tunux: hi all - need help

[tunux]

Well hello everyone. I am about to write a bigger introduction in the near future but for now im just in to much (physical pain to write all of it down). For now I'm looking for some Good advice on how to deal with my current situation.

 

I have been taking zoloft for 8 years on and off. Up until last week i took it for 5 consecutive years. This has been due to my ocd and depression. Twice (before these last 5 years) i tried tapering down without succes. I had terrible brain zaps and just overall feeling of depression.

 

The last 6 months ive been under treatment of a psychiatric department of a hospital. Due to zoloft not doing its job anymore at 200 mgs they told me i should try clomipramine. They said the switch could be done within 3 weeks and tapering of zoloft could be done within just one week, because they said clomipramine would protect me from any zoloft withdrawal symptoms...

 

Well here i am 2 weeks in and my right side of my body ( neck, shoulder, back, arm shoulder blade and since yesterday my leg (buttocks' are cramping up like crazy, constant terrible pain. I have no brain zaps or other mental symptoms, just crazy painfull cramped up muscles. I told them i thought it must have been the newly taken clomipramine they denied it and insisted i must have ruptured some kind of neck muscle or something during working out. I highly doubt it. The pain started to come about a couple days in of tapering down zoloft and starting up clomipramine. They pursueded me into holding on. But yesterday i called it quits. I called them and said im stopping the clomipramine because we only got to 75 mg per day yet, and the end goal was 250 in about 2 weeks from now. They told me i could just quit the clomipramine without real taper. So i did. Yesterday morning was my last tablet. But after taking that decision i found that alot of my symptoms may be due to having tapered zoloft waaaaay to fast. 

 

And here is my question, what do i do? Do i go back on zoloft and taper it down with the 10% rule ive read about here? Im about a week without taking the time zoloft entirely now, would restarting it not cause even more trouble?

 

I would love some advice, especially because none of my healtcare doctors seems to know or care about it.

 

I really am in so much pain that im taking oxycodone, paracetamol, diazepam, and 3200 mg of ibuprofen. The pain stilling cocktail maybe causes me to have 20% less pain... I cant keep going like this it really hurts, please help!

 

 

 

 

[tunux]

I suspect i have nerve problems on the right widenof my body. The nerve that goes trough the neck, shoulder back of arm (tricep) and forearm down to my ring and pinky finger. The pain is unbearable, i called my doctor and told her i want off the tramadol and oxycodone and diazepam. She now gave me gabapentine for the nerve pain. I hope its gonna help. I also have been taking zoloft again after having stopped for about a week. Tonight ill be back up to my previous 200mgs level it out and start the tapering method of 2.5% per week a couple of weeks later when everything has cleared. I just hope my nerve pain will stop, i dont know what to do if it persists its so bad and painful 😣

[getofflex]

Hello, and welcome to SA.  We are a volunteer-run community of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  I'm sorry to hear that your doctors have gotten you into this mess with a bridge from Zoloft to clomipramine.  Is you goal to get off of psychiatric meds?  That is what we do here. Now that you have reinstated your Zoloft, hopefully this will help you.  I will give you more advice at the end of this post.   

 

Can you please give us specific information in your signature about your drug history for all drugs and supplements you are on and have been on, especially for the past 18-24 months?  It would be especially helpful to have the details of your drugs in a concise vertical list (no symptoms), only specific dates, include the day (as best you can say for example early March if you don't recall the day), drug names, and dosages of each medication decrease or increase.  Use this example:

 

Feb 15 2020 - June 30 2020 - 25mg citalopram, 2mg xanax

July 1 2020 - Sept 7 2020 - 50 mg citalopram, 4 mg xanax

Etcetera

 

Please read the link below for instructions.  This will allow us to give you the best guidance.  

 

How to List Drug History in Signature

 

Here is some important information about how these drugs actually work.  This explains why we get symptoms from going off of these medications, and why it's so important to taper slowly and carefully, and be very cautious about changing our doses: 

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

 

This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: 

 

Video on Recovery from Psych Drugs

 

Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

 

Tapering is best done extremely slowly, and we generally taper by 10% of the current dose no more than once every 4 weeks, so that the reduction becomes exponentially smaller.  The other alternative, which you alluded to, is micro-tapering.  I'll give links to information about both.  

