split would seem like a good transition point.

But I just today for the first time went to the compounding pharmacy I was looking at, and they said the profile is more like 8-12 hours of release instead (probably closer to the 8 for me cause my gut processes stuff fast)

So taking that into consideration, that's another strike for continuing this split push.

 

 

 

I am definitely going to think alot about how to proceed with the split.

 

Colonial, you just gave me a lot of reassurance as to how I should approach the split.  I agree that trying bigger jumps once every handful of days would be a good way to do it going forward.

 

As always, I appreciate your insight and thought provoking questions.  The mere process of my responding to them helped make a few connections I hadn't seen yet.  Thank you!

[Altostrata]

Hello, @omnispan I am just catching up with your thread. I want to thank @Colonial for helping you with such good and careful advice.

 

You may want to take vitamin D3 in the morning, it's a daytime vitamin. If magnesium and fish oil make you sleepy, you might want to take a dose of each of them in the evening. You are correct in your divided dosing and inclination to increase both.

 

What times of day are you taking Paxil now? Please keep daily notes of times o’clock you take your drugs, their dosages, and your symptoms throughout the day. We need to know how you feel before and after taking each drug, and your symptoms in between. Post 24 hours of notes at a time in this topic, in a simple list format with time o’clock on the left and notation (symptom or drug and dosage) on the right.

 

This will enable us to better understand what the split dosing is doing.

 

How are you measuring your dose now? Do you have confidence it's more precise? You might consider taking one of your daily doses as a liquid for a bit, then the other -- a liquid can more easily be measured as you taper by ever-smaller amounts.

 

At low doses, Paxil is metabolized more quickly, it's a characteristic of the drug. A lot of people have difficulty tapering it in the last lap. 

 

I agree, once you get your dosing schedule set, holding on tapering through the winter is an excellent idea.

[Colonial]

If you've only separated the dose 2 hours in 2 weeks that is fairly modest.

You may want to try picking the pace up a tiny bit, half an hour every 2nd or 3rd day with a few days staying at that time and see how you do.

 

You may be over obsessing about the symptoms if you concentrating on dose changes at the 10-15 minute level 

The sooner you can get them at least 5 hours apart to smooth out the interdose wd the better.

 

Until then it's hard to say what is from changing the dose and what is still from the interdose

It also could be your working on both ends at the same time, which could be what is confusing your system.

[omnispan]

Thanks for coming by Alto, it really means a lot to me  

 

19 hours ago, Altostrata said:

What times of day are you taking Paxil now? Please keep daily notes of times o’clock you take your drugs, their dosages, and your symptoms throughout the day. We need to know how you feel before and after taking each drug, and your symptoms in between. Post 24 hours of notes at a time in this topic, in a simple list format with time o’clock on the left and notation (symptom or drug and dosage) on the right.

I just re-started journaling two days ago, once I really get into the swing of that  I'll probably write it into a google doc and link it here.

 

19 hours ago, Altostrata said:

You may want to take vitamin D3 in the morning, it's a daytime vitamin.

Thats a very good point.  I'll probably start taking it with my first dose going forward.

 

19 hours ago, Altostrata said:

How are you measuring your dose now? Do you have confidence it's more precise?

Crushing up my 10mg tablets with a pill crusher, then measuring out the dose on a Gemini-20.

 

My pills come in a 125mgpw/10mgai form (1/8th of the pill weight is paxil).

When I make up the dose I aim for a 1mgpw tolerance either way, more than that it gets super tedious.  That translates to +- 0.125 mgai difference, on 3.5mgai doses.

 

I'm not super satisfied with that tolerance, which is why I am looking into professional compounding services right now.  Which would also have the benefit of possibly getting a slow-release compound.

My plan B was to see if I can switch to a manufacturer with higher filler to active ingredient ratio, so precision would be easier to get.  (crossover would be a slow months long process if I decided to do it)

 

19 hours ago, Altostrata said:

You might consider taking one of your daily doses as a liquid for a bit, then the other -- a liquid can more easily be measured as you taper by ever-smaller amounts.

The prospect of switching to liquid is extremely intimidating.  I fear for any adverse affects that would occur (as have happened with other people).  Mainly because my body has never been used to liquid paxil before.

I'm still keeping it as an option for the future, as for the lower doses this would be my next plan if getting a precise compound isn't an option.

But at 7 mg I don't feel an urge to switch to precise liquid.

 

20 hours ago, Altostrata said:

At low doses, Paxil is metabolized more quickly, it's a characteristic of the drug. A lot of people have difficulty tapering it in the last lap. 

Wow I didn't know that.  That makes a lot of sense!

 

20 hours ago, Altostrata said:

I agree, once you get your dosing schedule set, holding on tapering through the winter is an excellent idea.

