Josef Posted November 9, 2021 Share Posted November 9, 2021 what I've learned this week is that the weight of the gelatin capsules may vary. So, first I put the 10g weight on the tray and I press "On", then I measure half of the capsule (I write down how much mg it weights) then I'm filling the capsule and measure my daily mgpw dose+ the weight of the gelatin, I could just press tare but it seems more precise after couple of tries of weighting capsules I finished measuring. @brassmonkey, how are you? Is there a way to put the paper and the 10g weight altogether on the tray? Right now I'm putting on the tray the weight and half a capsule, is that the 'easy way'? Tapering: Pride100 - Generic Amisulpride / Solian 2016 - 02-Oct -Started CItalopram 10mg+ Alpralid 0.25mg 25-Oct - Hospitalized, Started taking Amisulpride. Dec- Ami 800mg, Biperiden 2mg, Clonazepam 1.5mg. 2017 - Jan-1000mg, Feb-800mg, Apr-600mg. 14May-(Got out of the hospital) Ami 400, Propranolol 30mg, Biperiden 8mg, Dec - Ami 400, Biperiden 8mg 2018Apr - Ami 400, Stopped Biperiden at 2mg. 2018Jul - CT'ed, 2019Jan - Alprazolam 0.25mg, 2019Feb - Hospitalized and Reinstated 2019 - Feb-800mg, Mar-1200mg, Apr-1000mg, May-800mg, Jun-600mg, Dec-400mg . 2021 - Apr-350mg, May-300mg, Jun-250mg, Nov-225mg, Dec-200mg. 2022 - Jan-180mg, Feb-162mg, Mar-146mg, Apr-132mg, May-120mg, Jun-110mg, Jul-100mg, Sep-90mg, Oct-82mg, Nov-74mg, Dec-68mg. 2023 - Jan-120mg(Pharmacy's updosed me by mistake), Mid Jan-68mg at mid Jan, MidFeb- 60mg., May-50mg, Jun-45mg, Aug-41mg, Sep-37mg Daily Supplements: Omega3 Fish Oil (600mg active ingredient) x3 per day [D3 (1000 UI)x1 per day]- I stopped taking in summer 2022 💬My withdrawal thread 🎯 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted November 9, 2021 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted November 9, 2021 19 minutes ago, Josef said: So, first I put the 10g weight on the tray and I press "On", then I measure half of the capsule (I write down how much mg it weights) then I'm filling the capsule and measure my daily mgpw dose+ the weight of the gelatin It is easier to weigh the powder and then put that powder into a capsule. * NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA * MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: (6 year taper) 0mg Pristiq on 13th November 2021 ADs since ~1992: 25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft;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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator brassmonkey Posted November 10, 2021 Moderator Share Posted November 10, 2021 The weigh of the empty capsule and the finished capsule are immaterial. It is the weight of the contents that is important. Make sure that it is as close as possible, fill your capsule and then don't worry about it. It's a bit of a balancing act but I used "pan, weight, paper". 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 Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithiumnomore Posted December 3, 2021 Share Posted December 3, 2021 Is there a current rec for a digital scale for weighing doses? Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes. Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic. Recent meds/tapers: Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total) Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019, then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus manymoretodays Posted December 3, 2021 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted December 3, 2021 Most will use the Gemini20, but I have also seen some using other brands too. As long as it measures 3 points beyond the decimal point in grams or g, that is sufficient. You may find prices vary now, on Amazon, which is where most will go to purchase a digital scale. It's always worth taking the time to get through the whole topic, as I think most of your questions may be answered here already. This IS a long topic thread. Good tapering planning does pay off though, so kudos to you. Best, L, P, H, and G, mmt Late 2023- gone to emeritus status, inactive, don't @ me, I can check who I've posted on, and I'm not really here like I used to be......thanks. Started with psycho meds/psychiatric care circa 1988. In retrospect, and on contemplation, situational overwhelm. Rounding up to 30 years of medications(30 medication trials, poly-pharmacy maximum was 3 at one time). 5/28/2015-off Adderal salts 2.5mg. (I had been on that since hospital 10/2014) 12/2015---just holding, holding, holding, with trileptal/oxcarb at 75 mg. 1/2 tab at hs. My last psycho med ever! Tapered @ 10% every 4 weeks, sometimes 2 weeks to 2016 Dec 16, medication free!! Longer signature post here, with current supplements. Herb and alcohol free since 5/15/2016. And.....I quit smoking 11/2021. Lapsed. Redo of quit smoking 9/28/2022. Can you say Hallelujah?(took me long enough)💜 None of my posts are intended as medical advice. Please discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical provider. My success story: Blue skies ahead, clear sailing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helloimhere Posted December 12, 2021 Share Posted December 12, 2021 (edited) Tapering dry getting low need help Hello! My remeron pill weighs 0.011g and I want to taper only 6 percent from now till i'm off, but my gemini scale doesn't seem to go between the numbers, The math is 0.011 - 6% for a reduction of 0.01034 - I can't figure out a way to even get to that on this scale or if its even possible, It seems I can only get to 0.010 which is more around 10% and thats getting to rough for me. Please help Edited December 12, 2021 by ChessieCat added topic title before merging with intro topic 2017 Cold turkey from xanax - 0.2 - only on xanax for 3 months - Protracted withdrawal still to this day. 2017 Remeron instated 7.5 for sleep. 2018 January- started tapering remeron - used scale and tapered 7.5 to 7.4,to 7.3 and so on..... every 2 weeks to a month - continues taper this way for a few years. 2019 - december. 