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See this post regarding mouthguard issues - cleanliness ________________________________________________ Hi there, all through my withdrawal my right ear has felt blocked,although is actually isnt so my doc says, but since last October i feel like my ears have both become a lot worse, constant pressure/pain in both. Today it is driving me insane as the pain is in my ears, head,jaw and gums. Ok so iv had allergies all my life ie hay fever and cat allergies but can never remember it affecting my ears like this so im not sure if seasonal allergies are to blame, but then again it was snowing this winter and they were bad then too. This comes and goes but seems to be pretty persistent for the last 9 months now and it isn't shifting. Does anyone else suffer badly with their ears? i know the blocked feeling is common in withdrawal but not sure if many have the pressure?

Hi all , I am 8 months off reinstated sertraline for a month ( by doc) and Aripropazole. History Its around 4 years back when i passed out my college and not get placed even after making to finals in many interviews .. that i decided to write competitive exam for PG. I had taken coaching but just before exam I came back and found myself unable to recall things. My brain is just like nothing in it. I found myself in despair and stopped studying. This fog is happening all the time since my engineering but I managed to get average marks sometimes and sometimes very good . There is more in back history but I ll get to it later. So, my parents took me to a psychiatrist ( family known) and he put me to Olanzapine and one more thing. He diganosed me bipolar2. I got about 10 pounds on it but its not help . Meanwhile after 4 months, with the help of a relative , I got intern in a company and I moved out with fog to a distant city. TThere in a hospital, they put me on floxetine and Amisulpride for 3 months . Then i moved to a private psychiatrist ... where it starts getting haywire . He stopped fluoxetine and Amisulpride . And put me on Venlafaxine and Seroquel... As i was interning, i get usual heat racing in between job times but my doctor convinced me to stay with it . 4 months and I just started feeling agitated due to stress. It happened that I slapped a senior on abusing me and there I left a job I never happened to get physical in my school or college .. but it happened. Doctor told me to scrap the prescription he wrote of raising Venlafaxine. And he put me paroxetine + Oxcarbazepine. In his words , it is best tolerable and has lesser side effects. I managed to get a job by my own and cracking first time. But this time there is lot of work and culture pressure. Its a startup with full of politics . Boss and his boss .. all keep on putting things. Let office aside, I started feeling some well .. overly casual ... excited .. raged .. Iits about 25 mg Paroxetine and 300/600 mg Oxcarbazepine. I had unusual violent acts .. had hit a school friend .. insomnia.. I decided to leave the paxil by asking the doctor . He said half in a week and then other half a week to off. Thats when it all started , i cannot sleep whole night and with day light i start getting a nap. I left going office with fear of state i was in . I cannot wake and even if I .. i was too tired and angry . Doctor then gave me Mirtazapine which didn't help . I resigned job telling muly boss about all and came back home. It was Nov,2015. I start getting yhese uncontrollable rage that I locked myself in a room. Parents took to a local shrink who put me on Venlafaxine+ Mirtazapine(CRF), lamotrigine, resperidal, Seroquel. The NEXT Day I woke up so fresh .. all calm like 12 yrs back .. i was smiling happy.. but it lasted only 4 hrs .. and i am doomed again . I took those meds 10 days and i decided to go off. Physical Damage. I got brain zaps as sounds with eye movement .. While on Paxil I got severe neck stiffness and movement pains - which came out as Osteophytes. Anger , heart race , memory, fog , chest pains , fatigue ... All I beared for 4 months. Reinstatement after 4 months. Father took me to another psych who put me on Sertraline+ Aripropazole+ Seroquel. I started having increases restless legs than before and the doctor asked me not to go over net. After 2 visits and when he said it wslas Aripropazole for restlessness all time.. and he is cutting it . I stopped all meds . Withdrawals in 8 months. All first symptoms with some new like utter sensitivity in teeth. It is while breathe in most of the teeth . Muscles gone from forearms .. My left hands gone ulnar neuropathy and i got surgery done when no hope lived. Right hand has stiffness too . MAnger I am living with .. I have stopped talking .. I have decided to go sit on my Shop but I was unable to understand the talk . In spite anger biuts and memory makes it difficult to adjust. I keep forgetting people faces .. important talks . So i stopped . Now I am muted all the time with burst inside . Read success stories and play CoC. This is the most I can write now.

Hello everyone,❤️ I am a 36 year old male. Today I will be sharing my journey through withdrawing my over 20 years use of Effexor xr 150mg. I was first giving Effexor for depression caused by a separation anxiety. This was during my high school years wile I struggled with feelings of social phobia. Effexor seemed to blunt just about any fears and anxiety I had for a number of years but as time went on more and more side effects emerged some very scary. I tollirated most of sides just from the fear of withdrawal. I had previously had failed at least 3 failed attempts and one cold turkey in 2003 for 6 months unaware of what was happening to me both physically and mentally. Doctors were clueless and just represcibed the Effexor after that 6 month ordeal indefinitely. Fast foward 2016 a had gone under a few surgical procedures for a lumbar disc herniation with the last two resulting in a fusion. Around that time 2017 2018 I was having more and more increasing side effects from effexor and felt it was no longer working. I would have exercise intolerance,moments of narcolepsy type episode's, increased nerve pain. Visual snow, poor circulation diagnosed as Reynolds syndrome and more. I decided to seek help in disscontinuing effexor and was given an option to try to reduce from 150mg to 115.5mg immediately regretted as I could not drive my vision was on a rolorcoaster and I was having moments of just needing to pass out. So I went back to 150mg. Fast forward a few weeks my physciatrist introduced zoloft at a low dose and had me try again. At this time I was determined to muscle through. During a six month cross taper to zoloft max 100mg dose. My Final dose 37.5mg of effexor was February 20, 2020 and the withdrawl have been dibilitating waves and windows ever since. Lost job, home and hoping to keep my family around. Things seemed to have gone terribly wrong on July 12, 2020. On June 13, 2020 i dropped the zoloft to 50mg. One month later I was hit with an inability to walk or maintain any strength. I decided that day to updose back to 100mg zoloft. The days that followed were complete hell and multiple ER visits. Parkasins symptoms bobbing head neck weakness studdering speech spastic gait, spine spasticity, calf muscle cramp and faciculationts just a nightmare. One of the last ER visits left me with a diagnosis of post lateral sclerosis to be determined I guess because most my weakness was in my left side. New medications added since July included 5mg Valium twice per day and 2mg tizanadine or Zanaflex 3x a day I reduced two weeks later to only 2 times a day for the sake of staying awake. I have been bedridden since July after that episode. Waves and windows still apparent but very much less because of all the other medications. Psychiatrist is continuing the withdrawal plan keeping the other medication to reduce symptoms. She feels I may have had an adverse reaction or serotonin syndrome. Holding on to hope and my faith you guys are not alone 🙏 ❤ Present Dosing Regimen: Oct 9 [v] 7am 50mg Zoloft 5mg Valium [v] 12pm 5mg Valium (v] 3pm 1mg Zanaflex( mod. note- tizanidine, muscle relaxant) [v] 8pm 2mg Zanaflex Effexor Xr 150mg for 22years, discontinued from 37.5 mg February 2020 Discontinued because of Increasing side effects - Anhedonia. Blurry vision, exercise intolerance, weird adrenal fatigue episodes, increased anxiety, left sided weakness extending to feet, increased nerve pain, weird zoom Out episodes.

