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When to end the taper and jump to zero?


MatGMax

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By the end of my taper, below 1mg, at some point I started reducing by 0.1mg every 5 weeks. I did that until I was taking 0.1mg and then stopped. I didnt find my symptoms to be any different than all along to be honest. 

2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression

Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)
Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months

Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia)

Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows).

Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks

Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg

Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg

Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg

Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg.

Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16

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1 hour ago, aberdeen said:

By the end of my taper, below 1mg, at some point I started reducing by 0.1mg every 5 weeks. I did that until I was taking 0.1mg and then stopped. I didnt find my symptoms to be any different than all along to be honest. 

 

Thank you aberdeen, your input is very important to me. I am still going to be very careful and watch my symptoms, but I feel it is also important to be able to believe that there can be a positive scenario. (Have been reading lately about placebo, nocebo and the power of one's mind). So thank you for giving me an option to believe that there is a way.

  • 2,5 years of slowly tapering down Cymbalta from 60 mg. Then tried going from 8,44 mg to 1 mg in 8 days. (April 1st 2015). That's when the real hell started. Reinstated. Didn't help. I was added Ativan (2 mg 2 times a day for relentless akathisia that started with jumping Cymbalta). For years had been taking Zopitin 7,5 mg and Stilnox 10 mg for I had not been able to sleep naturally since the 1st day I started Cymbalta). Used to take Xanax occasionally.
  • All of the above were stopped cold turkey when I was hospitalized in the beginning of May 2015.
  • Prior to that I have been on and off the whole spectrum of different AD-s for 15 years (since I was 17).

My introduction.

 

Tapering:

  • Olanzapine (starting point 2,1 mg): Jan 2016  /---/ April 2018 0 mg. (From 2,1 mg to 0 mg in 1y 3mo).
  • Diazepam (starting at 5 mg) : switching to liquid May 2018;  4,6 mg (June 2018) /---/ 0 mg (Feb 2020) (From 10 to 5 - nobody knows, from 5 to 0 in 1 y 10 mo)
  • Valdoxan (starting at 25 mg): switching to liquid (Feb 2019) /---/ 0 mg (July 2020)

 

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On 5-8-2017 at 0:07 AM, erer said:

This is why I have created a tweaked schedule for myself where I've rounded up the amounts. That again means that after reaching 1 mg the reductions will be 0,9 mg to 0,8 to 0,7 etc. Jump from 0,2 mg to 0,1 will be a 50% reduction. 

 

I'm not there yet (currently at 3,7mg), but I'm planning to follow the same schedule below 1mg. I'm not gonna ask my doctor to prescribe 0,675mg of paxil...

Took my first SSRI sipralexa/lexapro/escitalopram in 2007 for depression. In 2010 the doctor switched me to paroxetine/seroxat/paxil for anxiety.

My paroxetine story from then on:

 

2010-15 from 10mg up to 20mg

jan 2016 30mg

may 2016 0mg cold turkey (don't!)

dec 2016 symptoms: anxiety, tremor (could barely stand)

jan 2017 reinstated at 7.5mg to taper in steps of 10%

...

Dose changes from may 2017 to now: 

5.0/4.7/4.4/4.0/3.7/3.5/3.3/3.1mg

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On 12/08/2017 at 0:14 PM, miT said:

 

I'm not there yet (currently at 3,7mg), but I'm planning to follow the same schedule below 1mg. I'm not gonna ask my doctor to prescribe 0,675mg of paxil...

miT, how are your symptoms so far?

  • 2,5 years of slowly tapering down Cymbalta from 60 mg. Then tried going from 8,44 mg to 1 mg in 8 days. (April 1st 2015). That's when the real hell started. Reinstated. Didn't help. I was added Ativan (2 mg 2 times a day for relentless akathisia that started with jumping Cymbalta). For years had been taking Zopitin 7,5 mg and Stilnox 10 mg for I had not been able to sleep naturally since the 1st day I started Cymbalta). Used to take Xanax occasionally.
  • All of the above were stopped cold turkey when I was hospitalized in the beginning of May 2015.
  • Prior to that I have been on and off the whole spectrum of different AD-s for 15 years (since I was 17).

My introduction.

 

Tapering:

  • Olanzapine (starting point 2,1 mg): Jan 2016  /---/ April 2018 0 mg. (From 2,1 mg to 0 mg in 1y 3mo).
  • Diazepam (starting at 5 mg) : switching to liquid May 2018;  4,6 mg (June 2018) /---/ 0 mg (Feb 2020) (From 10 to 5 - nobody knows, from 5 to 0 in 1 y 10 mo)
  • Valdoxan (starting at 25 mg): switching to liquid (Feb 2019) /---/ 0 mg (July 2020)

 

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1 hour ago, erer said:

miT, how are your symptoms so far?

 

I feel it’s getting harder and harder on the low doses. I’m intending an extended stay (2 months) on 3.5mg.

Took my first SSRI sipralexa/lexapro/escitalopram in 2007 for depression. In 2010 the doctor switched me to paroxetine/seroxat/paxil for anxiety.

My paroxetine story from then on:

 

2010-15 from 10mg up to 20mg

jan 2016 30mg

may 2016 0mg cold turkey (don't!)

dec 2016 symptoms: anxiety, tremor (could barely stand)

jan 2017 reinstated at 7.5mg to taper in steps of 10%

...

