TakingtheLeap: introductions/ starting my Prozac taper

[TakingtheLeap]

Hi everyone!!!

I am a 25f non-binary individual who has been on psychiatric medications for more than half of my life. It all started with having a Clinical Psychologist mother, who with the best intentions took me to a psychiatrist for the first time at around 10 years old, following a traumatic experience, where I was diagnosed with anxiety and OCD and first placed on Seroquel. I don't remember much of my drug experience in childhood, but had a tough time adjusting to life and becoming a well-adjusted human with PTSD and anxiety. At some point I stopped taking the medication and don't remember having specific withdrawal symptoms. When I was 14 I had another traumatic event happen to me regarding psychoactive drugs (ironic) and alcohol, which led me into a very deep depression and battle with substance abuse for the next ~3 years. I don't have great memory of this time but I know that I was on antidepressants, I believe citalopram or escitalopram and some sort of other mood stabilizer for impulsivity, Effexor at one time, as well as Strattera for attentional difficulties. I was a very bright but quite troubled adolescent and youth, and I got sober at around age 17, then developed an eating disorder and still struggled with general anxiety. Sometime during this time I went off of all my medications, and don't have specific memories of what happened this time, either. Fast forward two years I was pre-med in undergrad and had been put back on antidepressants (not sure which ones), but decided to quit them cold turkey. During this time I experienced some intense withdrawal effects such as my very first panic attacks, depersonalization/derealization, brain zaps, serious emotional dysregulation, uncontrollable crying spells, etc. At this time, my doctor put me on Prozac and that seemed to level me out.

I graduated college with highest honors and landed with a BS in Psychology (Research is MEsearch, anyone?). Now, about 3 years have passed since my graduation, and I've held a number of different jobs in my field (crisis advocate, group home manager), started a Master's in Counseling but quit because I wasn't sure and didn't feel ready, became a stripper for a year, traveled solo through SE Asia, got a job as a preschool teacher and now have decided that I'm ready to pursue my Master's in Counseling again, hopefully starting Fall 2025. I've been emotionally stable for the past few years and realized that I don't know who I am without these medications. I've struggled with sexual side effects, emotional numbing, chronic fatigue, and probably many other side effects I haven't even put together yet. I am seeing a psychotherapist consistently, consulted with a physician, have a developed support system, and I'm ready to meet myself again and learn how to be there for myself fully, for the first time. 

I'm currently taking 20mg of Prozac and have been for about 7 days, I previously took 30mg for the last 5ish years. 

I am thrilled and terrified to meet myself without these medications. I know that it will be something like a second puberty (lol) learning how to be a human being again without the drugs. I am inspired by my current role as a preschool teacher and hopeful that since I can help these little humans learn how to be and derive so much joy from the process, I can take a step back and teach myself how to be again, too. I'm really happy to have found this community and I look forward to learning a lot from reading the forums and hopefully receive some support and advice on my journey, too.

 

Thank you for reading ❤️

[Catwoman73]

Hi @TakingtheLeap, and welcome to SA!  We are a community of volunteers providing peer support in the tapering of psychiatric medications, and their associated withdrawal syndromes. 

 

Thank you for completing your drug signature.  I'm so terribly sorry for all you've been through at such a young age!

I, too, have a degree in psychology, and have been contemplating returning to school for a Masters in Counselling!  I lost my previous career due to long covid, so we'll see what the future holds!  I'm so happy to hear you are feeling motivated, and looking forward to your future!

 

It looks like you have gone from 30mg to 20mg of your prozac.  How did you get there?  Did you just make the drop of 10mg, or did you taper slowly?  Here at SA, we recommend tapering by no more than 10% of your current dose, no more often than every four weeks.  This is known as hyperbolic tapering, and it follows the receptor occupancy curves relative to dosing, allowing you to taper with a much lower risk of serious withdrawal effects.  Tapering this way is especially important when you have such a lengthy history with psychiatric medications- withdrawal is well known to get worse with each subsequent taper.  Read more here about how these medications affect your brain, and why tapering this way is important.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 What is happening in your brain?

 

Since you have had withdrawal effects in the past, you can most certainly expect to have them again with this taper.  Even with hyperbolic tapering, it is impossible to avoid some withdrawal- the goal is to just make it more manageable.  We do not recommend using other psychiatric drugs to manage withdrawal symptoms from psychiatric drugs.  This is problematic for two reasons- first, effects are not predictable, and you can get significantly worse by adding another drug to the cocktail.  Second, it creates a situation where you will have to taper yet another drug down the road, thereby prolonging your tapering/withdrawal journey.  You are already seeing this in action, having started prozac to deal with your last withdrawal experience.  

 

As you proceed through your taper, you will have times where you feel ok, and times where you don't.  It' is normal to cycle through symptoms like this- we call this the windows and waves pattern of stabilization.  It is a good idea to start a symptom journal as you start your taper.  Keep track of your dosages, symptoms, activities, foods and supplements to help you identify your windows and waves, and possibly help you identify things that trigger waves for you.  Here is a list of typical withdrawal symptoms that you can use as a reference.

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

Like I said, we strongly advise against using other psych meds to deal with the effects of withdrawal.  It is a really good idea to start practicing non-drug coping mechanisms now, for if/when withdrawal symptoms do appear.  We have many threads on different ways of coping- I'll link a few below.  You may find some of your own, too.  I find swimming, or just being in water to be therapeutic!