My history with medication started when I took a leave of absense from college in 2001, after my first semester. I moved back across the country, lived in a friend's dorm room, got a job, got an apartment, and decided to seek help for depression and trouble focusing. I was prescribed Ritalin. Over the years (see signature for meds), I was given meds for depression, sleep problems, ADHD, and eventually Bipolar II. In October of 2013, I left a job both over ethical concerns and because I wanted to work for myself. I lost access to the medications I was on at the time, though, because of an insurance SNAFU. By mid-2014, I was practically non-functional, though I was also trying new meds and working with a therapist. In 2015, I ended up unable to work, moving to my parent's home, and getting SSDI. Many of the meds I've tried since then (and before) gave me immediate adverse effects, or soon after I started taking them. In 2021, Lexapro was added, and that gave me constant nausea, but I was determined to stick it out. I had to use cannabis constantly in order to not feel like throwing up. Then, when I learned about laws in a couple states passing that explicitly allowed medical providers to deny care for "religious or ethical reasons," targeting queer people (I'm a trans* guy and gay), I threw temper tantrums like a two-year-old at both my therapist and mother for two days, and became extremely activated. At first I was ranting out of terror, and then angry at their lack of empathy. It was both called-for and out-of-line. Then began a flurry of activity. I felt like myself, and like I was developing good boundaries. I told people about many painful things from the past. I was also, in retrospect, not well, but when my APRN told me to stop taking Lexapro because "people say you've been acting out of character," I was livid, because I finally felt like myself again, and it was traumatizing to hear about those laws being passed and have people to tell me to calm down because it wasn't an immediate threat. I told her that sometimes when someone experiences something new, they act in a new way; it's objectively true. I don't know. I developed panic attack symptoms, had trouble regulating my body temperature, had more than the usual variations in energy level, and had a lot of sleep disturbances. My proprioception was often way off. I compulsively spent money, but in a way that made half-sense. A few months into the Lexapro, I developed some movement disorder symptoms, sort of only half-controllable unwinding stretching, triggered also by physical therapy for severe pain and stiffness in the right side of my neck. The stretching felt good, but then I got tight again. That was particularly weird. I often had very firm boundaries over the spring and summer, getting to the point of yelling when my concerns about my safety as a queer person were being thrown back in my face. Some people told me I was hard to follow, but others could follow me fine. All of my emotions were amplified. At one point I hit a wall with my fist in my mother's house, and dented it. I offered to fix it or pay to have it fixed, but that offer was rejected. In the fall, without prior warning, my family changed the locks on my place, and threw away whatever they thought was trash, and I lived in long-term Airbnbs until March. I somehow managed to close on a house in February, and started living in it in March. The place was indeed horrible, in terms of cleanlinees, but advance notice and dealing with it more directly would've been better. Of course, they don't know what my living spaces always look like. Throughout the winter and spring, I had migraines a lot of the time. In March of 2022, things got psychedelic. I've never done hallucinogens, actually. I've also never had any hallucinations or delusions... until maybe this stuff. I was in part wrapped up in fantasies about finding a way back to having my family in my life, and in part seeing patterns and thinking I had outsized influence on the world if I interacted with them right. I saw problems and became fixated on them. I was sometimes, in my thinking, straight-up delusional. I went for lots of drives, exploring patterns - real ones having to do with the development of the highway system - but why? I became very tuned-in to my emotional intelligence, and spent a lot of time dancing and acting to music, and feeling through the layers of meanings in the lyrics. I can't remember if I'd decided to stop/cut back the Xanax before or after this. In late March, I ran out of gas on the highway, without my phone, really only needed a tow truck, but since I didn't have anyone to call for help and was very amped up, I ended up involuntarily hospitalized in another state, with no way to reach anyone. First, I was in an emergency room, and got the bends very bad from something. I was lucid dreaming, and spinning around in the bed. They injected me with something, I don't know what. When I got to the hospital, I half-thought it was all a mistake and someone might come get me. I opted to be there for three days under my own power. Since I had no access to my meds, this lead to my going cold-turkey off of Wellbutrin, Lamictal, Adderall, Xanax, and Lexapro. No one evaluated me there, but they tried to get me to take something (wouldn't tell me what). I felt pretty much fine, but half-believed it must be some kind of elaborate prank, under the influence of drugs, trauma, or both. From then on, things got even weirder. I started to forget to pay bills, I became convinced there was something seriously wrong with the electricity in my home, and no consequences mattered. I had total blindness to how my actions affected others. In May, I again ended up needing a tow truck (the gearshift became disengaged), without my phone. I got extremely sick in the car, got a tow truck instead of a hospital this time, but got kicked out by the driver of the tow truck because of the smell. I had auditory and mild visual hallucinations, very "creative" thoughts, and ended up taking two weeks to get back home. I simply let the car go, bought another car (but got a ticket for driving without insurance and driving an unregistered vehicle, and now have a warrant out for me in another state), worked on it a little but lost focus and bought an even more messed-up vehicle, worked on that, and then stopped caring. I developed bad chemical sensitivity for a month or a few (even my skin barrier was weird), and had movement disorder symptoms spring up after exposure to chlorine, followed by lotion and CBD oil. Could also be psychological, in part. I got a big lump on my scalp, a rash on first the left and then the right side of my neck, ingrown hairs on my knees. I had to re-wash everything I'd washed at a laundromat. I'd have to make movements in response to sounds, or feel prickling or burning in my toes response to seeing certain people, or other unknown causes. It's still happening a bit. I trashed the office space I was renting, because I had increased sensitivity in my nerves, and thought there was something corrosive going on I needed to clean up with salt, baking soda, some natural cleaning supplies, and clean cat litter, but also couldn't focus, and ended up leaving behind a massive mess and giving the owner no notice, after being two weeks late with rent, after the guy I'd