Xray Posted November 16, 2022 Posted November 16, 2022 (edited) I know this is a site for getting off of psych drugs but sometimes people just need them for some severe short term depression so I hope that i wont be roasted for asking this question. I'm at a point in my life right now where I have severe anxiety and depression that is greatly affecting my life. My doc has recommended an antidepressant for a short amount time. She says 6 months to year. Of course I am also looking ahead to when it is time to come off the drug. I see a lot of people suffering trying to get off them and that makes me nervous but right now I need something. So my question is, of all of the ssri's snri's out there which one seems to be the easiest to taper and has the least likelihood of serious withdrawal symptoms? Doc is recommended Prozac but I would also like to get input from people who have actually used them and or have seen others experience in withdrawing. I havent made a signature because I am not on anything yet. Thank you for any replies Edited November 16, 2022 by Xray spelling, grammer
Administrator Altostrata Posted November 22, 2022 Administrator Posted November 22, 2022 Welcome, @Xray As this is a site for going off psychiatric drugs, we do not offer advice about initiating them for therapeutic purposes. Suggest you use search in the Introductions forum for people who have taken Prozac and ask them their opinions. Please let us know when you want to go off a psychiatric drug. This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted.
LetsGoBuffalo Posted November 23, 2022 Posted November 23, 2022 From someone who was strictly on Prozac, I will give you what I wish I would have done. If I could go back in time, I would have explored every form of therapy out there before conceding to antidepressants. The juice just isn’t worth the squeeze. The withdrawals are no joke. It masks the problem and doesn’t allow you to fully deal with it. CBT and other forms of therapy (along with time and experience under your belt) are an all natural way of training your emotions. Again, take that with a grain of salt. My .02 cents 3 2011 - 2013: Xanax 0.5 mg as needed 2011 - 2019: Prozac 30mg 2019 - 2020: Prozac 20mg 2020 - 2022: Prozac 10mg 08/22 - 11/26/22: 0mg Prozac 11/27/22 - Present: reinstated 2mg Prozac due to severe withdrawal symptoms
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted November 23, 2022 Moderator Emeritus Posted November 23, 2022 (edited) I agree with LetsGoBuffalo. I've been on an AD for more than 1/2 of my adult life and wish that I had received appropriate counselling then I might not have felt the need to go on an antidepressant. It's taken me 6 years to get off my antidepressant (I tapered following SA's protocol) and I have now been off successfully for 1 year. The following (which is my history in a nutshell) is what I submitted in a Petition to the Scottish Parliament when I was 60 and taking 13mg Pristiq (original dose was 100mg). I was 64 when I finally got off. That will give you an indication of how long it can take to get off even a low dose of a drug. One of the drugs that I tried originally was Prozac which gave me weak muscles and I had trouble walking. Generally it can take as little as 1 month for the brain to fully adapt to getting a psychiatric drug, however it might be a little bit longer with Prozac because of the long half life. Once your brain has fully adapted to the drug it will need to be tapered. If you haven't been on the drug for very long (ie 2-3 months) than it might be possible to do a fast taper. But after that time, and especially after being on a psychiatric drug for 6 months, then you would probably need to do the recommended taper rate (a hyperbolic taper, not linear) of no more than 10% of the current (not starting) dose with a hold of at least 4 weeks to allow the brain to adapt to not getting as much of the drug. On 2/26/2018 at 10:07 AM, ChessieCat said: My submission to the Scottish Parliament: _______________________________ PE1651/TBC Submission of 5 February 2018 I am a 60 year old female. Antidepressants for approximately 25 years. I now believe that if I had received appropriate counselling and support and been taught, and used, non drug coping techniques that I would never have needed to take a psychiatric drug. My background, year and age: 1976 – 19 – father died, broken engagement 1977 – 20 – mother remarried 1980 – 23 – married 1982 – 25 – 31 year old husband had mild heart attack 1985 – 28 – unexpected emergency caesarean 1987 – 30 – husband open heart surgery for 4 by passes, ended up having 7 1988 – 30 – caesarean after trial labour 1992? 