Alex3: total insomnia after 6 months reinstatement

[Jools44]

@Alex3 it’s good to have a proper conversation with someone about withdrawal isn’t it? Reassuring to know there’s a human voice you can speak to who understands exactly what you’re going through. 
 

We all need more of this. 

[Alex3]

@Jools44 so true, this place is invaluable, but even this discourse is each of us tapping away on a QWERTY keyboard 🙂

 

Spoke to a voice and my/our rhetoric was met with agreement and understanding, finally. We must keep consistent with this message and not lose heart or despair in the face of insanity

 

How's your own state atm?

[Jools44]

@Alex3 yes I've spoken to them myself and it was good to be understood.

 

I'm up and down thanks. Still tapering but very, very slowly. It will take me years to get off this stuff, if I even can, but I'm giving it my best shot and am much better informed this time. 

[Alex3]

@Jools44 Take it steady and remind yourself you're only stuck on the one drug and that you haven't been exposed to any other drugs along the way. Those that have been endlessly jumping from one to the next consecutively and/or been on various drugs simultaneously (poly-drugged/pharmacy) must be particularly at a loss. Benzo dependance is seemingly a whole other dimension.

 

I became fixated on "exposure". Ultimately, we've been exposed prolongingly to this thing anyhow at this point either way and I've come to accept that. Rushing will only make things worse. Going at our own pace and edging our way there will be paramount.

 

Even if we get to 6.4mg, for example and we can't go any further, then we'll have done all we can. Faure's micro Brass Monkey seems to be something we can be encouraged by. Even if that takes 10-15 years then so be it

 

And who knows, life is full of twists and turns. Maybe there'll be various breakthroughs to help us. No magic bullet(s), but even if there's a relenting on the denial then we'll have something.

 

Like you say, this is our struggle and it gives us no choice but to head for the simple life.

 

Heading off for the usual weird dreams

 

PS Do you happen to be roughly based near Great Barr? My family are from there

[Faure]

9 hours ago, Alex3 said:

 

Even if we get to 6.4mg, for example and we can't go any further, then we'll have done all we can. Faure's micro Brass Monkey seems to be something we can be encouraged by. Even if that takes 10-15 years then so be it

Absolutely, every 0.1mg you drop is less drug in your system and leads to healing. Things will get better very gradually and you don’t have to wait till 0 for improvements. In my experience improvements happen very slowly most of the time. I may be lucky, but I think there are others (according to BrassMonkey) who are experiencing similar, but perhaps they aren’t as active here. 

[Jools44]

@Alex3 I’m further south of Birmingham so no I don’t know it I’m afraid, although I’m not even in the UK at the moment or for the foreseeable future.

 

 

[Alex3]

@Jools44 Hope you're settled/settling wherever you are. I found travelling to be a joy, but also stressful/depleting for an introvert over time

 

@Faure I'm quietly very encouraged. The scales arrived today so the kit is in place. Will enquire about an Accord pill stockpile

 

For some perspective, I bet there's folk out and/or on here that would give nearly anything to be "just" on a low dose of Mirtazapine

 

Unrelated/another tangent, I tried actual Icelandic Cod Liver the last couple of days. Amazing taste and texture. The smell isn't too appealing, but otherwise it is excellent stuff. I'm not sure on whether to incorporate it regularly in the diet. It is quite rich. Wondering If anyone else has tried it

 

9pm = pill time

 

Sending best wishes as always and thank you for engaging

[Alex3]

QQ @Faure I was dropping 0.15mg every four days on the liquid (0.15mg = 100th of a 15mg dose). Is that the dosage drop to expect on this Brass Monkey/micro taper?

 

Sounds like post June 2021, your experience has seen a dramatic improvement/change compared with the sizeable dosage changes prior to that point...

[Faure]

Hi Alex, glad you’re feeling positive. I’m afraid asking me anything about numbers is a no go, I’m hopeless! I just follow BrassMonkey’s taper schedule as per his website I linked to. It works out roughly at 2.5% drop every week for 4 weeks then a 2 week hold.

 

Having looked at your question again, my first dose drops were from 15.2mg to 14.8, then 14.4, 14.1, 13.7. Sorry I can’t be of more help 🙄 if you find these too big you can change the % on his website calculator.
 

The first weeks will be hard because your body is used to a steady supply, so be ready for that and don’t get discouraged. Your body will likely adapt to the changes and it will become easier. Of course if things get too bad then hold. 

 

Be careful not to order so much Accord it will be out of date before you use it ☺️

[brassmonkey]

22 hours ago, Alex3 said:

I was dropping 0.15mg every four days on the liquid (0.15mg = 100th of a 15mg dose). Is that the dosage drop to expect on this Brass Monkey/micro taper?

 

This is going to give a 1% reduction, which is a lot less than the baseline Brassmonkey Slide. If you are reducing by the same 0.15mg every four days, that would be a linear taper and the percentage would increase with every reduction from here on. Although the reduction is very small now it will keep increasing and with time will become a problem. This is why we recommend reducing by a percentage instead of a set amount. This does mean recalculating your dose weight each time you make up capsules, but it is a very easy calculation.