Dose changes from may 2017 to now: 

5.0/4.7/4.4/4.0/3.7/3.5/3.3/3.1mg

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  • 3 weeks later...

what's the jumping off dose for seroquel? I'm planning it to be 2,25mg. I wonder in what dose others have jumped off?

in 2002- 0,5 tablet cipramil for half a year, ended it uneventfully. in 2006 - citalopram for half a year, ended in horrific state, ditched the drugs CT. 2007-2008 not feeling well but drug free. in 2008 prozac 20mg + quetiapine 25mg. 2009 tried to stop, ended up in hole after couple of months, started zoloft. 2009-2011 zoloft 50mg. went to 25mg in 2011 summer, it resulted in half a year horrible suffering. reinstated, changed drugs, nothing happened. by 2012 beginning suddenly felt great and CT meds. after 4 months came suddenly most horrible human suffering that's possible. was started on prozac and questiapine. started tapering slowly, GFCF diet and Hardy Nutritionals vitamins in 2013 summer. 

current medications: 1) fluoxetine and quetiapine since Aug 2012; 2) Daily Essential Nutrients by Hardy Nutritionals 7 capsules / since May 2013 + omega3; 3) Gluten-free-casein-free diet since june 2013

Started withdrawing slowly since april 2013. Mostly around 10% cuts. 

April'13 - March'14: fluoxetine 40mg -> 19,5mg; quetiapine 50mg -> 40mg
April'14-March'15: fluoxetine 19,5mg -> 14,4mg; quetiapine 40mg -> 22mg

April'15-March'16: fluoxetine 14,4mg -> 7,4mg; quetiapine 22mg -> 15mg

April'16-March'17: fluoxetine 7,4mg -> 5,0mg; quetiapine 15mg -> 7,25mg

April'17-March'18: fluoxetine 5,0mg -> 4,0mg; quetiapine 7,25mg -> 0 (as of 1st Feb 2018)!!!!

April´18-March´19: fluoxetine 4,0mg - > 2,3mg. Jumped off fluoxetine 1,4mg due to pregnancy in July 2019. Oct 2019 severe withdrawal syndrome started.

Took mistakenly a complex for hormonal support that included pregnenolone dec2019-april2020. Stopped it april 2020 and immediately severe akathisia started. Have had life threatening akathisia since, 100% disabled, suicidal, very hard to hold on. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi rapunzel, I think jumping at 2.25mg may be too high.

 

Think of it this way, you have been going carefully up until now, why not continue to be patient and do it the better way rather than risk upsetting things.

* 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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  • 5 weeks later...
  • Moderator

The thinking several years ago was that 1mg was a good target for jumping off.  Sadly that has been proven wrong on many occasions.  It is best to taper as low as possible before jumping.  If at all possible 0.1mg or smaller.  Those tiny doses are a pain to try and work with, but it will really pay off in the end.

20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013.

Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks.  The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better.

Final Dose 0.016mg.     Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017

 

"It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general."  Stephen Hawking

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • Administrator
On 10/16/2017 at 8:06 AM, Drugrage said:

Once on ssri never off ssri. 10% of 0.01 is 0.001

 

Guys come on at some point just drop down to 0. 

 

Please dont be obsessive 

 

The funny thing about this is that you don even get an even dose when it comes to 0.1mg. Just the bare fact that the actual dose you get from the meds vary proves my point.

 

But then homeopathics exist ..

 

Even if 0.1mg only has a placebo effect, we respect that some people who have had a difficult time might fear to come off the drug and prefer to be extra-extra cautious.

 

In fact, we have reliable reports from people that they can feel the effect of 0.1mg. Having been hypersensitive myself, I have no doubt this is so. Paroxetine, for example, can be so difficult to come off, people will reduce by fractions from even 0.1mg.

 

Drugrage, before posting snide remarks on this site, you would do well to look around and see how other people are doing.

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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I went down to way under 0.1 mg zoloft. I felt every step...

But I was able to microtaper the last tiny bit quite quick. 

Current dose: 0! Free!  Quit June 2017.

2017: Last dose zoloft: 17 June 0,00065 mg 18 May 0, 001 mg 14 May 0,002 mg 9 May 0,003 mg 28 April 0,006 mg 19 April 0,009 mg 8 April 0,013 mg 25 March 0,019 mg 22 March 0,039 mg 18 March 0,052 mg 16 March 0,079 mg 4 March 0,086 1 March 0,099 mg 22 February 0,11 mg 15 February 0,13 mg 6 February 0,145 mg 24 January 0,15 mg 19 January 0,19 mg 10 January 0,20 mg 3 January

2016: 0,98 to 0,22 mg; 2015: 2,35 to 1,01 mg; 2014: 4,9 to 2,5 mg; 2013: 9,1 to 5,1 mg; 2012: 15,7 to 9,7 mg; 2011: Started on 25 mg - then 50 mg- dropped to 25- to 12.5 mg - back to 25 mg - after 18.75 mg started tiny tapering to 16.6 mg

Started on 25 mg Zoloft in March 2011 due to stressrelated tinnitus that gave me panicattacks. Had a terrible reaction to Zoloft from start, but was told to "hold on". After four months I was stuck. Therefore the long taper. Crazy, I know... Super sensitive to drops and have dropped by 4-6 % from the previous dose.

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On 8 November 2017 at 7:02 PM, AmyK said:

I went down to way under 0.1 mg zoloft. I felt every step...

But I was able to microtaper the last tiny bit quite quick. 

 

Not meaning to be argumentative in anyway Amy, but when you got down to doses as miniscule as you did, how could you be even sure you were getting consistent doses? It would have been so hit and miss, for example one day you could have been getting 0.08 mgs the next 0.1mgs. 

May 2007 - October 2007 Citalopram 20 mg od. 1st Antidepressant ever taken. No problem with fast taper and no withdrawal effects. No antidepressants for over 5 years.

 

January 2013 started Citalopram 20mg.

March 2014 Switched to Sertraline 50 mg od.

23rd June 2016 started taper 45mg

23.07.16 40.5mg 23.08.16 36.45mg 27.09.16 34.65mg 24.10.16 32.90mg 28.11.16 31.26mg 04.01.17 32mg 25.02.17 31mg 22.03.17 30mg 14.04.17 29mg 09.05.17 28mg 07.06.17 27mg 08.06.17 26mg 13.07.17 25mg 07.08.17 24mg 24.08.17 23mg 13.09.17 22mg 12.10.17 21mg 10.11.17 20mg 04.12.17 19mg 01.01.18 17mg 25.01.18 15mg 22.02.18 13.5mg 25.03.18 12.15mg 

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It was easy. I titrated the last tiny 0.33 mg (1 mg in weight) in water and used a syringe, 

Current dose: 0! Free!  Quit June 2017.

