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Hello, I am here because I am looking for more information on Invega, and I am thinking about the future; of when I may have to come off Invega completely. I was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia about 12 years ago. I have been on Invega Sustenna for abour 3-4 years now. Maybe longer. I was previously on Zyprexa, Abilify, Geodon, Prolixin, and Haldol. Within the 3-4 years I was on Sustenna, I switched to Trinza ~819 mg, and things were okay, but then I decided to try Cogentin to treat the side effects. I found Cogentin to be helpful, somewhat. Things were going well, so I asked my doctor to reduce my Trinza, and they did. With that, I increased the dosage of Cogentin from 1 mg to 3 mg's once in the morning because I felt the most relief then. That was when I started to hallucinate. I made a call to the crisis hotline one night, and I ended up in the emergency room. It was not a good ordeal. I was delusional the entire time and a security guard threatened to break my arm, along with some other disturbing experiences. I got out about a week later, after they added 9 mg of Paliperidone ER. I was still delusional. I was delusional the entire stay at the emergency room and the inpatient unit. My outpatient doctor believed I needed the extra 9 mg's so I stayed on it. I experienced severe akathisia. The Cogentin was not enough. So, I continued to take 3 mg of Cogentin in the AM, and experimented with higher dosages, up to 4 mg in the AM and 2 mg at noon. I was hallucinating and delusional. Also, my Trinza was increased to the ~819 mg dosage. Nothing helped my delusions and hallucinations. I don't know what caused the hallucinations and delusions, but my doctors think it had to do with the dosage decrease. I think it had to do with the experimenting with Cogentin. They say Cogentin doesn't cause hallucinations. I read online reports that say otherwise, so I don't know what to believe. Today, am tapering off the Cogentin. I am down to 1 mg a day in the AM. I successfully tapered off the 9 mg of Paliperidone ER and I am at the 234 mg dose, because the Trinza wasn't doing the job, so my doctor decided to try Sustenna again. I have been on the 234 mg dose for 5-6 months. One problem though, I get delusional and hallucinate one week before my injection is due. That is what I would like to find out about. Is my injection not lasting long enough? Or is this a problem with antipsychotics and they eventually lose efficacy? As far as treating my akathisia goes, I have found success with L-Theanine. I take 200 mg in the AM, but it gives me the runs, so I may reduce the dosage. L-Theanine has been a huge blessing though. It has helped with the anhedonia, but I don't think it does much for the tremors because I still experience them from time to time. For the tremors, I take magnesium glycinate. 300 mg in the AM and 100 mg at noon. I have seen people say that L-Theanine was not helpful to them at all, so please, be cautious when taking L-Theanine. Try a low dose at first, if you are considering it. That is what I did. I found it helpful, but not helpful enough. tl;dr: I am experiencing relapse symptoms a week before my injection is due. Is my injection not lasting long enough? Or is this a problem with antipsychotics and they eventually lose efficacy?

Hi I have been on Escitalopram since 2015 after the request from my doctor to take me off citalopram because I stopped taking all my meds and end up le with low sodium and was hospitalized in the trauma unit. While taking citalopram I was working, but now I have been on disability since 2016. I have tried 4 new meds in the last year for my worsening anxiety since the pandemic. My PA suggested buspirone that gave me headaches and intense sweating, and it made me drowsy, so I was not alert while driving. The next one was citalopram for 20mgs, at least that is what my PA told me, but I didn't read the label on the bottle, and I took 2 which caused massive anxiety, I looked at the bottle yesterday it's 40mgs. Next it was bupropion 75mg that made me really tired, then 150 mg of the Bupropion XL THst gave me heart palpitations Then Duloxetine, and I had trouble breathing. The latest one is Lamotrigine and 25mgs have been on it for 13 days. This one is a doozy, 2 hours after I took it, I got bad stomach cramps and diarrhea, and I hadn't had anything to eat that would irritate my stomach. I am still getting stomach aches even if I take it with food. Next it was migraine type headaches, sore neck, and sensitivity to light. I called the doctor's office about that, and they told me something else was going on with me and Lamotrigine that isn't a side effect of that. Then I started getting weird back pain with numbness. Next was a bloody ear. So, I called my PAs office and said I wanted to send a message to my doctor, but her secretary reiterated that Lamotrigine doesn't do that. I was so mad! Her secretary complained to the office manager awhile back about me calling about my side effects and lately she hasn't been sending some of my messages at all and just tells me her opinion. My doctor wants me to stay on this drug because everything I have said is not a side effect of this drug according to her, but according to CVS.com drug information center, it lists 3. Yesterday I wrote an email to my PA's office because I was so angry, I included a page from Drugs.com which lists side effects. That is another thing Lamotrigine is doing, causing agitation. She requested an appointment for tomorrow. I hope to God, that she doesn't make me stay on this drug. Does anyone have any tips if my doctor decides to get me off this nasty drug? Has anyone gotten worse while taking Escitalopram? It causes me tactile hallucinations after I take Trazodone, so I have to take it in increments at night. I called a different clinic about getting set up with a new doctor, insurance has to be approved first. He is booking in July. Haloperidol 15mgs Trazodone 200mgs escitalopram 20mgs Lamotrigine 25mgs

Hi I am new here. I have been tapering from 75 mg Zoloft, 1250 Depakote, and 30 mg Abilify. I know those are some heavy-duty dosages. I am ready to get off of these meds, but I do not want to go too fast (and I know I have.) Every four days I've been lowering dosages. I know it's too quick a taper and will slow down. Thanks

Hi all! Thank you in advance for any help/advice. Since July 2023 (8 months) I've dealt with debilitating daytime fatigue. It's not sleepiness, since I don't feel the need to nap—more like I'm pulled underwater. I can't process/experience anything. My eyes glaze over, almost like I go unconscious with my eyes open. It's devastated my life. Extensive blood work has come back mostly normal, with very slightly high cortisol & transferrin saturation which I doubt are clinically meaningful. I'm a 22-year-old male & when this started I was very stringent about exercise, sleep, & nutrition. Recently I've developed mild visual distortions: visual snow, trouble focusing my eyes, & distant objects sometimes seem to flow like oil, although I think these are due to Qelbree WD & not the SSRIs. My drug history is in my signature. Here's my story with a focus on a few drugs: in Oct '23 (my senior year of college), I started Zoloft after an acute mental crisis. That Nov I went up to 100 mg & stayed on this for 6 months. Shortly after moving in June, I began to feel some daytime fatigue. It wasn't too bad, but I thought (& still think) the Zoloft was causing it, so I asked to switch to Lexapro. I should note that fatigue was much milder than the fatigue I'm experiencing now, so I don't think it suggests that my current fatigue started before any WDs. After some time, things rapidly declined—I think I noticed in Aug. I felt strong fatigue even through Adderall (I have ADHD) & ~7 cups of coffee (I've cut back for periods & it didn't help the fatigue). I had known Adderall was bad for me in the long run, so I switched to Focalin in Sept. Focalin didn't mask the fatigue as strongly. My mood was fine, so I thought Lexapro was causing the continued fatigue. In Oct I started to wean off Lexapro. In Nov I stopped Lexapro & also replaced Focalin with Strattera (a non-stimulant drug for ADHD). Focalin had similar side effects to Adderall, but my fatigue became debilitating when I no longer had a stimulant masking it. I think it also worsened from quitting Lexapro. I spent the next few months trying a bunch of non-stimulants for ADHD. Because my fatigue had gotten worse & I didn't realize this could be entirely explained by quitting stimulants + Lexapro, I thought my fatigue was now because of these non-stimulants. I slogged through this repeated pattern of waiting weeks for the fatigue to go away each time I "adjusted" to a drug, & then switched to another non-stimulant when it didn't. After months of unbearable fatigue (& trying pretty much every drug for ADHD anyway), I got sick of it & got off everything except Wellbutrin & Armodafinil (both of which I was prescribed for the fatigue). Quitting these drugs didn't improve the fatigue. Two days ago I restarted guanfacine at my full dose since I realized I shouldn't have quit it CT & in the past I was pretty satisfied with it. I had quit it only to see if it was causing the fatigue. Now I think my fatigue probably has little to do with the non-stimulants (although it did get worse when I went up to 80 mg Strattera). Looking back on the timing, this all started when I switched off Zoloft, & really got bad when I quit Lexapro. I think my fatigue is caused by WD from these two drugs. I've probably had Zoloft WD the whole time, initially softened by Lexapro since it functions similarly. When I quit Lexapro, the WD blew up. However, the mild visual distortions seem much more recent. I had severe visual distortions while I was quitting Qelbree, so they may be Qelbree WD. And considering that increasing Strattera did worsen my fatigue, I'm worried I may actually be juggling protracted WDs from multiple drugs. I feel like I was pushed into climbing a cliff. Now that I'm there, there's no way down. I feel lost. My memory also seems to be impaired, so it's hard to even remember how I got here. Does anybody have any advice? Right now I'm getting my cortisol rechecked & also checking for sleep apnea, but I doubt either will lead anywhere. I know SSRI WD can last for years & the idea of feeling like this for years is terrifying. Does this get better? A few other questions: Most importantly, should I reinstate Zoloft? I was thinking of reinstating at either 50 mg or asking for a lower dose with a liquid formulation. But now that I'm back on the guanfacine that would put me on 4 drugs. And it's been 8 months since I was on Zoloft. Was getting back on the guanfacine the right idea? I do feel somewhat better. Does this even sound like WD? My understanding is most people end up feeling "activated" rather than fatigued. Has anybody experienced the combo of fatigue/visual distortions/impaired memory as part of SSRI withdrawal? Are there any lifestyle changes/supplements/etc. that people with WD-related fatigue have found helpful? I know there's a few posts about lifestyle/supplements generally but for most people fatigue doesn't seem the primary symptom.

