Bertoh: Suffering immensely from Effexor attempt and withdrawal. How do I get back to normal?

[Heath]

@Bertoh I assume your discomfort “burning “ is during urinating. Yes this could be from a urinary tract infection. 
How has you water intake been ?

 

I tend to not drink enough when I am tense , anxious and busy. And this can also cause men to tense up in the lower pelvic area which can cause more problems. 

Try to drink double water this week and avoid caffeine and carbonated drinks. And hot baths daily.

 

If you do feel it’s a urinary tract infection then get it checked. It’s not gonna hurt to get it checked only a urine sample.
 

Before you take any antibiotics make sure the dr takes a urinary sample and that dr gives you the correct antibiotic for the specific bacteria. You only want to have to do this once with the correct medication. Ask me how I know🙄. 
 

not saying you do have infection but please read this before you go to dr. 
 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/9285-cipro-levaquin-azithromycin-z-pack-and-other-antibiotics/

you can get the magnesium in powder form. I put 2 teaspoons in a water bottle and sip on all day and save a 1/4 of it for bedtime. 
 

Natural Vitality Calm, Magnesium Citrate Supplement, Anti-Stress Drink Mix Powder - Gluten Free, Vegan, & Non-GMO, Original, 16 oz https://a.co/d/hJfO4YU

[Bertoh]

Hey everyone thanks for the quick replies and apologies for the late response. 
 

@Altostrataty for always being so fast. I’ve read both of those posts extensively and wasn’t sure where to ask follow up questions (as the supplement threads tend to get less attention) so tried here and in the respective threads. 
 

One quick note is I did the cardinal sun of upping magnesium to 400 from 200 and starting the Trader Joe’s fish oil on the same day (12/15) making it hard to untangle which one may be more at fault for tummy issues 
 

I was take 200mg magnesium in the am and then 200 at night. I’m now trying 100 in the am, 100 at lunch , 200 at night. 
 

for omega 3s I take 1 pill with every meal (also take magnesium with meals now) as I wanted to start lower before working my way up to 2 pills per meal. Im now wondering if I started too high 

 

Any suggestions on if I should lower one or either of the vitamins to stabilize then slow re-up titrate would be appreciated if available! (Someone in the fish oil main  thread recommended I go down to 1 pill a day but unsure if I should start with that or the magnesium. I was fine at 200 magnesium)

 

@Heath you’re amazing! Thank you for being there for me from the start…you’ve followed my thread since I started it and have had nothing but kind words and encouragement; thank you ❤️ 

 

UTI-wise I went to the Dr yesterday and came out negative for UTI or anything else funky down there. Prostate also seemed fine. They’re hypothesizing maybe I’m experiencing some prostatistis (separate from the tummy pain more specific to the private part stuff probably) and recommended  me to do a naproxen treatment and sitz baths. I can’t do the former for a while as I’m coming off lithium still (almost done!) so I guess I’ll try the latter. We’ll go from there. Sigh…was hoping vitamins would lead to less effects like this, but now i know to treat vitamin increases with the same respect and care I now treat meds with. 
 

Thank you for the magnesium citrate powder link and suggestion as well! If it turns out it’s the magnesium causing these issues (either by guess or down titrating and feeling better) I’ll give that a try to see if I can stomach it better! 
 

the whole idea between using these supplements is per SAs guidance but also my neuro saying they would help with migraines…so I’m super keep to making it work. Im sure I’ll figure it out soon with all of your help and the neuro as well. 
 

thank you! ❤️

[Bertoh]

Holy crap! I just realized I posted the same message twice here. Meant to post one in the omega 3 thread. I was wondering what alto meant by only post once. 
 

im so sorry. That was a dumb copy paste error…didn’t not meant to post the same question twice here -___-  I’ll delete one 

 

@Erimus apologies I missed you in my reply above exactly cuz of that. I thought you replied in a different post I never posted -__-

 

I take the pills with fatty fishy sometimes but I’ve been inconsistent on that end. I was eating salmon for breakfast every AM for a while which was nice so maybe I should get back on that.

 

i like your recommendation of going down to 1 pill and seeing how that goes, but I’m stuck in decision paralysis between doing that with the fish oil or magnesium first…not sure which is most likely to cause gut issues. 
 

Hoping to hear a bit more guidance from y’all /neuro otherwise I’ll just make a call (I’ll prob go with yours since it makes sense to me) 

 

Thank you so much for the help! I’ll get back on consistent fatty fish in my meals while I’m at it as well  

[Erimus]

The only way to discern if the supplements are causing symptoms is to stop them for a short period, and see if your symptoms improve.
 