2017: Last dose zoloft: 17 June 0,00065 mg 18 May 0, 001 mg 14 May 0,002 mg 9 May 0,003 mg 28 April 0,006 mg 19 April 0,009 mg 8 April 0,013 mg 25 March 0,019 mg 22 March 0,039 mg 18 March 0,052 mg 16 March 0,079 mg 4 March 0,086 1 March 0,099 mg 22 February 0,11 mg 15 February 0,13 mg 6 February 0,145 mg 24 January 0,15 mg 19 January 0,19 mg 10 January 0,20 mg 3 January

2016: 0,98 to 0,22 mg; 2015: 2,35 to 1,01 mg; 2014: 4,9 to 2,5 mg; 2013: 9,1 to 5,1 mg; 2012: 15,7 to 9,7 mg; 2011: Started on 25 mg - then 50 mg- dropped to 25- to 12.5 mg - back to 25 mg - after 18.75 mg started tiny tapering to 16.6 mg

Started on 25 mg Zoloft in March 2011 due to stressrelated tinnitus that gave me panicattacks. Had a terrible reaction to Zoloft from start, but was told to "hold on". After four months I was stuck. Therefore the long taper. Crazy, I know... Super sensitive to drops and have dropped by 4-6 % from the previous dose.

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I was more referring to your syringe technique. For the life of me, I don’t know how you measured for example, 0.006mg using a syringe. What sort of dilution factor did you use?

 

 It’s purely out of curiousity in case I need to do the same on down the line. 

May 2007 - October 2007 Citalopram 20 mg od. 1st Antidepressant ever taken. No problem with fast taper and no withdrawal effects. No antidepressants for over 5 years.

 

January 2013 started Citalopram 20mg.

March 2014 Switched to Sertraline 50 mg od.

23rd June 2016 started taper 45mg

23.07.16 40.5mg 23.08.16 36.45mg 27.09.16 34.65mg 24.10.16 32.90mg 28.11.16 31.26mg 04.01.17 32mg 25.02.17 31mg 22.03.17 30mg 14.04.17 29mg 09.05.17 28mg 07.06.17 27mg 08.06.17 26mg 13.07.17 25mg 07.08.17 24mg 24.08.17 23mg 13.09.17 22mg 12.10.17 21mg 10.11.17 20mg 04.12.17 19mg 01.01.18 17mg 25.01.18 15mg 22.02.18 13.5mg 25.03.18 12.15mg 

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I put 0.33 mg in 50 ml water. Every 1 ml on the syringe was then 0.0066 mg. (50x0,0066=0.33). 

Current dose: 0! Free!  Quit June 2017.

2017: Last dose zoloft: 17 June 0,00065 mg 18 May 0, 001 mg 14 May 0,002 mg 9 May 0,003 mg 28 April 0,006 mg 19 April 0,009 mg 8 April 0,013 mg 25 March 0,019 mg 22 March 0,039 mg 18 March 0,052 mg 16 March 0,079 mg 4 March 0,086 1 March 0,099 mg 22 February 0,11 mg 15 February 0,13 mg 6 February 0,145 mg 24 January 0,15 mg 19 January 0,19 mg 10 January 0,20 mg 3 January

2016: 0,98 to 0,22 mg; 2015: 2,35 to 1,01 mg; 2014: 4,9 to 2,5 mg; 2013: 9,1 to 5,1 mg; 2012: 15,7 to 9,7 mg; 2011: Started on 25 mg - then 50 mg- dropped to 25- to 12.5 mg - back to 25 mg - after 18.75 mg started tiny tapering to 16.6 mg

Started on 25 mg Zoloft in March 2011 due to stressrelated tinnitus that gave me panicattacks. Had a terrible reaction to Zoloft from start, but was told to "hold on". After four months I was stuck. Therefore the long taper. Crazy, I know... Super sensitive to drops and have dropped by 4-6 % from the previous dose.

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This is a super helpful thread.

 

I was beginning to feel strange about having to reduce so very slowly and in such tiny increments and dosages as I have been... Not after reading this.

 

I have tapered for over 2 years, am at 0,05 (!) mg Celexa and have previously tried to jump off at 1 mg, and recently from 0,05. Felt HORRIBLE the first time, and pretty awful this time. I am now stabilizing now at this low, low dose after reinstating, and will then try to taper down lower and lower with long holds, listening to my symtoms and improvements rather than thinking of the numbers. I figure (and hope) that this method will allow me to do a lot of the healing as I go, rather than get hit with a much bigger wave post taper because of wanting to be done.

 

I wonder and sometimes worry if there even will be a point where I feel comfortable jumping off at all, but am trying to chance this fearful fretting to a more sustainable focus on simply continuing to reduce. This way I can live without the nagging fear of having to "jump" and crash - which I have done too many times and am a little phobic about - and should be carrying less and less - and at the end very little - toxic SSRI in my body. I do see signs of healing and this makes me think I am finally on a better path and will eventually be all the way off.

 

I too use liquid and syringes and make sure to mix everything very well. It seems like the dosages are pretty even, but I have no way to know for sure.

 

THANK you to this great, lifesaving forum.

Began Paxil in 2003 plus Trazodone to sleep. Tapered off as per doctor's suggestion in less than two months i.e. CT. Got zapped and depressed/anxious worse than before.

Got on Cymbalta in 2005. Cross tapered to 20mg lexapro from 2005, Tapered off fast/CT and took amino acids, total crash.

Started Lexapro in 2008 and got to 45 mg before full "effect"

Erfa thyroid and organic paleo food, lots of healthy fat, no gluten/dairy. Depression lifted.

