Pattie007 Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Hello. My experience with antidepressants started in my mid- twenties with Paxil. I was on it at varying doses for a decade or more. I vaguely remember my medical doctor switching me over to sertraline, and I stayed on that medication for another decade or so. Most recently, August 2020, I was switched from sertraline to Lexapro. I have to admit, I felt great emotionally. Unfortunately, it exacerbated my already severe bruxism. Within four months I’d broken two crowns and a filling. I discovered a medical article that SSRIs can increase bruxism and prescribing BuSpar can alleviate jaw pain. For me personally, this was true. Within weeks of tapering down Lexapro, my jaw pain had significantly decreased. My medical doctor prescribed a taper that was far too fast and the SSRI withdrawal was severe. Switching over to a combination of BuSpar and Wellbutrin seemed to help. But the Wellbutrin spiked my resting pulse rate to about 124. I would have to lay down frequently throughout the day. It became clear the Wellbutrin wasn’t for me. Working with a psychiatrist, I was able to manage a taper off of Wellbutrin. I was still experiencing side effects from BuSpar (muscle fatigue, flushing, insomnia.) I began a taper down from 50mg/day in November down to 10mg/day at the end of December. My motivation was more than just the uncomfortable side effects. It was also concerns about the possibility of antidepressant medication interfering with iron absorption. I’ve had very heavy periods my entire life. Not even surgery could slow it down. I was diagnosed with anemia in 2010, and I still struggle to keep my iron levels up. So, with the support of my psychiatrist, psychologist, and my spouse - today (January 1, 2022) was the first day I didn’t take any antidepressants. I have been fatigued and a little lightheaded all day. But to be honest, the symptoms are not nearly as bad as coming off of Lexapro. Not even as bad as the side effects of the Covid vaccine. I don’t know if it will work or how well I will do. I have created a daily self care schedule that includes exercises, art making, meditation, etc. If I have to restart BuSpar, I will. But I would like to give this my best effort and see what life is like off of antidepressant medication. c1995 -2001 Paxil 2001-2020 Sertraline (dosage varied between 100-200mg) August 2020 Lexapro 10mg November 2020 - severe bruxism/broken teeth and crowns January 2021- primary care doctor (PCP) tapered me off Lexapro February 2021 - PCP put me on Wellbutrin and BuSpar September 2021 - taper off Wellbutrin December 2021 - taper off BuSpar January 1, 2022 - first day of no antidepressant medication Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Onmyway Posted January 2, 2022 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted January 2, 2022 Welcome to SA @Pattie007, it seems like you have had some significant changes to your medications over the last couple of years but you seem to be doing well. We generally don't recommend coming off of medicines cold turkey as some people suffer quite a lot but seems like your symptoms are manageable so far. I would suggest keeping track of them as sometimes symptoms might appear within a week or month(s). I am linking our advice on tapering at no more than 10% and speeding it up only if you don't have significant withdrawal effects. Why taper by 10% of my dosage? - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants Why taper? SERT transporter occupancy studies show importance of gradual change in plasma concentration - Tapering - Surviving Antidepressants Hope things continue to go well for you, OMW "Nothing so small as a moment is insurmountable, and moments are all that we have. You have survived every trial and tribulation that life has thrown at you up until this very instant. When future troubles come—and they will come—a version of you will be born into that moment that can conquer them, too." - Kevin Koenig I am not a doctor and this should not be considered medical advice. You can use the information and recommendations provided in whatever way you want and all decisions on your treatment are yours. In the next few weeks I do not have a lot of capacity to respond to questions. If you need a quick answer pls tag or ask other moderators who may want to be tagged. Aug 2000 - July 2003 (ct, 4-6 wk wd) , citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn, wellbutrin for a few months, trazodone prn Dec 2004 - July 2018 citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn (rarely used) Aug 2018 - citalopram 40 mg (self titrated up) September 2018 - January 2019 tapered citalopram - 40/30/20/10/5 no issues until a week after reaching 0 Feb 2019 0.25 xanax - 0.5/day (3 weeks) over to klonopin 0.25 once a day to manage severe wd March 6, reinstated citalopram 2.5 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 mg for sleep 2-3 times a week Apr 1st citalopram 2.0 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 once a week (off by 4/14/19- no tapering) citalopram (liquid) 4/14/19 -1.8 mg, 5/8/19 - 1.6 mg, 7/27/19 -1.5 mg, 8/15/19 - 1.35, 2/21/21 - 1.1 (smaller drops in between), 6/20/21 - 1.03 mg, 8/7/21- 1.025, 8/11/21 - 1.02, 8/15/21 - 1.015, 9/3/21 - 0.925 (fingers crossed!), 10/8/21 - 0.9, 10/18/21 - 0.875, 12/31/21 - 0.85, 1/7/22 - 0.825, 1/14/22 - 0.8, 1/22/22 - 0.785, 8/18/22 - 0.59, 12/15/2022 - 0.48, 2/15/22 - 0.43, 25/07/23 - 0.25 (mistake), 6/08/23 - 0.33mg Supplements: magnesium citrate and bi-glycinate Link to comment
