WolfieJoy1111 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 I am hoping to wean myself off my 600 mg daily dosage of tegretol for mood stabilization in favor of a more holistic and natural approach. Thank you for any and all advice. Much love *~WolfieJoy1111~* I am diagnosed as bipolar II with anxiety disorder. I was on lithium for six years and had terrible side effects (my teeth began decaying and I have lost them all with no hope for dentures anytime soon, and my stomach was half paralyzed and I now have to take daily digestive medications in order to process nutrients) and was forced to come off of it as soon as I discovered I was pregnant with my twins when I was 21. During my pregnancy I took no treatments at all and it went well, both my twins were and are healthy girls. Post-partum I was put on tegretol and paxil along with klonopin for anxiety which I have been taking for the past 6 years and have just about had enough. I am pretty well versed in herbal and holistic treatments and wish to wean myself from all of these harmful chemicals and go the holistic route. I am open to any and all suggestions as to how to safely wean myself from the tegretol of which I take 600 mg of a day. How should I start? Thank you and blessings to all *~WolfieJoy1111~* Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted December 24, 2014 Moderator Share Posted December 24, 2014 Hi Wolfie-- welcome to the group. Now, while you're in control of the situation, is a wonderful time to do your taper. Your best bet is to read through the site and learn as much as you can and formulate a plan before jumping right in. I'm new to the site too, but not to tapering, so I can't point you to the proper threads, but Alto and the gang are great and can really help. 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
nz11 Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Hi Wolfie, Cant offer any advise but welcome to the group you have definitely come to the right place. Gosh ya learn a new word every day when you hang around these sites...Tegretol.....had to go and look that one up. Yep great decision to wean off that. Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017 Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Songbird Posted December 24, 2014 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted December 24, 2014 Hi Wolfie, cool pic btw. I know nothing about tegretol, but in general any kind of psych meds are best weaned off very slowly. In general, the longer you've been on, the slower you should go. See the Tapering forum for more information. I've been heading more and more towards the "holistic and natural" approach too. 2001–2002 paroxetine 2003 citalopram 2004-2008 paroxetine (various failed tapers) 2008 paroxetine slow taper down to 2016 Aug off paroxetine2016 citalopram May 20mg Oct 15mg … slow taper down2018 citalopram 13 Feb 4.6mg 15 Mar 4.4mg 29 Apr 4.2mg 6 Jul 4.1mg 17 Aug 4.0mg 18 Nov 3.8mg 2019 15 Mar 3.6mg 21 May 3.4mg 26 Dec 3.2mg 2020 19 Feb 3.0mg 19 Jul 2.9mg 16 Sep 2.8mg 25 Oct 2.7mg 23 Oct 2.6mg 24 Dec 2.5mg 2021 29 Aug 2.4mg 15 Nov 2.3mg Link to comment
Ever Posted December 24, 2014 Share Posted December 24, 2014 Hi Wolfie - love your pic - read the tapering advice and GO SLOW. And Welcome! Put on Prothiaden for severe depression in 1989. Recovered. Prescribed Paxil for another bout of depression around 2000. Have been trying to taper ever since but always crash about 2 months after getting to zero. Because of the crashes, for years I thought that there was something wrong with me. Then found that the crashes were simply withdrawal. Now following a maximum of a 10% reduction every month or so and ready to slow down any time I feel any symptoms whatsoever. Feeling good:). 7th Jan 15 - 3.6mg 28th Jan 15 - 3.2mg Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Petunia Posted December 24, 2014 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted December 24, 2014 Hi Wolfie, Welcome to SA. Thanks for filling in your signature with your history. Are you still taking the paxil and klonopin? If so, what doses are you on? Why are you wanting to taper the tegretol first? We have a short discussion topic on tapering tegretol here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1553-is-anybody-familiar-with-tegretol-and-tapering-etc/ Here are a couple more links you may find useful: Why taper by 10% of my dosage?The general philosophy of gradual tapering Taking multiple psych drugs? Taper the antidepressant first!If you're not having an adverse reaction from the other medications, taper the most activating drug first. This is usually an antidepressant or stimulant (ADHD drug). You can use this thread as your ongoing journal to track progress and communicate with the community, add to it whenever you want. I'm glad you found us before beginning your taper, you will find a lot of friendly help and support here. Petu. I'm not a doctor. My comments are not medical advise. These are my opinions based on my own experience and what I've learned. Please discuss your situation with a medical practitioner who has knowledge of tapering and withdrawal...if you are lucky enough to find one. My Introduction Thread Full Drug and Withdrawal History Brief Summary Several SSRIs for 13 years starting 1997 (for mild to moderate partly situational anxiety) Xanax PRN ~ Various other drugs over the years for side effects 2 month 'taper' off Lexapro 2010 Short acute withdrawal, followed by 2 -3 months of improvement then delayed protracted withdrawal DX ADHD followed by several years of stimulants and other drugs trying to manage increasing symptoms Failed reinstatement of Lexapro and trial of Prozac (became suicidal) May 2013 Found SA, learned about withdrawal, stopped taking drugs...healing begins. Protracted withdrawal, with a very sensitized nervous system, slowly recovering as time passes Supplements which have helped: Vitamin C, Magnesium, Taurine Bad reactions: Many supplements but mostly fish oil and Vitamin D June 2016 - Started daily juicing, mostly vegetables and lots of greens. Aug 2016 - Oct 2016 Best window ever, felt almost completely recovered Oct 2016 -Symptoms returned - bad days and less bad days. April 2018 - No windows, but significant improvement, it feels like permanent full recovery is close. VIDEO: Where did the chemical imbalance theory come from? VIDEO: How are psychiatric diagnoses made? VIDEO: Why do psychiatric drugs have withdrawal syndromes? VIDEO: Can psychiatric drugs cause long-lasting negative effects? VIDEO: Dr. Claire Weekes Link to comment
Administrator Altostrata Posted December 25, 2014 Administrator Share Posted December 25, 2014 Welcome, wolfie. Why are you taking Tegretol? This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner. "It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein All postings © copyrighted. Link to comment
Lookingforhope55 Posted December 25, 2014 Share Posted December 25, 2014 I'm new here myself. Listen to the moderators. They have a lot of knowledge. There are supportive and caring people here. Good luck Link to comment
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