Tapered off Lexapro from 45 mg since March 2015. Came off Lexapro fully  in summer of 2016. Reinstated at 1mg.

CBD oil plus small dosis THC.

Switched to Celexa 2mg and tapered slowly to 0,05 over a year with a liquid formulation. Jumped off and crashed horribly again! 

Am now at 0,00125. Will taper slowly down to an almost non-existing dosage and then either jump off or keep going lower and lower and lower until...

As of July 29th 2019 I am med free and just fine. I jumped off at 1/1000 mg. 

As of July 7th 2020 I am feeling great and just here for a check in. 

Current dose: 0,000.

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  • Moderator

Hi Karen-- I understand your fear of taking the jump.  It's almost as bad as the fear of starting a taper. Taking that step into the unknown and previously badly experienced area is a big deal. Cutting down to smaller and smaller doses can be done for a long time. Especially when using liquids extremely small doses are possible.  Taking a long hold to let things stabilize really well and then continuing with small cuts would work quite well.  Then one of these days the jump will just happen.  Taking the tiny dose will become more trouble than it's worth, you'll start missing doses and not realizing it, take a trip and forget to take your meds along.  They are all ways of your body telling you it's time.

 

 

20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013.

Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks.  The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better.

Final Dose 0.016mg.     Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017

 

"It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general."  Stephen Hawking

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11 minutes ago, brassmonkey said:

Hi Karen-- I understand your fear of taking the jump.  It's almost as bad as the fear of starting a taper. Taking that step into the unknown and previously badly experienced area is a big deal. Cutting down to smaller and smaller doses can be done for a long time. Especially when using liquids extremely small doses are possible.  Taking a long hold to let things stabilize really well and then continuing with small cuts would work quite well.  Then one of these days the jump will just happen.  Taking the tiny dose will become more trouble than it's worth, you'll start missing doses and not realizing it, take a trip and forget to take your meds along.  They are all ways of your body telling you it's time.

 

 

Hi Brassmonkey:

 

Thanks for all the information you provide. It is truly priceless.

 

I'm a long way off from the "jump", but how do you measure a dose like .0065 on a syringe? I'm just curious. I am doing liquid Lexapro as you know..

 

I appreciate you answering my question. I'm really in a bad wave right now. A lot of anxiety with this taper, no nausea as usual. I don't know which is worse lol...

 

Hope you are doing well.

 

Take care,

Frogie xx

PREVIOUS medications and discontinuations: Have been on medications since 1996. 

 Valium, Gabapentin, Lamictal, Prilosec and Zantac from 2000 to 2015 with a fast taper by a psychiatrist.

 Liquid Lexapro Nov, 2016 to 31-March, 2019 Lexapro free!!! (total Lexapro taper was 4 years-started with pill form)

---CURRENT MEDICATIONS:Supplements:Milk Thistle, Metamucil, Magnesium Citrate, Vitamin D3, Levothyroxine 25mcg, Vitamin C, Krill oil.

Xanax 1mg 3x day June, 2000 to 19-September, 2020 Went from .150 grams (average weight of 1 Xanax) 3x day to .003 grams 3x day. April 1, 2021 went back on 1mg a day. Started tapering May 19, 2023. July 28, 2023-approximately .87mg. Dr. fast tapered me at the end and realized he messed up. Prescribe it again and I am doing "slower than a turtle" taper.

19-September, 2020 Xanax free!!! (total Xanax taper was 15-1/2 months-1-June, 2019-19-September, 2020)

I am not a medical professional.

The suggestions I make are based on personal experience.

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  • Moderator Emeritus
3 hours ago, Frogie said:

how do you measure a dose like .0065 on a syringe?

 

You need to dilute it so that you can measure and take a larger amount of solution.  You could dilute it so that instead of trying to measure .0065ml you measure .65ml or dilute it more and measure 6.5ml because each ml of the solution will be a weaker dose.

 

If you start working on understanding it now you'll be all ready to go when the time comes ;)

* 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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13 hours ago, brassmonkey said:

Hi Karen-- I understand your fear of taking the jump.  It's almost as bad as the fear of starting a taper. Taking that step into the unknown and previously badly experienced area is a big deal. Cutting down to smaller and smaller doses can be done for a long time. Especially when using liquids extremely small doses are possible.  Taking a long hold to let things stabilize really well and then continuing with small cuts would work quite well.  Then one of these days the jump will just happen.  Taking the tiny dose will become more trouble than it's worth, you'll start missing doses and not realizing it, take a trip and forget to take your meds along.  They are all ways of your body telling you it's time.

 

 

Brassmonkey, thank you very much. What you said here gives me a lot of hope and clarity, something that has been sorely missing in my life since beginning SSRIs.

 

I think this ultra slow end of taper is a great strategy that many people might benefit from - I would have saved years of suffering had I known years ago, so thank you to you and this forum.

 

Best wishes to you and everyone here. Karen

Began Paxil in 2003 plus Trazodone to sleep. Tapered off as per doctor's suggestion in less than two months i.e. CT. Got zapped and depressed/anxious worse than before.

Got on Cymbalta in 2005. Cross tapered to 20mg lexapro from 2005, Tapered off fast/CT and took amino acids, total crash.

Started Lexapro in 2008 and got to 45 mg before full "effect"

Erfa thyroid and organic paleo food, lots of healthy fat, no gluten/dairy. Depression lifted.

Tapered off Lexapro from 45 mg since March 2015. Came off Lexapro fully  in summer of 2016. Reinstated at 1mg.

CBD oil plus small dosis THC.

Switched to Celexa 2mg and tapered slowly to 0,05 over a year with a liquid formulation. Jumped off and crashed horribly again! 

Am now at 0,00125. Will taper slowly down to an almost non-existing dosage and then either jump off or keep going lower and lower and lower until...

As of July 29th 2019 I am med free and just fine. I jumped off at 1/1000 mg. 

