Lespaul19: On 75mg effexor xr for 12 years, bridged prozac need help

[lespaul19]

Alto I'm sorry for bugging again but could you elaborate on what you meant exactly in saying I couldn't go back to an edenic drug state with any predictability? I'm not sure if I interpreted it wrong but it's been bothering me a bit

[Altostrata]

Once you have an adverse reaction to these drugs, your nervous system will never respond to them in the same way it did before. If you had a good ride the first time around, all bets are off now.

 

Please try to focus on non-drug ways to deal with your problems. Psychiatric drugs may not help in the future.

[lespaul19]

Mood has been ok the last few days, a few moments of anxiety, and I got really stressed at work and had some internal vibrations, some night sweats and have been sleeping about 6 hours

[lespaul19]

felt depressed today, nausea sleepiness and a bit anxious, i ate a lot of chocolate the past 2 days though so that could be why

[Petunia]

Many of us here have to be careful with chocolate and other sweets, I'm not sure if its something in chocolate, or just the high sugar content.  Everyone is different, but you may find that you can tolerate a small amount. 

 

Its very good that your sleep is improving, that's a good sign and will help with recovery.

[lespaul19]

My sleep is a lot better, but I feel hopelessly depressed when I wake up now instead of anxiety lol, if it's not one thing it's another it seems! But depression during the cold rainy winter months is normal for me, I've had it since I can remember

[lespaul19]

Took a single fish oil last night and have had a pressure feeling in my head/headache and felt tired and sluggish since, could the fish oil cause this? Or just coincidence

[lespaul19]

I guess I won't be trying fish oil again for a while, could 1 single tablet increase my anxiety like this? It's been fairly constant since I took it, and when I get anxiety it brings on racing/intrusive thoughts,nausea,head pressure, and slight burning/tingly nerves which make my anxiety worse, I've been calming myself by telling myself it's just the anxiety, it's gonna pass, and taking deep breathes, but it's very hard not to focus in.

 

Has anyone else who reinstated/read about reinstating felt like anxiety was the last thing to go away?

[lespaul19]

I've also been thinking a lot about how I was pre medication trying to figure out where my anxiety stems from. I had bad separation anxiety from my mother, and a fear of storms/tornadoes, those got better once I started meds at 12-13ish. I can remember as far back as 5 years old feeling anxious about things, I vividly remember my dad getting frustrated with me about always saying "what if". I remember feeling sick when my anxiety got bad back then too, the same sick feeling I feel now but not as intense I guess.

[lespaul19]

Woke up with rls, knees felt sore and my feet had a weird tickle sensation in them and if I didn't move them on my own a bit they would twitch, I've had this sensation 3-4 times in the last few years

[lespaul19]

Can't shake this nausea, tired, depressed feeling, all I want to do is sleep

[lespaul19]

Even among people suffering the most severe antidepressant withdrawal syndrome, repopulation of serotonin receptors probably occurs long before symptoms disappear. However, while the serotonin system is repairing itself, an imbalance occurs in the autonomic nervous system. The locus coeruleus "fight or flight" center becomes disinhibited and the glutamatergic system becomes more active than normal. This is called disinhibition of the alerting system, and it generates symptoms that are awful: panic, anxiety, sleeplessness, and dreadful imagery among them.
Once disinhibition of the alerting system takes hold, it becomes self-perpetuating. The whole question of neurotransmitter imbalance -- a chimera of psychiatry anyway -- becomes moot. No manipulation of serotonin, norepinephrine, or dopamine is going to help. In fact, it usually makes the condition worse.


alto, reading this from an article you wrote kind of scared me, does this apply to me?

[Altostrata]

It applies to everyone with prolonged withdrawal syndrome. It's the neurological dysregulation we've been talking about.

 

With a little help, the nervous system does repair itself.

[lespaul19]

Just wanting to know if there's any drug options for me if this doesn't work.

I'm so scared I have all the ingredients for a horrible long lasting maybe permanent withdrawl, started at a young age, hypersensitive to the drugs, cold turkey withdrawal, adverse effects when reinstating, Jesus just typing it out scares me. Insomnia is back now. Feel nauseas and too sick to do anything.

[mammaP]

Hi Lespaul, I feel for you going through this. I think anxiety is making things worse for you.

but you know that already! 

Your nervous system will get better in time, are you still taking 37.5 of Effexor? Did you 

feel any relief at all from reinstating?  Please read the topics on coping with anxiety with natural

means. 

If you can learn and practise some of the techniques you should be able to avoid drugs. I have learned a 

lot since joining here and manage situations much better now. 'Change the channel'  is brilliant and really

can help. Fish oil helps me and so do magnesium baths but if I take it orally it upsets my stomach. 

