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Has anyone decided that it was best for them to stay on meds indefinitely?


Jaco2016

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I'm not currently on any meds just struggling with the fact that maybe I NEED to be on meds. Don't know what's worse my life rn off meds barely making it through each day or on meds dealing with the side effects.

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Thinking about going back on Wellbutrin and maybe adding a Buspar. Just so desperate for some relief and some sort of sustainable lasting change

 

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  • Administrator

To go off psychiatric drugs, some people have to unpatient themselves. You may not be ready to stop thinking of yourself as a patient.

 

We're not going to argue with you, Jake. This is your decision.

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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How do you determine whether the way I'm feeling is the "illness" being a chemical imbalance or is a "cause" of antidepressant use? Doctors just listen to me and tell me that I'm depressed, anxiety, etc. and that I never truly gave medication a fair chance.

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I'm getting close to the point of just going back on Effexor. I was happy when i was on it & i did well for all those years. I just don't know if i can get back to that state & i'm sh*t scared of making things worse. The genies out of the bottle and i don't know if i can put it back in. If things get much worse i wont have a choice.

Paroxatine - 2004-2006

Effexor XR 75mg 2006 - 2016 (Discontinued Feb 2016) - Withdrawal for 6 months.

Effexor XR 75mg Re-instated June 2017 (Discontinued Dec 2017)

Effexor XR 2-3 mg Re-instated March 10 2018 - 1 day (Didn't work)

Effexor XR 2mg Reinstated (Again) May 11 2018. 6 Beads

July 2018 - 0.0mg of Effexor. Zilch

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Yea I feel you man. The longest I've ever taken an antidepressant consistently is like 2 months. I've either gotten off cause side effects or just cause I think I don't need them anymore. That's why a lot of doctors just tell me to give them a chance and a little longer for them to work. Considering going back on medicine just to help me get out of this rough patch but tbh I can't imagine ever coming off them if they help.

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Was on them for 15 years. Only the Effexor worked. I wanted to give myself 2 years to see if i could get through this but how bad do things have to get before i go back on?. I had serious problems before i ever went on medication and i now have a family to think about too. I guess i'm sh*t scared that if i go back on them & they don't work then i'm really f****d.

Paroxatine - 2004-2006

Effexor XR 75mg 2006 - 2016 (Discontinued Feb 2016) - Withdrawal for 6 months.

Effexor XR 75mg Re-instated June 2017 (Discontinued Dec 2017)

Effexor XR 2-3 mg Re-instated March 10 2018 - 1 day (Didn't work)

Effexor XR 2mg Reinstated (Again) May 11 2018. 6 Beads

July 2018 - 0.0mg of Effexor. Zilch

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yea man I feel the same way. Like I could go back on them and they really help and I progress or I go back on them and they don't help or make things worse or have some really bad side effects and then I have to taper off and go through withdrawals all over again. Don't want to dig myself a deeper hole I'm already in but also need to find relief

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Wow Jake if you haven't been on these drugs for longer than 2 months that is a blessing in my book.  In my opinion the longer you're on them the harder is to get off them.  But everyone is different. I'm struggling at times wondering if I need to get back on Cymbalta because I am not a living a normal life right now either and haven't for a long time.  I'm a bit like Lloyd I don't know if I would be stable if I went back on them.

One of the things I tried recently was an acupuncturist and he also had a device called Alpha-Stim.  Felt nothing the first time.  The second time I felt at peace.  Although the next day it went away and I felt the rush anxiety come back.  Anyway, I've had about 8 treatments although it hasn't been consecutive days.  5 of those times I was able to sleep through the night more six hours (if I woke up I fell back asleep.) The device is expensive ($795) but I just ordered one because I want to see if I use it consistent basis if I get better results.  At this point I can't say it is a game-changer but I want to try as a last resort. I keep trying all sorts of stuff to avoid going back on the poison which I may have to go back on.

Also, if you feel bad & you haven't been on ADs long (and not on them now), have you ever looked into amino acids like l-tryptophan? Some people have a very sensitive system during withdrawal and can't use them.  

 

 

-2005 -2016 60mg Cymbalta

11/2016 abrupt drop to 30mg. Insomnia started (about 2x a week.)

6/29/2017 started aggressive taper. Dosage:6/29 25mg,7/7 20mg,7/10 15mg,7/1713mg,7/18 10 mg,7/22 8mg,7/31 7.5mg,8/1 6.25mg. At 6.25mg insomnia every night (waking 2-4am.) 

8/2017 began up dosing 8/9 7.5mg,8/16 10mg.

Late 2017 new taper from 25mg. Approx 10% reduction per mos (mini-tablets.) 10mg sleep would not stabilize. Cont'd taper meds running out.

Jan 2019 stopped taper at 2.5mg. Using only supplements. Morning 500mg tyrosine, 100mg L-theanine, 600mg NAC. After breakfast 1000mg fish oil, 5mg iron, 2000IU D3, B complex, 500mg ginseng, 50mg ginkgo, probiotics & 50mg zinc. Bedtime 1000mg tryptophan, 500mg gaba, 3mg time released melatonin, 325mg magnesium powder, & 100mg progesterone.

Feb 2019 brain zaps gone. Still have chronic insomnia & anxiety at times.

March 2019-Purchased Alpha Stim

May 2019-sleep still inconsistent.