As of July 7th 2020 I am feeling great and just here for a check in. 

Current dose: 0,000.

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  • 5 months later...

 I have been on a very low-dose of Citolapram for 5 months. I started at 5 mg for 2 months, then decided to slowly taper off. I’m now at 2.5 mg. The reason my neurologist put me on this SSRI was due to symptoms of dizziness that were unexplained. She thought I had some anxiety symptoms so she prescribed Citolapram. This past week I went to an eye specialist and discovered I have vision deficiencies that require vision therapy. Anxiety/depression was never my issue. With the low dose I started on, for a limited period of time, and with the very small dose (2.5mg) I’m on now, how long and and at what point do I quit or jump off this SSRI? 

Nolabud1 - Mark

45 yr old male

Citalopram

Start date: December 20, 2017     5 mg

Taper date: February 6, 2018.      2.5 mg

Back up to 3 mg 2/16

Tapered to 2.5 mg 3/18/2018

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This link gives guidelines about jumping off:

 

 
The thinking several years ago was that 1mg was a good target for jumping off.  Sadly, that has been proven wrong on many occasions, according to Brassmonkey, one of our moderators.  It is best to taper as low as possible before jumping--if at all possible 0.1mg or smaller.  Those tiny doses are difficult to work with, but it will really pay off in the end.

 

Edited by Altostrata
obsolete link

Gridley Introduction

 

Lexapro 20 mg since 2004.  Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017.   

End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg 

End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg

End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg  

Oct. 30, 2020  Jump to zero from 0.025mg.  Current dose: 0.000mg

3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete.

 

Ativan 1 mg to 1.875mg 1986-2020, two CT's and reinstatements

Nov. 2020, 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover to 18.75mg Valium

Feb. 2021, begin 10%/4 week taper of 18.75mg Valium 

End 2021  year 1 of Valium taper at 6mg

End 2022 year 2 of Valium taper at 2.75mg 

End 2023 year 3 of Valium taper at 1mg

Jan. 24, 2024: Hold at 1mg and shift to Imipramine taper.

Taper is 95% complete.

 

Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986.  Jan.-Sept. 2016 tapered to 14.4mg  

March 22, 2022: Begin 10%/4 week taper

Aug. 5, 2022: hold at 9.5mg and shift to Valium taper

Jan. 24, 2024: Resume Imipramine taper.  Current dose as of Feb. 22: 7.6mg

Taper is 90% complete.  

  

Supplements: multiple, quercetin, omega-3, vitamins C, E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotics, zinc, melatonin .3mg, anti-candida, iron, serrapeptase, nattokinase


I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice but simply information based on my own experience, as well as other members who have survived these drugs.

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Merged similar topics.

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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Please see the Admin Note I added to post #1 in this topic

 

 

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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  • 2 weeks later...
On 12/22/2014 at 9:01 PM, MatGMax said:

ADMIN NOTE The 10% rule keeps decreasing the dose but, mathematically, can never get to zero. As you approach zero, when do you simply stop taking the drug?

 

This is a very good question. This site advocates a very gradual taper for greatest safety. You may know of people who quit a drug very easily -- but if you ever had withdrawal symptoms, you are not that person.

 

Everyone's tolerance for dosage changes is different. It could be that you have been tapering by 10% with everything going smoothly. You may also have found you can decrease every 3 weeks or even every week with no problems. Even so, from what we've seen, you will want to taper as far below 1mg as you can. As you go lower in dosage, your system adapts to the lower dosage. Slide off as gradually as possible. 

 

If you are counting beads to taper, at the very end, when you are down to one bead, you will be unable to divide your dose to taper. You might want to skip doses to very gradually go off. This is the only situation in which we suggest skipping doses.

 

Sometimes people find that, even though they've quit at a very small amount, they might get slight, occasional withdrawal symptoms. You can take a tiny bit (such as one bead) occasionally until these withdrawal symptoms stop, which should be within a couple of weeks.

 

Please remember:

 

DO NOT GO COLD TURKEY AT THE END OF YOUR TAPER

 

Cold turkey is cold turkey. Even though you might be down to a tenth of your original dosage, quitting suddenly may still be too much for your nervous system. You can undo all your tapering by jumping off at too high a dosage, and trigger severe withdrawal syndrome.

 

Ultimately, your tolerance for dosage decreases determines the speed of your taper, all the way to going off. Please listen to your body. If at any point in your taper you get withdrawal symptoms, continue going off very gradually at the end.

 


 

Hi All,

 

Apologies if this has been done to death...

 

I was playing around in excel with a taper protocol and thought I'd share.

 

The 10% is a good rule and very good at encouraging people to go slowly.

Something a lot of us have trouble with. (well me anyway...)

 

But like Achilles catching the tortoise, reducing 10% will never get you to 0.

(An aim a lot of us have).

 

I've plugged the following rule into excel (attached) to see how it comes out.

Rule 1:

new dose = old dose - (9% of old dose) - (1% of original dose).

You plug the starting dose in and it will always taper to 0 in 24 months.

Now this may be to quick for some which brings us to ....

 

Rule 2:

If you feel moderate to nasty withdrawal effects then stop and stabilize.

After stabilizing restart taper from current dose.

(which will also reset the end 0mg end point to 2 years from current dose).

 

 

Here is an example of the output for a 20mg taper (though just an example!!)

Month Dose

1 20.0

2 18.0

3 16.2

4 14.5

5 13.0

6 11.6

7 10.4

8 9.3

9 8.2

10 7.3

11 6.4

12 5.7

13 4.9

14 4.3

15 3.7

16 3.2

17 2.7

18 2.2

19 1.8

20 1.5

21 1.1

22 0.8

23 0.6

24 0.3

25 0.0

 

I'll probably look to start this from my current 2.5 mg Lexapro , thus aiming to be at 0 in 2 years.

 

Cheers

 

Damien

ssri_taper.xlsx

 

 

hi damien,

this is an old post, i know.

why does tapering at 20mg or 2.5 mg take the same amount of time to get off?

