LostInMarshes: in pain

[LostInMarshes]

Hello.

 

I need help!

 

I've been taking Zoloft on and off for close to ten years. Went up to 150mg last month. Since I got back from the psych hospital last month, I've been having a sensation of being stabbed repeatedly in the brain, the whole day after taking Zoloft. This is why I had to start taking it during the day time. Otherwise I cannot sleep - keep jolting up awake, as if though electrical currents of stress run through my body.

Today I got up, and was quite happy, energetic. An hour later I took Zoloft. What happened?: the feeling in my body and brain is that of continuous assault by toxins. I feel at the same time very agitated, very lightheaded and sleepy, nauseous, no longer happy, with diarrhea. Music, my true love and saving grace, is now an irritant.

For a long time I've been considering tapering off for good (I'd follow the 10% rule). But now it's clear to me that this medication is no longer good for me.

I had my psychiatrist (of a few months) call me and I suggested that we taper me down to 135mg. He said that it's not a "good idea", and that it won't help me.

I don't think I can get another psychiatrist, because I'm applying for SSI disability (for PTSD), and people at the hospital told me that my case will be quite strong, if I show that I've had the same psychiatrist for a long time.

If I go against his wishes, he would never write a good letter for my SSI case.

 

Should I just do it behind his back?

 

Greetings, by the way!

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Stormstrong.

 

That sounds like a possible adverse reaction from Zoloft. How long have you been taking it this last time around? At what dosages?

 

What has been your psychiatric drug history for the last year? What else are you taking? Please put ALL the drugs you take in the Drug Interactions Checker http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html and copy and paste the results in this topic.

[LostInMarshes]

Hi again. I came back now and saw that I never replied. I've now included my med info in the signature. This was an isolated incident, and happened shortly after I drank yerba mate tea, to which I have strange reactions.

​

​

[LostInMarshes]

Is this where we share our withdrawal journey? Can the introduction topics be used as journals? I have some things I wanted to share....

​

​

[nz11]

Is this where we share our withdrawal journey? Can the introduction topics be used as journals? I have some things I wanted to share....

​

​

Yes this is exactly the purpose of the intro thread to write you recovery narrative, journaling and sharing the highs the lows the good the bad and the ugly.

Welcome to sa.

[LostInMarshes]

Thank you nz11.

 

I hope I get more comfortable posting here. I guess I won't get any support, unless my propensity to isolate and not post on forums that could really help me, is overcome somehow. I go days without speaking to anyone, or seeing anyone... and feel alone everywhere I go, including online. I hope this gets easier.... I hope I learn how to support others, too.

 

I have a question about my tapering. Do I just ask it here?

 

I'm sorry about my signature. I'm not yet sure how to make it concise yet legible.

[apace41]

Welcome to SA, Strong.

 

This is the place to ask away.

 

Any time you are not sure where to post, your thread if a safe bet.

 

Best,

 

Andy

[scallywag]

Stormstrong you posted in the Recommended doctors thread
 

Am I out of luck if I'm on Medicaid? I fear all psych docs who take my insurance are subpar and unable to see the truth.

 
There are unfortunately few doctors and psychiatrists who understand withdrawal issues from psych drugs. All we need is a doctor who will continue to write the prescriptions we need.  If you have a sense that the doctor won't support reducing your dose, don't tell them. Just get the scrip and then taper on your own cautiously and conservatively.
 
What to expect from your doctor about withdrawal symptoms

How do you talk to your doctor about tapering and withdrawal
 
I see that you are currently prescribed 3 psych meds: Zoloft (sertraline), Wellbutrin (bupropion), and trazodone. When a someone is taking multiple medications, we ask that that you post an interactions report. Follow the link below to get your report. Just select the text, copy it and paste it in a post here.

Drugs-dot-Dcom Drugs Interactions Checker.

[LostInMarshes]

Stormstrong you posted in the Recommended doctors thread

 

Am I out of luck if I'm on Medicaid? I fear all psych docs who take my insurance are subpar and unable to see the truth.

 

There are unfortunately few doctors and psychiatrists who understand withdrawal issues from psych drugs. All we need is a doctor who will continue to write the prescriptions we need.  If you have a sense that the doctor won't support reducing your dose, don't tell them. Just get the scrip and then taper on your own cautiously and conservatively.

