FluoxetineTaperer93's: journal of quitting 20mg Fluoxetine

[FluoxetineTaperer93]

Note: I had surgery recently so it is hard for me to type. So I am using voice to text on most of this.

 

30 year old male

 

Motivation:

I just do not like being dependent on the drug. Also, the wife and I are planning on trying to conceive soon and I don't think at least from my research that being an SSRI is helpful. I actually am curious if anyone knows whether or not there's any effect on the actual baby itself if the father's on medication I do see some research that suggests that it's harder to conceive but I'm not sure if it actually affects the outcome of the baby.

 

I have started my taper as of this week with the guidance of my psychiatrist to get off 20 milligrams of fluoxetine which I've been on for about six years and nine years total for fluoxetine.

 

The strategy she proposed was the following:

 

week 1: one day of 10 milligram tablet 6 days of 20 milligram capsule

Week 2: two days of 10 milligram tablets and five days of 20 milligram capsules

week 3: three days of 10 milligram tablets and four days of 20 milligram capsules

week 4: four days of 10 milligram tablets and three days of 20 milligram capsules

week 5: 5 days of 10 milligram tablets and two days of 20 milligram capsules

week 6: six days of 10 milligram tablets and one day of 20 milligram capsules

week 7: only seven 10 milligram tablets

 

I think this is better than most doctor's recommendations to be honest and for Prozac it might even work. However, the stories in here make me want to go ahead with the liquid solution and I think I was going to continue with 18 milligrams for a month and see how that goes because I had already started her regiment of week 1 and so that is very close to 10% anyway even if it's not as consistent. If anyone sees this I would appreciate any feedback on this approach.

 

Thanks!

Edited January 2 by FireflyFyte
details

[FireflyFyte]

Hello FluoxetineTaperer93,

 

Your psychiatrist's tapering plan is much faster, and includes varying doses, which we condone neither.

We recommend the harm reduction method of tapering which means tapering no more than 10% of your previous dose per month. More details can be found at Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Thankfully, it is fairly straight forward to create a liquid solution with fluoxetine to taper. You can read more about tapering fluoxetine at Tips for tapering off Prozac (fluoxetine). 

 

Thanks,

Firefly

[FluoxetineTaperer93]

So on December 28th 2023, I took the 10 milligram dose instead of the 20 milligram dose. I am not sure if it is placebo or an actual withdrawal( I actually think it's mostly just me overthinking it), but I do feel like I've been just slightly more on edge the past week. However, there are many things that could explain this such as the recent surgery the weather etcetera. But I am not entirely sure. I get my scale and my syringes today and I hope to start portioning out 18 milligram doses so that I can take daily doses of 18 milligrams. I will probably come off my doctor's schedule and try this for at least a few weeks and see how I feel.

[FireflyFyte]

19 minutes ago, FluoxetineTaperer93 said:

So on December 28th 2023, I took the 10 milligram dose instead of the 20 milligram dose. I am not sure if it is placebo or an actual withdrawal( I actually think it's mostly just me overthinking it), but I do feel like I've been just slightly more on edge the past week. However, there are many things that could explain this such as the recent surgery the weather etcetera. But I am not entirely sure.

 

Fluoxetine has a long half-life so it is possible that what you are experiencing is withdrawal but we cannot say for certain.

 

19 minutes ago, FluoxetineTaperer93 said:

I will probably come off my doctor's schedule and try this for at least a few weeks and see how I feel.

 

This is your decision but know that it goes directly against our harm reduction method of tapering.

[mstimc]

Hi FlouoxetineTaper

I'd take FireFkyFyte's advice about the taper.  I tried a more aggressive taper twice and had to reinstate before I found and used the 10% per month method.  I gradual and regular reduction will allow your nervous system to settle between decreases and make any coping strategies you adopt more effective. 

[FluoxetineTaperer93]

I think you guys misunderstood me, I plan on not doing my doctor's schedule and I plan on doing 18 milligrams for a few weeks.

[FireflyFyte]

18 minutes ago, FluoxetineTaperer93 said:

I think you guys misunderstood me, I plan on not doing my doctor's schedule and I plan on doing 18 milligrams for a few weeks.

 

Apologies, I did misunderstand. I would stay at 18mg for at least 4 weeks to see how you react before another drop.

[mstimc]

19 minutes ago, FluoxetineTaperer93 said:

I think you guys misunderstood me, I plan on not doing my doctor's schedule and I plan on doing 18 milligrams for a few weeks.

 

Just now, FireflyFyte said:

 

Apologies, I did misunderstand. I would stay at 18mg for at least 4 weeks to see how you react before another drop.

Yup, I misunderstood as well.

[FluoxetineTaperer93]

no problem! will try to keep this updated.

[FluoxetineTaperer93]

Hello everyone,

 

I just got my scale (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0885S1766?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1) which apparently measures up to the milligram level to my understanding. I'm trying to taper off so I'm trying to make my own liquid Prozac I have 20 milligram capsules and 10 milligram tablets. For now, I was thinking about just taking the contents from the capsules and mixing it with distilled water.

 

Will call me by surprise so just now as I'm making it was that it measured out to be about 22 milligrams instead of 20 milligrams. Is it common for there to be this big of a discrepancy? I have not tried more than one pill yet but I just wanted to ask here before I continued on. Attached is a picture of my setup and what I'm talking about. Of course, what I was probably going to do was to do 5 pills I suppose to get a better average and then dilute it and then use that number. Should I treat it as if they're 20 milligrams or the weight that I actually measure?

 

Thanks

[FluoxetineTaperer93]

In fact, they all seem to read 0.22x grams...

[ArthurDaly]

Hi @FluoxetineTaperer93,

 

I'd like to first echo what everyone has said above.