 

i have another valium taper that i have been holding, waiting to be done with the lex before tapering the valium if this takes an eternity, it is discouraging.

has anyone jumped off of 0.1 mg of lex?

when does the lex taper gets easier? can anyone share?

 

i am slowly switching to the sliding brass monkey method.

cut 2.5% every week, and hold for a week.

 

 

 

june 2014 to feb  2015- on xanax 0.25 to 1mg/day- then CT - jan 2016 - panic attack, went on 3.75mg remeron to sleep march 2016- CT remeron (because it caused me tinnitus)- deep depression, couldn't sleep because of  intrusive Tinnitus

april to june 2016- valium 4mg, xanax as needed, lunesta 3mg

june 2016 - valium 4mg, lexapro 10mg

oct 2016- valium 2mg, lexapro 10mg- hold

march 2017- started daily micro liquid taper of valium and lex- -taper speed 0.0033mg valium daily and 0.033mg lex daily

may 2018- valium 1mg, lexapro 2.4mg - i had to slow down the rate of my daily micro taper considerably

LAST dose of Lexapro: 0.05mg on 05/17/19

LAST dose of valium: 0.04mg on 08/18/19

April 26th 2020- intense panic attack that lasted 4 days, akatisia, 0 sleep- suicidal, almost hospitalized- took rescue doses over 2 days- total: 1.5mg xanax, 18mg valium, 2x5mg lexapro

 

 

 

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I've noticed that too. For me to get down off 9mg, I should be taking nearly 4 years if I plug 9mg into a 10% reducing calculator. A lot of that time is below 1mg.

 

Does the rate take into account the relative strength of the drugs? (My original 100mg of sertraline, for example, might be equivalent to 20mg of escitalopram. 9mg of escitalopram is five times stronger than 9mg of sertraline. Does it matter?

2005 St John's Wort / 2006-2012 Lexapro 20mg, 2 failed attempts to stop, tapered over 4.5 months in early 2012

January 2013 started Sertraline, over time worked up to 100mg

July 2014 Sertraline dropped from 100mg to 75mg, held for six months, slower tapering until 2019 22 Dec 3.2mg

2020 Sertraline 19 Jan 3.1mg, 26 Jan 3.0mg; 1 Mar 2.9, 7 Mar 2.8, May (some drops here) 24 May 2.5, May 29 2.4, June 21 2.3, June 28 2.2mg,  July 4 2.1mg, July 24 (or maybe a bit before) 2mg, early Nov switched to home made suspension; 29 Nov 1.8mg; approx 25 Dec 1.6mg)

2021 Some time in about Jan/Feb realised probably on more like 1.8mg and poss mixing error in making suspension; doses after 10 Feb accurate; 10 Feb 1.6mg; 7 Mar 1.4, continued monthly

10% drops until 1mg, then dropped 0.1mg monthly.

May 2022,0.1mg, now dropping 0.01mg per week

29 August 2022 - first day of zero!

My thread here at SA: https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/1775-bubbles/page/21/

Current: Armour Thyroid

 

 

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Quote

My original 100mg of sertraline, for example, might be equivalent to 20mg of escitalopram. 9mg of escitalopram is five times stronger than 9mg of sertraline. Does it matter?

 

It matters because your particular nervous system has adapted to the sertraline and will miss it when it's gone.

 

The 10% curve is logarithmic, it's going to extend to infinity no matter how low the dose is. Practically speaking, you'll have to jump off when you can no longer physically divide the dose. (However, I know of someone who went off Paxil and was dipping a toothpick into liquid at the end -- she was that sensitive to the absence of Paxil.)

 

When you're below 1mg, you'll have to judge from your symptom pattern how meaningful a decrease is to your nervous system. Drugs are dosed at different amounts of milligrams for a normal dose, from 1mg to thousands of milligrams per day. Abilify, for example, is often dosed at 5mg, and 0.5mg decreases (10%) are significant, people often feel them.

 

So the advice to stop somewhere below 1mg is arbitrary. The jumping off point is going to vary from person to person and drug to drug. Point being: It's going to be a very low dose, don't jump off until you're sure you're not going to feel the difference.

 

(Definitely do not jump off part way through your taper, even if it's going well, you're likely to get a nasty surprise.)

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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The time it takes is all in the mathematics of a logarithmic progression  It doesn't matter where you start it's going to take so many steps to cut your dose by a certain amount. For our recommended basic taper of 10% every four weeks that gives a half life of six months.  So every six months you will cut your current dose in half.  This makes it so at the higher doses you will see larger decreases over that time spam. I started my taper at 40mgai.  After six months I would be at 20mgai and at the end of a year 10mgai.  Another year and I'd be at 2.5mgai. Wait a third year and I would be nicely below 1mgai at about .75mgai.  It keeps going like that until you reach a point that you consider it safe to make the jump.  

 

I didn't do it that way though.  My taper was based on a 6 week time frame which gives a half life of 9 months.  But it still follows the same progression as above. Also if you change the percentage of taper you will change the half life. If you do a 5% taper every four weeks you double the time it takes. So at 5% your taper half life would be 12 months and at 2.5% it would be 24 months.

20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013.

Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks.  The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better.

Final Dose 0.016mg.     Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017

 

"It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general."  Stephen Hawking

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mgai means milligrams of active ingredient -- the amount of the drug in your tablet or capsule.

 

Great explanation, brassmonkey. I added it to the first post in this topic and to

 

Edited by Altostrata
updated

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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I have a question about this schedule. I'm on liquid escitalopram. If I follow it, I want to take my dosage down to .1, is it safe to jump off at that point?

 

Thanks!

PREVIOUS medications and discontinuations: Have been on medications since 1996. 

 Valium, Gabapentin, Lamictal, Prilosec and Zantac from 2000 to 2015 with a fast taper by a psychiatrist.