hired decided he wasn't going to stick around. I've had a lot of scary physical symptoms that felt like they could become blood clots or heart attacks, but those haven't happened for months. For a while I had so much tension in my trunk area, it felt like my pelvic bones were eating themselves, all prickly. I have more feeling on my left side than my right. Usually when I wake up, some part of one or both of my hands is numb. I had a lot of strong anxiety, on and off. There's a lot I've left out. These days, I'm dissociated and flat, but also have extreme avoidance behaviors, a different kind of anxiety. My frustration/obstacle tolerance is almost nothing. I don't have a temper about it, my brain just short-circuits. Pretty much I sit around smoking hand-rolled cigarettes, and drinking filtered water with ginger in it, thoughts about my family or others swirling around, wishing I could trust new people and/or had local friends. I wish I could hand power of attorney to someone and tell them what to take care of. If I can get started on something, I manage to change my address somewhere, or make a payment plan on a credit card, or do some small thing, like pre-rinse clothes in the sink. The stuff I paid to have packed and stored, whatever was at the apartment that wasn't thrown away, I haven't been able to face and has probably been thrown out for non-payment by now. I've been to a primary care doctor twice, and have an appointment with a neurologist in October. I got basic bloodwork done and was fine; tried to get a toxin or heavy metal panel done but couldn't. Probably what I thought was toxin exposure was in fact withdrawal stuff, though. I've been trying to find a therapist who I can get to without a car and who takes my Medicare plan, but no luck so far. As far as I can tell, what's happening is CPTSD, PTSD, and polypharmacy withdrawal interacting. As weird and bad as things are, it's not like they weren't often like this even before I was ever prescribed anything. For example, I've almost never been able to care about "self-care," unless it's to make sure I'm not judged or otherwise for another's benefit. I can see a lot of "self-sabotage" in many of the things I've done, pathological narcissistic acting-out, some victim/savior/persecutor dynamics, but it all seems a bit extreme for it to be "just" trauma.

I've been on SSRIs (first paxil, then prozac) for 20 years now, and over that time I've had 2 persistent, untreatable nerve injuries, and a bizarre twitch that happens in my thigh. All of these have defied exhaustive attempts at medical diagnosis or treatment; they have just been called neurological issues of unknown origin. After exploring every conceivable option in standard medicine, alternative medicine, multiple surgeries, and every type of treatment I can possibly think of, I've started wondering if the issues could be caused by the long-term usage of SSRIs. Have anyone else experienced bizarre, untreatable chronic pain issues that were caused by their SSRI usage? Or has anyone here encountered such information online? I'm wondering if this is something I should pursue. thanks, Bart

Hello! I am new here. Please forgive how long this is, but I’m trying to be as concise as possible from the beginning for the moderators (and have a bad habit of digression, ha!). I so appreciate this page. I’ll try to add on my drug signature. But if I don’t do that correctly at first, I apologize in advance, as well as, for any repetitiveness, since my brain isn’t always on par and I just may not feel like overly editing any repeated information in different sections below. Please see my “thoughts about this forum” below “my history and withdrawal symptoms” further down the page here. Again, I am so grateful for this website and realize my situation is not nearly as extreme as many, but it is all relative on bad days I suppose ;). From everything I have read, it appears time is the KEY with all of this withdrawal malarkey. I am trying to be patient and positive and do have faith all will be ok in time, but I must admit I am totally blown away that I continue to have symptoms (sometimes new ones or variations on old ones) at 8 months out, after my last Zoloft, which I was on for only 2.5 months (25 mg and only the full 25 mg for the first 2 weeks – see below). Holy crikey Batman! And yes, I do know how quickly SSRI’s can start to change the pathways, etc. So, back on point… Please see below. AND THANK YOU so much in advance for all your help and my thoughts, heart and well wishes go out to all of those suffering FAR MORE than I am. This is enough for me. I can’t imagine some people’s hell in all this, though I’ve read enough on here to know I am grateful that, so far, I am not in that level of hell. SSRI HISTORY: I am currently 49 years old (2017) 1992-1998 (+/ - a year: in my early 20’s) - 20 mg Prozac (no major side effects, SE’s, and quit CT with no problems) 2001-2002 (+/- brief period of time after divorce: in my early 30’s) - 10 mg Prozac (again no major SE’s and quit CT no problems) I just didn’t like how Prozac kind of flat lined me and I didn’t like the idea of staying on anything when I really didn’t feel like I needed anything. THEN… RECENT LIFE EVENTS… 2017 April 27 - Start 25 mg Zoloft (generic sertraline) very reluctantly (after the passing of my mom in October 2017 and a VERY PAINFUL bad relationship break-up only a few months later. My doctor thought Zoloft would help break my cycle of poor sleep and anxiety and sadness – though I really just wanted to try a sleeping pill of some kind. Though in hindsight, benzos can be difficult too and I am apparently pretty sensitive to many drugs. Weeks prior to Zoloft, she gave me some trazadone, which I realize is not a benzo and, holy crap, hell no, never again. One pill and I WAS NOT MYSELF. Quit immediately and returned to normal, other than my original circumstantial sadness, anxiety and insomnia.) 2017 May 15 - Start cutting the Zoloft down to about 15-20 mg of Zoloft (because OMG it is wiring/amping –akathisia?- the crap out of me and not helping me sleep and I’m having fuzzy eyes and head off and on. I could have cleaned a house with a toothbrush. It got me motivated, but I was still edgy and couldn’t sleep on that crack feeling.) 