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chuby: Sam-E tappering to re-start a SNRI


chuby

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hi guys.

 

I have been sick for too long... anxiety mostly... anyhow I have another medical condition that the SNRI actually helps with, a few months ago I was doing FINE, then I said... well it looks like I do not need my pristiq anymore, so I tappered it off ( I am good at quitting SSRIs and SNRIs, normally I can stand quitting them very fast - around 1 month - ) anyhow ok I quit Pristiq in about 20 days... no sideffects from that. 

 

But after I did quit my secondary condtion ( POTS - postural ortostatic Tachycardia syndrome - ), kicked back HARD, so it seems that I need the SNRI not for mood but for POTS. so I have to start it again.

 

During the last month I tried with SAM-E, (400mg) and it almost worked... but still it is not as good as Pristiq, for my POTS, so I have to get back on POTS, so I am thinking how long do I have to wait from the time I stop taking SAM-E ( gonna go off it cold turkey ), till I can re-start SNRI, ( that I hate to have to re-start but I need to ) , I am just thinking in the odd case I could get a Serotonin Syndrome ( I doubt it but still you can't be so carefull ), anyhow , how long ? any advice ? thanks ! 

 

 

PD. I am going back to the SNRI, cause SAM-E does not help with POTS nor anxiety... however I can say as a pure antidepressant seems to work quite good. 

TYIAD

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Chuby,

Welcome, I moved your post from tapering to introductions because you will get a better response here.  Someone should be along soon with some suggestions.

Petu.

I'm not a doctor.  My comments are not medical advise. These are my opinions based on my own experience and what I've learned. Please discuss your situation with a medical practitioner who has knowledge of tapering and withdrawal...if you are lucky enough to find one.

My Introduction Thread

Full Drug and Withdrawal History

Brief Summary

Several SSRIs for 13 years starting 1997 (for mild to moderate partly situational anxiety) Xanax PRN ~ Various other drugs over the years for side effects

2 month 'taper' off Lexapro 2010

Short acute withdrawal, followed by 2 -3 months of improvement then delayed protracted withdrawal

DX ADHD followed by several years of stimulants and other drugs trying to manage increasing symptoms

Failed reinstatement of Lexapro and trial of Prozac (became suicidal)

May 2013 Found SA, learned about withdrawal, stopped taking drugs...healing begins.

Protracted withdrawal, with a very sensitized nervous system, slowly recovering as time passes

Supplements which have helped: Vitamin C, Magnesium, Taurine

Bad reactions: Many supplements but mostly fish oil and Vitamin D

June 2016 - Started daily juicing, mostly vegetables and lots of greens.

Aug 2016 - Oct 2016 Best window ever, felt almost completely recovered

Oct 2016 -Symptoms returned - bad days and less bad days.

April 2018 - No windows, but significant improvement, it feels like permanent full recovery is close.

VIDEO: Where did the chemical imbalance theory come from?



VIDEO: How are psychiatric diagnoses made?



VIDEO: Why do psychiatric drugs have withdrawal syndromes?



VIDEO: Can psychiatric drugs cause long-lasting negative effects?

VIDEO: Dr. Claire Weekes

 

 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi again Chuby,

It looks like there isn't anyone here who can answer your question.  That's why I didn't answer, because I don't know either.  I don't know anything about POTS or sam-e.  We are mostly a forum to help people safely taper off antidepressants and don't give advice about starting drugs or switching.  If I took a guess, I would say give it a few days, but I would also suggest not going back on pristiq and looking for healthier ways to manage your POTS.  There are many people here suffering from side effects of pristiq, especially after long term use.  Pristiq is one of the hardest antidepressants to taper from if you do have withdrawal problems.  Just because you have been able to easily stop taking an antidepressant in the past, there is no guarantee it will always be like that.  The longer people have been on these kinds of drugs and the more changes, stops and starts, the more difficult it becomes.

 

Petu.

