57chevy: Antidepressant Withdarawal

[57chevy]

I am looking for advice on my 25 year journey with antidepressants. I went on Paroxetine 40 mg at around age 30. (57 years old now).

 

Around early 2020 the paroxetine appeared to stop working and I was in a very bad state for around a 2 years. These were prescribed by my doctor not a psychiatrist. They worked well for years but I was always tired and could sleep anytime I wanted but I didn’t mind because I had always had trouble sleeping. After going to my doctor about this he tried a few things that made me worse. I was in a dark hole with depression and anxiety and stomach issues so bad I’m not sure how I held my job.

 

I finally went to a psychiatrist who cross tapered me to Fluboxamine which didn’t seem to help. He gave me seroquel for sleep and added a small amount of Risperidone. The Risperidone seemed to help me stabilize enough that I could function but for the next year and a half I was still not feeling better. Still had anxiety and tremors and stomach issues. My psychiatrist is about an hour away and that made things difficult for me to see him more than 3 month intervals. He had also given me a script for Clonazepam to take as needed but I have heard horror stories and was afraid to take them very often even though they were the only thing to give me actual relief.

 

I had go so disgusted with the way I was feeling that I decided to try and do a long taper off of the Fluboxamine and the antipsychotics. I took 6 months doing a gradual taper and had very little discomfort after each slight taper. I started the taper in March 2024 and finished the taper at the end of August 2024. I went through a week of diarrhea and not sure it was even from the discontinuation.

 

After about 3 weeks of I felt so much better and had more drive and mental clarity and actual happiness. About a month later I started getting really hyper and agitated and had to take a benzo to calm down. I reinstated a very low dose of the Fluvoxamime for 3 days and completely went back to the way I was in 2020 when all this started. Curled up in my recliner feeling gloom and doom.

 

I hade to take the benzo again to snap out of that. I guess this is what would be called protracted withdrawal and the is nothing I can do to help except take a benzo. I can take 1 mg of the Benzo and  feel ok but with the withdrawal from the antidepressants I have to take a small dose of the Benzo daily to make it through.

 

I don’t think I will ever be able to get through this antidepressant withdrawal without the help of a low dose benzo daily. I am miserable on the SSRI and off of the SSRI. The only relief I get is from the low dose benzo to where I can function normally. Is it possible to take a low dose benzo until I can get through the protracted SSRI withdrawal or am I screwed. At my age I don’t mind taking the Clonazepam daily for at least some quality of life.

 

These SSRIs have just ruined me at this point and I am looking for any advice I can get. Maybe someone has went through a similar situation?

 

Thanks in advance for any help. Thank you!

Edited November 25, 2024 by Emonda
Name to title & added some spacing

[Emonda]

Welcome @57chevy

So the moderators can best help you, please complete your drug signature by following these instructions. Adding a signature ensures your drug history appears at the bottom of every post, making it more efficient for those trying to assist. This link should go directly to your own signature: Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

7 hours ago, 57chevy said:

I took 6 months doing a gradual taper and had very little discomfort after each slight taper. I started the taper in March 2024 and finished the taper at the end of August 2024.

 

This is rather fast for tapering. Why taper by 10% of my dosage? The reductions should get smaller and smaller each month, for example: 10mg, 9mg, 8.1mg, 7.3mg etc. This process involves a degree of trial and error, as there is no way of predicting how an individual will respond. Importantly, if you develop unpleasant side effects from tapering, halt the taper, give yourself time to settle, and once stable, taper more slowly and by smaller amounts moving forward. The experience of others suggests that the lower you go in dose, the slower you need to go with tapering.

 

 

7 hours ago, 57chevy said:

About a month later I started getting really hyper and agitated

This sounds about right in terms of timing with this AD for WD symptoms to kick in.

Those that taper too quickly often develop very unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. This Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) is a helpful summary of what many experience.

 

7 hours ago, 57chevy said:

He had also given me a script for Clonazepam to take as needed but I have heard horror stories and was afraid to take them very often even though they were the only thing to give me actual relief.

 

7 hours ago, 57chevy said:

Is it possible to take a low dose benzo until I can get through the protracted SSRI withdrawal or am I screwed.

Please be very specific in your signature about what you have taken: dose, frequency and duration. You can end up dependent on this very quickly.

 

With time and patience, you can and will bounce back from this. Recovery from ADs and tapering is not linear. There are good days and not-so-good days/weeks/months. This is referred to as the Windows and waves pattern of stabilization.

 

7 hours ago, 57chevy said:

Maybe someone has went through a similar situation?

 

There are plenty of success stories you can read on this site. I read them when I need a boost.

 

Once you add your signature, someone will be back to try and help.

We don't suggest many supplements, but two that many of us find helpful are magnesium and omega-3 fish oil. Here are the links for info about those. Add one at a time and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

Magnesium

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil)

Avoid alcohol.

Don't change the manufacturer of your AD.

Once again, welcome to S.A.

Emonda