 October 2019- (Morning) L-Tyrosine, Super B complex, 5mg ferritin,fish oil, vit c, (Evening)200mg progesterone, 1mg Natrol Time Release Melatonin, 325mg Calm magnesium, glycine powder. Alpha Stim only seems to help with anxiety not insomnia. Usually wake up nightly average of 2 hours. *Using 25mg Benadryl or 12.5mg Doxylamine Succinate occasionally

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2 hours ago, SDOE said:

Wow Jake if you haven't been on these drugs for longer than 2 months that is a blessing in my book.  In my opinion the longer you're on them the harder is to get off them.  But everyone is different. I'm struggling at times wondering if I need to get back on Cymbalta because I am not a living a normal life right now either and haven't for a long time.  I'm a bit like Lloyd I don't know if I would be stable if I went back on them.

One of the things I tried recently was an acupuncturist and he also had a device called Alpha-Stim.  Felt nothing the first time.  The second time I felt at peace.  Although the next day it went away and I felt the rush anxiety come back.  Anyway, I've had about 8 treatments although it hasn't been consecutive days.  5 of those times I was able to sleep through the night more six hours (if I woke up I fell back asleep.) The device is expensive ($795) but I just ordered one because I want to see if I use it consistent basis if I get better results.  At this point I can't say it is a game-changer but I want to try as a last resort. I keep trying all sorts of stuff to avoid going back on the poison which I may have to go back on.

 Also, if you feel bad & you haven't been on ADs long (and not on them now), have you ever looked into amino acids like l-tryptophan? Some people have a very sensitive system during withdrawal and can't use them.  

 

 

Its a difficult decision to reinstate and its something many doctors don't really understand. It's like playing Russian roulette with your life and the consequences are very real. Every day i wonder if i reinstate will it get better. I don't know so i guess i am waiting for things to get so bad that i don't really have a choice in it.

 

 

Paroxatine - 2004-2006

Effexor XR 75mg 2006 - 2016 (Discontinued Feb 2016) - Withdrawal for 6 months.

Effexor XR 75mg Re-instated June 2017 (Discontinued Dec 2017)

Effexor XR 2-3 mg Re-instated March 10 2018 - 1 day (Didn't work)

Effexor XR 2mg Reinstated (Again) May 11 2018. 6 Beads

July 2018 - 0.0mg of Effexor. Zilch

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Lloyd I agree these drugs are really strong and a lot of people have worse withdrawals than I do.  One of my fears if I try to reinstate and it is unsuccessful will I end up with some of those other withdrawals. I now see in your signature you tried reinstating, unsuccessfully. We were both on SNRIs-long term.  

It sounds like I am very much like you and only want to reinstate as a very last resort.  I am trying all kinds of stuff first.  I do get frustrated at times when I feel like I'm going nowhere or moving backward.

 

 

-2005 -2016 60mg Cymbalta

11/2016 abrupt drop to 30mg. Insomnia started (about 2x a week.)

6/29/2017 started aggressive taper. Dosage:6/29 25mg,7/7 20mg,7/10 15mg,7/1713mg,7/18 10 mg,7/22 8mg,7/31 7.5mg,8/1 6.25mg. At 6.25mg insomnia every night (waking 2-4am.) 

8/2017 began up dosing 8/9 7.5mg,8/16 10mg.

Late 2017 new taper from 25mg. Approx 10% reduction per mos (mini-tablets.) 10mg sleep would not stabilize. Cont'd taper meds running out.

Jan 2019 stopped taper at 2.5mg. Using only supplements. Morning 500mg tyrosine, 100mg L-theanine, 600mg NAC. After breakfast 1000mg fish oil, 5mg iron, 2000IU D3, B complex, 500mg ginseng, 50mg ginkgo, probiotics & 50mg zinc. Bedtime 1000mg tryptophan, 500mg gaba, 3mg time released melatonin, 325mg magnesium powder, & 100mg progesterone.

Feb 2019 brain zaps gone. Still have chronic insomnia & anxiety at times.

March 2019-Purchased Alpha Stim

May 2019-sleep still inconsistent.

 October 2019- (Morning) L-Tyrosine, Super B complex, 5mg ferritin,fish oil, vit c, (Evening)200mg progesterone, 1mg Natrol Time Release Melatonin, 325mg Calm magnesium, glycine powder. Alpha Stim only seems to help with anxiety not insomnia. Usually wake up nightly average of 2 hours. *Using 25mg Benadryl or 12.5mg Doxylamine Succinate occasionally

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  • Mentor
On 6/23/2017 at 1:20 AM, joy2730 said:

The only consolation is we are not alone with this problem, it is society as a whole that owns the problem, and doctors in particular, along with the drug companies.

 

This. 1,000 times this.

 

In my observation of myself and others, people often start meds because with their particular bodies, they have trouble meeting societal expectations of "success," ie full time stressful job. Or, they're in pain and there's no real mental health network that can address that level of pain.

 

More and more, I believe that people choose meds over making lifestyle changes in order to conform to society's expectations and have a life that is considered successful, to fit in. But in the end it backfires and we end up having to make the lifestyle changes anyway, and are much worse off for years lost to meds (that's me, anyway).

