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  1. Hello, I'm new here and I want to share my story. Sorry if it is a bit long. When I was 8 years old I had very bad OCD and was put on Risperidone for around a month. I don't remember feeling bad on it other that I gained a lot of weight. Now I'm 18 years old and back in June this year I had extremely bad panic attacks(it was my first time experiencing them, and they lasted for hours) because of exams and bad OCD and ended up in the ER 2 times thinking I was dying. There I was given olanzapine 2,5 mg (to get trough the nights to be able to take my exams). I can't understand how I was able to pass them in that condition. I ended up immediately in the ER after the last one. Then after one week I still had extreme anxiety because of fear of having another panick attack(I was experiencing them constantly) and I went to the psychiatrist looking for salvation. There the doctor still kept the 2,5 mg olanzapine for sleep and gave me 0,25 mg xanax a day, and escitalopram 5 mg. I still experienced severe anxiety and panic attacks for some time but the fact that olanzapine sedated me in the night made it bearable. Because of severe anxiety I upped my dose of Xanax to 0,375 mg. After one month of this treatment I started to have less symptoms(my headaches and dizziness dissapeared, my heart rate began to return to normal values, the feelings of anxiety were fewer and fewer etc) and I decided to get rid of olanzapine because I didn't like the sedation it gave me (12 hours of sleep) and other weird sensations(my psychiatrist told me to quit CT because it is low). One week after stopping it was great, I was sleeping good and felt more alive again. Then the horror began. I was getting insomnia(I would randomnly wake up around 2 am), muscle aches and burning sensations all over my body, extreme anxiety, nausea, bursts of crying and feeling I was soon gonna die because I couldn't bear the sensations. Then I began taking it again and I slept for one night. The next one I wasn't able to sleep even with it. So I started to lower the dose and bear all the feelings. I was on 1,25 mg about two weeks and 0,625 mg for almost 2 weeks. During that one month taper I began to feel better and better, I thought that everything will come back to normal, and I even lowered my dose of Xanax to only 0,25 mg a day. I thought it was enough for this dose that is considered low. It wasn't. After one week of taking my last dose of 0,625 mg olanzapine I started to have insomnia again, and starting to feel aches all over my body. I developed a weird nausea(which is unbearable at certain times) accompanied by constant restlessness, agitation, increased heart rate, need of constant movement, tension and severe pain in all muscles in my body, night sweats and tremors. I feel suicidal again because I feel I can't bear the pain these sensations give me. At this point the only thing keeping me alive is my mom. I'm only 18 and can't understand why I have to go through this nightmare. I've read a lot of information and came to the conclusion that this is probably withdrawal akathisia. The fact that people say this can last for months leave me feeling hopless. I was meant to go to college in another city, to start my life. I will lose my few friends if I stay home and I will not have how to socialise, but I don't have another option. Everyday it's a struggle, and I force myself to survive this hell. (This was written 3 weeks ago) I am now able to sleep decently even though it is a bit hard to relax before falling asleep and I tend to wake up several times in some nights. Muscle and joint pain, accompanied by severe muscle tension is still present almost constantly at different intensities trough the day(in the first 2 weeks of withdrawal I couldn't sleep because of the pain). I don't feel the urge to pace anymore as in the first week but I still feel very uncomfortable in my body. Another symptom that drives me crazy is the nausea that comes and goes, it feels like burning and extreme pressure. I also have an overwhelming feeling of internal agitation. I remember in the first week begging for death every second as I felt as my soul was tortured. I had very bad crying spells with my mom that suffers together with me(I remember saying to her that I cant take it anymore). I was so bad that I thought I will end up in the psych ward. Now I'm better emotionally but I still struggle with all the overwhelming physical symptoms(They are so intense sometimes that I wish I could cut my limbs off). I made a mistake last week and reduced my escitalopram to 3,75 mg(25% reduction) as I was so angry at how some pills could make me feel, but I learned that I should wait to stabilize before tapering more. I am currently on 3,75 mg escitalopram and 0,15 mg xanax. I don't plan to reinstate anything as that can be dangerous as well. It's hard to accept this new reality.
  2. Hi, I found this site a couple of weeks ago and have slowly been starting to wonder if what I’ve been going through the past 18 months is related to SSRI withdrawal. I managed to successfully withdraw from Lexapro at the end of 2010, after over 13 years of AD use. I had various fluctuating symptoms for a couple of months, but then apart from constant ringing in my ears and a return of occasional anxiety, I seemed to be ok. I was studying to be a chi-ball instructor, was exercising regularly, was eating healthy and was generally quite happy. After getting off Lexapro, I had been diagnosed with adult ADD and been put on medication for that. It worked well for a couple of weeks and seemed to completely cure what remained of my anxiety, but then I started to get extreme restlessness, OCD like symptoms, irritability and an increase in my sensitivity, to sounds and lights. I assumed it was a bad reaction to the stimulant medication. My life has been a confusing nightmare since the end of 2010 really, but until I found this site a couple of weeks ago, it really didn’t occur to me that my ongoing problems were being caused by a medication I stopped taking over 2 years ago. I’ve had a lot of stress in my life starting from an early age and have always been sensitive and anxious. There has been some violent crime and sexual abuse, but I seemed to be ok until I got myself into a psychologically abusive marriage. That’s when I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression and started on Zoloft. For a couple of years it took the edge off my anxiety, but I never thought I had depression, but the Zoloft just made me feel generally numb, so I endured my marriage, for several more years until it became unbearable, tried to communicate with my ex-husband so that things would improve, but he wasn’t interested in change, he was already in his next relationship and had been for a while, I didn’t know that at the time though. Then I went through about 4 years of extremely frightening separation/divorce and ongoing court proceedings. . There were other extremely stressful things I’ve had to deal with over the last 10 years, but I’m not going to go into details. I have been thinking that what I’m going through is a combination of long term stress, anxiety/depression, a ‘dark night of the soul’, menopause and/or some kind of spiritual transformation like kundalini, because I have engaged in various spiritual practises through my life. At times its felt like my CNS is completely burned out or that I have some kind of serious hormonal imbalance, but I gave up trusting the medical profession, including psychologists after years of not being able to get any help from any of them and only ending up feeling worse and that its all my fault for not trying hard enough. I’ve had lots therapy, counselling and done various support groups over the last 15 years, nothing has been any significant help. I went back to college to study psychology and started a business, but that all fell apart when the marital abuse became worse and the divorce proceedings began. Since finding this site, I’ve stopped taking all psychotropic medication, realizing that anything which effects my brain is having an exaggerated negative effect on my recovery. For a long time I’ve noticed that even small amounts of caffeine, half a glass of wine or even an anti-histamine will have a very bad effect on me, but I was thinking it was my imagination. I can’t even eat chocolate any more without suffering the next day. I’m exhausted all the time, but it’s a weird kind of fatigue, its like a combination mental/emotional