Aeterna: Please help me

[Aeterna]

I am writing this while I can function. It comes and goes. I have been off work since this thing started almost four weeks ago. I am very scared. Please help me.

 

I've been on Prozac since late 2002. Prescribed because I was depressed. Initially at 20mg / day. Later the effect wore off somewhat and within a year or so it was upped to 60mg / day. I stayed on this dose until December 2013. While on it I sometimes reduced the dose to 40mg and sometimes skipped days to see what would happen if I come off it. After at most two or three weeks, I think I felt somewhat flat and took the full dose again.

 

I suspected that the worse that could happen was that if I come off it I would feel depressed. I was led to believe this drug is safe for long term use. But I was in for a nasty, nasty, nasty surprise.

 

In December 2013 I decided to fully come off it. Things went ok for a few weeks. I did notice that my muscles would lose power when exercising during January and early February 2014.

 

By mid February I developed loss of appetite; nausea and brain zaps, muscle and joint pain and tiredness. This was followed within days with what appeared to be the worst flu that I ever had, exhaustion and fever.  My blood pressure went down and my heart rate went up. I wondered if it might be related to the Prozac. So I took 40mg and waited. For about 1-2 hours. Symptoms were gone. By the next day I was back to normal.

 

This scared me senseless as I realized for the first time what incredible power this drug has. Little did I know that the acute withdrawal was no big deal compared to what was to follow later.

 

I started tapering in April 2014, reducing by 0.8mg / week over 50 weeks. When I reached zero mg by mid March 2015 it was *not* followed by acute withdrawal.

 

There is one complication at this point. Between February and July 2015 I took about 35 doses of 100mg of Tramadol for chronic lower backpain. I was led to believe it is a mild opioid only. In early July I took it three days in a row. My vision blurred. I looked up Tramadol side effects and what I saw was scary. I learnt that in addition to being a mild opiod, Tramadol also contains two additional unwelcome guests in the form of an SSRI and an SNRI:

 

"Tramadol provides analgesia through 3 mechanisms: mu-opioid binding (through its metabolite O-desmethyltramadol), serotonin reuptake inhibition (through (+)-tramadol) and norepinephrine reuptake inhibition (through (-)-tramadol). O-desmethyltramadol (which is formed from tramadol through O-demethylation catalyzed by CYP2D6) is responsible for theopiate-type effects of tramadol."

 

I dropped the Tramadol there and then. Within a couple of days I was a weeping from sadness and melancholy. This phase lasted about two and a half weeks then improved slowly.

 

Back to main story: Five months free and clear of Prozac and 7 weeks free and clear of Tramadol I slipped into a nightmare that I am still fighting as I type this.  One night in late August 2015 I slept only half the normal time.  3.5 to 4 hours (Usually 7.5 hours) for two consecutive nights. This was followed with restlessness and then, akathisia (look it up - it is not bearable).

 

I panicked and took 0.8 mg of Prozac. In about three hours the symptoms gradually faded out and I felt normal. At that point I thought I could just stay on a super low Prozac dose. Woke up around 2am the next morning with severe symptoms again. Took 0.8mg Prozac again, then every 2 hours until eventually I reached 6.4 mg for the day. It did not work like the day before. It might have relieved the symptoms somewhat for a part of the day. By the evening symptoms resumed. It then occurred to me that Tramdol might have something to do with it and not the Prozac. I took 1/6th of the usual Tramadol dose (1/3 of a 50mg capsule). Within an hour I was calm, but it is hard to say at this stage whether it was due to the Tramadol or not based on subsequent experience (I learnt that it comes and goes in waves through the day).

 

At this point I decided not to take any further Prozac or Tramadol.

 

I was now on a rollercoaster. (I am keeping hour-by-hour logs of what is happening and will post here maybe later in a chart or something.) Severe symptoms for hours on end, followed by a respite. Then the symptoms take over again. On some days it went on with almost no respite for two consecutive days. One unusual observation. One night ( a week in) I slept a full 7 hours or so. The next day I was back to normal. My relief was short lived, however, as I woke up with an incredible surge of fear in my chest and the symptoms returned, seemingly stoked on by the fear.

 

After a week of this, I was desperate. I got a prescription for a beta blocker Bisoprolol (2.5mg). I took it and seem to have gotten relief as I was feeling normal later that day. But alas, at about 2am I was up again with the same symptoms. Tried 2mg of Diazepam. Nothing. The next day I switched the prescription to Propranolol. For the next week I tried the beta blockers on their own and together. At this point the Akathisia seemed to be easing off somewhat but in its place there was an absolutely paralyzing fear and anxiety that is hard to describe. "The Scream" by Edvard Munch comes to mind.

