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Lillie: I gave up fluoxetine in 2018


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  • ChessieCat changed the title to Lillie: I gave up fluoxetine in 2018
  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/18/2022 at 4:01 PM, Lillie said:

if you are suffering at the start or in the middle of your journey that sounds like an awfully long time

 

I'm glad you survived this horrible world 🌹

 

I'm not afraid of the severity of withdrawal symptoms, and I'm not afraid of the strength of the pain, I'm afraid that it will continue!  As I did not take the medicine at first, except when I was sick and felt anxious and depressed.. This is what scares me that I will return to the zero point and that what I feel now is not withdrawal, but rather my original disease!

If I knew for sure that what I feel now is a withdrawal, my patience and determination would increase, but I fear that it is the anxiety that was 18 years ago.

I don't speak English fluently but I speak to you with google translator

2005-2006:Diversity in taking medications
 2006-2019 Seroxat 20 mg
 2020-2021 Cipralex 15 mg
 Mar 2021 it has decreased from 15 mg to 12.5 mg/Aug 2021 9mg/Sep 12, 2021 8mg/Oct 12, 2021 7mg / Nov 12, 2021 6mg / Dec 12, 2021 5mg / Jan 12, 2022 4.5mg /Feb 12, 2022 4mg/Mar-Apr 3.5mg/May 3mg The beginning of severe withdrawal

/sep 23, 2022 2.5mg

On March 19, 2023, I ended up in the emergency room, with severe palpitations, panic, and severe mental and physical fatigue, then I went back to a dose of 20 milligrams of Seroxat to this day.

 

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Mutfael

i know how you are feeling.  There is a famous Vedic saying from India “the world is as we are”. Put simply, if we are scared and lonely inside the world is a scary and lonely place. If we are depressed, afraid and anxious inside then the world is a dark, dangerous and frightening place.
If we are suffering from terrible withdrawal symptoms months or even years after we stopped taking these antidepressants, it either means they have damaged our brain chemistry in a way the pharmaceutical industry chooses to ignore or we can imagine that the problem will always be us and our ‘damaged’’ or ill-adjusted personalities. And we may be surrounded by people who see us suffer and think this pain will end if only they can encourage us to go back on the pills. It’s difficult to work out what is actually going on and what is the right thing for you to do when feeling so bad and we can’t trust those feelings.
Mainly because it is overpopulated the world is becoming a terrible place and we don’t really have any control over it or the circumstances we find ourselves in. it’s very difficult for the anxious, depressed or damaged person to feel they will be able to cope without chemical assistance, but we are relying on an external source for our psychological support and we have no control over that source and its future availability to us.
Mutfael, I feel I was born anxious - so anxious I have never felt I fitted in anywhere, it was like a dirty secret about myself I couldn’t share and I used all sorts of nonsense behaviours to hide the shameful fact I really couldn’t cope with this monstrous human world we have made. Of course this led to many bouts of depression, of course I had to function daily in my job, so of course I was prescribed the antidepressants.
I am still that scared, anxious person. the world seems to be descending into a dark place. I don’t have money, or lots of lovely friends or a big loving family to help me. I just have me without antidepressants. I do still get very anxious. Giving up the ADs does not immediately or permanently transfer us to heaven. We live in a world of opposites - light and dark, good and bad, happy and sad, alive and dead. We can’t choose just one state, we have to experience them all at some point. But understanding that the world is as we are - that we experience the world according to how we feel inside - actually gives us a hint how to cope. I cope by trying to make my inner world calm and peaceful. I choose calm and peaceful things to do (eg nature, reading, beautiful art, gardening) and avoid things that make me anxious (busy situations, much of the modern media and tv, certain people, having to deal with the ‘official’ world). The human world has become intensely narcissistic and challenging, almost out of control. I am trying to avoid this in myself and avoid situations that encourage our narcissistic behaviours. It’s not easy. On a good day I am truly at peace. On all those bad days life is awful - but it’s still not nearly as bad as the feelings I had during withdrawal. When I’m having a terrible day, often nothing works or seems to help. But I try to stick with my personal programme of avoiding the things that make me anxious and doing things that make me calm and I know that soon (within hours, or at most a day or so) it will pass and a measure of peacefulness will return. Remember - when walking through hell just keep going! This too shall pass!

