How psychiatric drugs remodel your brain

[savinggrace]

Bruci,

I agree with you whole-heartedly.  This post by Rhiannon in 2012 (or about that time) changed everything for me and I believe is one of the most powerful posts ever written here.  Perhaps many would think it changed things in a bad way for me because I go so slow, but I finally understood why I couldn't make teeny-tiny changes w/o feeling complete withdrawal almost immediately.  One change affects everything else you take (including food and supplements)  Since I have been taking 3 psychotropic drugs for 20 years and been on an AD for nearly 40, my brain changed.  I am still plugging away one speck at a time but I have only "up-rooted" about 1/2 (or maybe less)  of the plant on my trellis over 10 years. That is all my brain will allow me to do.  I was not stable at the outset of my taper and have not been willing to updose enough in order to get stable so I just plug away one speck at a time, trying to feel okay about the fact that I won't be off these drugs before I die, but I am putting less toxins in than I was a decade ago.  Had I not done what I did then, I am sure I would not be here now.  I have a ton of iatrogenic illness due to poly-pharmacy so it is quite a juggling act.  The biggest take-home point here is that reducing one drug affects everything else you ingest...and the vine will collapse if you mess with too much of it.  Though I have not collapsed, I live on the edge of collapsing but am determined to continue going forward one speck at a time.  I do not compare my progress to anyone else's because they are not me!  So don't prune that vine too aggressively but keeping pruning.  Good luck.

 

Grace

[Darren]

I've always used the anolgy, if that's the right word.  That people who don't take the drugs, their brains go through life flawlessly, like when we were all children. The worst ones on anti depressants, our brains have missed out on what naturally should have happened, including living with any anxiety/depression etc. That's how I kinda see it, and have said that before joining the site. My brain has had to work it out. 

 

I use the word flawlessly as for me personally on the drugs, everything got interupted. I don't think there's no shame in saying that I want to feel like I did prior drugs. If I have my old symptoms/worries back, will have to address them in another way

[Reshan30]

Awesome read. Now I can explain this to my family members that view these brain altering drugs like Aspirin. 

[Warrior]

Hello everybody! I read this entire thread and was concerned about some statements. I had a very sudden withdrawal of medication according to medical advice, could this indicate that my brain will never go back to what it was? Will I always have sequelae from the drugs? How much does the dose interfere with withdrawal? If I used high doses for a short time or medium doses for long periods, how does that affect withdrawal? Which situation is worse? Do I run the risk of the brain having an imbalance in the future for having already used these drugs one day? Thanks to anyone who can answer these questions!

[savinggrace]

Gosh, Warrior. If only anyone knew the answers to these reasonable, yet unanswerable questions! We are all so different. I have been participating  in SA for years and I learned long ago that we are all so different. What causes a setback for one person, has no effect on another. Doses, time on drugs, multiple changes in drugs, genetics, epigenetics, diet, exercise and lifestyle, etc are remarkably different in each unique individual. I know someone on this forum who took an A/D for just a few weeks and was irreparably harmed. Others have taken huge doses of various drugs over decades, and managed to get off everything. Others, like me, have been tapering at a record snail’s pace and will likely never get completely off. I have had a lot of acceptance to do along the way and have learned not to compare my journey to anyone else. I have followed the general advice given here to the max, but health issues from a lifetime of chronic problems have made me choose the least bad path…which is terrible…but the least bad. I used Rhiannon’s analogy about clipping off too much of the vine at once to help me accept that 10% cuts at a set rate would not  get me off. Now I do what my brain and body allow. 
 

Good luck. SA is a guideline. There is no one set absolute for any of this. If only I had known all if this 40 years ago. By the time I knew what had already happened to me, serious damage had been done. 
 

please listen to what your brain and body can handle and just keep going…one “crumb” at a time…if necessary. 
 