 

At the beginning of this week my total sleep seemed to shrink to between zero hours(one night) and 2.5 hours. I took Midazolam sleeping pills  a few times to try and get relief and some sleep. On the best day I got 3 hours extra. On the worst I got barely 30 minutes extra on it. Then I had three nights of 5.5 hours or so. That was followed by a 2 hour night.

 

By this time the anxiety/fear was getting unbearable. I was getting exhausted. The fear and anxiety was ramping up in spite of the beta blockers. Throughout this time I had very little if any appetite. But I forced myself to eat because I needed energy to keep moving.

 

The akathisia and anxiety compelled me to keep moving, moving, moving, pacing back and forth back and forth back and forth, sometimes without respite for up to 10 hours, starting between 2am and 4 am.

 

My muscles were starting to indicate that they couldn't take this much longer. I made a rational calculation that I have only a few days left before muscle spasm or something sets in. I wondered if the "normal" day I had at the end of the first week might have been due to the 6.4 mg dose of Prozac I took at the beginning of that week. 

 

SO

 

I decided to see if I could reinstate. I did not take this decision lightly. But after weighing it up for another day I took 4mg of Prozac. Symptoms eased off after that (but it could be coincidence as it comes and goes in waves).  That was Friday. I took my last dose of beta blockers the day before (Thurs) and decided to stop beta blockers is I was going to re-instate.

 

On Saturday morning I took 4mg and then 2 hours later anther 4mg.

 

On Sunday morning I took 8mg

 

On Monday morning I took 8mg.

 

For the past few days things seem bearable between mid-day until I go to sleep. But early morning until the afternoon I get overwhelmed with panic and fear and I pace relentlessly.

 

I still don't know if it was the right choice and whether I should abort reinstatement. I still cannot see a clear pattern of improvement, I do not know if I should up the dose or wait.

 

I read the reinstatement page and also Eva's story (seem very similar to mine) on the edge of my seat.

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/5715-eva-struggling-after-20-years-prozac-and-now-without/page-4

 

But it ends with a cliff hanger. She never reported whether her dose increase stabilized her.

 

I am thinking if I can stabilize then I can regroup and plan the next step. Should I continue to try and reinstate or abort reinstatement? Will I be able to taper again if I can stabilize on this reinstatement? I have not been able to go to work for the past three weeks. I am now in week 4.  I am very scared and need help.

 

Please, please help me.

[Nomoreheadmeds]

welcome "aeterna' what a wretched complicated time you have had.someone will be along shortly to give you some advice.

I wish you well

[Aeterna]

Thank you very much Nomoreheadmeds - Just seeing your reply here made me cry. I am so tired and exhausted and scared. 

[Nomoreheadmeds]

I'm glad to be of help . i dont give advice on tapering at the moment because most of the time i have brain fog.but i hope i can reassure you somehow.Do you have support at home ?

[Lexy]

Welcome

In the meantime please add your signature line.

[brassmonkey]

Hi Aeterna--  Welcome tot he group.  I'm sorry to read about all that you have been going through, such a miserable time.  Your original taper was well done, it looks like the tramadol is what caused the problem.  Most doctors don't know it needs to be tapered off of.  The opiate like component is very small, but that is how they advertise it.  It really is a powerful SNRI.  It's hard to keep track of everything that you have done, but it looks like you have changed doses a lot.  Every time you change dose, either down or up, it resets the clock on stability.  For the time being, it would be best if you would just stay on the dose you're at and let things settle down a bit and hen we can work out a good taper plan.

 

What is withdrawal syndrome?

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

It would be really helpful if you could summarize your drug history in a signature block;

 

Please put your withdrawal history in your signature

 

BTW, I added your name to the title of this thread so we can tell who it is.  This will be your personal journal where you can keep notes, ask question and the like.

[Aeterna]

 Every time you change dose, either down or up, it resets the clock on stability. 

 

Could you elaborate a bit? I have been advised to just go back on 20mg Prozac, but if I can stabilize at a lower dose it would be better. Are you saying I should pick a dose, e.g. 20mg and go on it and then once it is stable taper it to get on the lower dose?