 

What to expect from your doctor about withdrawal symptoms

 

How do you talk to your doctor about tapering and withdrawal

 

I see that you are currently prescribed 3 psych meds: Zoloft (sertraline), Wellbutrin (bupropion), and trazodone. When a someone is taking multiple medications, we ask that that you post an interactions report. Follow the link below to get your report. Just select the text, copy it and paste it in a post here.

 

Drugs-dot-Dcom Drugs Interactions Checker.

 

Hi. 

Sorry it's taken me this long to reply. I disappear occasionally...

 

I'll check all of these links out.

 

I do have a concern regarding "All we need is a doctor who will continue to write the prescriptions we need." 

I think I should withdraw from Bupropion XL quite soon, before I continue with Zoloft. I -will- be needing a psychiatrist's help, since the medicine has no half life, and I'll need to taper using a different kind of Wellbutrin, I believe. I can't just ask for the script. 

 

I don't like my doctor at all. He's a Chinese doctor in Chinatown, and as compliant with the matrix as a doctor could be. He scrutinizes everything I say, and can see through me when I lie. 

 

I feel I have no choice but to walk in on November 5th, armed with articles from Mad in America and Beyond Meds, and insist on having him help me. I don't know why he scrutinizes me. Because I stayed at a psych hospital this January, desperate for nothing but some company? Ugh I don't like him!!!

[scallywag]

Bupropion XL has a half-life of 21 hours ± 9 hours. It's not too bad as far as that goes.

Please have a look at these topics, particularly the first posts:
Tips for tapering off Wellbutrin XR, SR, XL (bupropion)
Tips for tapering off Zoloft (sertraline)

[LostInMarshes]

As you suggested, the drug interaction checker calculated that:

 

 

 

Interactions between your selected drugs

Major bupropion  trazodone

Applies to: Wellbutrin XL (bupropion), trazodone

Talk to your doctor before using buPROPion together with traZODone. Combining these medications may increase the risk of seizures, which may occur rarely with either medication. In addition, buPROPion can increase the blood levels of traZODone, which may increase other side effects. You may be more likely to experience seizures with these medications if you are elderly, undergoing alcohol or drug withdrawal, have a history of seizures, or have a condition affecting the central nervous system such as a brain tumor or head trauma. Your doctor may be able to prescribe alternatives that do not interact, or you may need a dose adjustment or more frequent monitoring by your doctor to safely use both medications. You should avoid or limit the use of alcohol during treatment. It is important to tell your doctor about all other medications you use, including vitamins and herbs. Do not stop using any medications without first talking to your doctor.

Major bupropion  sertraline

Applies to: Wellbutrin XL (bupropion), sertraline

Talk to your doctor before using buPROPion together with sertraline. Combining these medications may increase the risk of seizures, which may occur rarely with either medication. In addition, buPROPion can increase the blood levels of sertraline, which may increase other side effects. You may be more likely to experience seizures with these medications if you are elderly, undergoing alcohol or drug withdrawal, have a history of seizures, or have a condition affecting the central nervous system such as a brain tumor or head trauma. Your doctor may be able to prescribe alternatives that do not interact, or you may need a dose adjustment or more frequent monitoring by your doctor to safely use both medications. You should avoid or limit the use of alcohol during treatment. It is important to tell your doctor about all other medications you use, including vitamins and herbs. Do not stop using any medications without first talking to your doctor.

Major trazodone  sertraline

Applies to: trazodone, sertraline

Using traZODone together with sertraline can increase the risk of a rare but serious condition called the serotonin syndrome, which may include symptoms such as confusion, hallucination, seizure, extreme changes in blood pressure, increased heart rate, fever, excessive sweating, shivering or shaking, blurred vision, muscle spasm or stiffness, tremor, incoordination, stomach cramp, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Severe cases may result in coma and even death. You should seek immediate medical attention if you experience these symptoms while taking the medications. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns. Your doctor may already be aware of the risks, but has determined that this is the best course of treatment for you and has taken appropriate precautions and is monitoring you closely for any potential complications. It is important to tell your doctor about all other medications you use, including vitamins and herbs. Do not stop using any medications without first talking to your doctor.