26 - tapered remeron to 0.8 2021 - February 18 - tapered remeron to 0.6 2021 February 25 - Hydroxazine 50 for inomnia 2021 Mach 1st updosed to 1.0 2021 March 3rd - updosed to 1.2 occasional 100 mg of gabapentin) usually once a week when things get excruciating I was told by my psyc doc to updose to the last most stable dose and that was 1.2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YachtRock Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 Hello everyone and Happy 2022! I believe that @brassmonkey answered this question quite some time ago in this post, but I am about to make my second "crush" of reinstatement powder and had two questions/thoughts: I wondered the same thing as @phillyfan24 about Trintellix coating (which is not white, so easier to remove from the stockpile). My pill grinder seems incapable of grinding the coating completely, and I ran it through twice. So I did my best to try and distribute the coating fragments evenly across the 20 or so capsules I made (from crushing 3 pills). But by the end I noticed I was filling mostly white powder. So I my have inadvertently updosed a teensy amount. Both @getofflex and I double checked the math when I started but now that I see those numbers, it seems like I should have yielded more doses, closer to 30. ANYWAY, my thought was to crush 3 more pills, remove the coating fragments with tweezers, then WEIGH the powder pile and redo the math from there. The powder would contain 15mgai and I would apply the same math, yielding slightly smaller final weights I assume. Does that seem like an OK approach or should I just do the exact same thing I did the first round and not worry about it? Maybe the coating fragments still contain the drug? And my second question is related to the first. I have been storing the stockpile in an empty pill container and making pills every 5 or 6 days. I assume it is safe to keep it in these containers as they should be airtight? The powder was in there a little over two weeks total. PS- attached is a photo of how I am weighing and filling all at once. I place the empty capsule half inside this part from a soda keg (ball lock gas post). It sits snug, I TARE the scale then fill carefully with a "Capsule Filling Micro Spoon". I know a little doesn't make it into the capsule, but this makes it easier than weighting then transferring into the capsule. Of course I haven't used the folded paper approach yet either. My Introduction thread 2002-2003 Celexa/Lexapro (first ride, very mild withdrawal). 2004-2012 Drug free 2013-2018 Cymbalta 60mg | 2019 Effexor 75mg - 150mg (can't recall specifics) 2020-Apr 2021 Trintellix 20mg | May-Jun 10mg | Jul-Aug 5mg (stopped Aug 12th, 2021) WD symptoms began 4-6 weeks after last dose, increased severely at the 4 month mark 2021 Oct 9th Propranolol 10mg 2x/day (10am and 7pm) tapered to 5mg. Stopped 2/1/22. Lorazepam (Ativan) 0.5-1mg as needed Started a 0.5mg Trintellix reinstatement on 12/17/21 Tapered to ~0.4mg and 0.3mg by end of May 2022 Stopped Caffeine 1/1/2022 and Nicotine on 4/1/2022. Jan 19, 2022 - Added Vitamin D3 (2000iu), Super Omega-3 (2500mg) December 2022 - Finished taper of reinstatement dose around 0.09mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YachtRock Posted January 4, 2022 Share Posted January 4, 2022 On 12/12/2021 at 10:08 AM, Helloimhere said: Hello! My remeron pill weighs 0.011g and I want to taper only 6 percent from now till i'm off, but my gemini scale doesn't seem to go between the numbers, The math is 0.011 - 6% for a reduction of 0.01034 - I can't figure out a way to even get to that on this scale or if its even possible, It seems I can only get to 0.010 which is more around 10% and thats getting to rough for me. Please help @Helloimhere did you ever get an answer to this? I can tell you that my Gemini scale will in fact read single mg digits (0.004). Have you done the full calibration step with weights? Also putting one of the 10mg calibration weights on the tray before you TARE to 0.000 might improve the measurement by getting the scale close to the mid-range rather than the bottom of the range. There is a similar question and answer here you can read earlier this thread. My Introduction thread 2002-2003 Celexa/Lexapro (first ride, very mild withdrawal). 2004-2012 Drug free 2013-2018 Cymbalta 60mg | 2019 Effexor 75mg - 150mg (can't recall specifics) 2020-Apr 2021 Trintellix 20mg | May-Jun 10mg | Jul-Aug 5mg (stopped Aug 12th, 2021) WD symptoms began 4-6 weeks after last dose, increased severely at the 4 month mark 2021 Oct 9th Propranolol 10mg 2x/day (10am and 7pm) tapered to 5mg. Stopped 2/1/22. Lorazepam (Ativan) 0.5-1mg as needed Started a 0.5mg Trintellix reinstatement on 12/17/21 Tapered to ~0.4mg and 0.3mg by end of May 2022 Stopped Caffeine 1/1/2022 and Nicotine on 4/1/2022. Jan 19, 2022 - Added Vitamin D3 (2000iu), Super Omega-3 (2500mg) December 2022 - Finished taper of reinstatement dose around 0.09mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OreElect Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 Micro tapering from capsules. 1 Celexa 20mg after mental breakdown following a major trauma 1996. 5 year span of deep depression that switched into pacnic attacks. Celexa 40 mg from 1996 until 2010 and remained on 20mg where i was stable from 2001 til 2012. Tramatic Brain injury 2012. Seizures began 5 months after injury and began Keppra then to Tegretol XR. Clonazepam to shut mind off to sleep at night. Battling seizures and then another major trauma`s in the last 1.5 years. Physiciatrist upped my celexa to 60mg. Feeling of being numb and still Panic attack until currently Dec 2015. New Phychiatrist going for a change from Celexa to Prozac. Dropped 20 mg Celexa and added 20 Mg of Prozac. Stuck with that for the holidays to be over. Currently 10mg Celexa and 20mg prozac.Next week dropping the Celexa to 0. Dr says up the prozac to 40mg. Im thinking I dont want to do this.. I have a fear of going on the Prozac 40 mg to not have to deal with WD later after going through what the Celexa has been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OreElect Posted January 16, 2022 Share Posted January 16, 2022 (edited) Benzodiazepine micro tapering YouTube Video title: Micro tapering Benzodiazapine, SSRI, Tablets Edited January 16, 2022 by ChessieCat added video title 1 Celexa 20mg after mental breakdown following a major trauma 1996. 