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dds: tapered zoloft, now tapering abilify


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Hello,

 

I have been on and off on medication since 2003, tried everything (Remeron, Seroquel, Zoloft, Abilify, XANAX ) :-) In the 2003 actually I was just chronically tired, worked too much, didn't had vacation for years, and my MD probably misunderstood my mental state and he gave me some small dose od AD ( I don't remember which medicine was that actually). But he didn't advised me about 'cold turkey' method which was direct way to hell for me. So things went better and after few months, I've quit  the medicine (I was OK, right? ;-) ) And then hell began. Went again to medications - quita again  'cold turkey' and finished year 2006 with hospitalization for 3 weeks (major depression and panic attacks). Since 2006 I was on cocktail of Zoloft and Abilify  (5 mg) which worked perfect for me.  I have disciplined myself, took every day my medication, no more stupid 'cold turkey' decisions! ;-)  I have gradually tapered my Zoloft dosage  (10 % every month) and I stopped with it 9 months ago. Since februar 2016 I started tapering Abilify (same strategy - 10 % less every month of dose, more of less ;-)). Now I am on 0.2 Ml dosage of Abilify.

 

Best regards,

 

dds

 

PS.

 

Word of advice from my personal experience: To be on sure side, never, never quit antidepressant drugs 'cold turkey' it will make your life miserable. I repeat: Never do that! Quit with "10 % less every month" rule!   Always talk with doctor about decision of quiting medicine..

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Welcome dds,

Thank you for joining and telling us about your successful tapering experiences. I'm sorry you had a difficult time before you learned how to do it properly, but it sounds like you're on the right track now.

 

What dose of Zoloft did you taper from? Did you experience any withdrawal symptoms as the dose got lower or after you stopped?

 

What  dose of Abilify were you were on? How are you feeling at the moment?

 

It would be great if you would put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature. Doing this helps people understand your context, it appears below each of your posts. Here are instructions for how to do it:

 

http://survivinganti...your-signature/

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

My Introduction Thread

Full Drug and Withdrawal History

Brief Summary

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

2 month 'taper' off Lexapro 2010

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

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

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

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

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

Supplements which have helped: Vitamin C, Magnesium, Taurine

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

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

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

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

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

VIDEO: Where did the chemical imbalance theory come from?



VIDEO: How are psychiatric diagnoses made?



VIDEO: Why do psychiatric drugs have withdrawal syndromes?



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

VIDEO: Dr. Claire Weekes

 

 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Welcome from me to dds.

 

I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. Your cases actually shows what we often see here: how psychiatric drugs turn people into severely disabled psychiatric patients :(

 

I'm happy to you learnt about the 10 % rule. But looking at the spped of your tapering I wonder if you are reducing by 10 % of your current dose (and not your initial dose). That's very important to avoid withdrawal symptoms you suffered from before.

 

In case you haven't checked this  thread: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/

 

In a nutshell, the 10% taper method recommends a 10% dosage reduction every 3-4 weeks, with the 10% calculated on the last dosage. The amount of decrease is proportionate to the dosage and keeps getting smaller.

 

​Best,

Bubble

Current: 9/2022 Xanax 0.08, Lexapro 2

2020 Xanax 0.26 (down from 2 mg in 2013), Lexapro 2.85 mg (down from 5 mg 2013)

Amitriptyline (tricyclic AD) and clonazepam for 3 months to treat headache in 1996 
1999. - present Xanax prn up to 3 mg.
2000-2005 Prozac CT twice, 2005-2010 Zoloft CT 3 times, 2010-2013 Escitalopram 10 mg
went from 2.5 to zero on 7 Aug 2013, bad crash 40 days after
reinstated to 5 mg Escitalopram 4Oct 2013 and holding liquid Xanax every 5 hours
28 Jan 2014 Xanax 1.9, 18 Apr  2015 1 mg,  25 June 2015 Lex 4.8, 6 Aug Lexapro 4.6, 1 Jan 2016 0.64  Xanax     9 month hold