Mutfael, I hope your translator makes sense of my words, I hope they help, I hope I haven’t made it too long. Just keep going, believe me as a fellow sufferer, the alternative really is ultimately worse!

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Hello Lillie, welcome to SA and congratulations on being psychiatric drug free.

 

Please follow the instructions here and create your drug signature.  This will appear below every post you make and provide members with an overview of your drug history without them having to read through your posts to get the information.  Thank you.

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature
Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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On 7/18/2022 at 8:01 AM, Lillie said:

I will keep this short as I can.  I gave up fluoxetine in my early 60s when I had the opportunity to retire, having been taking ADs for previous 15 years or so. I didn’t taper having tried it before, and with my personality type I was keen just to turn my back on the whole lot of it and see what happened. At the same time, this is 2018, my friend tried to give up by tapering. Now 4 years later having tried cutting down many times she has just been prescribed yet another type of AD this time stronger than ever. I went through hell giving up but you do come out of the other and I feel sorry for my friend who is still stuck and suffering.

 

First six months. Pure unadulterated hell. I spent a lot of time crying. The psychological pain found a focus in the state of the world and the intense cruelty of humans towards animals (even thought of all the farm creatures penned up with no freedom felt like a hideous knife twisting into my heart). Everything was unbearable, I didn’t sleep well and woke hideously early.I could barely go out, would try having coffee with sympathetic friends and would end up just sitting in silence with tears running down my cheeks. 

 

 6 months to one year.  Still a hellish existence, those close to me started losing patience and sympathy. I started getting comments like ‘maybe you’re just one of those people who always need to take them’, or ‘have you tried mindfulness/etc’ while putting on a why isn’t she pulling herself together by now face.  

 

The second year of withdrawal. At this point I realised it is all about the brain chemicals. There is not a thing you can do until your brain has had time to heal and recover and find its own balance and that will take as long as it takes, so don’t give up, nothing external really seems to help you just need time. I was still trying all sorts of things, eg cold swimming when I could, but it’s not a miracle cure nothing is. You just need to keep fighting it for another day, day after day. Realise that 99%of the advice and suggestions, both medical and ‘alternative’ are bullsh*t. People confuse their journey battling low mood where it worked for them to take that supplement and do that meditation with people like you and I who are suffering a chemical depression where every home grown good feeling the body can create has fled and won’t be coming back for a good long while. Hang in there!

 

After about 18 months it was starting to ease in that by mid to late afternoon my mood was starting to lift and I was even getting some prolonged moments of inner peace from the tortured thoughts that continually plagued me.  But really for the first two years there was a pattern; wake up (too early) and feel normal for about 30 seconds then countdown to the plunge into the abyss as the cortisol kicked in. And I really do mean the abyss.

 

Third year. Generally started actually feeling I was on the road to recovery. The daily cortisol plunge was being shaken off earlier as each month went by. I still had terribly sensitive emotions related to my pain focus of choice (world/animals) and just hearing about the wrong thing would do the trick. My courage started to return in lots of little ways and life started to get back to normal although everything had changed at the same time.

 

Looking back, some things that provided temporary relief:  being outdoors, taking a walk, doing some gardening, cold swimming or showering, repeating a mantra to crowd out the repetitive negative thoughts - pick your own. I chose the Vedic spiritual mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna… etc find it on the internet. This is with the greatest respect to that great Indian tradition from which the mantra comes, I followed transcendental meditation for many years so it had a spiritual meaning for me. A practical tip the mantra should be soothing, easy to repeat over and over. Late afternoons I started to look forward to a strong cocktail sipped in the garden with a little puff of homegrown (also the only reason why I was able to sleep at all). Obvious warning - if you have an addictive personality you will be particularly vulnerable during withdrawal so watch out.  

 

Now four years later. I am definitely 100% over it and have been for a while, now getting psychologically stronger all the time and better than ever before. if you are suffering at the start or in the middle of your journey that sounds like an awfully long time, almost too much to bear. But you must bear it for your long term benefit and when you are free you will finally have your life back in a way that you never truly had been able to perceive it before.  You will have been through hell and survived. The great statesman Winston Churchill kept me going, I repeated a quote to myself all the time ‘if you find yourself in hell, keep going’.

