Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted February 13, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted February 13, 2015 Two cold turkey's both bad one was two years living like you posted Addax and trying to raise a child alone only after a severe reaction that was even worse... Btdt, I can't even fathom raising a child feeling like I did. I think you have a good plan and I am sure the mods will help you to tweak it when needed. It also seems to me this should be the job of the drug companies it feels like they are getting a ton of damage control for free. While I am glad people are not suffering years as badly as before something feels wrong about pharmas lack of accountability in all of this. I hope the plan works. One good thing is that I don't have that same urgency that made me want to rush my taper. I think part of that is accepting that there's a possibility I may not be able to be completely free fro fluoxetine. I hope I'll be able to, but I'm not willing to go through anything close to what I went through to get there. I agree, There's something very wrong with the fact that there has been no accountability on the part of the pharmaceutical companies. It's an issue i think about too often. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
Member cymbaltawithdrawal5600 Posted February 15, 2015 Member Share Posted February 15, 2015 I read your update the day you posted it but neglected to comment for some reason. Today I went back and read it again and just want to say that, looking back on things, there is no way to tell at the time it was all happening, that you seem to have done the exact right thing to move past what happened with that disastrous drop in the dose. I wish more people here could read and 'get' the things that happened in your story. Truly, that period of 'dread' is the absolute worst and nothing seems to short circuit it until it subsides on its own. I could read between the lines of your 'symptom' list and feel the things you did not write because I remembered experiencing them myself. I hope I remember to refer people to you post when they need confirmation that if they stay the course, many times things turn around. You are not the same person you were before all this started. You write as a seasoned veteran who has come out the other side and I hope you continue to write of your experiences as you taper your med. After reading your reply to btdt above, I see you are wanting to qualify your success in maybe not being able to get off the drugs. That is the memory of your horrible experience talking there. Luckily you don't have to make that decision yet. You have only just started to taper. You'll know what to do when the time comes. What happened and how I arrived here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4243-cymbaltawithdrawal5600-introduction/#entry50878 July 2016 I have decided to leave my story here at SA unfinished. I have left my contact information in my profile for anyone who wishes to talk to me. I have a posting history spanning nearly 4 years and 3000+ posts all over the site. Thank you to all who participated in my recovery. I'll miss talking to you but know that I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines, suffering and rejoicing with you in spirit, as you go on in your journey. Link to comment
indigo Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Found this thread today and feel encouraged. Couple of months ago I thought I was in my final stretch of getting off prozac (from 20 mg to 3.75 mg in two years or so), then hit a wall and decided to micro-taper to avoid severe withdrawal. But three days ago, after a one month hold, I micro dropped liquid prozac 0.1 ml and yesterday it hit me hard. This WD hit much faster than any before and much more suddenly. Woke up feeling fine , then two hours later sobbing with no apparent trigger. This toppled me into despair that going at this micro slow rate I'll never get off prozac. Then read an article by a psychiatrist saying SSR's cause permanent brain damage and people who've been on them a long time never recover. How true is this? Thank you for your story Addax and the support of this thread. On 20 mg of Prozac for about ten years. Sept 2012 started reducing 10% a drop using gram scale, with average of one month holds. When I'd reached the half way mark, taking 10 mg powder out of the 20 mg capsules, I switched over to 10 mg capsules and cutting down from those. Withdrawals got harder the lower I dropped. May 2013 changed to 5% drops, holding until all withdrawal symptoms gone. January 2015 changed to liquid prozac (concentration of 20MG per 5 mL) using a 1mL oral syringe. Current dose of fluoxetine solution equivalent 3.4 mg. Any effort to drop below this has been disastrous so for the time being I'm staying at this level. Adding 200 mg Tryptophan and 200 GABA a day has helped with anxiety. Also take 1,300mg Omega- 3, 875mg Magnesium, 1800mg Curcumin, 1000mg Vit C, 5000 Vit D. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted February 15, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted February 15, 2015 CW- I'm glad you were able to read between the lines because there's a lot in between them. In fact when I wrote up my experience for Healy's Rxisk website it was nearly 5 pages single spaced. Part of the reason I had so much trepidation about posting it in the short format here was because i didn't think it would truly capture the experience. Like when I talk about the ruminating... It was so much more than that. The memory still weighs on me and your probably right about the qualifying statement. It scared the sh** out of me. But you're so right that it's not a decision I have to make now. thank you for mentioning that. So far so good with the 10% drop. I know it's extremely early to be saying that, but I'm sort of on hyper alert for symptoms right now and there hasn't been any even minor to make me think, "uh-oh!" 