Now: 100 mg Zoloft am, 50 mg Trazodone.  Daily drug burden decreased from 2050 in 2018 mg to 150 mg 🐢🐢

Zoloft: 1/24/23 increased to 100 mg after suicide attempt 9/17/22 cut 6 mg, 8/14/22 cut 6.5 mg, 5/7/22 cut 12.5 mg 3/20/22 cut 12.5 mg 10/26/21 cut 6 mg 10/17/21 cut 5 mg, 9/17/21 Cut 3 mg,  9/13/21 cut 4 mg, 8/29/21 Cut 2 mg 8/8/21 Cut 3 mg  7/30/21 Zoloft: Converted 25 mg to liquid. Also take 100 mg pill & 25 mg pill=150 mg total
🌞 Feb 28, 2021 0 mg Gapapentin 2021 Gaba each dose 4x/day: Feb 27 7 mg (one dose only), Feb 10, 7 mg, Jan 14 10 mg 2020 Current taper schedule from Aug 30-present: drop 8 mg every 2-3 weeks. Aug 20 31 mg, Aug 18, 33 mg, July 29, 35 mg, July 23 38 mg, July 22 40 mg Jun 24 42 mg, Jun 15 44 mg, Jun 9 48 mg, May 22 50 mg, May 14 54 mg, May 7 56 mg, Apr 16 58 mg, Mar 28 60 mg, Mar 18 62 mg. Feb 26 64 mg. Feb 19, 66 mg. Jan 23, 70 mg. 2019 Dec 19, 72 mg. Nov 14 ,76 mg. Aug 8, 80 mg. Aug 6, 85 mg. Jul 26, 90 mg. Jul 11, 95 mg.

Jul 16 trazodone from 100 to 50 mg.

Jun 17-July 10 Slowly changed gab fr pill to liquid at same dose 100 mg 4x/d.

Apr 24 Stopped klon!!! 🌞 Apr 4  Decreased gaba to 400 mg (100 mg 4x/day)-Apr 4, 2019   0.25 klon March 11  Klonopin .5 mg twice daily, varied dose til Apr 15. Started Klon fast taper 25%, short use

Mar 16, 450 mg gaba 3x/day cut 600 mg--not exact!--updose after learning w/d

Feb 20, 2019 1800 mg gabapentin; MD taper; off 3 days=mvt disorder & autonomic instability. July 2018 temazepam 15 mg 1-2; prn several x/wk til Jan/Feb 2019 when cold turkey, flu illness for months

July 2018 started gabapentin 100 3x/day; titrated up to 1800 mg (600 3x/day)

Buspar, I forget how much, 2 pills a day Jan 2017-July 2018 cold turkey. On Zoloft since maybe 2004? After trying many.

*I speak from my experience. Nothing I say is medical advice. I'm not a doctor.

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On 4/7/2019 at 1:07 AM, SDOE said:

Lloyd I agree these drugs are really strong and a lot of people have worse withdrawals than I do.  One of my fears if I try to reinstate and it is unsuccessful will I end up with some of those other withdrawals. I now see in your signature you tried reinstating, unsuccessfully. We were both on SNRIs-long term.  

It sounds like I am very much like you and only want to reinstate as a very last resort.  I am trying all kinds of stuff first.  I do get frustrated at times when I feel like I'm going nowhere or moving backward.

 

 

The first reinstatement i did June to Dec 2017 at full dose actually worked quite well. 6-7 hours after taking the Effexor i felt happy and back at peace & brain fog completely gone. I was pretty much back to normal. The anxiety / panic attack symptoms also disappeared too. Everything was going fine for a few months until i was prescribed pramipexole for restless legs. Took one pill & was in the hospital that night with severe shaking something like a major panic attack. Ever since that night nothing was right. I had inner restlessness and anxiety episodes starting up. I thought the Effexor was causing it & decided to stop it over the course of a few weeks. And now here i am with worse symptoms then before.

Paroxatine - 2004-2006

Effexor XR 75mg 2006 - 2016 (Discontinued Feb 2016) - Withdrawal for 6 months.

Effexor XR 75mg Re-instated June 2017 (Discontinued Dec 2017)

Effexor XR 2-3 mg Re-instated March 10 2018 - 1 day (Didn't work)

Effexor XR 2mg Reinstated (Again) May 11 2018. 6 Beads

July 2018 - 0.0mg of Effexor. Zilch

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8 hours ago, ShiningLight said:

 

This. 1,000 times this.

 

In my observation of myself and others, people often start meds because with their particular bodies, they have trouble meeting societal expectations of "success," ie full time stressful job. Or, they're in pain and there's no real mental health network that can address that level of pain.

 

More and more, I believe that people choose meds over making lifestyle changes in order to conform to society's expectations and have a life that is considered successful, to fit in. But in the end it backfires and we end up having to make the lifestyle changes anyway, and are much worse off for years lost to meds (that's me, anyway).

 

i think that it is individual, in depth & complex. i was forced sectioned / forced treated 4 times & made dependent on the medication. i fought the system from day one. How ever i try coming off & stopping the medication, i go into very severe / near catatonic psychosis. 

 

i have a history / diagnosis of severe schizophrenia. What exactly was i & am i meant to do about it all? The condition / symptoms are very real & exists. 

 

i think that this article describes things very well - 

i'm in the UK, but it's really no better than the US - 

Killing “Schizophrenics”: Contemporary U.S. Psychiatry Versus Nazi Psychiatry - 

https://www.madinamerica.com/2017/02/killing-schizophrenics-nazi-psychiatry/

Punishing the Patient - 

https://sites.google.com/site/punishingthepatient/home

Peerly Human - 

http://peerlyhuman.blogspot.com/2017/03/not-broken-biology-getting-beyond.html

 

Acknowledging The Survivor: Exclusion, Trivialisation and Denial

JANUARY 24, 2011 BY ADMIN

https://beyondmeds.com/2011/01/24/acknowledgesurvivor/

What's needed is a genuine transformation of the society / system around all these areas, & the way that people are treated. It's Not my fault the ways that i have been treated / not properly helped, & the way that this society / culture / system is around it all. Self help / personal responsibility etc only goes so far. 

Various psychiatric drug treatments since 1990. Prozac & Stelazine in 1994 for a few years. 1200mg Amisulpride in 1998 for a year. 1999 to current time have maintained 200mg of Amisulpride & increased to 300mg a few years ago, with 2 stopping attempts in 2001 & 2003/4. i stopped all medications 5 times, for around 8 years in total, but the last 3 withdrawal/stopping attempts were disastrous. Am very unsure about stopping medication again. Have recently (in Winter 2018) had to increase the Amisulpride to 400mg. 

