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Pinkslippers: Seroquel (Quetiapine) to relieve Pristiq withdrawal symptoms?


Pinkslippers

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Hi everyone,

 

This is my first topic on Surviving ADs. I was wondering if anyone else has found Seroquel (Quetiapine) helpful for relieving anxiety and insomnia caused by SNRI withdrawal? I've been off Pristiq for 7 weeks after a 12 month taper after being on it for 5 years preceded by 15 years on Effexor and various other SSRIs and SNRIs. The last 7 weeks have been absolutely horrible and nightmarish to say the least. The worst symptoms are the extreme anxiety and crying spells especially in the morning and after eating. Also waking up at 4 or 5 am with panic and sadness. I've tried Magnesium, Melatonin, small doses of Phosphatidyl serine but these supplements have had very little effect. The only thing that has helped me through  the day  is Valium (2mg) but I'm so afraid of becoming dependant on benzos. I went to my GP in despair two days ago because I feel I simply can't go on like this. Each day is a tremendous struggle and I've spent most of the past 7 weeks curled up in bed crying. I asked my GP to prescribe me Seroquel because I had taken it many years ago when I tried to withdrawal of Effexor.  I've just started to take 25 mg at night and it worked like magic for my horrible insomnia and I feel much less anxious and more relaxed.  However, I have heard it has a terrible withdrawal profile, and dependence forming qualities similar to Pristiq. 

I don't' know whether to take the risk and enjoy the sleep Seroquel induces, or stay away from another potentially dependence forming drug.

I would greatly appreciate it If anyone has had any experience with Pristiq or Effexor or Seroquel to let me know their thoughts.

Thank you!

About 20 years on SSRIs and SNRIs since 1995. Was diagnosed with 'Post Natal Depression' after suffering from extreme fatigue. I was not depressed or anxious.

Tried about 5 times to stop due to intolerable side effects (uncontrollable rage, impulsivity, detached emotions, memory loss, slow reactions and lowered intellectual ability) but unable to due to extreme withdrawal symptoms. 

Had ECT therapy in 2009 after reinstating of Effexor and many other ADs failed.

ECT great success but Pdoc prescribed Effexor again to prevent relapse.

Effexor for two years after having ECT therapy. 

Tried to withdraw form Effexor again 2010 but aborted due to the death of my father  and withdrawal symptoms unbearable with grief.

Recently on Pristiq 100 for 5 years.
Jan 2017 Have been tapering over ONE YEAR from Pristiq and have now completely stopped for 7 weeks. Experiencing severe waves of melancholia and anxiety.

Would like more ECT. Feel that my body is over sensitive to SSRI and SNRI meds.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Pinkslippers -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA)

Insomnia is a very common symptom of withdrawal from pschyo-neuro-active medications such as Pristiq, and Seroquel for that matter. :(
What is withdrawal syndrome
Tips to help sleep -- so many of us have that awful withdrawal insomnia

For information about other symptoms and ideas to cope with them:
Important topics about symptoms

A request: Would you summarize your history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-18 months particularly?

  • Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago)
  • Please use words for months, e.g. "Jan." or "August"; 1/9 could be January 9 or September 1.
  • Any drugs prior to 18 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years.
  • You don't need to include symptoms or diagnoses other than the initial condition that led to prescribing the first drug.
  • We ask for this information in your signature so that we can see it at a glance. A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs.
  • You can find instructions in this topic: Please put your withdrawal history in signature
  • If you are using a phone or mobile device, you need to switch to the "full" or desktop version of the site. Instructions are in Post 8 and Post 9

For more information on your previous and current medications, please read the posts in these topics:
Tips for tapering off Pristiq (desvenlafaxine)
Tips for tapering off Seroquel (quetiapine)
 
You've got several options to consider:

  • Stop Seroquel and reinstate Pristiq.
  • Cross-over from Seroquel to Prozac or another medication that isn't an anti-psychotic drug.
  • Stay at 25 mg Seroquel, and plan a future taper off it.
  • Try to find the lowest dose of Seroquel that keeps your insomnia in check, removing ½ or ¼ of your 25 mg tablet. Plan a future taper off it -- the lower your maintenance dose, the less time it will take to taper off it.
  • Stop Seroquel and ride out the insomnia. It's won't be easy but insomnia does resolve over time for most people.

I'm under the impression that you've only been taking 25 mg Seroquel for a few days.  If that's the case, then in your shoes I'd look at #4 first.   It would be worthwhile to keep the dose as low as possible to stabilize.