35 – first antidepressant use 1994 – 37 – husband home permanently – Wegners Granulomatosis 1999 – 41 – husband’s death Originally prescribed Prozac which caused weak muscles. I ended up having trouble walking because it affected my hips like when you are pregnant and your ligaments loosen. Long term citalopram prior to current one. Late 2010 to late 2011 I had about 5 major life stressors. I had a major breakdown at my daughter’s wedding. From what I now know about ADs I think that the citalopram may have reached tolerance. During 2012 I decided to cold turkey citalopram. I felt great for a few months but then became very sick, basically bed ridden, for about 2 and ½ weeks with what felt like the flu with aches and pains but was not the flu. I had no appetite and had trouble eating and lost 8 kgs in weight. From what I now know I believe that this was withdrawal from the cold turkey of citalopram. Not long after this I was prescribed Pristiq 50mg. I was told by the psychologist that I would be on an antidepressant for life because it was like a diabetic needs insulin. I felt okay and had incredible focus but felt no pleasure in anything. The Pristiq dose was increased to 100mg. I started feeling more pleasure. My diastolic blood pressure rose after increasing to 100mg Pristiq and my regular doctor did not make the association between the two and increased my BP medication. Every now and then my heart would feel like it “flipped”, which other people may use the term miss a beat. Almost every day I would have a 2 hour sleep and still sleep through the night. It wasn’t until my dose got lower that I realised that I had been feeling constantly on edge and unsettled. 2015 I realised that I was sweating a lot in the middle of winter. I also had aches and pains. I began researching Pristiq side effects and realised that I was most likely suffering serotonin toxicity. October 2015 I reduced my dose from 100mg to 50mg Pristiq. I experienced extreme cog/brain fog for 2 weeks and everything I did required my undivided attention, even walking. I began researching antidepressant withdrawal. That was when I discovered the website survivingantidepressants.org. Several days later I was unable to type. Being a professional typist since the age of 16 I knew that something wasn’t right. It had been suggested by the website moderators that I increase my dose of Pristiq. When I couldn’t type I took extra Pristiq and after about 4 hours I was able to type again. Because I had a benchmark I knew that it was because I had reduced my Pristiq too quickly. In Australia Pristiq is only available in doses of 50mg and 100mg and the advice by Pfizer is that tablets should be taken whole. Thankfully other members on the Surviving Antidepressants forum had successfully cut Pristiq tablets and also had them compounded with slow release formula and experienced no problems. I was fortunate enough to locate a compounding pharmacy which has been compounding my Pristiq for me since November 2015. Surviving Antidepressants recommends tapering by no more than 10% of the previous dose every 4 weeks. I have been using this recommendation as a guideline for my taper. After I updosed I held at 75mg for 2 months. I then attempted a 10% reduction. By the 3rd day I had intense and painful ear pressure and a front of brain headache. I realised that I could not continue to tolerate the pain and pressure and I updosed by 2.5 mg to 70 mg. This made a big difference. Again within a few hours I felt relief as the pressure subsided and I only had a very mild headache which lessened over the next few days. After 3 more weeks I reduced by 2.5 mg to 67.5 mg and only suffered tolerable ear pressure for a few days. When I got to 50mg I held for 3 months. I did a 7 week hold at 20mg. As my dose got lower I started to feel more like my old self. I started to realise how numbed my emotions had been over the many years on an antidepressant. In May 2017 I bought a new car and felt some excitement (25mg Pristiq) but it wasn’t until September 2017 (19mg Pristiq) that I experienced real excitement and realised that back in May it had been a dulled excitement. As at the beginning of February 2018 I am down to 13mg. Even though I have been tapering carefully I have still been experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Thankfully they are mild but there are times when I am unable to do certain things. It is mainly cognitive things which are affected but I do experience physical withdrawal symptoms as well. Trouble concentrating and reading, mild anxiety, random thoughts, appetite changes, muscle cramps, occasional sleep issues. I appreciate the opportunity of relating my experience. _______________________________ Edited November 23, 2022 by ChessieCat * 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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