Administrator Altostrata Posted March 14, 2011 Administrator Posted March 14, 2011 (edited) This is a site for peer support, documentation, and education regarding withdrawal and withdrawal syndrome caused by psychiatric drugs, specifically antidepressants. Withdrawal syndrome may occur after you stop taking a psychiatric medication and can last weeks, months, or years. While some people may be able to quickly stop taking these medications without serious symptoms, severe withdrawal syndrome can happen to anyone. Tapering off the medication is the only known way to reduce the risk of withdrawal syndrome. Don't risk the integrity of your nervous system -- if not in an emergency, do not suddenly stop taking any psychiatric medication. -------- Completion of your registration for SurvivingAntidepressants.org means you understand and agree to the following: This site does not provide medical advice. For medical advice, see a trusted medical caregiver. Information presented here is intended for discussion with your doctor. Rules and guidelines for Surviving Antidepressants - Because of the sensitive nature of the discussions, members are encouraged protect their identities with pseudonyms. - Each member must decide how much personal information to reveal in public postings. Generally, posts and accounts are not deleted. - You will respect the privacy of each member. - The first 2 posts of new members will be approved by moderators before being published. This is to make sure the initial posts of new members get responses from moderators. - A posting expresses the views of the author of the message, not necessarily the views of this site. We do not vouch for or warrant the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any posting, and are not responsible for the contents of any posting. - You may not re-post the words of any member on other sites without that person's express permission. - A member who finds a posting objectionable is encouraged to contact the administrator through the site private messaging system. - We will remove objectionable posts at our discretion. If you continue with objectionable behavior after warning by an administrator, your membership will be revoked. See What will get you warned or banned. - You agree that you will not post any material which is knowingly false and/or defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, vulgar, hateful, harassing, obscene, profane, sexually oriented, threatening, invasive of a person's privacy, or otherwise violative of any law, on this site. - Copyrighted material may be quoted in part or excerpted under the Fair Use exception of 17 USC Section 107. Posting of copyrighted material is the sole responsibility of the poster and not this site. Should a complaint be made by the owner about the unauthorized posting of copyrighted material, the site administrators will remove it. - Posting of advertising or commercial solicitations is barred. ------ Updates, discussion, and questions regarding Rules and Guidelines are posted in the Read This First forum. This site is not affiliated with any religious, medical, or pharmaceutical organization or company. It does not receive any funding or support from outside sources other than contributions from members. Staffing is entirely volunteer. You will see this notice prior to registration: If you decide to go off your drugs, you must take the responsibility of coping with any distressing symptoms that may arise, including those patterns of thinking the drugs were intended to remedy. We intend to provide a safe atmosphere for everyone. This site does not offer psychiatric care or psychotherapeutic care. If you need intensive attention, we urge you to also seek face-to-face therapeutic support in your life off-line, from mental health professionals, communities of faith, or other groups. As this is only a forum site, we cannot deal with emergencies of any type. If you have persistent thoughts of suicide, please contact the suicide hotline near you rather than posting them on this site. Completing this registration signifies your agreement to the above and to the Rules and Guidelines. Edited December 31, 2018 by Altostrata updated 4 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.
Administrator Altostrata Posted March 20, 2011 Author Administrator Posted March 20, 2011 To assist the finding of information: - Topics may be moved to more appropriate categories. - Redundant topics may be combined. Tip: Use search first before starting a topic that may have been covered before, such as a question about a supplement. - Posts may be moved from one topic to another. Thank you! 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.
Administrator Altostrata Posted March 20, 2011 Author Administrator Posted March 20, 2011 (edited) When you've made your 10th post, your member title will change from Getting Started to Member. As you increase your posting: Silver star 100 posts Gold star 1000 Platinum star 2000 Fingers of titanium 5000 Edited November 13, 2015 by Altostrata added star rankings 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.
UnfoldingSky Posted July 30, 2011 Posted July 30, 2011 What is the policy on talking about herbs/supplements? If you aren't pushing a specific brand? I ask because I take something that has helped me, which I have only ever seen promoted by one other person (and never spoken of negatively) in spite of years of reading on other sites. I wanted to post something about it (it's a herb, and I take it as a very strong tea). Obviously I can't tell anyone to take it, but I know some other psych drug withdrawal sites don't like even the mention of herbs as it puts a suggestion out there that could be dangerous. If I write something without expressly telling anyone to take it, and with the caveat that people do their own research, is that permitted? Can someone clarify for me? Thanks! I am not a medical professional and nothing I say is a medical opinion or meant to be medical advice, please seek a competent and trusted medical professional to consult for all medical decisions.
Administrator Altostrata Posted July 30, 2011 Author Administrator Posted July 30, 2011 No problem. You may start a topic and post about your experience in the Symptoms and What Helps forum. If others know about the tea, they may add to the topic. Be aware -- many people are hypersensitive to different things and may not have a good experience with something you've found to be helpful. 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.
