Tattycorum Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 On 10/20/2020 at 2:55 PM, Gertie said: Hi Tattycorum! Just stopping by to see how your tapering is going these days? I see you have started your exit strategy for sertraline - woo hoo!! So far so good? I'm still waiting to see the updated version of BrassMonkey's post to really determine how to plan my daughter's end game. She's still at 1mg sertraline, but we have slowly started tapering two of her other meds (very long story why, but we both believe it's the right thing for now). You have been such an inspiration and beacon of hope for me, and I love to see your progress. I hope you are doing well! xoxo Gertie Hi Gertie, Thanks for checking in! I hope things continue to go okay with your daughter's tapering and that you get to calculate the end game soon. Just having it figured out can be so reassuring emotionally -- there are so many unknowns in this whole thing. I'm doing fine here with my tapering. I don't notice any effects each time I reduce (in stark contrast to how I fell apart when I tapered too fast before finding this wonderful site). I do have a chronic auto-immune lung disease, for which I am trying LDN, so I have ups and downs around that, unfortunately. I work hard on remaining positive. (((hugs))) Please keep me posted! Love, Tatty --- Lorazepam: (2014-15 1-1.5 mg lorazepam [aka Ativan] at night; 2016 to Nov 2018: 0.75 mg lorazepam at night; Dec 2018: divide dose into 3x a day. Jan 2019: taper 5% every 15 days; Held 9/2019 - 2/2020 at 0.35 mg). March 2020 started 2.5% taper every 15 days. Nov 2020 tapering 5% every 15 days. Dose divided into 2x a day. Now at 0.008 mg March 2023. Sertraline: Jan 2017 25 mg: began 10% per month taper. Went on "exit strategy" at 0.084 mg Nov 2020 for 8 weeks, 0.042 for 4 weeks, 0.028 for 2 weeks starting 2/25/21, then 0.014 for 2 weeks, then .007 for a while, Done May 4, 2021. Unfortunately due to circumstances I restarted at 25 mg January 2022. New taper began January 2023. Link to comment
Terry Posted October 26, 2020 Share Posted October 26, 2020 Hi Tattycorum, It looks like you are almost finished with your sertraline taper. Good for you! I'm also tapering sertraline, but I'm probably about a year behind you. At what point do you plan to "jump off"? So how is it tapering two drugs at the same time? I had thought of doing that too, but decided to wait a bit. Best wishes on your journey! Take care, Terry 2007 - 2008 Paxil and Klonopin 2008 - 2012 Mirtazapine following CT from Klonopin and Paxil. 2012 Unsuccessful taper of mirtazapine; reinstated. 7/2013 - 1/2014 Successfully tapered mirtazapine from 7.5 mg to 0.00. Sertraline (Zoloft) Taper Aug 4, 2017 - July 18, 2021 - Current dose 0.00 Alprazolam (Xanax) July 19, 2017 - Nov 15, 2021 - 0.25 mg. Began 10% taper Nov 16, 2021 - 0.25 Jan 11, 2022 - 0.203; Jan 13, 2023 - 0.0499; Jan 21, 2024 - 0.0137; Mar 17, 2024 - 0.0092; Taper is 96% complete. Link to comment
Tattycorum Posted October 26, 2020 Author Share Posted October 26, 2020 1 hour ago, Terry said: Hi Tattycorum, It looks like you are almost finished with your sertraline taper. Good for you! I'm also tapering sertraline, but I'm probably about a year behind you. At what point do you plan to "jump off"? So how is it tapering two drugs at the same time? I had thought of doing that too, but decided to wait a bit. Best wishes on your journey! Take care, Terry Hi Terry! I set my exit strategy and jump-off based on Brass Monkey's article, linked below. Once I was at 0.33 mg for a month, using his formula, I created the following ending schedule (I'm actually about a month behind, but as you can see it is six weeks at each of these doses). So, I will be at zero by mid-December - almost exactly four