Healing Sanctuary - http://healingsanctuary.proboards.com/

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11 minutes ago, cpuusage said:

Killing “Schizophrenics”: Contemporary U.S. Psychiatry Versus Nazi Psychiatry - 

https://www.madinamerica.com/2017/02/killing-schizophrenics-nazi-psychiatry/


"In many indigenous and tribal societies, people experiencing altered and extreme emotional states do not create havoc but are seen in a positive light. This can be seen in Psychosis or Spiritual Awakening, by filmmaker Phil Borges, who has been documenting indigenous and tribal cultures for over 25 years. Similarly, the late ethnobotanist, Terence McKenna, who also studied indigenous and tribal societies, also concluded that our society does great harm by devaluing the gifts of this population who are instead told: “You are not of equal worth to the rest of us. You are sick. You have to go to the hospital. You have to be locked up.” Their “treatment,” McKenna notes, renders them “on a par with prisoners and lost dogs in our society,” and McKenna concludes: “So that treatment of schizophrenia makes it incurable.”
 

When people get treated as unwelcome burdens, they can become angry and agitated or, depending on their temperament, become passively dysfunctional.
 

In American society—just as in any other society that prioritizes economic efficiency, productivity and order over life and all of life’s varieties—people experiencing altered and extreme emotional states are seen as defective and as burdens. In the American economic system—just as in any other system that obliterates genuine community and creates extremely stressed families already struggling to find enough hours in the day to survive—people experiencing altered and extreme emotional states create havoc for families. And so, families are susceptible to resenting those in altered and extreme emotional states who need a great deal of attention, support and time; and families are vulnerable to acquiescing to any societally sanctioned authority who has taken charge of this population. And given the priorities of American society, an authority with a lengthy record of abuse and dismal failure is a good enough authority."

Quote from the above article. 

Yup - sums it all up. The only thing that i would have some question around is the fact that a percentage of people are in fact suffering very severe mental illness. Even within a more ideal system they still would be, & there would still be the questions as to how to best treat them. 

Various psychiatric drug treatments since 1990. Prozac & Stelazine in 1994 for a few years. 1200mg Amisulpride in 1998 for a year. 1999 to current time have maintained 200mg of Amisulpride & increased to 300mg a few years ago, with 2 stopping attempts in 2001 & 2003/4. i stopped all medications 5 times, for around 8 years in total, but the last 3 withdrawal/stopping attempts were disastrous. Am very unsure about stopping medication again. Have recently (in Winter 2018) had to increase the Amisulpride to 400mg. 

Healing Sanctuary - http://healingsanctuary.proboards.com/

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The current realities of this society / system are too much to bear for some people - 
 

UN confirms that UK government’s treaty violations were both grave AND systematic

 

https://www.disabilitynewsservice.com/un-confirms-that-uk-governments-treaty-violations-were-both-grave-and-systematic/

 

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/CRPD/Pages/InquiryProcedure.aspx

 

Austerity linked to 120,000 extra deaths in England

[current estimates the deaths from UK austerity over the past 10 years is between 200 to 500 thousand of the most vulnerable citizens]

 

16 November 2017

 

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/1117/161117-austerity-deaths-england

 

A quiet genocide of the disabled in America

 

https://medium.com/@emilywolinsky/a-quiet-genocide-of-the-disabled-in-america-a35982e6abb5

 

Aktion T4 -

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aktion_T4

 

Eugenics -

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics

 

Various psychiatric drug treatments since 1990. Prozac & Stelazine in 1994 for a few years. 1200mg Amisulpride in 1998 for a year. 1999 to current time have maintained 200mg of Amisulpride & increased to 300mg a few years ago, with 2 stopping attempts in 2001 & 2003/4. i stopped all medications 5 times, for around 8 years in total, but the last 3 withdrawal/stopping attempts were disastrous. Am very unsure about stopping medication again. Have recently (in Winter 2018) had to increase the Amisulpride to 400mg. 

Healing Sanctuary - http://healingsanctuary.proboards.com/

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  • Moderator Emeritus
3 hours ago, cpuusage said:

What's needed is a genuine transformation of the society / system around all these areas, & the way that people are treated. It's Not my fault the ways that i have been treated / not properly helped, & the way that this society / culture / system is around it all. Self help / personal responsibility etc only goes so far. 

 

Very true, CPU. We do need a social safety net in order to have a functional society. 

 

In many ways, drugging people into silence is just a way of silencing the social problems they represent. Some people with more resources and contacts are able to survive it, but others won't. Picking yourself up by your bootstraps only works if you've got boots. 

 

 

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32 minutes ago, Shep said:

 

Very true, CPU. We do need a social safety net in order to have a functional society. 

 

In many ways, drugging people into silence is just a way of silencing the social problems they represent. Some people with more resources and contacts are able to survive it, but others won't. Picking yourself up by your bootstraps only works if you've got boots. 

 

Yes true. But i do think the debate about the aetiology needs to find some kind of closure - all variable / potential biological, psychogenic, sociological & soul / spiritual / transpersonal areas i do think need to be taken into account - these are in my view whole person conditions & need a comprehensive integral model of understanding & approach. 

Of course there are variables within the severity of people's conditions / experiences, & varying levels of resources / privilege. 

 

We certainly need a robust social security system & enactment of human rights for the basic protection of certain demographics of people. 

After reading a lot of books on mental health i was impressed by the book Psycho politics by Peter Sedgwick, which has a very robust & sensible critique of anti-psychiatry. 