  • It can be difficult to create taper doses from Pristiq tablets because of how they are formulated.
  • There are no guarantees that another drug will deal with your insomnia in the same way you've experienced with Seroquel.
  • Switching medications can be destabilizing. Why risk that!?

 
Important information for tapering:
Before you begin tapering -- what you need to know
Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

I hope you'll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation. I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but am glad that you found us.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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Welcome pinkslippers,

You mentioned valium use in post 1 but i cant see it in your drug signature.

Personally I like the sound of option 1 .

imo when it comes to seroquel  - dont take the bait.

Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen

We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. 

URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting  for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing.

http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651   

Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos.

Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you

Recovering paxil addict

None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. 

This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! 

  "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped."  Dr Mosher. Me too! 

Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015

I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015

Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017

 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi pinkslippers and welcome from me too.

 

What dose of Pristiq were you on before tapering?  and  How many mg was the last dose that you took?

 

How did you taper?  Did you skip days?  Did you cut up tablets?  Did you experience any withdrawal symptoms during your taper?

 

You do have the option of reinstating Pristiq, stabilising and then tapering as per #1 in SW's post:  About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

The other option you have is, instead of reinstating Pristiq, change over to Effexor, which is a cousin of Pristiq:  Tips for tapering off Effexor (venlafaxine)

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

Link to comment
  • Moderator Emeritus

If you do decide to reinstate or change over the Effexor, please let us know and then we can suggest a dose to try.  Please do not go back on the dose you were on 7 weeks ago because your brain will have already made some adaptations and the dose you took previously may be too much.

 

The idea of reinstating a small dose is to help to reduce the withdrawal symptoms to a bearable level.  It takes about 4 days for the drug to get to full state in the blood and then a bit longer before it registers in the brain.  However, after reinstating the drug withdrawal symptoms may start to improve within the first day.  I went from 100mg to 50mg for 3 weeks and experienced very bad brain fog and got to the point where I wasn't able to type (I had a benchmark because I am a professional typist).  About 4 hours after updosing my foggy head started clearing and I was able to type again.  There was no way that this was psychosomatic.  After stabilising I commenced tapering and I am now down to 32.5mg and have only experienced minimal withdrawal symptoms during my taper.  There is a link to my website (which has my brief history) and also to my Intro topic in my signature.

 

These helped me to understand SA's recommendations:

 

Brain Remodelling


Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

Link to comment

Pinkslippers -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA)

 

Insomnia is a very common symptom of withdrawal from pschyo-neuro-active medications such as Pristiq, and Seroquel for that matter. :(

What is withdrawal syndrome

Tips to help sleep -- so many of us have that awful withdrawal insomnia

 

For information about other symptoms and ideas to cope with them:

Important topics about symptoms

 

A request: Would you summarize your history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-18 months particularly?

  • Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago)
  • Please use words for months, e.g. "Jan." or "August"; 1/9 could be January 9 or September 1.
  • Any drugs prior to 18 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years.
  • You don't need to include symptoms or diagnoses other than the initial condition that led to prescribing the first drug.
  • We ask for this information in your signature so that we can see it at a glance. A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs.
  • You can find instructions in this topic: Please put your withdrawal history in signature
  • If you are using a phone or mobile device, you need to switch to the "full" or desktop version of the site. Instructions are in Post 8 and Post 9

For more information on your previous and current medications, please read the posts in these topics:

Tips for tapering off Pristiq (desvenlafaxine)

Tips for tapering off Seroquel (quetiapine)

 

You've got several options to consider:

  • Stop Seroquel and reinstate Pristiq.
  • Cross-over from Seroquel to Prozac or another medication that isn't an anti-psychotic drug.
  • Stay at 25 mg Seroquel, and plan a future taper off it.
  • Try to find the lowest dose of Seroquel that keeps your insomnia in check, removing ½ or ¼ of your 25 mg tablet. Plan a future taper off it -- the lower your maintenance dose, the less time it will take to taper off it.
  • Stop Seroquel and ride out the insomnia. It's won't be easy but insomnia does resolve over time for most people.

I'm under the impression that you've only been taking 25 mg Seroquel for a few days.  If that's the case, then in your shoes I'd look at #4 first.   It would be worthwhile to keep the dose as low as possible to stabilize.

  • It can be difficult to create taper doses from Pristiq tablets because of how they are formulated.
  • There are no guarantees that another drug will deal with your insomnia in the same way you've experienced with Seroquel.
  • Switching medications can be destabilizing. Why risk that!?

 

Important information for tapering:

Before you begin tapering -- what you need to know

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

I hope you'll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation. I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but am glad that you found us.