Hi there, OP. You and another user wanted some solidarity with other people stuck on Seroquel, right? Let me introduce myself: Almost 38/F. Vancouver, Canada. I'm starting a taper from 50mg I.R. Seroquel next week. I've been stuck on it since July 2021, when I had a horrific reaction to LoLoestrin on the 6th day of taking it. I started having symptoms on day #3 (2x/day panic attacks!) Went to walk-in clinic on day #5 & was dismissed/told it was normal. Not for me. I've been on ~7 different b/c pills (all made me spot, and as I got older, really putrid stuff started comming out of me or I bled constantly and never stopped for 2 weeks until I gave up. So, I'm stuck with a menstrual cycle. lol.) I listened to him & kept taking the LoLoestrin. The next night, I went into Psychosis (rapid switching b/n manic laughing & weeping rapid-fire within seconds - I've always been in control of my emotions. I have the emotional regulation of a titan, humble brag.) Next morning, I went to the small local E.R. (even though my mom said nothing's wrong) & they gave me an Rx for something called Seroquel 50mg I.R. (was either that or Ativan - NO! I don't drink, so I never thought of getting drunk until my endocrine system re-balanced) & told me to get my Psychiatrist to get me off of it later. He was always on vacation (80 yrs old?), & I don't trust him whatsoever. I was finally able to get rid of him in Dec 2022. Wanted to get rid of him in Feb 2022 when things really started spiralling out of control, but nobody else avaliable. The 50mg I.R. snowballed out of control with mis Dx's, mood stabilizers, etc. I've tried to taper off of 50mg I.R. Seroquel 11x with either my own pill splitter (crumbly mess) or an in-patient industrial pill-splitter to reduce 1 of the 2 mini pills by 1/4 (12.5%). This never worked. I almost went into Psychosis 3x. I thought the birth control incident was scary enough. At no point since July 2021 in the Hospital's Mental Health & Substance Use Unit (had to get my mom to drive me many times due to withdrawal symptoms from Seroquel or other meds or the meds themselves!) or In-Patient facilities (3x w/in 6 months) did anybody mention a liquid taper. Shocking and pathetic incompetence. I learned about a liquid taper earlier this year by myself. I also learned more about Seroquel last November (h1 & d2 receptors & how the serotonin is different than the serotonin in Pristiq - ******* hell). & even more about its action on Histamine recently. & nobody since July 2021 ever plainly outright straight-up admitted that withdrawal symptoms are real. I've experienced w/d symptoms in the past. The only way I was able to get off Effexor (side-effects because I was Rx'ed way too much in 2015) was to go to Pristiq. I do well on Pristiq. My physiology can't tolerate any of the other SSRI's & SNRI's, although my Psychi always Rx'ed me too much - dangerous! The only reason I want to get off of the 50mg I.R. is because my muscles constantly jerk/twitch all over my body. Sometimes more, sometimes less. Sometimes more frequent. Sometimes less. This is a red flag and dangerous. But I've put up with it because until recently, I had no idea how I was going to try to taper again with a pill-splitter. Since learning about Histamine, I'm doing a low-histamine diet & started a couple of days ago. I do not Diet. It's not necessary for me, nor do I want to restrict. But this is a VERY special circumstance. This may help with the taper from Seroquel, since I learned from someone else on this message board about histamine from their withdrawal from Seroquel essay. (Heartbreaking.) From what I've read in your thread, you're doing quite a fast taper. I plan to do -0.25% off of the last dosage every 4 weeks minimum. Or 6 weeks? & Holding for ever how long. & then going again. Hold however many times my physiology requires. It's not up to me. It's up to my individual nervous system. I'm a non-smoker, non-drinker, and never done weed before. I drink plenty of water & plenty of fibre. I'm sure the other meds I'm on will help at least a little bit with the taper. & I've read that you need to do smaller decreases as time goes by. So, it'll eventually have to be a 0.075% decrease. & then 0.05%. & then 0.025%. I'm not even sure if my syringe for the liquid solution will work. Since I've been on the two 25mg pills for so long, I'm pretty sure I'll have to use 1 of the 25mg pills plus two 1/4 pills (12.5mg total) and then the rest liquid. I've been stuck on this ******* Anti-Psychotic for 2.75 years. If I knew it was an anti-psychotic and how complex it is, I would've taken the ******* Ativan. If it takes 5 years to fully get off of this bullsh*t, I have no choice. I already have partial insomnia for a long time now because of the Pristiq - even with the Seroquel (I'm usually up in the middle of the night tranquilized. I cannot work anymore due to this. It's too exhausting to fight it.) So, I don't want to make it worse by doing a fast taper. I'm going down until the mg where my muscles are no longer tranquilized & the twitching stops. I do not consent to my body moving without my permission, nor do I consent to being tranquilized and unable to move until mid-day next day or rarely the whole day until I take it again at 8pm. Sometimes the tranquilzing wears off a few hrs after I wake up. The tranquilizing decreased when 50mg X.R. Seroquel was added in Nov 2022 because I was withdrawing so severely from a few things at once - dangerous! People really have no idea what they're doing out there. My boyfriend has been right the whole time. I do not have BiPolar #2. I do not have Borderline Personality Disorder. I do not have 'Cluster B'. The reason he likes me is BECAUSE I'm bland, boring, average, emotionally stable, and can regulate my emotions. ie: I'm an incredibly easy partner. I come from a relatively good family. No drinking, no drugs, no domestic violence, no history of "mental illness", etc. So I'm starting to experiment with the low-histamine diet (especially with my dinner & before-bed snack) to see if it helps with the tranquilizing the next day. In July 2021, I went from my trusty 100mg Pristiq ($2/day) -> 5 medications + now 150mg Pristiq ($3/day); I think 9 pills per day. I've been emotionally violated, gas-lit, and dismissed repeatedly in these past ~2.75 years. This is by far the worst thing that's ever happened to me and will ever happen to me. Psychiatric Medication Withdrawal is worse than anything on this whole entire god-forsaken planet. I'm extremely over-medicated, but this myoclonus is downright dangerous. I was extremely hot as well until fairly recently. My long-term boyfriend had to have multiple blankets on during the summer with the A/C full-blast on me. I've been emotionally labile as well. Especially during the summer when the heat was messing with the 2 Seroquels and the SNRI. The Lamictal, Gabapentin, & Seroquel X.R. weren't enough to combat that. Sorry for hi-jacking your thread. I should make my own and make a signature for myself. Anyway. OP, take a looksee: https://reversepsychiatry.org/ https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pw4tjImAJ92OIVyRvZoZYjqxiKMk7wvp-ljiIi1olRo/edit#gid=246292188 https://withdrawal.theinnercompass.org/taper/special-tips-calculations-and-liquids https://withdrawal.theinnercompass.org/taper/doing-calculations-taper#taper-schedule-2-daily-microtaper https://www.willhall.net/files/ComingOffPsychDrugsHarmReductGuide2Edonline.pdf Specific for Histamine/Seroquel: https://rxisk.org/guide-stopping-antidepressants/#Prominent_withdrawal_symptoms https://beyondmeds.com/2012/12/04/psychiatric-drug-withdrawal/ Thanks