 

If you are young and have been prescribed these medications for anxiety and depression the one thing that will help you terminate your trajectory into lifelong suffering is the one thing in this modern world that is kept in short supply - peace and healing nature. This will be so difficult for you as the modern consuming lifestyle by which we are all tethered and controlled relies on providing constant dopamine hits from clicks and thrills, it is ultra addictive poison - avoid if you have any desire and hope of building a peaceful and meaningful life, and spend as much time in nature and with pets and other animals as you can. (IMHO of course!).

 

For the first 18 months I scoured this website multiple times a day because the one thing that helped was hearing about other people’s experiences and knowing there were others like me suffering on this awful journey that we can only travel alone. As I started to get better I promised myself I would thank this website and the good people who run it for the support and for keeping hope alive that there is actually something worthwhile at the end of the long dark tunnel we’ve had to travel. I hope my experience is of benefit to you. Just keep going, if you do I promise you that the outcome will be unavoidable - freedom and relief.  

 

@Lilliethank you for sharing.
those comments people make that are not supportive can make one feel so lonely in this journey.  
 I am glad you are in a better place. That part were you mentioned how we can get back to experiencing life in a way we haven’t before is the hope what keeps me going. Seeing it possible makes a world of difference.
i relate to many points you make, specially the sensitivity you developed for animal cruelty. Did it lead to any life changes for you?

I started to feel the animals pain as my own. I have opened my eyes to what Big Agriculture does and how much money and efforts go to hide so much cruelty. The experimentation world is another beast as well, never really conclusive if products are safe for human use. 
I can only imagine how hard that focus during those horrible times may have been for you. I, too, struggle at times with obsessive, instrusive thoughts on that topic. 

Has that focus changed for you?

isnt it interesting how that topic chose us? Or was it building itself in our minds for us to choose? Or both? 
whatever it is, its so interesting to me the topics our minds go to when we feel so disregulated. I’m sure others out there have a similar story with a different focus.

 

2002-2021: 19 yrs on/off psychotropics

2/2022: Wellbutrin 150mg, Lexapro 20mg  3/22: Wellbutrin 150mg xl, Lexapro 10mg    4/22: Wellbutrin 150xl, Lexapro 5mg 

4/2022: Lexa 7.5mg total, Wellbutrin 150mg    5/2022: Wellb 112.5mg xl, Lexa 7.5mg (Stopped Clonazepam & Hydroxyzine- didn't take often)

6/2022: Welbutrin 111mg xl, Lexa 6.8mg          8/2022: Wellbutrin 100mg xl, Lexa 6.8mg            10/9/22: Wellbutrin 100 mg IR, Lexa 6.5 mg

11/3/22: Wellbutrin 96 mg IR, Lexa 6.5 mg       11/30/22: Wellbutrin 96 mg IR, Lexa 6 mg

3/15/23: Wellbutrin 96 mg IR, Lexa 6.2 mg???

Other Daily Meds: Singulair 10mg, Zyrtec 10mg, Spiriva Respimat inhaler.  Rarely taking: OTC pain relievers, Diclofenac, Cyclobenzaprine, anti acids

SupplementsFish oil 1300mg, Nigella oil, Mag Glycinate 200mg, Probiotics 30 billion, 1/5 dose prenatals, Melatonin .38mg, (Reishi, Lion's Mane & psilocybin microdosing by cycles)

 

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Thanks Lilie, I read your story and I get more strength to carry on, waiting for time to pass...

2017 Cipralex and xenax, 6 months on the drugs + 2 months tapering.

2018 Cipralex, 1 week, bad reaction and stopped it cold turkey.

2019 Duloxetine 30 mg, Diazepam 10 mg, Propranolol, 6 months on the drugs + 2 months tapering.

2020 Deanxit 2/day, Kratium 10 mg, Amitriptyline 50 mg.

I was 4 months on Deanxit, Kratium and 50 mg Amitriptyline + 2 months tapering, except for 25 mg Amitriptyline, that I couldn’t get of, at that time.

Started tapering Amitriptyline 25 mg, 10 months later:

2021-03-16: 24 mg,

2021-05-17: 18 mg, 2021-06-14: 15 mg, 2021-06-28: 12 mg, 2021-08-09: 11 mg,  

2021-08-30: 10 mg, 2021-09-06: 8.3 mg, 2021-10-11: 4.2 mg.

