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anongrl5590: Withdrawing from Prozac


anongrl5590

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On 5/7/2018 at 9:57 AM, Hellbutrin said:

Hi anongrl,

 

How are you doing now? I'm 10 months out from a C/T and we seem to have a similar situation as far as our ages and how long we were on ADs. Have you seen any progress in your recovery? I'm still struggling so much. 

 

Hey Hellbutrin - 

 

I'm 20 months out now from my CT. I am doing horribly unfortunately. I wish I could say things have progressed nicely but they have not. Back in February, I was feeling much better with more relief and less physical symptoms. I was still struggling but ever since March, I've been suffering a LOT. I still have a lot of physical and mental symptoms that still attack me. I still have trouble sleeping, burning brain, burning body limbs, electric sensations everywhere, hypnagogic jerks, eye floaters, tinnitus, OCD music looping in my head 24/7, crazy random racing intrusive thoughts, panic attacks, severe depression and anxiety, suicidal ideation, and more that I probably can't remember. Some of these symptoms have lessened in intensity since last year but I still experience a lot of strong symptoms at high intensities. I just keep praying that the 2-year mark will show improvement for me. Just keep hanging on.

My medication -- Prozac
August 2015: Started on 10mg/day
September 2015 to May 2016: Increased to 20mg/day
May 2016: Abruptly stopped 20mg for 2 weeks (withdrawal symtoms arose but assumed it was worsened depression)
June 2016 to August 2016: increased to 40mg (my body reacted very badly to this dose)
August 2016: decreased back to 20mg
September 2016: tapered off 10mg this month alone
September 30, 2016: last day of Prozac
October 2016: month long window
November 2016-Present: WD symptoms (too many physical sxs and some mental sxs)
February 5-20, 2017: Reinstated at 1-2mg // February 21, 2017: Back to no meds

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 5/22/2018 at 5:03 PM, anongrl5590 said:

 

Hey Hellbutrin - 

 

I'm 20 months out now from my CT. I am doing horribly unfortunately. I wish I could say things have progressed nicely but they have not. Back in February, I was feeling much better with more relief and less physical symptoms. I was still struggling but ever since March, I've been suffering a LOT. I still have a lot of physical and mental symptoms that still attack me. I still have trouble sleeping, burning brain, burning body limbs, electric sensations everywhere, hypnagogic jerks, eye floaters, tinnitus, OCD music looping in my head 24/7, crazy random racing intrusive thoughts, panic attacks, severe depression and anxiety, suicidal ideation, and more that I probably can't remember. Some of these symptoms have lessened in intensity since last year but I still experience a lot of strong symptoms at high intensities. I just keep praying that the 2-year mark will show improvement for me. Just keep hanging on.

Hi there!! I have a lot of your same symptoms. And it's been a horrible time for me. I have terrible head Sensations such as burning brain, hot face, tightness around my head, nerve pain in my head, awful migraines, tingling in my head and I also have a tingling and burning in my upper arms. It's just horrible. how are you doing now? I hope you're doing better.

Here it goes

 

March 2015- started 5mg Lexapro

November 2015- switched over to Cymbalta 30mg

August 2016- stopped Cymbalta cold turkey

Early December 2016- took Zoloft 25mg 

Tried to then cross taper over to Lexapro 5mg then up to 10mg for a week

 Aug 2017- Stopped lexapro- not sure if seratonin toxicity was present. Er prescribed klonopin- currently tapering .25mg. 

 Sept 2017-Tried resperidal 1mg for two weeks

November 2017- Tried Lexapro again 2.5 mg then to 5mg for two weeks then stopped

 

 

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  • 2 months later...

Hi, just reading your post. How have you been feeling? 

2009- started lexapro at 10mg, could not manage so went down to 5 mg a couple weeks later I think 

(somewhere along the lines I dropped to 2.5mg not actually sure when)

2014 summer- CT’d 2.5mg

2015 winter- reinstated lexapro 2.5mg

2017 dec- CT’d lexapro 2.5 mg

2018 beginning of may- reinstated lexapro 2.5mg- stopped CT after 6 days because of extreme adverse reaction and side effects 

2018 end of may In hospital- 2 doses of 10 mg Prozac, 1 dose  remeron 7.5mg, a couple doses of vistaril, klonopin not sure dosage and 1.5 weeks of beta blockers 

 

In addition may 2018- used Xanax .0125mg prn maybe 2-3 times a week for about 2-3 weeks 

 

last p drug  was .0125mg Xanax May 31st 2018

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  • 1 year later...