Until I was 30 years old I had never put an antidepressant in my mouth. I had a normal life. I studied, graduated, dated, got married, etc., etc. Since I was a child, I've always been a little anxious/worried. When I was young, I had some difficulty sleeping. I also had gastritis due to anxiety, but nothing more than that. I never resorted to medication, even though I faced many traumas (my father's death, problems with my mother that made me move in with my grandmother, etc.). However, I started taking Lexapro 20 mg from 2010 until 2017 to treat classic depression caused by a disease that no one discovered and that made me feel a lot of pain. In 2017, after many bad episodes, notably my son's diagnosis with a serious illness, Lexapro was no longer effective. I started to feel scared, depressed, with back pain and anxious. I was afraid that my eldest son would also be diagnosed with the same disease. Now I question whether the exacerbation of these symptoms was not a result of Lexapro itself. WE WILL NEVER KNOW. The fact is that the doctor - in 2017 - switched to CYMBALTA 60 mg and I reacted VERY WELL. I even got through traumatic episodes, like the sudden death of my grandmother - which for me was everything in life, as she was the one who raised me - and everything went very well. The only annoying effect was dizziness when standing up. I actually fainted a few times because of it. In one of them I even had to get stitches in my head. Anyway, everything was going very well until the episode occurred in May/2023, in which I was fired by my friend, who suggested that I had committed a crime in 2016. After what happened, I became very depressed, I didn't want to get out of bed, a feeling of injustice, difficulty waking up, etc., but I was still able to do normal activities. Early July 2023 - when I was much better and didn't feel any of the symptoms I'm experiencing now - I went back to the doctor, who decided, don't ask me why, to increase the DUAL to 90mg. About 2 weeks after starting the new dose, the monster that now plagues my life began to be born. After seeing a news story saying that a certain person had been convicted for an event that had occurred 6 years ago even though he was innocent, I began to feel afraid that the suggestion made by the monster who fired me could come true, despite there being no factual-logical support. for that. From then on, I believe that due to the increase in medication, I began to feel anguish I had never experienced before - and which I later discovered was not that bad as I would feel much worse. But, as it was something new for me, I was very scared and, after contacting the doctor, I was prescribed Pristiq 50 + 0.25 Rexulti. I argued that I didn't want to take two medications. Because of this, she told me to just take pristiq. After about a week, I felt much better and thought everything was over. A few days later, however, the symptoms of anxiety/distress and intrusive thoughts returned. Therefore, we switched to 100 mg of pristiq associated, at my suggestion, with cannabis extract. However, the medication (Green Care 79.14 mg/ml) caused me 2 panic attacks. I was traumatized by these two events and permanently stopped taking THC. For the first time in over a decade, I had to take a Xanax to calm down. However, without any change of medication, the anxiety began to return very strongly, to the point of almost preventing normal activities from being carried out. Even so, it was possible to tolerate the symptoms with GREAT DISCOMFORT. Upon returning to the doctor's office, I reported the worsening of symptoms and the Pristiq dose was increased to 150 mg, this time associated with half a Rexulti tablet (0.25). As I was very fragile and wanted to improve, I accepted the association with the antipsychotic. About 1 week later, my symptoms improved and I thought that, this time, things would go well. After 1 or 2 weeks I felt good - although a little accelerated. However, at the end of November/2023 I started to feel very anxious, accelerated and distressed, which caused a terrible cycle of thoughts. They were very uncomfortable symptoms that were slowly destroying me. I even had a kind of panic attack, but I resisted without taking Xanax. I was anxious for almost the entire day, but I refused to speak up for fear of more problems. Mysteriously, all these symptoms diminished greatly during the night, so that, as far as possible, it was possible to sleep well, despite being very distressed during the morning and afternoon. Well, after this episode I went back to the office. Seeing my condition, the doctor decided to replace the 150 mg of Pristiq with 20 mg of Lexapro with the removal of 0.25 mg of Rexulti. In the first week after withdrawing from Pristiq, it felt like something bad had come out of me. From 11/21 until 11/28 the symptoms decreased until they almost disappeared. I was quite happy. I thought I had discovered what caused all this and that there would be a happy ending soon. But there was no time to celebrate. On 11/29/23, 8 days after withdrawing from Pristiq and starting Lexapro, the anguish returned in a brutal and overwhelming way. So great and intense that the desire to kill oneself appeared as the only option to end the suffering. I had never felt this before. Therefore, it is obvious that the medication was to blame. From 11/29 onwards, my real downfall began. Despite the ups and downs, before that, I was able to go for my daily run, work and have leisure time. From then on, no more. After 11/29 I have certainly been facing the worst phase of my life. If I weren't working remotely, I would have to take time away from activities. From that date on, I completely abandoned the faith that had helped me so much in the past and my life became a distressing struggle for survival. From being a fervent Catholic with a daily rosary, I no longer had the strength to continue. It was my wedding anniversary and I couldn't go out to dinner with my wife, just to give an example. I was completely dysfunctional. Many times I couldn't even take my children to school or go to the supermarket. He was in a daily hell that seemed to have no end other than taking his own life. The days that followed were terrible. During this period, I was forced to take xanax every day (I only took it once a day, but if I could, I would take it every 3 hours), such was the anguish. I had never felt anything close to that. Not even Doistoevksi, or perhaps only he, could faithfully describe the overwhelming feelings that invaded my soul. On December 7th, due to my terrible condition, the doctor suggested that I take ketamine sessions and add 0.5 of Rexulti to the 20mg of Lexapro. From then on I had ups and downs. After the first two ketamine sessions I thought I was cured and that everything was over. I was wrong. After a few days of improvement, I began to worsen dramatically with terrible anxiety and panic, as well as intrusive thoughts. On 1/8/24, in a new consultation, the doctor decided to maintain Lexapro 20 mg and maintain 0.5 of Rexulti. That same day, I went on vacation with my family and had the worst vacation of my life. Catastrophic thoughts accompanied me at all times. I was already waking up with a LOT of fear and panic. I spent the whole day like this, with the same thought circulating and plaguing my mind. I went to the beach with atrocious difficulty. Every 5 minutes, throughout the day and afternoon, I had to relive what happened to tell myself that there was no reason to worry, that it was just the thought of a crazy person, etc., etc., all of this surrounded by a lot of fear, anguish and panic. At night, there was a little relief and, I don't know how, I was able to sleep well. But I woke up the next day in absolute panic. It was a nightmare. Upon returning from vacation, on January 22, 2024, in complete despair, I went to another doctor. He said that I had symptoms similar to those of OCD and ordered me to keep the Lexapro, remove the 0.5 of Rexulti and take Luvox 50mg for 3 days, then switch to 100. In the first three days I noticed that the intrusive thoughts decreased. Given this, he asked to maintain the 50mg, in addition to the 20mg of Lexapro. From the fourth day onwards, however, despite the thoughts having reduced, the anguish/panic increased a lot again and came in a BRUTAL and OVERWHELMING way. I had terrible episodes for about 10 days, where I really wanted to kill myself to end the pain. I woke up with a feeling so bad I couldn't describe it. I even fainted on two occasions. I couldn't carry out everyday activities, like going to the supermarket or taking my children to play soccer. I had never felt anything like this. Doctor gave Buspirone but it was like water. Therefore, he told me to take Xanax 3x a day, in addition to the other medications. Afraid of the effects of benzos, he took xanax only when the anguish was unbearable and tried to live in anguish at all times, without respite. Then, in desperation, I asked the doctor to remove the Lexapro - because I thought it was causing the symptoms. On 02/02/2024, he ordered 5 days of Lexapro 10mg and then withdrawn, he kept 50mg of Luvox and started Elavil 25 (should go to 75 mg in 5 days) and Lithium 600 (2x of 300). The day after taking 25 mg of Amytril, on February 3, 2024, I felt better. I was very happy because I didn't wake up in a panic and I didn't feel like throwing myself out the window, something that had been with me in the last few months. But my general condition continued to be poor. From then on, very slowly, I gradually improved. It wasn't great, but I stopped wanting to die. Given the improvement, the doctor asked to keep Elavil at 25 mg. I suggested that he reduce/remove Luvox but was ignored. I thought it might have effects from completely withdrawing from Lexapro but it didn't get any worse. At an appointment on 2/22/2024 with another doctor, I was in a simply reasonable state. Still very traumatized by everything I suffered and went through, but without that anguish and panic that paralyzed me and left me wanting to die (and sometimes to kill myself, which scared me a lot). As for the thoughts that I would be reported, etc., they came many times a day, but without panic or anguish. But it was much better than my previous state. I was very happy with your new doctor's line of thinking - who also understood that most of the terrible symptoms I suffered stemmed - not from my condition - but from the medications. I reminded the doctor that I was flooded with a sea of serotonin and norepinephrine (I was prescribed an incredible 150 mg of Pristiq + 0.25 of Rexulti, then 20 mg of Lexapro + 0.5 of Rexulti, and finally 20 mg of Lexapro, + 50 mg of Luvox). One of the doctors even commented that we could increase Lexapro to 40 mg!!!! My perception is that what made me improve was Lithium. After 2 weeks of taking the mineral, I had a good improvement considering my previous condition. The effect of 25 mg Elavil was also impressive, as I took it at night and, the next morning, I didn't wake up in despair. As for Luvox, I honestly think it does me more harm than good. I remind friends who read me that I am one of the many cases in which the patient presents a small complaint and is devastated a few months later by the medications. If the medication starts to cause unwanted effects, the standard medical approach is to always increase the dose, and never take out the medication. It's insane. The new doctor ordered dozens of tests, including genetic ones, and authorized the reduction of Luxox to 25 mg. I've been on the new dose for 15 days and I'm still doing it - not very well - but simply stable. He also said that our target is to remove everything ( AMEN). He also said - unlike the previous doctor - that I don't have OCD, just a persistent intrusive thought. I remember never feeling anything like that. I never had thoughts that tormented me day and night. I remember never feeling anything like that. I never had thoughts that tormented me day and night. This is yet another indication that this all happened due to the different drugs I was put on. The thoughts that I could be accused of something - despite having done nothing - appear all the time, but without the panic like before. Today, 8/3/24, I am taking low doses of three medications: 25 mg of Elavil 25 mg of Luvox 600 mg of Lithium, The first withdrawal occurred. 15 days ago I reduced Luvox from 50 to 25. Because of all this, here I am, looking for everyone's help to, little by little and very carefully - after all, I am very traumatized by what I went through and felt - remove these medications from my life and get out of this nightmare I have been going through. Thanks and sorry for the bad english.