5 year span of deep depression that switched into pacnic attacks. Celexa 40 mg from 1996 until 2010 and remained on 20mg where i was stable from 2001 til 2012. Tramatic Brain injury 2012. Seizures began 5 months after injury and began Keppra then to Tegretol XR. Clonazepam to shut mind off to sleep at night. Battling seizures and then another major trauma`s in the last 1.5 years. Physiciatrist upped my celexa to 60mg. Feeling of being numb and still Panic attack until currently Dec 2015. New Phychiatrist going for a change from Celexa to Prozac. Dropped 20 mg Celexa and added 20 Mg of Prozac. Stuck with that for the holidays to be over. Currently 10mg Celexa and 20mg prozac.Next week dropping the Celexa to 0. Dr says up the prozac to 40mg. Im thinking I dont want to do this.. I have a fear of going on the Prozac 40 mg to not have to deal with WD later after going through what the Celexa has been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan1982 Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 Hey @brassmonkey- Hope you’re doing well, sir. Quick question if you have a moment. I typically take my Lexapro in two parts, what I’ve figured out to be 1.9 MG in the morning and 1.9MG in the evening. The weight of each 20MG pill is on average .255g so 1 mg is .0128g. The 1.9MG I take twice a day is .024g. I dry cut my pills and I don’t figure out any average each time- I simply weigh out .024g each time to make my pill. I don’t take the average of 5 pills- I just figure it’s ok to weigh out .024g each time. I mix around 5 pills together to make my capsules. I still in a setback from 10 months ago from trying a med so I’m wanting to make sure I’m doing it ok. Do you see any issues at all with my process? Thank you, Brass! 2005- 2008: Lorazepam (max dose- 1 MG daily) 2008- 2016: Lexapro (max dose-10 MG daily) January 2017- March 2017- Pristiq (max dose- 100 MG daily) April 2017- June 2017: Trintellix (max dose- 10 MG) July 2017- October 2017: Lexapro (max dose-10 MG daily) November 2017- April 2018- Luvox (max dose- 100 MG) May 2018- Zoloft (max dose- 18.75) 5/28/18- 3 MG Lexapro, 6/3/18- 3 MG Lexapro, 6/7/18- 3.5 MG Lexapro, 6/13/18- 4 MG Lexapro, 6/21/18- 4.5 MG Lexapro, 6/28/18- 3/29/21- 4 MG Lexapro, 3/30/21- Present- 3.8 MG Lexapro **Bad Wave Caused by Trileptal 150 MG (one pill) in December '20 and Low Dose Naltrexone .12 MG (one pill) in April '21** "The Journey is The Reward" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YachtRock Posted February 11, 2022 Share Posted February 11, 2022 8 minutes ago, ryan1982 said: I dry cut my pills and I don’t figure out any average each time- I simply weigh out .024g each time to make my pill. I don’t take the average of 5 pills- I just figure it’s ok to weigh out .024g each time. I mix around 5 pills together to make my capsules. For what it's worth your math looks correct to me. I first divided 1.9 by 20 to get 0.095. Then I multiplied that by 0.225 to get 0.024g or 24mg. I do roughly the same thing and weigh out 0.015g of powder to fill my capsules but with Trintellix. I use a pill crusher to make powder, not sure if that is the same as "dry cutting"? 1 My Introduction thread 2002-2003 Celexa/Lexapro (first ride, very mild withdrawal). 2004-2012 Drug free 2013-2018 Cymbalta 60mg | 2019 Effexor 75mg - 150mg (can't recall specifics) 2020-Apr 2021 Trintellix 20mg | May-Jun 10mg | Jul-Aug 5mg (stopped Aug 12th, 2021) WD symptoms began 4-6 weeks after last dose, increased severely at the 4 month mark 2021 Oct 9th Propranolol 10mg 2x/day (10am and 7pm) tapered to 5mg. Stopped 2/1/22. Lorazepam (Ativan) 0.5-1mg as needed Started a 0.5mg Trintellix reinstatement on 12/17/21 Tapered to ~0.4mg and 0.3mg by end of May 2022 Stopped Caffeine 1/1/2022 and Nicotine on 4/1/2022. Jan 19, 2022 - Added Vitamin D3 (2000iu), Super Omega-3 (2500mg) December 2022 - Finished taper of reinstatement dose around 0.09mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator brassmonkey Posted February 12, 2022 Moderator Share Posted February 12, 2022 Yes, that is the correct way to do it. Figuring the averages is only used to establish the initial dose weight and strength. After that it is all done by calculation using the previous doses numbers. The only time you need to recalculate the average is if you change the pills you are using to a different manufacturer or different strength, something that could change the average weight of the pills. 1 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 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan1982 Posted February 13, 2022 Share Posted February 13, 2022 Thanks, @brassmonkey. That makes me feel better that although I'm not stable, at least I'm cutting my doses correctly. 2005- 2008: Lorazepam (max dose- 1 MG daily) 2008- 2016: Lexapro (max dose-10 MG daily) January 2017- March 2017- Pristiq (max dose- 100 MG daily) April 2017- June 2017: Trintellix (max dose- 10 MG) July 2017- October 2017: Lexapro (max dose-10 MG daily) November 2017- April 2018- Luvox (max dose- 100 MG) May 2018- Zoloft (max dose- 18.75) 5/28/18- 3 MG Lexapro, 6/3/18- 3 MG Lexapro, 6/7/18- 3.5 MG Lexapro, 6/13/18- 4 MG Lexapro, 6/21/18- 4.5 MG Lexapro, 6/28/18- 3/29/21- 4 MG Lexapro, 3/30/21- Present- 3.8 MG Lexapro **Bad Wave Caused by Trileptal 150 MG (one pill) in December '20 and Low Dose Naltrexone .12 MG (one pill) in April '21** "The Journey is The Reward" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountainsky Posted February 20, 2022 Share Posted February 20, 2022 Can I do this while tapering off 100mg of Zoloft? I checked out the Gemini 20 scale and size 0 gel capsules on Amazon ( haven't bought yet). I just cannot do liquid. Yes still planning the 10%/4 weeks. 