Grace

[Warrior]

@savinggraceHi! Thank you very much for replying! It's sad to know that. So many lives damaged by this and unfortunately, we have no other way out than to face this process. I'm worried, because I was forced to use these drugs and I had to fight everyone to start the withdrawal, it was very difficult. I'm young and I was just going through a phase of stress, but because of these meds, I've already wasted more than a year of my life just suffering, stuck at home without being able to do the things I'd like to do. I've been on 0mg for 9 months now and I still have strong symptoms. Clearly we are in different stages of life and withdrawal too, you are probably a mature person and you have already faced a lot, you must know how to deal with it all much better than I do.
I'm trying to get through this as best I can, there are days that are very difficult and I think about giving up, but deep down, I have to believe that it's just a phase. Facing it all is only more distressing, no one really understands until they go through it. My body suffers a lot from all these symptoms and I end up destabilizing myself too, getting emotionally shaken.
I hope one day we will be here reporting different moments of joy and well-being, supporting other people who also need help.
I just have to thank you and everyone here at SA! Thank you very much!

[savinggrace]

There is so much hope for you Warrior, so please don’t compare yourself to me. My psych drug journey began post-partum  with my first child. I suffered for a year before I was diagnosed. (1980) Meanwhile I was given sleeping pills. I was young, trusted the doctor and felt so much better once put on amitriptyline…for years. Then it stopped working. In the meantime I suffered from poly/pharmacy for constant sinus infections and various other maladies which contributed to destroying my gut. It wasn’t until about 15 years ago that I realized what the drugs were doing to me. I had to retire from a teaching job I adored at age 48. 
 

I have barely been getting by since. I tapered all 3 drugs, one at a time, until life became unbearable. I chose to hang on to the “shreds” of life that were left. Long-term hospitalization would have been the psychiatric path off and I knew, from my incredibly sensitized system, that I would just survive that only to be put on different drugs. 
 

So I live a very very small life. I do get out of bed and have managed to maintain relationships with important people, just barely. I am 67. I still taper crumbs every few months and have never up-dosed once I made this choice. 
 

I am getting sicker and don’t expect to live much longer. I will not go into the hospital as I know it will just bring changes my brain/body can’t, and won’t handle. I take it one day at a time. My frail body is hanging on barely but my mental ability remains intact. For that I am grateful. 
 

You have accomplished so much that I never will. I hope you continue to make the choice not to turn back to the drugs. You have decades ahead for your brain to heal. 
 

Meanwhile be kind to yourself and do not engage with people who push you in the wrong direction. Live a clean lifestyle and wait and hope for the day your brain shows signs of healing. I am sure it will!

 

My best to you, Warrior. Keep on fighting. 
 

Grace

[savinggrace]

Hi Warrior,

 

one more comment after more closely studying your drug history…

 

you were on high doses of powerful drugs. In my opinion, and in the protocol recommended here, you did an awfully rapid taper off both drugs. 
 

Many people have made the same mistake and they do eventually recover, but as in Rhiannon’s analogy, you likely tore off too much of the vine at once, causing your brain to need to work much harder (and possibly longer) to achieve homeostasis. 
 

It can, and it will. It is just going to take more time. You can do it. Every day free of drugs gets you one day closer to being your old self again!

 

Grace

[Warrior]

3 hours ago, savinggrace said:

There is so much hope for you Warrior, so please don’t compare yourself to me. My psych drug journey began post-partum  with my first child. I suffered for a year before I was diagnosed. (1980) Meanwhile I was given sleeping pills. I was young, trusted the doctor and felt so much better once put on amitriptyline…for years. Then it stopped working. In the meantime I suffered from poly/pharmacy for constant sinus infections and various other maladies which contributed to destroying my gut. It wasn’t until about 15 years ago that I realized what the drugs were doing to me. I had to retire from a teaching job I adored at age 48. 
 

I have barely been getting by since. I tapered all 3 drugs, one at a time, until life became unbearable. I chose to hang on to the “shreds” of life that were left. Long-term hospitalization would have been the psychiatric path off and I knew, from my incredibly sensitized system, that I would just survive that only to be put on different drugs. 
 