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted February 15, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted February 15, 2015 Indigo- I'm glad you found encouragement here. I think, at least for me, longer holds are going to be key and sticking to longer holds even if I've felt stable for a few weeks and the drops are microscopic. The article you read, do you you remember the title and who wrote it? Articles like those sincerely irritate me. There just seem to be too many variables to consider to be able to make such a blanket statement. Plus, I've been wondering about the plethora of people who go off and recover with little or no hitch... They wouldn't pop up on anybody's radar, and if a doc doesn't believe that withdrawal doesn't happen with SSRIs, then a patient who quits with insignificant problems is just going to confirm what they already believe so they're not going to say, "hey! We have to report to someone that you didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms!" You know what I mean? I think even Dr. Shipko alluded to that. Only people suffering from withdrawal and are in despair seek him out. the ones that don't simply throw the bottle out and don't make any more appointments. That's my take on it anyway. Teeny drops and long holds and I bet you get it done. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
indigo Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Addax. It was Dr Shipka who wrote the piece on permanent brain changes. He said he found it heart breaking watching people struggle for years believing they can get off these drugs when in fact the damage is permanent. Pretty depressing. I can't remember the name of the article. The observation that most of the people who actually go to him are those who are in desperate states of long term intense withdrawal, is a good point. And he does not differentiate between those who've been on one drug (such as Prozac) on a steady dose for years, and those who have the more complicated withdrawal from a cocktail of different SSRI's at high dosages. After two years tapering, though not completely off prozac, I feel heartened that I am back to being my deep feeling, creative self. The person I was born to be, rather than someone who didn't have to cope with deep feelings and go through life with my sails at half mast. On 20 mg of Prozac for about ten years. Sept 2012 started reducing 10% a drop using gram scale, with average of one month holds. When I'd reached the half way mark, taking 10 mg powder out of the 20 mg capsules, I switched over to 10 mg capsules and cutting down from those. Withdrawals got harder the lower I dropped. May 2013 changed to 5% drops, holding until all withdrawal symptoms gone. January 2015 changed to liquid prozac (concentration of 20MG per 5 mL) using a 1mL oral syringe. Current dose of fluoxetine solution equivalent 3.4 mg. Any effort to drop below this has been disastrous so for the time being I'm staying at this level. Adding 200 mg Tryptophan and 200 GABA a day has helped with anxiety. Also take 1,300mg Omega- 3, 875mg Magnesium, 1800mg Curcumin, 1000mg Vit C, 5000 Vit D. Link to comment
btdt Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Indigo- I'm glad you found encouragement here. I think, at least for me, longer holds are going to be key and sticking to longer holds even if I've felt stable for a few weeks and the drops are microscopic. The article you read, do you you remember the title and who wrote it? Articles like those sincerely irritate me. There just seem to be too many variables to consider to be able to make such a blanket statement. Plus, I've been wondering about the plethora of people who go off and recover with little or no hitch... They wouldn't pop up on anybody's radar, and if a doc doesn't believe that withdrawal doesn't happen with SSRIs, then a patient who quits with insignificant problems is just going to confirm what they already believe so they're not going to say, "hey! We have to report to someone that you didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms!" You know what I mean? I think even Dr. Shipko alluded to that. Only people suffering from withdrawal and are in despair seek him out. the ones that don't simply throw the bottle out and don't make any more appointments. That's my take on it anyway. Teeny drops and long holds and I bet you get it done. "They wouldn't pop up on anybody's radar, and if a doc doesn't believe that withdrawal doesn't happen with SSRIs, then a patient who quits with insignificant problems is just going to confirm what they already believe so they're not going to say, "hey! We have to report to someone that you didn't experience any withdrawal symptoms!" You know what I mean? I think even Dr. Shipko alluded to that." I have commented on this recently... maybe they were dx with other things and treated with other drugs not all wd things are psych some are some are not... could be a lot of gerd bp pain meds have been treating wd for years... could be otc drugs are putting folks to sleep or benzos. Could be too that when a doctor does not know what wd looks like he will dx something else based on the symptoms.. makes complete sense doesn't it. I had so many things in wd... in tolerance too that could have and were treated with other drugs... or attempted to treat... if a doc doesn't know wd when it hits him in the face or you in the face... how could we ever tally up the victims. I just learned more about Agnosia something Breggin talks about but not in this way... agnosia is having something wrong with you but not being aware of it... agnosia means a drug can be damaging you and you don't see it... or your already damaged from taking the drug an don't see wd as you would had you not had the damage... do you get it? People who go manic on Ads don't know they are manic either... because of the effects of the drug wd could be the same thing... think of it this way