:))))

[omnispan]

17 hours ago, Colonial said:

If you've only separated the dose 2 hours in 2 weeks that is fairly modest.

You may want to try picking the pace up a tiny bit, half an hour every 2nd or 3rd day with a few days staying at that time and see how you do.

That's more or less exactly what I was thinking, half an hour pushes every handful of days.

 

I'd definitely take more than 3 days hold to begin with, just to gauge and observe how I react.  From that I would figure out what a good pace would be.

 

17 hours ago, Colonial said:

You may be over obsessing about the symptoms if you concentrating on dose changes at the 10-15 minute level 

For sure.  Over obsessing is my specialty  

 

17 hours ago, Colonial said:

The sooner you can get them at least 5 hours apart to smooth out the interdose wd the better.

I definitely agree. 

 

I'll probably start the first push later this week/weekend. 

 

I just today actually forgot my 11am dose!  Haven't done that before 😬😬.   Took both doses at 1 when I realized I missed the first.

Going to give myself a few days before any tampering because of that, just in case recovery is needed.

So far, there's been some minor/light-moderate increase in a few physical symptoms, with a small increase in mental symptoms.    Nothing too bad.   Hopefully it won't cause anything intrusive in the coming days.

Kinda hampered my journaling a bit, as I was hoping to get a good consistent account of several days, but the pattern today is a bit different than the usual.

[Colonial]

"Today I took my doses at 11:10 and 1:10, both of which I have been pushing back 5 minutes a day for the last two days."

Pushing both at the same time may be the problem. Stick with one and make larger changes.

 

If your only pushing the morning dose earlier by 30 minutes, you should be ok doing that every third and then 4th day.

You should not need longer holds than that on a regular basis, and you should be getting closer to the morning dose being near the correct time. I think all these 5 minute adjustments are more likely to do harm than good, with things like forgetting to take it altogether.

 

 

The morning dose should be about 12 hours before the evening, which you may want to plan to take 2-3 hours before bed so your at full strength again to help get to sleep. A lull at that time may make it hard to fall asleep.

 

Taking longer than necessary to get the doses at least 5 hours apart to help cover the interdose wd may just prolong the symptoms. Again, I would think working on just one end at a time is less confusing to the body.

 

If you start tomorrow at 10:30 am and 1:10pm, you can hold at that dosing until Saturday and then see if you can move the morning back closer to its slot. I wouldn't continue to hold for a one day mistake. It's likely to become more problematic and confusing to your system than helping. What times are you aiming for when finished?

 

I would agree staying with crushed pills is probably best while changing the timing and getting that settled.

I get my Paxil compounded as well, and it's taken 2 times a day.

 

I've never heard of a service than compounds it as controlled release, that is probably not realistic for a local pharmacy and for a taper where your dosages are dropping at least every 2 months. It's not cost effective, to be honest, if it's even able to be done.  Manufacturers can invest in the price because their making millions pf pills, for 120 dosages for 2 months it's likely not realistic or even necessary.

Edited October 12, 2021 by Colonial

[omnispan]

37 minutes ago, Colonial said:

Pushing both at the same time may be the problem. Stick with one and make larger changes.

Sounds good.

 

Today I intended to be 11 and 1pm, down from 11:10 and 1:10 yesterday.  Instead both were at 1.

 

37 minutes ago, Colonial said:

What times are you aiming for when finished?

10am, 10pm

 

37 minutes ago, Colonial said:

If you start tomorrow at 10:30 am and 1:10pm, you can hold at that dosing until Saturday and then see if you can move the morning back closer to its slot. I wouldn't continue to hold for a one day mistake.

Okay, I'll do 10:30 and 1 tomorrow, and hold till the weekend. 

 

 

37 minutes ago, Colonial said:

I've never heard of a service than compounds it as controlled release, that is probably not realistic for a local pharmacy and for a taper where your dosages are dropping at least every 2 months. It's not cost effective, to be honest, if it's even able to be done.  Manufacturers can invest in the price because their making millions pf pills, for 120 dosages for 2 months it's likely not realistic or even necessary.

I've been toying with the idea mainly for if I would have insurance coverage for it.

My intuition tells me that slow-release would make any effects from lulls in serum levels less of a risk.  I'm just speculating on the benefits of it.

 

 

 

Thanks for helping me along here.  I'm so nervous to change things, your confidence in the matter helps alleviate that a lot.

[Colonial]

You can keep the second dose at 1:10 pm.

Moving both, and 1 in the wrong direction, probably isn't wise.

 

If your afraid a 40 minute change on one end is too much, than just spilt the next 2 morning changes to 35 minutes each:

10:35 am and then to 10 am on Saturday or Sunday.