 

 

Thank you so much Scallywag for your rapid reply. 

 

I've only taken the Seroquel for two nights (not lastnight) and it also greatly relieved my anxiety during the day as well as early morning waking.

 

I've been tapering Pristiq by cutting the tablets into half then quarters. For the final month of the taper I was taking one quarter (12.5mg) of a tablet every three days which was working fine. The month previous to that I was taking 12.5 mg every two days and so on and so on. I found skipping days the best as I've tried the other way and I had worse withdrawal symptoms.  

 

It's only since completely stopping (7 weeks ago) that I've had a dramatic increase in non-stop crying and anxiety plus early morning "terror" at 4 am. It seems that no matter how slow or how fast I taper ( I've been through this withdrawal process many times) I can't' avoid going through the inevitable pain of anxiety, morning anxiety, crying and insomnia.

 

However I'm absolutely not coping with the anxiety and lack of sleep. 

 

I think I prefer no. 4 of your recommendations because I feel so sick and so tired. (Even finding it difficult mentally to be on this forum)

Reinstating I would rather not do at this stage because I feel it would set me back and merely prolong the suffering. 

Ideally I would love to do no. 5 and stay off everything but I feel I am not that strong and the trauma of this ordeal is taking an extra mental and physical toll on top of that which is already occurring.

 

Again thank you for your recommendations and for caring scallywag

About 20 years on SSRIs and SNRIs since 1995. Was diagnosed with 'Post Natal Depression' after suffering from extreme fatigue. I was not depressed or anxious.

Tried about 5 times to stop due to intolerable side effects (uncontrollable rage, impulsivity, detached emotions, memory loss, slow reactions and lowered intellectual ability) but unable to due to extreme withdrawal symptoms. 

Had ECT therapy in 2009 after reinstating of Effexor and many other ADs failed.

ECT great success but Pdoc prescribed Effexor again to prevent relapse.

Effexor for two years after having ECT therapy. 

Tried to withdraw form Effexor again 2010 but aborted due to the death of my father  and withdrawal symptoms unbearable with grief.

Recently on Pristiq 100 for 5 years.
Jan 2017 Have been tapering over ONE YEAR from Pristiq and have now completely stopped for 7 weeks. Experiencing severe waves of melancholia and anxiety.

Would like more ECT. Feel that my body is over sensitive to SSRI and SNRI meds.

Link to comment

If you do decide to reinstate or change over the Effexor, please let us know and then we can suggest a dose to try.  Please do not go back on the dose you were on 7 weeks ago because your brain will have already made some adaptations and the dose you took previously may be too much.

 

The idea of reinstating a small dose is to help to reduce the withdrawal symptoms to a bearable level.  It takes about 4 days for the drug to get to full state in the blood and then a bit longer before it registers in the brain.  However, after reinstating the drug withdrawal symptoms may start to improve within the first day.  I went from 100mg to 50mg for 3 weeks and experienced very bad brain fog and got to the point where I wasn't able to type (I had a benchmark because I am a professional typist).  About 4 hours after updosing my foggy head started clearing and I was able to type again.  There was no way that this was psychosomatic.  After stabilising I commenced tapering and I am now down to 32.5mg and have only experienced minimal withdrawal symptoms during my taper.  There is a link to my website (which has my brief history) and also to my Intro topic in my signature.

 

These helped me to understand SA's recommendations:

 

Brain Remodelling

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

Hi Chessiecat thank you so much for your reply, I appreciate it greatly. :)

 

 I've been tapering Pristiq by cutting the tablets into half then quarters. For the final month of the taper I was taking one quarter (12.5mg) of a tablet every three days which was working fine. The month previous to that I was taking 12.5 mg every two days and so on and so on. I found skipping days the best as I've tried the other way and I had worse withdrawal symptoms.  When I reached the point of taking 25mg every 4 days, by the 4th day I would get quite bad symptoms, anxiety, crying spells etc and then I would take 25mg (half a 50 tablet) and the after 20 minutes the symptoms vanished. That's how I found out that the symptoms I was experiencing were NOT due to a return of my original depression/condition or "placebo" as one Pschiatrists told me. My symptoms were clearly caused by the abstinence of the Prisitq! 

 

It's only since completely stopping (7 weeks ago) that I've had a dramatic increase in non-stop crying and anxiety plus early morning "terror" at 4 am. It seems that no matter how slow or how fast I taper ( I've been through this withdrawal process many times) I can't' avoid going through the inevitable pain of anxiety, morning anxiety, crying and insomnia.

