neurogenesis: Tapering 50 mg quetiapine very slowly

[neurogenesis]

Hello chessy i have to mention that

The type of stress im feeling is ,just not being able to feel relaxed and i cannot find something specifically for it in the coping technique page

(It s ...as if im addicted to  a benzo 

Im not sure if ayone reading this understands..) 

 

[neurogenesis]

I feel like as if im in benzo withdrawal

Should i take just half of the diazepam pill (1mg)? I feel like im in a certain degree of pain,i know that it s not related to the thoughts im having,it s neurological .

Im trying to use the benzo as sparingly as possible (and not take them sistematicaly at fix hours,beacouse it would mean taking more of them,)

(It was prescribed to take 3 tablets a day, but only took 1 instead ,maibe just take half now?)

 

 

 

 

[Altostrata]

Now you're taking quetiapine again? What is your daily drug schedule, with dosages?

 

Why do you think you have withdrawal from diazepam? Diazepam does not appear in your drug history. When did you take it regularly?

[neurogenesis]

Im taking the quetiapine at

11 clock in morning

And 8:15 at night

Hoping that one day their mood stabilizing properties comeback

 

 

Yesterday i started feeling bad at 4:30  so i took 2 mg diazepam 

At night  around my last post i wasn t able to stay relaxed in bed feeling in a constant degree of pain

(I tried to stay like that a couple of hours,and was thinking maibe i could get trough the night like that) but could not endure it and evventualy took half of the pill witch gave me relief almost imediatly 

The diazepam i ve been told to use it sparingly beacouse of their extreme addictive nature

I started using diazepam when i realized that after irregular quetiapine dosing(not taking it at fixed hours and increasing dosages fromn200 to 250 mg for 3days ) seems to have lost their mood stabilizing properties .(i started diazepam first time when i got to emergency room where they gave me diazepam).

 

 

 

 

[neurogenesis]

The quetiapine first started losing their mood stabilizing effect from inconsistent dosing intervals....and to avoid going to emergency rooms ibtried to increase the dose on my own from 200 to 250mg.(i only did that for 3 days)and i i decided to stop doing that go back to 200 mg  and just go to emergency room)

[OldDodgy]

@neurogenesis

 

Hi 

You really must stop this chaotic and ad hoc self medication changes if you are to stabilise. 
 

You have had great advice from several mods on how to be consistent. 
 

Adding extra quetiapine here and there will risk kindling I think and it won’t have helped.  Popping benzo meds is a matter for you to be wary of in my humble opinion. 
 

Why not scroll back and re read all the good advice from the last months and follow the links offered. ? 
 

I am sorry you feel dreadful from time to time. Quetiapine is a strange med as I know to my cost. 
 

I hope you have a better day and be consistent as advised by @Frogie and many others. 

OD 
 

 

[Shep]

11 hours ago, neurogenesis said:

Hello ,im interested in non drug coping skills with stress(not able to feel relaxed)

 

I posted this earlier, but I'm copying and pasting these links again. If you aren't able to learn to live with uncomfortable feelings, you will end up staying on these drugs and once the ER doctors get tired of you repeatedly showing up - especially during a pandemic - they may lock you up in the psychiatric ward where you may be forced drugged. Doing the non-drug coping skills is not optional - it's required for anyone who wants to get off these drugs.

 

The first one is called "change the channel" and it's a life saver for many of us. You learn to stop fixating on your symptoms and you go for a walk, play video games, watch a favorite TV or internet show, listen to your favorite music, etc. It takes practice to stay focused on something besides withdrawal, but you can do this, Neurogenesis. It gets easier the more you work at it, just like anything worthwhile in life. 

 

Learning this skill is extremely important:

 

"Change the channel" -- dealing with cognitive symptoms

 

Learning to "change the channel" can keep you from going into spirals. If you can catch your suicidal thoughts early, you can change the channel and stop them from spiraling to where you feel you need to go to the emergency room or take more drugs. See: 

 

Dealing With Emotional Spirals

 

Breathing techniques can be helpful: 

 

The Breathing Space by Jon Kabat Zinn video (4 minutes)

 

Go Zen - 4-7-8 Breathing Technique

[Altostrata]

Taking diazepam occasionally is not likely to bring about adaptation, dependence, and withdrawal. However, your irregular use of drugs may cause other problems beyond the abilities of peer support.