Magnesium citrate is commonly associated with stomach complaints due to its laxative effects in high doses. Some people are more sensitive than others and can have stomach pains at lower doses.

Edited January 10, 2023 by Erimus

[Heath]

@Bertoh

I don’t have all the information atm about omega and magnesium under the alto tag. But I will ask you - what have you been eating over the holidays? My stomach is out of wack since the holidays. Just saying🤷‍♂️, something to think about. We are more sensitive rt now. 

 

good news no infection! Hallelujah ! 😁you didn’t have to go down that road rt now! 
 

Theres a lot of variables the go into prostate issues. There are many secondary causes. Anxiety, tension, stress, digestive system, and there are many more. I mentioned these because they relate to some of my experiences. And guess what they are all part of ssri side effects and withdrawals.  There is documentation about prostatitis and psychiatric drugs out there. 

Not saying wd is the cause by no means but I would keep that in mind. We are aging and living as we taper these drugs so it’s very hard to tell. 
 

Read up on it and do all the non drug self help you can. Relax and  Drink lots of water ! 

 

 

[Bertoh]

Thanks @Erimus....you're totally right. I think I'm afraid to lower cuz 1) perfectionsim - what if i lower the wrong one! 2) it seems to be helpfin with migraine pain, oh no i don't want them to get worse! But that's the sacrifice to make to disentangle and get the right thing going for ya. Thanks Erimus for this reminder and clarity. I'll make a call on which to stop/reduce, give it a few weeks and go from there. Trusting the process 

 

@Heath I totally hear ya on the holiday eats!!! lol. The issue started around xmas so I had the same thought: omg it's cuz ive been eating TERRIBLE. Nice to see we think the same =]

 

I've changed back to my regular diet (which isn't great tbh to begin with but didn't cause problems before) in the last 2 weeks and figured I'd give it time but feel like I'm at the well..gotta do something point. No use sticking it out longer than I need to.

 

Thakns a ton for the callouot on the SSRI impact on prostate as well! I had a lingering thought of, well is this just all wd and going through the long motions of my poor nervous system just tryna recover from all that crap? So again, same page!

 

I'll keep reading up on all the non-drug help I can get (in this case sitz baths) and since you've messaged me last week I'm a water drinking monster LOL (scared sometimes to drink a lot due to the chance of burning/ or tummy ache after but I know it's the right thing to do). 

 

Y'all are seriously the best. Thank you for the guidance and support. It's so hard sometimes to see the progress between bad wave days and new side effects/issues like this cropping out "seemingly" out of nowhere in the process but I know for a fact I'm getting better...just slowly. Everyone's guidance and care helps immensely in remembering the progress AND avoiding a mistake or two along the way that can set me back when I don't need it to. Thank you all ❤️ 

[Bertoh]

Well, after a ton of back and forth since my tummy felt ok a few days I hit a mega snag where it just hasn’t stopped hurting for days. 
 

My neuro finally got back to me with their advice and I’ll try following that though hoping they address some open questions I have. Let’s see how this goes. 7 months of migraines is enough to deal with, I don’t need massive tummy problems too….gotta nip this in the bud

 

Side note: came off lithium last Thursday! Updating sig to capture that. Knock on wood I’m ok, been a rough emotional few days but unsure if it’s mostly the tummy aches / migraines or that too

 

 

 

 

 

[Bertoh]

My response, pic wouldn’t load.

——-

Thanks for the response. As always I have a few follow up questions 

Clarification
- For days 4-9 should I maintain
200mg magnesium while decreasing
fish oil?
General
- Is 3 days enough to see a difference
in the mag reduction? Should I space
this out more or this enough to get
info? Same for fish oil
- Can I/should I take OTC stomach
aids to assists or will that mess with
the data/make things worse (tums,
Peptobismal)
- Should I change my diet during this
period to help my gut get better (e.g.
do a brat diet) or avoid certain food, or
similarly will this mess with data?

Again thank you for the help. These
stomach pains are getting so bad that
they're knocking me out for
days/making me consider ER so your
guidance came just in time as I
couldn't hold out much longer.

[Bertoh]

Sorry for the barrage of posts…guess this tummy thing is impacting it’s than the migraines (which is crazy…the migraines are killer!!)

 

I decided to follow the neuro’s advice. Hope my tummy gets better sooner rather than later.

 

Thanks all for the help and hearing me out.