tiredness, not like anything I’ve ever felt before. I spend most of my time at home, on the internet on my bed, just doing the things I need to do to take care of myself and my teenage daughter. Its very difficult just getting out to buy a few groceries, but when I do go out, I function perfectly in a kind of dissociated way, like I’m not even in my own body, I’m watching myself like from a distance, wondering who it is that’s behaving so ‘normally’ when I’m feeling so awful. Waves of negative emotions seem to get triggered by almost everything around me and almost every thought, I try not to think about things or do much of anything so I can avoid the emotional pain that thoughts or experiences bring, its like a kind of forced meditation. This symptom was at its worst from November 2011 – August 2012, but its not as bad now, seems to be settling down, I think its improved by about 50%. Please would someone take a look at the details in my signature and give me an opinion if protracted anti-depressant withdrawal might be a factor in my current health problems which include: Waking at 5am with racing thoughts Feeling like I haven’t slept at all Nausea, shaking, dizziness, body pressure, muscle twitches Waves of negative emotion Hot/cold flashes, sweating Constant ringing in my ears Sensitive to sound, light and smells Can’t watch TV or listen to the radio because its too stimulating Most things are too stimulating now, including being around other people too long Loss of appetite and loss of weight Hair falling out Agoraphobia, mostly during the day, I’m able to go out easier late afternoon towards evening Memory problems and mental confusion Loss of confidence. Loss of interest in doing anything or going anywhere Can’t get any pleasure out of things any more Loss of hope I needed to put more detail in my signature, but that’s all that would fit. From about 2006 – 2008 I was also taking duramine (a prescription stimulant weight loss med) to try and lose all the weight I’d put on from being on SSRI meds. Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to try and provide a clear picture of my situation. Thank you Petu
  3. Hello I am 53 monthe out from a xanax CT withdrawal. It has taken me this long to begin finally feeling myself again. Complete hellish experience. Finally getting moving past brain fog. I am still on 150mg venlafaxine XR 150 daily and three weeks ago, started tapering by 10% every 4 weeks. So far so good. I wanted to make my first site post and make some friends here during my taper. I will add my info to my signature shortly. Wishing all peace in their journey. Hingie
  4. Hi, sorry, I don’t have a signature yet. I am in the process of titrating off Lurasidone and at times the withdrawals are horrific. With that in mind I would LOVE to hear some positive stories of people coming off this med. I started on 40mg 7 or 8 years ago when given a misdiagnosis of bipolar 2. I am currently taking 12mg a day (as of 7 days ago). I’ve been dropping by 2mg each time since I got down to 20mg. I tried three times to come off this med much faster and failed terribly. The drop from 16-14mg was very difficult and this recent drop has me feeling hellish! I think I may need to reduce the amount I decrease by a little. Any advice is more than welcome! thanks
  5. Hi I’m mark. I spent an hour trying to make my signature , but it wouldn’t allow it because it was to long. Tried cutting it down significantly, still to long , gave up. Basically I’ve been on a million drugs on and off , and didn’t ween off any of the em correctly except lamictal and seroquil. I can make a extremely generalized timeline . Starting with cymbalta 16-17 years ago. cynbalta -2007 1 year 2012 -1 month wellbutrin-2007- a few days xanax-2012- 1mg, recreationally 10-15 doses klonopin-2013 1year .25-1mg lexapro-1-2 months 10mg topamax-2weeks small dose lamictal— 2015 7 years- doses(25-400mg) Seroquil- 2015 5 years -15-100mg ketamine-2019 -10 iv treatments gabapentin-2020- 300mg- 2 months litrhium-2020 1200mg-1 month ambien-2020 5-10 mg 3 months Propalanol-2023 10mg -2 weeks I’ve had several med trials for past 10 years trying to address symptoms that came out of nowwhere in 2013, which I now realize we’re most likely issues from taking cymbalta at an early age , not weening off then going into more rec drug use and Xanax . past ten years of my life were terrible , Constant doctors , trying meds , psych ward visits from bad reactions , not knowing what was wrong , more meds , even was convinced I had lymw and did antibiotic protocols , hyperbaric chamber , etc. also multiple shoulder surgeries from bad shoulders , one of which was a botch job and caused terrible nerve damage furthering my issues . started realizing psych drugs were the problem in late 2021. Got off everything for about a year I got hit with a severe life threatening bout of insomnia in 2022 June , and after being off of drugs for nearly a year , had to resort back to trying things , and things spiraled quickly . While I always have had the hypersensitive nervous system symptom, i I started developing this at a new level . super sensitive to sounds ( even not loud soundslike fridge clicking on, car door in distance , anything etc). Can’t watch most movies emotions trigger symptoms . Constant tinnitus . Can’t exercise , sex release , can’t go to the store without flare .) nighttime adrenal surges / jolting . even then I STILL was seeing psych and trying meds because I was not familiar with kindling . How would I know ? I was member of benzo buddies and knew something was going on drug related but was suffering and didn’t know how else to try and fix it . Then I finally learned of kindling , and found this site . I’ve been off everything for 6-7 weeks . I see people with exact symptom profiles and I see a lot of people that don’t seem to show improvement with the hyper arousal especially from sounds . ive already suffered most of my life , and it’s been ten years and I’m not even close to better , in fact way worse. I guess what I need is a success story, for people with similar countless (to long to list) drug trials , that had the hyper arousal from sounds , lights , emotions , etc and eventually showed improvement . I don’t want to break any rules by saying how I truly feel , but this basically isn’t doable . I saw one lady that said she has the auditory arousal issues seven years later .. what?????? No.. can’t, sorry, I’ve already been in hell for 10 plus years . any success stories or other who had this issue and showed improvement WOULD help. I can’t really find any though . thank you for allowing me in the group and for reading
  6. I started Citalopram 20mg in January 2008 for anxiety and depression. It didnt work well so doctor updosed me to 40mg. After a month of sides i went back to 20mg. She changed me to different generics. I didnt have withdrawal or side effects on the different generics. In October 2010 a new doctor switched me to 20mg Paxil generic. In November 2011 I went onto original paxil 20mg, i had a panic attack in my sleep, but the next day i was fone. I felt really happy and everything was good. April 2012 I decided to go off paxil. I halved the dose to 10mg for 3 weeks, the next 3 weeks I skipped alternative days untill I stopped completely mid May 2012. I had the usual withdrawal symptoms, then I felt good. In July 2012 I had a breakdown. I got new symptoms and went to see the doctor. He advised I go on prozac. I started on 20mg for 4 days. I stopped on the 4th day because of start-up effects like anxiety and sedation. Doctor said ok fine, lets put you on a small dose of Cymbalta 30mg. 1st day the same as Prozac, second day all hell broke loose. Had a severe adverse reaction to the cymbalta. I had dearelization, head felt funny as if no blood was flowing to my brain, nlood pressure was low I felt like death. I found another site and they advised i go back on paxil and get stable. A week after the cymbalta incident i went back on paxil but started out on 5mg. I took it for 18 days and then stopped as it didnt work and made me confused and sedated. Now, 3 months med free I am suffering badly. My anxiety, dizziness and head symptoms are a bit better but now i am really suffering from extremely severe derealization and depersonalization. I mean extreme 24/7 and I am so so scared I messed up too badly to recover I dont think im going to recover. I am 23 years old btw. I have brain fog, dizziness, extreme fatiugue, DP/DR, apathy, anhedonia, tremors. I have lost all hope....