 Liquid Lexapro Nov, 2016 to 31-March, 2019 Lexapro free!!! (total Lexapro taper was 4 years-started with pill form)

---CURRENT MEDICATIONS:Supplements:Milk Thistle, Metamucil, Magnesium Citrate, Vitamin D3, Levothyroxine 25mcg, Vitamin C, Krill oil.

Xanax 1mg 3x day June, 2000 to 19-September, 2020 Went from .150 grams (average weight of 1 Xanax) 3x day to .003 grams 3x day. April 1, 2021 went back on 1mg a day. Started tapering May 19, 2023. July 28, 2023-approximately .87mg. Dr. fast tapered me at the end and realized he messed up. Prescribe it again and I am doing "slower than a turtle" taper.

19-September, 2020 Xanax free!!! (total Xanax taper was 15-1/2 months-1-June, 2019-19-September, 2020)

I am not a medical professional.

The suggestions I make are based on personal experience.

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It all depends on how you feel at the time Frogie. It is generally considered that the lower the better. Even though it's a very small amount that last cut is still 100% and can be a shock to the system if you're very sensitive. I jumped at .08mgai (milligrams active ingredient) after a five and a half year taper and still felt it, and I was feeling really good at the time.  In my estimation .1mgai is a good place to start thinking about jumping but not necessarily a hard target.

20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013.

Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks.  The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better.

Final Dose 0.016mg.     Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017

 

"It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general."  Stephen Hawking

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Just now, brassmonkey said:

It all depends on how you feel at the time Frogie. It is generally considered that the lower the better. Even though it's a very small amount that last cut is still 100% and can be a shock to the system if you're very sensitive. I jumped at .08mgai (milligrams active ingredient) after a five and a half year taper and still felt it, and I was feeling really good at the time.  In my estimation .1mgai is a good place to start thinking about jumping but not necessarily a hard target.

Thanks Brass:

 

Like you said, I thought that would be a good place to start thinking about it. I don't want to get into where I'm going down to like .00045 and numbers like that. I can always go down to .08 like you did. I'll just need help getting that number in liquid if and when the time comes. But I'm looking at another 6-7 months before I'm even there.

 

I hope you will be around to help me when the time comes.

 

Have a great weekend. I'm putting one foot in front of the other and trying my best.  Still sad though, but it's only been 2 weeks and I had her in my life 16 years.  Haven't been on the site much, but saw this thread and it interested me.

 

Take care,

Frogie xx

 

 

PREVIOUS medications and discontinuations: Have been on medications since 1996. 

 Valium, Gabapentin, Lamictal, Prilosec and Zantac from 2000 to 2015 with a fast taper by a psychiatrist.

 Liquid Lexapro Nov, 2016 to 31-March, 2019 Lexapro free!!! (total Lexapro taper was 4 years-started with pill form)

---CURRENT MEDICATIONS:Supplements:Milk Thistle, Metamucil, Magnesium Citrate, Vitamin D3, Levothyroxine 25mcg, Vitamin C, Krill oil.

Xanax 1mg 3x day June, 2000 to 19-September, 2020 Went from .150 grams (average weight of 1 Xanax) 3x day to .003 grams 3x day. April 1, 2021 went back on 1mg a day. Started tapering May 19, 2023. July 28, 2023-approximately .87mg. Dr. fast tapered me at the end and realized he messed up. Prescribe it again and I am doing "slower than a turtle" taper.

19-September, 2020 Xanax free!!! (total Xanax taper was 15-1/2 months-1-June, 2019-19-September, 2020)

I am not a medical professional.

The suggestions I make are based on personal experience.

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4 hours ago, Altostrata said:

 

It matters because your particular nervous system has adapted to the sertraline and will miss it when it's gone.

...

So the advice to stop somewhere below 1mg is arbitrary. The jumping off point is going to vary from person to person and drug to drug. Point being: It's going to be a very low dose, don't jump off until you're sure you're not going to feel the difference.

 

(Definitely do not jump off part way through your taper, even if it's going well, you're likely to get a nasty surprise.)

 

Thanks Alto. No jumping off any time soon.

2005 St John's Wort / 2006-2012 Lexapro 20mg, 2 failed attempts to stop, tapered over 4.5 months in early 2012

January 2013 started Sertraline, over time worked up to 100mg

July 2014 Sertraline dropped from 100mg to 75mg, held for six months, slower tapering until 2019 22 Dec 3.2mg

2020 Sertraline 19 Jan 3.1mg, 26 Jan 3.0mg; 1 Mar 2.9, 7 Mar 2.8, May (some drops here) 24 May 2.5, May 29 2.4, June 21 2.3, June 28 2.2mg,  July 4 2.1mg, July 24 (or maybe a bit before) 2mg, early Nov switched to home made suspension; 29 Nov 1.8mg; approx 25 Dec 1.6mg)

2021 Some time in about Jan/Feb realised probably on more like 1.8mg and poss mixing error in making suspension; doses after 10 Feb accurate; 10 Feb 1.6mg; 7 Mar 1.4, continued monthly

10% drops until 1mg, then dropped 0.1mg monthly.

May 2022,0.1mg, now dropping 0.01mg per week

29 August 2022 - first day of zero!

My thread here at SA: https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/1775-bubbles/page/21/

Current: Armour Thyroid

 

 

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  • 6 months later...
On 12/27/2014 at 3:20 AM, Rhiannon said:

As always, though, your body is the expert on tapering, not a preplanned calendar. We just say 10% of the current dose as a general rule of thumb, a starting off point. How we tolerate reductions is very individual. Making up a plan or calendar ahead of time can give you some ideas, but I can't tell you how many of those I've had to throw out the window when my body made it clear that it does not heal according to a schedule I devise. 