Various psychiatric drug treatments since 1990. Prozac & Stelazine in 1994 for a few years. 1200mg Amisulpride in 1998 for a year. 1999 to current time have maintained 200mg of Amisulpride & increased to 300mg a few years ago, with 2 stopping attempts in 2001 & 2003/4. i stopped all medications 5 times, for around 8 years in total, but the last 3 withdrawal/stopping attempts were disastrous. Am very unsure about stopping medication again. Have recently (in Winter 2018) had to increase the Amisulpride to 400mg. 

Healing Sanctuary - http://healingsanctuary.proboards.com/

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  • Mentor

CPU, Shep...well said, I agree!

Now: 100 mg Zoloft am, 50 mg Trazodone.  Daily drug burden decreased from 2050 in 2018 mg to 150 mg 🐢🐢

Zoloft: 1/24/23 increased to 100 mg after suicide attempt 9/17/22 cut 6 mg, 8/14/22 cut 6.5 mg, 5/7/22 cut 12.5 mg 3/20/22 cut 12.5 mg 10/26/21 cut 6 mg 10/17/21 cut 5 mg, 9/17/21 Cut 3 mg,  9/13/21 cut 4 mg, 8/29/21 Cut 2 mg 8/8/21 Cut 3 mg  7/30/21 Zoloft: Converted 25 mg to liquid. Also take 100 mg pill & 25 mg pill=150 mg total
🌞 Feb 28, 2021 0 mg Gapapentin 2021 Gaba each dose 4x/day: Feb 27 7 mg (one dose only), Feb 10, 7 mg, Jan 14 10 mg 2020 Current taper schedule from Aug 30-present: drop 8 mg every 2-3 weeks. Aug 20 31 mg, Aug 18, 33 mg, July 29, 35 mg, July 23 38 mg, July 22 40 mg Jun 24 42 mg, Jun 15 44 mg, Jun 9 48 mg, May 22 50 mg, May 14 54 mg, May 7 56 mg, Apr 16 58 mg, Mar 28 60 mg, Mar 18 62 mg. Feb 26 64 mg. Feb 19, 66 mg. Jan 23, 70 mg. 2019 Dec 19, 72 mg. Nov 14 ,76 mg. Aug 8, 80 mg. Aug 6, 85 mg. Jul 26, 90 mg. Jul 11, 95 mg.

Jul 16 trazodone from 100 to 50 mg.

Jun 17-July 10 Slowly changed gab fr pill to liquid at same dose 100 mg 4x/d.

Apr 24 Stopped klon!!! 🌞 Apr 4  Decreased gaba to 400 mg (100 mg 4x/day)-Apr 4, 2019   0.25 klon March 11  Klonopin .5 mg twice daily, varied dose til Apr 15. Started Klon fast taper 25%, short use

Mar 16, 450 mg gaba 3x/day cut 600 mg--not exact!--updose after learning w/d

Feb 20, 2019 1800 mg gabapentin; MD taper; off 3 days=mvt disorder & autonomic instability. July 2018 temazepam 15 mg 1-2; prn several x/wk til Jan/Feb 2019 when cold turkey, flu illness for months

July 2018 started gabapentin 100 3x/day; titrated up to 1800 mg (600 3x/day)

Buspar, I forget how much, 2 pills a day Jan 2017-July 2018 cold turkey. On Zoloft since maybe 2004? After trying many.

*I speak from my experience. Nothing I say is medical advice. I'm not a doctor.

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20 hours ago, Lloyd said:

The first reinstatement i did June to Dec 2017 at full dose actually worked quite well. 6-7 hours after taking the Effexor i felt happy and back at peace & brain fog completely gone. I was pretty much back to normal. The anxiety / panic attack symptoms also disappeared too. Everything was going fine for a few months until i was prescribed pramipexole for restless legs. Took one pill & was in the hospital that night with severe shaking something like a major panic attack. Ever since that night nothing was right. I had inner restlessness and anxiety episodes starting up. I thought the Effexor was causing it & decided to stop it over the course of a few weeks. And now here i am with worse symptoms then before.

7

Yikes!  Looks like in your signature you even tried up-dosing in small amounts after the pramipexole pill.  

Sounds like Jake and I need to tread carefully if we do reinstate...

-2005 -2016 60mg Cymbalta

11/2016 abrupt drop to 30mg. Insomnia started (about 2x a week.)

6/29/2017 started aggressive taper. Dosage:6/29 25mg,7/7 20mg,7/10 15mg,7/1713mg,7/18 10 mg,7/22 8mg,7/31 7.5mg,8/1 6.25mg. At 6.25mg insomnia every night (waking 2-4am.) 

8/2017 began up dosing 8/9 7.5mg,8/16 10mg.

Late 2017 new taper from 25mg. Approx 10% reduction per mos (mini-tablets.) 10mg sleep would not stabilize. Cont'd taper meds running out.

Jan 2019 stopped taper at 2.5mg. Using only supplements. Morning 500mg tyrosine, 100mg L-theanine, 600mg NAC. After breakfast 1000mg fish oil, 5mg iron, 2000IU D3, B complex, 500mg ginseng, 50mg ginkgo, probiotics & 50mg zinc. Bedtime 1000mg tryptophan, 500mg gaba, 3mg time released melatonin, 325mg magnesium powder, & 100mg progesterone.

Feb 2019 brain zaps gone. Still have chronic insomnia & anxiety at times.

March 2019-Purchased Alpha Stim

May 2019-sleep still inconsistent.

