frenchnewwave Confused with Tapering Process

[frenchnewwave]

Hi everyone,

 

I was diagnosed with depression at 18 years old in 2015. Placed on Prozac 20 mg by professionals immediately without proposing therapy. In subsequent months, I complained of fatigue (probably due to side effects of antidepressants) so they upped my dose to 40 mg and then 60 mg. Stayed on 60 mg for a couple of years. Then in the spring of 2017, I was traveling to Cuba and I naively didn't feel the need for the medication any longer. I quit cold turkey. In the summer of 2017, I had the worst wave of depression of my life and I had to be hospitalized. Was reinstated on 60 mg of Prozac along with 300 mg of Wellbutrin and 100 mg of Modafinil due to complaints of fatigue and cognitive impairment. Flash forward to the Winter of 2020, I could not withstand the side effects of prozac any longer, so my psychiatrist prescribed Trintellix to take instead of the prozac. Less than two weeks to one month later (my memory is foggy) I went from 60 mg of prozac to 5 mg of trintellix. Psychiatrist gradually increased to 10 mg and then 15 mg within a month or so. First month of taking trintellix I felt pretty good but then, a little while afterwards, the familiar SSRI side effects slowly started creeping in and by the summer of 2020, I decided that I didn't want to be controlled by these drugs any longer. I announced this to my psychiatrist, fully trusting his professional ability to taper me off responsibly considering his many years of experience. Little did I know, that the quick taper he administered to me would end up being the worst thing I could have accepted for myself. Within one month, I was completely off the Trintellix. I also reduced Welbutrin from 300 mg daily to alternate days of 300 mg and 150 mg. I felt the brain zaps and the mild mood swings at first as well as the lethargy, but this winter (late February 2021), I began experiencing symptoms that I could only attribute to a delayed protracted withdrawal symptoms of the SSRI. Right now, I am on 150 mg Welbutrin and 100 mg of Modafinil.

 

My symptoms right now are life debilitating, some of which, I have never experienced, not even during a regular depressive episode: 

-Derealization / disassociation or just dizziness, light headedness, dream like state (this is by far the most difficult symptom I've had to deal with. It is constant and chronic and it clouds my perception and makes it incredibly difficult to concentrate.) 

-Extreme fatigue 

-Tinnitus 

-Irritability 

-Muscle soreness and pain 

-Sensitivity to light and sound 

 

Eventually, I would like to be off all anti depressants. However, right now, I would prefer for my system to stabilize before considering tapering further, so I will remain on Wellbutrin 150 mg indefinitely or at least until these systems begin to dissipate a little bit. 

 

My questions for you are: 

 

-What supplements can I be taking to ease these symptoms in the meantime? 

-Eventually, when I do start tapering again, I think I read somewhere that I should taper 10% every 1 month? Can someone tell me how that would work with 150 mg of Welbutrin and Modafinil? I tried reading a few of the posts on this site but Im still confused in terms of how to cut the doses, how to weigh it, crush it? I'm really confused. 

-Has anyone on here done TMS to help ease the withdrawal symptoms, or just with the depression in general?

 

Thanks everyone, I really appreciate your help. 

 

 

 

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @frenchnewwave

 

What times of day do you take your drugs, and dosages? Do your symptoms follow any daily pattern?  How's your sleep?

 

Please keep daily notes of times of day you take your drugs, their dosages, and your symptoms throughout the day. Post 24 hours of notes at a time in this topic, in a simple list format with time of day on the left and notation (symptom or drug and dosage) on the right. This can show if your symptoms are adverse effects from one of your drugs.

 

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.

 

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