 

 Why Taper by 10% of my Dosage  

 

Brass Monkey Slide Method of Micro Tapering

 

Tips for Tapering Zoloft

 

Here is a link with checklists of common WD symptoms: 

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen Withdrawal Symptom Checklists

 

 

Here are some techniques to cope with symptoms: 

 

Non Drug Ways to Cope with Withdrawal Symptoms

 

Stability is really important when we are tapering off psych meds.  Please read the link about stability:

 

Keep It Simple, Slow, and Stable

 

 

We don't suggest many supplements, but 2 that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. It is suggested to add one at a time, and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

Magnesium

Omega 3 Fish Oil

 

Instead of reinstating to a full dose of Zoloft, I would suggest only reinstating to a small dose.  We need more information on your drug history before we can suggest a reinstatement dose.  Here is some information about reinstatement: 

 

About Reinstating and Stabilizing to Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms

 

Now here is my advice:  since you have attempted a rapid switch from Zoloft to clomipramine, and this caused you the symptoms of cramping and pain on one side of your body, this shows that your nervous system has likely become destabilized, and needs some time to recover.  This was probably caused by abruptly stopping the Zoloft, and/or an adverse reaction to the clomipramine.  Therefore, I would not attempt any tapering for at least several months, to give your nervous system a chance to recover and stabilize.  If I were you, I would wait until these symptoms subside, and then give myself a few more weeks after that before beginning a tapering program.  Don't make any other changes to your other psychoactive drugs, such as the oxycodone and diazepam.   Make sure you don't miss any doses, and take your drugs at the same time each day.  

 

This link gives you the search results of threads of other members who have experienced pain in withdrawal.  This is a common symptom.  

 

Search results for pain

Edited October 4, 2022 by getofflex

[tunux]

16 hours ago, getofflex said:

Hello, and welcome to SA.  We are a volunteer-run community of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  I'm sorry to hear that your doctors have gotten you into this mess with a bridge from Zoloft to clomipramine.  Is you goal to get off of psychiatric meds?  That is what we do here. Now that you have reinstated your Zoloft, hopefully this will help you.  I will give you more advice at the end of this post.   

 

Can you please give us specific information in your signature about your drug history for all drugs and supplements you are on and have been on, especially for the past 18-24 months?  It would be especially helpful to have the details of your drugs in a concise vertical list (no symptoms), only specific dates, include the day (as best you can say for example early March if you don't recall the day), drug names, and dosages of each medication decrease or increase.  Use this example:

 

Feb 15 2020 - June 30 2020 - 25mg citalopram, 2mg xanax

July 1 2020 - Sept 7 2020 - 50 mg citalopram, 4 mg xanax

Etcetera

 

Please read the link below for instructions.  This will allow us to give you the best guidance.  

 

How to List Drug History in Signature

 

Here is some important information about how these drugs actually work.  This explains why we get symptoms from going off of these medications, and why it's so important to taper slowly and carefully, and be very cautious about changing our doses: 

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

 

This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: 

 

Video on Recovery from Psych Drugs

 

Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

 

Tapering is best done extremely slowly, and we generally taper by 10% of the current dose no more than once every 4 weeks, so that the reduction becomes exponentially smaller.  The other alternative, which you alluded to, is micro-tapering.  I'll give links to information about both.  

 

 Why Taper by 10% of my Dosage  

 

Brass Monkey Slide Method of Micro Tapering

 

Tips for Tapering Zoloft

 

Here is a link with checklists of common WD symptoms: 

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen Withdrawal Symptom Checklists

 

 

Here are some techniques to cope with symptoms: 

 

Non Drug Ways to Cope with Withdrawal Symptoms

 

Stability is really important when we are tapering off psych meds.  Please read the link about stability:

 

Keep It Simple, Slow, and Stable

 

 

We don't suggest many supplements, but 2 that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. It is suggested to add one at a time, and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

Magnesium

Omega 3 Fish Oil

 

Instead of reinstating to a full dose of Zoloft, I would suggest only reinstating to a small dose.  We need more information on your drug history before we can suggest a reinstatement dose.  Here is some information about reinstatement: 

 

About Reinstating and Stabilizing to Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms

 

Now here is my advice:  since you have attempted a rapid switch from Zoloft to clomipramine, and this caused you the symptoms of cramping and pain on one side of your body, this shows that your nervous system has likely become destabilized, and needs some time to recover.  This was probably caused by abruptly stopping the Zoloft, and/or an adverse reaction to the clomipramine.  Therefore, I would not attempt any tapering for at least several months, to give your nervous system a chance to recover and stabilize.  If I were you, I would wait until these symptoms subside, and then give myself a few more weeks after that before beginning a tapering program.  Don't make any other changes to your other psychoactive drugs, such as the oxycodone and diazepam.   Make sure you don't miss any doses, and take your drugs at the same time each day.  

 

This link gives you the search results of threads of other members who have experienced pain in withdrawal.  This is a common symptom.  