My story is as follows: since 2012 I was living in constant stress and had huge business and responsibilities. I started to treat my stress by drinking wine. Then I decided to quit meat, and developed anemia. Since my body was weak, I had UTI and various inflammations in kidneys and gut. I was prescribed with antibiotics for 8 months; they totally destroyed my microbiome. Occasionally I was feeling sad from time to time, and at such moments was drinking wine. I know why I started feeling sad, as I was using wine as my coping mechanism to deal with stress, and wine is a big depressant and destroys your microbiome. On 2021 I started having anxiety. I was prescribed with antipsychotic Fluanxol and diagnosed with anxiety disorder and depression. After 3 days anxiety was gone. But after 3month I developed depersonalization and feeling strange like depressed and my doctor said that depression is getting worse and I need SNRI- Cymbalta( duloxetine). I became suicidal and total zombie. After 1,5month she told me to CT, and prescribed Cipralex I developed: anxiety extreme one, vomiting, diarrhea, zombie feeling. After 1,5 month she told me to CT, then I was prescribed valdoxan it did nothing to me. Then I was prescribed mirtazapine, since all the polydruging I developed real depression and anhedonia. On the top they prescribed be Prozac. On Prozac I was getting slightly better, they upped the dose after one year to 60mg and felt even better but anhedonia and dysphoria were never gone. Now I am tapering mirtazapine since 2023 April, so since April from 45mg to 15mg reached now already. All was good for 2 months( November, December) even anhedonia was gone, but I was not tapering it as I was In Bali. Now when I started tapering again in December, withdrawals started to affect me on 27 January, 3 days bad 4 days good, again 4 days bad 10 days good, now when I reached 15mg I started having panic attacks. Does it sound for you like I have bipolar? I went to new psychiatrist today as I was feeling very scared of panic attacks and he said all these med did not help you initially as you are BIPOLAR. So now he wants me to prescribe 0lanzapine for 2 months meanwhile to CT mirtazapine and Fluanxol. And then after 2 months to stop olanzapine and Prozac and start lamotrigine. I am going insane, crying nonstop. Can I be Bipolar? Or is it that withdrawals mimic some other illnesses. I don’t feel that I was bipolar before meds I was just sad- and reason was too much wine. Anxiety was as a side effect of antibiotics in 2021. Please help going insane. Also what to do I reduced mirtazapine 10% every 3 weeks, now 2 weeks past the last reduction and I am having panic attacks every day and anxiety, depersonalization. Should I wait or should I up dose? Should I slow down with my taper and do 10% every 4-6 weeks? Please help

Hi fam- so I’ve just turned 32 after what’s seemed like a decades-long book of a psychiatric journey. At age 13 I was admitted to the hospital for severe depression. My family decided to perform an intervention to get me out of bed and into the hospital, due to not being at a place to deal with the conflict. My mother a neurologist, father an endocrinologist, and to-be-doctor sister at the time, failed to intend to resolve the issue outside of psychiatric means. So I was put on Zoloft… my first medication in a line of maybe 15+ drugs that Ive had a regimen for in my life. But I come to this forum nearly 20 years later and realize what my journey has been like, my yearning to get back to who that passionate individual was, superseding all bounds of the medicinal chaos that entrapped me for most of my life. but I’ve found good structure in my life as of late. Past all the suicidal years in my late teenage and early-to-mid 20s. I started a family, with a wonderfully empathetic wife who supports me in my journey. I had met her having gone Cold Turkey for a complete stint of two years before … more trauma. we lost our baby boy in March ‘21 during a traumatic uterine rupture. God bless him. three months after, my rage knew no bounds and I ended up striking my wife.. and I ended up hospitalized after a suicide attempt… the last in the line of 6 attempts throughout life. I was then out into an IOP program, the fourth time I have participated in one so my skills were really in for polishing. I remember being the “wise” one by my peers and even the mediators themselves. All in all I picked up my toolkit, for helping in my structure in many ways. I have no regrets here. my life has become pretty stable, with the vraylar since then, along with the time old and tested Lamictal that I take to feel that so-called “mental clarity” of my 20s. I take 10mg of amphetamine to abide by the demands of working in a high-paced IT consultant gig. It does its tricks, but makes me feel like a token minority (indian, here) and like I live up to fewer merits without it. So it needs to go. Eventually. But my diagnosis of ADHD inattentive-type is pretty seriously affecting me and need to cope with it as best as I can. I rationalize this with taking the low dose and having deliberately open conversations around this and all my drugs with my psychiatrist. He’s supportive of me looking into tapering which is nice. so I want to start with vraylar and lamotrigine subsequently. I think my bipolar diagnosis can go to hell, just like when we threw out borderline personality disorder. Hell, I’m not even feeling like I’m up to dealing with them stigmatized labels anymore like being inattentive or autistic. I just want to be free. oh yeah, smoke a bong dab a day for calming the nerves. Peace and love. Thank you kindly for reading.