 

 

 

 

Interactions between your selected drugs and food

Moderate bupropion  food

Applies to: Wellbutrin XL (bupropion)

Using buPROPion with alcohol may increase the risk of uncommon side effects such as seizures, hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, mood and behavioral changes, depression, suicidal thoughts, anxiety, and panic attacks. On the other hand, sudden withdrawal from alcohol following regular or chronic use can also increase your risk of seizures during treatment with buPROPion. If you are prone to frequent or excessive alcohol use, talk to your doctor before starting buPROPion. In general, you should avoid or limit the use of alcohol while being treated with buPROPion. Also avoid activities requiring mental alertness such as driving or operating hazardous machinery until you know how the medication affects you. It is important to tell your doctor about all other medications you use, including vitamins and herbs. Do not stop using any medications without first talking to your doctor.

Switch to professional interaction data

Moderate trazodone  food

Applies to: trazodone

Alcohol can increase the nervous system side effects of traZODone such as dizziness, drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating. Some people may also experience impairment in thinking and judgment. You should avoid or limit the use of alcohol while being treated with traZODone. Do not use more than the recommended dose of traZODone, and avoid activities requiring mental alertness such as driving or operating hazardous machinery until you know how the medication affects you. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions or concerns.

Switch to professional interaction data

Moderate sertraline  food

Applies to: sertraline

You should avoid or limit the use of alcohol while being treated with sertraline. Alcohol can increase the nervous system side effects of sertraline such as dizziness, drowsiness, and difficulty concentrating. Some people may also experience impairment in thinking and judgment. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions or concerns.

Switch to professional interaction data

 

and

 

 

 

Therapeutic duplication warnings

Therapeutic duplication is the use of more than one medicine from the same drug category or therapeutic class to treat the same condition. This can be intentional in cases where drugs with similar actions are used together for demonstrated therapeutic benefit. It can also be unintentional in cases where a patient has been treated by more than one doctor, or had prescriptions filled at more than one pharmacy, and can have potentially adverse consequences.

Duplication Antidepressants

Therapeutic duplication

The recommended maximum number of medicines in the 'antidepressants' category to be taken concurrently is usually one. Your list includes three medicines belonging to the 'antidepressants' category:

• sertraline
• trazodone
• bupropion (active ingredient in Wellbutrin XL (bupropion))

Note: The benefits of taking this combination of medicines may outweigh any risks associated with therapeutic duplication. This information does not take the place of talking to your doctor. Always check with your healthcare provider to determine if any adjustments to your medications are needed.

[scallywag]

Thanks for posting the interactions report. Given that all 3 of your medications have major interactions with each other, there's no obvious one to start with.  Bupropion would be as good a place to start as Zoloft or trazodone. Some people consider bupropion as easier to taper than Zoloft or trazodone and therefore should be the last one to go. Please read the topics on tapering each of these medications:

Tips for tapering off Wellbutrin XR, SR, XL (bupropion)
Tips for tapering off Zoloft (sertraline)
Tips for tapering off trazodone (Desyrel)
 
You may want to take your interactions report and ask your doctor about it because you've been on all 3 medications since 2015. I'm not sure what you mean by "compliant with the matrix." Your doctor, however, is well outside what would be considered wise in having prescribed these 3 medications for the same patient to take at the same time.  Your pharmacist has let you down as well by not advising you of these potential interactions. I'm not suggesting that you be that confrontational with either of them;  you could just ask them to check their databases and pharma/medical reference texts to see if there are interactions between your medications.  Let them find the information themselves.
 
A couple of requests about your signature:

• It is difficult to quickly see what your current medications and doses are.  Would you add a line that states them?
  e.g. Bupropion ___ mg, Zoloft 100 mg, trazodone ___ mg
• The font is small and in a color that doesn't provide much contrast. Would you increase the font size to 12?  The color will be fine when the font is increased.

Let us know which medication you decide to start tapering and how that goes for you.

[LostInMarshes]

Umm, help? I've been on 150mg Wellbutrin XL for a year, told my psychiatrist I want to withdraw from it. He said something condescending and the best the jerk could do was prescribe me Wellbutrin SR 150mg (1 time a day only!) for one month. The idiot said I should be okay after 1 month. I'm too lightheaded to be able to focus on the first post in entirety.. I believe vertigo is a side effect of the SR... How could I taper the best with what's been given to me?