I went ct after a severe adverse reaction to prozac in the early 90s nobody knew a thing about prozac then it had just hit the market... all my long long sympotms that went on for years ... were something else. ...eventually I was put on anotheir AD for sleep and pain... not wd. WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG Had a car accident in 85 Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89 Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above. One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking. As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/ There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted February 20, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted February 20, 2015 Ranting... This is not exactly a positive rant. It's sort of an angry rant so I'm including a trigger alert here. This rant is NOT to say I'm anxious or ruminating or anything like that. I'm fine. I'm stable... I'm just pissed, which happens on occasion when I pause too long and start thinking about Fluoxetine withdrawal. Sooo... as I'm sitting at my desk suddenly thinking about withdrawal symptoms when "HPA Axis" pops into my mind. How did I not think of this before? It just seems so obvious now. Cortisol, circadian rythem, stress response... Fluoxetine has f**ked my HPA axis!! I'm not sure why this is only occuring to my now. I seems so very obvious. Maybe because it's too simplistic an explanation? Checked out some journal articles. Hippicampal Neurogenisis... that's where my head went next. I spent a short time skimming journal articles to see what I could see. I keep anticipating that I'm going to see something that says "irriversable damage" or "once your HPA axis is wrecked you're screwed for life." No... didn't see anything like that. I do now, however see a need to include meditation, probiotics and perhaps prebiotics (or lentils), and good sleep hygiene in my daily routine. Not just include them regularly but make them a daily habit. I just downloaded a guided meditation app and am looking up probiotics. So far there have been no ill effects of the 10% cut. I really don't expect any until I get back to 10 mg... that's a ways off though. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
indigo Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Don't know yet what HPA axis is yet. (will look it up), but a spontaneous angry rant about fluoexetine withdrawal now and then seems like a healthy and necessary part of recovery. About probiotics, I'm eating about a pint of Greek Yogurt a day hoping that covers the need for good gut bacteria, and also to balance the high magnesium intake with enough calcium. Lately I've been thinking I should deal with my chronic insomnia a lot more seriously. I'm not facile in my understanding of what the brain exactly does to adapt to withdrawal of the drug and heal. My simplistic grasp of it is that it a bunch of new cells and neural pathways and chemical messengers have to be created. Seems that this probably happens mostly when the brain is at rest, as in asleep. So last few nights, when I wake up as usual in the middle of the night, instead of watching a Netflicks movie or getting up and cruising the internet , I've been tossing back a few Calms Forte pills , a gentle homeopathic sleep remedy,snuggling down and waiting to go back to sleep. It's been working. Seven hours of sleep instead of four feels so luxurious, and I think my brain cells are responding to the extra rest. On 20 mg of Prozac for about ten years. Sept 2012 started reducing 10% a drop using gram scale, with average of one month holds. When I'd reached the half way mark, taking 10 mg powder out of the 20 mg capsules, I switched over to 10 mg capsules and cutting down from those. Withdrawals got harder the lower I dropped. May 2013 changed to 5% drops, holding until all withdrawal symptoms gone. January 2015 changed to liquid prozac (concentration of 20MG per 5 mL) using a 1mL oral syringe. Current dose of fluoxetine solution equivalent 3.4 mg. Any effort to drop below this has been disastrous so for the time being I'm staying at this level. Adding 200 mg Tryptophan and 200 GABA a day has helped with anxiety. Also take 1,300mg Omega- 3, 875mg Magnesium, 1800mg Curcumin, 1000mg Vit C, 5000 Vit D. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted February 26, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted February 26, 2015 Update: stable and holding It's been two weeks since I began tapering again. I've experienced some withdrawal symptoms, or I think I have. I'm sort of hyper-vigilant right now, so I'm not even sure I would have noticed them if I weren't looking for them. I also feel like I'm constantly thinking, "Uh-oh!" And expecting to crash into a wall again anytime something as minor as my nose itching happens. Ugh! I'm going to drive myself crazy if withdrawal doesn't do it first. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted March 11, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 11, 2015 Wide awake so thought I'd update my ejournal... Had some head swooshing today. It's been a long time since I've experienced that. It left as quickly as it came. It was oddly reassuring because it's only ever been present as a mild withdrawal symptom, never as part of a cluster of symptoms, has never been followed by anything in particular, it's familiar, and it means there's a little bit less of the fluoxetine running through me. Without the Wellbutrin in my system I'm wondering if there will be a perceptible difference in how I feel with each drop now. Other than that, I'm still feeling stable. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