Hi, I’m 70 and have had depression and anxiety on and off for most of my life. I weaned myself off Valium in my thirties successfully. I was prescribed Citalapram 20mg 15 years ago and it works for me. In the past twelve months my mobility has not been good and I have struggled badly with depression as I have the motivation but my body says “no”. My family had to intervene to get me some help and I was prescribed Mirtazapine which helped me through a bad patch. I now would like to come off Mirtazapine as I feel tired all the time. My doctor is aware of this and told me to do it gradually, which is sensible. I’ve been checked for everything to explain my tiredness and everything is fine, so my next step is to look at the meds I take. Thank you for reading this and any advice on coming off the Mirtazapine would be gratefully received.

Hi everyone, I've been a long time recipient of the psychiatric system since I believe 2008/2009. Eventually, I was labelled schizophrenic (and recently labelled "anxiety disorder"). Of course, I am very skeptical of the psychiatry paradigm. I totally forgot my medication past but I have been on Risperdal before, which is all I remember. Right now, the psych drugs I am on are 1mg Benztropine (mornings), Divalproex 500mg S,T,Th,Sat (night), Divalproex 750mg M,W,F (night), and Olanzapine 10mg daily. I used to but stopped Minoxidil. I also take Omega 3 fish oil and vitamin d3. My moods have been usually stable. I have been hospitalized in the past but been stable for at most 7 years. I do have somewhat of a problem with my sleep as I stay up late (and many times have difficulty falling asleep) many times past midnight, and get out of bed late usually 11am or even past noon. I used to run and do exercises but have stopped recently. Sometimes, I do have some anger and frustration. I want to eventually lower my dosages to the lowest possible if not completely. I was wondering which of the psychotropic medications should I lower first? Should I lower one at a time or do a combination of lowering? I read a bit about multiple drug tapering on this site. I read the Inner Compass Project site. I've visited various blogs. I also looked elsewhere. I read that benztropine is not a benzodiazepine but an anticholinergic antiparkinson agent. Is that true? I think I already messed up with my doctor. She has never had a patient who has deprescribed completely and probably wants me on the medication for life. I also have no allies in my family as they are in the medical profession, have seen me at my worst, and they probably believe that any form of psychiatry skepticism is anti-medicine/anti-science. Thanks for any constructive help, WishforBest

First time. Sorry if im not doing this right. So all the drugs ive been prescribed over the years have been for insomnia or for restless legs caused by the antidepressants given to me for insomnia. About a year ago i did a sleep study and was told i have mild sleep apnea and that it could be causing my insomnia. Unfortunately i haven’t been able to sleep with cpap machine. Since the sleep study ive lost 25lbs. After i lost the first 15 my sleep started to get a little better so i started tapering Amitriptyline. From Januaury-late June 2023 I tapered from 50mg down to 10mg just by eye balling it and cutting off gradually bigger pieces. I felt it everytime i cut back further. After 2-3 days i get very irritable, then some flu like symptoms and after about a week the anxiety kicks in. The lower i get the longer it lasts. My last successful taper was last June. I went from taking 12.5mg(half of a 25mg tablet) down to a 10mg tablet. After about a week i had severe anxiety. Its a horrible anxiety that i can feel physically in my upper stomach lower chest area. It took about 2 weeks before it started to go away. Since i got down to 10mg ive tried to go lower 3 times but had to go back to 10mg because i dont seem to be recovering. Ive also been struggling with insomnia ever since I hit 10mg. Before I hit 10mg i was able to taper without it affecting my sleep. When i got to 10mg i bought a scale to help taper more accurately. This is where i ran into trouble. The pills i take are 10mg tablets with a pink coating on it. But they weigh anywhere from 61mg up to 67mg. I Dont know if its the coating thats off or the medicine. After my 1st attempt to taper down from 10mg i wasnt recovering so after 1 month i went back to 10mg. I wasnt sure if it was the medicine thats off in the pills so for a couple weeks i took only pills that weighed between 63-64mg and i leveled out. I did the same thing the 2nd time around but it took about 3 weeks. But this last time ive been just mixing it up taking pills of all different weights 61-67mg. Its been 5 weeks today and although my symptoms have improved im still have a little bit of that sick anxiety feeling off and on threw out the day and trouble sleeping. I dont know if its just taking longer to level out cause of some sort of kindling effect or if its because the medicine is off in these pills. Was wondering if anyone had insight on this. I decided i wont be using the scale in the future since the weight of the pills off by as much as 10%. I bought a medicine bottle, some oral syringe adapters and a 10ml oral syringe. My plan is to use 100ml of water so that every 10ml equals 1 mg. Im just waiting to feel 100% before moving forward. Im very nervous about switching to a liquid. Just looking for advice and support. Again if anyone has any insight as to why i havent leveled out all the way after 5 weeks i would appreciate it. Thank You.

Hello, first, I want to emphasize that English is not my native language. A brief overview of my medical history: Since the age of 21, I have had depressive episodes treated with Seroxat and Zoloft. Between these episodes, several years could pass. I easily stopped taking the antidepressants, even though I didn't gradually reduce the doses. Due to mild depression, in September 2021, I asked my psychiatrist to prescribe me an antidepressant again. After just two weeks, I felt better, my energy returned, and the depressive thoughts disappeared. I wasn't aware that the antidepressant had actually triggered hypomania. In March 2023, I stopped taking the antidepressant again. In May, the depression returned with full force. I went back to the psychiatrist and told them about the hypomania. She prescribed Zoloft (50mg), lamotrigine (50mg), and olanzapine (5mg) for sleep, even though I didn't have sleep problems at that time. My condition didn't improve; in fact, I felt like I had lost myself, my emotions, and the will to live. I also experienced a rapid heart rate. The diagnosis of bipolar 2 was not confirmed. My psychiatrist even claims that I don't have bipolar disorder. I suspect that olanzapine is the main "culprit," which is why I tried to stop taking it CT. Immediately, insomnia appeared, and I had to restart taking it. That's when I started researching how to safely taper off this drug and found this website. Since September, I have been gradually reducing the dose of the medication every 3 weeks. At first, it was more than 10%, so now I'm at a dose of 1.125mg since January 10th. I usually notice withdrawal symptoms after about 6-7 days. Initially, I had nausea, diarrhea, difficulty sleeping, anhedonia, and depression. The nausea and diarrhea are now tolerable, and I think kefir has helped me the most. My sleep is between 4 and 8 hours. It's hard for me that my emotions have dulled. For a while, I couldn't even cry. I have managed to do so twice in the meantime. As contradictory as it may sound, I was happy that I could cry. I live in constant fear of how intense the withdrawal symptoms will be. On this difficult path of getting off olanzapine, I would like to hear about experiences. With a reduction in dose, under the condition that the dose is reduced by 10% from the last dose, do the symptoms become milder? Will my emotions at least return a little during the reduction? Will I be a little happier? Is it possible that Zoloft is not working because I'm taking olanzapine? Regarding a potential bipolar disorder, I am going through real agony. I constantly question the last 27 years - have I ever been hypomanic without realizing it? Was the hypomania caused by Seroxat really bipolar disorder? Will I have to take medication for the rest of my life? I have lost trust in psychiatrists. I feel lonely, ashamed, and I'm not even able to talk to my husband, sister, or mom about what I'm currently going through. My husband doesn't even know how olanzapine affects me or that I'm trying to get off it. By the way, as I write this, I'm crying, which I suppose is good. I wonder what I have done so wrong to go through what I'm going now and if I will ever be the way I used to be.