[scallywag]

I've moved your post/question from the Wellbutrin tapering topic to your introduction topic so that all your information, questions and answers are in one place.

 

At least your doc switched you from XL to SR versions at the same dose.

 

Did you read the first post in Tips for tapering off Wellbutrin (bupropion)? There is information about SR tablets and about cutting them.

[LostInMarshes]

I've moved your post/question from the Wellbutrin tapering topic to your introduction topic so that all your information, questions and answers are in one place.

 

At least your doc switched you from XL to SR versions at the same dose.

 

Did you read the first post in Tips for tapering off Wellbutrin (bupropion)? There is information about SR tablets and about cutting them.

 

I'm sorry for my shameless vitriol. 

I'll take a better look at that post now. 

Thanks!

[LostInMarshes]

So far it's extremely confusing to me and I can't figure it out. Maybe my mental capacity is weakening

[scallywag]

I've extracted the relevant sections of the first post from the Welbutrin topic. I hope the curated information is helpful. If something isn't clear or understandable, please ask questions.
 
General information about Wellbutrin:

 

There are 3 buproprion formulations: IR, SR, XL or XR
Name-brand Wellbutrin or generic bupropion is available in 3 variations with different half-lives -- the amount of time they last in your body (see below).

From the manufacturers' and the FDA's information (see below), the different versions are bio-equivalent. The only difference is the frequency of the dosage:

• Immediate release (IR): 3 times a day dosing
• Sustained release (SR): 2 times a day dosing
• Extended release (XR or XL): Once a day dosing

 

 

 

General Tapering information about Wellbutrin (any version XR, XL, SR, immediate release):
 

How gradually should I taper buproprion?
There is little information about tapering off Wellbutrin, probably because it is assumed not much of a taper is needed.

As with all other psychiatric medications, do not skip doses to taper. If you're susceptible to withdrawal symptoms, this is an excellent way to trigger them.

If you are very sensitive,

• you may wish to start with a 10% reduction per month, as we recommend with other antidepresssants. Base your decrease on the last dosage: The amount of the decrease keeps getting smaller.
   
• If you find 10%-per-month decreases cause no problem, you may wish to make them more often.

 

If you wish to be moderately cautious,

• you may wish to taper at 18.75mg every two weeks, cutting up 75mg immediate-release or sustained-release tablets into quarters (see below).
• If you get withdrawal symptoms when tapering by 18.75mg every 2 weeks, reduce the amount of your dosage decrease to 10% and extend the tapering interval to 4 weeks.

How Altostrata tapered off Wellbutrin

Personally, I found a 50mg taper per week to be sufficiently gradual. I had been taking 150mg-200mg for about a year and had adverse effects (blood pressure spikes). Although I had Paxil withdrawal syndrome at the time, quitting Wellbutrin in this fashion did not increase my symptoms. (Getting off Wellbutrin was a relief. I found ramping up on it a lot harder.)

 

 

Tapering using Wellbutrin SR tablets:
 

How to taper off bupropion SR (sustained release)

From FDA information:
- Available as brand-name or generic in 100 mg, 150 mg, 200 mg sustained-release tablets
- To be taken twice daily, "at least 8 hours between successive doses." (This is equivalent to 3-times daily immediate-release bupropion.)
...

About the sustained release feature of the SR tablet:

In the name-brand Wellbutrin SR, the sustained-release quality is in the binder, the glue that holds the tablet together.
 

Generic versions (which would be called bupropion SR, not Wellbutrin SR) may be made differently. Contact the manufacturer to find out exactly how the tablet is formulated, or talk to a pharmacist specializing in psychopharmacology.

 

About cutting Wellbutrin SR tablets:

 

I [Altostrata] personally found you CAN cut Wellbutrin SR (sustained release) tablets up -- the timed-release mechanism is mixed in with the drug. Put the pieces in a water-tight container and use them up within 24 hours because the time-release binder can absorb humidity and degrade.

 

For a short time, I cut up generic 100mg bupropion SR and took 50mg in the morning, Wellbutrin XL 150mg a couple of hours later, and another SR 50mg in the early evening for a total of 250mg/day. (I never tolerated Wellbutrin very well.)

