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PenguinTeacup: Please Help


PenguinTeacup

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  NZ.  LOL.   I like how ( as a fellow insomniac) , you are putting a time frame , on it , now !   I think I will do the same .

Ali . 

2. 25 am   :)

 

P.   If he prescribes anything , say " no thanks" !

 

Ali

Many SSRI's and SSNRI's over 20 years. Zoloft for 7 years followed by Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, Cymbalta, Celexa, Pristiq, Valdoxan, Mianserin and more - on and off. No tapering. Cold turkey off Valdoxan - end of May 2014

 

                                                  Psych Drug - free since May 2014
.
         

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Hi

 

I saw a psychiatrist on Friday and he was very perturbed by the fact that I was cutting the venlafaxine so small and said it couldn't possibly be consistently the same dose and possibly not even being absorbed properly. He thinks it can't be withdrawal as reinstatement has not given consistent improvement. He thinks it is probably anxiety which may be true as I have been worried about the wedding for a long time and stressed about my chronic fatigue. But at the same time my heart problems have definitely correlated in the past with med changes. I don't know what to believe.

 

He has prescribed me 20mg prozac but I have been too scared to take it. I think I would 1/2 the tablets if I was to take any. I have had a few better nights of sleep but no more than 4 hrs a night and the stress of not sleeping is making me anxious and depressed. I feel panicky almost all day even if I've slept 4hrs.

 

I know the consensus here is to stabilise and not change meds but I'm worried about developing depression and if I was ever to fulfil my dream of having a child it would be safer to be on a low dose of prozac rather than venlafaxine while pregnant. There is no way of tapering slower off venlafaxine than I already have done as this would take many years and I don't have years of fertility left.

 

I don't know what to do :(

2009 - Started Venlafaxine/Effexor. Highest does of Venlafaxine was 225mg.
Started reducing venlafaxine sometime 2013 - reduced by 37.5 several times no probs

May/June 2014 - Was alternating 75mg Venlafaxine and 37.5mg every other day (as per dr advice!)

Aug 2014 - Went to 37.5mg every other day and ended up in A&E with severe heart palpitations/shakes

Nov 2014 - Dec 2015 - down from 37.5mg gradual monthly decreases to 7.5mg

2 Jan 2016 - 0mg venlafaxine

19 Jan 2016 - 1mg venlafaxine

8 Feb 2016 - 4.5mg venlafaxine

22 Mar 2016 - 6.25mg venlafaxine
 

 

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Sorry you are in this dreadful position.

No one knows a drug like the person who has taken it or is taking it. I would think your pdoc has never taken it . Your correlating observations are correct ..its not you its the drug.

 

So the pdoc wants you to take prozac and venlafaxine together?

Did he explain anything about timeframes on drugs here, prozac bridge game plans ?  or serotonin syndrome to you ?

 

Wishing you strength.

Its heartbreaking to say this but you are currently in no position - thanks to the medical profession to be getting married.

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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Hi, to clarify he wants me to stop venlafaxine immediately and go straight onto prozac. I know that there are risks of serotonin syndrome if you take two ADs.

 

I have still not started the prozac though as I'm still on the fence. I've read lots on here (and got other half to read also) about prozac bridge and most are negative but obv people who have success don't have a need to post here. Still I'm unwilling to make things worse. I don't have any physical withdrawal symptoms other than insomnia and when I came off venlafaxine altogether I did have nausea, breathlessness, brain zaps etc and I don't want those to come back.

 

It's hard to know what to do. Reinstatement has made things better for a few weeks and then worse in terms of sleep for a month despite updosing :s

2009 - Started Venlafaxine/Effexor. Highest does of Venlafaxine was 225mg.
Started reducing venlafaxine sometime 2013 - reduced by 37.5 several times no probs

May/June 2014 - Was alternating 75mg Venlafaxine and 37.5mg every other day (as per dr advice!)

Aug 2014 - Went to 37.5mg every other day and ended up in A&E with severe heart palpitations/shakes

Nov 2014 - Dec 2015 - down from 37.5mg gradual monthly decreases to 7.5mg

2 Jan 2016 - 0mg venlafaxine

19 Jan 2016 - 1mg venlafaxine

8 Feb 2016 - 4.5mg venlafaxine

22 Mar 2016 - 6.25mg venlafaxine
 

 

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  • Administrator

PT, the method the psychiatrist advised is a high-risk way of making a switch to Prozac. 20mg Prozac is far too high to replace 6.25mg or even 37.5mg venlafaxine.