[neurogenesis]

 

Hello

I incorporated walking(first time i went for a walk this year)

I also exercised 

I will do hot and cold shower(i read it trigger feel good chemical)

(Im trying to find non drug coping skills that triger feel good chemicals and  that helps me stabilize and quit the diazepam)

Im thinking taking omega 3 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Altostrata]

14 hours ago, neurogenesis said:

Im taking the quetiapine at

11 clock in morning

And 8:15 at night

 

What dosage of quetiapine at each of these times? How long have you been keeping to this schedule?

[neurogenesis]

100mg morning

100 mg night

2 days i have from keeping this schedule

Before taking my doses at iregular intervals i was taking at 11 a clock morning and 9:15pm

 

[Altostrata]

What are the symptoms for which you take diazepam occasionally?

[neurogenesis]

Feeling tense, iritated,unable to relax

(It has nothing to do with thoughts,the thoughts are not triggering them)

It s like the mood stabilizing effect from quetiapine has been partially lost .

I am feeling this now .

i will not be able to sleep. 

Im thinking maibe take one quarter of a diazepam pill (witch would be 0.5mg)

 

[neurogenesis]

(I experimented with the ketogenic diet for 2 days couple of weeks ago

I felt that the diet made me completely independent of mood stabilizing properties from the quetiapine(i felt like i don t need the mood stabilizing properties from the antipsychotic at all,but i removed the carbs completely cold turkey and i felt something like carbohidrate withdrawal witch made me felt horrible (again suicidal ,the chemicals in the brain,or lack of certain chemicals where tormenting me intensely) and the situation was quickly(in couple of minutes) resolved by ingesting carbohidrates.

This could be a potential non drug method to stabilize and get rid of  the addictive mood stabilizing efect from the quetiapine,but the carbohidrate withdrawal must be prevented at all cost in order to make it

[neurogenesis]

At the moment i keep  reading about non drug coping skills trying to find something that would adress the phisical symtom im experiencing

(I never had this symtom before psychiatric drugging.)

 

 

[neurogenesis]

Hello does breaking an addiction comes in waves of feeling awful (6 hours) then windows of feeling better ,and once you feel better the wave of feeling awful returns?

 

 

[ChessieCat]

I found this video very helpful:

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

Brain Remodelling

What is Happening in Your Brain

 

 

From What is Happening in Your Brain

 

Basically- you have a building where the MAJOR streel structures are [...] to be rebuilt at different times - ALL while people are coming and going in the building and attempting to work.

It would be like if the World Trade Center Towers hadn't completely fallen - but had crumbled inside in different places.. Imagine if you were [...] to rebuild the tower - WHILE people were coming and going and [...] to work in the building!  You'd have to set up a temporary elevator - but when you needed to fix part of that area, you'd have to tear down that elevator and set up a temporary elevator somewhere else. And so on. You'd have to build, work around, then tear down, then build again, then work around, then build... ALL while people are coming and going, ALL while the furniture is being replaced, ALL while the walls are getting repainted... ALL while [...] is going on INSIDE the building. No doubt it would be chaotic. That is EXACTLY what is happening with windows and waves.  The windows are where the body has "got it right" for a day or so - but then the building shifts and the brain works on something else - and it's chaos again while another temporary pathway is set up to reroute function until repairs are made. 

And just like the Twin Towers- it's possible - but the building is a major effort -and it takes a good year or more sometimes.

 

[Altostrata]

@neurogenesis, your tendency to self-medication is beyond my capacity as a peer counselor. I'm sorry, I've done everything I can do for you. Maybe someone else can help you.

[neurogenesis]

Hi i quited the diazepam yesterday at 2 am morning(0.5mg last dose)

 

 

[neurogenesis]

Hello, i find walking extremely useful

,i feel it s directly influencing my brain chemistry!

 

[neurogenesis]

Hello

Whanever i take the quetiapine pill i feel like it get s stuck in the troath(and it takes 2-3 hours for the feeling to go away)

Im willing to crush my pill and take it as powder,im just afraid that something bad might happen if i do this

I want to do this beacouse i can be sure i take it at fixed hours,instead of being stucked in troath for 2 hours.

 

[ChessieCat]

4 hours ago, neurogenesis said:

Whanever i take the quetiapine pill i feel like it get s stuck in the troath

 

You could try taking it with milk, full cream milk would be best because it is more greasy/slippery.  Have a large sip of milk first to coat the throat and then take the tablet with more milk.

 

Another option would be to take it with some apple sauce,  pudding or yoghurt.

