Lucia Posted July 20, 2023 Posted July 20, 2023 Hi! My name's Lucia, I'm 25yo, I found this website searching through withdrawal information of fluoxetine in Mad in America, I wanted to find some first hand experience. I recently ended tapering Fluoxetine (2 weeks or so) and so till these last few days I hadn't notice any withdrawal symptoms. I thought I did everything as I was supposed to, but just found about hyperbolic tapering (which I didn't) and how fluoxetine has a pretty delayed onset of withdrawal. Right now I'm a bit scared of what may happen, I read all the info in the tapering forum and watched the videos about the SERT occupancy and the safest tapering ways... I just wish i had seen it all sooner, because I didn't start all this without any research, turns out the discontinuation protocols are just not updated as they should... At the moment the more significant symptoms I've experienced have been gastroenteritis and flu like (nausea, cramps, diarrhea, sweats), fatigue, and a HUGE emotional liability Sertraline ?mg October 2015- August 2017 (changed by psychiatrist after suicide attempt to fluoxetine). Diazepam, bromazepam, lorazepam and flurazepam taken intermittently from 2015 to 2021. Valproic Acid 500mg 2xday September 2017 - start of 2019. Topiramate 25mg prescribed August 2021 as migraine prophylactic medication. Others: contraceptive pills, vitamin C and N-Acetyl Cysteine Fluoxetine 20mg August 2017- July 2023. Current dose: 0mg First taper: 10mg by psychiatrists indications on February 2020 (awful withdrawal symptoms, high suicidality by October 2020) Second taper 2023: -circa 7,5mg mid June -5mg end June -2,5mg start July -0mg mid July
Moderator Emeritus Onmyway Posted July 21, 2023 Moderator Emeritus Posted July 21, 2023 Hi @Lucia, your second taper - did you start to taper from 7.5 mg or from 10 mg? You can reinstate at 5mg and see how that feels. You are still in the window that will allow you to do that and can get you to normal possibly. Why don't you try 5mg and see if you feel better. If you immediately feel worse you can stop it. OMW "Nothing so small as a moment is insurmountable, and moments are all that we have. You have survived every trial and tribulation that life has thrown at you up until this very instant. When future troubles come—and they will come—a version of you will be born into that moment that can conquer them, too." - Kevin Koenig I am not a doctor and this should not be considered medical advice. You can use the information and recommendations provided in whatever way you want and all decisions on your treatment are yours. In the next few weeks I do not have a lot of capacity to respond to questions. If you need a quick answer pls tag or ask other moderators who may want to be tagged. Aug 2000 - July 2003 (ct, 4-6 wk wd) , citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn, wellbutrin for a few months, trazodone prn Dec 2004 - July 2018 citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn (rarely used) Aug 2018 - citalopram 40 mg (self titrated up) September 2018 - January 2019 tapered citalopram - 40/30/20/10/5 no issues until a week after reaching 0 Feb 2019 0.25 xanax - 0.5/day (3 weeks) over to klonopin 0.25 once a day to manage severe wd March 6, reinstated citalopram 2.5 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 mg for sleep 2-3 times a week Apr 1st citalopram 2.0 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 once a week (off by 4/14/19- no tapering) citalopram (liquid) 4/14/19 -1.8 mg, 5/8/19 - 1.6 mg, 7/27/19 -1.5 mg, 8/15/19 - 1.35, 2/21/21 - 1.1 (smaller drops in between), 6/20/21 - 1.03 mg, 8/7/21- 1.025, 8/11/21 - 1.02, 8/15/21 - 1.015, 9/3/21 - 0.925 (fingers crossed!), 10/8/21 - 0.9, 10/18/21 - 0.875, 12/31/21 - 0.85, 1/7/22 - 0.825, 1/14/22 - 0.8, 1/22/22 - 0.785, 8/18/22 - 0.59, 12/15/2022 - 0.48, 2/15/22 - 0.43, 25/07/23 - 0.25 (mistake), 6/08/23 - 0.33mg Supplements: magnesium citrate and bi-glycinate