 October 2019- (Morning) L-Tyrosine, Super B complex, 5mg ferritin,fish oil, vit c, (Evening)200mg progesterone, 1mg Natrol Time Release Melatonin, 325mg Calm magnesium, glycine powder. Alpha Stim only seems to help with anxiety not insomnia. Usually wake up nightly average of 2 hours. *Using 25mg Benadryl or 12.5mg Doxylamine Succinate occasionally

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2 hours ago, SDOE said:

Yikes!  Looks like in your signature you even tried up-dosing in small amounts after the pramipexole pill.  

Sounds like Jake and I need to tread carefully if we do reinstate...

Best to start with a small amount first if you do choose to up dose. I noticed the Effexor was still quite powerful at the lower doses i was taking. 5 Beads (Out of a capsule of 120+) blew away the anxiety within a few hours which was nice. I probably should have just stuck with it at that point but i was pretty confused about what was happening to me and didnt know if i was going to make things worse.

Paroxatine - 2004-2006

Effexor XR 75mg 2006 - 2016 (Discontinued Feb 2016) - Withdrawal for 6 months.

Effexor XR 75mg Re-instated June 2017 (Discontinued Dec 2017)

Effexor XR 2-3 mg Re-instated March 10 2018 - 1 day (Didn't work)

Effexor XR 2mg Reinstated (Again) May 11 2018. 6 Beads

July 2018 - 0.0mg of Effexor. Zilch

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19 hours ago, Lloyd said:

Best to start with a small amount first if you do choose to up dose. I noticed the Effexor was still quite powerful at the lower doses i was taking. 5 Beads (Out of a capsule of 120+) blew away the anxiety within a few hours which was nice. I probably should have just stuck with it at that point but i was pretty confused about what was happening to me and didnt know if i was going to make things worse.

Thanks for the info.  I'm still not ready to give up and do reinstatement but I will definitely keep your advice in mind.  I don't doubt that even a few beads are powerful because when I finally tapered off Cymbalta at 2.5mg I didn't think I would suffer any withdrawals other than insomnia that I already had.  I was wrong; my emotions were like a rollercoaster...

-2005 -2016 60mg Cymbalta

11/2016 abrupt drop to 30mg. Insomnia started (about 2x a week.)

6/29/2017 started aggressive taper. Dosage:6/29 25mg,7/7 20mg,7/10 15mg,7/1713mg,7/18 10 mg,7/22 8mg,7/31 7.5mg,8/1 6.25mg. At 6.25mg insomnia every night (waking 2-4am.) 

8/2017 began up dosing 8/9 7.5mg,8/16 10mg.

Late 2017 new taper from 25mg. Approx 10% reduction per mos (mini-tablets.) 10mg sleep would not stabilize. Cont'd taper meds running out.

Jan 2019 stopped taper at 2.5mg. Using only supplements. Morning 500mg tyrosine, 100mg L-theanine, 600mg NAC. After breakfast 1000mg fish oil, 5mg iron, 2000IU D3, B complex, 500mg ginseng, 50mg ginkgo, probiotics & 50mg zinc. Bedtime 1000mg tryptophan, 500mg gaba, 3mg time released melatonin, 325mg magnesium powder, & 100mg progesterone.

Feb 2019 brain zaps gone. Still have chronic insomnia & anxiety at times.

March 2019-Purchased Alpha Stim

May 2019-sleep still inconsistent.

 October 2019- (Morning) L-Tyrosine, Super B complex, 5mg ferritin,fish oil, vit c, (Evening)200mg progesterone, 1mg Natrol Time Release Melatonin, 325mg Calm magnesium, glycine powder. Alpha Stim only seems to help with anxiety not insomnia. Usually wake up nightly average of 2 hours. *Using 25mg Benadryl or 12.5mg Doxylamine Succinate occasionally

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 11/8/2017 at 4:12 PM, JanCarol said:

 

Yes, this is so true.

 

It's a personal choice, and while this site is designed for coming off drugs - sometimes just getting to the lowest possible dose of the fewest drugs is the best option.

 

Many have had to go back to full doses (or half doses) and plan to hold there indefinitely until they get side effects, tolerance, or health problems.

It's a hard choice, maybe the hardest choice to make for yourself.

 

If I were still in Indiana, where life was harder, and I struggled hand-to-mouth, I would probably still be drugged.  I would never have had the lithium (which was what made me sickest), and would try to keep the doses as low as possible so I could work.  But I looked at my Indiana records, and what I thought of as "low dose" then is quite different from what I think of as low dose now.

 

 

Age is a huge consideration, considering that people die on antidepressants 30% younger than those not on antidepressants.

 

Something to think about.  I'm sorry I can't quote the exact studies - there are several - stated different ways - Antidepressant users lived 7-12 years fewer years, for example.

It complicates things such as cardiac memory issues, and we might even suffer more falls (I know I am more clumsy than the average bear).

I was 53 when I finished my taper.  I might have gained a year or two from doing so.  I might have gained 10, since I still have both my kidneys (lithium), I'm not on dialysis,  and the cardiac thing has been caught early (hopefully).  I do still struggle with the "metabolic disorder" though.

In Harm Reduction, Will Hall talks not about the drugs - that's a personal choice.  Instead, he talks about "how can we reduce harm?"

 

This might include getting off toxic drugs.  Or it might mean getting the person a shower, a warm meal, a listening friend, a bed to sleep in, a safe place to stay away from abuse.  These are about harm reduction, too.



 

 

 

sorry, i don't know how to quote just part of this post on my tablet.

how much truth is there in the statement above that people die 30% younger with long term use of ad's? 

this is a very scary thing to hear!

Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years.

January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began.

Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily

Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan:  26 Feb 2019, 4mg.

Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019

Reinstated prozac:  14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg, 10 Jul 8mg, 1 Dec 20mg, 1 Apr 2020 40mg 

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5 minutes ago, thecowisback said:

 

 

sorry, i don't know how to quote just part of this post on my tablet.

how much truth is there in the statement above that people die 30% younger with long term use of ad's? 

this is a very scary thing to hear!

OH No TCIB ,please don't be reading these articles when so ill ,there are a lot of variable's involved in peoples circumstances .

Im off to watch a movie ,I recommend the same .

Total respect . 

Alcohol free since February 2015 

1MG diazepam

4.5MG PROZAC.

 

 

 

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good advice pb!!!

Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years.

January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began.

Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily

Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan:  26 Feb 2019, 4mg.

Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019

Reinstated prozac:  14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg, 10 Jul 8mg, 1 Dec 20mg, 1 Apr 2020 40mg 

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10 minutes ago, thecowisback said:

good advice pb!!!

Google the movie ,tropic thunder ,youl die laughing quicker lol.night .

Alcohol free since February 2015 

1MG diazepam

4.5MG PROZAC.

 

 

 

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  • Mentor

Sobering statistic, but don't forget correlation does not necessarily equal causality.

 

Depression itself is associated with having a sedentary lifestyle, poor social support, poor nutrition/eating habits, poor sleep...all factors influencing morbitity and mortality.

 

Now. I'm going to check out that movie, because laughter is great medicine! 😛

Now: 100 mg Zoloft am, 50 mg Trazodone.  Daily drug burden decreased from 2050 in 2018 mg to 150 mg 🐢🐢

Zoloft: 1/24/23 increased to 100 mg after suicide attempt 9/17/22 cut 6 mg, 8/14/22 cut 6.5 mg, 5/7/22 cut 12.5 mg 3/20/22 cut 12.5 mg 10/26/21 cut 6 mg 10/17/21 cut 5 mg, 9/17/21 Cut 3 mg,  9/13/21 cut 4 mg, 8/29/21 Cut 2 mg 8/8/21 Cut 3 mg  7/30/21 Zoloft: Converted 25 mg to liquid. Also take 100 mg pill & 25 mg pill=150 mg total
🌞 Feb 28, 2021 0 mg Gapapentin 2021 Gaba each dose 4x/day: Feb 27 7 mg (one dose only), Feb 10, 7 mg, Jan 14 10 mg 2020 Current taper schedule from Aug 30-present: drop 8 mg every 2-3 weeks. Aug 20 31 mg, Aug 18, 33 mg, July 29, 35 mg, July 23 38 mg, July 22 40 mg Jun 24 42 mg, Jun 15 44 mg, Jun 9 48 mg, May 22 50 mg, May 14 54 mg, May 7 56 mg, Apr 16 58 mg, Mar 28 60 mg, Mar 18 62 mg. Feb 26 64 mg. Feb 19, 66 mg. Jan 23, 70 mg. 2019 Dec 19, 72 mg. Nov 14 ,76 mg. Aug 8, 80 mg. Aug 6, 85 mg. Jul 26, 90 mg. Jul 11, 95 mg.

Jul 16 trazodone from 100 to 50 mg.

Jun 17-July 10 Slowly changed gab fr pill to liquid at same dose 100 mg 4x/d.

Apr 24 Stopped klon!!! 🌞 Apr 4  Decreased gaba to 400 mg (100 mg 4x/day)-Apr 4, 2019   0.25 klon March 11  Klonopin .5 mg twice daily, varied dose til Apr 15. Started Klon fast taper 25%, short use

Mar 16, 450 mg gaba 3x/day cut 600 mg--not exact!--updose after learning w/d

Feb 20, 2019 1800 mg gabapentin; MD taper; off 3 days=mvt disorder & autonomic instability. July 2018 temazepam 15 mg 1-2; prn several x/wk til Jan/Feb 2019 when cold turkey, flu illness for months

July 2018 started gabapentin 100 3x/day; titrated up to 1800 mg (600 3x/day)

Buspar, I forget how much, 2 pills a day Jan 2017-July 2018 cold turkey. On Zoloft since maybe 2004? After trying many.

*I speak from my experience. Nothing I say is medical advice. I'm not a doctor.

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4 minutes ago, ShiningLight said:

Sobering statistic, but don't forget correlation does not necessarily equal causality.

 

Depression itself is associated with having a sedentary lifestyle, poor social support, poor nutrition/eating habits, poor sleep...all factors influencing morbitity and mortality.

 

Now. I'm going to check out that movie, because laughter is great medicine! 😛

👍

Alcohol free since February 2015 

1MG diazepam

4.5MG PROZAC.

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, powerback said:

Google the movie ,tropic thunder ,youl die laughing quicker lol.night .

haha- i've seen that - very funny film! ended up watching upgrade, an australian sci fi movie ☺

Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years.

January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began.

Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily

Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan:  26 Feb 2019, 4mg.

Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019

Reinstated prozac:  14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg, 10 Jul 8mg, 1 Dec 20mg, 1 Apr 2020 40mg 

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10 hours ago, ShiningLight said:

Sobering statistic, but don't forget correlation does not necessarily equal causality.

 

Depression itself is associated with having a sedentary lifestyle, poor social support, poor nutrition/eating habits, poor sleep...all factors influencing morbitity and mortality.

 

Now. I'm going to check out that movie, because laughter is great medicine! 😛

👍👍👍

Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years.

January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began.

Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily

Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan:  26 Feb 2019, 4mg.

Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019

Reinstated prozac:  14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg, 10 Jul 8mg, 1 Dec 20mg, 1 Apr 2020 40mg 

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  • 2 months later...