7 month later: 2022-05-09: 3.6 mg, 2022-05-23: 0 mg.

Supplements: Magnesium Glycinate 1 gram/day, Lysin 2 gram/day, Probiotic 1/day, EPA 360 mg/day, DHA 240 mg/day, Zinc 15 mg/day, msm.

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Hi Lillie,

Thanks for sharing your story. There are so many pearls of wisdom in what you’ve written that resonate with me. Especially this that is so beautifully written, but so heartbreaking.

On 7/28/2022 at 9:45 AM, Lillie said:

I feel I was born anxious - so anxious I have never felt I fitted in anywhere, it was like a dirty secret about myself I couldn’t share and I used all sorts of nonsense behaviours to hide the shameful fact I really couldn’t cope with this monstrous human world we have made.

Your courage and wisdom really shine through your posts!

 

@DazzlingCold

20 hours ago, DazzlingCold said:

I started to feel the animals pain as my own. I have opened my eyes to what Big Agriculture does and how much money and efforts go to hide so much cruelty. The experimentation world is another beast as well, never really conclusive if products are safe for human use. 

Is this because you know that you have been hoodwinked into believing psych meds are safe and now know that’s not the case?  I know that I am definitely questioning everything around me now 😒

I don’t even feel like I can trust the “science” anymore.

Sertraline (Lustral):  2014. Sept 50mg. Oct 100mg. Dec 150mg. 2015-2019. 150mg. 2019  Apr-May 0mg. Beg May 150mg. End May 100mg. Late June 125mg. Late Aug 100mg. 2020 Jan 75mg. April 50mg.

2022  50mg. 1Jan 45mg. 1Feb 40.5mg. Water T24Feb 39.5mg. 3Mar 38.5mg. 18Mar 38mg. 25Mar 37.5mg. 22Apr 37mg. 5May 36.5mg. 18May 36mg. 1Jun 35.3mg. 15Jun 34.5mg.  30Jun 34mg. 15Jul 33.5mg. 22Jul 33mg. 5Aug 32.5mg. 19Aug 32mg. 1Sept 31.5mg. 1Oct 31mg.  27 Oct 30.5. 16 Nov 30mg. 30 Nov 29.5mg. 14 Dec 29mg

2023. 2 Jan 28.5mg. 6 Feb 28mg. 10 Mar 27.5mg. 1 Apr 26.5mg. 1 May 26mg. 1 Jun 25.5mg. 1 Jul 25mg. 1 Aug 24.5mg. 17 Aug 24mg. 5 Sept 23.5mg. 9 Oct 23mg.

 

Desogestrel:  2014 -  present:  

Supplements Magnesium. 400mcg  Vitamin D. 10mcg.  Multivit/min. 1 tab. B Complex

 

Certirizine:   2022 May 10mg. Dec 20mg. 2023. 15mg.

 Omeprazole.:  2016 20mg. 2022  20mg.  15Jan 15mg. 9Feb 10mg. 25Feb 6.5mg. 15Mar 3mg. 3Apr 1.5mg.  15Apr 0mg   2023. 20mg. 15 Sept 15mg.

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14 hours ago, Blossom71 said:

Hi Lillie,

Thanks for sharing your story. There are so many pearls of wisdom in what you’ve written that resonate with me. Especially this that is so beautifully written, but so heartbreaking.

Your courage and wisdom really shine through your posts!

 

@DazzlingCold

Is this because you know that you have been hoodwinked into believing psych meds are safe and now know that’s not the case?  I know that I am definitely questioning everything around me now 😒

I don’t even feel like I can trust the “science” anymore.

