21andMedicated: Needing to get off of Prozac, Vyvanse, Seroquel, and Hydroxine

[21andMedicated]

Hello all, 

 

I had a very traumatic childhood in which I was abused physically, verbally, and emotionally by my father. After graduating high school, I moved out of state in an attempt to save myself from being a victim any longer.

 

About 6 months after I had moved out, I was at my breaking point. I had been going to my college's counseling center for 4 months, but only found myself feeling worse and worse.

 

Here I am, 2.5 years later, and am on prozac, vyvanse, seroquel, and hydroxine. I want to begin tapering off of these meds, as I already know that my body has been damaged by them. In fact, the prozac has caused me to have scary thoughts, and in response today my doctor wanted to increase the prozac from 40 to 60 mg, reduce the seroquel, and start me on trazodone.

 

I hate the way I feel on these medications and want to get of them, as they have made me into someone I am not. I feel very absent minded, now struggle immensely with schoolwork where I used to be in all advanced classes with a 4.0, and am unable to work as I have previously reached my breaking point when trying to work and go to school full time.

 

I am engaged to a wonderful man who supports me in every way possible, and is ready to take on this journey with me to get off of these horrible medications so that we can live out our lives together. I am concerned about what may happen when I taper off, such as becoming unable to do my schoolwork at all (which has happened before and I had to take a year off of school), but do not want these medications to do more harm to my body than they already have. 

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by ChessieCat
Added paragraphs

[mammaP]

Hi 21, welcome to SA. Congratulations on making the best decision you will ever make, it isn't easy to defy doctors and say no to the drugs they prescribe.  This will be a long road for you with so many drugs but you will get to the end of that road one day and feel better than you imagined possible.  

 

I am so very sorry to read of the trauma in your childhood, too often we are medicated to deal with the effects of trauma instead of being taught how to work through it. I hope that you have found, or can find a really good counsellor you can relate to who can help you to deal with the emotions without resorting to more drugs. You do have to be careful in choosing a counsellor, some can make you feel even worse by making you relive the trauma. I went through this and it made me a hundred times worse, along with a cocktail of drugs. Then I tried CBT and it was really good for me. My counsellor was great, and we talked about the here and now, nit the past, and how to move on. 

 

Now to your drugs. Vyvanse is a stimulant, and prozac is activating, so 2 'accellerators' and 2 'brakes'. Your doctor wants to reduce one of the 'brakes', increase the 'accellerator' while adding yet another drug which causes agitation. If it were me I would leave the seroquel as it is and start to REDUCE the prozac because that is the one you feel is causing the most problems.  I wouldn't touch trazodone! 

I put all the drugs that your doctor would have you take, including the trazodone, into the interactions checker and this is the report. It is shocking that doctors don't do this when prescribing drugs to patients!  Don't panic when you read it, we can help you to reduce the drug load and get your brain back. 

 

https://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=1303-0,2228-0,1115-648,1979-1274,1475-2533

 

Now I will get you links to some topics that will help you to understand tapering and the need to take it slowly, together we will see you with a new brain that is functioning to full capacity . 

 

Taking multiple drugs

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2207-taking-multiple-psych-drugs-which-drug-to-taper-first/

 

As it seems Prozac is the one causing most problems for you

Tapering prozac

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/759-tips-for-tapering-off-prozac-fluoxetine/

 

Why taper 10% It seems so slow but it is the safest way to taper without suffering withdrawal. Often people feel better as the dose lowers. 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/759-tips-for-tapering-off-prozac-fluoxetine/

 

Finally it will help us if you fill in your signature with thr drugs you are taking, approximate start dates and current doses. You can find instructions here...

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/12364-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

 

[nz11]

How are you doing these days 21andM 

We'd love to hear from you.

We haven't heard from you since last year.

 

[21andMedicated]

Given that Seroquel is known to be more sedating at lower doses, how does one deal with the increased drowsiness and fatigue caused by tapering off this medicine? I'm currently stable at 98 mg (started at 100 mg) after starting the taper exactly 2 weeks ago,  but already notice the increased sedative effect just from the 2% decrease. Thank you!

[21andMedicated]

Hi, 

 

Thank you so much for reaching out. I've been MIA for quite some time as it's been a struggle inducing big problems. Long story short, I ended up starting on trazodone last August when I was at my witts end. I coped for some time until recently when I worked up the strength and mental prepared myself for the tapering process. Last year I was so concerned about finishing college in a set amount of time, but I've come to realize that my health is way more important than college right now. If it takes me an extra year to graduate, so be it. I am working with my GP, who is an osteopath, to start tapering off of meds. I was hospitalized 2 weeks ago for a bad med reaction, and during my hospital stay the psychiatrist there tried to put me on not 1, not 2, but 4 NEW MEDS which I refused. I'm tapering off Seroquel and trazodone right now with a 2% decrease. I've been stable for 2 weeks, but am going to wait another 2 weeks before making another reduction. The last 4 days I've felt absolutely fantastic. It's been really nice, but at the same time I'm dreading the end of this good mood. Thanks again for asking!