MatGMax: Another virtual refuge from P******

[MatGMax]

Thanks Altostrata,

I was starting to think I was posting to thin air!

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

Fighting a weird Virus as the moment.

Got muscle pains and swollen glands but no other symptoms.

Hopefully better in the next couple of days.

Probably got it from my 3 or 4 year ood.

 

Hope you are doing well.

How is it going on your taper?

 

Cheers

Damien

[Altostrata]

Please let us know how you're doing.

 

I've been off Paxil since 2004. Doing fairly well now, thank you.

[Fresh]

Hi Damien , how long ago did you drop from 2.5 to 2mg?    Muscle pains and swollen glands sounds suspiciously like w/d symptoms to me.

Perhaps I'm on the wrong track . . .  

[MatGMax]

Hi Fresh,

 

I went from 2.5 to 2.0 in one go.

(I know, I know..., I learn my lesson each time).

I was just so happy the NAC and methyl B12/methyl folate were working.

 

I had flu symptoms like this last year. I was pretty sure it was it was a cold, but it is possible it was withdrawal symptoms.

Or a combination.

 

I got through the grumpy stage 2 weeks ago so thought I was good to go.

 

It is weird that I'm getting only swollen glands and sore muscles with no coughing or runny nose.

and clearly not real flu as I can still move.

 

If it is withdrawal symptoms how long do you think they would stay ? a week or 2, months ?

I feel a bit guilty as it puts a strain on my wife if I cannot move properly.

(I've got 3 and 4 year old boys)

Also I've been doing a lot of exercise which has been helping, but cannot do it at the moment.

I really should know better by now.

 

Cheers

 

Damien

[Fresh]

Lol Damien , live and learn.    I know I've had swollen neck glands and sore muscles at times with no other symptoms.  It happened again recently during

the month after a decrease in pristiq.

My best guess is it will stay as long as it wants to stay , and then it will go.   As far as w/d symptoms go , it could be worse  .

 

Hope you feel back on top soon.

[MatGMax]

Thanks Fresh.

 

You are right. Not the worst symptom!

Am feeling better today. Only a couple of muscles hurt and glands going down.

 

It just took me by surprise the strength of it. I could barely walk for a couple of days.

Yet another reason to take it slow.

 

I won't be back to exercise till next week.

 

Cheers

 

Damien

[MatGMax]

Hi All,

 

I've been taking 50mg of Modafinil for about 2 years.

 

It helped a lot when I was on 20 mg Lexapro and struggling to have any energy.

Now a lot of water has gone under the bridge. I've found I had the MTHFR gene, started taking NAC, methyl folate, methyl B12,Coq10,  magnesium and am down to 2 mg Lexpro.

In general I'm feeling better and doing more exercise.

 

I'm wondering if it is time to let the modafinil go.

It was great when I started to take it, but I've probably developed a tolerance for it anyway.

My preference would be to only take products that naturally exist in the body or in food.

 

As far as I can tell modafinil isn't anywhere near as addictive as SSRIs are so I don't think I'd have too much trouble dropping.it.

 

What do people think ?

 

Cheers

 

Damien

 

[Songbird]

IMO you should take the cautious approach and taper it rather than just drop it.

[compsports]

Agree with Songbird as one who tapered Adderall several years ago without any problems that I was aware of.

[MatGMax]

Got that flu feeling again. Not so bad. Still not sure if it SSRI related or not.

Hopefully it will pass in the next couple of days.

 

I'm at about 1.1 mg Lexapro per day. On current schedule I'll be at Zero Lexapro about October 2016.

 

Also I'm trying out a tdcs kit I got over the internet.

It seems to help with depression as well as increasing my ability to focus at work (and enjoy it a bit more).

 

Cheers

 

Damien

[Hopefull]

Hi Damian,

How are you doing? Are the B vitamins helping you?

Do you feel better?

Cheers Hopefull

[MatGMax]

Hi Hopefull, 

 

The B vitamins only helped marginally. 

I'm still taking a low dose of them to get some of the methyl folate, but clearly no magic cure for me. 

 

The tdcs device seems to help more. I've had it about 3 weeks now. 

I'll post on it after 3 months. (3 weeks is too short to get a good feel for it). 