I’m A Phoenix Rising. I’m a 50 year old mother of 6 and I’ve been on psychiatric drugs for the last 30 years. It all started with Zoloft for depression and GAD. I now have 4 or 5 psychiatric diagnoses and about 5 other diagnoses as a result of my psych meds, which introduced even more drugs to my stash, multiple hospital stays and 3 years of ECT. They have destroyed my memory, made me numb and compliant, given me peripheral neuropathy, idiopathic hypersomnia, and ADHD-like characteristics. Not to mention the compulsions I have developed and desperately need to shake, weight gain, metabolic changes, and amotivational syndrome. These drugs, and psychiatrists, nearly destroyed my family so many times and came way too close to ending my life. The almost humorous thing is, up until Aug. of 2023, I was completely in the dark about the side effects and withdrawal from these drugs. No idea! I lived through it a few times yet I had absolutely no one tell me what I was going through was normal. I thought I had completely lost it and that I was destined to live out my life this way (on meds). Looking back now I see how uncharacteristically angry I would get while on zoloft. After my mother died in 2012, while grieving, I went to see a psychiatrist who put me on an anti-psychotic(seroquel), 2 benzos (klonopin & xanax) and adderall (not yet diagnosed with ADHD). My behavior changed drastically. I had a very short affair then decided that I was ready to die. I wound up in a coma for 3 days, then they promptly shipped me to a psych hospital. On 3 separate occasions they gave me a benzo and then refused after that (their funny idea of a taper, I'm guessing). That was the beginning of my very long withdrawal of those particular drugs leading to psychosis (more diagnoses) more suicide attempts, more hospital stays and finally ECT due to being treatment resistant. Lastly, once finding out I was pregnant (in the ER) in 2019, I was told to go off all meds. I wasn’t able to be seen by an OB for 6 weeks. Once seen they put me back on Effexor XR at 150mg (I was on 300mg), then a month later increased my dose to 225mg. Being an older mom, I was being monitored closely yet they didn’t recognize the very serious withdrawal. After looking at my baby’s brain, they told me it looked like “someone put his brain in a blender”. My son had a very rough start, but over time he pulled through. He is now a very loving, active, charismatic three year old! Symptoms of withdrawal; intense anxiety when I've made a mistake. Otherwise it's nagging insomnia and almost constant irritability. ***Life hasn’t always been sour and angry despite what I’ve written here. I am stable now and feel happiness. I have hope and I’m eager to make the changes needed to live out the rest of my years drug free. -Phoenix

I am dismayed when I look back at the past ten years. I was diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder and headed off to college with Lexapro. Ten years of therapy, several diagnoses, seventeen medications, and one intensive outpatient program later, I still feel flat inside. My therapist has been encouraging me to reconsider my medication usage - we both share the feeling that I am overmedicated and disregulated. The medications I am currently on - Wellbutrin, Lithium, Trintellix, Caplyta, Topimarate, dosages in signature - have not nudged me in one direction or another - and I strongly desire a change. There are several reasons that drove me to Surviving ADs: Accidentally overdosing on Lithium during the summer Side effects: fine tremor in hands, difficulty getting erections, very low sex drive, constant battle against dehydration, discomfort with heat It's not sustainable for me to pay over $800/month on meds until my deductible is met My psychiatrist is leaving his practice and I need to find someone else for medication management I feel like there must be more to life than the slog the past ten years have been I don't particularly mind taking 10 pills a day, getting labs done every couple of months, or having to take Tadalafil every time I want to have sex, but it has to be worth it. Taking stock of my life right now, I don't think it's worth it. I've given it a good college try, and now I'd like to get off the ride. I'd like to plan tapering off my medications (10% at a time, of course!) while staying in talk therapy, and finding a new healthcare provider. As it goes, I'm not sure how to approach a few pieces of this: I don't really have a great relationship with a doctor at the moment - would it seem adequate to find a new doctor as a prescriber? Once again, my psychiatrist is leaving the practice, so I do need a prescriber as I taper off. How does the taper conversation go with a prescriber? How does a person taper off five medications? Is there an order of operations to follow? I'm at a point in my life where I can't even remember beyond foggy details how I felt before I was taking antidepressants. Would should I expect for returning to the unmedicated LaurenceAloof?

Hello All, I have been on and off this community for almost a couple of years now and finally when the registrations opened I thought I will join to make my journey more systematic. Originally diagnosed with GAD when I was 18 years old and been through a cocktail of drugs (complete timeline at the end). Over the years, the diagnosis has morphed into GAD, OCD and Depression. The last drug I was prescribed is as follows Clomipramine 75mg Lithium 800 mg I have been using this for about 2 years now, and in the last 6 months or so I have observed that I have almost unlimited energy, talk a bit too much and struggle with sleep. Specifically I have Nocturnal panic attacks, which keep waking me up and eventually I get tired of the chest tightness, walks, excessive eating at night and finally fall asleep around 3AM. My Psydoc, asked me to lower Clomipramine to 50mg. This is approx 6 months ago, I did accordingly and symptoms of OCD (intrusive images), lack of energy, crying spells etc came with full force. Hence I restored the dosage back waited 6 weeks to stabilize and commenced on a slow taper approx 10/11/2023. A bit more on the insomnia, I don't have trouble falling asleep, its just that I wake up with panic attack, some time restless leg syndrome. I frequently get more than 4 or 5 panic attacks per night. I have been prescribed Valium 5 mg, which I have been taking for over 8 months now. When I have good spell, I take half (2.5mg) so in total I would have been 60% time taking 5mg each day, and 40% time taking 2.5mg. I am fully aware of benzo dependence and try my best to lower it the best I could but currently I don't want to disturb too many things in one go. Back to my primary medication, My first taper step was 12.5mg (I know it is a big jump, but since I had benzo support I thought atleast I will take this first step higher than 10%) right now I am at 62.5 mg Clompiramine. approximately 6 weeks into it. Anxiety is on the rise but manageable currently. There are good and bad days but overall I am managing to do my tasks. Hypo mania / excited state has definitely gone away and I do have some lethargy and lack of motivation at times. Psydocs wasnt keen on slow taper but I put my foot down that that's how I am going to do it, he is supportive reasonably although he may not believe my approach. I do get second thoughts if I am doing the right thing or shall I listen to my psydoc and add another medication to the mix to manage. So far I have resisted and am coping. I intend to stay at this dose for atleast a few more months before taking another cut (definitely within 10% this time). Valium I will continue till I have stability on clomipramine 50mg. Then will decide how to proceed from that point. Long way to go, wish me luck. 2001 - Generalized anxiety disorder (derealization) - Lexapro 10 mg 2008 - Lexapro 20 mg (increased due to post baby blues) 2010 - Lexapro 30 mg 2016 - Lexapro 40 mg 2019-2020 - Lexapro stopped working, rapid tapers and switching to Fluexotine, Effexor, Remeron etc caused severe depression 2020 - Tried TMS but no avail. Suicidal ideation. Ended up in ER 2021 - ECT sessions to treat Major depressive episodes, discharged from hospital with Effexor 225mg but it wasnt managing the situation 2021- God send Psydoc, identified OCD as a contributory cause, put me on clomipramine 75 mg and Lithium 1500 mg 2021 - 2022: Dosage stabilization at Clomipramine 75mg and Lithium 800 mg, overall high energy state with brief almost hypo mania episodes here and there. 2022-23: Insominia kicked in due to nocturnal panic attacks Nov- 2023: Clomipramine taper started 62.5mg

Hi, is there someone I can message or speak to who can help me with a tapering schedule and who can try help me figure out what's going on with me?