  7. Community of Healing, hello. In December of 2014, just a bit more than 6 years ago, I came to this site after already weathering two years of nearly life-terminating withdrawal. I'd been on psychotropic medications for most of my life and in my estimation, my nervous system had decided it'd had enough. From February 2012 to approximately March of 2014, I felt I was literally living in hell. I was hospitalized twice, lost long-running friendships and new career opportunities, tried a plethora of medications, supplements, and herbs in an attempt to "fix" withdrawal, and ultimately came to the realization that pharmaceutical medications would not be the answer to my suffering. Pharmaceutical medications had been the cause of my suffering. And what my brain and body needed was support, tenderness, forgiveness, care and time... TIME... to heal. Benzodiazepines had been the first drugs I withdrew from. That was a brutal, nightmarish withdrawal, but relatively short-lived (acute @ 8 months). Tapering from Mirtazapine proved a longer journey, a much longer journey that I shared here. So this is my success story, my chapter-turning post. This is my declaration that I have been successful in tapering from medications that had deranged my nervous system to such a degree that I was scarcely able to operate in the world anymore. I took much time to make this declaration of success as I am by nature skeptical, and wanted to be sure that healing had indeed come - and come to stay. I feel that it has. I discontinued Mirtazapine, my last psychotropic medication, on June 15, 2019. There are still some echos of it that I deal with in day to day life. My issues with histamine intolerance I believe are directly attributable to Mirtazapine's affinity for histamine receptor occupancy. I manage this issue with dietary and exercise modifications as well as use of select vitamins and herbs. It is not life-deterring. It can be inconvenient and sometimes unpleasant, but it is nowhere near as debilitating as withdrawal itself had been. Despite posting this success story, I'm not going anywhere really. I am always happy to answer questions about my journey. When I was in the worst of my own withdrawal, the feedback from moderators and members of this community and elsewhere were absolute lifelines. Not that anyone could necessarily fix my problems - but I could walk away with sound, compassionate advice and if nothing else, the knowledge that my suffering had been heard, and that someone ultimately cared about me. Your suffering is heard, and someone ultimately cares about you. I want to thank @Altostrata and every moderator past and present for their kind forbearance, compassion, and dedication. I want to thank every member for their strength, endurance, bravery, and perseverance towards a healthy life free of the chemicals that have caused them harm. You all have something, many things, to be proud of. I believe in every human's potential to heal. Take your time, taper well, make the most sound choices you can, and know that healing is absolutely within your power to achieve. Hang in there, Dave
  8. Hello all, I'm currently stuck in Effexor side effect hell ever since I decided to take a higher dose of 75 mg a few months ago. Took the dose for almost a month and felt awful, so my psychiatrist decided to taper off entirely with Prozac, it failed badly and I ended up in the hospital with suicidal thoughts and extreme anxiety. I didn't even stop taking it, I was on 37.5 mg (immediate release). They decided to up my dose to 150 mg in the psych ward, couldn't do anything but comply. Got sent home, felt alright for a few days but the side effects have come back. Feel horribly restless, anxious, agoraphobic, and what have you. Have had some panic attacks as well. I've become non functional. Is it too late to revert to a lower dose? I've been on this dose for a bit more than 2 weeks at this point and have been in and out of my psychiatrist more than I can count lately, so she probably doesn't want to see me anytime soon. What should I do? I'm also taking Risperidone (they started giving it to me in the hospital) and got my psych to give me 0.25 mg of Xanax in case of any panic attacks if that means anything.
  9. Hello, 47F currently on 20mg Lexapro, have taken 10-20mg the past 6+ years for anxiety. I’ve tried weaning off a few times over the course of those 6 years, but life circumstances always arose that made me go back up on my dose, or start up again. I got 100% sober in 2015 from pot and alcohol and haven’t relapsed. Don’t want to go back to that life. I’m in a really good spot in my life right now to talk to my Dr about trying to wean off again. He’s been my Dr the past 5 years, so he knows me pretty well. How I’m in a good spot: came out of the closet at 40, been married 3 years, my job of 15 years is in a really good groove, I exercise and meditate regularly, don’t have any bad people in my life, have a great sober network of friends. Physically/spiritually/mentally stable. Been doing a bunch of reading about tapering down. Want to talk to my Dr about liquid Lexapro to go down in 10% increments, but not sure if that’s available in the US. I am considering the method of tapering down one day a week to 18mg for one week (keeping my 20mg the other 6 days), then taking 18mg 2 days a week the following week (keeping my 20mg for 5 days), etc etc, then keeping 18mg 7 days a week for 6-8 weeks. Does this sound too slow? I also plan to track my mood either on a physical journal or an app. I plan on telling lots of friends and family what I’m doing so I can have them in my supper circle, if I haven’t mentioned it already. I am terrified of the withdrawal effects. But I want to try again, to taper off completely and use all my coping skills I’ve been using these past 6 years, so I will be able to stay off Lexapro for good. I’m tired of the side effects. Constantly craving carbs, sexual side effects, you know what I’m talking about. But I’m also aware that I may never be able to completely come off them. And that will be okay. I’m open to that possibility. I think in the past when I tried to taper down, I did it too quickly, and the effects were too difficult to handle. I’m so grateful for this site to help me in this process.