rapunzel2 Posted March 11, 2015 Share Posted March 11, 2015 good to hear! in 2002- 0,5 tablet cipramil for half a year, ended it uneventfully. in 2006 - citalopram for half a year, ended in horrific state, ditched the drugs CT. 2007-2008 not feeling well but drug free. in 2008 prozac 20mg + quetiapine 25mg. 2009 tried to stop, ended up in hole after couple of months, started zoloft. 2009-2011 zoloft 50mg. went to 25mg in 2011 summer, it resulted in half a year horrible suffering. reinstated, changed drugs, nothing happened. by 2012 beginning suddenly felt great and CT meds. after 4 months came suddenly most horrible human suffering that's possible. was started on prozac and questiapine. started tapering slowly, GFCF diet and Hardy Nutritionals vitamins in 2013 summer. current medications: 1) fluoxetine and quetiapine since Aug 2012; 2) Daily Essential Nutrients by Hardy Nutritionals 7 capsules / since May 2013 + omega3; 3) Gluten-free-casein-free diet since june 2013 Started withdrawing slowly since april 2013. Mostly around 10% cuts. April'13 - March'14: fluoxetine 40mg -> 19,5mg; quetiapine 50mg -> 40mg April'14-March'15: fluoxetine 19,5mg -> 14,4mg; quetiapine 40mg -> 22mg April'15-March'16: fluoxetine 14,4mg -> 7,4mg; quetiapine 22mg -> 15mg April'16-March'17: fluoxetine 7,4mg -> 5,0mg; quetiapine 15mg -> 7,25mg April'17-March'18: fluoxetine 5,0mg -> 4,0mg; quetiapine 7,25mg -> 0 (as of 1st Feb 2018)!!!! April´18-March´19: fluoxetine 4,0mg - > 2,3mg. Jumped off fluoxetine 1,4mg due to pregnancy in July 2019. Oct 2019 severe withdrawal syndrome started. Took mistakenly a complex for hormonal support that included pregnenolone dec2019-april2020. Stopped it april 2020 and immediately severe akathisia started. Have had life threatening akathisia since, 100% disabled, suicidal, very hard to hold on. Link to comment
Dane22 Posted March 21, 2015 Share Posted March 21, 2015 Addax. Great thread. So much information within. For someone like me its comforting to read some of your entries and to be able to think to myself "geeze, that's happened to me!". something about finding others who share your experience is comforting. Its less maddening. Thank you for all your support. It means a great deal. I'll follow your thread as I know it will help me understand some of what I'm experiencing and will also provide some guidance. Sending good vibes your way...via Fed Express September 2013. Diagnosed depression/anxiety. Start Prozac 10mg and slowly increase to 40mg. October 2013. Lorazepam 0.5mg prescribed for anxiety after complaining about nervous energy November 2013. prescribed a sleeping pill (name?) for insomnia. took once. ineffective. January to June 2014. psychiatrist agrees to lower dose to 15 mg due to side effects. August 2014 first attempt to quit cold turkey Lasted August 1, 2014 until October 1, 2014 November 2014 second attempt to quit cold turkey lasted Novemember 4, 2014 until Jan 13, 2015 January 2015 3rd attempt to quit cold turkey lasted feb 3, 2015 until feb 23, 2015 March 5, 2015 4th attempt to quit cold turkey. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted March 26, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 26, 2015 Thanks for stopping by and for sending the good vibes! :-) Okay, I've acted irresponsibly. It was initially accidental. I went away for a few days and brought only 20 mg capsules and only enough for the few days. I had already dropped from 27.5 to 25mg and been there for almost a week, but it's still a 20% drop. I did have some initial withdrawal symptoms: increased fatigue, some irritability, mild Akathasia, but they passed as of Monday and were relatively mild. In the past attempt to taper I recall getting to 20 and even 10 too quickly (MUCH quicker than even this) with few issues. I'm nervouse because my system is much more sensitive now than last time and I don't have the Wellbutrin in my system to cause the increase in Fluoxetine's half-life. With that said, life is pretty calm right now and with my the project that had been the topic of my ruminating last fall now complete, I don't Foresee anything crazy coming up. That being said, I'm going to hold at 20 mg for at least 3 months (maybe 4) regardless of how great I feel :-P . That 4 month delay in symptom onset still freaks me out. One thing that I can't stand; I still second guess everything: Am I sore from working out or is it withdrawal? Did I have trouble staying asleep because I had taken a nap in the middle of the day or is it withdrawal insomnia creeping on? Am I irritable despite no provocation (withdrawal?) or is it because I'm hungry? Why do I have a headache? Why can't I remember... ? Even when not experiencing symptoms I'm still somehow haunted by them. I have to try not to think too much about it because it make feeds into anger toward big pharm, doctors, etc... So in short, I'm at 20 mg, withdrawal symptoms from the drop seem to have subsided. I'm holding here for several months. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted April 9, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 9, 2015 Stability persists! Even with a major stressor just days away. We'll see how it goes during the weeks after the stressor. I do notice that I tend to feel more fatigued and a little irritable with stress, but I'll take that over what I've experienced in the past. That said, irritability is generally a typical response to stress so maybe I shouldn't count that as symptom. Unfortunately it's still difficult to sparse out what's me and whats withdrawal... I still tend to attribute anything that's not "happy" to withdrawal. One the side effects front, the night sweats I began experiencing again after the initial reinstatement to 30mg are much more mild. I haven't had to get up and change my pajamas in weeks! I do get headaches a little more frequently and there's still some mild underlying fatigue, but it's not been debilitating. Unfortunately I have increased my coffee consumption to 2 large cups a day. One in the morning, and one in the early afternoon. I've been lucky in that the coffee hasn't agrivated symptoms. If I sense it does, as it did before once I got below 10mg I have every intension of cutting it out. Being