Has somebody heard from @anongrl5590 Why she dont post anymore? I like to hear how she is

December 2017- start 15mg mirtazapine

March 2018 - reduce from 15 to 7,5mg then after 2 weeks reduce tot 3,75mg

April 2018- going back to 7,5mg

July 2018-tapered 1mg off every 2 weeks.

September 2018- 4,5mg 

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I talk to her often. She is busy with life , but still experiencing withdrawal. She’s putting in the time like all of us are. Her symptoms are moderate. She’s hanging in there.  

December 2014 - Lexapro 20 mg

August 2016 Med free (6 week taper)

December 22 2021  added Abilify 5mg / Ativan .5mg / Depakote ER 1000mg

Discontinued Abilify 5mg on 12-30-21---accidental dose on 1-13-22 (looks like Ativan)

Ativan PRN/Discontinued 1-14-22

Only drug is Depakote ER 1000mg ( looking to taper slow and safe for once )

3/24/22 Depakote 625mg 

Propranolol 20-40mg  PRN

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/10/2020 at 1:16 PM, Gth27 said:

Has somebody heard from @anongrl5590 Why she dont post anymore? I like to hear how she is

 

I'm glad to hear she is still around.  I followed her on benzobuddies because we had similar symptoms.  She must be doing better if she doesn't come on as much.

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Hi everyone - sorry for not being back in a very long time! I have finally come back since I've received notification that I had some responses on my thread.

 

Also thank you, Alice1, for updating my status. Much appreciated.

 

Well it's been so long since I've last updated my status. I've been busy just trying to focus on my life, survive the symptoms by gritting through it, going to school, and working at my job. I wish I could say that I was 100% healed and finally over with this whole thing but I am not. I am still experiencing withdrawal symptoms but not as much as I have had since the very beginning. During the worst of my withdrawals at the beginning of this journey after I CT'd, I had probably about 60 or so symptoms to start off with. I was in EXTREME hell. Now, 3 years later, I am down to these symptoms: 

  1. Weird buzzing head sensations
  2. Migraines
    • I've had 2 very severe migraines that happened within the past year where it was so bad that I thought I was going to pass out and possibly die. I remember I was losing control of my body and I felt severely weak and sweaty and I think I was very slowly losing consciousness. But I was able to grit through it even though I was losing my breath and felt very scared. I would have never expected these 2 special incidents to happen this far out from my CT
  3. Music playing in my head at all times
  4. Tinnitus
  5. Eye floaters
  6. Insomnia 
  7. Bad depression
  8. Bad anxiety
  9. Severe jaw and teeth clenching every now and then
  10. Vivid dreams
  11. Toxic naps coupled with some burning brain sensations
  12. Seeing a visual aura around objects
  13. Chronic fatigue

I don't think I can recall anymore symptoms at the moment but if I do, I might add to this list. Otherwise, these are the major ones I am dealing with as of this past year. Some of these symptoms have lowered in intensity and I may have even come more immune to them now. But of course, if I'm dealing with high stress or anxiety induced situations, these symptoms will intensify. It's still hard to do the things I would like to do or even some basic things (especially sleep and napping) but I will say life is more manageable now versus how it used to be during my first 2-2.5 years of withdrawal. I actually had an MRI done again sorta recently and it came back negative so I guess my brain is still seemingly ok? I dunno. But I really hope this year brings more improvement as I keep pushing forward everyday not taking another pill. Also I will say that some older symptoms that I haven't experienced in a long while have popped back into my life here and there but not so frequently and not as intense as they used to be.

 

So overall, I'm still struggling through the symptoms everyday but life has become more manageable and I'm not hyper focused on them as much as I used to be. I still worry if I'll ever heal entirely but as long as I keep improving in a positive direction and not take anymore antidepressant drugs, I hope I'll be ok. I hope all of you are still fighting the good fight and not giving up because I won't! 