 

As I was taking such a minute dose (quarter of a 50mg tablet every three days) for one month before stopping,I don't think that reinstating will do anything except prolong the wihdrawal. I feel that it is inevitable that I will have to eventually have to face the horrid pain once I stop completely, either now or in the future. 

About 20 years on SSRIs and SNRIs since 1995. Was diagnosed with 'Post Natal Depression' after suffering from extreme fatigue. I was not depressed or anxious.

Tried about 5 times to stop due to intolerable side effects (uncontrollable rage, impulsivity, detached emotions, memory loss, slow reactions and lowered intellectual ability) but unable to due to extreme withdrawal symptoms. 

Had ECT therapy in 2009 after reinstating of Effexor and many other ADs failed.

ECT great success but Pdoc prescribed Effexor again to prevent relapse.

Effexor for two years after having ECT therapy. 

Tried to withdraw form Effexor again 2010 but aborted due to the death of my father  and withdrawal symptoms unbearable with grief.

Recently on Pristiq 100 for 5 years.
Jan 2017 Have been tapering over ONE YEAR from Pristiq and have now completely stopped for 7 weeks. Experiencing severe waves of melancholia and anxiety.

Would like more ECT. Feel that my body is over sensitive to SSRI and SNRI meds.

Link to comment

Hi pinkslippers and welcome from me too.

 

What dose of Pristiq were you on before tapering?  and  How many mg was the last dose that you took?

 

How did you taper?  Did you skip days?  Did you cut up tablets?  Did you experience any withdrawal symptoms during your taper?

 

You do have the option of reinstating Pristiq, stabilising and then tapering as per #1 in SW's post:  About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

The other option you have is, instead of reinstating Pristiq, change over to Effexor, which is a cousin of Pristiq:  Tips for tapering off Effexor (venlafaxine)

Hi Chessiecat,

 

I was on Pristiq 100mg and my last dose would have been 4mg (12.5mg every three days) for the final month.  So a very very small dose.

I used skipping days and cutting combined during the last 6 months.

 

I started out just lowering the dose from 100 to 75mg daily over 2 months ( had no symptoms) then to 50mg daily over 2 months then skipped days. 50mg every other day then every 2 days then every three days. At this point I started getting severe withdrawal symptoms. Then a pschiatrist and a pharmacist both suggested cutting the tablets with a pill cutter which worked absolutely fine. I even backtracked to reinstate previous doses when it got to painful to bear.

 

Then I took 25mg every two days for about two months then extended the gap to every three days for about another month and a half. Then I cut further to 12.5mg every other day and this was a tough period. I think I stayed on this dose for about 2 months before going on to the final dose. 

 

The withdrawal symptoms were really horrible for the final 2 months but I couldn't have avoided that I think. When I get to a certain threshold, my body and brain react without mercy.

 

I don't think that doing it any slower would have prevented the withdrawals to be honest.  I'm just too dependent on this horrid medicine.

 

I wish you courage and strength during your taper, ChessiCate. I hope goes smoothly for you.  :)

About 20 years on SSRIs and SNRIs since 1995. Was diagnosed with 'Post Natal Depression' after suffering from extreme fatigue. I was not depressed or anxious.

Tried about 5 times to stop due to intolerable side effects (uncontrollable rage, impulsivity, detached emotions, memory loss, slow reactions and lowered intellectual ability) but unable to due to extreme withdrawal symptoms. 

Had ECT therapy in 2009 after reinstating of Effexor and many other ADs failed.

ECT great success but Pdoc prescribed Effexor again to prevent relapse.

Effexor for two years after having ECT therapy. 

Tried to withdraw form Effexor again 2010 but aborted due to the death of my father  and withdrawal symptoms unbearable with grief.

Recently on Pristiq 100 for 5 years.
Jan 2017 Have been tapering over ONE YEAR from Pristiq and have now completely stopped for 7 weeks. Experiencing severe waves of melancholia and anxiety.

Would like more ECT. Feel that my body is over sensitive to SSRI and SNRI meds.

Link to comment

If you do decide to reinstate or change over the Effexor, please let us know and then we can suggest a dose to try.  Please do not go back on the dose you were on 7 weeks ago because your brain will have already made some adaptations and the dose you took previously may be too much.