So I live a very very small life. I do get out of bed and have managed to maintain relationships with important people, just barely. I am 67. I still taper crumbs every few months and have never up-dosed once I made this choice. 
 

I am getting sicker and don’t expect to live much longer. I will not go into the hospital as I know it will just bring changes my brain/body can’t, and won’t handle. I take it one day at a time. My frail body is hanging on barely but my mental ability remains intact. For that I am grateful. 
 

You have accomplished so much that I never will. I hope you continue to make the choice not to turn back to the drugs. You have decades ahead for your brain to heal. 
 

Meanwhile be kind to yourself and do not engage with people who push you in the wrong direction. Live a clean lifestyle and wait and hope for the day your brain shows signs of healing. I am sure it will!

 

My best to you, Warrior. Keep on fighting. 
 

Grace

Hello, Grace! I'm impressed with your life story. I can't imagine what you've been through, it was certainly very difficult. I would like to be able to do something for you, help you in some way. I am sad to hear of your current situation, without a perspective. I imagine it is not easy and simple. Still, I wish you the best, Grace! May you stay strong too, just like you're asking me to be! The strength you are giving me is incredible.
I had no choice to get into these drugs, I was forced to use them, against my will, unfortunately. At the time I knew I was going through a difficult phase and I felt confident to overcome it and continue living.
I will follow your advice and help! I have to keep fighting this.

 

3 hours ago, savinggrace said:

Hi Warrior,

 

one more comment after more closely studying your drug history…

 

you were on high doses of powerful drugs. In my opinion, and in the protocol recommended here, you did an awfully rapid taper off both drugs. 
 

Many people have made the same mistake and they do eventually recover, but as in Rhiannon’s analogy, you likely tore off too much of the vine at once, causing your brain to need to work much harder (and possibly longer) to achieve homeostasis. 
 

It can, and it will. It is just going to take more time. You can do it. Every day free of drugs gets you one day closer to being your old self again!

 

Grace

True, Grace! The vine analogy is a very good one. In fact, with everything I've been going through, I feel like my brain is ripped apart, somehow incomplete, weakened, in shock at the new reality that has been presented to it. If that's the way, I just have to walk it, as you said. 

Thank you so much again! I thank you 1 million times if necessary and the entire SA. I don't know how I would have spent this time without this community and these diverse reports.

[morgana]

i have been on zyprexa for probably nearly 15 years at 10mg everyday for that amount of time including a daily AD for even longer, now i can understand a AD affecting your neuro transmitters and your brain learning over time to adapt again without the drug and so becomes a new brain, however zyprexa actually shrinks the brain! how does your brain grow back to its original size? is that possible? at present i am not capable of thinking about anything that involves anything creative or thought provoking...just the basics eg what am i eating for dinner, do some shopping and cleaning..nothing that makes me anything more than just a monkey and works on auto pilot! any thoughts on this anyone?

[Warrior]

3 hours ago, morgana said:

i have been on zyprexa for probably nearly 15 years at 10mg everyday for that amount of time including a daily AD for even longer, now i can understand a AD affecting your neuro transmitters and your brain learning over time to adapt again without the drug and so becomes a new brain, however zyprexa actually shrinks the brain! how does your brain grow back to its original size? is that possible? at present i am not capable of thinking about anything that involves anything creative or thought provoking...just the basics eg what am i eating for dinner, do some shopping and cleaning..nothing that makes me anything more than just a monkey and works on auto pilot! any thoughts on this anyone?

Hello @morgana! I don't know about brain shrinkage caused by these medications, but I don't doubt it can happen as they change everything in our body. And even more so because you say yes. I also feel like you described, like I'm on autopilot, I can't visualize my actions, thoughts. It's like I know what I'm doing, but I can't rationalize it. I answered a thread about this and it feels like the frontal lobe is turned off or blocked. It also happens with ideas, abstractions, as well as anesthetized emotions.
I believe these symptoms will pass, but I don't know how long it will take.