 

Tapering using SR tablets
To taper, convert your dosage to 100mg SR tablets, cut up the 100mg tablets, make reductions by 25mg or less, take 2 times a day.

Note: If you cut an SR tablet in very small fragments or crush it, it won't to continue to be sustained-release -- the binder is extensively damaged. Take as though it was immediate-release.

 

This portion proposes combining SR and IR (immediate release) tablets to taper:
 

Taper with a mix of sustained-release (SR) and immediate-release (IR) tablets
As immediate-release tablets come in the smallest dosage of 75mg, which can be quartered into pieces of 18.75mg, you might want to convert part of your daily dose to IR tablets.

This will enable you to taper by 18.75mg at a time.

You might be able to get by with taking the SR tablet in the morning and the IR tablet at night.

Taper with immediate-release bupropion
From FDA information:
- Available in generic form as 75 mg, 100 mg immediate-release tablets
- Half-life of 10 hours, plus some extension with the active metabolites, for a total half-life expressed as 21 (±9) hours
- "Bupropion should be administered 3 times daily, preferably with at least 6 hours between successive doses."

To taper, cut a 75mg or 100mg tablet into quarters, make reductions by 18.75mg-25mg, take 2 or 3 times a day.

If you get withdrawal symptoms at any point, slow down.

[LostInMarshes]

Thank you so much for doing that, Scallywag. It looks like I'd need to combine Wellbutrin SR with either XL or IR, it seems like?  I can't taper with just SR by taking it twice a day, say 150mg minus 18.75mg for two weeks and so on? Though it states here that cutting up SR into very small bits will converts it into IR. So maybe I could take two SR and one IR, created by cutting up one SR? And so I won't need a separate prescription for either XL or IR? (Thinking out loud...)

 

Thank you so much for being here and helping us!

[scallywag]

To start, you can taper Wellbutrin SR by cutting the tablet. The caution about losing the SR feature relates to crushing the tablet or cutting it into very small pieces. You probably won't need to add other formulations.

 

You could assess your reaction to a cut tablet while holding at your current dose: Instead of taking the tablet as a single pill, cut it and take all the pieces.

 

I'm not sure where you're getting the 18.75 mg number from.  Please post more about your thinking on that.

[LostInMarshes]

Thank you, Scallywag.

I cut the pill into four pieces, and everything appears normal.

 

I got the 18.75 number from:

 

 

 

If you wish to be moderately cautious,

• you may wish to taper at 18.75mg every two weeks, cutting up 75mg immediate-release or sustained-release tablets into quarters (see below).
• If you get withdrawal symptoms when tapering by 18.75mg every 2 weeks, reduce the amount of your dosage decrease to 10% and extend the tapering interval to 4 weeks.

 

But I suppose I could just try it at 50mg reduction per two weeks or per month.

[AliG]

Storm. You could stay with your original cautious taper :  in fact that's wise.   I think SW was just unsure where the 18.75 mg was coming from which you have explained.

 

Would you mind very much increasing the font size of your signature. It's extremely hard to read. Thanks in advance. 

 

Ali

[LostInMarshes]

Storm. You could stay with your original cautious taper :  in fact that's wise.   I think SW was just unsure where the 18.75 mg was coming from which you have explained.

 

Would you mind very much increasing the font size of your signature. It's extremely hard to read. Thanks in advance. 

 

Ali

 

Hi Ali,

Thank you for that tip. I've been taking the 18(ish) dose for a couple of days and feel better. I have a pill cutter, but it doesn't really cut precisely every time, so for all I know one day I may be taking 20mg and another day 16mg and so forth. Is this dangerous to do? Do I need a better pill cutter?

 

I've increased the font of my signature. Is it easier to read?

 

I have a question, if anyone might have insight into this. 

 

I'm concerned that I haven't been functional for so long. I was able to function before, during, and even after rapidly tapering from Paxil in 2001 or so, until around 2003, when I "met" my Complex PTSD for the first time due to a tumultuous relationship that invoked body memories of being abused. I was trapped in this situation and had nowhere to go. Fell completely apart and developed agoraphobia. Then I was prescribed Zoloft, started to function and left the situation. 