years since I started my micro tapering. Looks like you might be close to starting your ending schedule!? So far I'm fine tapering the benzo at the same time (which I only started two years into tapering the sertraline). I'm currently only reducing the benzo by 2.5% every two weeks--half the usual micro taper. I would have followed the normal advice to wait on tapering the benzo until I'm done with sertraline, but I haven't had any withdrawal symptoms triggered by my periodic sertraline reductions, so I'm following my body's guidance. If I do start to react, I'll hold on the benzo until I get to and stay at zero on the sertraline for a while. Good luck!! I hope you are doing well post-surgery. PS, I also have migraine auras (visual migraines). I had them before I started tapering. Best, Tatty --- Lorazepam: (2014-15 1-1.5 mg lorazepam [aka Ativan] at night; 2016 to Nov 2018: 0.75 mg lorazepam at night; Dec 2018: divide dose into 3x a day. Jan 2019: taper 5% every 15 days; Held 9/2019 - 2/2020 at 0.35 mg). March 2020 started 2.5% taper every 15 days. Nov 2020 tapering 5% every 15 days. Dose divided into 2x a day. Now at 0.008 mg March 2023. Sertraline: Jan 2017 25 mg: began 10% per month taper. Went on "exit strategy" at 0.084 mg Nov 2020 for 8 weeks, 0.042 for 4 weeks, 0.028 for 2 weeks starting 2/25/21, then 0.014 for 2 weeks, then .007 for a while, Done May 4, 2021. Unfortunately due to circumstances I restarted at 25 mg January 2022. New taper began January 2023. Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted October 27, 2020 Moderator Share Posted October 27, 2020 Hi Tatty-- It's nice to see that people are reading my articles and putting them to good use. Part of what I have been rewriting for the revised article is the information about when to make the final jump to "0". We are creating a new term called the Theoretical Exit Dose which would be the final dose before making the jump. We are trying to make that dose as small as practically possible to decrease the possibility of symptoms cropping up. In working with the new calculations that would put the new Theoretical Exit dose for your medication at 0.031mgai. That would require two more reductions than what you have planned out. The kicker is that this is a Theoretical Exit Point not a hard and fast one. The big thing is to listen to your body, as you are doing and make adjustments accordingly. If all is going well and you are having no symptoms, then the 0.084 would probably be fine, but if you want to play it safe, I would suggest making the additional reductions before making the jump. Congratulations on getting this far, keep up the good work, and let us know how it is progressing. 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
Tattycorum Posted February 28, 2021 Author Share Posted February 28, 2021 I was originally planning to taper and exit as above, but in response to Brass Monkey's advice, and after realizing I could increase my dilution to allow for even more gradual tapering, I am doing this: I'm at .028 now and have not had any withdrawal symptoms during this exit taper schedule, I'm grateful to say. 1 --- Lorazepam: (2014-15 1-1.5 mg lorazepam [aka Ativan] at night; 2016 to Nov 2018: 0.75 mg lorazepam at night; Dec 2018: divide dose into 3x a day. Jan 2019: taper 5% every 15 days; Held 9/2019 - 2/2020 at 0.35 mg). March 2020 started 2.5% taper every 15 days. Nov 2020 tapering 5% every 15 days. Dose divided into 2x a day. Now at 0.008 mg March 2023. Sertraline: Jan 2017 25 mg: began 10% per month taper. Went on "exit strategy" at 0.084 mg Nov 2020 for 8 weeks, 0.042 for 4 weeks, 0.028 for 2 weeks starting 2/25/21, then 0.014 for 2 weeks, then .007 for a while, Done May 4, 2021. Unfortunately due to circumstances I restarted at 25 mg January 2022. New taper began January 2023. Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted February 28, 2021 Moderator Share Posted February 28, 2021 I'm so pleased that things are going well with your Endgame Taper. Keep listening to your body and don't rush things, even if you are feeling good. 2 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
