rolandtothedarktowercame Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 As of late December of 2016 I decided to slowly stop taking Lamictal due to the fatigue it was causing me. I went about it completely wrong if all of the information I am reading about it is accurate. I was taking 300 mg/day for at least a year (Prior to that I was taking various dosages from 150-250 over a five year span). I reduced my dosage by 50mg/week until a few weeks ago, then I reduced it by 25/week until I stopped taking it altogether about 12 days ago. I don't feel the need to get into the symptoms I experienced during my extreme taper during January and February. My concern now is that the last week I have felt symptoms of depression that I haven't felt in more than a decade-dating back to well before I started taking my current dosage of Lexapro (20 mg) which I have no plans to adjust. After reading much of the information posted on this site I am inclined to think I should reinstate a certain amount of it and continue to taper it but by a much less severe amount. The question is, where do I start? I'm currently not taking any-I haven't in 12 days-so I don't want to start taking too high of a dose and throw things even more out of whack. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus scallywag Posted March 7, 2017 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 7, 2017 roland -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA) I'm glad you found us so soon after your jump to zero mg -- it means increased likelihood of reinstatement being effective. What was your last dose -- 25 mg? You made the change on or around Feb. 22. It seems that you started feeling extreme symptoms in January. Do you recall what the dose you were taking at the time? It would help us help you if we had the specifics of your taper -- dates and doses. Therefore, a request: Would you summarize your history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly? Any drugs prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years. Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago) Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016. Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses. A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. You can find instructions in this topic: Please put your withdrawal history in signature If you are using a phone or mobile device, you need to switch to the "full" or desktop version of the site. Instructions are in Post 9 and Post 10 Please read this topic, About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms. As you've read and understood, reinstatement is usually at a lower dose than the last dose you took. Once we get more information about your taper, our best guess will be a better one. I hope you'll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation. I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but am glad that you found us. 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 IntroductionOnline spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet Link to comment
nz11 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 On 3/7/2017 at 9:03 AM, rolandtothedarktowercame said: where do I start Well how about an update. That would be an excellent place to start....I feel a song coming on. We'd love to hear from you....its been nearly a year. Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017 Link to comment
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