that won't be for quite sometime, I'll enjoy it while I can. So currently I take: 20 mg fluoxetine, omega-3, a probiotic, b12, and vitamine D. (B12 and vit D have nothing to do with withdrawal. They supplement my diet which excludes all animal products) 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted April 24, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 24, 2015 Here it is 2 weeks later from my last post and a wee bit over a month Since holding at 20mg. I've had random, but very mild cortisol mornings here and there. They resolve with exercise or by lunchtime, but I still hate them. Considering I was expecting worse given some significant stressors, I guess I'm pretty thankful. It's hard to be optimistic, even cautiously so since I know there is a lag time in withdrawal symptoms with fluoxetine. If I'm going to abide by my plan I still have at least 2-3 months of holding at 20mg before my next drop. It's tempting to drop now having had things quite stable for this long, but my weariness of trusting any perceived pattern when it comes to this damn drug is keeping me and my impatience in-check. Plus I have two more hurdles/stressors to get through before my life outside of withdrawal is stable. I do still wonder if I'll honestly ever be able to ween completely from this drug. At over 26 years of having it in my system I sincerely have my doubts. I try and remember that I'm 40 mg lower than I was for 22 of those years and doing well, but I think the true test will start when I get to 10 mg. Ah well, no use in harping over it now, that's quite far off down the road, and as Dr. Healy commented a while ago, there is no data available to reference for someone who has been on Prozac/fluoxetine for as long as I have or at the high dose I've taken. So who knows, maybe I'll come off completely, heal, and be in the best condition of my life, right? Sometimes I think of odd things, like maybe it's because of Prozac that I don't have any gray hairs yet despite being in my mid-40s and a family history of going gray earlier. Onward with my fingers crossed... 1 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted April 24, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 24, 2015 Posting this link here because it's part of my story. http://wp.rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
indigo Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Wow Addax! Very much appreciate hearing your whole story in detail. On 20 mg of Prozac for about ten years. Sept 2012 started reducing 10% a drop using gram scale, with average of one month holds. When I'd reached the half way mark, taking 10 mg powder out of the 20 mg capsules, I switched over to 10 mg capsules and cutting down from those. Withdrawals got harder the lower I dropped. May 2013 changed to 5% drops, holding until all withdrawal symptoms gone. January 2015 changed to liquid prozac (concentration of 20MG per 5 mL) using a 1mL oral syringe. Current dose of fluoxetine solution equivalent 3.4 mg. Any effort to drop below this has been disastrous so for the time being I'm staying at this level. Adding 200 mg Tryptophan and 200 GABA a day has helped with anxiety. Also take 1,300mg Omega- 3, 875mg Magnesium, 1800mg Curcumin, 1000mg Vit C, 5000 Vit D. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted April 25, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 25, 2015 It's crazy to read it now. Crazier still is that even with that much detail it still doesn't capture the true desperation and terror of the experience. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
indigo Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I especially relate to the PSTD from severe withdrawal symptoms. Terror that any change of dose will send you hurtling back into hell. I slide almost impeceptably slowly with hairline drops down the syringe of liquid fluoexetine. This way the WD is minimal but everytime, the fear it might be dreadful is still there. On 20 mg of Prozac for about ten years. Sept 2012 started reducing 10% a drop using gram scale, with average of one month holds. When I'd reached the half way mark, taking 10 mg powder out of the 20 mg capsules, I switched over to 10 mg capsules and cutting down from those. Withdrawals got harder the lower I dropped. May 2013 changed to 5% drops, holding until all withdrawal symptoms gone. January 2015 changed to liquid prozac (concentration of 20MG per 5 mL) using a 1mL oral syringe. Current dose of fluoxetine solution equivalent 3.4 mg. Any effort to drop below this has been disastrous so for the time being I'm staying at this level. Adding 200 mg Tryptophan and 200 GABA a day has helped with anxiety. Also take 1,300mg Omega- 3, 875mg Magnesium, 1800mg Curcumin, 1000mg Vit C, 5000 Vit D. Link to comment
rapunzel2 Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 thank you for the whole story. it is very difficult to describe withdrawal hell, in my opinion. it's somehow not describable. I intend to share my story also, soon - but I lack the words for the most horrific part of my journey. the thing is, I don't even remember it now. and since I stopped writing my blog or sending any emails etc, I don't have anything to remind me of those 2-3 months. my brain has just kind of supressed this horrible memory. in 2002- 0,5 tablet cipramil for half a year, ended it uneventfully. in 2006 - citalopram for half a year, ended in horrific state, ditched the drugs CT. 2007-2008 not feeling well but drug free. in 2008 prozac 20mg + quetiapine 25mg. 2009 tried to stop, ended up in hole after couple of months, started zoloft. 