24 Sept 2016 4.5 Lex, 17 Oct 4.4 Lex (Nov 0.63 Xanax, Dec 0.625 Xanax), 1 Jan 2017 4.3 Lex, 24 Jan 4.2, 5 Feb 4.1, 24 Mar 4 mg, 10 Apr 3.9 mg, May 3.85, June 3.8, July 3.75, 22 July 3.7, 15 Aug 3.65, 17 Sept 3.6, 1 Jan 2018 3.55, 19 Jan 3.5, 16 Mar 3.4, 14 Apr 3.3, 23 May 3.2, 16 June 3.15, 15 Jul 3.1, 31 Jul 3, 21 Aug 2.9 26 Sept 2.85, 14 Nov Xan 0.61, 1 Dec 0.59, 19 Dec 0.58, 4 Jan 0.565, 6 Feb 0.55, 20 Feb 0.535, 1 Mar 0.505, 10 Mar 0.475, 14 Mar 0.45, 4 Apr 0.415, 13 Apr 0.37, 21 Apr 0.33, 29 Apr 0.29, 10 May 0.27, 17 May 0.25, 28 May 0.22, 19 June 0.22, 21 Jun updose to 0.24, 24 Jun updose to 0.26

Supplements: Omega 3 + Vit E, Vit C, D, magnesium, Taurine, probiotic 

I'm not a medical professional. Any advice I give is based on my own experience and reading. 

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Hi Petunia,

 

Thank you for kind words. I forgot which dose of Zoloft was prescribed to me, I have appointment with my  MD 01.06 I will ask him for that. Withdrawal symptoms went only after I tottaly quit Zoloft. First,  it was like weak quite irritating electrical hits in brain (really difficult to describe exactly  - I am not native English)  very irritating and sometimes scary for me. Then after that went away,  I had very bad mood for couple of weeks , but fortunately this went away too. I started with Abilify 5 Mg in 2006 and I was since that year continued with same dosage until februar 2016. Only problem I have now is that I feel somehow dizzy sometimes.

 

 

 

Welcome dds,

Thank you for joining and telling us about your successful tapering experiences. I'm sorry you had a difficult time before you learned how to do it properly, but it sounds like you're on the right track now.

 

What dose of Zoloft did you taper from? Did you experience any withdrawal symptoms as the dose got lower or after you stopped?

 

What  dose of Abilify were you were on? How are you feeling at the moment?

 

It would be great if you would put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature. Doing this helps people understand your context, it appears below each of your posts. Here are instructions for how to do it:

 

http://survivinganti...your-signature/

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Hi Bubble!

 

Thank you for your observation of my tapering schedule.  Short term memory is very bad with anti psychotic drugs like Abilify, so I think you are right. I think I made terrible mistake with my tapering schedule. Hopefully I can save day and increase dosage (after talk with my MD 01.06 ) and then start after some time tapering again . My initial dose of Abilify in the beginning of february  was  5 ML.  So if we take 10 % from 5 Ml ):

 

 

End of February  ----->   4.5 Ml

End of March  --->  4.0 Ml

End of April  ---->  3.5 Ml

End of Maj  --->  3.0 Ml

End of June ---> 2.5 Ml

End of July   -->  2.0 Ml

End of August ---> 1.5 Ml

End of  September --> 1.0 Ml

End of October ----> 0.5 Ml

End  of November ----> 0.25  Ml

End of  December ----> 0.1 Ml

 

Too pedagogic I know, but is this schedule correct?

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome from me to dds.

 

I'm sorry you had to go through all of that. Your cases actually shows what we often see here: how psychiatric drugs turn people into severely disabled psychiatric patients :(

 

I'm happy to you learnt about the 10 % rule. But looking at the spped of your tapering I wonder if you are reducing by 10 % of your current dose (and not your initial dose). That's very important to avoid withdrawal symptoms you suffered from before.

 

In case you haven't checked this  thread: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/

 

In a nutshell, the 10% taper method recommends a 10% dosage reduction every 3-4 weeks, with the 10% calculated on the last dosage. The amount of decrease is proportionate to the dosage and keeps getting smaller.

 

​Best,

Bubble

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Hi dds you just need to fine tune it a little more great effort though the key word in bubble's post is "calculated on the last dosage"

Essentially multiply the previous months dose by 0.9 to get the new months dose. The drops get smaller each time.

Your feb one is right but then the march one will need to be 4.1 (Rounded up (4.5 x 0.9) etc)

Here's the thing you will have to wait till the end of the 4 weeks before doing the next drop if and only if stable. So be open to the possibility of longer than 4 week holds.

Some are even going slower than the 10% taper rate.

 

So glad you found 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

 

 

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Thank you for clarification NZ11. Do you think I should propose to my MD increasing of my daily dose? I felt dizzy since march at least 1x during day. I see that I had steep dive in tapering of my Abilify dose :-/  "Cold Turkey" method  took probably best part of last 13 years of my life...

 

Thanks.

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Hello dds. Welcome . I'm sorry you've been through so much , but I think you have done so well and I'm glad you found your way here.  You will receive a lot of support, encouragement and information.  

Would you mind adding your drug history signature. It helps to see what your situation is at a glance.