 

At the moment the most urgent thing for me is to make the symptoms go away via reinstatement because the symptoms are unbearable. I will work out what to do once the symptoms are gone (e.g. taper again) but for now I basically need to know this one thing: How many days should I wait to see if I get relief from symptoms at 8mg (I am now on day 4) I cannot last many more days. Should I rather jump to 20mg as it has a better likelihood to eliminate symptoms? Or is it known that reinstatement symptomatic relief kicks in after a certain number of days? 

 

I read the reinstatement page 

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/7562-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-reduce-withdrawal-symptoms/

 

and it seems to mostly focus on what to do when reinstating when hitting the initial withdrawal. In this case I did not get the initial withdrawal because I've been tapering. What I seem to have is chronic / persistent withdrawal. 

 

(Please bear in mind that this reinstatement is different from my initial reinstatement when I went cold turkey. When that happened, I took 1 dose of Prozac and I was back to normal in a couple of hours. Then I was off Prozac for only 6-7 weeks But now I have been off Prozac for almost 6 months and that after a very gradual taper.)

 

One never knows for sure, but I don't think it is the Tramadol that caused this (Since I only took 35 doses of the stuff over 5 months at a low dose - I took thousands of high doses of Prozac over many years) Besides, if 35 doses of Tramadol can cause THIS then I wouldn't ever want to touch it again as the total amount I would need to taper with would probably exceed the initial dose.

 

I'm sorry if I'm rambling but I am in quite a state after almost a month of relentless symptoms. I have fought this and fought this and I'm close to the edge of my physical strength. 

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Aeterna.

 

It sounds to me like reinstating a low dose of Prozac was the right thing for you to do, but 8mg is too much for you at this point. More is not necessarily better.

 

If I were you, I'd go back to 4mg. Stick with that for a week, keep notes on paper about your symptom pattern.

 

It can take a while for a sensitized nervous system to stabilize from a upset, like yours had with tramadol. Please be patient. See

The rule of 3KIS: Keep it simple. Keep it slow. Keep it stable.

[Aeterna]

Thank you Altostrata, Let me ask another question - Do you (or anyone reading this) know of any cases where reinstatement resulted in elimination of symptoms / normalization? If so, please tell me / post a link to the post. I have been searching but cannot find anything so far. If I cannot find any example of a re instatement that worked I will consider aborting the reinstatement (I'd rather do it sooner rather than later when only a small amount is in my system) I am logging my situation hour by hour on a 24 hour chart for the past 3.5 weeks and I cannot say that I have noticed a meaningful improvement pattern since Friday when I started the reinstatement. At a small dose maybe I can go a few more days with reinstatement attempt?

 

Please excuse the red / bold above it is just for emphasis of the key question.

[Altostrata]

The reason we suggest it is because we have seen it work. Please read some of the Intro topics.

[KarenB]

Dear Aeterna,

 

Welcome, and hugs .  I'm really hearing you when you talk about how scared and confused you are, and you are in a forum where everybody will understand those feelings.  It can be slow, but things will start to straighten out for you.  Keep reading on this site, to reassure yourself with other people's progress - it's sure helped me over the last few months.  

 

The topic non-drug-techniques-to-cope-with-emotional-symptoms has heaps of ideas for managing fear and things that try to trip us up. 

 

Karen

[Aeterna]

Awake now, it is the next day. Yesterday I had palpitations for hours on end for the first time until I had to go to sleep. I slept for 1 hour and woke up. It feels like something lit a fuse under my autonomic nerve system or something. And my arms are starting to feel glowing/flushing just under the skin more than before. I cannot sit still so I I was walking up and down for hours until my legs couldn't take it anymore. Then I lay down in bed kicking and shaking somewhat. It is impossible to sleep. This is worse than before. Could it be due to exhaustion because I am now in week 4 of this going on? Or could this be because I've taken beta blockers (e.g. Propranolol) to try and ease my symptoms last week. In utter desperation this morning I took a sleeping pill. Slept another 1.5 hours. I am honestly worried that at this rate I will be in the back of an ambulance very soon. And they will probably just administer drugs that will make it worse. I can barely type as I'm writing this. 

[Fresh]

Do you (or anyone reading this) know of any cases where reinstatement resulted in elimination of symptoms / normalization?

 

Hi Aeterna ,   I had intense akathisia for way too many months (5) before I reinstated , and it went away completely.  i'm now 12 months

aka. free.

 

As Alto suggested , 8mg may be too much.  It takes 4 days to get to a steady state in your blood , and looks like you had only 1 day on 4mg.