2009-2018, Paxil 40 mg. Tapered-0mg in 6 weeks. October 2020-May 2021 Zoloft, 25mg, 50mg, then 100mg. Tapered 25mg a week then 0mg less than a month. July 2021- Zoloft reinstated 25mg 1 week , 50 mg 1 week later, 100mg 2 weeks later. March 2022- began taper from 100mg, 10%/ 4 weeks. Got to 75mg around July 2022. Bad fatigue, body pain, OCD thoughts, intrusive fears/thoughts, occasional nightmares, memory loss, tongue tied, more frequent headaches, fear of losing everything, bipolar like behavior, paranoia that everyone is watching and judging me, unprovoked anger/rage, occasional flu like symptoms, dizziness, hair loss becoming the norm in the last few months. Still in treatment for Lyme Disease and Bartonella 4 years later as well as for Mycotoxins, EBV, MCAS with no resolution or positive responses to treatment protocols. May 2023-August 2023 75mg-62.5mg. August 2023-Current 50mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OreElect Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 Sorry I don't get on as I should. Hopefully your tapering going ok. The method I used could be for anything as long as not extended release. Celexa 20mg after mental breakdown following a major trauma 1996. 5 year span of deep depression that switched into pacnic attacks. Celexa 40 mg from 1996 until 2010 and remained on 20mg where i was stable from 2001 til 2012. Tramatic Brain injury 2012. Seizures began 5 months after injury and began Keppra then to Tegretol XR. Clonazepam to shut mind off to sleep at night. Battling seizures and then another major trauma`s in the last 1.5 years. Physiciatrist upped my celexa to 60mg. Feeling of being numb and still Panic attack until currently Dec 2015. New Phychiatrist going for a change from Celexa to Prozac. Dropped 20 mg Celexa and added 20 Mg of Prozac. Stuck with that for the holidays to be over. Currently 10mg Celexa and 20mg prozac.Next week dropping the Celexa to 0. Dr says up the prozac to 40mg. Im thinking I dont want to do this.. I have a fear of going on the Prozac 40 mg to not have to deal with WD later after going through what the Celexa has been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberline Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 Hello! Sorry if this has been asked before but how do we measure tiny doses? I'm currently at .3mg of lexapro which according to my chart weighs .004mg. This is the lowest my scale with register, so how does one taper lower than this? I plan on making quite a few more cuts before completing my taper. Thanks so much everyone! Tried tapering multiple times before. Always too quick but of course each attempt thinking *this time it'll be different!* Finally got real about how long this might take and prepped for my final attempt! (Spoiler alert: it worked!) 2020 (First 6 months were a breeze!) June 2, 2020 - 9mg, June 15, 2020 - 8.6mg, June 29, 2020 - 8.1mg, July 27, 2020 - 7.7mg, August 3, 2020 - 7.0mg, August 25, 2020 - 6.0mg, October 1, 2020 - 5.4mg, October 26, 2020 - 4.9mg, November 8, 2020 -4.6mg, November 29, 2020 - 4.2mg, December 14, 2020 - 4.0mg, December 28, 2020 - 3.6mg 2021 (Some symptoms began) February 10, 2021 - 3.4mg, February 24, 2021 - 3.2mg, March 12, 2021 - 3.1mg, March 29, 2021 - 2.8mg (ran into a 2 week wave here of intense morning anxiety, sleep issues, nausea and intrusive thoughts), April 11, 2021 - Went back up to 3.1mg, May 3, 2021 - 2.8mg, May 19, 2021 - 2.6mg, May 31, 2021 - 2.5mg, June 15, 2021 - 2.3mg, July 7, 2021 - 1.9mg, August 9, 2021 - 1.6mg, August 28, 2021 - 1.3mg, September 19, 2021 - 1mg (insomnia began here but not consistent), October 12, 2021 - .8mg, November 23, 2021 - .7mg, December 11, 2021 - .6mg, December 26, 2021 - .5mg 2022 (Insomnia induced dark night of the soul) January 21, 2022 - .4mg, February 10, 2022 - .3mg, February 22, 2022 - .2mg (ran into sleep issues so holding at .2mg for now) April 25, 2022 back up to .5mg due to horrendous sleep issues and anxiety, June 1, 2022 stabilized and holding at .5mg, August 31, 2022 switched the liquid lexapro at .5mg, September 20, 2022 .45mg, November 15, 2022 - .4mg, December 29, 2022 - .35mg 2023 (Final stretch was better than expected) January 27, 2023 - .325mg, February 24, 2023 - .3mg, March 17, 2023 - .275mg, April 11, 2023 - .25mg, May 11, 2023 - .2mg, June 12, 2023 - .175mg, July 1, 2023 - .1mg, August 11, 2023 - .05mg, August 30, 2023 - LAST DOSE! Supplements: Magnesium 1000mg throughout the day, Vitamin D 2000mg, Zinc 30mg, Potassium 200mg, Vitamin C 1000mg, Hawthorn, Milky Oats, Rose and Reishi tincture 3x day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator brassmonkey Posted April 2, 2022 Moderator Share Posted April 2, 2022 @Timberline-- Weighing the very small doses is quite a trick. Because the scales we use have trouble measuring below 4mg (you have a typo in your post, it should be .004g or 4mg) we frequently recommend that a member switch to using a liquid for the last part of their taper. If you want to dry cut then this is the method I used: DRY CUTTING METHOD Starting with the smallest amount the scales can accurately weigh, 4mgpw, you will need to visually divide your pile of powder into eighths, or 12.5% portions. This will not be our 10% per month hyperbolic reduction, but it will have to do. First divide the 4mgpw powder into halves, then quarters, and then divide each quarter into 2 parts. You will have 8 piles. Use a sharp object, like a razor blade or craft knife, to carefully divide the pile of powder into equal parts. As you’re working, you may wish to put each pile into a large gelatin capsule (size 00 works well) to preserve it. Hold at each dose as required by listening to your body. MONTH 1. For the first month’s reduction, you will take 7 of these piles each day, storing the 8th pile in a large gelatin capsule (size 00 or 000) to take later. MONTH 2. The second month’s dose will be 6/8 of the 4MGPW powder, or 3/4. Divide your pile in half, and one of the halves in half again. That’s your ¾. Put the last ¼ into a gelatin capsule, label the container for use later. MONTH 3. This dose will be 5/8 of the 4MGPW powder. Divide your pile in half, and one of the halves in half again, then divide each of the quarters into half, making 4 eighths. Take the half and one of the eighths as your daily dose. Save the other 3 eighths in gelatin capsules, keep them in a labeled container. MONTH 4. This dose will be 4/8 or ½ of the 4MGPW powder. Divide your pile in half. One-half is your daily dose. Save the other half in a gelatin capsule in a labeled container to take the next day. How do you feel? You have reduced to half the 4MGPW powder over 3 months. If you have withdrawal symptoms, stop here for a long hold, perhaps several months, before you taper slower. To taper more slowly, divide the 4mgpw powder in half and each of the halves into 8 parts (each 1/16 or 6.25% of 4mgpw), following the same method as above. Taper using a similar stepwise method. 