Lucia Posted July 21, 2023 Author Posted July 21, 2023 Hi @Onmyway thanks for answering! I started from 10mg I don't feel comfortable going back to 5mg, it may be nothing but it feels like such a step back... Also, I don't have access to liquid fluoxetine or any other way of controlling the dosis other than just splitting the tablets myself, so I'm not confident I would do the recommended taper correctly. The thing is, these symptoms are tolerable, I just warned my significant others about what I may be experiencing so they can support me, but I'm scared they're gonna get worse. Do you think they are? Im not sure if I'm just overreacting Thanks a lot Sertraline ?mg October 2015- August 2017 (changed by psychiatrist after suicide attempt to fluoxetine). Diazepam, bromazepam, lorazepam and flurazepam taken intermittently from 2015 to 2021. Valproic Acid 500mg 2xday September 2017 - start of 2019. Topiramate 25mg prescribed August 2021 as migraine prophylactic medication. Others: contraceptive pills, vitamin C and N-Acetyl Cysteine Fluoxetine 20mg August 2017- July 2023. Current dose: 0mg First taper: 10mg by psychiatrists indications on February 2020 (awful withdrawal symptoms, high suicidality by October 2020) Second taper 2023: -circa 7,5mg mid June -5mg end June -2,5mg start July -0mg mid July
Moderator Emeritus Onmyway Posted July 21, 2023 Moderator Emeritus Posted July 21, 2023 Hi @Lucia no one knows if they will get worse or not. Likely they will get worse as you still have some fluoxetine in your system. It takes about 30 days to completely leave the system. Reinstatement has nothing to do with failure. You have a physical dependence and are taking care of yourself. There are many ways in which to get the right doses if you wanted to taper later, this post explains more. It is up to you what you do but I strongly advise you to reinstate especially because you have had bad withdrawal from this before and have been on other psychoactive drugs which make withdrawal harder. "Nothing so small as a moment is insurmountable, and moments are all that we have. You have survived every trial and tribulation that life has thrown at you up until this very instant. When future troubles come—and they will come—a version of you will be born into that moment that can conquer them, too." - Kevin Koenig I am not a doctor and this should not be considered medical advice. You can use the information and recommendations provided in whatever way you want and all decisions on your treatment are yours. In the next few weeks I do not have a lot of capacity to respond to questions. If you need a quick answer pls tag or ask other moderators who may want to be tagged. Aug 2000 - July 2003 (ct, 4-6 wk wd) , citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn, wellbutrin for a few months, trazodone prn Dec 2004 - July 2018 citalopram 20 mg, xanax prn (rarely used) Aug 2018 - citalopram 40 mg (self titrated up) September 2018 - January 2019 tapered citalopram - 40/30/20/10/5 no issues until a week after reaching 0 Feb 2019 0.25 xanax - 0.5/day (3 weeks) over to klonopin 0.25 once a day to manage severe wd March 6, reinstated citalopram 2.5 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 mg for sleep 2-3 times a week Apr 1st citalopram 2.0 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 once a week (off by 4/14/19- no tapering) citalopram (liquid) 4/14/19 -1.8 mg, 5/8/19 - 1.6 mg, 7/27/19 -1.5 mg, 8/15/19 - 1.35, 2/21/21 - 1.1 (smaller drops in between), 6/20/21 - 1.03 mg, 8/7/21- 1.025, 8/11/21 - 1.02, 8/15/21 - 1.015, 9/3/21 - 0.925 (fingers crossed!), 10/8/21 - 0.9, 10/18/21 - 0.875, 12/31/21 - 0.85, 1/7/22 - 0.825, 1/14/22 - 0.8, 1/22/22 - 0.785, 8/18/22 - 0.59, 12/15/2022 - 0.48, 2/15/22 - 0.43, 25/07/23 - 0.25 (mistake), 6/08/23 - 0.33mg Supplements: magnesium citrate and bi-glycinate
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