Yes, definitely. I’m usually questioning things on a daily basis, sometimes dor the sake of it. It keeps me entertained 😆 

i hear you about science. its so skewed and biased and public information so manipulated. Hard to know what to believe in, except my body. Hehe (i believe all the info I need is in my body, although I often forget)

2002-2021: 19 yrs on/off psychotropics

2/2022: Wellbutrin 150mg, Lexapro 20mg  3/22: Wellbutrin 150mg xl, Lexapro 10mg    4/22: Wellbutrin 150xl, Lexapro 5mg 

4/2022: Lexa 7.5mg total, Wellbutrin 150mg    5/2022: Wellb 112.5mg xl, Lexa 7.5mg (Stopped Clonazepam & Hydroxyzine- didn't take often)

6/2022: Welbutrin 111mg xl, Lexa 6.8mg          8/2022: Wellbutrin 100mg xl, Lexa 6.8mg            10/9/22: Wellbutrin 100 mg IR, Lexa 6.5 mg

11/3/22: Wellbutrin 96 mg IR, Lexa 6.5 mg       11/30/22: Wellbutrin 96 mg IR, Lexa 6 mg

3/15/23: Wellbutrin 96 mg IR, Lexa 6.2 mg???

Other Daily Meds: Singulair 10mg, Zyrtec 10mg, Spiriva Respimat inhaler.  Rarely taking: OTC pain relievers, Diclofenac, Cyclobenzaprine, anti acids

SupplementsFish oil 1300mg, Nigella oil, Mag Glycinate 200mg, Probiotics 30 billion, 1/5 dose prenatals, Melatonin .38mg, (Reishi, Lion's Mane & psilocybin microdosing by cycles)

 

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Hi @Lillie,

 

I stumbled across your thread just by browsing the site, and I'm glad I did! You have such a beautiful outlook, and I can tell just from your writing that you've been through a lot, to pose your writing in such an empathetic, and soothing manner. It's been two years, and 10 months since my adverse reaction, and to hear that it gets better beyond now is a great comfort! I've not been feeling too great recently, and having to find a job now at 22, I've felt quite stuck. It's been a pleasure to read your thread, and has given me a renewed hope. Thank you.

 

I just want to ditto your claim to 'spiritual healing' - I've tried to start meditating over the past few weeks; it's been very stop and start, but I feel close to being whole after even a ten minute session.

 

God bless, and I pray your healing journey continues beyond this psychiatric one!

 

Icip

Early September 2019 - One 25mg dose of Sertraline taken.

Early October 2019 - Five 25mg doses (pills) of Sertraline taken for five consecutive days.

Withdrawal/reaction happened on the 27th of October (2019) in the evening.

Symptoms that have gone: Joint and muscle pain/weakness in my legs, phantom senses, chemical dread, chemical fear, DP/DR has gotten a lot lot better than what it is now, it was one of my worst and all-encompassing symptoms when it started, awful aphasia, parkinsonism, head pressure, pressure in my frontal lobe when trying to think/work out something, inability to plan or execute anything//feelings of being literally scatterbrained, inability to think in my head other than slight acknowledgements - the voice in my head sounded weak and 'small' like it was restrained to a much smaller area of my brain, constant fatigue, emotional numbness, constant eyestrain, and changes in perception of colour/contrast in sight.

Main remaining symptoms: Visual Snow/HPPD, quiet tinnitus, and minor brain/cog fog.

Drug free.

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hi lillie. I already feel better reading your post, and yes we have to challenge everything because we are fed nonsense by those who want to make money of us. But nature is beautiful. Even today with my heat racing and body shaking i saw a tiny baby robin going around me as i watered my garden and as I spoke to it i was in a good place knowing even that bit of garden work had helped the robin. I care for animals deeply and feed hedgehogs ect but in my street I am considered awkward!!!!!! A bit scary and non compliant because I am sensitive to the natural world!!! Pathetic to think if i consumed all the time and had stuff being constantly delivered by vans, maybee a big flash petrol eating car I would be better!!!! I have been really struggling since my last drop but you have given me renewed hope and I thank you. Love redkite

Anti-depressant roundabout-2013-2019 ( 5 different ones all effectively CT)

Paroxetine-2019-2022- Various from 10 to 30. Reduced from 30mg to twenty over summer, winter 21. Stablized. reduced from 20ml to 12.5 jan-july22. Some holds some reinstate of tiny tiny bit and then hold around 15mg. Last drop from 13.5 to 12.5 18th july . Had to add a tiny bit/ Held on drop day due to stress of invironment, dropped to 12.  7th september 

Droped to 11.25 gradually  threw   september picking smaller bits from the left over pot!!! Will stay at 11.25 for a couple of weeks. Shaky and tired.

10.65 28th October.

Terrible november and december so uped to 11. slightly better will stick at 11 till spring at the earliest.