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 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timberline Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 @brassmonkey thank you...although I'm still very confused. 1. I'm confused by the typo? My excel spreadsheet says a dose of .3mg lexapro weighs .004g. A 4mg dose would weigh .052g. Clearly I'm not understanding something! haha! 2. When you say for the first month's reduction I would take 7 powder piles a day? This doesn't make sense to me. If I'm currently at .3mg of lexapro, a 10% reduction would be .27mg a day for a month, right? Dividing the powder into piles makes sense to me though! I'm sorry I'm having such a hard time with this. I'm using an excel spreadsheet I found on this website for my taper where I entered my starting dose and starting weight. Tried tapering multiple times before. Always too quick but of course each attempt thinking *this time it'll be different!* Finally got real about how long this might take and prepped for my final attempt! (Spoiler alert: it worked!) 2020 (First 6 months were a breeze!) June 2, 2020 - 9mg, June 15, 2020 - 8.6mg, June 29, 2020 - 8.1mg, July 27, 2020 - 7.7mg, August 3, 2020 - 7.0mg, August 25, 2020 - 6.0mg, October 1, 2020 - 5.4mg, October 26, 2020 - 4.9mg, November 8, 2020 -4.6mg, November 29, 2020 - 4.2mg, December 14, 2020 - 4.0mg, December 28, 2020 - 3.6mg 2021 (Some symptoms began) February 10, 2021 - 3.4mg, February 24, 2021 - 3.2mg, March 12, 2021 - 3.1mg, March 29, 2021 - 2.8mg (ran into a 2 week wave here of intense morning anxiety, sleep issues, nausea and intrusive thoughts), April 11, 2021 - Went back up to 3.1mg, May 3, 2021 - 2.8mg, May 19, 2021 - 2.6mg, May 31, 2021 - 2.5mg, June 15, 2021 - 2.3mg, July 7, 2021 - 1.9mg, August 9, 2021 - 1.6mg, August 28, 2021 - 1.3mg, September 19, 2021 - 1mg (insomnia began here but not consistent), October 12, 2021 - .8mg, November 23, 2021 - .7mg, December 11, 2021 - .6mg, December 26, 2021 - .5mg 2022 (Insomnia induced dark night of the soul) January 21, 2022 - .4mg, February 10, 2022 - .3mg, February 22, 2022 - .2mg (ran into sleep issues so holding at .2mg for now) April 25, 2022 back up to .5mg due to horrendous sleep issues and anxiety, June 1, 2022 stabilized and holding at .5mg, August 31, 2022 switched the liquid lexapro at .5mg, September 20, 2022 .45mg, November 15, 2022 - .4mg, December 29, 2022 - .35mg 2023 (Final stretch was better than expected) January 27, 2023 - .325mg, February 24, 2023 - .3mg, March 17, 2023 - .275mg, April 11, 2023 - .25mg, May 11, 2023 - .2mg, June 12, 2023 - .175mg, July 1, 2023 - .1mg, August 11, 2023 - .05mg, August 30, 2023 - LAST DOSE! Supplements: Magnesium 1000mg throughout the day, Vitamin D 2000mg, Zinc 30mg, Potassium 200mg, Vitamin C 1000mg, Hawthorn, Milky Oats, Rose and Reishi tincture 3x day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mountainsky Posted April 2, 2022 Share Posted April 2, 2022 Hi Timberline, I am interested in this. I made a post earlier (still waiting for moderator to approve it) I absolutely am beyond frustrated with my taper of Zoloft 100mg. I have a scale, mortar and pestle, veggie capsules. It was getting messy with all the crushed tablet powder, my hands were shaky putting the powder in the veggie capsules and I was afraid of getting inaccurate measures. It was time consuming as well. Now I'm just dissolving the tablet in water and the taste is horrible. Immediately after I get an upset stomach and the chills. I can't be doing this for another 10-11+ months. Wondering if I too can just cut/shave a sliver off my tablet and weigh? 2009-2018, Paxil 40 mg. Tapered-0mg in 6 weeks. October 2020-May 2021 Zoloft, 25mg, 50mg, then 100mg. Tapered 25mg a week then 0mg less than a month. July 2021- Zoloft reinstated 25mg 1 week , 50 mg 1 week later, 100mg 2 weeks later. March 2022- began taper from 100mg, 10%/ 4 weeks. Got to 75mg around July 2022. Bad fatigue, body pain, OCD thoughts, intrusive fears/thoughts, occasional nightmares, memory loss, tongue tied, more frequent headaches, fear of losing everything, bipolar like behavior, paranoia that everyone is watching and judging me, unprovoked anger/rage, occasional flu like symptoms, dizziness, hair loss becoming the norm in the last few months. Still in treatment for Lyme Disease and Bartonella 4 years later as well as for Mycotoxins, EBV, MCAS with no resolution or positive responses to treatment protocols. May 2023-August 2023 75mg-62.5mg. August 2023-Current 50mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator brassmonkey Posted April 3, 2022 Moderator Share Posted April 3, 2022 On 4/2/2022 at 11:37 AM, Timberline said: Sorry if this has been asked before but how do we measure tiny doses? I'm currently at .3mg of lexapro which according to my chart weighs .004mg. It is not possible to have the measured weight of the dose to be less than the strength of the dose. The amount of powder used to create a dose of .004mg would be so small a person could barely see it, let alone get it in a scale to weight it. Since we are always talking in milligrams it is quite easy to misread the scales. A display of 0.004 on the scale is 0.004g. If you remove all the zeros and the decimal point it is called 4milligrams. 