[Shep]

20 hours ago, neurogenesis said:

Im willing to crush my pill and take it as powder,im just afraid that something bad might happen if i do this

 

It's fine to crush your pill (we discussed this earlier in your thread). It's actually more accurate to crush it before weighing it. By crushing it, you'll get more of an even distribution of the active ingredient and the filler. When you file or cut off the outside part of the pill, you may be removing more of the filler that makes up the outside shell of the pill. 

 

You can store the powder in empty capsules until you're ready to take it. If you're having trouble swallowing pills, you can open up the capsule and put it into various foods, such as the ones ChessieCat just mentioned. 

 

Nice big gelatin capsules (sizes 00 or 0) will help you deal with the powder.  Comparison picture with measurements  The capsule size doesn't have to be the same as your initial capsule of medication - the larger ones are easier to get the powder into. And then you can empty out the powder into either food or some liquid in order to take it. You can order these empty capsules online. 

 

22 hours ago, neurogenesis said:

Hello, i find walking extremely useful

,i feel it s directly influencing my brain chemistry!

 

 

Yes, walking can be great during withdrawal. Glad you're finding it helpful. 

[neurogenesis]

Hi,im experiencing intervals where i feel awful and intervals where i feel a significant amount of relief and so on .

 

(Perhaps im feeling windows and waves? as @Shep said.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[neurogenesis]

P.s. 

So far :

i experienced improvements in certain areas (tense feeling went away,got my sleep back) while other symtom like what i perceive to be "stress" and head pain i feel them

 

What is happening seems chaotic

(Random times of windows and waves)

It s like a graphic that moves in jerks in a matter of hours or almost a full day

 

 

I experienced morphing of the symtoms

 

The windows when i feel relief is random 

The wave when i feel bad is random

 

It appears that during a wave if i exercise

(Doing 1 working set for everybodypart) seems to make me feel like im in between wave and a window(it reduce the stress and the head pain) 

 

 

 

 

 

[neurogenesis]

By morphing of the symtoms i mean

In a certain day all my  bad symtoms where replaced by a "mechanical"  too low mood/ witch lasted the whole day untill 11 pm when i got my window of feeling much better and sleep .then the next day the feelings of stres came

That s what i mean by morphling of symtoms.

 

 

[Shep]

Sounds like you're having the typical wave / window symptoms, @neurogenesis. It's all a part of the healing process. Over time, the waves will get shorter and less intense and the windows will get longer and better. 

[neurogenesis]

 

@Shep i m in the ward (since  aprox 2-3 weeks ago)

 

 

 

 

[neurogenesis]

Hi does movement/exercise will allow me to heal/stabilize faster?

 

[neurogenesis]

Hi,does switching to liquid quetiapin will make things worse?

 

 

[Shep]

17 hours ago, neurogenesis said:

Hi,does switching to liquid quetiapin will make things worse?

 

 

 

A lot of people find liquid to be helpful for tapering.

 

18 hours ago, neurogenesis said:

Hi does movement/exercise will allow me to heal/stabilize faster?

 

 

Do you mean stretching? Stretching and yoga can be very helpful for healing the body. 

 

21 hours ago, neurogenesis said:

 

@Shep i m in the ward (since  aprox 2-3 weeks ago)

 

 

Why did you turn yourself into a psychiatric ward? Do you have control over your drugs and your tapering? 

[neurogenesis]

@shep

 

 

 

I have no control over the pill that get stuck in the troat for many hours,so i requested for liquid version.if i am eating food i feel the pill moving around in my neck for a bit , but i feel  it s way too late for  dosing interval to be corect/consistent

 

 

 

 

 

 

[neurogenesis]

It s going away from my troath too late that s what i wanted to say

[Shep]

21 hours ago, neurogenesis said:

I have no control over the pill that get stuck in the troat for many hours,so i requested for liquid version.if i am eating food i feel the pill moving around in my neck for a bit , but i feel  it s way too late for  dosing interval to be corect/consistent

 

We recommend switching from pill to liquid gradually, such as taking 25% liquid and 75% pill for a few days. Then 50/50 liquid and pill for a few days. Then 75% liquid and 25% pill for a few days. And then going to 100% liquid. This gives your nervous system time to adjust. 

[ChessieCat]

There is more information in this topic:

 

cross-over-changing-form-eg-tablet-to-liquid-of-drug-or-changing-brand-of-same-drug

 

[neurogenesis]

@shep did you crushed all your medications when you were taking them?