2017 May 26 - Start 12.5 mg of Zoloft (because still SE’s of bleary eyes, extreme jaw clenching at night, mild fuzzy head with pressure – brain fog, still some anxiety and sadness) 2017 June 30 - Start 6.25 mg (because still a lot of jaw clenching, paresthesia – including prickling and burning, body vibrations – like every cell in my body was wired) 2017 July 10 - Stop Zoloft completely (because I suddenly developed tinnitus in my left ear and I was like “Eff This I’m done!” Yes, I know, now that that was probably too fast of a taper, but my doctor and the pharmacist insisted should be fine and quite frankly, I was having such a horrible paradoxical reaction to it while I was on it, I doubt anyone could have made me understand to stay on it longer at the time to wean off more slowly. It is what it is now. THEN WITHDRAWAL (WD) SYMPTOMS: In a nutshell… Immediately after stopping had painful neuropathy for a few days in some places, mostly my left arm. (I am familiar with neuropathy because I experienced it for several weeks years ago after only 1 dose of Cipro – won’t touch fluoroquinolones again either). After stopping the zoloft still had inner vibrations (or what some may call minor akathisia at night…?) and paresthesia, mostly at night, but some paresthesia during day as well. About a week after stopping developed severe brain fog. Off and on quite severely for several weeks, but still with tinnitus and paresthesia. Totally messed with my menstrual cycle for about 4 months in terms of missing one and then crazy flow (perimenopause, maybe, but now a wee more normal again and it was NEVER like that before Zoloft). And as an Update – totally missed one in Feb 2018. Perimenopause possibly happening as well, but fun times to have both withdrawal and that. Makes it hard to distinguish some things. However, the crazy brain fog, internal tension and vibrations at night at times, the paresthesia and burning skin (not painful, but not normal), neuropathy at times (is painful), muscle weakness at times (not extreme, but notice when doing certain exercises), tinnitus, weird muscle tightness and head sensations at times, especially when trying to sleep and just overall, not quite me feelings at times… ah, yah, I’m gonna go with SSRI withdrawal on all that, because I was premenopausal prior to Zoloft and did not have any of those symptoms, other than some peri anxiety. Plus, I find it quite fascinating that almost all people have many of these symptoms across the board no matter what SSRI they were on. Coinkydinky…??? Hmmm, not as far as I’m concerned thank you very much. Ooooppps… I digress again… J Anxiety off and on, but some of that could be residual from prior losses mentioned above. FAST FORWARD TO… End of September 2017 to January 2018 to present… 2017 October - So to recap, I think I had a bit of a Window in some things in end of Sept and through October 2017. I was not “right”, but definitely felt better in some ways, even with some symptoms, felt more “normal” and hopeful. And the inner vibrations or mild akathisia while on the drug at night seemed to be gone. And the jaw clenching had stopped not long after stopping the drug. 2017 November - some things came back with a vengeance, like more sadness and anxiety and tinnitus more prevalent again. (Tinnitus changed from just left ear to a more of a high pitch in head or both ears off and on, which I still have, off and on, and especially in bed at night and first thing in the morning as of today March 2, 2018. I had had moments off and on in past months of the high pitch not being there at all and just some tinnitus in left ear from when originally started at end of Zoloft. But the high pitch, almost ringing in head-ish as well as both ears, has been present consistently for over a month now. Sigh. Just keep hoping eventually it will go away in time.) December 2017 - Same as November but with Stupid Crazy Brain Fog Awfulness again, like cotton head, and couldn’t do cognitive things for diddly and still sometimes have moments where if I think too hard my brain just says, whatever, pack up and leaves the room. This went on and off until around January 12, 2018. AND AT THE END OF DECEMBER - THE FIRST TIME I think I had the beginnings of mild akathisia since when I was the Zoloft, but it felt a bit different with some weird “internal tension in my chest and head and arms and just uncomfortable weirdness. And sometimes coupled with neuropathy in arms. I swore I might be having a heart attack and realized, nope, just more new withdrawal BS. Nov – present (ongoing at times)… Muscle weakness and weirdness (not extreme, but not normal to me) At some point in this time frame, I started to notice an overall muscle weakness feeling at times when exercising (weight bearing exercise and cardio), but I still do as much exercise as I can anyway for my sanity AND because at my age I can’t afford to lose any more of my fitness and tone. It’s just too hard to get back and I don’t have that much to begin with. I am grateful I can exercise at all (even if it flares a symptom or two at times, but mostly I’m ok), because I have read on this site how many can’t do that yet. 2018 Jan 12-19th – POSSIBLE MINI WINDOW…? About a week of almost “normal me mood” feeling Jan (though off and on all this time, still some tinnitus and minor paresthesia at times). 2018 Jan 19th to present – ANOTHER WAVE - the beginning of low grade akathisia for several weeks with awful paresthesia, neuropathy – all worse at night. So far, this wave is not absolutely 24/7, but many days for most of the day, with a minor window of 3 days lessened aka/pare/neuro/jingly symptoms. And some more of the tinnitus high pitch at times, but very little brain fog. Just more of an “off” feeling. And overall sad and anxious feeling. Less upbeat like in the window week. 2018 Feb 26th to present … Ruh-oh, as of today, super Brain Fog day – Crap ability to think or focus and brain just super fuzzy. So add Brain Fog back in to the mix now off and on as well. But had a few days with less to no akathisia or neuropathy or paresthesia. BUT SUPER TIRED off and on for the last week, including today. AS A SIDE NOTE ON WINDOWS AND WAVES: Windows for me happen in a way that not ALL symptoms have ever ALL been gone, just marginally better at times and it fluctuates as to which symptoms decides to rise up more. During Windows, if that is what they are, I feel more “normal” overall in feeling like ME and my mood is pretty good, even if I’m having tinnitus or some minor paresthesia, etc. And windows may even just be a day in the midst of things, where I “feel” so much better overall, even if other symptoms still happening on a subtle level. What I consider Waves are when my mood is crap sad or anxious and I don’t feel as “normal”, and/or I have a bad bout of the physical things like Brain Fog and/or mild akathisia, and/or paresthesia/neuropathy and tinnitus ( the tinnitus hasn’t really ever gone away yet, though there have been “moments” when it seems to have, only to come back. Mine is not as severe as some peoples, but is DEFINITELY annoying at times and something I have never had before). MEDS, SUPPLEMENTS, SLEEP, EXERCISE, CAFFEINE, ALCOHOL, ETC.: Some things I have been on since before the Zoloft. Thyroid (23 years) EPA only about 500-1000mg day (started just before Zoloft) Mild multi-vitamin (Dr. Furhman’s women’s with 1000mg D3 – sometimes take an extra 1000mg D3). Started before the Zoloft I believe. Mg citrate (just before zoloft - anywhere from 200-300mg, depending on what I feel like a day) Quercetin (500-100mg day for years for another medical condition I’ve had for 20 years) Hydrolysed Collagen for my skin (just before Zoloft). Does help my skin (doesn’t seem to matter one way or the other with WD, but can make me sleepy at night). Biotin (1000mg) for my hair (lost a lot after mom passed, but it is coming back) Play around with NAC 500 mg a day for a few days a week (not sure it helps, doesn’t seem to hurt). Vit C every now and again (500 mg), but not always very regular about it. Play around with caffeine (had some of my best days on it and so it doesn’t seem to directly affect WD. But I do limit my caffeine accordingly at times. But I do limit my caffeine accordingly at times. I think I’m finding WD does whatever it wants to, whenever it wants to, and, in my case, seems to be mostly independent of anything I specifically do, eat, drink, etc