 

I'm exercising more and have given up sugar and alcohol (though this probably not permanent) to see how that goes. 

I'm also exercising more (from a very low base)

 

So all up I'm doing ok. 

I'm down to 1.1 mg Lexapro per day and at current rate of taper I'll be down to 0 in October 2016. 

 

All up, life is improving a bit.

Still lots of challenges including my younger boy on the autism spectrum, but life ok.

 

Thanks for asking!

 

How are you going ?

 

Cheers

 

Damien 

[Hopefull]

Hi Damian,

Nice to hear that you are doing well.

I am ok. I have my moments but I am still hopefull that things will work out in the end.

Have you thought about hyperbaric chamber therapy for you son?

Research it. It might help your son.

Best wishes, Hopefull.

[MatGMax]

Hi all

I'm trying out 10mg noopept in the morning to help with lexapro withdrawal/original depression.

So far after 10 days it seems to help.

But it could just be luck as my mood goes up and down regularly.

I've tried many supplements and few have given regular benefits so if the past is anything to go the chances aren't good.

Also noopept has two other things that make it possibly difficult.

It is easy to take too much and have negative effects.

It isn't approved for anything.

 

Has anyone else taken noopept?

 

Ps

I'm down to less than 1 mg lexapro! Yay!

 

Cheers

 

Damien

[brassmonkey]

Hi Damien-- We do not condone the use of any drugs to help with WD from ADs.  If you want to play with this sort of thing it is up to you, but it is not material for this forum.  From our experience nootropic drugs have no benefit for people in WD and like any other drug can cause more trouble than good.  Noopept is a very new drug with limited to no testing and no proven benefit even as a nootropic.  The reports I have been reading liken it to the street drug Krokodil and you don't even want to think about going there.

[MatGMax]

Down to 0.2 mg of lexapro per day.
50 days to go to 0 mg.

 

Cheers

 

Damien 

[ChessieCat]

Hi Damien,

 

That's good news.  Thanks for popping in and letting us know.

 

Don't forget to listen to your body and hold a bit longer if you need to.  You are so close to being off it would be rotten if you let impatience get the better of you and rush the last bit.

[MatGMax]

Yay!

The long trip to 0 ssri's is complete.

The final month of 0.1 mg doses is over.

 

Is still get depression, but I've always had that and wasn't expecting it to go away.

 

Will post once I've been of for a couple of months with a follow up.

 

Cheers

 

Damien

[bubble]

Thanks a lot for posting regular updates. It is very helpful for us who are tapering.

 

Wishing you all the best and look forward to your updates.

[bubble]

I was trying to find more info about your cuts but can't seem to find it. Did you go down by 0.2 mg per month all the way down from 2.5 mg? You probably decreased once you got to 1 mg...

[MatGMax]

Hi bubbles,

 

0.1 drop per 24 days (my capsule maker makes 24 capsules.

All the way from 2mg to 0

Ie 20 lots of 24 days. 480 days

So from 1.0 mg to 0 took 240 days.

Same as rate as from 2.0

For better or worse I didn't slow down.

 

Hoping that now that I'm not dropping that some of the annoying symptoms will go away.

 

Cheers

 

Damien

[Hopefull]

Good on you Damian! Best wishes to you! Keep us posted to see how you are doing.

[Happy2Heal]

 

On 11/5/2016 at 5:07 PM, MatGMax said:

Yay!

The long trip to 0 ssri's is complete.

The final month of 0.1 mg doses is over.

 

Is still get depression, but I've always had that and wasn't expecting it to go away.

 

Will post once I've been of for a couple of months with a follow up.

 

Cheers

 

Damien

 

Damien, so glad to see that you made it to zero!!

I hope all is going well for you!

I am esp anxious to know how you are going, as I'm tapering off of liquid lexapro myself

 

praying that no news is good news!

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by ChessieCat
changed quote - new member name

[MatGMax]

Hi H2H

Thanks for the reminder. 

 

All going well. 

Life throws all the normal challenges, and I still get mild depression (probably my natural state), but I've accepted that.

 

Both my boys are in school now which helps (C's ASD symptoms have moderated and he clearly won't need a special school). 

He is the third week of 'prep' (Australian's first year of school is called 'prep') and we haven't had any big issues. He turns 5 in March so is near the youngest in his class. 