21 hours ago, Timberline said: My excel spreadsheet says a dose of .3mg lexapro weighs .004g. It looks like your spreadsheet is making the correct callout. The typo would be listing it as .004mg instead of .004g. An easy to make but very significant difference. Using this method, you would no longer be making 10% reductions but would be making an initial 20% reduction. I know that is bigger than we recommend, but for the Endgame taper using the Dry Cutting method things are a bit cruder. It is much easier to divide the original pile into 8 parts instead of 10. Making 10 piles would yield a 10% reduction for the first cycle. However, this will be a series of linear reductions instead of the hyperbolic reductions you have been doing, so the percentage will increase with each reduction. It would be possible to make 10 piles, remove 1, recombine the remaining 9 piles and redivide them into 10, then use 9 of those piles to make up your dose. Using this progression each time would give something close to a 10% hyperbolic taper. But it would be very labor intensive and very prone to mistakes. 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 Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryan1982 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 @brassmonkeyI recently switched from cutting pills to pulverizing and weighing powder. It could be coincidence but I’ve noticed an uptick in symptoms since the switch. Is that something I should be aware of? 2005- 2008: Lorazepam (max dose- 1 MG daily) 2008- 2016: Lexapro (max dose-10 MG daily) January 2017- March 2017- Pristiq (max dose- 100 MG daily) April 2017- June 2017: Trintellix (max dose- 10 MG) July 2017- October 2017: Lexapro (max dose-10 MG daily) November 2017- April 2018- Luvox (max dose- 100 MG) May 2018- Zoloft (max dose- 18.75) 5/28/18- 3 MG Lexapro, 6/3/18- 3 MG Lexapro, 6/7/18- 3.5 MG Lexapro, 6/13/18- 4 MG Lexapro, 6/21/18- 4.5 MG Lexapro, 6/28/18- 3/29/21- 4 MG Lexapro, 3/30/21- Present- 3.8 MG Lexapro **Bad Wave Caused by Trileptal 150 MG (one pill) in December '20 and Low Dose Naltrexone .12 MG (one pill) in April '21** "The Journey is The Reward" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator brassmonkey Posted April 4, 2022 Moderator Share Posted April 4, 2022 Any change in dosage, amount, timing, form of delivery, brand etc. can cause changes, usually upticks, in symptoms. Unless they are really acute, I wouldn't worry about them. Going from cutting pills to crushing them will speed up the absorption rate quite a lot causing the medication to hit harder and faster. Because of this spike the effects of the medication will tend to drop off a bit faster. Which could cause the uptick. Once your blood serum levels normalize, it should take a week or two, things should settle down. 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 Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurogenesis Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 Hello,i recently ordered a scale It came with a weight 50.000 g When i put on the weight it s showing 50.018 .the extra 18 mg shouldn t be there If it was showing the corect weight it would be 50.000 I cannot start tapering until i deal with this issue April 2020 Zuclopenthixol decanoate quetiapine,sertraline 150 mg march or april 2021 st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine 2021 tapered Quetiapine once a month reductions 300mg, 200mg ,100 , april 50 mg stopped Cold turkey, april st john worth May sertraline 150 mg, st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine,loratadine may:experienced symtoms i never had before treatment (intense delusion,intense paranoia) Rehospitalization Sertraline 150 mg stopped cold turkey during rehospitalization Zuclopenthixol decanoate depot injection (in june)2021 and restarted 400 mg,200mg quetiapine.curently tapering.On 263mgpw(taken 2x day) May neuroplasticity help me finalize the taper safely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomansland Posted April 16, 2022 Share Posted April 16, 2022 Hello @neurogenesis, the reason a 50 g weight came with your scale is that you need to calibrate it. Every scale needs to be calibrated from time to time, especially after it was shipped. Usually you press a button for few seconds, then 'CAL' will show up on the screen and you put the weight on the scale until it says it passed. After that your scale should recognise the 50 g weight as 50.000 g and not 50.018 g. Pretty sure you will find the information on how to do it in the manual or if you google your scale name. If you cant find it on your own, please post the name of your scale and we will find out how to calibrate it. Please also make sure that your scale always shows 0.000 g before you put anything on it you want to weigh. If your scale does not show 0, you can just press TARE to bring it to 0. Greetings Nomansland 2 2022 IMPORTANT WITHDRAWAL SURVEY, PLEASE PARTICIPATE: https://uelpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0AR9IsQ61jsiXBk non-native speaker of english 2020: 3-March -> started Mirtazapine 15mg; 3-March to 6-April -> approx. cutting to 0 mg; 6-April to 20-April -> ~ 7,5 mg; 21-April to 31-April -> 15 mg; 1-May to 13-May -> ~ 10 mg (approx.); 15-May to 19-July -> 15 mg (psychosomatic clinic) 19-July -> started taper (scale and file) 14 mg (-6,6%); 08-August -> 12 mg (-14,3 %); 27-August -> 10 mg (-16,6 %); 15-September -> 8 mg (-20 %, bad idea, heavy WD); 23-September -> 10.2 mg (+20 %, 102 mgpw) 2021: 12-April to 12-May -> crossover from solid pill to DIY liquid (water only), 10.2 mg, not stable; 10-September -> back to crushing and weighing, still 10.2 mg (102 mgpw) 2022: 13-March -> changed to DIY liquid with suspension vehicle, 10.2 mg Supplements: 1 x ~125 mg magnesiumbiglycinate before bed, low histamine diet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurogenesis Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 On 4/16/2022 at 12:22 PM, Nomansland said: Hello @neurogenesis, the reason a 50 g weight came with your scale is that you need to calibrate it. Every scale needs to be calibrated from time to time, especially after it was shipped. Usually you press a button for few seconds, then 'CAL' will show up on the screen and you put the weight on the scale until it says it passed. After that your scale should recognise the 50 g weight as 50.000 g and not 