Please put your withdrawal history in your signature

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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  • 3 months later...

Hello again :-)

 

 

I was on 0.2 ml dose after last post, and somehow I had strange stability problems once or twice during day, and my MD insisted that my Abilify dose is so low that "You can drop Abilify right now without any consequences" - but being smarter with advice from very helpful and experienced members hanging on this forum I insisted during discussion with him that I should increase dose back to 0.3 ml to see if these strange "stability" problems dissapear and thank god, they left me maybe 3-4 days after I increased dose to 0.3 ml . Now three months are passed with 0.3 ml without any problems, and now I want to continue tappering of my medicine, should I do that?

 

Thanks.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

When to make the next dose reduction is always up to you. :) If you're feeling well and your symptoms have stabilized, you could reduce your dose.  You might want to try a smaller cut than 10%, if you can measure that. A 10% cut would be 0.03 ml to take you to 0.27 ml.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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  • 5 weeks later...

Hi,

 

Everything fine now, I want to continue tappering off, can somebody measure next 10 % for me of 0.27 ml..had problem to find correct dosage :(

 

Thanks in advance.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

As requested:

 

10% of 0.27 ml = 0.027 ml

0.27 - 0.027 = 0.243 ml

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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  • 1 month later...

Just to be sure for next leg of "tappering off"  journey ;-)  10 % of 0.243 is = 0.0243, then 0.243 - 0.0243 is 0.2187 ml.  So roughly  my next dose is 0.22 ml?  Thanks  :-)

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  • Moderator Emeritus

dds, your calculations are correct.

For quick dose reduction calculations, you may like the spreadsheet link in my signature. There are 3 tabs:
"standard," "microdose," and "assess_prev_cuts"

At your current dose, use the "microdose" tab.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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  • 1 month later...

Hi,

 

I was on 0.22Ml abilify, and I had burglary where my belongings where stolen and Abilify medicine was stolen too. I am in country where Abilify is not prescribed, and there was no way I will be back soon.

I stopped taking abilify couple of days before burglary and I think last dose of Abilify I took it was 28 days ago. I do not have any withdrawal sympthoms, what should I do?

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  • Moderator Emeritus

dds: What a rotten thing to have happen. I bet the thieves trashed the liquid Abilify once they learned it has little street value. It's unfortunate because it was very valuable to you.
 
Have a look at this symptoms list, there are several different download formats in the first post:
Glenmullen’s withdrawal symptom list
 

Are you having any of those listed?

You've done a gradual taper to 0.22 ml. If you haven't had any symptoms since the theft, you may be okay with this forced cold-turkey. Keep monitoring your symptoms and let us know how you are doing.

 

It might be worth investigating a back-up plan: whether

  • your doctor in your home country prescribe for you
    -- and --
  • a friend or family member can pick up the prescription and send it to you.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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How long were you on Sertraline dds and at what dosage if you can remember?

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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Tkank you for your kind words. I appreciate your advice :-)   Maybe I will be okay, I do not have any strange withdrawal symptoms, my doctor argumented some time ago that 0.22Ml dosis of Abilify  is so low, so it won't make any difference to stop after some time without additional tapering.  It's strange feeling, I am quite fine, I remember when I stopped with Zoloft after week and two I got strange "zapping" feeling in my head, and my mood was pretty bad for two weeks, and then everything dissapeared. And year later, I am not depressed anymore. :-) If we consider that Abilify stays in body up for 34 days, if withdrawals problems are in store for me, they will start  to appear now..

But let's be positive, everything will be fine :-)

 

 

 

dds: What a rotten thing to have happen. I bet the thieves trashed the liquid Abilify once they learned it has little street value. It's unfortunate because it was very valuable to you.
 
Have a look at this symptoms list, there are several different download formats in the first post:
Glenmullen’s withdrawal symptom list
 

Are you having any of those listed?

You've done a gradual taper to 0.22 ml. If you haven't had any symptoms since the theft, you may be okay with this forced cold-turkey. Keep monitoring your symptoms and let us know how you are doing.

 

It might be worth investigating a back-up plan: whether

  • your doctor in your home country prescribe for you
    -- and --
  • a friend or family member can pick up the prescription and send it to you.

 

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How long were you on Sertraline dds and at what dosage if you can remember?

 

I was around 10 years on Sertraline, but dosage, alas  I cannot help you.  In my case combination Sertaline + Abilify was great memory killer :-/

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  • Moderator Emeritus

At low doses your body may be able to metabolize it more quickly. Usually studies on half-life are based on a "therapeutic dose."

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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