 

I pretty sure none of my remaining issues are SSRI related.

 

My biggest dilemma at the moment is whether or not to take modafinil. 

Without modafinil I'm lazy (probably my natural state) and easy going.

With a low dose of modafinil I'm much more energetic (which helps at work and around the house), but can be a little more hostile and possibly more likely to catch colds.

But either way I can make the choice day to day or month to month and modafinil is nothing like the SSRIs in mechanism or long term effects.

I'm thinking I might ask my wife about it to see which she prefers... 

 

The SSRI (lexapro) 20 year stage of life I'm pretty sure has been put to bed.

 

Cheers

 

Damien

 

Edited April 3, 2022 by ChessieCat
changed member name

[Altostrata]

How are you, Damien?

[MatGMax]

Hi Altostrata,

 

Sorry for the delay getting back to you.

 

Having trouble at the moment. I'm off SSRIs for 6 months and the last 2-3 months has been hard. 

I don't think it is SSRIs related though.

I'm getting lots of weird symptoms that could be related to heart trouble but nothing shows up on the ECG. 

Going for a stress heart test tomorrow. My symptoms could be lack of sleep/stress related as well. 

 

My wife was pressuring me to go back on anti-depressants.

She has had previous boyfriends go 'off-med' with bad consequences.

She isn't a science person so explaining the difference between lithium treatment for her ex's near psychosis and ssri treatment for depression is hard work. 

She just sees that I cannot do as much house work as I used to.

It true I've had depression like symptoms (and not at good a husband/father as I'd like).

 

My best bet at the moment is a heart condition, perhaps related to 'pectus excavatum' (a divert in the chest I was born with).
But I'm not really sure. No blood test come up with anything yet. 

 

I'm not keen to go back on SSRIs just to convince my wife I'm doing everything I can, especially when I have chest pain. 

If she insists though it is hard, she has a very strong personality. 

 

thanks for thinking of me. 

 

Damien

 

 

 

[rupa]

Damien,How are you?

Hope you and your family doing good.

[MatGMax]

Hi Rupa, 

Thanks for reaching out (I think that's what the young people say...)

 

Doing ok. Not great but ok.

I'm back on 5mg lexapro and have been for 8 months. 

I've got no plans to change dosage. I think the SSRIs have taken out part of my brain and it just won't grow back. 

6 months after tapering to 0 (4 years of tapering I think) I got almost bed ridden with all sorts of weird symptoms. It is possible if I hung in there for 3 or 4 months more my brain might have started to heal itself but I had to make a choice and for my children as well. Also involved in that choice was the realization that 5mg lexapro doesn't give me any bad side-effects that I can tell. They only side-effect I notice is a positive, (I won't go into details but you can probably guess, it is a man thing). Within a week of going to 5mg most of the weird debilitating symptoms left me.

I still get mild to occasional moderate depression but just accept that. It isn't the worst thing in the world.

I'll revisit it in 10-15 years time once kids have grown up and medical science has advanced. 

 

This will be the last post here for me. Thanks to everyone for their support. 

I'm hoping to enter a profession that I'm just a little bit more visible than previously and my personal details are all over this log. 

The internet is just not the same place it was when I was growing up and forums like these are just a bit to visible for my liking.

I should have made it anonymous from the start.

Also I don't have a heap more to add as I'm just planning to take 5mg lexapro for the next 15 years. 

 

For the record I also want to say I never found any other medication/supplement that helped much despite trying lots. 

I currently take cold showers each morning and that helps depression 'a little bit' but is certainly no cure.

I still take a low dose (50mg) of modifinal occasionally and it helps a little with energy levels.

Strangely enough I also use a nicotine patch if I have something very important like an exam and that helps (About once every 3 months or so), I don't suggest that to anyone, just mentioning it for completeness and it is more of performance enhancement than depression treatment. (I've never smoked). 

 

If there is an administrator who can 'anonymize' all the references to my member name, subject and log to something like 'MatGMax' or something like it would be appreciated. I'm ok with my name Damien being out there, it is effectively anonymous. 

Cheers all and I wish you all the very best.

Again as the young people say 'thanks for taking the journey with me'.

 

Edited April 9, 2018 by ChessieCat
changed to "member name"