  10. Moderator note - link to benzo forum thread - Frogie: W/D from Xanax am new here as you can see. I need help!! I'm hoping someone can help me get off 10 mg Lexapro. Every time I try to drop to even 9mg, I end up sick to my stomach. I go back up to 10mg and am still sick to my stomach. I have no other symptoms. In my profile is all my information, I don't know how to get it to the bottom of this page. I'm not very good on the computer. Sorry
  11. 01/2019: I started taking 20mg Paroxetine. Very good reaction. 5 years, from 06/2019 until 01/2023: Brain zaps between daily doses. Weight gain 20kg 02/2023: Beginning of withdrawal. Reduction 2mg per month. Weaning 5 months ok down to 10mg. Weight loss 5kg. 07-9/2023: withdrawal 4-3-2-1ml Paroxetine liquid (1ml = 2mg) 10/2023 Insomnia, suicidal thoughts, weight loss 5kg. Paroxetine reinstatement: 2 ml (4mg) 11/2023 Insomnia, suicidal thoughts Paroxetine 2.5 ml (5mg) 11/2023 pharmacy dosing error: 2.5 ml (7.5 mg): 1ml = 3mg 1 week in very good health!!! After correction of dosage error, back to 2.5 ml (5mg). After 2 days: Insomnia, suicidal thoughts. 12/2023 Introduction Xanax retard (0.5 to 1mg daily). Introduction Sertraline 25-50-75 Paroxetine withdrawal in 4 weeks 2.5ml-2ml-1.5ml-0ml Today: Insomnia, suicidal thoughts. Even Xanax retard doesn't help. What to do? Reintroduce Paroxetine? Thank you for your help!
  12. Hi there, so I'm not new to Zoloft, been taking 50 mg (1 pill) for 10 years from age 17-27. I'm 42 now. I don't really remember how I tapered back then, as far as I remember one day I realized that I do not need it anymore and gradually within months I decreased by a quarter pill, the stopped with no issues. I can't remember if I stopped from a quarter pill (12,5 mg) or went down to 1/8 pill (6,25 mg), but probably from a quarter pill. I had a few brain zaps maybe the first few days, but that's all I remember. I was not new to brain zaps, if I did not take my daily dose on time in the morning, I also got them. Originally I started taking it for social integration issues and mild ticks. I was absolutely drug free for 15 years, had no anxiety or depression issues. I also have an active social life, although being an introverted type I tend to have fewer friends but they are really close. I also have a daily and really good connection with my family. I have to admit, I live a stress free life, no job for 6 years, no girlfriend for 8 years. I know it's not normal, but I was okay with it and it might have been only because I'm really lazy. When I had a job I was working at a multinational company and was quite successful, promoted twice within 3 years but I did not find myself comfortable in the last position, got mild anxiety and ticks again and quit. Never really found the balance between work and life. So in the last 15 years I was perfectly fine, no anxiety or depression, except a little bit when I left my job. I admit, my life is far from perfect, but I was okay with it. I did the El Camino pilgrimage this year the second time, the first time I did was a big milestone in my life, I changed job after that and lost a lot of weight, I was really obese. This year I had the same aim, to lose weight (got obese again) & and to change my lifestyle and find a new job. This year I was really unlucky and got Covid after two weeks on the El Camino, rested a week but was able to continue and successfully finished it. Back home, I had a really good friendship for 4 years with one of my neighbour. She is much older than me. She has a lovely personality, the always happy type. We were kinda soulmates since his husband died 4 years ago, that's when I got to know her. We were really close, was always able to talk about anything and we talked & met every day. On the Camino I thought a lot about, why not extend our friendship a little bit with some extra benefits. I know we never thought of each other like that, but I know she likes me a lot, me too, so shy not. At first she refused my approach, I got her too sudden. I asked for a few weeks break so I can process the refusal which she took very heavily. I promised that we will not lose each other, I just need a little time. After 3 weeks (in which she wrote me every day, even though I asked her to give me time), I contacted her again and everything seemed to be normal, soulmates again. I just needed time to process the refusal, but did not have anxiety or anything like that. But as we became friends again (was really strange at the first few times), we started talking a lot again and we both fell in love with each other. Unexpected twist, ha? Unfortunately we both talked about our past and she did a little bit too much. As it turned out, she had quite a colourful sex life when she was young and she shared too much details. I probably have a mild retroactive jealousy OCD, because of a childhood trauma when my father almost left my mother for another woman & also because of my own similar trauma at age 25 when it turned out that the girl who I thought was the love my life slept with half of my friends. She defended that "we were on a break" at the times and now she only wants me, but I was never able to forgive her and broke up after a year or so. So back to the present. Probably all together because my convenient lifestyle seemed to change drastically, the fear if our new romantic connection will ruin our soulmate thing with my neighbour, the burden that we can't act as a couple as she is much older than me, and she telling too much about her past got me a nice breakdown. I only experienced a breakdown like this, when I got to know slowly about my ex love of my life missteps. That only lasted for 2 weeks, at the time I was still on Zoloft though. This time I was almost not able to eat for 2-3 days and had really high anxiety. I went to a psychiatrist who put me on 3 x 0,25 mg Xanax. That corrected me in about a week, but we had a few jealousy fights which always set me back to high anxiety. Very interestingly, usually only the mornings were really bad, by the evening I was the loving guy I wanted to be. But the jealousy fights always set me back really hard. At the same time I was really angry with myself, as the stories she told me was like 20-30 years ago, they still bothered me. Now I know that this is a kind of OCD, best treated with ERP and I probably will be able to get through it. It was just these stories were new to me, also probably mixed with a little Madonna-***** complex. I was able to guess that she likes sex (that's why I tried her the first time), so that was not a surprise for me, but hearing some exact stories was still too much. On my last setback to anxiety I go so desperate, that I decided to start Zoloft again. I started with only half a pill (25 mg) and took it for 11 days. From the 3rd to 9th day I felt like salad/zombie. I had diarrhea and felt like I'm out of my body. Had insomnia, woke up like 4-5 times & night sweats. I also reacted really harsh to any emotions. I did not leave my flat and only felt apathy. I think this was the time when my soulmate realized that I have a real problem. By the 11th day my side effects kinda faded, but I also felt totally emotionally numb and & light depression, apathy. This was on Christmas day, I just had the strength to visit my family. Retroactive jealousy also disappeared, but also the love. I felt nothing. This is when I decided that this is not for me. I'm a very emotional person with high empathy, I don't want to lose it. Also this is when I found your page and decided that antidepressants are just not worth it. The next five days I took only a quarter pill, then stopped. After the dose reduction I got mild anxiety the first 3 days, then nothing. Still in apathy though, almost no kraft to do anything during the day. Now I'm on my 6th day of not taking Zoloft and it seems something started. I got stomach ache, mild anxiety and still in apathy. I'm still taking the 3 x 0,25 mg Xanax (2 months now), will taper that only after everything okay with Zoloft. And of course I will taper much slower than Zoloft, although I hope 2-3 months is not a long time & my dose is really low. I took the Zoloft tapering advice from Adele Framer: https://www.quora.com/I-have-stopped-taking-50mg-of-sertraline-after-10-days-will-I-get-any-withdrawal-symptoms Sorry if this got a little long, it felt good to write it down. My family knows about my 'drug' situation and they are supportive but I did not tell them about my new romantic relationship. She is also supportive, but does not really understand what I'm going through. She just wants back my old myself, but understands I need time. Got a few questions: 1, What are the chances that the stomach ache, mild anxiety & apathy are Zoloft withdrawal effects? Although I had apathy since I started it. I took Zoloft for 16 days altogether, 11 days half pill, 5 days quarter pill. This is my 6th day of not taking it at all, so 5 half life times past. I want to avoid reinstating Zoloft at all cost. 2, What are the chances that when I started Zoloft, from the 3rd to 9th day feeling like a zombie/salad was an Adverse Reaction? Do we have an estimate around how many ppl are affected by this in percentage? Although, I took Zoloft before, that was a long time ago, my body is older now. 3, If you have any other insight or advice on my situation, I would be grateful.
