Brian123: wow! I've found you

[Brian123]

So my history is that I started taking anti-depressants for anxiety and mild to moderate depression. Ive always suffered with social anxiety, in particular eating in front of people that I perceived to be 'important' people but they were strangers. If I knew I was going into a situation where I would be expected to eat in front of strangers then I always had an extra pill prescribed by my GP. Propranolol was the drug of choice to be used as a PRN drug on top of my SSRI tablet. I used to take venlafaxine but this was changed a few year ago to Fluoxotene and has recently been added to by my GP and so I now take Mirtazapine in the evening.

So as you can see I am not looking to withdraw at the moment but having watched the Panorama programme which has given me food-for-thought. I will come here again when the time is right to look at withdrawal! I will also use this and other sites to gather support and information.... 

 

Oh and I am 57. Been on anti depressants for over 30 years and I live in Wiltshire, UK

[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 so very glad you found our website before you started your taper.  If you taper according to our protocol, you can avoid or minimize your withdrawal symptoms.  Most people come here after tapering too fast, or other drug mistakes, and are in significant withdrawal.  I will go ahead and give you some links and information to get you started on understanding how these drugs change our brains, and how to taper properly. When you are ready to taper, you can give us your drug history as explained below. 

 

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. Here is an example: 

 

March 12, ’22: Lexapro 5 mg, Xanax 0.5 mg, Trazodone 50 mg

March 29, ’22: Lexapro 4 mg, Xanax 0.5 mg, Trazodone 50 mg

April 17, ’22:  Lexapro 3.8 mg, Xanax 0.5 mg, Trazodone 50 mg

May 19, ’22:  Lexapro 3.8 mg, Xanax 0.5 mg, Trazodone 25 mg

 

 

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

 

How to List Your Drug History in Your 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

 

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.  This is especially important in your case, since you've been on the AD's for over 30 years.  

 

 Why Taper by 10% of my Dosage  

 

This link will help you understand which drug to taper off of first. 

 

Taking Multiple Psych Drugs - Which to Taper First

 

 

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

 

Please let us know when you are ready to taper, and we will be happy to help you out.