 

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

 Easing your way into meditation for a stressed-out nervous system

Music for self-care: calms hyperalertness, anxiety, aids relaxation and sleep

Ways to cope with daily anxiety

"Change the channel" - dealing with cognitive symptoms

Dealing With Emotional Spirals 

Shame, guilt, regret, and self-criticism

 

In order to keep your nervous system as stable as possible during tapering, it is a good idea to avoid alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and recreational drugs- any neurologically active substance- while tapering.  Eat a healthy, whole foods diet, stay adequately hydrated, get adequate rest/sleep, and avoid stress as much as possible.  We only recommend two supplements here at SA- magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids.  Do be mindful though- it is very common to become hypersensitive to medications, supplements, and even foods while tapering, so if you choose to try anything, start with an extremely low dose to see how you fare, and titrate dosages up slowly.  I'm a great example of this hypersensitivity- magnesium has a paradoxical effect on me- I get brain zaps and insomnia when I take it.  Go carefully with anything you take!

 

If you did drop suddenly to the 20mg of prozac, I would recommend you hold here for a couple of months, just to ensure you are fully stable before proceeding with your next drop.  Following a hyperbolic path, your next few drops would be to 18mg, 16.2mg, 14.6mg.  There are a variety of ways to get these oddball dosages, and we are happy to help you with that. 

 

Finally- congratulations on making the decision to taper, and to see who you will be on the other side!  It's kind of exciting, isn't it?

 

This is your introduction topic- each member gets ONE intro topic.  Please post questions, concerns, updates on this thread, but don't hesitate to explore the rest of the forum.  Engaging with other members is a great way to garner support along your journey, and it feels great to lend a word of support to others having similar struggles.  After all, this journey is much easier when you have a village in your corner.  ❤️

[TakingtheLeap]

@Catwoman73, thank you so much for your thoughtful and thorough response!

 

I'm really sorry to hear that you lost your career to long covid, but how exciting that we have similar aspirations. I hope the future brings you all that you hope for.

 

Unfortunately, I did make that drop all at once per the advice of my new doctor (just got new health insurance/ new job). It's been about 8-9 days now since the decrease and I'm feeling pretty stable. The first several days were lined up with my period and I was feeling absolutely awful; extreme fatigue, irritability, negative thought loops, a lot of self-consciousness. The past couple of days have been much better and now the only withdrawal-type symptom I have noticed is occasional vertigo/ room swaying. 

 

I would love some help/suggestions for how to achieve those oddball dosages, I'm not sure I'll even be able to get my medication in tablet form covered by insurance. Currently I have about 75 x 20mg caplets and 30 x 10mg caplets. 

 

Again, thank you so much for your time and for welcoming me! I look forward to engaging with the community.

 

[Catwoman73]

12 hours ago, TakingtheLeap said:

 

I'm really sorry to hear that you lost your career to long covid, but how exciting that we have similar aspirations. I hope the future brings you all that you hope for.

 

 

Thanks... no big deal lol.  I was absolutely miserable in that career for 25 years.  Long covid has just forced me to consider next steps.  

 

12 hours ago, TakingtheLeap said:

 

Unfortunately, I did make that drop all at once per the advice of my new doctor (just got new health insurance/ new job). It's been about 8-9 days now since the decrease and I'm feeling pretty stable. The first several days were lined up with my period and I was feeling absolutely awful; extreme fatigue, irritability, negative thought loops, a lot of self-consciousness. The past couple of days have been much better and now the only withdrawal-type symptom I have noticed is occasional vertigo/ room swaying. 

 

 

It's great that you're feeling ok in spite of the big drop.  At high doses, big drops don't make very much difference in the receptor occupancy in the brain, so many of us tolerate larger drops at first.  But when you get down to the smaller doses, even a small drop means a massive drop in receptor occupancy, so hyperbolic tapering becomes much more critical as you proceed. 

 

12 hours ago, TakingtheLeap said:

 

I would love some help/suggestions for how to achieve those oddball dosages, I'm not sure I'll even be able to get my medication in tablet form covered by insurance. Currently I have about 75 x 20mg caplets and 30 x 10mg caplets. 

 

 

Here is a link to our thread on tips for tapering Prozac.  Basically, since you have caplets available to you, the best way to approach it would be to dissolve the contents of the caplets into a volume of water to create a suspension.  Since you are feeling well now, it might be a good time to start the transition to liquid- some people don't tolerate this transition very well, so you'll want to transition to liquid while holding your dose where it is, so your body can adjust to the different absorption that comes with taking a liquid.  

 

While on 20mg, I would dissolve the full contents of one capsule in 20mL of water.  This creates a 1mg/mL solution.  You can buy syringes on amazon to make the measurements accurate.  I have a variety of sizes of syringes, from 1mL up to 10mL to allow for accurate measurement.  When you dissolve the contents of the capsule in water, there will still be some stuff that doesn't dissolve fully- that's just the filler in the capsule.  While transitioning, you'll take the full 20mL.  I would hold with that for at least a week- longer if you struggle with the switch.  When ready, you'll make your first drop to 18mg, or 18mL of the solution.  Discard the remaining 2mL.  Hold at each dosage for at least 4 weeks, and keep that symptom journal updated!

 

Tips for Tapering Off Prozac/Fluoxetine

 

Don't hesitate to ask questions and give us updates as you proceed!  We're here to help!