[Erin9]

Hi - reading this topic has been so interesting, I've been on citalopram for years and never really understood how it worked biologically. I've been on SSRI's since I was 14, and at that stage I was still not developed, so I've been on this type of drug since before my brain and body fully developed and matured. A decade later I've tried to reduce citalopram and its been awful, and I'm worried that because of how long I've been on SSRI's and the fact that I was on them from a young age has meant that it'll take my brain years to 'repair' or just get used to being on a lower dose. I tapered way too fast (trusted the doctors advice to just taper in a few weeks..) and even though I'm stopping all adjustments now (to let my brain heal) my brain feels zapped every day. It's so awful being in your early 20s and feeling like your brain just isn't okay, while everyone around you seems to be getting on with their lives. 

[PortugueseSea]

This is so very true.

When I had my Reglan reaction I felt just terrible for about 2 months, didn't know what was going on with my body. When I finally realized my symptoms spiked after taking it and told my doctor, it was dismissed because "the drug was out of my system". This led me to doubt my own body and what I was going through. If I had left it alone there I would probably be fine by now. I had a clear wave and window pattern going on and, despite the akathisia being crippling, there was occasional respite.

Well, trusting the doctors accepted that this was likely somatoform disorder and accepted a cascade of drugs. Eventually, after a crisis, I took one dose of quetiapine, it sent me running around my apartment in excruciating discomfort. I thought that was it, I would have to either be put in a psych ward or kill myself.

That acute crisis eventually passed and I got my akathisia diagnosis out of it. Following the advice I got here, I trimmed down my Rx and am only on Mirtazapine 15mg, Klonopin PRN for crises. I feel better than I felt at the beginning but I also have windows less often, they are also less "clean".

There is no other explanation for this but the absolute beating my CNS took the last 6 months, getting on and off drugs often, willy-nilly. The damage and chaos created will take now longer to heal than it would had I left it alone. The akathisia I am struggling to bear would have likely gone by now had I left it alone.

It is a long windy road of unbelievable suffering for me. And that road is tardive/chronic akathisia and a Mirtazapine taper.

I've made my peace with it but can't help feel mad at how I was handled by medical professionals. From my initial nausea to the emergence of akathisia.
I was never told or even imagined my nausea medicine was a psychotropic and no one bothered to tell me. Not the doctors, not the pharmacists.

This has destroyed my life, now I must heal, and then rebuild.

[arbor]

Dear @PortugueseSea  You've gone through so much.  I send you healing wishes.

Arbor 💜

[PortugueseSea]

16 hours ago, arbor said:

You've gone through so much.  I send you healing wishes.

 

Dear Arbor, thank you. My path will be documented here and I will hopefully, one day, be able to pay forward the support I get.

My symptoms are at the point of becoming bearable, but not quite yet.

[stech]

Does this mean polypharmacy together with young age. I started at 18 years of age and with paroxetine and zoloft,  and got exposed to olanzapine on the way... now I am 22 and feel like I am getting worse... any advice?!?

[stech]

@Rhiannon do you believe that people which started meds at 18 (now 22) can recover? There were multiple CTes of the meds which took place as doctors instructions.. after that ..also aside from this I have also been exposed to olanzapine which my DNA can't handle.. what can I do?

[Arian]

I have found this explanation of what happens to serotonin receptors in SSRI withdrawal, I find it very logical, it makes me easier to understand what happend with serotonine receptors:

 

Neurons in the brain use both electrical and chemical signals to work.  When a neuron is stimulated, it fires electrically.  This stimulates the release of neurotransmitters at the end of the neuron.  These chemicals flow in the gap between neurons until they bind to receptors on another neuron.  Once enough neurotransmitters have attached to the next neuron, it stimulates that neuron to fire electrically, and the process continues.  SSRI affect the chemical part of this process.  Chemically, SSRI mimic the neurotransmitter Serotonin on one side of the molecule, but are different, otherwise.  When it binds to a receptor, instead of activating that receptor, it blocks it.  These receptors absorb excess Serotonin and store it in the neuron.  By blocking the absorption of Serotonin, more of this neurotransmitter stays in the gap between neurons.  The theory is that having more Serotonin available to stimulate new neurons improves mood.