 

That way your not prolonging stabilization by moving both dosages around so often.

Ok, have a great night!

 

[Carmie]

How are you doing omnispan?🧡

[omnispan]

1 hour ago, Carmie said:

How are you doing omnispan?🧡

 

Thanks for dropping by! ❤️

 

I'm chugging along, stabilization has never stopped progressing.

 

I've slowly been coming to accept my predicament, rather than fight it.  It's a work in progress, and not easy.  But I have high hopes for continued progress, especially with help from my therapist in that regard.

I've found solace in the fact that I may have broke into the ominous "7mg range" of paxil tapering and now have some expectations for what it might look like.  If my current baseline is similar to what I am to expect over the next couple years of tapering, so be it.  As a guy like me who obsesses over the unknown, having an expectation is very reassuring

 

It's becoming easier to focus on the more important things in my life, like school, work, entertainment, etc.  My symptom worries still occupy too much of my thoughtspace, but that is something I am working at, and already has improved.

That's why it has been a while since I gave an update here, as WD has become more of an unwanted obnoxious passenger rather than the driver in my life.

 

Winter's coming, totally my favorite time of the year! (not)

I pretty regularly get the winter blues in the past.  Demotivated, become a sedentary potato, yada yada.

I'm a tall skinny man, so it gets hard to maintain a comfortable body heat, and my mood suffers as a result.

 

One day last weekend hit a high of 40° right after consistent highs of 60s/70s, and oh boy I felt it.  WD flared up, not terrible but very unpleasant.

I'm definitely concerned about how I'm going to fare this winter in my current state.  I don't think it will get too bad, but it will surely be more of a challenge than previous winters

Luckily this week is staying in highs of upper 50s, so I have a buffer until the cooler weather comes to stay.  And I'm taking advantage of it to prepare.

Stocked up on some good insulating clothing, and figured out some tricks on pre-warming clothes so its easier to get out of bed in the morning.  I might get a space heater for my "office", still haven't decided on that one.

I'm back to wearing four layers in the house again (just like my father does!), and this time around I've added a nice wool hat to my usual house attire, to great success.

 

Schools good, staying on top of things.  Just finished a round of midterms, some I did okay, some I was pretty pleased with.  One I did not super great on (50%), because I didn't have enough time to complete it.  Luckily I don't think I was the only one, cause I was just barely above average score.  So hopefully the letter cutoffs will get bumped up a bit at the end of the semester to even out the curve.

 

All in all, things are moving along at their pace.  One step at a time.

[omnispan]

Logistics update:

 

I've continued pushing the dose split, slowly.  Hit 10am (ending point for the morning dose) on the 18th, which was actually my birthday!  I'm 23 now 😁.

It was very satisfying to hit that milestone, especially because my rapid push to that time two months ago might have contributed to my current predicament.  Getting it done properly with little issue felt very good.

 

After that I took a week break, as I got a refill for the first time in five months, and I gave myself some room just incase the previous stock had degraded and using the new stock would cause an updose that I would have to adjust to.  Don't think that ended up being the case, but better safe than sorry.

Yesterday I pushed the evening dose back to 1:40 (meant 1:30 but missed the mark a bit, oh well), so now it is at 10am and 1:40pm.

Today was off, which was to be expected.

 

I have noticeably felt every 30 min push.  Generally the day after the push is when things get noticeably more "iffy" than usual, next day is a decreased "echo" of the previous, and after that it calms back to baseline over a day or two.  This pattern has been pretty consistent with each push.

 

 

Went and saw my psychiatrist for the first time since my crash, did my best to explain what was going on.  He was definitely puzzled and had little understanding of what was occuring, which was to be expected.  His recommendation coming out of it was more or less "stay at 7mg for a very long time."  Glad we were both on the same page there, I guess.  He was receptive to the idea of getting a professional compound, which was the main thing I was looking for going into the appointment with him. 

 

Got the script called into the compounding pharmacy I was looking at using, now I just need to go in for a consultation with them and explain what I'm looking for with the compound.

Specifically a 2×3.5mg compounded from the exact manufacturer (Zydus) I've used for the past seven years, which I know from talking to them is doable on their end. 

I just need now to explain my desire/reasoning for that exact form of compound instead of liquid or from pure paroxetine powder, as they suggested.  That's a worry for friday not today 🙃

[Carmie]

On 10/28/2021 at 1:22 PM, omnispan said:

 

Thanks for dropping by! ❤️

 

I'm chugging along, stabilization has never stopped progressing.

 

I've slowly been coming to accept my predicament, rather than fight it.  It's a work in progress, and not easy.  But I have high hopes for continued progress, especially with help from my therapist in that regard.