Gertie Posted March 1, 2021 Share Posted March 1, 2021 Hi Tatty- Thanks so much for the update on your exit strategy. I always look forward to your updates and suggestions. My daughter is still holding firm at 1mg zoloft (it's been over a year at that dose after we "rescued" her from an improper too fast taper), and instead since last summer we've been slowly tapering her off amitriptyline and noscapine concurrently, at 2.5% every two weeks of each, which is going really well. However, she's thinking at year end, when she will be at 10mg amitriptyline (which will be one full pill), she might hold there and switch to tapering off the 1mg zoloft instead, just because it's a little overwelming measuring three different meds each week, and I honestly think she'd like the feeling of being able to say she's gotten completely rid of one. I was thinking that it might take a couple of years to go from 1mg all the way down to zero at 10%/month, but looking at your table makes me feel a LOT more hopeful! I also want to give a shout out to @brassmonkeyand thank you for all of your helpful articles. We refer to them more than you know. I'm excited about your new calculations for Theoretical Exit Doses. From above, I now have one for Zoloft which is awesome. I'm looking forward to the reworked End Game article to see the plan for amitriptyline as well. Cheers! Gertie xoxo 2 (my daughter: 23yrs old) 1. Sertraline: 2010 - 2019: varying doses from 50-150mg. 2019: July 1 - Aug 10 6-week taper from 50 to 0mg, Nov 6: begin severe PAWS, Nov 10: Reinstate 1mg. Held for 1.5 yrs. 2021: Mar 5 Began slow taper 1% per month. 3/31/24: .664mg 2. Baclofen 20mg: Begin May 2017 3. Amitriptyline 25mg: Begin May 2017 2020: Apr 20: started 2%/month taper. 4/30/23: 10mg. Will hold at 10mg until complete other tapers. 4. Noscapine 200mg: Begin Oct 2018 2020 Apr 20: reduce to 150mg, had withdrawal symptoms. Aug 2 began 3.5%/month taper. 3/31/24: 20mg Link to comment
Krisseyb Posted March 2, 2021 Share Posted March 2, 2021 On 2/28/2021 at 9:58 AM, Tattycorum said: I was originally planning to taper and exit as above, but in response to Brass Monkey's advice, and after realizing I could increase my dilution to allow for even more gradual tapering, I am doing this: I'm at .028 now and have not had any withdrawal symptoms during this exit taper schedule, I'm grateful to say. So excited for you. I know this has been a long process, but you’re almost there! 🙌🏼 I will be there soon. Well, 3 years and 10 months. Haha! 1 2005-2020 diff AD for trouble sleeping, switched multiple times. 2020 Dec Escitalopram 10 mg 2021 Jan 10 mg -start BMS taper w/2 wk hold 2022 March 3.63 mg 2022 July 2.65 mg 2022 November 1.96 mg 2023 February 1.48 mg 2023 August .90 mg .25mg Melatonin (as needed) Link to comment
Gertie Posted May 12, 2021 Share Posted May 12, 2021 Hi Tatty, Just stopping by to see how you are feeling these days? Based on the taper schedule you posted above, I'm guessing you went to zero some time in March? I'm hoping it was a smooth ride for you across the finish line!!! xoxo Gertie (my daughter: 23yrs old) 1. Sertraline: 2010 - 2019: varying doses from 50-150mg. 2019: July 1 - Aug 10 6-week taper from 50 to 0mg, Nov 6: begin severe PAWS, Nov 10: Reinstate 1mg. Held for 1.5 yrs. 2021: Mar 5 Began slow taper 1% per month. 3/31/24: .664mg 2. Baclofen 20mg: Begin May 2017 3. Amitriptyline 25mg: Begin May 2017 2020: Apr 20: started 2%/month taper. 4/30/23: 10mg. Will hold at 10mg until complete other tapers. 4. Noscapine 200mg: Begin Oct 2018 2020 Apr 20: reduce to 150mg, had withdrawal symptoms. Aug 2 began 3.5%/month taper. 3/31/24: 20mg Link to comment