[lespaul19]

Thanks mammap, I felt like crap the first week of reinstating, then felt good, almost normal for around 2 weeks with liveable symptoms, then I caught a nasty cold around 1 month after reinstating and was sick for 10 days, since then it's been functionable days and hard days, with this last week being all hard days, feeling anxiety, nausea, some insomnia, head pressure, dizzy with some other random symptoms that come and go... Feeling too "sick" to do anything

[lespaul19]

i want to start taking probiotics but im not sure which i should take, could anyone link me to some, or give me a name brand or type i should get also what dose i should start with?

[lespaul19]

Also for the first time since this started I can't hear any tinnitus (my tinnitus was never too bad, I had to plug my ears to see if it was there or noticed it while trying to sleep in silence) and I slept 8-9 hours last night, I was in bed for 12 but I woke up a few times and knew I was half awake so I'm gonna guess I got around 8 hours of decent sleep albeit with some very mild sweats. I'm not really anxious or anything today but my mood seems very flat, and I'm lacking motivation.

[Altostrata]

Please use search or Google on this site to find info about probiotics.

[lespaul19]

I just weighed myself and I'm down to 140 pounds, I'm 6'1 with a small bone structure. I haven't weighed myself in years but I'd guess I've lost 15-20 pounds in the last 2 months. I have made a lot of diet changes in that time too like cutting out any sugary drinks which I used to drink a lot of, no fast food. I only drink water and coconut milk now. Is there any way for me to put on some weight during this? I don't want to become sickly skinny.

[btdt]

Here's hoping for the best

Could you tell me you experience talking paxil?  I only ask because I found both paxil and prozac were similar to me in how my body and brain responded to them was thinking maybe the same is true of you. 

[lespaul19]

i gained a lot of weight, i dont really remember much else, on the prozac for a week i never had any problems, just the normal start up side effects of an ssri

[btdt]

thanks

[lespaul19]

Last two weeks have been more of the same, some moments of bad anxiety and almost constant mild anxiety that I can manage for the most part. Some anhedonia, nausea, fatigue, off balance feeling, some cognitive problems, trouble concentrating etc sprinkled in

[btdt]

.It sounds like it is not a party but way better than it could be sounds not bad to me but I did not taper I am sure some taper experts will be along to chat with you peace to you.  Since I did not taper I leave this to those who did as they know what they are talking about having lived it. 

[lespaul19]

Not sure when I should start tapering either, I'm somewhat functional but I don't really feel stable.

[Petunia]

I would give it a bit more time.  Some people know they are ready to cut because they have been consistently symptom free for several weeks.  Other people know its time because their symptoms have reduced to a tolerable level and are remaining consistently the way they are, no changes in intensity.

 

Stable means just that...... no wobbling around of symptoms.  Ideally  you would be stable with no symptoms, but some people never seem to reach that point during a taper no matter how long they hold.

 

Here is a discussion about it with other opinions, it may help you to reach a decision:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/3949-what-does-stabilizing-mean/page-2?hl=stabilization

[lespaul19]

Thanks for the link petu, I will hold for a while longer before deciding what to do

[lespaul19]

Lately symptoms like tinnitus and head pressure seem to get worse at around 6-10am, and they're the least noticeable from 5pm-5am ish, I've been taking my effexor at 5pm

[btdt]

I can't hep much in the tapering department but was looking at your weight and wondering if you are still losing ... and a few of the other symptoms made me wonder if your not getting enough food... I don't know food is a big deal to me know maybe I am just being too nosy. 

In changing diets we still need to get some carbs as in sweet potato carrots even lots of veggies have carbs that are slowly absorbed to give you a smooth running stash of energy to get thru the day. Just curious. 

I am sure somebody who understand tapering will be along to answer those type questions soon. peace

[Petunia]

Lately symptoms like tinnitus and head pressure seem to get worse at around 6-10am, and they're the least noticeable from 5pm-5am ish, I've been taking my effexor at 5pm

 

A lot of people have worse symptoms in the morning, this thread on 'cortisol mornings' may help explain it:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2144-i-hate-cortisol-mornings/?hl=cortisol

[lespaul19]

another question- im starting to think maybe i did hit poop out while on effexor, i started hanging out with friends less, sleeping more, but my anxiety never really came back, if i was in tolerance wouldnt my anxiety get worse too? and is there any harm in reinstating once you hit poop out? 

ive been feeling exhausted since friday.. all i want to do/have done is lay in bed, read, watch tv and sleep.

[Altostrata]

I would not worry about poop-out if those are the only symptoms you had.

[lespaul19]

Hi alto! I've heard so many vague definitions of poop out so I wasn't sure.

Feeling better today, depression/anhedonia doesn't seem as bad. Still have the weird feeling in my head, its very hard to describe, sometimes it feels like a pressure or tension headache but its not really painful just uncomfortable and sometimes it feels like my brain is swelling or moving in someway ... it goes away at times but is almost always present anywhere from 6-9am and randomly throughout the day, a bit unnerving. Not sure if I should be worried about it or not.

[Altostrata]

That sounds like mild brain zaps, possibly. Please see the Symptoms and Self-care forum.

[lespaul19]

Hmm I've had the zaps before when missing a dose, it doesn't really feel like that, it's more constant