 May 10mg... finally, but what a drama. Totally exhausted!!!

Back up to 10. and a bit !! Cant believe how sick I get. 10 mg some time in june?

middle of  August back up to 10mg and  30th. ( 10.33?)

July 2024 10 mg And I am ok!!! plus magnesuim and CBD somtimes in the bath!!!

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On 8/2/2022 at 1:34 PM, DazzlingCold said:

i hear you about science. its so skewed and biased and public information so manipulated. Hard to know what to believe in, except my body. Hehe (i believe all the info I need is in my body, although I often forget)

I often forget, or sometimes I choose to not listen 🙄. I’m getting better at though!

Sertraline (Lustral):  2014. Sept 50mg. Oct 100mg. Dec 150mg. 2015-2019. 150mg. 2019  Apr-May 0mg. Beg May 150mg. End May 100mg. Late June 125mg. Late Aug 100mg. 2020 Jan 75mg. April 50mg.

2022  50mg. 1Jan 45mg. 1Feb 40.5mg. Water T24Feb 39.5mg. 3Mar 38.5mg. 18Mar 38mg. 25Mar 37.5mg. 22Apr 37mg. 5May 36.5mg. 18May 36mg. 1Jun 35.3mg. 15Jun 34.5mg.  30Jun 34mg. 15Jul 33.5mg. 22Jul 33mg. 5Aug 32.5mg. 19Aug 32mg. 1Sept 31.5mg. 1Oct 31mg.  27 Oct 30.5. 16 Nov 30mg. 30 Nov 29.5mg. 14 Dec 29mg

2023. 2 Jan 28.5mg. 6 Feb 28mg. 10 Mar 27.5mg. 1 Apr 26.5mg. 1 May 26mg. 1 Jun 25.5mg. 1 Jul 25mg. 1 Aug 24.5mg. 17 Aug 24mg. 5 Sept 23.5mg. 9 Oct 23mg.

 

Desogestrel:  2014 -  present:  

Supplements Magnesium. 400mcg  Vitamin D. 10mcg.  Multivit/min. 1 tab. B Complex

 

Certirizine:   2022 May 10mg. Dec 20mg. 2023. 15mg.

 Omeprazole.:  2016 20mg. 2022  20mg.  15Jan 15mg. 9Feb 10mg. 25Feb 6.5mg. 15Mar 3mg. 3Apr 1.5mg.  15Apr 0mg   2023. 20mg. 15 Sept 15mg.

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On 8/3/2022 at 10:22 AM, Blossom71 said:

I often forget, or sometimes I choose to not listen 🙄. I’m getting better at though!

Same and same

2002-2021: 19 yrs on/off psychotropics

2/2022: Wellbutrin 150mg, Lexapro 20mg  3/22: Wellbutrin 150mg xl, Lexapro 10mg    4/22: Wellbutrin 150xl, Lexapro 5mg 

4/2022: Lexa 7.5mg total, Wellbutrin 150mg    5/2022: Wellb 112.5mg xl, Lexa 7.5mg (Stopped Clonazepam & Hydroxyzine- didn't take often)

6/2022: Welbutrin 111mg xl, Lexa 6.8mg          8/2022: Wellbutrin 100mg xl, Lexa 6.8mg            10/9/22: Wellbutrin 100 mg IR, Lexa 6.5 mg

11/3/22: Wellbutrin 96 mg IR, Lexa 6.5 mg       11/30/22: Wellbutrin 96 mg IR, Lexa 6 mg

3/15/23: Wellbutrin 96 mg IR, Lexa 6.2 mg???

Other Daily Meds: Singulair 10mg, Zyrtec 10mg, Spiriva Respimat inhaler.  Rarely taking: OTC pain relievers, Diclofenac, Cyclobenzaprine, anti acids

SupplementsFish oil 1300mg, Nigella oil, Mag Glycinate 200mg, Probiotics 30 billion, 1/5 dose prenatals, Melatonin .38mg, (Reishi, Lion's Mane & psilocybin microdosing by cycles)

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Mentor

And doctors prescribe Fluoxitine to help with withdrawal from other SSRI’s! Madness. Congratulations on your persistence and success. 3 years seems to be fairly common. Enjoy your drug free retirement 