Administrator Altostrata Posted November 14, 2014 Author Administrator Posted November 14, 2014 (edited) About screen name changes When you register, please choose a screen name that protects your identity. Unless you want family and friends to recognize your posts, do not tell them your screen name on SurvivingAntidepressants.org. We minimize the changing of screen names - To save work for the administrators (particularly me). - To maintain a stable community, where people get to know you by your screen name and may be confused if it changes. We will change screen names only for privacy reasons: - If your screen name can be easily found in Google and tied to your real name. (This applies mostly to people who have used their surnames or family names as screen names.) - If your screen name is the same as the one you use on social media. Use of a first name as a screen name usually does not qualify as a privacy concern. A first name would have to be so unique it could be found quickly in Google AND related to your real name. For example, there are many, many people in the world named Sandeep. If your real name and screen name are Sandeep, it's unlikely anyone who knows you would be able to find your posts on SurvivingAntidepressants.org via Google and attribute them to who you are in real life. How to request a screen name change Please respect my time and that of the other administrators: Do not request a screen name change unless you have a good privacy-based reason for the request. We will not make screen name changes simply because someone decides he or she wants a new name. Send a personal message to me or another administrator with this information: Your privacy-based reason for changing your screen name Your new screen name -- check the Members list to make sure the screen name is not already being used Screen name changes will be made only once. Edited June 15, 2015 by Altostrata updated 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.
Administrator Altostrata Posted December 23, 2014 Author Administrator Posted December 23, 2014 About the privacy of personal messages Administrators and moderators do not read personal messages of other members unless the messages are addressed to them. The forum software does not permit this, and I have no plans to install any add-ons that will enable viewing of personal messages. According to the provider of the forum software: We generally take the view that messages should be between users unless reported, so we haven't provided a viewing tool in the Admininstrator Control Panel. That said, we don't refer to them as 'private messages' because they aren't. There's three options for seeing them: Users can report posts in a PM, which alerts staff via the Moderator Control Panel to the post in question Users can invite staff into the PM in which case the full conversation is available to them An administrator can browse through the database. The last option -- browsing the database -- takes special technical skills that we would never employ for this purpose. All the moderators and administrators here have signed a promise of confidentiality. If any is indiscreet or misuses personal information of our members, that person would find him- or herself without permissions right away, and probably banned. NOTE There is one more way I might be able to read a personal message: You may have set up your account so you get e-mail alerts when you have a new personal message. If you reply to this e-mail instead of going to the site to read your personal messages, the reply gets sent to the SurvivingAntidepressants.org e-mail address. Embedded in the text is the personal message. I would rather not get these messages. If you reply to an e-mail alert you will get this automated response: This is Altostrata. When you reply to an e-mail alert, the mail comes to me.To reply to your personal messages, please log in to SurvivingAntidepressants.org and click on the little envelope icon next to your name in the upper right of every page. You will see your personal messages.Please do NOT reply to your e-mail alerts.Thank you,Altostrata 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.
buggedout Posted September 6, 2015 Posted September 6, 2015 Is there a way to have more than 12 lines in a signature? Certain # of posts etc.? Effexor XR: July 2008: 150mg | June 24 2015: 145mg | July 28 2015: 130.5mg | Sept 4 2015: 117mg | Nov 10 2015: 105mg Jan 24 2016: 94.5mg | Feb 28 2016: 85mg | Mar 27 2016: 76.5mg | Apr 28 2016: 69mg | Aug 14 2016: 62mg Jan 19 2017: 56mg | Feb 21 2017: 50mg | Mar 30 2017: 36mg | Apr 2 2017: 45mg | Sep 1 2019: 27.5mg April 9 2020: 25.2mg | Oct 30 2021: 16.9mg | Apr 1 2023: 15.2mg | May 1 2023: 13.7mg | May 31 2023: 12.3mg July 1 2023: 11.1mg | Aug 1st 2023: 10mg | Sep 25 2023: 9mg | Oct 25 2023: 8.1mg Vitamins & Supplements: MegaFood Women's Postnatal Vitamin | Metagenix D3 5000 IU | Floradix Liquid Iron
Administrator Altostrata Posted September 7, 2015 Author Administrator Posted September 7, 2015 No. The number of lines in a signature is limited because people were taking up pages with their signatures. This makes reading a thread difficult. 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.
Administrator Altostrata Posted May 9, 2018 Author Administrator Posted May 9, 2018 Please note we often give information that quite detailed, including calculations that some may find difficult. We try to give full information so you know what you might be attempting. There may be warnings and cautions included. Please pay attention to these. Because the information is important to your safety, for any of our topics in the Tapering or Symptoms forum, it's your responsibility to read the first posts in the topic, where essential information is given, before the community starts commenting. If you post a question that has been covered early in the topic, you may be reminded by the staff to do so. Please be considerate of staff time and read the beginning of a topic in the Symptoms and Tapering forums. 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.