Pattie007 Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 Hi @Onmyway, Thank you so much for the feedback. I want to respond because, as a newbie to the community, I do not take my being here lightly. I want to ensure folks that the past two years have not been a walk in the park. And while I may speak softer, lighter terms, every day is work. Every. Day. I most certainly did not go cold turkey or make decisions without coordinating with my primary care physician, psychiatrist, and psychologist. I wholeheartedly agree that cold turkey is not a great path to take. I am probably using terminology differently than it is used or defined here at SA. I also realize my topic headline may have given the wrong impression. Perhaps if I’d have said “First day tapered off…” that may have been better. As I find my way around the forum, I expect that I pick up on the language and definitions much better. My initial introduction lacked clarity and fine grained details. I have a second post planned that will address more details about my experience tapering, working with health care providers during the process, withdrawal and side effects. All of this to say, accidentally stumbling upon this forum has been a tremendous lift for my outlook. The wealth of understanding, support, and combined lived experiences is a treasure. I’m so very thankful it exists. Sincerely, Pattie007 c1995 -2001 Paxil 2001-2020 Sertraline (dosage varied between 100-200mg) August 2020 Lexapro 10mg November 2020 - severe bruxism/broken teeth and crowns January 2021- primary care doctor (PCP) tapered me off Lexapro February 2021 - PCP put me on Wellbutrin and BuSpar September 2021 - taper off Wellbutrin December 2021 - taper off BuSpar January 1, 2022 - first day of no antidepressant medication Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Onmyway Posted January 2, 2022 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted January 2, 2022 (edited) Hi @Pattie007, sorry if I misunderstood the extent of your suffering. We don't take it as an offense if people don't have withdrawal symptoms - the length and severity of withdrawal varies for different people from weeks to months to years. If you have had a difficult tapering experience, you might want to be more careful and go even slower with the next medicine. We consider a few weeks taper a very fast taper closer to cold turkey in its effects on the nervous system. This does not agree with the larger medical community's recommendations of fast tapers. But psychiatry has been reluctant to acknowledge the severity of withdrawal symptoms (they similarly denied the severity of withdrawal symptoms of benzodiazepines as well initially). The reasons are quite clear, of course, people would be reluctant to take these drugs if they knew they are no better than placebo on average and if they couldn't get off of them. At the same time without drugs psychiatry doesn't really have other tools. And drugs are what set psychiatrists apart as "more rigorous" than psychologist. The UK psychiatrists have only recently acknowledged the existence of withdrawal symptoms Stopping antidepressants | Royal College of Psychiatrists (rcpsych.ac.uk) Hope that your symptoms do get better quickly, OMW Edited January 2, 2022 by Onmyway 1 "Nothing so small as a moment is insurmountable, and moments are all that we have. You have survived every trial and tribulation that life has thrown at you up until this very instant. When future troubles come—and they will come—a version of you will be born into that moment that can conquer them, too." - Kevin Koenig I am not a doctor and this should not be considered medical advice. You can use the information and recommendations provided in whatever way you want and all decisions on your treatment are yours. In the next few weeks I do not have a lot of capacity to respond to questions. If you need a quick answer pls tag or ask other moderators who may want to be tagged. Aug 2000 - July 2003 (ct, 4-6 wk wd) , citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn, wellbutrin for a few months, trazodone prn Dec 2004 - July 2018 citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn (rarely used) Aug 2018 - citalopram 40 mg (self titrated up) September 2018 - January 2019 tapered citalopram - 40/30/20/10/5 no issues until a week after reaching 0 Feb 2019 0.25 xanax - 0.5/day (3 weeks) over to klonopin 0.25 once a day to manage severe wd March 6, reinstated citalopram 2.5 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 mg for sleep 2-3 times a week Apr 1st citalopram 2.0 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 once a week (off by 4/14/19- no tapering) citalopram (liquid) 4/14/19 -1.8 mg, 5/8/19 - 1.6 mg, 7/27/19 -1.5 mg, 8/15/19 - 1.35, 2/21/21 - 1.1 (smaller drops in between), 6/20/21 - 1.03 mg, 8/7/21- 1.025, 8/11/21 - 1.02, 8/15/21 - 1.015, 9/3/21 - 0.925 (fingers crossed!), 10/8/21 - 0.9, 10/18/21 - 0.875, 12/31/21 - 0.85, 1/7/22 - 0.825, 1/14/22 - 0.8, 1/22/22 - 0.785, 8/18/22 - 0.59, 12/15/2022 - 0.48, 2/15/22 - 0.43, 25/07/23 - 0.25 (mistake), 6/08/23 - 0.33mg Supplements: magnesium citrate and bi-glycinate Link to comment
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