I've found solace in the fact that I may have broke into the ominous "7mg range" of paxil tapering and now have some expectations for what it might look like.  If my current baseline is similar to what I am to expect over the next couple years of tapering, so be it.  As a guy like me who obsesses over the unknown, having an expectation is very reassuring

 

It's becoming easier to focus on the more important things in my life, like school, work, entertainment, etc.  My symptom worries still occupy too much of my thoughtspace, but that is something I am working at, and already has improved.

That's why it has been a while since I gave an update here, as WD has become more of an unwanted obnoxious passenger rather than the driver in my life.

 

Winter's coming, totally my favorite time of the year! (not)

I pretty regularly get the winter blues in the past.  Demotivated, become a sedentary potato, yada yada.

I'm a tall skinny man, so it gets hard to maintain a comfortable body heat, and my mood suffers as a result.

 

One day last weekend hit a high of 40° right after consistent highs of 60s/70s, and oh boy I felt it.  WD flared up, not terrible but very unpleasant.

I'm definitely concerned about how I'm going to fare this winter in my current state.  I don't think it will get too bad, but it will surely be more of a challenge than previous winters

Luckily this week is staying in highs of upper 50s, so I have a buffer until the cooler weather comes to stay.  And I'm taking advantage of it to prepare.

Stocked up on some good insulating clothing, and figured out some tricks on pre-warming clothes so its easier to get out of bed in the morning.  I might get a space heater for my "office", still haven't decided on that one.

I'm back to wearing four layers in the house again (just like my father does!), and this time around I've added a nice wool hat to my usual house attire, to great success.

 

Schools good, staying on top of things.  Just finished a round of midterms, some I did okay, some I was pretty pleased with.  One I did not super great on (50%), because I didn't have enough time to complete it.  Luckily I don't think I was the only one, cause I was just barely above average score.  So hopefully the letter cutoffs will get bumped up a bit at the end of the semester to even out the curve.

 

All in all, things are moving along at their pace.  One step at a time.

 

Glad to hear that you’ve never stopped progressing omnispan, 

 

Like you said, there’s no use fighting against what we are going through. It doesn’t change anything, it just makes us more stressed. That’s great that your therapist has been of benefit to you. We certainly need to work on our mental and emotional states while going through withdrawals. I’m struggling with severe health problems as well, and I try and keep my head up as best as possible. I have occasional meltdowns, but then pick myself up again. That’s life! 
 

I love how you said: “Withdrawal has become more of an unwanted obnoxious passenger rather than a driver in my life.”  That’s fantastic you’re slowly able to focus on the more important things in your life. 
 

You sound well prepared for winter, it’s spring here and we’ve had some really warm days. Actually one Sunday this month we had the hottest spring day in two decades. I was outdoors and nearly melted, ended up going into airconditioning. 
 

Yes, definitely one step at a time. I’m moving forward so slowly in my tapering, but every forward move is a forward move, at least I’m not going backwards 😁

 

Hope you have a happy day☀️☀️

[omnispan]

9 hours ago, Carmie said:

 

Glad to hear that you’ve never stopped progressing omnispan, 

 

Like you said, there’s no use fighting against what we are going through. It doesn’t change anything, it just makes us more stressed. That’s great that your therapist has been of benefit to you. We certainly need to work on our mental and emotional states while going through withdrawals. I’m struggling with severe health problems as well, and I try and keep my head up as best as possible. I have occasional meltdowns, but then pick myself up again. That’s life! 
 

I love how you said: “Withdrawal has become more of an unwanted obnoxious passenger rather than a driver in my life.”  That’s fantastic you’re slowly able to focus on the more important things in your life. 
 

You sound well prepared for winter, it’s spring here and we’ve had some really warm days. Actually one Sunday this month we had the hottest spring day in two decades. I was outdoors and nearly melted, ended up going into airconditioning. 
 

Yes, definitely one step at a time. I’m moving forward so slowly in my tapering, but every forward move is a forward move, at least I’m not going backwards 😁

 

Hope you have a happy day☀️☀️

 

Thanks Carmie!  Your resilience in the face of your situation is extremely inspiring. 

I wish I had the weather you do, I can only hope spring will come early over here in the states.

❤️

[Carmie]

On 10/31/2021 at 1:38 AM, omnispan said:

 

Thanks Carmie!  Your resilience in the face of your situation is extremely inspiring. 

I wish I had the weather you do, I can only hope spring will come early over here in the states.

❤️

You’re too kind omnispan, 

 

I don’t always feel that resilient. I’ve had lots of days where I’m sick of everything and in tears. I don’t stay there though, as I then try and focus on what is in my control. I try really hard to continue to pick myself up, but it’s not always easy because of all my health problems and other challenges in my life.
 