  13. Hi everyone! I've been looking at this website for a few months and finally decided to actually use it. I'm one various meds: fluoxetine 30mg, reboxetine 2.5mg, and xanax 0.25/0.5mg. I would like to at least cut down on the fluoxetine because of the sexual side effects. I've tried to do a few months ago by going down to 25mg (from 30), but after a month a felt litterally physically sick, weak, etc. So I got myself an oral syringe and from tomorrow morning I planning to take a 20mg tab + 7mg of home-made liquid = 27mg, a reduction of 10%. I will do so for a month and see how it goes. I will keep the reboxetine and xanax at present levels.
  14. Hi everyone, My name is Audrey and I’m currently in month 9 of protracted withdrawal from stopping 12.5 mgs of sertraline cold turkey for a panic disorder. I’ve been using this forum for months as support to check symptoms/giving me peace of mind and it’s been a god send. I took sertraline on and off for 3 years. I currently am suffering with every symptom imaginable still - some days better than others. Lots of Dysautonomia, heat intolerance, sleep issues, anxiety, POTS symptoms, pounding heart, you name it. I was a hypochondriac before withdrawal happened so this time has not been kind to my nervous system. I know one day I will heal but sometimes it’s so hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m 30 and feel like I could be 75+ some days. Here’s to a healing year in 2024!
  15. Looking for Shep to make a spreadsheet for me. I’m trying to taper Xanax and someone on this site recommended you to make a spreadsheet for me. I need to spread out my doses. I am very scared not sure how to do signature ive tapered to 5mgs of paxil need to spread out Xanax dosing and taper 4mgs
  16. Good Day, I wish I could say that my withdrawal symptoms from quitting Lexapro are the worst, but quitting Xanax takes that title. I have been off Xanax for two years and six months. The first day was the worst, the first year was the worst, and I am not feeling any Xanax issues now except waking up in a cold sweat every night since 2014. Anyway, I have not looked back or taken Xanax ever again. During that entire ordeal, I was still on Lexapro. I didn't quit it also because I didn't want to do too much at once. I finally quit Lexapro on the 25th of Dec 2016. Side note: To help me quit Xanax, I was put on Seroquel and Neurontin at rehab, and I gained 20kgs in 6 months which I am still trying to lose. I have lost half of it, but for some reason, my metabolism is no longer the same. I can't lose weight after rehab. I quit Seroquel cold turkey and tapered off Nuerontin. I took it for about six months and stopped when the weight piled on. Back to why I am here: The first month after quitting Lexapro was alright. Just brain zaps and nothing else really. I thought, "Wow! Quitting these antidepressants is very easy! I should have done it earlier." I was basing my experience on Xanax, which is harder at the beginning and easier with time. I didn't expect things to begin falling apart later, and boy are they falling apart. Month two drug free was also not too bad, but it was filled with episodes of sadness. Month three became worse than month two, and I felt withdrawn and my lust for life started disappearing again. Month four was worse than month three and I felt myself losing more joy, being darker than I have ever been. Month five, my current situation, is a hot mess! My anxiety is back, my depression is back, and actually they are back and worse than ever. My obsessive thoughts are back. Oh, and my sexual urges are back, after years of thinking that I might be asexual. The problem is, my sexual urges are disconnected from my emotions, so as horny as I am, I still don't feel like having sex with my husband, and the whole thing is making me panic for several reasons. My insomnia is back. I am weepy and frustrated. My pessimism is back. I hate life right now. My face is braking out and for this last week, I have been unable to eat so I also feel awful due to that, I am sure. I could go on for days about how awful I feel right now. I have not left bed for a week! I have made music though. Actually, I started having the urge and will to create music around month 3 of quitting. Before that, I though I would never make music again. So, there are pros and cons to this quitting, more cons than pros though, currently. I was thinking of going back on Lexapro when I happened on this website. I have now changed my mind. I thought I was just getting worse and worse until I end up committing suicide, however from the posts I have read, it gets better apparently, and none of my torture is unusual. I was suppose to start a family this year but now I have doubts. I would wait a year but I am 35 in three months so... I am taking, and have been for over a year, Magnesium (a high dose), Iron Fumarate (I have severe anemia), Vitamin C (a very high dose), Probiotics, L-Theanine, Vitamin B Complex and Vitamin B12 on top, 5HTP and Valerian, camomile tea when I have the strength to make it. Mood: Very Blue. Like in the pic.
