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osotough: Prozac taper advice needed


osotough

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My doc had me taper to aggressive, and withdrawals have hit. Do I go on a low dose and stabilize or continue with the withdrawals symptoms and hope for the best. It been 4 months since last dose.  

12 years Prozac, tapered off start of February . 20 mg to 10 mg (Extreme exhaustion, some anxiety, jaw pain) then from 10 mg to 5 mg in March ( Extreme exhaustion, anxiety, mood swings, tingling and numbness in feet, legs) April was 0 mg (crying spells, agitation, anxiety, mood swings, depression) End of June started spasms, burning sleep disturbances,waking every two hours. 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

osotough -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants!

I hope you'll find the information in the SA forums enlightening and helpful for your taper. I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but am glad that you found us. Your doctor's  taper -- although "standard" -- is likely to cause many people suffering due to withdrawal.  Ouch!

I've moved your post to the Introductions Forum so that more people will see your question. Thanks for creating your signature.

I admit I'm a bit confused: you say in your post that it's been 4 months since your last dose of 5 mg, which would be February; your signature says that your last dose was in April. Would you take a moment to clarify this?

What are your current symptoms? What's happened with your symptoms since your last dose -- better, worse, or the same?

Once we have that information, we'll post a suggestion for you to consider. Some topics for your continuing education about withdrawal:

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

Tips for tapering off Prozac (fluoxetine)

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

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,

 

Question is after 4 months off of Prozac is it to late to reinstate? I was on Prozac for 12 years and recently started to taper with doctor tell me 20 mg to 0, which was done in 2 months. Now that I've been on this site, I know this has been way to fast. Any information would be helpful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12 years prozac, 0 since April 1st.

12 years Prozac, tapered off start of February . 20 mg to 10 mg (Extreme exhaustion, some anxiety, jaw pain) then from 10 mg to 5 mg in March ( Extreme exhaustion, anxiety, mood swings, tingling and numbness in feet, legs) April was 0 mg (crying spells, agitation, anxiety, mood swings, depression) End of June started spasms, burning sleep disturbances,waking every two hours. 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi osotough,

 

Welcome to SA.  Unfortunately many medical practitioners do not understand or know that withdrawal symptoms can arise from cold turkeying or fast tapering these drugs.

 

Did you experience withdrawal symptoms during your fast taper?  Are you currently experiencing any withdrawal symptoms (there is a link below to a symptoms checklist)?  If so, what?  How did you get from 20 mg to 0?  Did you alternate doses or skip days?  Or 20 to 15 to 10 to 5 to 0?

 

Thank you for completing your signature.  It would be helpful if you could add how you tapered to your signature.

 

Here are some links to information which I suggest you read and then you can post any questions here in your Intro/Update topic.  You can use this topic as a journal of your progress.  Click Follow top right and you will be notified when someone responds.

 

Introduction to AD Withdrawal Syndrome
 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?


Dr Joseph Glenmullen's Symptoms Checklist

 

If you do decide to reinstate, I suggest you post here that you wish to do so (before reinstating) so we can suggest a SMALL dose to try.

 

These might help you to understand the changes in the brain:

 

Brain Remodelling (Rhi's Description of Brain Healing)


Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery
 

* 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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  • Moderator Emeritus

osotough, I've moved your post to the the Introductions topic you started in June so that all your questions and history are in one place.

You may way want to follow this topic so that you get notifications when someone posts in your thread. Click the gray "Follow this topic" button. A dialog box appears: select one of the notify options, then click follow this topic in the dialog box.

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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Any tips to help with the burning pain?

12 years Prozac, tapered off start of February . 20 mg to 10 mg (Extreme exhaustion, some anxiety, jaw pain) then from 10 mg to 5 mg in March ( Extreme exhaustion, anxiety, mood swings, tingling and numbness in feet, legs) April was 0 mg (crying spells, agitation, anxiety, mood swings, depression) End of June started spasms, burning sleep disturbances,waking every two hours. 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

ostough, I've moved your post to your Introduction topic. We've got a one introduction topic per customer at SA so that all your questions and updates stay in one place.

 

You may way want to follow this topic so that you get notifications when someone posts in your thread.  Click the gray "Follow this topic" button. A dialog box appears:  select one of the notify options, then click follow this topic in the dialog box.

 

Setting this web page as a bookmark or favorite in your browser will help you navigate back to it.

 

When you have questions about symptoms, please either browse or search the Symptoms and self-care forum

 

Using a web search too, such as Google, with the search term and "survivingantidpressants" will give you good results:

A search I just did on google using "burning" and "survivingantidpressants"

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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  • Administrator

Welcome, osotough.

 

To answer your question, after 4 months reinstatement may or may not help. You might try 1mg Prozac to see what it might do.

 

Do you have any Prozac left? You can make a liquid so you can take 1mg. See Tips for tapering off Prozac (fluoxetine)

 

Many people do better with fish oil and magnesium supplements, see
http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/
http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1300-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

A lot of people find them helpful. Try a little bit of one at a time to see how it affects you.
 

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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Hi Chessiecat,

 

Yes, I did get withdrawals with the fast taper, which was mood swings, extreme exhaustion, anxiety.  I took dose from 20 mg to 10 stabilized, then down to 5 mg, with the same withdrawal symptoms and when those stabilized, my doctor told me I could stop. As of end of June , I started the burning sensations, crying spells, spasms, brain fog, depersonalization, agitation, anxiety. 

12 years Prozac, tapered off start of February . 20 mg to 10 mg (Extreme exhaustion, some anxiety, jaw pain) then from 10 mg to 5 mg in March ( Extreme exhaustion, anxiety, mood swings, tingling and numbness in feet, legs) April was 0 mg (crying spells, agitation, anxiety, mood swings, depression) End of June started spasms, burning sleep disturbances,waking every two hours. 

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Hi Altostrata, 

 

Yes, I do have Prozac left, I will try to make some liquid. I will try the fish oil, and a magnesium supplement first to see if that helps any. 

 

Thanks for the information

12 years Prozac, tapered off start of February . 20 mg to 10 mg (Extreme exhaustion, some anxiety, jaw pain) then from 10 mg to 5 mg in March ( Extreme exhaustion, anxiety, mood swings, tingling and numbness in feet, legs) April was 0 mg (crying spells, agitation, anxiety, mood swings, depression) End of June started spasms, burning sleep disturbances,waking every two hours. 

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