 

Please read The Prozac switch or "bridging" with Prozac

 

If I were you, I would use Prozac liquid (prescribed or do-it-yourself), overlap 2mg Prozac (taken in the a.m.) with the Effexor for a week, then cut the Effexor by 1/4 every few days to go off Effexor.

 

My guess is it will be better for you to take a liquid formulation, because of the occasional diarrhea and consistency in measurement.

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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Thanks for the advice Alto, unfortunately my psychiatrist would not prescribe liquid venlafaxine, he said it was used mainly for children(!) and I am not confident on my ability to make a liquid myself and it be a consistent dose :( The tablets he gave me are capsules with powder in them so i can't even split them.

 

But my sleep is so poor and it is making me so anxious. My heart does not seem to be beating so irregularly now but it hasn't made me sleep any better. And I get such intense feelings of panic especially in the mornings (which I know is a cortisol/adrenaline thing). Is there still a possibility that I will stabilise on this dose of venlafaxine? I reinstated in Jan, updosed in feb and march as per my signature and still so very little sleep. Does anyone have any idea what I can do? :(

2009 - Started Venlafaxine/Effexor. Highest does of Venlafaxine was 225mg.
Started reducing venlafaxine sometime 2013 - reduced by 37.5 several times no probs

May/June 2014 - Was alternating 75mg Venlafaxine and 37.5mg every other day (as per dr advice!)

Aug 2014 - Went to 37.5mg every other day and ended up in A&E with severe heart palpitations/shakes

Nov 2014 - Dec 2015 - down from 37.5mg gradual monthly decreases to 7.5mg

2 Jan 2016 - 0mg venlafaxine

19 Jan 2016 - 1mg venlafaxine

8 Feb 2016 - 4.5mg venlafaxine

22 Mar 2016 - 6.25mg venlafaxine
 

 

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Sorry above post should say liquid prozac not liquid venlafaxine

2009 - Started Venlafaxine/Effexor. Highest does of Venlafaxine was 225mg.
Started reducing venlafaxine sometime 2013 - reduced by 37.5 several times no probs

May/June 2014 - Was alternating 75mg Venlafaxine and 37.5mg every other day (as per dr advice!)

Aug 2014 - Went to 37.5mg every other day and ended up in A&E with severe heart palpitations/shakes

Nov 2014 - Dec 2015 - down from 37.5mg gradual monthly decreases to 7.5mg

2 Jan 2016 - 0mg venlafaxine

19 Jan 2016 - 1mg venlafaxine

8 Feb 2016 - 4.5mg venlafaxine

22 Mar 2016 - 6.25mg venlafaxine
 

 

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  • Administrator

You can make a liquid from the Prozac capsule.

 

What is your daily symptom pattern and drug intake? Please keep notes on paper.

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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It seems that making a liquid from the prozac would be difficult to make it a consistent dose though. Just opening a capsule powder went everywhere. Alto are you saying you are in favour of switching to prozac over staying on venlafaxine?

 

I take 6.25 immediate release venlafaxine split over am and pm. Daily symptoms are chronic insomnia, waking early (if I sleep) with intense anxiety and anxiety throughout the day (compounded by being home alone). I do keep notes of symptoms every day.

2009 - Started Venlafaxine/Effexor. Highest does of Venlafaxine was 225mg.
Started reducing venlafaxine sometime 2013 - reduced by 37.5 several times no probs

May/June 2014 - Was alternating 75mg Venlafaxine and 37.5mg every other day (as per dr advice!)

Aug 2014 - Went to 37.5mg every other day and ended up in A&E with severe heart palpitations/shakes

Nov 2014 - Dec 2015 - down from 37.5mg gradual monthly decreases to 7.5mg

2 Jan 2016 - 0mg venlafaxine

19 Jan 2016 - 1mg venlafaxine

8 Feb 2016 - 4.5mg venlafaxine

22 Mar 2016 - 6.25mg venlafaxine
 

 

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Please can someone help advise me? I don't know whether to stay on venlafaxine or switch to prozac? I am so exhausted, I need sleep

2009 - Started Venlafaxine/Effexor. Highest does of Venlafaxine was 225mg.
Started reducing venlafaxine sometime 2013 - reduced by 37.5 several times no probs

May/June 2014 - Was alternating 75mg Venlafaxine and 37.5mg every other day (as per dr advice!)