Tattycorum Posted May 12, 2021 Author Share Posted May 12, 2021 13 hours ago, Gertie said: Hi Tatty, Just stopping by to see how you are feeling these days? Based on the taper schedule you posted above, I'm guessing you went to zero some time in March? I'm hoping it was a smooth ride for you across the finish line!!! xoxo Gertie Hi Gertie! I actually dragged it out a bit longer, halving the amount of solution I was taking down to the limits of my dropper, and so I just finished May 4. So far, it has been quite smooth. Fingers crossed! Thanks for asking! I hope things are going well for your daughter. (((hugs))) 2 --- Lorazepam: (2014-15 1-1.5 mg lorazepam [aka Ativan] at night; 2016 to Nov 2018: 0.75 mg lorazepam at night; Dec 2018: divide dose into 3x a day. Jan 2019: taper 5% every 15 days; Held 9/2019 - 2/2020 at 0.35 mg). March 2020 started 2.5% taper every 15 days. Nov 2020 tapering 5% every 15 days. Dose divided into 2x a day. Now at 0.008 mg March 2023. Sertraline: Jan 2017 25 mg: began 10% per month taper. Went on "exit strategy" at 0.084 mg Nov 2020 for 8 weeks, 0.042 for 4 weeks, 0.028 for 2 weeks starting 2/25/21, then 0.014 for 2 weeks, then .007 for a while, Done May 4, 2021. Unfortunately due to circumstances I restarted at 25 mg January 2022. New taper began January 2023. Link to comment
Gertie Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 Good morning Tatty! I'm just checking in to see how you are feeling three months after stopping sertraline? Praying no post-end waves came your way and that it has continued to be a smooth ride off!! Also I just wanted to thank you again for your posts and encouragement. I hope you know how much you helped me by sharing your story and journey with us all. (my daughter: 23yrs old) 1. Sertraline: 2010 - 2019: varying doses from 50-150mg. 2019: July 1 - Aug 10 6-week taper from 50 to 0mg, Nov 6: begin severe PAWS, Nov 10: Reinstate 1mg. Held for 1.5 yrs. 2021: Mar 5 Began slow taper 1% per month. 3/31/24: .664mg 2. Baclofen 20mg: Begin May 2017 3. Amitriptyline 25mg: Begin May 2017 2020: Apr 20: started 2%/month taper. 4/30/23: 10mg. Will hold at 10mg until complete other tapers. 4. Noscapine 200mg: Begin Oct 2018 2020 Apr 20: reduce to 150mg, had withdrawal symptoms. Aug 2 began 3.5%/month taper. 3/31/24: 20mg Link to comment
Tattycorum Posted August 13, 2021 Author Share Posted August 13, 2021 1 hour ago, Gertie said: Good morning Tatty! I'm just checking in to see how you are feeling three months after stopping sertraline? Praying no post-end waves came your way and that it has continued to be a smooth ride off!! Also I just wanted to thank you again for your posts and encouragement. I hope you know how much you helped me by sharing your story and journey with us all. Hi Gertie, thanks for checking in! I'm not having any issues since ending. Granted, I did taper down much lower than most folks do before ending. I also continue tapering the lorazepam and foresee maybe being done in a year+. Life got busy this summer when my house tested positive for mold and we had to move everything but the furniture out for mold remediation. Hopefully the next test will come back clean. I'm getting ready to start a protocol for Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome and I can't afford to be re-inflaming my system with a sick house! I hope all goes as well as possible for your daughter in her process. Keep us posted! --- Lorazepam: (2014-15 1-1.5 mg lorazepam [aka Ativan] at night; 2016 to Nov 