Ever since then I cannot function, though I had short periods of time when I could and went to school or worked. After a couple of years trying different meds too quickly and tapering too fast, including benzodiazepines which I quit cold turkey and did not experience problems, I went back to Zoloft and had a bout of functionality, but though my dose was increased to the maximum that I could tolerate, I became as nonfunctional as I was back then and have been the same for over a year now and unemployed. Though I attribute this to my starting withdrawal.

 

My question is, could the Paxil and the fast taper from it be the culprit for all these years of barely being able to Be? Could I still be going through protracted withdrawal from Paxil? The mystery of whether it was Paxil that altered my brain chemistry so much that I was bound to develop full-blown PTSD, or the PTSD flare that altered my nervous system so much that it left me in this state, I agonize over... 

[LostInMarshes]

I just don't understand how I could be nonfunctional for 13 years! And not getting any better!! *suddenly terrified*

[LostInMarshes]

If anyone else has been unable to function for years like me (13 years or a little bit more), due to the drugs, please let me know? I'm experiencing subtle mourning... for living in a fog... I thought something was really wrong with me and all therapists (counselors) I've had were as dumbfounded as I. I was ready to accept my lot - that nonfunction is what I am. But then BeyondMeds started calling to me... 

 

What is it like? To live a life of absolute joy? What is it like to not live in a fog? I can almost taste it...

[AliG]

Storm. Many of us have lived in the fog you talk about including me and a lot of others here. It's not that foreign to any of us but apres drugs it really does start to improve.   

 

I have experienced many moments of joy since then however I have found that you have to work for them - they don't just drop in your lap. Sometimes when you think you have it down pat and sorted - it can come back to bite you yet  again. That is when you have to dig deep and keep going no matter what. Looking into your self- care / love and forging ahead despite the odds.

 

The " slivers of light " are enough sometimes to keep you going in a forward direction, moment by moment. 

You will get there.

Hugs,

Ali

[LostInMarshes]

Hi Ali,

thank you for this ... having trouble forming words. I'll have to come back to your post

 

I have so many questions... about my Wellbutrin taper   I feel bad for asking... there are so many others here who need help and the volunteers try to help all...

 

 

my life is a blur from one day to the next.. I haven't worked in over a year.. I'm financially supported by a family member I want very little to do with, and he's the only one who cares.. and live below the poverty line, but am somehow okay.. Barely go out and don't talk to anyone except for my boyfriend, who calls me every day to check up on me and offer me a conversation.. I lose the ability to speak, spending so much time in silence with my cats. I used to have 200 friends on a social media, and now am down to 6, only two of whom are really in my life. 

Yes, this is me feeling despondent and depressed due to Wellbutrin taper.

It's probably a life story so many others here relate to. 

 

A note for my self which should be made into a written one-- 

 As Monica Cassani warns, this should be my #1 priority:

It’s become clear to me that whenever it’s possible that it’s helpful for folks who’ve not begun withdrawal and have the time to consider a carefully thought out plan to attempt to bring greater well-being to your body/mind/spirit before starting the withdrawal. I did not know to do that, but in retrospect had I known what a profoundly healthy and clean diet and healing lifestyle could do, I would have worked towards those things first. So, that means learning how to profoundly nourish your body/mind and spirit prior to beginning a withdrawal, and then throughout the process, so that it might all be a healing process, rather than one of total destruction and disability (like it’s turned out for so many of us).

[LostInMarshes]

Something's wrong since the Wellbutrin tapering attempts. I'm completely not myself. Talking hurts. Being awake hurts. I'm so alien to myself that only spending all my time in bed and asleep gets rid of the pain.

 

Where did I go wrong?

 

* Deciding to take the SR twice daily, instead of once daily as prescribed by the doc? I thought he made a mistake in having me go from XL 150mg once a day to SR 150mg once a day. The switch didn't feel good. Have I essentially increased my dosage to 300mg, really damaging myself?

* Cutting up the SR into five pieces?

* Cutting unevenly and not taking quite the same dose every day?

* Having recently gone four days without the med?

 

Should I go back to XL and try again?

 

Strange sensations in my brain, too :/....

[scallywag]

There are few "shoulds" in this process. We're all doing individual experiments to figure out what works.

 

We may be able to see something in your symptom pattern. Please keep notes on paper of your symptoms and the times of your dose(s), then post a few days worth of notes here in your introduction. This post has a useful format for a daily log:

Take notes of doses and symptoms

[LostInMarshes]

Thank you for the link.