I'm not a doctor.  My comments are not medical advise. These are my opinions based on my own experience and what I've learned. Please discuss your situation with a medical practitioner who has knowledge of tapering and withdrawal...if you are lucky enough to find one.

My Introduction Thread

Full Drug and Withdrawal History

Brief Summary

Several SSRIs for 13 years starting 1997 (for mild to moderate partly situational anxiety) Xanax PRN ~ Various other drugs over the years for side effects

2 month 'taper' off Lexapro 2010

Short acute withdrawal, followed by 2 -3 months of improvement then delayed protracted withdrawal

DX ADHD followed by several years of stimulants and other drugs trying to manage increasing symptoms

Failed reinstatement of Lexapro and trial of Prozac (became suicidal)

May 2013 Found SA, learned about withdrawal, stopped taking drugs...healing begins.

Protracted withdrawal, with a very sensitized nervous system, slowly recovering as time passes

Supplements which have helped: Vitamin C, Magnesium, Taurine

Bad reactions: Many supplements but mostly fish oil and Vitamin D

June 2016 - Started daily juicing, mostly vegetables and lots of greens.

Aug 2016 - Oct 2016 Best window ever, felt almost completely recovered

Oct 2016 -Symptoms returned - bad days and less bad days.

April 2018 - No windows, but significant improvement, it feels like permanent full recovery is close.

VIDEO: Where did the chemical imbalance theory come from?



VIDEO: How are psychiatric diagnoses made?



VIDEO: Why do psychiatric drugs have withdrawal syndromes?



VIDEO: Can psychiatric drugs cause long-lasting negative effects?

VIDEO: Dr. Claire Weekes

 

 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Yes, I'm afraid we're not a good resource for this particular question.  Perhaps your doctor can advise you as to the possibility of serotonin syndrome with an overlap of SAM-E and Pristiq. 

 

We are primarily a resource for people who have been made ill by psychiatric medications and want to reduce them, or have been made ill by trying to come off them. We help people taper safely and support them in the long process of recovery from damage if they have already quit too fast.

 

I have the same concerns Petu expresses, about you taking Pristiq for any reason, after seeing the hell it has produced for so many. It is VERY difficult to get off and has turned out to be a life sentence for thousands of people. If it were me I would certainly search for ANY other treatment besides a psych med for any health condition I was suffering from.

Started on Prozac and Xanax in 1992 for PTSD after an assault. One drug led to more, the usual story. Got sicker and sicker, but believed I needed the drugs for my "underlying disease". Long story...lost everything. Life savings, home, physical and mental health, relationships, friendships, ability to work, everything. Amitryptiline, Prozac, bupropion, buspirone, flurazepam, diazepam, alprazolam, Paxil, citalopram, lamotrigine, gabapentin...probably more I've forgotten. 

Started multidrug taper in Feb 2010.  Doing a very slow microtaper, down to low doses now and feeling SO much better, getting my old personality and my brain back! Able to work full time, have a full social life, and cope with stress better than ever. Not perfect, but much better. After 23 lost years. Big Pharma has a lot to answer for. And "medicine for profit" is just not a great idea.

 

Feb 15 2010:  300 mg Neurontin  200 Lamictal   10 Celexa      0.65 Xanax   and 5 mg Ambien 

Feb 10 2014:   62 Lamictal    1.1 Celexa         0.135 Xanax    1.8 Valium

Feb 10 2015:   50 Lamictal      0.875 Celexa    0.11 Xanax      1.5 Valium

Feb 15 2016:   47.5 Lamictal   0.75 Celexa      0.0875 Xanax    1.42 Valium    

2/12/20             12                       0.045               0.007                   1 

May 2021            7                       0.01                  0.0037                1

Feb 2022            6                      0!!!                     0.00167               0.98                2.5 mg Ambien

Oct 2022       4.5 mg Lamictal    (off Celexa, off Xanax)   0.95 Valium    Ambien, 1/4 to 1/2 of a 5 mg tablet 

 

I'm not a doctor. Any advice I give is just my civilian opinion.