2018: 0.75 mg lorazepam at night; Dec 2018: divide dose into 3x a day. Jan 2019: taper 5% every 15 days; Held 9/2019 - 2/2020 at 0.35 mg). March 2020 started 2.5% taper every 15 days. Nov 2020 tapering 5% every 15 days. Dose divided into 2x a day. Now at 0.008 mg March 2023. Sertraline: Jan 2017 25 mg: began 10% per month taper. Went on "exit strategy" at 0.084 mg Nov 2020 for 8 weeks, 0.042 for 4 weeks, 0.028 for 2 weeks starting 2/25/21, then 0.014 for 2 weeks, then .007 for a while, Done May 4, 2021. Unfortunately due to circumstances I restarted at 25 mg January 2022. New taper began January 2023. Link to comment
Gertie Posted February 28, 2023 Share Posted February 28, 2023 Hi Tatty, I haven't been on the site in a while and I wanted to stop by to see how you've been doing! I see that you restarted sertraline Jan 2022. I'm not trying to pry into details, but are you willing to share if it was due to a late-hitting wave, or for a different reason? I'm just trying to figure out what I might expect moving forward for my daughter once we get her completely off... I hope that you are feeling good these days! (my daughter: 23yrs old) 1. Sertraline: 2010 - 2019: varying doses from 50-150mg. 2019: July 1 - Aug 10 6-week taper from 50 to 0mg, Nov 6: begin severe PAWS, Nov 10: Reinstate 1mg. Held for 1.5 yrs. 2021: Mar 5 Began slow taper 1% per month. 3/31/24: .664mg 2. Baclofen 20mg: Begin May 2017 3. Amitriptyline 25mg: Begin May 2017 2020: Apr 20: started 2%/month taper. 4/30/23: 10mg. Will hold at 10mg until complete other tapers. 4. Noscapine 200mg: Begin Oct 2018 2020 Apr 20: reduce to 150mg, had withdrawal symptoms. Aug 2 began 3.5%/month taper. 3/31/24: 20mg Link to comment
Tattycorum Posted February 28, 2023 Author Share Posted February 28, 2023 5 hours ago, Gertie said: Hi Tatty, I haven't been on the site in a while and I wanted to stop by to see how you've been doing! I see that you restarted sertraline Jan 2022. I'm not trying to pry into details, but are you willing to share if it was due to a late-hitting wave, or for a different reason? I'm just trying to figure out what I might expect moving forward for my daughter once we get her completely off... I hope that you are feeling good these days! Hi Gertie, Thanks for asking. I am feeling very well lately. I've been meaning to post an update on here, but have not gotten around to it. I started a new taper January 1, 2023 and am down to 20mg. I re-started 1/1/22 due to extreme anxiety and panic attacks -- Nearly 24 hours a day. It seems to have been triggered by some extremely stressful situations I was in that just went on and on. I did a number of things to address the anxiety and I'm fortunate that it became manageable fairly quickly. Of course, I don't know which of all the measures I took had the most effect. Anyway, my lorazepam taper should complete in about 4 weeks and I will continue to plug away at my new sertraline taper, which should take about 3.5 years. I hope your daughter's taper is going well! --- Lorazepam: (2014-15 1-1.5 mg lorazepam [aka Ativan] at night; 2016 to Nov 2018: 0.75 mg lorazepam at night; Dec 2018: divide dose into 3x a day. Jan 2019: taper 5% every 15 days; Held 9/2019 - 2/2020 at 0.35 mg). March 2020 started 2.5% taper every 15 days. Nov 2020 tapering 5% every 15 days. Dose divided into 2x a day. Now at 0.008 mg March 2023. Sertraline: Jan 2017 25 mg: began 10% per month taper. Went on "exit strategy" at 0.084 mg Nov 2020 for 8 weeks, 0.042 for 4 weeks, 0.028 for 2 weeks starting 2/25/21, then 0.014 for 2 weeks, then .007 for a while, Done May 4, 2021. Unfortunately due to circumstances I restarted at 25 mg January 2022. New taper began January 2023. Link to comment
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