at any given moment. I have experimented many times. As many on this forum have said, TIME AND PATIENCE ARE THE KEY FACTORS. I am currently 8 months out and may have months to go... Alcohol is a crap shoot and I rarely drink anyway (once or twice a month or not at all). Sometimes it has been helpful and sometimes, maybe not. But I mostly avoid it right now. Try to keep to a strict sleep schedule because though I do sleep finally some now (didn’t while on Zoloft or before due to the losses I had and anxiety) I rarely sleep all the way through the night But a broken 5-6 hours of sleep or so, is way better than 4 or less or none! I also have found that the collagen at night (it has a lot of glycine in it) along with some magnesium helps me. But too much magnesium at night can seem to do an odd paradoxical thing and agitate me, so I have to be careful. I have exercise class about 3 times a week (when I can). And I walk or hike when I can or the weather allows. Exercise has helped a lot. Though, when the chips are down, the chips are down, even with exercise. But I refuse to not exercise and should probably do more. But sometimes laziness/tiredness, lack of time, or withdrawal symptoms win. THOUGHTS ABOUT THIS FORUM and just stuff in general: Thank goodness it exsists, ha! Thank you all for being here and for those who started it! My doctor didn’t think this withdrawal was a “thing”. I had to send her an article from Harvard Med Page showing that it is (but even the Harvard article doesn’t think it lasts this long). Have had 2 people, another doctor of mine (later into withdrawal) and one a psychologist confirm withdrawal or discontinuation syndrome is a “thing” and that it will take longer than I like or think it will. So, yay, I’m not crazy ;). My Withdrawal (WD) is far less that many people on here, but enough to definitely get my attention and still disturbing, despite that I am mostly functional, because I feel very “off” kilter. I refuse to believe it will not get better, but am a bit blown away that after only 2.5 months at 25mg or less of Zoloft (the generic), I would still be dealing with any of this, but of course, this forum proves this is definitely not unusual for some. Am getting on this site to just confirm that getting worse before better, etc, is “normal”, even for such a short period of time on the drug (yay, not the way I want to be “normal”, snort, but one must keep a sense of humor ). I will probably not “live” on this site because I am trying to just get on with it and give it time as much as I can and because I, so far, knock on wood, am not as severe as some people. But I am grateful for this site, as I have been on it many times for my sanity (but equally I try not to go down the rabbit hole too much with it either), and am in awe of those who have walked through hella worse. Despite a strong family history of anxiety and depression on my mom’s side, which I have subtly dealt with all my life (with some severe depression from situational events), I will do everything I possibly can to be happy and healthy without drugs. I know I was desperate for relief and sleep before this zoloft Sh*tstorm , but the bright side is I will have learned some valuable cognitive skills and behavior (I do have a counselor and have for a long while, but this is definitely making me up my game on my thought processes ;). And I will not take another SSRI again. I was going to go to Italy for my 50th this summer and hike in the Dolomites, but have decided to wait until WD is done. Stupid WD. Whenever I’m in a Wave I think I’m going to do a TED talk on all this Withdrawal stuff to help educate and save the world! And then I have a good day and think, heck No, I don’t want to spend any more time on this malarkey at ALL when it is all GONE for good! (so, I can see why there may not be more success stories actually online – people just want to get on with living). Again, I’m not nearly as bad off as some, but I also know I’m not supposed to feel all these side-effect-like symptoms. I know what “normal” feels like and WD most definitely is NOT IT! WOW. SORRY THAT WAS SOOOO LONG! And not very well written (I'm sure there all kinds of typos etc). But I just want to get this out into the ether, before I keep putting it off and then have a wave and wish I had done that, ha! Many thanks for this site. I may have questions in time, but for now, I’m just trying to get my basics on here in the event anyone or the moderators have any helpful words and affirmations and so that I can ask questions if I need to do so later. Also, I may have totally forgotten some things which I may add later on. IN ADVANCE, please do not feel I am being rude or slighting anyone if I do not respond should anyone post to me. I may just be getting on with things as best I can and not checking this site too often. But I still appreciate everyone on here and what everyone is going through. My best wishes to all! KimLou DRUG SIGNATUE (FROM ABOVE)... SORRY, I'M NOT SURE HOW I "ADD" THIS ON... SSRI HISTORY: I am currently 49 years old (2017) 1992-1998 (+/ - a year: in my early 20’s) - 20 mg Prozac (no major side effects, SE’s, and quit CT with no problems) 2001-2002 (+/- brief period of time after divorce: in my early 30’s) - 10 mg Prozac (again no major SE’s and quit CT no problems) I just didn’t like how Prozac kind of flat lined me and I didn’t like the idea of staying on anything when I really didn’t feel like I needed anything. THEN… RECENT LIFE EVENTS… 2017 April 27 - Start 25 mg Zoloft (generic sertraline) very reluctantly (after the passing of my mom in October 2017 and a VERY PAINFUL bad relationship break-up only a few months later. My doctor thought Zoloft would help break my cycle of poor sleep and anxiety and sadness – though I really just wanted to try a sleeping pill of some kind. Though in hindsight, benzos can be difficult too and I am apparently pretty sensitive to many drugs. Weeks prior to Zoloft, she gave me some trazadone, which I realize is not a benzo and, holy crap, hell no, never again. One pill and I WAS NOT MYSELF. Quit immediately and returned to normal, other than my original circumstantial sadness, anxiety and insomnia.) 2017 May 15 - Start cutting the Zoloft down to about 15-20 mg of Zoloft (because OMG it is wiring/amping –akathisia?- the crap out of me and not helping me sleep and I’m having fuzzy eyes and head off and on. I could have cleaned a house with a toothbrush. It got me motivated, but I was still edgy and couldn’t sleep on that crack feeling.) 2017 May 26 - Start 12.5 mg of Zoloft (because still SE’s of bleary eyes, extreme jaw clenching at night, mild fuzzy head with pressure – brain fog, still some anxiety and sadness) 2017 June 30 - Start 6.25 mg (because still a lot of jaw clenching, paresthesia – including prickling and burning, body vibrations – like every cell in my body was wired) 2017 July 10 - Stop Zoloft completely (because I suddenly developed tinnitus in my left ear and I was like “Eff This I’m done!” Yes, I know now that that was probably too fast of a taper, but my doctor and the pharmacist insisted should be fine and quite frankly, I was having such a horrible paradoxical reaction to it while I was on it, I doubt anyone could have made me understand to stay on it longer at the time to wean off more slowly. It is what it is now.