50.018 g. Pretty sure you will find the information on how to do it in the manual or if you google your scale name. If you cant find it on your own, please post the name of your scale and we will find out how to calibrate it. Please also make sure that your scale always shows 0.000 g before you put anything on it you want to weigh. If your scale does not show 0, you can just press TARE to bring it to 0. Greetings Nomansland The name of the scale is brisfit k67G It looks exactly like this one April 2020 Zuclopenthixol decanoate quetiapine,sertraline 150 mg march or april 2021 st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine 2021 tapered Quetiapine once a month reductions 300mg, 200mg ,100 , april 50 mg stopped Cold turkey, april st john worth May sertraline 150 mg, st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine,loratadine may:experienced symtoms i never had before treatment (intense delusion,intense paranoia) Rehospitalization Sertraline 150 mg stopped cold turkey during rehospitalization Zuclopenthixol decanoate depot injection (in june)2021 and restarted 400 mg,200mg quetiapine.curently tapering.On 263mgpw(taken 2x day) May neuroplasticity help me finalize the taper safely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomansland Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 Hello @neurogenesis, if your scale looks exactly like the one in the video, iam sure calibration will work as shown in the video at 0:21 seconds. Nomansland 2022 IMPORTANT WITHDRAWAL SURVEY, PLEASE PARTICIPATE: https://uelpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0AR9IsQ61jsiXBk non-native speaker of english 2020: 3-March -> started Mirtazapine 15mg; 3-March to 6-April -> approx. cutting to 0 mg; 6-April to 20-April -> ~ 7,5 mg; 21-April to 31-April -> 15 mg; 1-May to 13-May -> ~ 10 mg (approx.); 15-May to 19-July -> 15 mg (psychosomatic clinic) 19-July -> started taper (scale and file) 14 mg (-6,6%); 08-August -> 12 mg (-14,3 %); 27-August -> 10 mg (-16,6 %); 15-September -> 8 mg (-20 %, bad idea, heavy WD); 23-September -> 10.2 mg (+20 %, 102 mgpw) 2021: 12-April to 12-May -> crossover from solid pill to DIY liquid (water only), 10.2 mg, not stable; 10-September -> back to crushing and weighing, still 10.2 mg (102 mgpw) 2022: 13-March -> changed to DIY liquid with suspension vehicle, 10.2 mg Supplements: 1 x ~125 mg magnesiumbiglycinate before bed, low histamine diet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurogenesis Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 47 minutes ago, Nomansland said: Hello @neurogenesis, if your scale looks exactly like the one in the video, iam sure calibration will work as shown in the video at 0:21 seconds. Nomansland Do i have to calibrate it everytime i use it? If i repeteadly take off the same pill and put it back on the weigh it shows diferent results to miligram Sometimes it s 68mg,sometimes 64mg and so on April 2020 Zuclopenthixol decanoate quetiapine,sertraline 150 mg march or april 2021 st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine 2021 tapered Quetiapine once a month reductions 300mg, 200mg ,100 , april 50 mg stopped Cold turkey, april st john worth May sertraline 150 mg, st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine,loratadine may:experienced symtoms i never had before treatment (intense delusion,intense paranoia) Rehospitalization Sertraline 150 mg stopped cold turkey during rehospitalization Zuclopenthixol decanoate depot injection (in june)2021 and restarted 400 mg,200mg quetiapine.curently tapering.On 263mgpw(taken 2x day) May neuroplasticity help me finalize the taper safely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomansland Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 @neurogenesis No you dont have to calibrate the scale everytime, usually you only have to do that when the 50 g weight dont show 50.000 on the scale. These scales have some tolerances, so expect 1 or 2 mg more or less as normal. All you can do is to be very careful when you weigh. Please also read these tips on using scales: Nomansland 2022 IMPORTANT WITHDRAWAL SURVEY, PLEASE PARTICIPATE: https://uelpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0AR9IsQ61jsiXBk non-native speaker of english 2020: 3-March -> started Mirtazapine 15mg; 3-March to 6-April -> approx. cutting to 0 mg; 6-April to 20-April -> ~ 7,5 mg; 21-April to 31-April -> 15 mg; 1-May to 13-May -> ~ 10 mg (approx.); 15-May to 19-July -> 15 mg (psychosomatic clinic) 19-July -> started taper (scale and file) 14 mg (-6,6%); 08-August -> 12 mg (-14,3 %); 27-August -> 10 mg (-16,6 %); 15-September -> 8 mg (-20 %, bad idea, heavy WD); 23-September -> 10.2 mg (+20 %, 102 mgpw) 2021: 12-April to 12-May -> crossover from solid pill to DIY liquid (water only), 10.2 mg, not stable; 10-September -> back to crushing and weighing, still 10.2 mg (102 mgpw) 2022: 13-March -> changed to DIY liquid with suspension vehicle, 10.2 mg Supplements: 1 x ~125 mg magnesiumbiglycinate before bed, low histamine diet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurogenesis Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 This scale can show diference up to 10 mg So im gonna order a new one ,maibe gemini 20 April 2020 Zuclopenthixol decanoate quetiapine,sertraline 150 mg march or april 2021 st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine 2021 tapered Quetiapine once a month reductions 300mg, 200mg ,100 , april 50 mg stopped Cold turkey, april st john worth May sertraline 150 mg, st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine,loratadine may:experienced symtoms i never had before treatment (intense delusion,intense paranoia) Rehospitalization Sertraline 150 mg stopped cold turkey during rehospitalization Zuclopenthixol decanoate depot injection (in june)2021 and restarted 400 mg,200mg quetiapine.curently tapering.On 263mgpw(taken 2x day) May neuroplasticity help me finalize the taper safely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomansland Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 @neurogenesis I had good results with the Gemini-20 in getting nearly the same weight every single time (+/- 1 mg or sometimes 2 mg, but overall it was pretty accurate) when being careful. 