As receptors that are stimulated by Serotonin are blocked, less of the neurotransmitter is absorbed back into neurons.  The brain responds to this lack of stored Serotonin by creating new networks of neurons in an attempt to reestablish the old state of function.  These new receptors are in turn blocked by the SSRI.  As the process continues, the dosage of an SSRI prescription may be increased to counteract the brain’s attempts to restore the old functional state.  Patients refer to this as “poop out”.  It’s similar to the tolerance that other drug users experience.  The difference is that most illegal drugs act on a wide range of neurotransmitters, whereas SSRI target Serotonin specifically.

In withdrawal, the blocking action of the SSRI is removed, and the excess networks of neurons are able to absorb Serotonin again.  Since the brain has been trying to balance against reduced absorption capacity, the result is over absorption.  Serotonin is closely linked to emotions and mood.  The over absorption of Serotonin can lead to extreme fluctuations in mood and even create symptoms in the patient that mimic serious mental illnesses.  Psychosis, anxiety, fear, and even suicidal thoughts are not uncommon.  It takes a long time for the brain to re balance to the new amount of Serotonin.  The brain once again rewires itself and reduces its capacity to absorb Serotonin.  During this rewiring, moods and emotions can fluctuate.  Many patients withdrawaling from an SSRI report that their mood can be different from day to day.  This most likely reflects the fluctuations in available Serotonin.

 

The rest is here:

How SSRI work in withdrawal | James Heaney (wordpress.com)

[Sunflower414]

Quote

With multiple drugs and a history of drug changes and cold turkeys, all of this becomes even more complicated. And if a person is started on these kinds of drugs at an early age before the brain has ever completely established normal mature functioning--well, it can't be good. (All of which is why I recommend an extremely slow taper particularly to anyone with a multiple drug history, a history of many years on meds, a history of past cold turkeys or frequent med changes, and a history of being put on drugs at a young age.)

 

 

Does this mean someone who was medicated at age 7 is better off just staying on the drug, or is healing still going to happen? I've been tapering for two years, minor improvements. I am now 29 years old.

[Sunflower414]

Quote

With multiple drugs and a history of drug changes and cold turkeys, all of this becomes even more complicated. And if a person is started on these kinds of drugs at an early age before the brain has ever completely established normal mature functioning--well, it can't be good. (All of which is why I recommend an extremely slow taper particularly to anyone with a multiple drug history, a history of many years on meds, a history of past cold turkeys or frequent med changes, and a history of being put on drugs at a young age.)

 

 

Does this mean someone like me, who was medicated at age 7/8 and is now 29, is better off just taking the drugs at this point? Today I am back in the depths of withdrawal, even with tapering 2% and waiting a month or more between drops. I just don't know what to do. I would do anything for my life back -- has someone like me gotten off the drugs and recovered? 

[Chompoo]

I wonder what happened to the brains of the immediate adverse reaction folks like me, who took only one pill (or very few) before coming down with withdrawal like effects for many months, if not years. Did that one pill (or three) make holes in our brains and cause us so many problems?