 

Overall, at the lowest doses it's best to go very slowly, in my opinion. The upside of that approach is large: You can minimize the chance of going too fast, getting sick, having to reinstate and start over, and all the disruptions and misery that come with withdrawal. And the downside is very small: at such a low dose, the side effects and dangerous drug effects are minimal, and if you go slow enough to keep feeling good you'll already be enjoying many benefits of coming down to such a low dose so you won't be feeling the need to hurry.

 

So I would say, make those last cuts small and the breaks between them long. Take your time. I have seen many many people get into trouble and fail tapers because of going too fast at the end, but I've never seen anyone fail by going too slow.

 

Let me add, as someone tapering, I know this is easier said than done! You get close to that finish line and you want to rush there. But this is really the time when going slow will give you the maximum benefit for the minimum price.

Dear rhiannon

 

i like your approach. 

Yet i have one problem with slow taper as far as my case is concerned: i am on three drugs 

(and one or more give me not only withdrawl but also paradoxical reactions).

 

slow taper has a downside with this case: 

i cannot stop the paradoxical reaction/sideeffects soon if tapering slowly (my body doesn't even take 10% cuts)

and

i cannot find out the problem causing drug soon

(I have to take both - quetiapine and diazepam four times a day at the same time and mirtazapin also). 

 

Any good ideas are welcome because I have to taper very slow, I feel terrible knowing that after one taper, if I succeed, there Willen two more tapers and only the 250 mg quetiapine take me three years to finish if possible at all. I am bedridden for 9 months now almost all day and so many years tapering ahead.  

2010-2018 sertralin, venlafaxin, cymbalta 120 mg, march bupropio, Lorazepam 4 to 0,5 mg qetiapine 200-400 mg Apr mirtazapin 30 - 45 mg, lo tapered, to 0; Apr switch to diazepam 3 mg; jun/jul 15mg, taper to approx. 4,5 mg, Aug: 200 to 400 mg q, 50 mg levomepromazine, m 45 to 30 mg; since tapered q 400-230 mg, m 30 to 15 mg, 1dez m to 16 mg, 4dez 250 mg q, 31. dec 200 mg q

March 1, 2019 - 200 mg quetiapine, 4,5 mg diazepam, 16 mg mirtazapine

March 3, 2019 - 200 mg quetiapine, 4,0 mg diazepam, 16 mg mirtazapine

March 4, 2019 - 200 mg quetiapine, 4,2 mg diazepam,16 mg mirtazapine, 

june 5, 2019 - 100 mg quetiapine, 3 mg Diazepam, 12,185 mg mirtazapine 

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Moderator Emeritus

Posted in a member's Intro topic - citalopram:

 

7 hours ago, KarenRose said:

 

Since I last wrote, I have tapered down my Celexa to 1/800 of a milligram. Yes, that sounds insane and indeed the proces has been. I have tried to jump  off at 1 mg and 1/20 mg and it has been hell. Now I have given up the idea of jumping off or being done and have put all my focus on healing my body and psyche. I have decided to keep tapering until either I don't have any more Celexa drops or I can't feel the drops in dosage anymore. 

 

 

* 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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8 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

Posted in a member's Intro topic - citalopram:

 

 

Good that you found a way to deal with the meds. It is scary, though, that you still react to such tiny bits.

2010-2018 sertralin, venlafaxin, cymbalta 120 mg, march bupropio, Lorazepam 4 to 0,5 mg qetiapine 200-400 mg Apr mirtazapin 30 - 45 mg, lo tapered, to 0; Apr switch to diazepam 3 mg; jun/jul 15mg, taper to approx. 4,5 mg, Aug: 200 to 400 mg q, 50 mg levomepromazine, m 45 to 30 mg; since tapered q 400-230 mg, m 30 to 15 mg, 1dez m to 16 mg, 4dez 250 mg q, 31. dec 200 mg q

March 1, 2019 - 200 mg quetiapine, 4,5 mg diazepam, 16 mg mirtazapine

March 3, 2019 - 200 mg quetiapine, 4,0 mg diazepam, 16 mg mirtazapine

March 4, 2019 - 200 mg quetiapine, 4,2 mg diazepam,16 mg mirtazapine, 

june 5, 2019 - 100 mg quetiapine, 3 mg Diazepam, 12,185 mg mirtazapine 

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Thank you, Tanha. 

 

Yes, scary it is! Yet I have learned that the ONLY way I can get off of these drugs, or even keep lowering them is to let my body determine the speed and length of taper. Any rushing, obsession with numbers or deadlines have only hurt me.

 

I can tell that I have gotten healthier all the way down from my high dose of 45 mg Lexapro and that drops are easier now. This knowing, my own experience, is what keeps me going. I really hope it will pay off in the end and that going so slow will make the final WD process off the drugs easier.

 

I do wonder if there are success stories to of people who have gone slow and low to "prove" the theory. If anyone here can point to such stories I would love to read them and will keep looking too.

 

The encouragement of these stories are a real placebo for me, in the most positive sense of the word.

 

Began Paxil in 2003 plus Trazodone to sleep. Tapered off as per doctor's suggestion in less than two months i.e. CT. Got zapped and depressed/anxious worse than before.

Got on Cymbalta in 2005. Cross tapered to 20mg lexapro from 2005, Tapered off fast/CT and took amino acids, total crash.

Started Lexapro in 2008 and got to 45 mg before full "effect"

Erfa thyroid and organic paleo food, lots of healthy fat, no gluten/dairy. Depression lifted.

Tapered off Lexapro from 45 mg since March 2015. Came off Lexapro fully  in summer of 2016. Reinstated at 1mg.

CBD oil plus small dosis THC.

Switched to Celexa 2mg and tapered slowly to 0,05 over a year with a liquid formulation. Jumped off and crashed horribly again! 

Am now at 0,00125. Will taper slowly down to an almost non-existing dosage and then either jump off or keep going lower and lower and lower until...

As of July 29th 2019 I am med free and just fine. I jumped off at 1/1000 mg. 

As of July 7th 2020 I am feeling great and just here for a check in. 

Current dose: 0,000.

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