 

My own experience may serve as a warning.  I had just about recovered from Diazepam (ie benzo) withdrawal in May 2023.  I wanted to get off Fluoxetine, 20mg for similar reasons to you (33 yo male, hoping to conceive soon).  I began reducing by 2mg every 3 weeks, using the liquid Fluoxetine.  I managed okay for the first 2 or 3 reductions, but by mid-August symptoms hit me.  I did not have the knowledge I have now, so identified a change in the brand of the liquid I was using as the cause, so I stopped altogether  That was drastically wrong.  By doing reductions of 2mg 5 times, I reduced in sequence by 10%, 11.1%, 12.5%, 14.3% then 16.67%.  3 weeks is also likely to have been too regular for me.  I did not know any of this, and paid dearly, though this may in part be because my nervous system had not fully recovered from the Diazepam.  I have now reinstated Fluoxetine at 1mg, which will have to increase every 7-10 days by 0.5-1mg until I get relief.  

 

My key tip on the basis of the above is that with Fluoxetine, given its long half life, it is so difficult to tell which dose reduction is responsible for any withdrawal symptoms you feel coming on.  My symptoms got worse and more consistent at the beginning of December, nearly 3 months after cessation, so it may only have been then that I felt the full effects of cold turkeying at 10mg in early September.  That is why it is imperative to leave enough of a gap between dose reductions, so you can identify with certainty the dose reduction that caused any symptoms, which hopefully you will manage to avoid.

[FireflyFyte]

10 hours ago, FluoxetineTaperer93 said:

Will call me by surprise so just now as I'm making it was that it measured out to be about 22 milligrams instead of 20 milligrams. Is it common for there to be this big of a discrepancy?

 

20mg is the amount of active ingredient but does not take into account for fillers. 

[None79]

Hello, I plan to do the same method with

a scale to reduce Prozac, 10% per month, is it obligatory to dilute the tablet in water or can we file the tablet?  We deduct 2 mg from this since the tablet is 22 mg?  THANKS

[FluoxetineTaperer93]

9 hours ago, None79 said:

Hello, I plan to do the same method with

a scale to reduce Prozac, 10% per month, is it obligatory to dilute the tablet in water or can we file the tablet?  We deduct 2 mg from this since the tablet is 22 mg?  THANKS

I am not an expert on the matter, but I feel like this should be perfectly fine? My only concern would be whether or not the fluoxetine itself is evenly distributed within the tablet.

 As for my update, I feel like I've been slightly experiencing a bit of uneasiness or anxiety throughout the day. Nothing terrible but honestly just very minimal but I can't imagine it's due to going down to 18 milligrams for one day as well as the 10 milligrams 1 day last week, but probably more so just me worrying about the potential withdrawals or my future regarding this drug. I've usually noticed that when I think about my anxiety and whatnot that is when it says worse but when I am not thinking about it, I am perfectly normal.

 

Anyway, it is not enough for me to stop or anything like that at the moment so I will just keep doing the 18 milligrams because I doubt it's related to that anyway.

[FireflyFyte]

13 hours ago, FluoxetineTaperer93 said:

I am not an expert on the matter, but I feel like this should be perfectly fine? My only concern would be whether or not the fluoxetine itself is evenly distributed within the tablet.

 

It is evenly distributed so should not be an issue.

 

13 hours ago, FluoxetineTaperer93 said:

As for my update, I feel like I've been slightly experiencing a bit of uneasiness or anxiety throughout the day. Nothing terrible but honestly just very minimal but I can't imagine it's due to going down to 18 milligrams for one day as well as the 10 milligrams 1 day last week, but probably more so just me worrying about the potential withdrawals or my future regarding this drug. I've usually noticed that when I think about my anxiety and whatnot that is when it says worse but when I am not thinking about it, I am perfectly normal.

 

Given Fluoxetine's long half-life, the increased uneasiness and anxiety is most likely not withdrawal but we can't rule it out completely. Regardless, it is good to work on Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

[FluoxetineTaperer93]

coming back to update on this. 

 

I ended up doing about 10% per every 7-8 days or so for about 5 months, then I kinda just arbitrarily lowered it by like 10-20% once I got below 5mg, mostly for just easier math and what not. Today is the 1st day I have skipped a dose all together.

 

Honestly, I felt mostly the same after the first week up until now. Today I feel a little bit on edge despite getting <1mg every day., I do not know if I had more caffeine or something or if I am actually feeling something from not having *any* fluoxetine, but I will try to keep posted on this.

 

[FireflyFyte]

19 hours ago, FluoxetineTaperer93 said:

I ended up doing about 10% per every 7-8 days or so for about 5 months, then I kinda just arbitrarily lowered it by like 10-20% once I got below 5mg, mostly for just easier math and what not. Today is the 1st day I have skipped a dose all together.

 

What dose did you jump from?

 

Fluoxetine has a long half-life so it could take days, if not weeks, for withdrawal symptoms to arise so would treat gently for the next few months.

[FluoxetineTaperer93]

I came down from 20mg. I was on 10mg for about 2 years then 20mg for 6ish years.

 

all things considered, I think I'll be ok. I think I did have too much caffeine yesterday tbh, my wife was out of town and we usually finish the pot.. I forgot to cut the caffeine in half lol.

 

I still have a tad of general anxiety but really I'm glad I found this site and am glad I went the method that I did. Could I have gone slower? probably. But after the 1st week, it honestly was all the same to me.

 

[FluoxetineTaperer93]

feel like maybe I should update. Past few days or so I've been feeling "blue". not sure why. just kinda down in the dumps a bit, slightly anxious. Still at 0mg but figured worth mentioning here in my journal. I think my previous post on June 4 above was the 1st indicator, kinda went away, but back again a bit.