[Fairsome]

On 4/26/2023 at 12:45 AM, Arian said:

I have found this explanation of what happens to serotonin receptors in SSRI withdrawal, I find it very logical, it makes me easier to understand what happend with serotonine receptors:

 

Neurons in the brain use both electrical and chemical signals to work.  When a neuron is stimulated, it fires electrically.  This stimulates the release of neurotransmitters at the end of the neuron.  These chemicals flow in the gap between neurons until they bind to receptors on another neuron.  Once enough neurotransmitters have attached to the next neuron, it stimulates that neuron to fire electrically, and the process continues.  SSRI affect the chemical part of this process.  Chemically, SSRI mimic the neurotransmitter Serotonin on one side of the molecule, but are different, otherwise.  When it binds to a receptor, instead of activating that receptor, it blocks it.  These receptors absorb excess Serotonin and store it in the neuron.  By blocking the absorption of Serotonin, more of this neurotransmitter stays in the gap between neurons.  The theory is that having more Serotonin available to stimulate new neurons improves mood.

As receptors that are stimulated by Serotonin are blocked, less of the neurotransmitter is absorbed back into neurons.  The brain responds to this lack of stored Serotonin by creating new networks of neurons in an attempt to reestablish the old state of function.  These new receptors are in turn blocked by the SSRI.  As the process continues, the dosage of an SSRI prescription may be increased to counteract the brain’s attempts to restore the old functional state.  Patients refer to this as “poop out”.  It’s similar to the tolerance that other drug users experience.  The difference is that most illegal drugs act on a wide range of neurotransmitters, whereas SSRI target Serotonin specifically.

In withdrawal, the blocking action of the SSRI is removed, and the excess networks of neurons are able to absorb Serotonin again.  Since the brain has been trying to balance against reduced absorption capacity, the result is over absorption.  Serotonin is closely linked to emotions and mood.  The over absorption of Serotonin can lead to extreme fluctuations in mood and even create symptoms in the patient that mimic serious mental illnesses.  Psychosis, anxiety, fear, and even suicidal thoughts are not uncommon.  It takes a long time for the brain to re balance to the new amount of Serotonin.  The brain once again rewires itself and reduces its capacity to absorb Serotonin.  During this rewiring, moods and emotions can fluctuate.  Many patients withdrawaling from an SSRI report that their mood can be different from day to day.  This most likely reflects the fluctuations in available Serotonin.

 

The rest is here:

How SSRI work in withdrawal | James Heaney (wordpress.com)

There are no receptors that absorb serotonin. There are receptors on the post-synaptic neuron, to which serotonin binds, and there are autoreceptors that regulate how much serotonin is synthesized and released, on the pre-synaptic neuron. It is the serotonin transporter which absorbs serotonin that after prolonged inhibition from SSRIs, might become more sensitive, which is one possible explanation for withdrawal syndrome. When the drug is suddenly removed, you might experience the exactly opposite effect of the initial one - now you have excessive reuptake of serotonin which SSRIs were inhibiting. 

 

The topic is interesting because there are different hypothesises for SSRI withdrawal syndrome etiology, we don't have clear research what long-term changes these drugs can cause in the brain system.

[Ma205]

On 7/2/2022 at 6:27 AM, Erin9 said:

Hi - reading this topic has been so interesting, I've been on citalopram for years and never really understood how it worked biologically. I've been on SSRI's since I was 14, and at that stage I was still not developed, so I've been on this type of drug since before my brain and body fully developed and matured. A decade later I've tried to reduce citalopram and its been awful, and I'm worried that because of how long I've been on SSRI's and the fact that I was on them from a young age has meant that it'll take my brain years to 'repair' or just get used to being on a lower dose. I tapered way too fast (trusted the doctors advice to just taper in a few weeks..) and even though I'm stopping all adjustments now (to let my brain heal) my brain feels zapped every day. It's so awful being in your early 20s and feeling like your brain just isn't okay, while everyone around you seems to be getting on with their lives. 

 

On 5/22/2023 at 2:26 PM, Sunflower414 said:

 

 

Does this mean someone like me, who was medicated at age 7/8 and is now 29, is better off just taking the drugs at this point? Today I am back in the depths of withdrawal, even with tapering 2% and waiting a month or more between drops. I just don't know what to do. I would do anything for my life back -- has someone like me gotten off the drugs and recovered? 