Are there some people who have had to give up their dream to be off medication because they found that after tapering correctly that they still needed the meds in order to function and be happy in everyday life? Like they needed them the same way they did when they first started them?

 

In my case, I’ve been on them for 20 years, since I was 10 or 11 years old. For the last several years when I was perfectly stable on them, I always wanted to try living without them. Now I’m trying, but it’s not going so well, I think partially because of withdrawal. But part of me also thinks that I might just need them in order to be a functioning and happy human being. And that makes me really sad. I’ve never done any cognitive therapy in my life, we tried a couple sessions when I was a kid and was first hit with my OCD and Anxiety issues, but I was non-responsive...I just couldn’t handle CBT at that time and at such a young age. 

Maybe I can try CBT as I’m tapering off he drugs, whenever that might happen, and see if it works for me and is able to help me cope when I’m off them entirely. 

 

In the end, I just want to be happy in my life. I’d like to see if I can do that without the meds. My main worry about being on the meds is if life-long use could impose greater health risks.  

 

But. I guess I’d rather live a shorter happier life than a longer miserable life. That’s REALLY hard to think about. 

 

Edit: After posting this, I JUST saw the posts above this about people dying younger from Anti-depressant use and thats my fear! What is cardiac memory? Something to do with heart problems I assume. 

 

Edited by ChessieCat
reduced font

ANTI-DEPRESSANTS (approximates):

2000--2009/10. Zoloft, mid-high dosage. Alprazolam, as needed, rarely. 

2009/10--2016/17. Cymbalta, 90 mg

Early 2017--Mid-2017. Cymbalta, 60 mg

Mid-2017--Jan 2018. Cymbalta, 30--60 mg, reduced in 30 mg increments w/o physical w/d symptoms, possibly some emotional w/d symptoms. Mar 2018--Early 2019. Back on Cymbalta, fluctuating dosages from 30 to 90mg. Reduced from 60 to 30, then from 30 to 0 again, this time WITH very light physical w/d symptoms. Back to 30mg. Early 2019--April 2019. Cymbalta, 30mg. Down from 30 to 0. Physical w/d symptoms again. Back to 30mg. May 2019. Cymbalta 30 mg. Down to 20 mid-month. Started taking every other day in final week of the month. 

Jun 2019. Cymbalta 10-ish mg. Started “eyeballing” about half of the beads in the capsule. Taking every other day, then at mid-month every 4 days. 

July 2, 2019. Took last dose of “eyeballed” 5-ish mg. July 24, 2019. Took first reinstatement dose of 2mg. Dropped down to 1mg (6 beads) the very next day.

Aug 6, 2019. Up-dose to 1.33 mg. Aug 30, 2019. Up-dose to 1.5 mg. 

SUPPLEMENTS

Vitamin D3 4,000 IU/day

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  • Moderator Emeritus

* 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
1 hour ago, DavidfromTexas said:

After posting this, I JUST saw the posts above this about people dying younger from Anti-depressant use and thats my fear!

 

I've been on an antidepressant for at least 25 years and I'm now 61.  It's a bit like the cancer scares.  When I was growing up they said that cling wrap caused cancer, and there are lots of other things that they say do.  If we lived our lives fearing everything, we would enclose ourselves and probably die from loneliness (tongue in cheek comment).

* 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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Thank you, @ChessieCat

ANTI-DEPRESSANTS (approximates):

2000--2009/10. Zoloft, mid-high dosage. Alprazolam, as needed, rarely. 

2009/10--2016/17. Cymbalta, 90 mg

Early 2017--Mid-2017. Cymbalta, 60 mg

Mid-2017--Jan 2018. Cymbalta, 30--60 mg, reduced in 30 mg increments w/o physical w/d symptoms, possibly some emotional w/d symptoms. Mar 2018--Early 2019. Back on Cymbalta, fluctuating dosages from 30 to 90mg. Reduced from 60 to 30, then from 30 to 0 again, this time WITH very light physical w/d symptoms. Back to 30mg. Early 2019--April 2019. Cymbalta, 30mg. Down from 30 to 0. Physical w/d symptoms again. Back to 30mg. May 2019. Cymbalta 30 mg. Down to 20 mid-month. Started taking every other day in final week of the month. 

Jun 2019. Cymbalta 10-ish mg. Started “eyeballing” about half of the beads in the capsule. Taking every other day, then at mid-month every 4 days. 

July 2, 2019. Took last dose of “eyeballed” 5-ish mg. July 24, 2019. Took first reinstatement dose of 2mg. Dropped down to 1mg (6 beads) the very next day.

Aug 6, 2019. Up-dose to 1.33 mg. Aug 30, 2019. Up-dose to 1.5 mg. 

SUPPLEMENTS

Vitamin D3 4,000 IU/day

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Hi David, I'm in the same boat right now. I've been off all medications for 19 months (aside from very small reinstatement for 6 weeks in between). I'm giving myself 2 years to see if things get better. If they haven't improved and are still declining then i will likely have to try going back on the medication. I can't spend the rest of my life hoping it will get better when my health just deteriorates and i loose everything ive worked for. I just pray it doesn't make things worse.

 

Edited by ChessieCat
removed obscenity

Paroxatine - 2004-2006

Effexor XR 75mg 2006 - 2016 (Discontinued Feb 2016) - Withdrawal for 6 months.

Effexor XR 75mg Re-instated June 2017 (Discontinued Dec 2017)

Effexor XR 2-3 mg Re-instated March 10 2018 - 1 day (Didn't work)

Effexor XR 2mg Reinstated (Again) May 11 2018. 6 Beads

July 2018 - 0.0mg of Effexor. Zilch

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