One day at a time does it, sometimes an hour or a minute if need be. Looking at all the things I’m grateful for really helps. 
 

I’m sorry your weather isn’t better and I hope that spring comes early for you🌸🌼🌸🌼🧡

[Colonial]

On 10/27/2021 at 11:44 PM, omnispan said:

I just need now to explain my desire/reasoning for that exact form of compound instead of liquid or from pure paroxetine powder, as they suggested.  That's a worry for friday not today

 

You do not have to.

It's a  violation to be asking too many questions.

So many meds are used off label, things could be for anything.

 

Glad your getting the compound, though! I finally got mine 4 months back.I just dropped 3 day ago from 0.11 to 0.10 two times a day.

Pretty much doing that for almost 2 months at a time, easy peasy to not have to measure things out.

There MAY be some slight symptom uptick from the change over, but hopefully since it's the same manufacturer, it won't be much.

Good to know your doing ok

 

[omnispan]

4 hours ago, Colonial said:

You do not have to.

It's a  violation to be asking too many questions.

So many meds are used off label, things could be for anything.

 

Yea thats exactly what happened.  I said this how I want to do it, they said sure we will do it that way.  Just that simple!

 

They're going to call me this week with a cost estimate, since its possible my insurance wont cover the compound.  I just hope it wont be too much out of pocket if it isn't covered 😬

 

Im used to regular upticks from each of my dose pushes (just hit 4 hours apart yesterday), so I bet I can handle the transition to the compound, especially cause it ain't changing much.

 

 

[omnispan]

4 hours ago, Colonial said:

Glad your getting the compound, though! I finally got mine 4 months back.I just dropped 3 day ago from 0.11 to 0.10 two times a day.

Pretty much doing that for almost 2 months at a time, easy peasy to not have to measure things out.

 

Im so happy that you found a workable way to keep the taper train rolling again!!! 😃😃

 

Since Im a numbers guy, heres some numbers on your progress:

 

Using the best-fit formula for SERT occupancy [a la white paper]:  f(mg) ≈ 102(mg/(mg + 5.333))

 

You started at f(25) ≈ 83% occupancy,

Now youre at f(0.2) ≈ 3.6% occupancy

 

Assuming the similar error estimates That means you're over [1-3.6/83 =] 95% done with getting rid of paxil

 

If you keep at it at your own pace, soon the only direction will be up.

 

I hope that point wont take too long for arrive for ya, if it hasn't already 🙂

 

[Colonial]

Wow, that is so cool!

Thank you for doing that!

 

My Paxil compound is only $45.00 a month, so if you actually have an insurance company that doesn't WANT the expense of you being on an unnecessary med that runs about $300.00 plus a month full strength, they should be smart enough to work with you.

 

The only issue you may run into is if they are part of a larger effort to "Cover Up" how dangerous these meds are, like my insurance, which is possible. Because then your dealing with them having to admit the meds they a willing to pay for are problematic.

I was denied twice and had to take them to court for a Hearing before a State Banking judge before they were forced to give me a 2 year authorization. So the plan is just drop that one number every 8 weeks and see how it goes.

 

It's up to you if you want to continue to do the meds the old way until they agree or pay out of pocket, you have to do what's best for you, but considering how long your going to need to be on it, do go with the outside hearing if they deny you, since eventually they most likely will cover it if you take them to court. Most opening hearings are just done by phone, so its not a big issue.  That's how both my Court dates were done, for the Wellbutrin compound in 2015 and this one now since June. They just assume if they keep you that sick for 6 months until the hearing, you'll cave and you go back on the med full strength, or be gas lit into believing your symptoms are some other "diagnosis".  They'll do anything to cover up.

 

Good luck

Edited November 3, 2021 by Colonial

[omnispan]

Got the news that made my day, insurance is covering the compound!

 

Picking it up in two days, Ill switch the afternoon dose to the compound that day, and a handful of days later Ill switch the morning dose over too.  I'm quite excited about it.

 

 

In other news, yesterday I got a space heater for my bedroom for while I sleep. 

It was absolutely splendid being able to get out of bed and not immediately feel unpleasantly cold like Im used to.  And all my clothes are warm too!

 

Still have to adjust and find a good setup to get used to, but I have high hopes for this helping me get moving in the morning.

 

 

Colonial: Thanks for the heads up, Ill be sure to prepare a plan incase the insurance starts getting feisty about this in the future.

[omnispan]

Compound update:

 

Took my first dose of the new compound at 2:00, at 2:15 things started getting weird and unpleasant, presenting several symptoms that prolonged in a way I haven't experienced in quite a long time.

 

Background: Normally with both 3.5mg doses Ill get a bundle of stuff rearing its head around 45 minutes post dose.  The particular symptoms at these times can vary, but the timing and presence is incredibly consistent.  Most of it is transient, some can last for a bit,  Im used to it.