If 8mg is bringing worse symptoms , I'd go back to 4mg and give that 7 days to see the effect , then reassess.

 

This is the toughest part , so you need to be strong.  You're right about what will happen if you call an ambulance.  

Remind yourself that none of the sensations or feelings (like you can't breathe) can kill you.  Lack of sleep cannot kill you.

This is a temporary thing and you're going to recover.

 

Best wishes ,  Fresh

(If you want to see the video of me when I couldn't stop moving , I'll send you the link    )

[Aeterna]

Hi Fresh

 

Thank you soooo much for replying here!

 

You had unrelenting akathisia from Jan to May 2014. 5 months!? Oh NO!  How did you survive?

 

I also see that your timeline matches mine (about 6 months between last dose and protracted withdrawal) 

 

I am trying to puzzle together from your post, your signature and your profile page how you got akathisia-free 

 

According to your signature you were put on meds in hospital and was OK after 14 days? 

 

Then from your profile page:

 

How long did it take from re-instatement until akathisia-free? Did re-instatement stop it or did it stop by itself? In your profile page you wrote "Developed severe akathisia Jan. 2014 and took combinations of codeine , xanax and normison to try to keep the intense sensations at bay.    Nothing stopped it.    Ceased all meds completely and set in to ride it out." 

 

Did you write this before the hospital admission? 

 

Please let me know I am on the edge of my seat. 

[Aeterna]

I might have done something stupid. I guess I will learn soon enough. I realise this goes against advice on this forum. I will try to explain my rationale later. For now, just the news:

 

On Sunday morning I started taking 40mg / day again. (Used to be on 60mg for most of 11 years) Done the same on Monday as well as today. About 2 hours after the dose on Sunday I had a somewhat weird feeling in my chest, then started feeling warm. I was very hot and sweaty for about an hour or so, then became very calm suddenly. I was ok for the rest of the day (but afternoons are typically better so that might not be significant). I cannot say that Monday or Tuesday were better or worse than any other days.

 

I really really really hope this was not stupid to do and I know I should have probably gone from 10mg for a week then 20 then 30 if no improvement etc. (like this lady here: http://wp.rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/ )

 

I cannot say that I have experienced a marked worsening of symptoms so far but it is only the evening of the 3rd day (I read here that it takes 4 days for a dose change to take effect / stabilise). 

 

I will check in again with news. I know from what I read on this forum that it takes 4 days for a dose change to have an effect. 

 

I am sorry that I could not just follow advice and do it slowly. I know it might make it worse, and I took a risk. I can't take this anymore, my muscles are going into spasm from pacing around for hours on end from the akathisia, my autonomic nerve system seems to be in fight or flight mode every night, my wife is in tears and we are both at breaking point after just over a month of this. 

[LoveandLight]

Good luck..how disappointing after a slow taper but the main thing is you feel better xx

[Aeterna]

 but the main thing is you feel better xx

Not really better or worse. I just felt calm a few hours after taking the first dose on Sunday. I am still waking up every night with a racing heart and almost no sleep etc and then pacing the floor for hours until my legs give in. And then I just curl up in bed and shake as I did before reinstatement when my leg muscles can't take it anymore. Even as I write this I can feel my heart starting to palpitate at the thought of what might lie ahead tonight and that it might get worse. 

 

One more thing to add - I have started sleeping with a blood pressure monitor next to me in bed. I want to know what is going on when my heart is going nuts in the middle of the night. It is imperfect - Ideally a portable 48 hour ECG would be used but where am I gonna get that to monitor this. (And I also know that to get an accurate reading you have to sit still for 30 minutes before and average 3 readings etc. but this is the best I can manage under the circumstances. When I am jolted awake I take my blood pressure. Then again a bit later e.g. 15 mins. etc. What I have noticed is that when jolting awake my blood pressure and heart rate is WAY high. It then goes down and then goes up again in cycles. It is hard to determine exactly what the pattern is. For example, this morning I woke at 1am blood pressure = 149/82 heart rate is 80bpm. 6 minutes later after waking it is 134/74 at 78bpm. I think I stayed awake and monitored again at 1:19am it was 127/72 at 62bpm (pretty normal). I dozed off at some point and at 02:55 on waking it was 148/80 at 73bpm. The crazy thing is that when I am fully awake and pacing (just walking - not out of breath or cardio) the floor up and down it goes to something like 139/80 and my heartrate shoots up to 112 bpm. I used a heartrate monitor in the gym in the past when doing cardio and a heartrate of 112 bpm from just walking is not right. OK I am ranting now. 