Iatrogenesis Posted August 17, 2018 Posted August 17, 2018 Would you consider making this non-mandatory: REQUIRED Enter nearest town, state or region, and country so others who live nearby can find you. This is a site where people post sensitive info, after all... At least not the nearest town... I see people don't give this info anyway and nobody cares, but I felt like I was being pressured to give my exact location when I didn't want to because of the nature of this site so I made something up and now I feel bad about it... 1 1 year risperidone, 1 year olanzapine (10 mg). attempted first withdrawal cold turkey, failed. 2 more years olanzapine, switched to abilify which was very disruptive so attempted quitting cold turkey, failed. then 4 years amisulpride at 150 mg and about 3 zoloft at 150 mg. attempted withdrawal from both in 3 weeks, failed. reinstated zoloft and bridged to olanzapine (10 mg), successfully withdrew it over 10 months. tried withdrawing zoloft over 12 months, failed. bridged to prozac, at 40 mg, now at 12 mg.
Administrator Altostrata Posted August 17, 2018 Author Administrator Posted August 17, 2018 Interesting point. Thank you. 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.
theskul Posted December 16, 2019 Posted December 16, 2019 I have an online friend who is too much in agony to make an account here. What, if any, is the appropriate way for me to help him? Can I help him through this site? 2000-20017: on Prozac and Effexor and Wellbutrin in varying dosages 2013: anti manic drug taken for like a week. Lithium, Seroquel, Truxal(a few times) taken for a few weeks upto a month April 2019: Was gradually put on 15mg Olanzapine, 40mg Prozac Jun-August 2019: Olanzapine lowered to 5mg in a few steps, Prozac lowered to 20mg Sep 2019: Olanzapine changed from 5 mg to 2.5mg, Prozac changed from 20mg to 10mg, Melatonin 0.75mg added. Nov 2019: Olanzapine tapererd from 2.5mg - 1mg April 2019 - 22. Nov: Oxazepam(Benzo) used a few times a week in small doses (5mg) with a few exceptions. 22. Nov - 27. Nov: 1-2x0.5mg Tafil Retard(like Xanax Extended Release 0,5mg) added but stopped 27. Nov 2019 28.Nov-7. Des: 5mg-10mg/day Oxazepam to taper from Tafil, Melatonin upped to 1.5mg, 1. or 2. Des: Prozac increased from 10mg to 20mg. 4. or 5. Des: Prozac stopped abruptly In Ketosis since 1. Des 2019 Current meds (8. Des - current, 2019) Valium 5mg, Olanzpine 0.9mg, Melatonin 1.5mg-2.25mg
Moderator Emeritus Gridley Posted December 17, 2019 Moderator Emeritus Posted December 17, 2019 18 hours ago, theskul said: I have an online friend who is too much in agony to make an account here. What, if any, is the appropriate way for me to help him? Can I help him through this site? Though we prefer to work directly with the person, we have in the past worked through another person. You would need to open a new account with a new username and write an introduction explaining the situation. Gridley Introduction Lexapro 20 mg since 2004. Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017. End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg Oct. 30, 2020 Jump to zero from 0.025mg. Current dose: 0.000mg 3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete. Ativan 1 mg to 1.875mg 1986-2020, two CT's and reinstatements Nov. 2020, 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover to 18.75mg Valium Feb. 2021, begin 10%/4 week taper of 18.75mg Valium End 2021 year 1 of Valium taper at 6mg End 2022 year 2 of Valium taper at 2.75mg End 2023 year 3 of Valium taper at 1mg Jan. 24, 2024: Hold at 1mg and shift to Imipramine taper. Taper is 95% complete. Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986. Jan.-Sept. 2016 tapered to 14.4mg March 22, 2022: Begin 10%/4 week taper Aug. 5, 2022: hold at 9.5mg and shift to Valium taper Jan. 24, 2024: Resume Imipramine taper. Current dose as of Oct 15: 3.2mg Taper is 96% complete. Supplements: multiple, quercetin, omega-3, vitamins C, E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotic, zinc, melatonin .3mg, iron, serrapeptase, nattokinase, L-Glutamine, milk thistle, choline I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice. It is information based on my own experience as well as that of other members who have survived these drugs.