 

Search results for pain

Hi, and thanks for your reaction. Im going to type out my med history in my sig anywhere this week, i need some time to remember those timelines etc.

 

There is another question i did not ask in my initial post.

 

Last friday i talked to my doctor, and told her i dont want the diazepam, tramadol and oxycodone anymore. They dont even work that well for this nerve pain ive got in my neck, shoulder arm and hand.

 

She told me i could try some gabapentin. I thought it was a good idea without knowing what gabapentin really was. I assumed trading off 3 pain killers for one other med would be a plus right?

 

I took the gabapentin friday night and after that on sat and sunday 3 times a day 300 mg per dose.

 

Monday i started to notice a diffrence in the nerve pain, it got milder!, but also got me thinking, what exactly is gabapentin?

 

I searched the internet and found out it can be as bad as with ssri's

 

I even found some horrible stories on this forum and i panicked. I guessed taken this drug for just 2 days must not be that long and stopped cold turkey. The reason for this has 2 sides: on one side i was panicking about what ive read about gabapentin, but i also started wondering what if it was not the gabapentin lowering the pain, tremors and cramps on my right side of my body, but it might be the zoloft i reinstated at 200 mgs last Thursday?

 

Because if it was the actual zoloft doing its job again it would be a shame to still be taking the gabapentin right?

 

So i stopped taking the gabapentin this monday and the following day, (tuesday) even had less pain, i was happy and felt like the zoloft was doing its thing after a approx 4 day reinstatement. All up intil last night and today, all the pain and tremors have came back and im back to square one. 

 

The question im asking myself right now, what do i do? Wait for zoloft to take effect again and hopefully take away all my symptoms?

 

Or start gabapentin again because it seems like it did reduce the pain tremendously, but with the risk of long side effects from it and also having to taper gabapentin in the future?

 

Otc painkillers have about zero effect on this nerve pain. And i really dont want the tramadol and or oxycodone anymore.

 

Or could it be that having started the clomipramine about 2 weeks ago which i took for a good week or so has caused this? I did stop it when i got at 75 mg per day, after having discussed it with my psychiatric doctor. He said that when youve only taken it for about a week and a half tapering is not needed.

 

Where do i start?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[getofflex]

9 hours ago, tunux said:

Last friday i talked to my doctor, and told her i dont want the diazepam, tramadol and oxycodone anymore. They dont even work that well for this nerve pain ive got in my neck, shoulder arm and hand.

 

How long have you been on it?  This is why I need your drug signature, because we need to know specifics of these drugs, their doses, how long you have been on them, etc.  You don't want to stop cold turkey if you've been on these for any length of time.  

 

9 hours ago, tunux said:

She told me i could try some gabapentin. I thought it was a good idea without knowing what gabapentin really was. I assumed trading off 3 pain killers for one other med would be a plus right?

Not necessarily.  All these drugs you are discussing are psychoactive drugs, and they affect your nervous system.  Stopping and starting all these drugs put you at risk of worsening your nervous system destabilization, and worsening your symptoms, or causing new symptoms.  

 

9 hours ago, tunux said:

Because if it was the actual zoloft doing its job again it would be a shame to still be taking the gabapentin right?

Again, you are making multiple drug changes ( restarting Zoloft, taking gapapentine), so we don't know what is helping your pain.  

 

9 hours ago, tunux said:

So i stopped taking the gabapentin this monday and the following day, (tuesday) even had less pain, i was happy and felt like the zoloft was doing its thing after a approx 4 day reinstatement. All up intil last night and today, all the pain and tremors have came back and im back to square one. 

 

There have been several drug stops and starts, so I don't know either.  

 

Is your aim to get off the psych meds, or is it to fine tune your drug regimen to remove your pain?  If it is the latter, you need to discuss these problems with your doctor.  We are a forum for tapering off of psychiatric drugs.  

 

 

[Altostrata]

12 hours ago, tunux said:

So i stopped taking the gabapentin this monday and the following day, (tuesday) even had less pain, i was happy and felt like the zoloft was doing its thing after a approx 4 day reinstatement. All up intil last night and today, all the pain and tremors have came back and im back to square one. 

 

If you took gabapentin again, you would find out whether it had been beneficial.

 

Your drug history sounds long and complicated, probably with many drug switches, which complicates your current situation. You may have experienced serial adverse drug reactions and withdrawal reactions, which is why you say sertraline no longer "works", whatever that means to you.

 

This is a peer support site for going off drugs. 200mg sertraline is quite high. We cannot tell you what drug would "work". If you decide you want to taper sertraline after you re-stabilize on it and a consistent drug schedule for some months, see Tips for tapering off sertraline (Zoloft), please let us know.