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  • Administrator

Welcome, chuby.

 

Withdrawal can aggravate POTS. POTS itself is a withdrawal symptom -- people who never had POTS before get it after withdrawing from antidepressants.

 

Rather than go back on Pristiq, you might want to reinstate a very small amount of its sibling Effexor (venlafaxine), stabilize, and taper carefully off that.

 

See http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/876-tips-for-tapering-off-pristiq-desvenlafaxine/

 

Despite your ease in going off antidepressants in the past, I would be careful in the future. Going on and off psychiatric drugs is wearing on the nervous system -- it's not made of rubber, and it can get damaged.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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hi guys.

 

I have been sick for too long... anxiety mostly... anyhow I have another medical condition that the SNRI actually helps with, a few months ago I was doing FINE, then I said... well it looks like I do not need my pristiq anymore, so I tappered it off ( I am good at quitting SSRIs and SNRIs, normally I can stand quitting them very fast - around 1 month - ) anyhow ok I quit Pristiq in about 20 days... no sideffects from that. 

 

But after I did quit my secondary condtion ( POTS - postural ortostatic Tachycardia syndrome - ), kicked back HARD, so it seems that I need the SNRI not for mood but for POTS. so I have to start it again.

 

During the last month I tried with SAM-E, (400mg) and it almost worked... but still it is not as good as Pristiq, for my POTS, so I have to get back on POTS, so I am thinking how long do I have to wait from the time I stop taking SAM-E ( gonna go off it cold turkey ), till I can re-start SNRI, ( that I hate to have to re-start but I need to ) , I am just thinking in the odd case I could get a Serotonin Syndrome ( I doubt it but still you can't be so carefull ), anyhow , how long ? any advice ? thanks ! 

 

 

PD. I am going back to the SNRI, cause SAM-E does not help with POTS nor anxiety... however I can say as a pure antidepressant seems to work quite good. 

 

TYIAD

I am curious if you had POTs before being on antidepressants I got it after going cold turkey off of Effexor it took a long time to go away.  For me it was a withdrawal symptom. I took quit other antidepressants in the past and did not have major problems the first few wks off Effexor which was the only SNRI I have ever taken... the first few wks I was ok basically not sick walking talking eating sleeping ect... all that changed tho. 

For me withdrawal was delayed it hit six wks after I quit effexor cold turkey. The POTs and many other things came after.  The first withdrawal symptom I had started with what felt exactly like the flu and continued from there.  I am adding the bits of how it started in hopes it may validate you experience if the POTs was not an issue for you before quitting pristique. 

peace

WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG
Had a car accident in 85
Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89
Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year
Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above.
One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking.

As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/

There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in :)

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PS 

I would like to add I did have symptoms in the first 6wks of cold turkey but I expected to have some fallout from quitting Effexor and I thought it would get better with time.  I was wrong and when it started at 6 wks I had no clue withdrawal could be delayed and I had no information at that point in time  and no experience that would have lead me to believe that the symptoms I experienced after 6 wks were actually caused by cold turkey or too fast taper (depending on your take on the situation) from Effexor. I was only in hind sight I learned all this.  In the mean time I ran as much as I was able to doctors and seen many within a 200 mile radius of where I live ... sadly none of them knew Effexor could cause any of the symptoms I was having either... if they did they did not tell me.  

I began my learning journey on the internet when I was 8 months into cold turkey withdrawal and felt completely invalidated misunderstood unheard and crazy... I actually thought I had a sever mental health disorder and/or an incurable illness no test could find.  There were many drugs tried early on in attempts to treat the symptoms which were useless attempts to go back on Effexor were hellish and failed. 

Just my story. 

peace

WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG
Had a car accident in 85
Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89
Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year
Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above.
One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking.

As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/

There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in :)

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