I recently have been working on cleansing my system. i was on several pscyh drugs over the years but olanzapine was hell on steroids. i am on my third year of symptoms. the term 'mad as a hatter' comes from chronic mercury exposure while making hats. looking back on my insanity during withdrawal i have to consider my own mercury exposure and its role in my withdrawal symptoms. while discontinuing olanzapine, i developed verbal tics and jerking movements, similar to tourettes syndrome. there is an article on pubmed of a case from olanzapine withdrawal causing tics. ironically, olanzapine is used to treat tics. but eli lily pushes zyprexa on everyone including the elderly and children so thats no surprise. there also seems to be a link between mercury and tourettes and i have five 'silver fillings' in my mouth' and looking back i think my mental health problems began shortly after putting them in. some have been in for almost 20 years now. i don't do sugar or soft drinks anymore but a coke used to make me sick when i was peaking during withdrawal. i would imagine that the hfcs, carbonation, and aluminum from the can combined with acid hitting a mouth full of mercury sounds like a recipe for disaster. so no wonder it made me sick. i have been doing a cleanse and was getting good results for the most part. mostly was trying to deal with parasites and put some the EBV/CFS in its place that i got last summer. i realized too late that i was also mobilizing mercury without a binder in my gut. i was using acetyl cytseine (NAC) and MSM both sulfur based supplements. also organic vitamin c powder, b12 and glutathione. i was planning on removing metals at some point but havent done so. most of the supplements i take can mobilize mercury i realized as they are for detoxing. if you mobilize mercury without a binder you can redistribute it around tissues, organs and brain. so no good. you can get it out but sometimes organ damage can be very long lasting and even permanent. i kind of wish i wouldn't have flushed all that candida down the toilet now bc it was probably at least feeding on my mercury. itll grow back im sure lol. oh boy love how us amateurs have to figure this stuff out on our own. but i seem to have myriad problems happening that are uncharted territory for most steroid and antibiotic GPs. my point of all this is i think there might be a link between mercury exposure and severity of withdrawal. olanzapine isn't easy for anyone and any of them can be hard but withdrawal symptoms and mercury toxicity are almost exactly the same. together i would imagine to be quite synergistic. i have also noticed that my nerve pain has gotten more severe and my kidneys are a little tender in addition to my tics getting worse. but its only been a short time and my symptoms arent that much more severe. so i wonder how much my mercury exposure is preventing me from becoming fully well and exacerbating my withdrawal symptoms or visa versa. i am making plans to get them removed from a biological dentist because you don't want to use a regular dentist. so if you haven't started tapering or are stable and have fillings in you might want to get those out and do a several months long mercury cleanup. it may make your life a lot easier and prevent brain damage. i really have felt brain damaged but i continue to improve but i still have plenty of symptoms. i know im ready for the burning hot nerve pain to be over though and the tics and pretty much all of it to be over. still one more drug to quit to boot. Lord give me strength. anyhow i thought it might be an interesting link to consider in all of this withdrawal business. i would be pretty apprehensive about fish oil myself and never felt super great about taking it but thats just me personally. cheers and God bless.