  17. Amira

    ☼ Amira

    Hi all, P.s english is not my first language I started taking 30 mg cymbalta back in june 2016 due to having panic attacks, OCD and depression. During the past 2.4 years things have been really amazing and i got so much better. in june 2018, i broke up with my fiancee, and in october i decided that i will stop the Medicine. I stopped in october 2018. And at the same time i left my job and become unemployed since then. I did not slow taper, took a 30 mg pill each two days for two weeks and then stopped completely under the supervision of my phsyicatrist. I have experienced brain zaps and dizziness which stayed for only 2 weeks and then went away, however, i have been living in hell since then, i have suicidal thoughts, severe depression, panick attacks, feeling of hoplessness and what really concerns me is heart pounding and extreme sensitivity to sounds and light. i need your advice, it has been now exaclty 3 months sine i stopped taking cymbalta. Should i return to it again and taper slowly and in a safe way? If yes, please advice me how to taper given that in mu country the minimum dosage we have in pharmacies is 30 mg. Thanks, Amira
  18. Hi, i am 29 years old and going thru hellish WD symptoms. I quit CT after my psychiatrist told me my AD was just a placebo and that I could stop taking it after 1 week of tapering. I am so mad for how stupid I was to believe him. I got off my AD in December 2017 because I wanted to get pregnant. I actually have been having neurological symptoms for the past 5 years and had been on my AD for 10 years. And my anxiety has been bad for the past 2 years. I always thought the neurological symptoms were anxiety but now maybe they are a side effect of the drug? I tried to get back on my AD to stabilize but it made me feel so sick. I’m asking because you said you are stabilizing on Prozac. I have never heard of someone stabilizing on a different drug that wasn’t their original AD. I was just wondering if you could elaborate just because I am curious. I am considering trying a different AD just to stabilize because this is pure hell on earth. I have an appointment with a holistic doctor next month but I don’t want to put all my eggs in one basket.
  19. Hello there everybody, I am Dara. Forgive my English, I grew up in Europe and not my first language is English. So I was on SSRI and other meds after being scare of pandemic and not wanting to leave house. So for two years I was on Lexapro and sometimes Xanax. I try other meds like Wellbutrin because Lexapro made me not interested in physical with my husband. But after I stop, have hed zap, headache, but still function. Few months later, I feel very strange, like I can feel no joy or love and thing no working right. I try maca, I try tea, I try yoga. Nothing happens and I get very scared and anxiety. i try other supplement that makes me very sick and not sleep and have tremor. I go to hospital, they put on more meds saying anxiety is much more bad, and I was on a few things for a month before having something like can't sit down at night and again no sleep and feel very weird like I am so angry and dark. I stop those meds and just stay on sleep med not benzo sleep med, but new one Dayvigo and Doctor add beta blocker. Things seem better, then again no sleep, and i worry so, stop Dayvigo. It was okay and I feel good, then bad again, but now, things seem to be more okay. Like a few weeks I felt more good and even happy. Sleeping some. Still no passion and not me, but can be calm and okay and do other things. Then some nights very bad, no sleep and scared. But don't want to change any more. So i am on Inderal- 60 mg. I been doing just okay enough to feel okay. Not working, not loving, but alive and getting better bit more. Not every day better, but looking back, trend is better like stock market go up even with dips sometimes. I okay I feel more regular, even though not me, so good, i can get better. Good enough for me for now. But lately i am very scared about other things happening to stop getting good and don't know what to do. Yesterday I got small punctor in my heel from furnutire staple on couch. It went in heel, I jump up and say OW and look at foot to see small drop of blood. So I wash and clean and call my doctor. He say last Tetanus was more than 10 years before. So I worry now, do I get this innoculation or not because it was not outside and not rusty but also I don't know. Doc says could do either way, get it not get it. I don't know. I don't drink alcohal, I eat pretty healthy foods. But I don't know what else is problem for this sichuation. I didn't think supplements make big problem and they did. I didn't think withdrawl was a thing and it was. So now I don't know- inoculation can make me feel worse and withdrawal again? I also worried about tetans! Don't want either thing or nother bad thing to happen again. I just need to get better. My question is, what to do about things like tetans inoculation and avoiding other things to get better. I look here for experience, but only few people mention tetanus and some okay and some not. i have this akethesia before, this insomnia, nerve issue, low feeling of void, and don't want to go back there now things bit better here and there. Any advise? ALso, I don't have regular menstruation. Few months nothing. Now, I got yesterday and I noticce week before felt worse again, like going crazy sometimes and feeling like worse times from before. So if i get inoculation I don't know what is withdrawal inoculation or period or all. Danke - Dana
  20. I haven't post for a while here. Waiting to have good news to share with you, and now I have them. Recovery is happening very fast now. I am definitely turning the corner.Feeling much much better. I still have waves of dysphoria but they are short lived and most of the days are good or very good. The most important thing is that I am sleeping!! Some time ago I read here somebody saying "once you start sleeping you are on your way..." very true. To those suffering and struggling with this terrible condition, let me tell you, that recovery does happen. I tnink I was one severe case.But I am doing much better, and getting my life back.I am 63. Don't loose hope,eat well, be strong and STAY AWAY from psy drugs. Eternally grateful with SA and Altostrata. Link to Alex's story http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/3298-%E2%98%BC-alex-withdrawal-or-relapse/
  21. Hi everyone, I am learning a lot from this site. Thank you. I quit Paxil CT almost 3 yrs ago (after 10 yrs on) and quit benzos 10 months ago (also after 10 yrs on then, following a 19 months taper). I am mostly functional, but still suffering several issues, the most persistent ones: poor balance, tinnitus, poor vision and floaters. Seems like these are all related to the vestibular region (brain and inner ears). I know it may take a long time to heal and that 100% healing is difficult, but would love to know if someone had these same persistent symptoms and if they eventually got better. I am working mostly on-line due to the pandemics, but may soon face my job in a ship at sea. I am afraid that I may suffer terrible sea sickness due to my current state. Still feel privileged for being alive and mostly functional after so many years using these pills from hell, as prescribed by my doctors... Wish a fast healing for all!