 

The baseline Brassmonkey Slide is 2.5% a week for four weeks and then an additional two week hold. This can be modified by using a smaller percentage if needed, but not a larger one. Reducing at this rate the process has a half-life of 9 months. So, starting from today in nine months you will be a one half your current dose and that would be cut in half again in another nine months. Rough guess, starting from 6.5mg you should be making the jump to "0" in three to four years.

 

We have found that "exposure" has very little to do with a person's WD experience. It is more about how their body reacts to the drug, mental outlook, and the like. This makes each person's WD experience unique. Some people react very badly from just one tablet and have a rough time for years, while others take the drug for 20 years and have a very smooth reduction. 

[Bestill]

I see we are just starting your taper again.  Wishing you patience and staying positive.  It will be so helpful as you decrease.  

[Alex3]

Hello everyone, 

 

Quick note

 

https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/mental-health/treatments-and-wellbeing/print-outs/stopping-antidepressant-printable.pdf?sfvrsn=2c9a63e0_2

 

This printable link doesn't appear all that different from the traditional, standard advice..? Or am I just not seeing the changes?

[Faure]

It’s not different advice. It’s just formatted so that you can print it out easily. 

[Alex3]

Oh. Given the likes of Mark Horowitz contributed to it, I thought there'd be more of an acknowledgement and insight to the complexity of withdrawal

[Alex3]

Hello all, hope you're as well as can be. Terrible nightmares and dreams, no respite

 

Off on a tangent, but I have so little faith in these establishments any more. Currently being gaslighted over my car. Unrelated, but I'm seeing how people are being gaslighted over MESH by the medical community and big pharma.

 

Outrageous and horrific. People have had their lives destroyed over hernia meshes and vaginal meshes.

 

How can we trust? The answer is we can't. As Alto has said in interviews, this is existential when we realise how depraved people truly are

[Alex3]

To extend on this theme...

 

 

 

[Vasherr]

I agree with the no trust in medical field notion, maybe with an exception for surgeons, for me the tipping point was this lecture by James Davies, in which he explains the history of psychiatric diagnoses, which frankly are fairy tales made up by a small group of power craven maniacs, with no science behind them, but who needs science when You are getting paid by pharma, right?

 

 

On a little tangent I am starting to wonder that maybe we didn't encounter any aliens because every sentient civilisation gets to destroy itself in such strange ways like we are doing right now...

 

I hope I am wrong and there is a way to reverse this course. All we can do now is try to work with our environment and tell people the truth, and someday maybe the scales will tip.

 

Wishing You a lifelong window!

V.

[Alex3]

Hello SA,

 

QQ, in seemingly one of the introductory posts, there is a reference and explanation of how the dopamine rush that onsets withdrawal has been mislabelled/mis-diagnosed as "bipolar".

 

I can't seem to find it anywhere and hoping someone could link myself up?

 

Hope others are well

 

Many thanks,

Alex

[Heath]

@Alex3

is this what you are looking for ?

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/2546-explosion-in-bipolar-diagnoses/

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/12362-do-5-million-americans-really-have-bipolar-disorder/

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/448-where-antidepressants-are-common-so-is-bipolar-disorder/

 

[Alex3]

Many thanks @Heath, but from memory it is more of part of the introductory pack/links (if that makes sense) ie part of the overall overview

 

Many thanks,

Alex

[modelarz71]

On 16.02.2022 at 12:58, Yesyes123 said:

 

Ja też nie bardzo się na tym znam, ale bardzo mnie to interesuje.

 

Jestem bardzo zainteresowany, szczególnie wpływem różnych rodzajów żywności na osoby z psychiatrycznym zespołem odstawiennym; wydaje się, że pewne zmiany w diecie mogą znacznie złagodzić objawy choroby Parkinsona i wydaje się, że jest to warte dalszych badań.

 

To, co jemy, czyni nas tym, kim jesteśmy, i niezwykle ważne jest, aby jeść rzeczy odpowiednie do swojego stylu życia.

 

Zasadniczo dr Gundry twierdzi, że niektóre pokarmy roślinne, do których jesteśmy przyzwyczajeni codziennie i które uważamy za zdrowe, w rzeczywistości zawierają substancję zwaną lektyną , która może być szkodliwa dla naszego organizmu.

 

Według webmd.com:

 

„Lektyna, znana również jako„ substancja przeciwodżywcza ”, to rodzaj białka, które wiąże się z określonymi węglowodanami”.

 

Podczas moich studiów nad żywieniem odkryłam, że nikt nigdy nie powinien spożywać tych olejów:

• Częściowo uwodorniony olej rzepakowy

• Olej kukurydziany

• Częściowo uwodorniony olej roślinny

• Olej z nasion bawełny

• Olej z orzechów 

• Olej z pestek winogron

• Olej słonecznikowy

• Olej szafranowy

• Olej sojowy 

Zamiast tego używaj masła i oliwy z oliwek. Olej kokosowy też jest niesamowity, choć dość drogi.

 

pokój + uzdrowienie

I'm sorry should I revert to 1 mg and then more escitalopram? Among other things, withdrawal has caused me to have almost constant abdominal pain and slow digestion. Everything has slowed down and has become like an additive disease. diet does not help.  Last year I took 6 months of about 8 mg of escitalopram and was hypomaniacal. It shattered my sleep. i am heartbroke