[Nomoreheadmeds]

Hi aeterna are you still taking 40mg prozac ?

[Aeterna]

Hi aeterna are you still taking 40mg prozac ?

 Yes, every morning since Sunday.

[Altostrata]

Aeterna, I hope that dosage is not too much for you. Please let us know how you are doing.

[Aeterna]

Hi Altostrata, I will let you know. Last night I seem to have slept better. I might be feeling slightly better, but it is very hard to tell as the symptoms are not linear. 

[Fresh]

Hi Aeterna , as it's only been a few days , would you consider trying to stabilize on a lower dose of Prozac?  It's not too late.

[Aeterna]

Hi Fresh, 

 

I would like to do that, but I am not sure if it is better to stabilise and then drop or to drop before stabilizing? Alternatively I would have to taper down to a lower dose over time (and that means many more months of exposure to a higher dose). 

 

I am not stable yet. All I can say is that it has been 4 days at 40mg and my sleep has improved somewhat. For the past two days I could stay in bed and shake and move and kick and did not have to pace for hours. And that is a good thing as my legs are not really able to carry me for much longer with all the relentless pacing.

 

The prospect of having to take this stuff for the rest of my life is not palatable. Even at a very low dose. But what is the alternative? Another round of tapering, this time slower? I saw a blog by a lady who tapered Prozac over 5 years super super slowly and she had to reinstate to be able to live a normal life. The last entry on the blog is very sad where she announces that she is giving up. I think her blog is called prozacwithdrawal and it is on blogspot somewhere. 

 

It is still early days, I have to stabilise first and then try to decide what to do. It is not possible to think straight in the throes of withdrawal. 

[Altostrata]

Fresh is concerned that when the Prozac ramps up to full strength in your body, which will take 4 days to a week, it will be too much for you.

 

How are you feeling today?

 

You will be able to taper it eventually, but you're starting at 40mg rather than, let's say 10mg or 20mg, so it will take longer.

[Aeterna]

Hi Altostrata,

 

I cannot really say that there is a marked difference that I can detect. Yesterday was a better day than what today is so far. I just seem to be in fight or flight mode everyday after I wake up. It would appear that I am getting more sleep since I started to reinstate but it is hard to say if it is purely due to the reinstatement 

 

It is day 5 on 40mg. I have taken a dose this morning again. I suppose I should have started at 10mg and then waited a week and then up to 20 etc until stabilisation. Is it too late to drop it to 20mg now and should I just stick with 40 for the time being and see what happens? Maybe wait two weeks? I remember Dr. Shipko said regarding reinstatement that you start on, say 20mg a day and do that for two weeks. You should know within two weeks if that is working (for sure in a month), if not then go to 40mg. 

 

When you say that the Prozac ramps up at full strength (40mg after 4 days to a week) that it would be too much for me - what do you mean too much? Just that it would be a dose that is higher than the minimum required to stabilise and that it would take a longer time to taper it down again? Or too much as in it might cause more damage / weird symptoms etc.

 

I am really feeling very low today and scared. I can't believe that this thing happened. There is not really any support from anywhere - it is not like to get in an accident, break a leg, go to hospital and get taken care of. You are on your own, and have to make serious decisions on your own. You can consult with experts, but even the experts end up saying "I don't know" when pressed on important issues. And some experts even seem to contradict each other. 

[Aeterna]

Update. I've been on 40mg for two weeks and appear to have stabilised somewhat. I can sleep again. But with many interruptions. First few days on 40mg I would wake up with palpitations and anxiety after a couple of hours, but managed not to have to jump up out of bed and pace around for hours as I did before reinstatement. I could stay in bed and kick and jerk around until exhaustion took over and I drifted off....for an hour or so when I would wake up and repeat the process until morning. (Something to note here is that the symptoms get progressively worse with every wake/drift off/wake cycle during the night.) Over the first two weeks of reinstatement at 40mg this improved and I did not have to kick and jerk and the level of anxiety when waking at night decreased. Mornings - generally high level of anxiety that also dropped gradually during first two weeks or so of reinstatement. At 14 days morning anxiety level was mild to low. 