50 mg Sertraline Nov 2016 to Dec 2016

100 mg Sertraline Jan - March 2017

50 mg Sertraline April - June 2017

25 mg Sertraline July 2017 - Sept 2018

12.5 mg Sertraline Oct 2018

0 mg Nov 1 2018

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Hi @Lillie I can so relate to what you said about your early WD journey, tortured by thoughts of cruelty. These types of thoughts plague me every single day in an exaggerated way. I guess they’re intrusive thoughts and neuroemotions. It’s so bad I have to avoid watching the news or reading about the state the world is in or I get worse. You sound like my kind of person. Thank you for sharing your story, it’s given me hope and reminded me  all these symptoms are temporary. Warm regards, Kat xx

History of depression and anxiety. Symptoms of PTSD. 1998-1999 Venlafaxine 2006-2007 Prozac.2013-15 Sertraline 50mg. 2015 cross-tapered to citalopram 20mg. 2015-2021 Citalopram 20mg (brief increase to 30mg for 2/3 months in 2019). 01/2021 Dropped from 20mg to 10mg, back up to 20mg til June. 25/6/21 stopped CT. Started 50mg 5htp after a week without citalopram in the hope this would balance out my serotonin levels. After 3 days increased to 100mg 5htp. 11/7/21 Stopped 5htp with the intention of reinstating citalopram at 1mg. 16/7/21 Reinstated cit at 1mg. 2/8/21 Increased dose to 2mg. 28/11/21 10% reduction to 1.8mg.

8/12/21 2mg 6/1/22 1.8mg 10/2/22 1.6mg 13/5/22 1.5mg 4/6/22 1.55mg 4/7/22 1.4mg 4/8/22 1.25mg 1/11/22 1.1mg 3/3/23 1mg 18/4/23 0.9mg 2/6/23 0.8mg 4/10/23 0.7mg 11/11/23 jumped off @0.7mg started on 5htp 200mg -400mg, L-Theanine, and L-tyrosine 200mg. 25/11/23 came off 5-htp, l-tyrosine and l-Theanine. 24/12/23 went on 7.5mg mirtazapine. 27/12/23 stopped mirtazapine & reinstated citalopram @.35mg. 1/1/24 increased to 0.5mg. July 14, 2024 0.49mg. July 16 0.47mg. July 21 0.5mg. PTSD diagnosis October 2023. 11/11/23 started EMDR therapy for PTSD. Multiple attempts to taper off citalopram. Vegan/vegetarian, otherwise healthy lifestyle. Other medications; combined HRT. Other supplements; magnesium glycinate, vegan omega3. Completely OFF caffeine (since July 21). Finding it difficult to completely give up alcohol but starting from 14th July 24 will be trying my utmost to abstain. Main symptoms; crushing depression, anhedonia/emotional anesthesia, irritability, rage, anxiety/fear, intrusive thoughts, cognitive fog, inability to focus, restlessness and some insomnia

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/18/2022 at 8:01 AM, Lillie said:

I will keep this short as I can.  I gave up fluoxetine in my early 60s when I had the opportunity to retire, having been taking ADs for previous 15 years or so. I didn’t taper having tried it before, and with my personality type I was keen just to turn my back on the whole lot of it and see what happened. At the same time, this is 2018, my friend tried to give up by tapering. Now 4 years later having tried cutting down many times she has just been prescribed yet another type of AD this time stronger than ever. I went through hell giving up but you do come out of the other and I feel sorry for my friend who is still stuck and suffering.

 

First six months. Pure unadulterated hell. I spent a lot of time crying. The psychological pain found a focus in the state of the world and the intense cruelty of humans towards animals (even thought of all the farm creatures penned up with no freedom felt like a hideous knife twisting into my heart). Everything was unbearable, I didn’t sleep well and woke hideously early.I could barely go out, would try having coffee with sympathetic friends and would end up just sitting in silence with tears running down my cheeks. 

 

 6 months to one year.  Still a hellish existence, those close to me started losing patience and sympathy. I started getting comments like ‘maybe you’re just one of those people who always need to take them’, or ‘have you tried mindfulness/etc’ while putting on a why isn’t she pulling herself together by now face.  