Hi I have been on AD since age 14 and I’m 32 now. After a cold Turkey I reinstated and am kindled and screwed. Meds aren’t working yet I can’t come off of them and stuck in protracted withdrawal. How are you both. 

[Sunflower414]

Hi @Ma205 I'm still struggling. Not as badly, and I've had great windows. But still trying to find a good way to taper while maintaining some kind of quality of life. I hope you are well. Hang on. Xoxo

[Ma205]

2 minutes ago, Sunflower414 said:

Hi @Ma205 I'm still struggling. Not as badly, and I've had great windows. But still trying to find a good way to taper while maintaining some kind of quality of life. I hope you are well. Hang on. Xoxo

how fast are you tapering and have you ever stabilized in between tapers? I’ve been holding almost 3 months and I’m just getting worse. Pretty much went from full time NP, wife, daughter to disabled 

[Sunflower414]

@Ma205 I understand. It is very hard. I'm very sorry you are experiencing this. When I finally decided to hold, I started having some relief and windows after holding for 8 months. But of course everyone is different. 

[Ma205]

8 minutes ago, Sunflower414 said:

@Ma205 I understand. It is very hard. I'm very sorry you are experiencing this. When I finally decided to hold, I started having some relief and windows after holding for 8 months. But of course everyone is different. 

omg 8 months…are your symptoms worsening with your menstrual cycle? And what are you symptoms?? I’m having severe morning adrenaline, cortisol rushes, akathisia, tremors, gut issues, vision issues, dizziness, temperature issues, severe depression and panic. 

[Sunflower414]

@Ma205 Yes it's crazy how much these drugs make us feel, but it is temporary. Unfortunately no one knows how long it will last. Everyone is different. Yes during my period it is always an uptick in symptoms. Do you have a doctor who knows about tapering? Do you have any emotional support? Those things are very important. I haven't looked at your thread, but I would ask the mods what they think you should do. My recommendation would be to hold where you are for as long as it takes to feel stable again. 

[Ma205]

3 minutes ago, Sunflower414 said:

@Ma205 Yes it's crazy how much these drugs make us feel, but it is temporary. Unfortunately no one knows how long it will last. Everyone is different. Yes during my period it is always an uptick in symptoms. Do you have a doctor who knows about tapering? Do you have any emotional support? Those things are very important. I haven't looked at your thread, but I would ask the mods what they think you should do. My recommendation would be to hold where you are for as long as it takes to feel stable again. 

 

okay that’s good to hear that you experience the same during your menses. Well I guess I need to hold for much longer. Yes the mods are helping. Did you have some of my symptoms? 

[Sunflower414]

@Ma205 Yes I would say I had almost all of those plus more. It will get better, unfortunately the only thing that helps is time. Also when you begin tapering again (if you decide to) go slower than slow. ❤️ 

[Ma205]

2 minutes ago, Sunflower414 said:

@Ma205 Yes I would say I had almost all of those plus more. It will get better, unfortunately the only thing that helps is time. Also when you begin tapering again (if you decide to) go slower than slow. ❤️ 

Yeah I plan to take years, only problem is since Iv reinstated I’m having severe side effects to the ssri that keep getting worse every month so I’m not sure if I have a choice to keep holding but we’ll see. Thank you for responding, you have given me hope. 

[Sunflower414]

@Ma205 You are welcome. You will be okay. It's hard to know what to do. I know some people taper very very slowly and end up feeling better because their system can keep up with the changes, and they know they are moving closer to being drug free. You will be okay. I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. Give yourself grace & patience. ❤️ 

[Ma205]

On 9/25/2023 at 8:50 PM, Sunflower414 said:

@Ma205 You are welcome. You will be okay. It's hard to know what to do. I know some people taper very very slowly and end up feeling better because their system can keep up with the changes, and they know they are moving closer to being drug free. You will be okay. I'm so sorry you have to deal with this. Give yourself grace & patience. ❤️ 

May I private message you??