Thelonebee: 15 mg Prozac tapering

[Thelonebee]

As the title says, I’ve been taking 15mg of Prozac. I am prescribed two 10mg pills per day, and I break one in half. I’ve tried 5mg reduction per month, but I had really bad withdrawal symptoms. I’ve been on Prozac since the middle of 2020, but with fluctuations in how much I take (20-> 15) and when, most recently messing with the time I take with the medicine. Please give me some advice of how to taper this. I do not have access to scales or liquid Prozac, unless you can dissolve it in water.

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Thelonebee.  We're a site for helping members taper off psychiatric drugs and deal with withdrawal.

 

To give members the best information, we ask them to summarize their medication history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly.  A list format is best.

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

We recommend tapering by no more than 10% of your current dose every four weeks.  This link explains the 10% taper:

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Your taper of 5mg per month was a 33% reduction, which explains why you suffered bad withdrawal symptoms.

 

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

The following link is specifically about tapering Prozac, including how to get the nonstandard doses you'll need for your 10% taper, including how to make your own liquid Prozac.  

Tips for tapering off fluoxetine (Prozac)

 

You mentioned withdrawal.  How are you feeling now?  It's best to be in a stable state before beginning a taper.

 

We strongly advise taking the same dose every day at the same time.  Fluctuating your dose makes the amount of the drug in your blood stream go up and down, battering the nervous system and making tapering more difficult and withdrawal worse.  Your system craves stability, and this is furthered by taking the same dose at the same time every day.  Never try to taper by skipping doses; this is very hard on your nervous system and is a terrible way to taper.

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium (glycinate is a good form) and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your introduction topic -- the place for you to ask questions, record symptoms, share your progress, and connect with other members of the SA community.  I hope you’ll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation.  I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but I am glad that you found us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[littlebird]

Hello and welcome! Just from my personal experience, that sounds like a fast taper of 25% down in a month. Been there, and that can be a steep drop. Hope you're feeling ok!

 

I was stubborn at first about thinking I didn't need a scale, but when I got one my days became a lot steadier. I thought I was doing a decent job of eyeballing things, but the scale really changed the game for me.

 

Welcome to SA! It's a helpful community. 

[Thelonebee]

It sounds like making a liquid solution is my best option. 10% of 15mg would be 13.5 mg, and I would take that for a month. I would dissolve my 10mg tablet and my 5mg tablet, in 15ml of water. And then with the syringe, I would draw out 13.5ml of the solution. Is this correct?

[Thelonebee]

It sounds like making a liquid solution is my best option for tapering. 10% of 15mg would be 13.5 mg, and I would take that for a month. I would dissolve my 10mg tablet and my 5mg tablet, in 15ml of water. And then with the syringe, I would draw out 13.5ml of the solution. Is this right?

[Gridley]

20 hours ago, Thelonebee said:

t sounds like making a liquid solution is my best option. 10% of 15mg would be 13.5 mg, and I would take that for a month. I would dissolve my 10mg tablet and my 5mg tablet, in 15ml of water. And then with the syringe, I would draw out 13.5ml of the solution. Is this correct?

I've brought your question to the attention of the rest of the staff.

 

This is where you should post all your questions.  Please don't start any additional Introduction topics for yourself--only one Introduction topic per member.

[Altostrata]

Hello, @Thelonebee

On 2/9/2023 at 7:22 AM, Thelonebee said:

It sounds like making a liquid solution is my best option. 10% of 15mg would be 13.5 mg, and I would take that for a month. I would dissolve my 10mg tablet and my 5mg tablet, in 15ml of water. And then with the syringe, I would draw out 13.5ml of the solution. Is this correct?

 

If I were you, I'd combine a tablet and liquid. I'd take 10mg in tablet form, use the 5mg to make a liquid, and taper from that with a small oral syringe. You'd calculate the 10% reduction on your daily dose, currently 15mg. If you intend to take 13.5mg per day, you'd add a 3.5mg liquid dose to your 10mg tablet. 

 

If that goes well, your next reduction would be 10% of 13.5mg, a reduction of 1.35mg to a dose of 12.24mg (round to 12.25mg for convenience). You'd add a 2.25mg liquid dose to your 10mg tablet. 

 

And so forth. When you have used up the liquid you can make from a 5mg tablet, then halve the 10mg tablet, take 5mg in tablet form, and use the 5mg to make a liquid, and taper from that.

 

When you get to the last 5mg, you'd make a liquid from the entire 5mg tablet and taper with only the liquid.

[Altostrata]

@Thelonebee see responses above. Please put your questions in this Introductions topic rather than starting new topics in the Introductions forum. Only one Introductions topic to a member.