Hello, My name is Cathy and I live in Minnesota. I have a long history of depression, numerous meds, ECT, a study for VNS, a study for genotypes, etc. Typically I would get into more detail but it hurts too much to type. I started Nardil about 7-8 weeks ago and was on a steady 60 mg. dose for at least five weeks. Early on I started developing "carpal tunnel" type symptoms. I had done a short MAO trial in the late 80s and remembered when I was on one, I had almost had carpal tunnel surgery. I went off the MAO for other reasons and the symptoms all went away, prior to surgery fortunately. I later learned that Nardil depletes B6. When my symptoms started this time, I began adding in B6. I was not sleeping well, often up til 4 or 5 am unless I took Trazadone, in which case I would sleep until 4 or 5 pm. About two weeks ago, I started getting more fidgety, restless legs, etc (the insomnia was different from what I typically have--if I can't sleep it is usually because my brain will not shut off. This insomnia was as if my body did not want to go to sleep--tossing, turning, etc. My back and neck started becoming tighter too--I am a typical type A, first born, Taurus, former lawyer--so they are usually tight to begin with. This was worse. With insomnia, restlessness, etc. I stayed up and did a lot of housework, cleaning the basement, cleaning the garage, etc. Somewhere along the way, my shoulders, neck, arms, and hands developed excruciating pain. The hands were typical neuropathy symptoms. I could not drive or type. I used heat, ice, lots of Ibuprofen, Naproxen, Tylenol, and even some old celebrex. I did gentle stretches. I had chiropractic. Nothing helped. I went to urgent care and was given muscle relaxers (one that was safe with an MAO) and a referral to physical therapy. Those did not help either. All in all, I think the symptoms were due to pyridoxine depletion (my nerves were probably more prone to damage--recovered alcoholic who had footdrop--although the college incident makes me wonder if I am just low on B6 to start with), a lack of sleep (thus no healing), and the added movements and tension. I am still experiencing the neck and hand pain. It is a little better now, thus the typing. However, in the last few days, it has been to the point where I can't even move my fingers. I am now going off Nardil. I feel more depressed, angry, irritated, jumpy, fidgety, extremely restless, tired but not sleepy, and in general, bad all over. I am not sure when the use symptoms overlap with the withdrawal symptoms. Typically I do not have much for withdrawal symptoms, but this sucks. I did read the advice--keep it simple and stable and taper slowly. Right now I am about one step away from checking in to the hospital--but it is the weekend and the holiday on Monday. Plus once I get there, I will have wished I stayed home. Just looking for support and understanding. My fiancee (provided our relationship makes it thru this) does not really get depression or meds. He tries, but his understanding of it is limited. Thank you, Cathy

Serotonin Toxicity vs. Serotonin Discontinuation Syndrome: I have had very severe chronic serotonin toxicity. Neuralgia and neuropathy developed over a 4 years period to include the entire right side of my body. Level 8-10 pain daily for 12 weeks before anyone figured it out. Given injectable IMITREX to" help" -- wrong, made it worse, could have killed me! The toxicity started wrecking my ANS: sweats, chills, loosing 1/2 - 2 lbs daily for months, high fevers, low fevers, high blood pressure, migraines, vertigo, bowel issues, at points inability to walk or voluntarily move my body. Basically, hell. The pain was so severe that I would dissociate — once for 3 whole days. Are there any resources here or elsewhere that offer in depth information about Serotonin Toxicity? The toxicity was caused by receiving TMS treatments. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation. I had one round of 36 treatments 4 years ago, got me out of depression and "coincidentally" a developed neuraligia/neuropathy at the same time. Again had TMS this past December - February. The doctor who treated me is a leading researcher, psychiatrist, runs a program training other docs to give TMS treatments and I mean it -- a really a lovely woman, smart, and compassionate -- told me when I was asking if the TMS was giving me muscles spasms and increased nerve pain, "That's an issue for your neurologist." Previously she had also told me that one of the ways that TMS works, is it increases the effect of serotonin based medications. She didn't see Serotonin Syndrome sitting in front of her and asking her "What's going on here?" Today the pharmacist told me that TMS reduced the blood/brain barrier. WARNING: TMS + Venlafaxine caused serotonin toxicity for me, be cautious! Another smart compassionate and more curious woman and — my psychiatrist figured it out after I delivered her all the puzzle pieces I had been collecting. She told me to immediately stop the Imitrex and start a taper of Venalfaxine. VERY SLOWLY, though she didn't give me specifics on what slowly meant. I came up with what I thought was slow taper, and half way through had to double the length. I tapered Venlafaxine in 3 months from 225 to 0. I had taken it for 10+ years. Psych meds for 25 years. I had to, because it was quite literally killing me. But now of course, I'm ten days off and I'm feeling pretty sick: Parkinson-like movement symptoms being the chief concerning symptoms, especially when combined with the vertigo. I take a few moments to "Get going" when I want to move. And then I lurch around for another 10 seconds until my body remembers how to walk. I have the bruises to prove it! At times, just standing still my whole body shakes like a tree in the wind. I keep dropping things and have no strength in my hands. Can someone inform me what this is? Is this part of Discontinuation Syndrome? Its kinda freaking me out. I also have the usual! discontinuation symptoms! ringing ears, painful eyes, weird noises in my head, muscle twitches, nausea, diarrhea, brain fog, EMOTIONAL!, Over energized and completely fatigued. Visual disturbances. Muscle and joint pain almost everywhere. Swollen hands. Itching skin so bad I thought I was having anaphylaxis and went to the ER two days ago. Surprised I could remember all my symptoms, cause really the brain fog + zero memory issue makes it so this post took me several days to write, in several 1 hour sessions. I used to write semi-professionally. So this is actually a symptom as well. Last night, I had about 2-3 hours of uncontrollable rage (self directed violence) that was provoked by sensory overload. Embarrassing, terrifying. Is this part of Discontinuation Syndrome? I know the best remedy for "discontinuation syndrome" is reinstatement. I tried 3 mg prozac. Got nerve pain from head to toe within 4 hours (a symptom of Serotonin Toxicity). BUT, on the flip side the next day a started feeling better. My psychiatrist is going to look at all the possible SSRI and SNRIs to see which one might be possible in a micro dose. I spoke to my psychiatrist today and she suggested 20 mg non-extended release venlafaxine twice a day, with a a slower taper. I need to figure out what a slower taper would look like. I read 10% decrease per month? Is that correct? Any resources, advice on that? BUT, the thing is, I don't think any boosting of serotonin is a good idea for me right now given how extremely ill I got from serotonin toxicity. AND YET, my "discontinuation" is fairly severe, so I’ve decided to go back on. I’m choosing nerve damage because I don’t want to risk long term discontinuation syndrome. I will get myself ready to be in pain. What's worse: body wide neuropathy (nerve damage) in both CNS and ANS? Or Parkinsons like movement issues, vertigo, fits of rage, and the risk of long term discontinuation syndrome? OR??? Is there something I can do about discontinuation that will not raise Serotonin? I'm pretty freaked out by realizing I'm in between two really horrible things, and I do not know with certainty what to