 

This was something very new.

New stuff kicking up 15 minutes post dose is very new and alarming for me. 

Muscle weakness in upper arms/legs, cog fog/confusion, face numbness spreading to upper chest/arms [The face numbness is pretty common post dose, especially the second dose, but it rarely went past upper neck], more memory issues than usual, and some other stuff.   Anxiety because of it increased, but overall mood wasn't toooo badly affected.

By two hours later I was first able to notice that some things had calmed down, and continued to calm into the evening.  But even now (6 hours later) Im still feeling some diminished effects, particularly cog fog and face numbness [which never lasts this long into the evening]

 

So, that's my predicament.

 

AFAIK the compound was made up from the same tablets I use, pulverized and thoroughly mixed with extra filler, and then capsulated.  The only difference between the compound and my usual method would be the filler (of which there is a very significant amount)

 

Im going to call the pharmacy tomorrow and triple check the formulation.

I tried calling the pharmacy earlier today, but they were busy (and didn't return my call 😐)

 

 

 

Since all that happened, and because I still want this compound to be a thing, my idea is to do a crossover to the compound.  Starting with reinstating my usual afternoon dose tomorrow.

 

I don't know how best to approach the crossover, whether continual changes each day or bigger intermittent jumps are the way to go.   I'll have to give it some thought tomorrow.

 

@Colonial I would be extremely grateful for any advice 💓

[Colonial]

We recommend only ONE change at a time. Since you have some interdose wd I would get the split dosing done first, (which seems to be taking a bit longer than necessary)., and be stable before starting the compound. The compound can wait until your more stable, it's going to cause more symptoms than necessary if you change that while being in interdose wd.

 

I had no choice, since I couldnt get the dose of the liquid evenly meansured and it was different 2 times a day, but you don't need to put yourself through that. I was extremely sick for over a month, that's not required for you. It should be alarming that your getting a bit worse doing 2 things at once.

 

How far are you on moving the dosages, where are they, and when did you start the split, Sept. 27th?

 

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Colonial

[Colonial]

 

 

Only 15 minutes after sounds like perhaps a panic attack from the stress of worrying about the change over to the compound

It takes some time for your body to dissolve the plastic.

Your symptoms seem to fit for a worry induced panic attack.

 

 I think your over thinking too much of everything.

I think you need to get back to moving your dosages half an hour every 3rd day and get stabilized first before changing to the compound. Giving yourself a week "break" every time you make a small adjustment isn't necessary and prolonging the issue.

 

As stated, this will not be a "symptom free" extension.

Taking longer to do it won't lower your expected symptoms, they are like "growing pains" and are expected.

We just don't want you switching an hour a day every day or even 4 hours a week.

But this entire process didn't need more than 6-8 weeks.

 

Also, do see what fillers are in it, just in case of any allergy.

 

 

Edited November 6, 2021 by Colonial

[omnispan]

I don't think it was a stress induced panic attack perse, I really wasn't stressed at all about the compound causing any issues.  If anything I was kinda happy I wouldn't have to measure my dose out anymore.   I was just driving and listening to stuff on the way to the store when the symptoms just started up, and stayed around for way longer than I expected. (Still feeling some mild weakness and cog fog even now, 11 hours later).

 

For the dose split, I've been taking so long because I am worried about a repeat of whatever happened at the start of october, if the small daily pushes were the cause of that wave.  So I have been tending to wait out any symptoms that occur after the push, (regardless if the push caused them or not).  The issues the incoming cold weather caused me have contributed to my stalling.

I'm definitely too paranoid about this stuff, overthinking my situation is 100% my biggest issue in my entire taper ordeal.

 

I am currently four hours apart, at 10 and 2.  I meant to continue the push yesterday, but instead elected to prepare for the compound switch.  I did start Sept 27th, but the beginning there was very rocky, I only started the "normal" pushes about one month ago, when I was one hour apart in the doses.

 

In retrospect, getting the split done first would've been the smarter choice for sure, like you said.  Ill shelf the compound, and keep at the half-hour push every three days, starting tomorrow.

 

Thanks 🙂

 

[omnispan]

Called with the pharmacy, the formulation was made from 40mg Zydus tablets, and Avicel filler.   Capsules unknown (forgot to ask), they are dyed orange and white.

My way is from 10mg Zydus tablets with no filler.  Capsules made from Gelatin

The formulation for the different Zydus tablet sizes appears to be identical, from the box label and my experience using the different sizes in the past.

 

So the adverse reaction I had is very perplexing.  Maybe my body just isn't used to the filler with the meds. Or maybe the capsules

 

It's a shame, I was pretty excited to be done with manual dose measuring 😕

[Colonial]

Well, all is not lost, once your stable you can re try and see if you have the same reaction.