 

Just needed to let this out and write with a heavy heart that currently I don't feel so good after skipping a dose when I was too lazy to go to the pharmacy on time. I've felt so frighteningly "depersonalized" since then. It affected relationship with my SO. I went from super happy on New Year's Eve, to not myself the next day - distant, shutoff, not honest about my day, and the dichotomy affected something between us. I can also acutely sense that he really -was- trying to end our romantic relationship a few weeks ago... but couldn't do it. (we haven't spoken for two days)

 

~ Signing off,

Scared, alone, and not "getting anywhere", as he put it when he, I believe, tried to break up :,( :,(

[LostInMarshes]

I was down to 13.75mg of Wellbutrin SR for a couple of weeks, then stopped it altogether a week or two ago. I think I'm ok but not sure. Should I have cut it into an even smaller piece?

[scallywag]

I hope that you'll be okay. Looking at your signature, it seems that you were at 112.5 mg in December 2016. To have reduced to 12.5 by early March is a fast taper.

 

The most conservative approach is to taper to as low a dose as possible. Each situation is individual; there's no way of knowing how you'll do. You are still taking two other medications so that may buffer the bounce of the fast taper and discontinuation.

 

You'd be wise to consider staying at your current doses of Zoloft and trazodone for at least 3 months to make sure that symptoms don't sneak up on you and to allow your CNS (central nervous system) to adjust to the absence of bupropion.

[street129]

On 10/5/2017 at 3:33 PM, Stormstrong said:

Trazodone and Zoloft is also the combination that is the bane of my existence..... 

im in new york , did you got stable on trazodone. im tapering it and stuck at 225mg now going on 2 months.

[LostInMarshes]

On 10/17/2017 at 7:03 AM, street129 said:

im in new york , did you got stable on trazodone. im tapering it and stuck at 225mg now going on 2 months.

 

Hi street129. I'm not yet withdrawing from Trazodone, only Zoloft. 225mg sounds like a large dose. Are you tapering as they suggest, at 10-5% a month, holding for 2 months?

[street129]

19 hours ago, Stormstrong said:

 

Hi street129. I'm not yet withdrawing from Trazodone, only Zoloft. 225mg sounds like a large dose. Are you tapering as they suggest, at 10-5% a month, holding for 2 months?

im on my 3rd month not yet stable. Im longing for sablility

[LostInMarshes]

I don't think anyone will read this. My threads are so empty, compared to the threads of others'. I feel so invisible on the web

 

I broke up with my boyfriend of almost 3 years. On day after Xmas. I was angry at his undying support for Trump and lashed out in an email. In response to my long email he sent me a single link for a recent study done on antidepressants, revealing that long term outcomes on them are absolutely dismal. 

 

a tongue in cheek saying of "you're too fucked up to even think clearly, why try to lecture me?"

 

So this is what his view of me is. I'm devastated and didn't know he could hurt me this bad.

 

Gone is my main social support. Without it, it's easy to relapse into "wishing I was dead" ruminations (I won't do anything, of course... because I know that I'd be successful (I'm very resourceful)...and I feel that I have to be here on this earth until I die of natural causes, because I feel or want to believe that I'm going through shamanic initiatory illness - for a greater purpose) - it's just that my threshold for emotional pain went down at age 30... and when I reach that all to familiar place of pain brought on by loneliness and isolation, I immediately wish I didn't live here any longer. A place in my body that's filled to the brim and can't take any more. 

 

I do have a therapist now, thank god. She and I click very well and I can talk to her about anything.

 

Thinking of spending my New year's eve alone, too. It will be tough. Maybe I could simply fall asleep early.

[brassmonkey]

The best revenge would be to prove him wrong, make a complete recovery and then move on without him.  We know for a fact that it can be done, and there's no reason that you can't do it too.  The majority of negative reports about AD recovery are written by the medical establishment who, we all know, don't have a clue about how to go about it in a safe effective manner. I'm very sorry to hear that your ex is such a pig and has treated you so badly.  His lose. The name you chose for yourself tells me everything about you, after the thunder and lightning everything will be beautiful.

 

((((((((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))))

 

Brassmonkey