  22. **TW: mental health/“s” Hi all, My name is Sarah and I’m a lifelong AD user and have used benzos for 10+ years. Decided to be an idiot in a state of panic & quit both meds CT. Scared of being judged but everyone here seems nice & people on Benzos Buddies have been so kind. Current prescription: 2 mg Xanax XR/day 100 mg Zoloft/day Quit cold turkey 1 months ago & having awful withdrawal - severe anxiety/panic, neuropathy/crawling ants sensation in limbs, cannot concentrate, restless, suicidal ideation, SEVERE tinnitus/zapping in ears, brain zaps (separate from ears), etc. Went to Dr way too late (around 21 days in) and he would not discuss taper. Wanted me to reinstate no changes except dropping to 1 mg Xanax XR. Said I wasn’t withdrawing despite vomiting for days straight at the beginning. Said you can’t go though long withdrawal no such thing - tried to explain but was told I’d need to find a new Dr if I don’t reinstate as planned. Don’t blame bill entire I was non compliant and I’ve messed up w meds before. Was uncomfortable w/ his plan so made appt w new Dr. Problem is soonest appt is 8/31 - I should have tried harder to find someone else that had sooner appts. Psychiatrists are usually booked about as you all know but I should have tried. Have gotten variety of responses regarding reinstating benzos. Some say reinstate/taper, some say don’t get back in bc it’s been a month & kindling is a issues and you will have to go through withdrawal again w/ taper and it might not help symptoms would even make worse. Was told to post here regarding Zoloft since it’s an SSRI. Does anyone mind sharing their knowledge on pros/cons of reinstating and safest say to do it? Regret ever starting it was on Prozac and I was fine but experienced acoustic trauma which has left me housebound and my meds weren’t keeping up w increased anxiety. Went against junk guy and switched to Zoloft. I think it might have had role in spiking my tinnitus to insane levels when I quit. Might have been the benzos too. Was desperate for relief so I switched. Should have found another solution. Upset that no Dr said anything about me being on these meds so long. Had no idea Xanax was built for short term - why did they let me stay on and even increased my dose w/ no warning!! Thanks everyone, and I truly appreciate you and any advice you have. Afraid this will never end and I’m on the edge of losing it. Already housebound now it’s 100x worse. It’s self induced torture and I’ll never forgive myself for the CT. I KNEW BETTER. Best, Sarah
  23. Dear all, I took Sertraline 50 (French name for Zoloft). for only a month and I have developped PGAD (Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder) following a too fast withdrawal. I read the story of some of your members who had PGAD when they withdrew from an antidepressant and their stories looked like mine and gave me hope and I hope they can confort me and assist me because I am in a very dark place. I read the stories of Hopefull anf Broken. Are they still on the forum ? How are they doing ? Until December 2016, I had never taken any antidepressant or a benzo in my entire life. I was leading an happy life with my husband and son in the West of France. We had a chemical accident in december. I mixed 2 products while cleaning my house, bleach and a cleaning product with acid and stupidly burnt my lungs and got a toxic choc on the 27th of december. My doctor thought I was anxious afer the accident and put me on Xanax 0.25, half a pill at night. I took it for a month in January 2017 and was sent to a psychiatrist who put me on Lisanxia 10, a pill a day. I felt suicidal because i didnt understand I was suffering from the Xanax withdrawal the doctors kept changing the pill without any tappering, I stayed on Lysanxia 10, a pill a day the whole February , then another psychiatrist decided to put me on Bromazepan 6 (4 quarter a day). I stayed on Bromazepan the entire March and he put me back on Xanax, all of that cold turkey. And that how I met my worse nightmare, the Sertraline AD: I was feeling very agitated on benzos, my lungs and entire skin were burning and everybody told me it was in my head. I didn't agree so I was hospitalised againt my wish in a psychiatrist hospital. There, they made me stop my Xanax 0.25 cold turkey and put me on Sertraline 50. This happened on Easter monday 2017 (April 17 th). After 2 weeks, I was sent home and started feeling very ill, I had tremors, agitation, fatigue, shakes, flu like symptoms and suicidal thoughts. I went to see a GP who told me I could drop the Sertraline to 25 because I had only been on it for 2 weeks and I could slowly stop it. I went on the 25 pill and then I started having violent withdrawal side effects (I don't know which ones came from Xanax or from Sertraline) : My symptoms : Sensitivity to light and smells, burning skin, hyperacusis, agitation, akathisia, tinnitus and when I thought it couldn't get worse, I started peeing every 10 minutes, got a hyperactive bladder, terrible pains in my genitalias, bladder and pelvic area and the worse of it permanent arousal. Since I have kept the tinnitus in my left ear, the akatisia and PGAD. I was sent to another mental hospital at the beginning of June because I thought they could help me with PGAD. They put me on Risperidone for a week while they made me stop the Sertraline very fast (they made me take it every 2 days for a week then they replaced it with Anafranil 25 that I kept for a week. My tinnitus got worse and my PGAD stayed the same. I was getting sicker and sicker so the psychiatrist stopped the Anafranil and the Risperidone and I was put back on Xanax. I am now back at home, my PGAD symptoms are terrible and I am considered manic and hypocondriac. My doctor wants to put me back in a mental hospital. I can't look after my family and Iam in a very dark place with suicidal thoughts My 3 main withdrawal symptoms : high pitched tinnitus, agitation and PGAD. Pins and needles in my lower back, legs and arms when the PGAD crisis start. . MY PGAD symptoms : Overactive bladder, ongoing arousal sensations in and around the genitals, having to go to the toilets every 10 minutes, pelvic pains, Pins and needle, shaking. It is atrocious and it makes me suicidal. I take 3 Xanax 0.25 a day and a Zopiclone 7 to sleep. I cannot sit because the symptoms get worse and I can barely walk because my bladder hurts. I spend my days crying on my bed with an ice pack on my lower parts. At night I cannot sleep well because of the tinnitus. I went to see an urologist, I had a cystoscopy done and they told me it is not an interstitial cysticis and gave me Lyrica (I am scared of taking it because I fear it will make my tinnitus worse). Nobody knows this symptom in France and people think i am crazy. Thank you for reading my story. Please can you reassure me ? I am terrified and I am suffering greatly. Would it go away ? Is it a withdrawal symptom ? Thank you so much for having this site on the internet. It gave me a lot of confort. Cathyfrench (I am french so I hope my English is not too bad, my apologies for my grammatical errors)