Hi! I decided to post here even though my story is complicated. My timeline: April 2020 - floxed by Cipro Until Feb 2021 - polydrugged with many psych meds - ADs (trintellix, escitalopram, cymbalta to which I had a horrible reaction, trazodone) pregabalin, opioids - all because I was told I had anxiety and not Cipro side effects Jul 2022 - consider myself 95% healed Aug 2022 - SETBACK from clomiphene, I get pregnant, symptoms get worse but aren’t as bad as now Nov 2022 - another SETBACK from Fosfomycin, I get terrible immediately but even worse within a few weeks, still getting worse slowly week by week with some windows in between Feb-1st half of April 2023 - horrible wave, don’t think I will ever come out of it 2nd half of April-end of June - symptoms start lifting, I have my baby, feel like so am healing even though I was heavily medicated in labour, I start living again, fully functional - did I get better because pregnancy hormones made me so? July 2023 - slowly symptoms start getting worse without a trigger or maybe the trigger was the meds in labour or just the loss of pregnancy hormones? end of July-2nd half of Aug 2023 - symptoms explode, I feel so bad I can barely handle it end of Aug-first 11 days of Sept 2023 - started getting better again, not great but definitely improvement and I start living again, I am fully functional Starting Sept 12, 2023 - a horrible wave again, even more severe symptoms, symptoms getting worse every week, still in it My symptoms were not as bad as now after Cipro and psych meds, I mean they were bad but now that I have the comparison - not so much. It seems it was the clomiphene that ruined me but I am sure it wouldn’t have happened had I not been polydrugged before. I am over a year into a setback that made things 1000x worse and I haven’t seen ANY improvement. I am only worse if anything. I am barely hanging on. My baby needs me and I am a complete mess. My symptoms come and go, change, usually last for a few hours or a day and change. I stopped having full windows, I just have breaks from some of the symptoms. Evenings are usually better, most symptoms get worse or come on 30-60 minutes after getting up. My whole range of symptoms: - some form of akathisia but not the severe kind, the sensations below are what I experience with it but I don’t get terror or adrenaline surges (this I get but not often), pounding heart, etc., it feels very physical to me - pressure, tension in body, it’s terrible, affects different parts, sometimes neck and back of head, sometimes back, sometimes legs, it feels like I am pumped with air and about to have a one kind of a jolt or a seizure but the don’t come, I am tense most of the time - internal burning, soul on fire, caustic sensations inside that paralyse me; this sensation is so odd, I don’t know if anyone has ever experienced that, it’s not my skin, it feels like heartburn but all over, it’s in the background, in my brain, stomach, neck, legs, arms, when it hits I can barely move as moving triggers the sensation and pain builds up, it also feels kind of electric, it terrifies me because most people only talk about skin burning - electricity inside, jolts from brain down and smaller shocks deep in the body, I have waves of a feeling that I can feel all these tiny nerve connections all over, it’s hard to describe it, it’s sickening, doesn’t hurt but makes me want to lose it because it’s so unnatural, it’s like I can feel nerve cells shaking - buzzing, vibrating inside (sometimes mild in the background, sometimes deep and intense in my back, stomach, legs), some weird commotion inside me, sometimes it even feels like something moves in me or tugs me - weird surges (not very often) in the stomach, head that terrify me - brain symptoms (buzzing, burning, moving, feels like a balloon is being pumped) - when that this I feel like I am going to go into a seizure - overstimulation - restless feelings in different muscles, travelling all over, that’s actually how it began, I was aware of some muscles but it started spreading and now that just feels way worse, like the muscle starts feeling crawly, prickly, tickly, itchy, burns, feels like it’s contracting but it isn’t, almost like they are toxic, not as severe as I have seen aka but I am terrified it will get that bad soon, it can be in any muscles in my legs, back, stomach, arms, upper back - legs - so like a month ago something got bad in my legs and they started feeling was worse than before even though I did have sensations in them - now some days they hurt and feel like they are spasming, twitching, somethings moving inside them, sometimes it’s the butt, then thighs back or sides or front, backs of knees, calves, then comes this inner tickle or burning, vibrations, electric feeling, it’s like they are a separate being from me but it’s not making me pace, at least not yet… Sometimes they just hurt and I kind of prefer it to the creepy feelings. But it’s all sooo awful in general - problems with sleep (most days I can sleep but some days it’s terrible), I wake up a lot because of my baby and most awakenings I feel sort of off, sometimes I am buzzing all over, sometimes just feel weird tension in general - deep muscle/bone toxic and gnawing pain going hand in hand with the tension, burning, feels like the flu or a toothache in body - all sorts of paresthesias (way less bothersome than the other things as I had it from Cipro and I got used to it and it somehow happens less but when it does it’s a bit intense) - raw nerve feelings in my nerve endings like I cannot tolerate certain textures, it’s not burning or anything but feels like my nerve endings are exposed. It usually happens in my arms and hands - as a result of the above horrible fear of my future and crying most days. It’s not all at once, it comes and goes. I haven’t touched any meds since my c-section. I lived through my c-section wound infection with no antibiotics, just silver packings. I just need some hope. I am really scared. Have you seen people heal from polydrugging even if they deteriorated for a longer while? Can I heal from such symptoms? What worries me is that after Cipro it was getting worse for a few months and then symptoms started improving and I could see I was improving. I was so much better that I even considered pregnancy. I tolerated many supplements and even some meds. Back then I had very mild aka and paresthesia mostly. And it was all getting better slowly. I had hope. Really in July 2022 I felt 90-95% healed from the worst symptoms. I only had aka with mild buzzing and muscle sensations in arms every two weeks or so for a few hours. But after the setback in July 2022 I have only seen deterioration. And I started plummeting again this July. Not sure if it’s from all the other drugs I had to take in my c-section but possibly. However, it started getting bad again after 5-6 weeks after having my baby after being in a 2,5-month window in which I felt 60-90% better depending on a day and I was very bad between Feb and April. But I am afraid something just f’d me up so bad that it’s never going to start improving. I have seen others get bad, hit rock bottom and start improving but for me it’s like I haven’t hit rock bottom yet and I am just free falling. It’s the scariest time of my life constantly since the setback. For me it’s like instead of hitting me acutely everything just explodes after a while and symptoms build up and up ☹️ I need some support. Nobody in my real life gets it.

Please help me , I have been taking 3 meds ( Olanzapine 5mg , Quetiapine 400mg and Amitrptyline 150mg ) for over 2 years , The last 2 months were very Hard , suddenly I start having Panic attacks , depression , fatigue , 0 appetite , Insomnia ; I've read that it can be from reaching the tolerance , tolerance is when the drugs don't work as they use it because the body get adapted to them , I am pretty sure that I am having tolerance because I start getting my old feelings for the first time . I didn't find anyone that had a similar experience ; Please help , Should I stop the medications ? or i have to just wait ? I don't want to increase my dose or to swicth to other drugs .