My medication -- Prozac
August 2015: Started on 10mg/day
September 2015 to May 2016: Increased to 20mg/day
May 2016: Abruptly stopped 20mg for 2 weeks (withdrawal symtoms arose but assumed it was worsened depression)
June 2016 to August 2016: increased to 40mg (my body reacted very badly to this dose)
August 2016: decreased back to 20mg
September 2016: tapered off 10mg this month alone
September 30, 2016: last day of Prozac
October 2016: month long window
November 2016-Present: WD symptoms (too many physical sxs and some mental sxs)
February 5-20, 2017: Reinstated at 1-2mg // February 21, 2017: Back to no meds

 

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Thanks for your update. How bad is your insomnia? Do you still got anhedonia? Do you get after images? 

December 2017- start 15mg mirtazapine

March 2018 - reduce from 15 to 7,5mg then after 2 weeks reduce tot 3,75mg

April 2018- going back to 7,5mg

July 2018-tapered 1mg off every 2 weeks.

September 2018- 4,5mg 

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On 2/2/2020 at 5:34 AM, Gth27 said:

Thanks for your update. How bad is your insomnia? Do you still got anhedonia? Do you get after images? 

 

Hey there - 

 

My insomnia is very bad still. I wake up with anxiety a lot mostly every night and I don't get thorough sleep at all. It's also hard for me to doze off to sleep. I've been taking an over-the-counter sleep aid pill to help sedate me. But yeah, the insomnia is horrible. The crazy racing thoughts don't help with this either.

 

What are after images?

 

I do still get anhedonia. It's probably not as bad as it used to be but it's still there with me.

My medication -- Prozac
August 2015: Started on 10mg/day
September 2015 to May 2016: Increased to 20mg/day
May 2016: Abruptly stopped 20mg for 2 weeks (withdrawal symtoms arose but assumed it was worsened depression)
June 2016 to August 2016: increased to 40mg (my body reacted very badly to this dose)
August 2016: decreased back to 20mg
September 2016: tapered off 10mg this month alone
September 30, 2016: last day of Prozac
October 2016: month long window
November 2016-Present: WD symptoms (too many physical sxs and some mental sxs)
February 5-20, 2017: Reinstated at 1-2mg // February 21, 2017: Back to no meds

 

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  • Administrator

Hello, anongrl. What is your sleep schedule? There may be some small things you can do to improve your sleep, which would help a lot.

 

Have you tried fish oil and magnesium supplements? See
https://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/
https://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/15483-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

 

You might 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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  • 2 years later...
On 2/3/2020 at 7:10 PM, anongrl5590 said:

 

Hey there - 

 

My insomnia is very bad still. I wake up with anxiety a lot mostly every night and I don't get thorough sleep at all. It's also hard for me to doze off to sleep. I've been taking an over-the-counter sleep aid pill to help sedate me. But yeah, the insomnia is horrible. The crazy racing thoughts don't help with this either.

 

What are after images?

 

I do still get anhedonia. It's probably not as bad as it used to be but it's still there with me.

How you doing now? I got wery similair symptoms after quitting same medication.

Fluoxetine 2017 sept- 2019 January CT

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  • 9 months later...

Hi! I was just reading your story and was wondering how you were doing? 

2000-2018 150-200mg Sertraline and Vyvanse

2018- vyvanse 60mg to 0 over 6mo. 200mg Sertraline to 150mg. 2019- 150mg Sertraline to 100mg. Early 2021- 100mg to 87.5, two weeks later 87.5 to 75mg, 1.25-4mg bromazepam PRN. Mid 2021 - Feb 2022 taper 2.5%-5% 75mg to 50mg. March 2022 bromazepam for 3 weeks. May 9th 2022 started Propranolol, 10mg in the morning and 10mg in the evening. July 2022- off propranolol Oct 2022- off birth control. Dec 2022- updose sertraline 100mg, benztropine 1mg and Ativan 1mg. March 2023- stop benztropine. May 2023 - ativan taper finished. May 2023 - updose Sertraline to 125mg added propranolol 40mg added Ativan 1mg. July 5- sertraline 112.5mg propranolol 60mg, quick 2 week Ativan taper. Current meds: propranolol 60mg, sertraline 106.25mg, Ativan .025mg, B6, CoQ10, Magnesium Glycinate

 

 

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