 

The second year of withdrawal. At this point I realised it is all about the brain chemicals. There is not a thing you can do until your brain has had time to heal and recover and find its own balance and that will take as long as it takes, so don’t give up, nothing external really seems to help you just need time. I was still trying all sorts of things, eg cold swimming when I could, but it’s not a miracle cure nothing is. You just need to keep fighting it for another day, day after day. Realise that 99%of the advice and suggestions, both medical and ‘alternative’ are bullsh*t. People confuse their journey battling low mood where it worked for them to take that supplement and do that meditation with people like you and I who are suffering a chemical depression where every home grown good feeling the body can create has fled and won’t be coming back for a good long while. Hang in there!

 

After about 18 months it was starting to ease in that by mid to late afternoon my mood was starting to lift and I was even getting some prolonged moments of inner peace from the tortured thoughts that continually plagued me.  But really for the first two years there was a pattern; wake up (too early) and feel normal for about 30 seconds then countdown to the plunge into the abyss as the cortisol kicked in. And I really do mean the abyss.

 

Third year. Generally started actually feeling I was on the road to recovery. The daily cortisol plunge was being shaken off earlier as each month went by. I still had terribly sensitive emotions related to my pain focus of choice (world/animals) and just hearing about the wrong thing would do the trick. My courage started to return in lots of little ways and life started to get back to normal although everything had changed at the same time.

 

Looking back, some things that provided temporary relief:  being outdoors, taking a walk, doing some gardening, cold swimming or showering, repeating a mantra to crowd out the repetitive negative thoughts - pick your own. I chose the Vedic spiritual mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna… etc find it on the internet. This is with the greatest respect to that great Indian tradition from which the mantra comes, I followed transcendental meditation for many years so it had a spiritual meaning for me. A practical tip the mantra should be soothing, easy to repeat over and over. Late afternoons I started to look forward to a strong cocktail sipped in the garden with a little puff of homegrown (also the only reason why I was able to sleep at all). Obvious warning - if you have an addictive personality you will be particularly vulnerable during withdrawal so watch out.  

 

Now four years later. I am definitely 100% over it and have been for a while, now getting psychologically stronger all the time and better than ever before. if you are suffering at the start or in the middle of your journey that sounds like an awfully long time, almost too much to bear. But you must bear it for your long term benefit and when you are free you will finally have your life back in a way that you never truly had been able to perceive it before.  You will have been through hell and survived. The great statesman Winston Churchill kept me going, I repeated a quote to myself all the time ‘if you find yourself in hell, keep going’.

 

If you are young and have been prescribed these medications for anxiety and depression the one thing that will help you terminate your trajectory into lifelong suffering is the one thing in this modern world that is kept in short supply - peace and healing nature. This will be so difficult for you as the modern consuming lifestyle by which we are all tethered and controlled relies on providing constant dopamine hits from clicks and thrills, it is ultra addictive poison - avoid if you have any desire and hope of building a peaceful and meaningful life, and spend as much time in nature and with pets and other animals as you can. (IMHO of course!).

 

For the first 18 months I scoured this website multiple times a day because the one thing that helped was hearing about other people’s experiences and knowing there were others like me suffering on this awful journey that we can only travel alone. As I started to get better I promised myself I would thank this website and the good people who run it for the support and for keeping hope alive that there is actually something worthwhile at the end of the long dark tunnel we’ve had to travel. I hope my experience is of benefit to you. Just keep going, if you do I promise you that the outcome will be unavoidable - freedom and relief.  

 

I am one year off Zoloft after almost 7 years. I get some headaches, anxiety attacks, depression and irritability. I am not sure if it's withdrawal or situational related

Zoloft December 2014-August 2021

Last dose 25 mg 

Previously mirtazapine October 2014-July 2015

Withdrawal symptoms: irritability, dizziness, lightheadedness, headache.

 

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  • 2 years later...

thanks for your hope , that give a hope ❤️🧡

for me one pille paroxtine 20mg and 3 months of escitalopram 5mg , i have 1 year wd ,

mother ***** the toxic ex girl friend and the doctors after ... i dont know how till now how i didnt kill them

june 2023 –september 2023 escitalopram 5mg (CT beacause i was in hospital for sertonin excess)

WD -current
* mild blurry vision (there is some improvs)
* mild concntration trouble (there is some improvs)
* right ear and eye pressure
* mild headache right side
* small muscle tremors
* can't do running or sport , only walking
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