2009-2011 zoloft 50mg. went to 25mg in 2011 summer, it resulted in half a year horrible suffering. reinstated, changed drugs, nothing happened. by 2012 beginning suddenly felt great and CT meds. after 4 months came suddenly most horrible human suffering that's possible. was started on prozac and questiapine. started tapering slowly, GFCF diet and Hardy Nutritionals vitamins in 2013 summer. current medications: 1) fluoxetine and quetiapine since Aug 2012; 2) Daily Essential Nutrients by Hardy Nutritionals 7 capsules / since May 2013 + omega3; 3) Gluten-free-casein-free diet since june 2013 Started withdrawing slowly since april 2013. Mostly around 10% cuts. April'13 - March'14: fluoxetine 40mg -> 19,5mg; quetiapine 50mg -> 40mg April'14-March'15: fluoxetine 19,5mg -> 14,4mg; quetiapine 40mg -> 22mg April'15-March'16: fluoxetine 14,4mg -> 7,4mg; quetiapine 22mg -> 15mg April'16-March'17: fluoxetine 7,4mg -> 5,0mg; quetiapine 15mg -> 7,25mg April'17-March'18: fluoxetine 5,0mg -> 4,0mg; quetiapine 7,25mg -> 0 (as of 1st Feb 2018)!!!! April´18-March´19: fluoxetine 4,0mg - > 2,3mg. Jumped off fluoxetine 1,4mg due to pregnancy in July 2019. Oct 2019 severe withdrawal syndrome started. Took mistakenly a complex for hormonal support that included pregnenolone dec2019-april2020. Stopped it april 2020 and immediately severe akathisia started. Have had life threatening akathisia since, 100% disabled, suicidal, very hard to hold on. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Fresh Posted April 26, 2015 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 26, 2015 Hi Addax , I just read your link to RxISK , thankyou for sharing it. Do you think you might add the link in your signature? Fresh 1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg 2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months. July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months. Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg. October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive. March 2016 , 21mg Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted April 26, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 26, 2015 Indigo, I know those fears all too well :-( Repunzel, it is difficult to put into words. I did the best I could but I still don't feel like I captured just how debilitating the symptoms were or the dread and unrelenting negative thoughts. I wrote it out pretty shortly after the experience otherwise I dont think I would have remembered much of it either, or at least not in any detail. In some ways maybe it's a gift you don't recall it. Fresh, that's a great idea! I'm going to try and add it today. I should clean-up my signature a bit anyway. I wish I could get more comments on it or that it would be distributed more widely. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
btdt Posted April 26, 2015 Share Posted April 26, 2015 I tried to read you link at Risk but guess I have reached my saturation point can't do it today..another day. Your not alone that I know without even looking. I wish you peace WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG Had a car accident in 85 Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89 Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above. One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking. As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/ There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted April 28, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 28, 2015 Thank you btdt. I hope you're no longer feeling saturated. Quick update: I've been having some anxiety and mild akathisia. On the one hand it makes me glad I'm still holding at 20mg because I can't help but think it would be worse if I had made a reduction. On the other hand, it also makes me very sad. I guess waves have a way of doing that. When they hit it's like, "What the f**k?! It's not over yet?" And makes me doubt that I'll ever be free of the meds and/or symptoms. Then I have to remember it's only been a few months since I reduced after my reinstatement. The important thing, (on the third hand?) however, is that I also feel a sense of empowerment because although I hadn't expected to feel this until I made my next reduction, I am PMSing, and I KNOW symptoms emerge or are exacerbated during this time. This is empowering in that it lends to the idea that there is some predictability in my symptoms pattern. Predictability is reassuring to me. If all goes as they have in the past, these withdrawal symptoms (this wave) will resolve for the most part shortly after I get my period. It's empowering because the increase in symptoms is less scary for me, despite the doubt they also cast... If that makes any sense. Keeping on... 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
rapunzel2 Posted April 29, 2015 Share Posted April 29, 2015 it does make sense. I feel so much more secure and in power now that I know what's going on with me and drugs, and also I know my pattern. I'm in charge, in spite of being addicted to this murderous stuff! in 2002- 0,5 tablet cipramil for half a year, ended it uneventfully. in 2006 - citalopram for half a year, ended in horrific state, ditched the drugs CT. 2007-2008 not feeling well but drug free. in 2008 prozac 20mg + quetiapine 25mg. 2009 tried to stop, ended up in hole after couple of months, started zoloft. 2009-2011 zoloft 50mg. went to 25mg in 2011 summer, it resulted in half a year horrible suffering. reinstated, changed drugs, nothing happened. by 2012 beginning suddenly felt great and CT meds. after 4 months came suddenly most horrible human suffering that's possible. was started on prozac and questiapine. started tapering slowly, GFCF diet and Hardy Nutritionals vitamins in 2013 summer. current medications: 1) fluoxetine and quetiapine since Aug 2012; 2) Daily Essential Nutrients by Hardy Nutritionals 7 capsules / since May 2013 + omega3; 3) Gluten-free-casein-free diet since june 2013 Started withdrawing slowly since april 2013. Mostly around 10% cuts. April'13 - March'14: fluoxetine 40mg -> 19,5mg; quetiapine 50mg -> 40mg April'14-March'15: fluoxetine 19,5mg -> 14,4mg; quetiapine 40mg -> 22mg April'15-March'16: fluoxetine 14,4mg -> 7,4mg; quetiapine 22mg -> 15mg April'16-March'17: fluoxetine 7,4mg -> 5,0mg; quetiapine 15mg -> 7,25mg April'17-March'18: fluoxetine 5,0mg -> 4,0mg; quetiapine 7,25mg -> 0 (as of 1st Feb 2018)!!!! April´18-March´19: fluoxetine 4,0mg - > 2,3mg. Jumped off fluoxetine 1,4mg due to pregnancy in July 2019. Oct 2019 severe withdrawal syndrome started. Took mistakenly a complex for hormonal support that included pregnenolone dec2019-april2020. Stopped it april 2020 and immediately severe akathisia started. Have had life threatening akathisia since, 100% disabled, suicidal, very hard to hold on. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Rhiannon Posted April 29, 2015 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 29, 2015 Here it is 2 weeks later from my last post and a wee bit over a month Since holding at 20mg. I've had random, but very mild cortisol mornings here and there. They resolve with exercise or by lunchtime, but I still hate them. Considering I was expecting worse given some significant stressors, I guess I'm pretty thankful. It's hard to be optimistic, even cautiously so since I know there is a lag time in withdrawal symptoms with fluoxetine. If I'm going to abide by my plan I still have at least 2-3 months of holding at 20mg before my next drop. It's tempting to drop now having had things quite stable for this long, but my weariness of trusting any perceived pattern when it comes to this damn drug is keeping me and my impatience in-check. Plus I have two more hurdles/stressors to get through before my life outside of withdrawal is stable. I do still wonder if I'll honestly ever be able to ween completely from this drug. At over 26 years of having it in my system I sincerely have my doubts. I try and remember that I'm 40 mg lower than I was for 22 of those years and doing well, but I think the true test will start when I get to 10 mg. Ah well, no use in harping over it now, that's quite far off down the road, and as Dr. Healy commented a while ago, there is no data available to reference for someone who has been on Prozac/fluoxetine for as long as I have or at the high dose I've taken. So who knows, maybe I'll come off completely, heal, and be in the best condition of my life, right? Sometimes I think of odd things, like maybe it's because of Prozac that I don't have any gray hairs yet despite being in my mid-40s and a family history of going gray earlier. Onward with my fingers crossed... I sometimes wonder if I will be able to wean completely off all my meds too, after 20 years. I was never on extremely high doses of anything but since most of the effect is caused at lower doses anyway I don't know if that really matters. I think the main thing is taking it very, very slowly, so that you have time to grow a new brain. Your age is an advantage since you are relatively young too. And the thing I have been happy to find is that just getting down to low doses makes a huge difference, as far as getting my personality and my emotions and my ability to connect with other people back. So maybe it doesn't really matter if you get off all the way. I certainly think the fact that you're doing pretty well on 20 mg (and stabilizing well and it looks like you're going to do fine) is worth celebrating! Yay for you! 1 Started on Prozac and Xanax in 1992 for PTSD after an assault. One drug led to more, the usual story. Got sicker and sicker, but believed I needed the drugs for my "underlying disease". Long story...lost everything. Life savings, home, physical and mental health, relationships, friendships, ability to work, everything. Amitryptiline, Prozac, bupropion, buspirone, flurazepam, diazepam, alprazolam, Paxil, citalopram, lamotrigine, gabapentin...probably more I've forgotten. Started multidrug taper in Feb 2010. Doing a very slow microtaper, down to low doses now and feeling SO much better, getting my old personality and my brain back! Able to work full time, have a full social life, and cope with stress better than ever. Not perfect, but much better. After 23 lost years. Big Pharma has a lot to answer for. And "medicine for profit" is just not a great idea. Feb 15 2010: 300 mg Neurontin 200 Lamictal 10 Celexa 0.65 Xanax and 5 mg Ambien Feb 10 2014: 62 Lamictal 1.1 Celexa 0.135 Xanax 1.8 Valium Feb 10 2015: 50 Lamictal 0.875 Celexa 0.11 Xanax 1.5 Valium Feb 15 2016: 47.5 Lamictal 0.75 Celexa 0.0875 Xanax 1.42 Valium 2/12/20 12 0.045 0.007 1 May 2021 7 0.01 0.0037 1 Feb 2022 6 0!!! 0.00167 0.98 2.5 mg Ambien Oct 2022 4.5 mg Lamictal (off Celexa, off Xanax) 0.95 Valium Ambien, 1/4 to 1/2 of a 5 mg tablet I'm not a doctor. Any advice I give is just my civilian opinion. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted April 29, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 29, 2015 First, Rhi, thank you for saying I'm relatively young... :-P So maybe it doesn't really matter if you get off all the way. I certainly think the fact that you're doing pretty well on 20 mg (and stabilizing well and it looks like you're going to do fine) is worth celebrating! Yay for you! Thank you so much for saying this. It made my heart glad. It is so true. I try to tell myself this. There is a lot to celebrate. You are so right. Now at 20mg I can feel my emotions and I can cry (happy or sad tears), something that doesn't come naturally at higher doses. Plus there are a dozen side effects I don't experience on 20 that I did on 60 and even 40 + the Wellbutrin. The night sweats I began to experience again when I reinstated to 30 mg are now either very mild or I don't experience them at all. That being said, I'm hesitant to get too excited. I've only been at 20 for 6 weeks so there's a big part of me that is waiting for a shoe to drop at the 4 month mark. One of the reasons I want off is so silly... I simply don't want to have to remember to take medication or remember to pack it if I travel... Or have to panic if I forgot to pack it! 1 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted May 2, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted May 2, 2015 I'm putting these links to Alto's articles in my thread for safe keeping. I can't believe I've only just come upon them. While I've come to understand the components of withdrawal, I've struggled to conceptualize the mechanism of action... Until I read these articles. I continue to search for specific symptom related literature to further my understand of the symptoms themselves. Anyway, no update today. Just these very important links. http://beyondmeds.com/2011/07/28/ssriprotractedwithdrawal/ http://beyondmeds.com/2010/07/14/gabaglutamate/ 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus peggy Posted May 2, 2015 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted May 2, 2015 i know the feeling of wanting to creep that bit further - i mean, how much difference will a little bit make? but then it hits - a lot of difference! try to keep to your plan - sitting for 3 or 4 months at 20mg sounds like a really good plan. Sometimes i think a few reductions and then a long hold is good because it gives you a good chance to stabilise and know exactly where you are at. Started in 2000 - On 150mg most of the time, (but up to 225mg at highest dose for 6 months in the beginning)Reduced off easily first time - but got depressed (not too much anxiety) 6 months laterBack on effexor for another 9 months.Reduced off again with no immediate w/d - suddenly got depressed and anxious ++ again 3 or 4 months later.Back on effexor - this time for 3 yearsReduced off over a month - 6 weeks later terrible anxiety - back on.Rinse and repeat 4 more times - each time the period before the anxiety comes back got shorter and shorterJan - July 2012 75mg down to 37.5mg;, 8/3/12 - 35mg. 8/25/12 - 32mg. 9/11- 28mg, 10/2 - 25mg, 10/29 - 22mg, 11/19 - 19.8mg; 12/11 - 17m,1/1- 15.5mg; 1/22 -14mg, 2/7 14.9mg, 2/18 - 17.8mg - crashed big time: back to 75mg where i sat for 2 years.... 4th March 2015 - 67.5mg; 31st March - 60mg; 24th April - 53mg; 13th May - 48mg; 26th May - 45mg; 9th June - 41mg; 1 July- 37.5mg; 20 July - 34mg; 11 August - 31mg; 1st Sept - 28mg; 1st Dec - 25.8mg; 28th Dec - 23.2mg; 23rd Jan-21.9mg; Feb 7th- 21mg; March 1st - 20.1mg, March 30th - 18mg Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted May 5, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted May 5, 2015 Quick update: Regarding the predictable pattern of an increase in the presence of withdrawal symptoms coinciding with my PMS... As predicted, I woke up the day I got my period without a single symptom and except for one night of night sweats they remain gone. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
btdt Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Well that just figures doesn't it lol I am wondering if you take birth control as I have hears people who take them have a worse time with wd at period times or I think that is how an old conversation went... but my memory cannot be counted on really and the site is sadly gone. There are always those exceptions to all rules same in wd... when we expect to be ok we are not and vise versa WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG Had a car accident in 85 Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89 Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above. One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking. As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/ There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted May 7, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted May 7, 2015 Btdt, it does figure! :-) I like the predictability, but now I dread PMS like I never have. 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
btdt Posted May 7, 2015 Share Posted May 7, 2015 Stupid drugs... yes I am feeling juvenile WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG Had a car accident in 85 Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89 Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above. One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking. As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/ There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted May 7, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted May 7, 2015 Stupid drugs, indeed! 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Addax Posted May 7, 2015 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted May 7, 2015 Just got walloped with some really bad news that sent me into a tailspin. Luckily the bad news was the result of bad information received on the other end so the issue has pretty much been resolved and I should have nothing to worry about. That said, considering my initial reaction to the news and the state I was in until it was resolved I'm curious (dreading might be more apropos) to see how my brain and body react. A threat to my fragile stability. Will dormant withdrawal symptoms emerge? Will I crash and spend the next few days, weeks, months, exhausted and unable to get off the couch? Will my anxiety and akathisia ramp up? The only thing so far has been a sense of mild disassociation. Basically my mind was racing along trying figure things out while I worked out at the gym... It now seems like a blur and that I was only there for a few minutes when in actuality it was an hour. Like I was in a daydream the whole time. That part isn't necessarily withdrawal related, but considering my heightened anxiety, if even for a few hours, I'm nervous... Maybe even scared that this will push me from this fragile stable ledge. Damn it!! 1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts) Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast) April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop) Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but… Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding. My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ Link to comment
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