It may just have been a coincidence- something that wasn't anything to do with the compound at all.

I would keep them, ask the pharma how long they are good for, and you can always try again further down the line.

Once your spilt is done, you can retry them with your night dose and see how you do.

 

[omnispan]

17 hours ago, Colonial said:

Well, all is not lost, once your stable you can re try and see if you have the same reaction.

It may just have been a coincidence- something that wasn't anything to do with the compound at all.

I would keep them, ask the pharma how long they are good for, and you can always try again further down the line.

Once your spilt is done, you can retry them with your night dose and see how you do.

 

 

Based on what happened since, it seems like it was due to the compound:

 

First thing I figured out was that the tolerances on the individual pill weights were huge, a la +- 15% pill weight in either direction.  By comparison, my own capsules varied around 2% either way.

I was really distraught when I realized this, as I was looking forward to never having to measure out my meds again, but that ain't happening.

 

One call later to the pharmacy to confirm this tolerance was within their acceptable range (which was actually 10% on their end, but there were a handful of outliers outside of that in my bottle), and then I set out to re-encapsulate them all.

Because each capsule was already "close" to the target dose, it made it much simpler to adjust it to the correct weight.

And as the meds were mixed with filler (by a lab grade machine which I can probably trust to make a homogeneous mixture), improved precision on my end will be easier to achieve.  Assuming the mixture was thorough, my tolerance is now < 1% using it.

 

 

Second, using the corrected capsules, I retried the transfer to the compound, in a crossover fashion, one change every two days.

I feel each step in a very predictable, with an uptick in symptoms that are nearly identical in profile to the huge episode I had, except that the severity of the symptoms is greatly reduced, and much shorter lasting.  And they rapidly improve in the following days, which is why taking a step every two days works fine.  Frankly, the (corrected) crossover is easier to handle than pushing the split.

 

All in all I'll be finished with the transfer to the re-capsulated compound in the next couple days, give myself a beat and continue with the split.

[Colonial]

I'm not following the definitions of some of your terms as it's clear what you wrote is the "cliff note" version of the conversations. 😊

From what I'm understanding, you think it's a difference in "active ingredient" in the new compounds?

 

I'm not sure what your referring to as "tolerance" but the total pill "weight" of the compound would be different from one to the next, depending on how much filler they are using per capsule. That really would be irrelevant. The amount of medication in the compound would remain the same, regardless of how much filler they used from capsule to capsule.

 

So it's not as if opening and weighing out the total capsule is a way to determine how much active med is in that capsule. It's not as simple as opening their capsule, weighing what is in it out, and assuming the active ingredient is equally distributed throughout the filler. Without swallowing the entire capsule amount, you really would not know how much of the active ingredient you've taken.  It was explained to me these capsules had to be consumed whole for that reason because the amount of "filler" per capsule isn't going to be regulated to any meaningful degree and NOT to assume the medication is equally distributed, in that sense or reliability. 

 

When I take a capsule that, medication wise )0.10mg) is only equal to 1/100th of a 10mg pill, there would be no way of assuming and even mixture of that tiny amount throughout the "filler". If I was to open it, and consume half of it in the morning and half in the evening, I may be getting 90% of the dose one time and 10% the other.  So unless their legal definition of: " tolerance of pill weight" being acceptable up to 10% is in reference to the active ingredient, it should not be an issue.

 

Of course, how they are doing something could be completely different but it still leads me to the same conclusion, even if their active ingredient dosages are off 10%, I don't think that was the reason for the reaction you had only 15 minutes after swallowing it.

 

It seems what you experienced is either an allergic reaction to something in their filler-compound, OR their active ingredient. not that their dosages are off. I don't think you would have a reaction like that, in only 15 minutes, to a dose only being off by only 10-15% of dose weight.

 

Sure, incorrect dosing over time will eventually cause problems, but if that happened the first time you took it in only 15 minutes I don't think it was a dose change. You didn't report having issues like that before when changing dosages.

 

I could be wrong and I'm certainly not trying to gaslight you and I certainly wouldn't put anything past paxil. I just don't even remember anyone reporting those symptoms in  only 15 minutes merely from making a dose increase or decrease, which is what I am inferring from your conversation with them, that their capsules could have an active dose weight difference of 10%, and that is what you think was the issue, and incorrect dose of active ingredient.

 

But I WOULD expect those symptoms to a change in paxil formulation. meaning if they are using the same manufacturers pill.  But even then, it took 4 days for me to start having symptoms to the change over.