Hi I’m Steve, I recently completed a taper from 40mg of Vybriid down to zero. The taper was simple decrease of 10mg per week until I was off the drug. I didn’t realize it would have been safer to reduce the dosage at 10% per month. I actually feel better off of the medication except for muscle tension in my upper and mid back area and occasional burning sensations (feels like a sunburn) on the back of my shoulders and neck sometimes. The worst so far is when the muscles tighten up it feels like there is a knot in the middle of my back or spine. It is not severe but it is disconcerting. I did make the mistake of trying to come off of Vybriid cold turkey three years ago and subsequently suffered some sort of manic episode (I don’t really know exactly what it was) and was labeled bipolar, immediately told by my psychiatrist I would be on medications for the rest of my life and placed on a mood stabilizer, Trileptal. Initially, the mood stabilizer calmed everything down and i really I was bipolar. However after the three worst years of my life and a ton of reading about misdiagnosis (labeling), and overprescribing which included a 9 night stay in a psychiatric hospital, I decided that I would taper myself off of all of my medications, one at a time (Sorry for the long run on sentence). I started by withdrawing from Vybriid maybe mid-August to mid-September. I stopped Topamax cold turkey on a Monday a couple of weeks ago after my psychiatrist didn’t return my phone call. I have a new psychiatrist who will help wean me off of these awful drugs. I will be making all the decisions with his guidance, not the other way around. I am now keep daily records of my medications and what I am feeling throughout the day. 10 days ago I began to taper from trileptal 1500mg down to 1200mg. I am in a holding pattern until at least October 26, which is the next time I have met my psychiatrist. I am very concerned that the muscle tension I am feeling is from withdrawing from the Vybriid. I also know now that I can’t taper at the rates I have been. My nervous system can’t handle it. After completing the Trileptal withdrawal, which may take many months, I have the pleasure of going through the hell of a benzo withdrawal, which is 1.5mg if klonopin. I know now that becoming psych drug free is going to be long, slow, and safe process that may take 18-24 months to complete. It may take 5 years to complete. I really don’t know. I do know I want off of these awful poisons. I want to come off of them as slowly, safely and pain free as possible. I want to survive all this and be able to support others who are doing the same. How long will it take for the muscle tension to go away? Has anyone had these similar symptoms? Thanks for taking time to read all of this! I looking forward to being an active member in this community and I hope I can be of support to others who are dealing with something we never asked for. Steve

Hello, I am tapering Ambient currently 5mg. I am using the dry cut method with a scale. Is there a spreadsheet or calculator that will calculate the weight and how many mg that is at each reduction? I am terrible at math and this has been where I mess up, I get very anxious and am just not able to think clearly about the numbers. I want to be prepared if pharmacy changes lab which results in different pill weights (long story but I've already tried asking at several pharmacies and none will commit to keeping same lab) that I will be able to make the conversion. My focus is help with the math, if you have suggestions about working with pharmacy that's a secondary issue that's fine but please help with the math!

I'm start to taper klonopin becouse I feel that klonopin is making me the most problems,in fact I suposted to be tapering luvox first but klonopin is asking me more and more to feel some sort of normal so i decated to taper it first,I'm also on diazepam so I hope that I am on the right plce to have some answers becouse Here it is some sort of diferent that on benzobuddies becouse you say to taper ssri first but becouse I am on two benzos maybe it is the right way to taper one benzo then luvox,tnx and be well

Hello everyone, My name is Giulia, I'm Italian, I'm 35 and I was diagnosed as bipolar type 1 in 2010. After taking lithium for 10 years (Resilient 83 mg slow release ) , I started to reduce it in June 2022. My main motivation was to try to conceive a child without lithium. Over the next 10 months, I reduced the dose by 20% each month. I now understand that my reduction plan was too rapid, because after 10 months I stopped sleeping and went back into a long period of mania (3 months), hospitalised twice, followed by a long period of depression. Now I'm back on lithium, this time carborate, 400 slow-release (Theralithe 400 mg slow release) I would like to start the taper again, even though I'm afraid of reliving the mania and depression as withdrawal symptoms. Has someone had the same diagnosis and has a psichiatrist to suggest, that could follow me in the tapering? Has someone of you been pregnant after the withdrawal? If yes, how did it go? Thank you so much for your sharing!

Hello, I have been on Lexapro for almost 19 years—only off one year was I was pregnant with my firstborn. After 10 years of being on Lexapro (10mg), after dealing with my mother’s death and a newborn baby, I had developed insomnia and anxiety and was put on Trazodone (100 mg) and then later klonopin .5mg taken as needed. Been taking Trazodone for about 8 years now and klonopin on and off for 5. in January of this year after following my doctor’s advice, I tapered lexapro over the course of 6 weeks. Well, obviously it was too quick and hell broke loose shortly after I March. Along with crippling anxiety, panic, crying spells, body jolts, depression ,depersonalization, etc., my biggest and most prominent symptom has been insomnia. Most of the week I sleep a broken 1-4 hours. If I’m lucky, one night a week I will crash and sleep for 8-9 hours. I take klonopin only twice a week max if I hadn’t slept in days and I’m getting in a really bad place (I know this is not optimal, but I feel I’m out of options.) I must note that I also stopped taking my birth control pills at this time, as well and not sure if lack of hormone are also contributing to insomnia. I had reinstated at 2.5 at the end of March, and thought I was feeling okay but May even though my sleep was still off, so foolishly I dropped to 2.2mg. When this happened, I lost all control and had to go back up to 2.4 after 6 weeks of hell and no signs of stabilization. It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve been at 2.4 and my sleep is as bad as ever. I read horror stories about people’s sleep never returning or it taking years. I’ve already been dealing with this for 6 months. I have tried everything from magnesium to melatonin to glycine to weighted blankets and black out curtains—nothing works. Am I doomed to never sleep again? Every area of my life has been affected by this…my marriage, my children, friends, work, etc. I feel like I’m really losing myself and feeling pretty hopeless.

Pearl was 10 when she had some anxiety and hormonal issues and started having crying spells. She would go to her room and start crying. She was given Antidepressant for that. Initially it helped but then within 2 months she reached tolerance. So dose was increased. Higher dose worked for 2 more weeks. Then crying spells returned in worse intensity along with some mental confusions and distorted thinking. A benzo was added along with Antidepressant. No improvement was found. She started showing behavioral changes, psychosis symptoms (delusions only , no hallucinations). An antipsychotic was added. By the time we realized the drugs are harming her more, and are not the cure, it was almost 7-8 months. We started discussing with doctors and tapering was started. Tapering was done over a period of 1 year. She suffered bad withdrawal symptoms: Loss of sleep Crying spells returning Anger/Rage Zombie/Glazed look Entire day sitting at one place , not doing any thing Hygiene went to hell Memory and Cognitive decline She stopped going to school at this point. We also supported her as she was not able to comprehend what was being taught and it was giving her stress because she was not able to understand. She is drug free from 4 months. Still boiling rage is continuing. Some of the mental confusion/delusions are coming back. Cognition is not at all getting better. She is now 12. Even if we look at her, she starts throwing stuff at us. I being her mother is taking care of her hygiene and health. It will be 5 months of being drug free this week and still not much of an improvement. She is my child and her suffering like this is too painful for me. Is there any way I can speed up the recovery?

Hi I’m Sheena. I’m 36, currently tapering off meds. I live with my parents in Florida. I was started on Paxil at the age of 14 1/2 after starting my menstrual cycle. I started birth control at 16 for “safe sex” and was put on it continuously with never taking that week break when I was 23 and got diagnosed with PMDD. I was put on Klonopin 1 mg 3 times a day for nine years at the age of 23 and Effexor at age 23 which I’m still on.I got off klonopin completely in 2019 and got back on in January 2022 and been off since April 2022. I’m 36 now. I’ve been on so many different meds since 14. In 2019 I started natural progesterone cream after being off birth control long enough to get my hormones tested and them saying that my hormones were low. I’m on natural progesterone cream now and my progesterone is still showing up low on my blood tests. My body is so messed up from all these meds. I live with my retired parents and I am very dependent on them and get separation anxiety from them. I want freedom from that so badly because I’m scared for my future. I don’t want to be drugged up but don’t know how to deal with my emotions or life. I’ve done well here and there throughout life though. Im looking for a healing buddy or buddies.