do. Please make any responses concise and focused on the above question. I've got major information processing issues. (In the end it took me several hours to write this post. I tried to keep it focused. THANK YOU! -------------- What I am doing: EXERCISE I am making myself go out and do gardening every day. Hard physical labor. Somehow this works for me. Can't explain it. I don't question it, though it is making my muscles sore from the work out. Figure I’m regaining the strength I lost with 4 years of nerve pain. Most days I use foam rollers and yoga therapy (my profession) to soften the rocks in my muscles. And ice baths (fabulous for my nerve pain and muscle spasms and migraines) DIET: I drink lots of water and coconut water, lemon, mint. Basic diet for past 5 months: DO EAT: above ground vegetables, meats, fish, eggs, seeds, nuts, water. DON'T EAT: grains, no fruits, no dairy, no root vegetables (EXCEPT gratefully purple potatoes, parsnips and turnips :-) ! RECENT DIET ADJUSTMENTS Reinstated coffee and it seems to help me move a bit more smoothly. :-). Added Rice and bananas as foods I can eat when I'm still horribly nauseous and ravenous simultaneously. HERBAL TINCTURES: burdock, kava, lobelia, turmeric, white willow, and valerian. CURRENT DAILY MEDS: Felodopine for High blood pressure Oxcarbazepine for nerve pain Naproxen (Aleve) as an antidepressant (anti-inflammatories do help) Levothyrozine (hypothyroid) Levothyronine (hypothyroid) Singular for asthma Medical Marijuana — PCP, neurologic and psychiatrist all endorse this. Cannabis (oral infusion in cocoanut oil 2-3 times a day and vaping) Helps with the nerve pain, anxiety and depression. Total game changer for allowing me to be physically active and do things I enjoy and need to do to feel like I’m actually living — i.e. gardinging, socializing. Question: is cannabis seroternergic? Anyone know? PRN MEDS * Valium 5 mg PRN for muscle spasms, and at this point for the anxiety, irritability. Usually take 0-4 each day, depending on how bad things are. I chart it every day. Aware it is addictive. * Bendydryl (two OTC pills) with Promethazine suppository for neurological pain and nausea. Works OK for pain. * Low dose Ketamine nasal spray when the neurological pain is beyond bearing (to stay out of the ER) I’m finding that a single dose really puts the brakes on the discontinuation syndrome and have been using it that way. Previous does for nerve pain were 4-16 depending on the severity of the pain. CURRENT SUPPLEMENTS: Methylated B vitamins (I lack 1 of the genetic pairs for methylation) Vitamin D 5000 iu. for depression Alpha lipoid acid for neurological issues N Acetyl Cystine for neurological issues Reservatrol for neurological issues CoQ10 for neurological issues PAST: 10+ years venlafaxine ER 25 years psych meds. First ten years took almost all of the possibly relevant ones. Side effects and ineffectiveness. Starting 2 years ago I started slowly weaning off meds. I've gone from 14 meds to 7. Diagnoses: PTSD Major Depression Anxiety Sleep disorder "Post Lyme Disease" An auto-immune system problem? Migraines (Serotonin toxicity?) Neuralgia and neuropathy through out the right side of my body Yours truly, UrbanFeral -------------------- Med / discontinuation history. 2002? to 2016 Venlafaxine ER. First antidepressant that worked. Alas due to combination with TMS (transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) I developed chronic serotonin syndrome, extremely ill since January 2016. Tapered over 3 months from 225 to 0. (too fast!) It was easy till I got to the 37.5, and then discontinuation kicked in. As of 6/20/16 going back on 20 mg non-extended release, twice a day and beginning a slower taper. 2012-2016. One at a time, slowly I eliminated medications from 14 to 7. DX Plaquenil which had been treating post Lyme non-specific autoimmune disorder. Safely got off it over a 4 month period. DX Spironolactone for heart arrhythmias and high blood pressure. No issue getting off it. Lunesta for insomnia, tapered off over a 4-5 month period. Ativan - stopped taking it when I started taking Valium this year to control severe muscle spasms. Cannot remember what else I got stopped taking. 1992-2002, over 20 different medications tried alone or in combination that were either ineffective or had bad side effects. I'm going to work on a complete list. It's going to be real piece of work.

I started tapering from Prozac, 40 mg and Elavil 40 mg in Oct. 2015. I did not know if I could do it. One of my motivations was 3 years of chronic pelvic pain which started while I was on medication. Then all through 2016 I got sick. I spent 2016 in bed, mostly too tired to do very much and the withdrawal from the drugs was one of mostly forgetting to take the medications as I felt sick and had pains and distress, malaise, flu like symptoms In Nov. 2015 I got very dizzy. In Jan. 2016 I noticed that I had electric zaps up and down my spine and inner trembling. I became so weak in August of 2016, I could barely do anything. It felt like I had infections but I never had fever. By Dec. 2016 I had severe pelvic and groin pain. I could barely sit in Jan and Feb 2017. During all this time I felt ill, but not depressed. Today, I started to feel clinical depression coming on. I have seen a neurologist who discounted my symptoms of neuropathy. I notice that anything can trip the inner trembling and inner electric zap feelings on. In the past and recently there were no explanations of gynecological pain (all tests normal) or abdominal pain ( had 2 colonoscopies). I could put up with all the symptoms - but now 17 months after I started - I am really depressed. My nervous system seems to be hyper and reacts to everything with very subtle neuropathic symptoms which the neurologist discounted. I thought about reinstating prozac but I am scared. I was on antidepressants for 20 years and could not discontinue any of them before. This is the first time I made it - but I think I have peripheral neuropathy and I may not be able to reinstate to any antidepressants. I am still seeing my psych doc thinking that I should go back. But would it be safe?

Hi, I came off of luvox (fluvoxamine) almost cold turkey in August 2013. I was on it for 4 years at a dose of 150mg. Earlier also I had tried to very slowly (over the period of a year) come off it but it gave me peripheral neuropathy and TMJ once I was off it completely. I went back on it last year because I felt my OCD symptoms have increased. Now again I have quit it but almost cold turkey (on August 1st, 2013). It has been 3.5 months now that I am off it. I thought that my withdrawals lasted for about three weeks of quitting it and that I was successfully able to get rid of them. But two months after being off of luvox I started experiencing extreme sensitivity to hot and cold. This gradually worsened to enormous tooth ache and redness in gums by the end of three months. I got a root canal done after that. My pain kept jumping throughout my whole mouth. My dentist said that my teeth look okay. I have started a thread here earlier (http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/5185-sever-pain-in-teeth-and-gums/) because I didn't know that as a new member I should have posted here. Yesterday I tried one of the supplement from "the road back". It seems that it has helped me with the teeth ache. The TMJ and stuffy feeling in face and limbs is still there. Before yesterday it was impossible for me to live without at least 1200mg of ibuprofen per day for the last 25 days. For many days I even took 3000mg. There is too much facial pain and it is difficulty lying down because the symptoms get worse when I lie down. I think luvox caused me teeth grinding and also damaged my peripheral nerves because of which I am experiencing tooth decay and teeth ache because the roots of my teeth are getting damaged and I am also having pain and tenderness in my joints and limbs. Do you recommend that i should go back on luvox and withdraw gradually? Or is it too long now that 3.5 months have passed? I would really appreciate your advice. Thanks