 

I know you think they are using the same pill as you currently have but I suppose you could double check what they did use.  Pharmacies "substitute" things in without thinking about it, to be honest, and if there's anything I've learned is the guy you talk to isn't the guy who makes your stuff up. (Seriously).

 

I suppose the only way to know if it's an allergy to the inert ingredients would be to ask for one capsule with OUT any active ingredient in it but just filled up with some filler and see if you have the same reaction.  If not, it could be the artificial color or mixture of the pill they are using. 

 

It's the exactly the 15 minutes after and the severe symptoms that wants to tell me it's something bigger than an issue of the dose being off up to 10%.

Even with Paxil that should take a few days to discombobulate you.

 

I'd continue to look more to either allergy to the filler OR reaction to the new formulation of the active ingredient, or your body just having that temporary "change over" period we all have when switch to how we consume  a new formula.

 

 

 

 

 

[Colonial]

Just saw this:

 

Called with the pharmacy, the formulation was made from 40mg Zydus tablets, and Avicel filler.   Capsules unknown (forgot to ask), they are dyed orange and white.

 

My way is from 10mg Zydus tablets with no filler.

 

So it could be an allergy to any artificial colors in the 40 mg, or any way that pill is different from yours.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[omnispan]

When I first went to the pharmacy to have questions asked, they said that a standard part of their procedure is using a machine able to very thoroughly mix/powderize medication, incase some meds arent distributed equally throughout the tablets they come in.

 

I just assumed that this was what they used to mix the meds with the filler, and then capsulated the resulting mixture, aiming for the target weight +-10% per cap. 

My intuition says that would be the most economical way to do it, because i.e. for my compound aiming for 44mg (just tablets, 3.5mgai ) +- 10%, then adding filler,  would be more precise and time consuming work than mixing meds with filler, then aiming for 171mg (still 3.5mgai) +- 10%;  since the 10% tolerance range in the latter case is about four times larger, much easier to hit.  Assuming their mixing machine does a very good job.

 

I didn't ask specifically, I just assumed.  I'll add that to the list of questions for my visit next week.

 

On 11/12/2021 at 2:28 PM, Colonial said:

It's the exactly the 15 minutes after and the severe symptoms that wants to tell me it's something bigger than an issue of the dose being off up to 10%.

I didn't communicate my suspicions well there in my prior post;  I 100% agree, I never suspected a potential difference in active ingredient as the cause of my reaction.

 

My main suspects are

1) The filler causing the meds to be absorbed differently than my gut is used to, almost like its "mimicking" a formulation change that has to be adjusted too.

 

2) The new brightly dyed capsules.  My usual capsules are clear soft gelatin, I have no clue what this new stuff is.

 

 

Oddly enough, something I just realized:  The only time I take the new dyed capsules (using up the small handful of pills that were already at the "correct" weight), is for the afternoon dose, and the new "adjustment" symptoms really only significantly present themselves after my afternoon dose, not my morning dose. Even though my afternoon crossover is already done, and my morning is the one I'm still changing...

 

Need to consult my journal to verify that symptom pattern, but it might be time to avoid the new capsules and observe for a bit.

 

[Colonial]

 

 

I would empty 2 of  the pharmacy capsules as best you can, get all the filler and med out of them, wait a few days to stabilize and just swallow 2 empty capsules at some time o an empty stomach when your not taking anything else.  That way you could "test" if it's an allergy to something in just the outside capsule.  If not, than it may be the filler or the dye in the 40 mg tablets.  

 

The fact of this statement below seems to indicate it's either the coloring in the new pill, the filler, or the capsule.

If your able to "test" the capsule and the filler and its not them, maybe you can get a script for just 1 of the 40mg pills.

If it doesn't seem to be any of the 3, than it may just be a temp cross over jumble up mix reaction.

 

10 minutes ago, omnispan said:

Oddly enough, something I just realized:  The only time I take the new dyed capsules (using up the small handful of pills that were already at the "correct" weight), is for the afternoon dose, and the new "adjustment" symptoms really only significantly present themselves after my afternoon dose, not my morning dose.

 

[omnispan]

Talked to the pharmacy, they confirmed that they encapsulate a homogeneous mixture of filler and meds.  So I'm going to plan on continuing the recapsuling going forward.

 

They also said the new capsules were made of gelatin and dye, so if I'm reacting to the caps it would be the dye.

 

 

On 11/13/2021 at 8:42 PM, Colonial said:

I would empty 2 of  the pharmacy capsules as best you can, get all the filler and med out of them, wait a few days to stabilize and just swallow 2 empty capsules at some time o an empty stomach when your not taking anything else.  That way you could "test" if it's an allergy to something in just the outside capsule.  If not, than it may be the filler or the dye in the 40 mg tablets.  

 

 

I'll probably test this later this week to see what happens.