Administrator Altostrata Posted October 28, 2020 Author Administrator Posted October 28, 2020 About sending personal messages to staff Administrators and staff get dozens of personal messages every day, most of them belonging in peoples' Introductions topic. Please help us save our volunteer staff's time and effort by posting in the community forum rather than sending personal messages to the staff. If you have questions about tapering or coping with withdrawal symptoms, please post the question in your Introductions topic or other appropriate topic in the Tapering forum, Symptoms and Self-Care forum. or other section of the site. Please do NOT send such questions in personal messages to administrators or staff. When you ask questions in your Introductions topic, all the staff can see them and the answers to them. This helps us understand what you've already been told and avoid duplicate effort or confusion. The series of posts in your Introductions topic is a history of your case that may be valuable in the future. The staff monitors new posts in the Introductions forum daily. Also, when you post a question where the community can see it, other members may be able to answer your question faster than a staff person. If you send such a question in a personal message to a staff member, you can expect the staff member to ask you to post it in your own Introductions topic or in the community forum for an answer. 1 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.
Mark840 Posted January 30, 2022 Posted January 30, 2022 Hi, could I clarify the below means I cannot delete my account in future (general sense)? - Each member must decide how much personal information to reveal in public postings. Generally, posts and accounts are not deleted. Sep-Dec '12: Cymbalta (60mg), Zyprexa (1.25 mg), Lexappo (5 mg), Wellbutrin SR (150mg); Dec '12-Apr '13: Lithium Carbonate Tab (150mg), Wellbutrin SR (150mg), Rivotril (1mg); May '13-Feb '15: no record; Mar '15-Aug '21: Cymbalta (60mg), Seroquel XR (50mg), Rivotril Tab (0.5mg); Jul-Sep '21: switched from private to government psychiatrist who changed my drugs to Cymbalta (60mg), Quentiapine (50mg)(IR); however, Quentiapine (50mg)(IR) led me to poor sleep; Oct '21: Due to poor sleep, I requested Cymbalta (60mg), Olanzapine (2.5mg), Rivotril Tab (0.5mg, when needed) Critial Stage: Nov '21-Jan '22: ceased drugs voluntarily in Nov '21. No major issue until a remark triggered my anger. Anger was intense and lasted for weeks. End of Jan-Feb '22: Doctor reinstated me with Cymbalta (30mg) only on 29 Jan '22. However; without Olanzapine (2.5mg), it resulted in poor sleep; End of Feb-Jun '22: after too much poor sleep, doctor replaced Cymbalta (30 mg) with Remeron (15 mg); Jul '22: attempted to tapper off slowly by 10% of last dose. It resulted in weird dreams and poor sleep; Aug-17 Nov '22: Resumed 15 mg dose. My sleep restored and no more weird dreams; 17 Nov-11 Dec '22: Started to wake up after 2-4 hours of sleep, suspected I built tolerance to the drug's effect; 12 Dec '22-May 23: 3-6 hous of sleep, partly due to work stress; Jun-Aug '23: 3.5 to 4.5 hours of sleep; Sep '23-present: take mirtazapine in morning and it resolves my insomnia.
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted January 30, 2022 Moderator Emeritus Posted January 30, 2022 (edited) @Mark840 Welcome to SA, Please see this topic for more information: if-you-wish-to-close-or-delete-your-account Also see: Edited January 30, 2022 by ChessieCat * NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA * MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: (6 year taper) 0mg Pristiq on 13th November 2021 ADs since ~1992: 25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq: 50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity) Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021 LAST DOSE 0.0025mg Post 0 updates start here My tapering program My Intro (goes to tapering graph) VIDEO: Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management
Pinkslippers Posted May 26 Posted May 26 Hi Alto, I would like to update my signature and condense it but I can't work out how to. Thanks for your help 1995-1997 Prozac, Fluvoxamine, Escitalopram 10mg. 2003 Venlafaxine 150mg, CT'd effexor 2005, reinstated Effexor 2005. 2007 switch to Escitalopram 10mg 2009 cease escitalopram Crash, hospital ECT 2009 Reinstate Effexor 150mg. 2011 Fast tapered off 150mg, WD symptoms reinsated 150mg Effexor swithed to Pristiq 50mg 2012 2016 slow but linear taper Desvenlafaxine over one year, 2017 severe WD, hospitalisation ECT, doctors reinstate Effexor 300mg and 4mg Alprazolam. 2017 tapered and stopped Alprazolam. 2018-2023 Slow microtaper Venlafaxine taking out one beead a day from 300mg capsule down to 37.5mg, hold for six months. 2023 began taper reducing 2.3% per week, and reached about 29 beads out of 37.5mg capsule in April 2024 (30 mg). April 2024 Doctor increased Effexor up to 37.5mg due to stress, which caused serotonin toxicity, so I dropped 29 beads for 4 days. I exprienced horrific withdrawal symptoms and became suicidal so gradually reinstated bead by bead up to 37.5mg Effexor. Began Diazepam 5mg as required May 2024 until present - Holding on 37.5mg Effexor and Diazepam 5mg -15mg daily
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