 

The idea of reinstating a small dose is to help to reduce the withdrawal symptoms to a bearable level.  It takes about 4 days for the drug to get to full state in the blood and then a bit longer before it registers in the brain.  However, after reinstating the drug withdrawal symptoms may start to improve within the first day.  I went from 100mg to 50mg for 3 weeks and experienced very bad brain fog and got to the point where I wasn't able to type (I had a benchmark because I am a professional typist).  About 4 hours after updosing my foggy head started clearing and I was able to type again.  There was no way that this was psychosomatic.  After stabilising I commenced tapering and I am now down to 32.5mg and have only experienced minimal withdrawal symptoms during my taper.  There is a link to my website (which has my brief history) and also to my Intro topic in my signature.

 

These helped me to understand SA's recommendations:

 

Brain Remodelling

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

Oh and thank you for the link Chessie!

About 20 years on SSRIs and SNRIs since 1995. Was diagnosed with 'Post Natal Depression' after suffering from extreme fatigue. I was not depressed or anxious.

Tried about 5 times to stop due to intolerable side effects (uncontrollable rage, impulsivity, detached emotions, memory loss, slow reactions and lowered intellectual ability) but unable to due to extreme withdrawal symptoms. 

Had ECT therapy in 2009 after reinstating of Effexor and many other ADs failed.

ECT great success but Pdoc prescribed Effexor again to prevent relapse.

Effexor for two years after having ECT therapy. 

Tried to withdraw form Effexor again 2010 but aborted due to the death of my father  and withdrawal symptoms unbearable with grief.

Recently on Pristiq 100 for 5 years.
Jan 2017 Have been tapering over ONE YEAR from Pristiq and have now completely stopped for 7 weeks. Experiencing severe waves of melancholia and anxiety.

Would like more ECT. Feel that my body is over sensitive to SSRI and SNRI meds.

Link to comment

It's only since completely stopping (7 weeks ago) that I've had a dramatic increase in non-stop crying and anxiety plus early morning "terror" at 4 am.

This is exactly how it was for me too when i jumped off paxil at 5 mg after a 9 month clueless taper of skipping and alternating doses.

 

It seems that no matter how slow or how fast I taper ( I've been through this withdrawal process many times) I can't' avoid going through the inevitable pain of anxiety, morning anxiety, crying and insomnia.

 

Here's the thing you haven't tapered slow ...you tapered far too fast and like me you have broken all the rules in the (medical professions non-existant) taper book.

Let me put this in perspective i just crunched a few numbers and my estimate is that moderator Brassmonkey may have taken nearly 3 years to go from 4mg to his current dose of 0.3mg or thereabouts.

So you need a massive shift in your understanding of 'slow' and 'small dose'

Here's an informative link about keeping your taper slow stable and simple no alternating or skipping doses.

 

You are suffering classic withdrawal symptoms and you know this as you correctly stated above. 

Look at chessiecats taper she is keeping everything stable and see how the drops get smaller each time.

The cost of sleeping may turn out to be far greater than sleeplessness.

Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen

We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. 

URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting  for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing.

http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651   

Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos.

Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you

Recovering paxil addict

None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. 

This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! 

  "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped."  Dr Mosher. Me too! 

Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015

I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015

Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017

 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

There is a better chance of reinstatement working the sooner it is done.  Please read the reinstatement link carefully so you can make an informed decision.

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Pinkslippers, hello from another Pristiq/Effexor taperer.  I am four months into a taper off of Pristiq and switched to Effexor for easier tapering.  The initial switch was a little rough but has calmed down to the point that my withdrawal symptoms are very minor and most people probably wouldn't even notice them.  I've been following all of the good advice provided by the amazing people on this site.  While I'm still pretty new, I do have a fairly good understanding of the importance of a slow taper/gradual reduction that can take years and if there is anything I can do to help you, feel free to reach out.  Wishing you good luck with whatever it is you decide to do.  No one should have to suffer getting off of these drugs.  All the best :)

Current Prescription Drugs for Hypothyroidism:  Synthroid 100mcg / Cytomel 5mcg (15 years Pristiq/Effexor)

Tapering Schedule
September 15, 2016 - switched from Pristiq 50mg to Effexor XR 75mg; November 10, 2016 - reduced to 67.5 Effexor XR
December 9, 2016 - reduced 60.75
January 5, 2017 - reduced 54.67
January 30, 2017 - reduced to 49.0
February 20, 2017 - reduced to 44.0 
May 20, 2017 - reduced to 40.25 (holding for additional month due to late onset of withdrawal symptoms after this taper)
July 17, 2017 - reduced to 38.24
August 15, 2017 - reduced to 37.5 (50% of my original dose)

October 15, 2017 - reduced to 35.6

November 12, 2017 - reduced to 33.8
December 15, 2017 - up-dose to 35.6
December 28, 2017 - up-dose to 37.5

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