peaceful Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 I have requested on last several visits with psychiatrist mentioned my side effects of becoming unbearable to live with: most notable the brain fog which feels like early stage dementia and grogginess all the time. I have informed him I would like to weight the pros and cons and at this time feel trying my life without these prescription drugs and learning how I can cope with chronic depression in other healthy ways. The medications he prescribes are: Lexapro 20 mg, Lithium 300 MG, Clonidine HCL ER 0.1 MG. Per recent conversation did not want me to change any of the meds again. I then feel like I need to taper myself off because the side effects are continuing. After reading how strong lexapro 20 mg is, I really do know better than doing cold turkey that had crossed my mind tonight bringing me to this website and researching side effects of antidepressants because I truly feel my brain is dying and my knowledge, memory and normal thinking skills are in a sense gone due to chronic brain fog. I am also on other meds that may also affect the mixture but the doctor is aware of them all and says they are fine. I disagree. I know the logical thing to do is to go to a different doctor. I guess my question and thoughts is have others experienced feeling the doctor is not helping get you off the meds and is this the only way to get off is to find a new doctor who will help me safely come off the meds? Would a regular Primary Care Physician have the adequate knowledge for me to come down appropriately or should I seek out a different psychiatrist? I appreciate your input, Sincerely, Peaceful Link to comment
nz11 Posted March 12, 2016 Share Posted March 12, 2016 Welcome Peaceful. Well done on stepping up to take control of your healthcare. First things first would you be so kind so as to run ALL the drugs you are currently taking through the drugs interaction checker and copy and paste into this thread. Use the free Drug Interactions Checker here http://www.drugs.com...teractions.html You might like to fill out your drug signature as well so people can see your context at an immediate glance. Please put your withdrawal history in your signature to help the moderators. oh and yeah this is a site full of people who have realized the doctor is harming and not helping. You are not alone. There is heaps of informative stuff here. Well done on finding sa. 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 Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted March 12, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 12, 2016 Hi Peaceful and welcome to SA. Just wanted to let you know that this is a really good site with lots of information, supportive members and knowledgeable voluntary staff. You can use your Intro/Update topic to ask any questions you have and journal your progress. CC * 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 KarenB Posted March 12, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 12, 2016 Welcome Peaceful, Many of us find a regular doctor/GP who will prescribe the drugs we need while we taper, but not bother us too much about it. There are very few doctors who understand the process of w/d, or even acknowledge it. You can find good info here about how to taper, and get support while you are doing so. All you need from a doctor is the drugs. The side effects you are having indicate that you do need to be starting to taper. We recommend a gentle taper, reducing by no more than 10% of your current dose each month. This allows your brain time to adjust as you go, and lessens any withdrawal. Many people find Fish oil and Magnesium useful during withdrawal. Also relevant for you: Tips for tapering Lexapro Have a read of those links and then you can come back to this thread to discuss things further. This will be your journal to record your tapering and healing progress, and to ask questions. Best wishes, Karen 2010 Fluoxetine 20mg. 2011 Escitalopram 20mg. 2013 Tapered badly and destabilised CNS. Effexor 150mg. 2015 Begin using info at SurvivingAntidepressants. Cut 10% - bad w/d 2 months, held 1 month. Micro-tapering: four weekly 0.4% cuts, hold 4 weeks (struggling with symptoms). 8 month hold. 2017 Micro-tapering: four weekly 1% cuts, hold 4 weeks (symptoms almost non-existent). 2020 Still micro-tapering. Just over 2/3 of the way off effexor. Minimal symptoms, - and sleeping well. Supplements: Fish oil, vitamin C, iron, oat-straw tea, nettle tea. 2023 December - Now on 5 micro-beads Effexor. Minimal symptoms but much more time needed between drops. Symptoms begin to increase. 2024 April - Updosed to 6 microbeads - immediate increase in symptoms for 4 days. Decreased to 5 microbeads. 'The possibility of renewal exists so long as life exists.' Dr Gabor Mate. Link to comment
Beatrice Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 OMG I looked at drug interactions and the two I take are "Major", Lexapro and Wellbutrin. Thank you for posting the link. More information is what I need to start this process of getting me back. January 2002 Effexor (the beginning) Changed to Lexapro, added Wellbutrin (unsure of dates) March 2015 Lexapro 20 mg. once a day (generic) Wellbutrin XL 300 once a day (generic) Link to comment
rausmitcha Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Hello there Peaceful- I recently had to part ways with two docs I had been with for nearly a decade because neither would listen to me. It is so difficult to be stuck in the position you're in with your doc. I have found so much helpful info on this site. Please be well and compassionate with yourself as you figure this out. 1998: Diagnosed Bipolar 1 9/15/15: abilify 3 mg, down from 10 mg. started the reduction in 5/15. On Effexor 150 mg down from 300mg. in that time, my psychiatrist wanted me to try Latuda, which I tried then quit after 5 days. Then there was the Rexulti .5 mg for 3 days. I quit that, too. 11/4/15: increased abilify from 3mg to 4mg at behest of docs because I was feeling extremely detached + volatile + moods vascillating wildly 3/19/16: 3mg abilify, 150 mg effexor -12beads. 9/13/17 - 1st day off of venlafaxine in ~ 12 yrs 10/4/17 : 2 mg abilify Supplements: Magnesium Citrate ~300mg "it's not rotten, it's a good brain!" ------Young Frankenstein------ Link to comment
nz11 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Peaceful its been two weeks since we did your first post. Are you able to update us? 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 Link to comment
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