 

Also - during the first 4 weeks (from onset of symptoms) I lost about 16 pounds in weight. (I reinstated at the start of week 5. I am now near the end of week 7)

 

At day 15 of reinstatement, I dropped from 40mg to 20mg. 40mg started to dry my eyes out too much. And I should probably never have reinstated at 40mg in the first place. I felt that after 2 weeks I might still have a window to correct my mistake without too much penalty. I might be completely wrong here but I tried to listen to my body. 

 

I have been on 20mg for almost a week now and anxiety is up from what it was a week ago. I get more palpitations also. But I'm functional otherwise. My apetite is back to normal and I am gaining back some of the weight I lost. I am hoping that I will be able to function enough on 20mg to be able to go to work.

 

Long term plan is to get stable / normal on 20mg if possible and then start to taper down to lowest dose that will keep me stable. I am not sure what to do beyond that. 

[Altostrata]

Hello, Aeterna. Sounds like you're coping well with your dosing.

 

If I were you, I'd give 20mg a month or so and see if your nervous system settles down. If you don't feel 20mg is enough, there's 25mg or 30mg.

[LexAnger]

Oh dear, aeterna, just read your entire thread, I am so so sorry to hear the incredible suffering you had in the past weeks! It's really

heartbreaking.

 

I'm glad you are stabilizing now and hope you continuous well being.

 

I'm like you, did so much experiment with dosing on my body, without knowing the huge danger of these very powerful, brain damaging drugs.

 

Taking it easy now and giving your body a break sounds a good plan.

 

Hugs to you,

Lex

[Aeterna]

Hello, Aeterna. Sounds like you're coping well with your dosing.

 

If I were you, I'd give 20mg a month or so and see if your nervous system settles down. If you don't feel 20mg is enough, there's 25mg or 30mg.

Thanks, Alto. I'll keep it at 20mg for the time being and see where things go in the next few weeks.

[Aeterna]

Oh dear, aeterna, just read your entire thread, I am so so sorry to hear the incredible suffering you had in the past weeks! It's really

heartbreaking.

 

 

Hi Lex, 

 

That is very kind of you. It really helps to know that there are other people out there who believe what I am saying and understand the reason why these symptoms occur. 

 

Many people refuse to believe that "medicine" can cause such havoc. More than one friendship has suffered. They think I am hysterical / exaggerating while it is happening. And after reinstating they think the "medicine" is making me better.  

[LexAnger]

Fingers crossed, 20 mg is quite a lot, hope it provides you with a break. It no bad reaction, you may want to hold long before taper until your system fully stabilized.

 

I stopped talking to whoever never gets a clue including family members. It's frustrating to convince certain minds, and at the same time it's understandable for ppl having difficult understanding as these are the most bizarre symptoms only these drugs can cause.

[Aeterna]

Another update: 

 

I reinstated at 40 mg of Prozac almost 4 weeks ago and when that went well I dropped to 20mg just under 2 weeks ago. All went well until....

 

Day 23 on reinstatement (day  9 on 20mg) - Two nights ago I had a mild panic attack w. palpitations. 

Day 24 on reinstatement (day 10 on 20mg) - Last night, some of my symptoms seem to have returned 

Day 25 on reinstatement (day 11 on 20mg) - This morning I appear to be back to where I was shortly after reinstating. 

 

The symptoms are not exactly bearable (anxiety / panic / palipitations / mild akathisia - at the moment) although in the four weeks of symptoms before reinstatement I've been through worse. 

 

It would appear that 40mg worked but dry my eyes out to much. Is it just my body adjusting / or the long half life effect of Prozac catching up or is 20mg not a sufficient dose? Perhaps I should try 30mg? Should I just wait a couple of days?

[Aeterna]

I've upped the dose to 30mg yesterday morning. Yesterday was worse thatn the day before and today was worse than yesterday. Early days at 30mg dose so I'll try to hold on. Mornings are the worst. Symptoms start at 2am. (I don't know what it is about 2 am but it seems to be around the time the trouble starts, always). Persists until early afternoon, then get better until it is time to go to sleep when the cycle repeats. It is late afternoon and I am practically in tears as I write this. It feels like I am alone in the dark and I need someone to hold my hand. 

[tgirl]

Sorry you are having trouble.

[brassmonkey]

Hi Aeterna--  You need to give each of your updoses time to settle in before you change thing up again.  It can take several weeks to several months for things to restabilize and the clock resets every time you make a change.

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms 

[dreamspirit]

We are all here holding your hand, Aeterna! :-) it will get better.. I know, not fast enough but it will..

 

Hugs!