  24. Hi all! New here, but I have been lurking this forum for a few weeks. I will share my story... I will first note that don't really have a medical history of anything except for lots of physical stuff - sprained ankles, torn muscles, broken bones, herniated discs, etc as I WAS an athlete (now I'm mostly house and bed bound). No history of chronic illness, auto-immune, mental illness except some anxiety and bouts of insomnia here and there. I don't think I've ever even had a panic attack. 30F. August 2022: I got LASIK. Sept - Oct 2022: Moved cross country and LASIK outcome (had residual prescription) made me really stressed, so I wasn't sleeping well. I took one Xanax pill 0.25mg (smallest dose) before bed on and off for a few weeks. It wasn't really helping my sleep and made me feel really fatigued during the day so I stopped. Developed light sensitivity along the way. Nov 2022: I was (mis) diagnosed with cornea neuralgia, and given Nortripyline for eye pain. I now realize my pain was caused by an ointment I was instructed to use, not nerve damage. Light sensitivity might have been caused by Xanax, unsure about that one. Two days before taking my first dose of Nortrip, I took 0.25mg of Xanax to help me sleep again. That was the last time I ever took Xanax. Then for the Nortrip, I was instructed to take 10mg every three days, titrating up to 50mg. I took 10mg for four days, and was relatively fine. Looking back, I had some side effects like POTS, constipation, and inability to feel my bladder was full. On the fifth and sixth day, I went up to 20mg. My feet started tingling. I was instructed to bump back down by my doctor. Went back to 10mg. Tingling went away. Thought I was supposed to go back up, so I did. Back to 20mg for two tdays and then tingling came back along with crazy limb jerking. Like, both my legs flew up a foot in the air while I was in bed. I messaged my doctors, wasn't given clear instructions, so I quickly tapered down to 10mg and then 0mg out of fear. I thought I'd be fine because I was on the medication for 11 days. Did an intense workout, which triggered all the symptoms I had on the medication the next day. Kept working out because I wasn't sure what was going on and doctor said it was ~AnXiEty~. Since then, all went downhill and I have developed a laundry list of 40+ symptoms, including tardive dyskinesia (I was inspired by moderator's WiggleIt's story, hence named myself MoveIt). The TD started when I took a Zrytec. I immediately had an adverse reaction to it with stabbing pains all over my legs, got a big brain zap, and then my legs started moving by themselves. Over a few weeks it progressed into full body flails and vocal spasms. A week or so later, I took a melatonin and made it worse, my hands started opening and closing. Now I seem to be acquiring new "movements" every 1-2 weeks. I have involuntary full body flails, tongue sticks out of my mouth, eye blinks, hands open and close, feet tap, ,face scrunch, lips purse. My other symptoms have been getting worse as well and my threshold to triggering them is getting smaller. I am finding I can't even walk fast without triggering a "wave" and then feeling like I have the flu + hungover + extra noise sensitive the next day, similar to CFS I guess. Almost all my symptoms are physical (for now...). Now I realize my nervous system is super fragile and am careful with medications and supplementation. In case helpful, here's the list of my symptoms as of today. I am sure I am missing some... Insomnia Flickering lights when eyes open, like I’m blinking Hypnogogic Hallucinations Flashes of light before sleeping Arc flashes in peripheral of eyes (checked with retina doc twice, nothing wrong) Strobe light effect in dark Light / Noise sensitivity Tinnitus Random ear noises, such as car crashing or fluttering Ear pain Brain zaps Randomly feeling bouts of terror when falling asleep Stop breathing while sleeping Chest tightness/pain Cortisol rushes Heart palpitations Can hear heart pounding Tingling Pins and needles everywhere (including in mouth and tongue) Burning patches Stabbing nerve throughout body / face Muscle pain? Or dull nerve pain, unsure Tremors Hypnic jerks Dizziness Jaw jerks Constipation Inability to feel full bladder Missed every menstrual cycle Exercise intolerance Headache Fatigue I haven't really seen anyone on here with similar dosage or reactions like me. I see patterns if I combine stories like WiggleIt's, those with ADR, and those with exercise intolerance. I can't even say I can 100% relate to windows and waves. I will have a random cluster of symptoms anyday, nothing seems constant except for the tingling and the progression of symptoms. I'm also not even so sure I had an adverse reaction because I am now learning the side effects I had were actually normal on the medication, and that a lot of people "push through" and it eventually subsided. I am also unsure if being on Xanax so shortly before had some adverse effect. Also did I "kindle" myself with the Xanax by taking it on and off before the Nortrip?
  25. Hello everybody, First, I aprpeciate this resource! I started with panic disorder 5 years ago. I was started on Zanax in the hospital, and I am still angry about it, or at least about having zero information about what I was getting myself into. Thankfully I quit after a few months on it. The insomnia was terrible but my sleep recovered to a tolerable pattern after a couple of weeks. I also started Lexapro at 10 mg while I was still taking Zanax. And I started running and exercising three times a day for an hour each. I am still convinced that the exercise made it possible for the panic attacks to completely resolve after a few months. but then I had a new panic attack after months of not having any. My doctor increased my Lexapro dose to 20 mg and stayed there. I have also been getting very good treatment for my C-PTSD/developmental trauma (Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and Internal Family Systems/parts work) and a I am doing much much better. I want to quit Lexapro because I think I no longer need it since my anxiety/panic has resolved, and because it has the side effect of giving me GERD which I also have to manage with medication. And also because my sleep patterns could never recover to a fully normal pattern. I now learned that SSRIs interact with the circadian rhythm, and Lexapro in particular does so negatively. So, I blame my sleep problems on Lexapro. I started using the sleep app RISE, and realized that my circadian rhythm, isn't much of a rythm at all. I feel like I will only get back my normal sleep after quitting Lexapro. All the more reason to get off of it. I am super upset at the doctors for increasing my dose to such a high amount, now that I read that lexapro is so much more potent than other drugs at similar dosages. 20 mg is called "hefty"! a 5 mg increase would have been much more prudent and I am not even a doctor! I started by shaving off a small amount from the 20 mg a few months ago. I used a roughened glass nail file, that I could be very precise and gradual with. I finally reached a 25% reduction, and since I started having insomnia symptoms, I started looking for more information and found this forum. I read some of the posts and just asked my doctor today to switch me to the liquid version, so I can continue a more smooth and precise tapering process. I referred her to this website so she can also benefit from this information. I plan to increase my dosage a little bit again to see if the insomnia resolves and then I will stay there for a couple of months. I also started having stomach pain, and now I wonder if it is caused by the taper. That is hard to tell given my food sensitivities. I have gone back to exercising more again, since it was so helpful a few years ago. I am following the RISE app which makes working with the circadian rhythm very easy. I plan on being very patient with myself otherwise, and this website resource is incredibly encouraging and reassuring. I also take Melatonin for that. What I learned from this website so far that is an eye opener is the 3KIS principle, and is how incredibly important it is to be stable in all aspects of health. I didn't realize that before. So, I will make sure that my exercise and supplement and med schedules as well as sleep (or time in dark and in bed, at least) are totally consistent. Which is hard when sleep is hard to come by, but now I am that much more motivated to actually lean into it with trust and patience. Given that I am struggling with sleep, I wonder about CBD. I have never tried any form of cannabis before. It may be a bad idea to combine a tapering with CBD which is new to my system and it violates the 3KIS principles, but I thought I'd ask to see what experience people have, if any. Thank you all!!
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