Aug 2014 - Went to 37.5mg every other day and ended up in A&E with severe heart palpitations/shakes

Nov 2014 - Dec 2015 - down from 37.5mg gradual monthly decreases to 7.5mg

2 Jan 2016 - 0mg venlafaxine

19 Jan 2016 - 1mg venlafaxine

8 Feb 2016 - 4.5mg venlafaxine

22 Mar 2016 - 6.25mg venlafaxine
 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

"Posted 04 April 2016 - 06:12 AM

PT, the method the psychiatrist advised is a high-risk way of making a switch to Prozac. 20mg Prozac is far too high to replace 6.25mg or even 37.5mg venlafaxine.

 

Please read The Prozac switch or "bridging" with Prozac

 

If I were you, I would use Prozac liquid (prescribed or do-it-yourself), overlap 2mg Prozac (taken in the a.m.) with the Effexor for a week, then cut the Effexor by 1/4 every few days to go off Effexor."

1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg

2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg

Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta

Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months.

July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months.

Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg.

October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive.

March 2016 , 21mg

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Fresh I understand what alto was saying, that a switch to 2mg prozac would be preferable to switching to 20mg prozac but I'm asking whether this switch is preferable to staying on venlafaxine? Do you see?

 

I'm really desperate

2009 - Started Venlafaxine/Effexor. Highest does of Venlafaxine was 225mg.
Started reducing venlafaxine sometime 2013 - reduced by 37.5 several times no probs

May/June 2014 - Was alternating 75mg Venlafaxine and 37.5mg every other day (as per dr advice!)

Aug 2014 - Went to 37.5mg every other day and ended up in A&E with severe heart palpitations/shakes

Nov 2014 - Dec 2015 - down from 37.5mg gradual monthly decreases to 7.5mg

2 Jan 2016 - 0mg venlafaxine

19 Jan 2016 - 1mg venlafaxine

8 Feb 2016 - 4.5mg venlafaxine

22 Mar 2016 - 6.25mg venlafaxine
 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi PT,

 

We understand your desperation but we are not able to make that decision for you.  We can provide information about it but in the end you are the one who has to decide whether the symptoms you are currently getting are unbearable enough to take the risk of bridging with Prozac.  There are no guarantees.  Please be aware that Prozac has side effects too.

 

You will receive support here whichever option you choose.

 

This is from Post # 7 the-prozac-switch-or-bridging-with-prozac

 

Blue highlighting is mine:

 

"CAUTION: A switch to a bridge drug is not guaranteed to work. It's safer to slow down a taper than count on a switch. Sometimes the switch doesn't work. It really should be used only when a taper becomes unbearable or there are other serious adverse effects from the medication. You must work with a doctor who is familiar with bridging, in case you develop severe symptoms."

* 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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Thank you Chessie Cat, i'm just so scared. I would rather stay on the venlafaxine if prozac is such a risk but it's been so long since i've slept properly and I just don't feel like things are going to get better. I'm scared i'm becoming depressed, i've never had depression before and I don't want to lose my ability to enjoy things. If i could just sleep I would feel a million times better. It has been 2 weeks since I updosed for the second time, my heart does not seem to be as irregular as it was so is it possible if i kept the dose the same that sleep might return?

 

I know I probably sound hysterical but I feel that I can't turn to the medical profession anymore and that in itself is frightening.

2009 - Started Venlafaxine/Effexor. Highest does of Venlafaxine was 225mg.
Started reducing venlafaxine sometime 2013 - reduced by 37.5 several times no probs

May/June 2014 - Was alternating 75mg Venlafaxine and 37.5mg every other day (as per dr advice!)

Aug 2014 - Went to 37.5mg every other day and ended up in A&E with severe heart palpitations/shakes

Nov 2014 - Dec 2015 - down from 37.5mg gradual monthly decreases to 7.5mg

2 Jan 2016 - 0mg venlafaxine

19 Jan 2016 - 1mg venlafaxine

8 Feb 2016 - 4.5mg venlafaxine

22 Mar 2016 - 6.25mg venlafaxine
 

 

Link to comment

 my psychiatrist would not prescribe liquid venlafaxine, he said it was used mainly for children(!)

 

.. this gives a whole new meaning to the term child abuse!

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

No one here can make that decision for you Penguin. There are pros and cons for each course of action.

Please read all the relevant links posted on this thread , perhaps discuss it with your partner.

 

There is no correct answer , so don't worry about picking the wrong one.

1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg

2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg

Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta

Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months.

July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months.

Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg.

October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive.

March 2016 , 21mg

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