2022 IMPORTANT WITHDRAWAL SURVEY, PLEASE PARTICIPATE: https://uelpsych.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0AR9IsQ61jsiXBk non-native speaker of english 2020: 3-March -> started Mirtazapine 15mg; 3-March to 6-April -> approx. cutting to 0 mg; 6-April to 20-April -> ~ 7,5 mg; 21-April to 31-April -> 15 mg; 1-May to 13-May -> ~ 10 mg (approx.); 15-May to 19-July -> 15 mg (psychosomatic clinic) 19-July -> started taper (scale and file) 14 mg (-6,6%); 08-August -> 12 mg (-14,3 %); 27-August -> 10 mg (-16,6 %); 15-September -> 8 mg (-20 %, bad idea, heavy WD); 23-September -> 10.2 mg (+20 %, 102 mgpw) 2021: 12-April to 12-May -> crossover from solid pill to DIY liquid (water only), 10.2 mg, not stable; 10-September -> back to crushing and weighing, still 10.2 mg (102 mgpw) 2022: 13-March -> changed to DIY liquid with suspension vehicle, 10.2 mg Supplements: 1 x ~125 mg magnesiumbiglycinate before bed, low histamine diet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurogenesis Posted April 17, 2022 Share Posted April 17, 2022 Thank you,looking forward to get one soon 1 April 2020 Zuclopenthixol decanoate quetiapine,sertraline 150 mg march or april 2021 st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine 2021 tapered Quetiapine once a month reductions 300mg, 200mg ,100 , april 50 mg stopped Cold turkey, april st john worth May sertraline 150 mg, st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine,loratadine may:experienced symtoms i never had before treatment (intense delusion,intense paranoia) Rehospitalization Sertraline 150 mg stopped cold turkey during rehospitalization Zuclopenthixol decanoate depot injection (in june)2021 and restarted 400 mg,200mg quetiapine.curently tapering.On 263mgpw(taken 2x day) May neuroplasticity help me finalize the taper safely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlimDunkin6o4 Posted May 9, 2022 Share Posted May 9, 2022 (edited) Having difficulty with measurements on the tapering homestretch Hey there, So I'm just on the home stretch of my taper, down to the last mini-tablet (12.5mg) of my Effexor XR. I'd been taking one half mini-tablet (about 6.25mg) every 12 hours, twice a day since about February (I ran out of characters to update my signature...) based on the counsel of people who are active on this website. That had been going decently well for me, but I was told by several people that I should be grinding my pills down and using a scale to get precise measurements, rather than just eyeballing it with a pill-splitter. So, I went ahead and did just that. I got a Gemini mg scale, a pill grinder, and went to work on getting some more precisely measured pills. The lowest measurement on the scale is just a straight up mg (I could measure out 6mg but not 6.25mg) but I figured that was close enough. Well, the problem is, I'm really not feeling especially confident in the measurements produced by my scale. The first two weeks of the switch from pill-splitter half-mini-tablets to precise measurements of 6mg (according to my scale...) has actually been really difficult. This didn't make any sense to me; it was the same dosage, in theory, except more precise. Now, granted, I allowed for the possibility that some of this was jet lag due to the work trip that I was on that kind of coincided with this, but even as I got past that, I just felt awful. Skeptical of the scale's outputs, I put a ground up half-mini-tablet next to what my scale considers to be 6mg, and it looks like I've actually halved my dosage (I've included a photo for scale). I actually measured a ground up half-mini-tab, and according to my scale, it's 14mg (which... obviously isn't true given the full mini-tab is only 12.5mg). The one thing I will say is that my scale's idea of 6mg has been remarkably consistent (every pill that I produced looks roughly the same...) but it's clearly not measuring out 6mg if we're to believe that my pharmacy got it right with their measurements. Obviously, I'm pretty frustrated by this whole ordeal. It kind of feels like my withdrawal symptoms (light sensitivity, extreme anxiety, confusion, migraines, etc.) have come back since the switch to more precise (in theory, anyway) doses. I spent a lot of money on the right scale for the job, I thought, and my condition seems to have worsened for the trouble. Should I just stick with the program at this point and keep going with the measured out 6mg dosages or go back to the half-mini-tablets? And what should I do going forward? Alternatively, I was told by someone I could convert my dosage to a water formula (or something to that effect...) but I read up on that, and it's not especially clear how to do that with my Effexor XR mini tablets. My first thought is that I should just ride out the next little bit with the measured out 6mg dosages from my machine... I'm already more than two weeks into the switch, so I may as well keep going until I level out and stop feeling so grim. I get the sense that's not the best option, though. Curious for everyone's thoughts! Edited May 13, 2022 by ChessieCat added topic title before merging with existing topic 2012-2015 - Venlafaxine (between 150mg and 225mg), about six months cold turkey ended that 2016 - a few months of Fluoxetine (Prozac) 2016 - back on Venlafaxine at between 150mg and 225mg 2017 - maybe six months of Escitalopram (Cipralex) 2017 to 2021 - back on Venlafaxine at 150mg, without interruption March 2021 - Fast taper off of Venlafaxine to try new drugs April 2021 - Vortioxetine (Trintellix) 10mg for a month until I went cold turkey in May for ~month (introduction of Lorazepam (Ativan) 0.5mg sublingual to cope with panic attacks, which I still use occasionally to this day) June and July 2021 - Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) 50mg to start, then 100mg, and then I tapered off of it in about two weeks to get back on Venlafaxine August 2021 - Venlafaxine 37.5mg September 2021 - Venlafaxine 75mg October 2021 - Venlafaxine 37.5mg November 2021 to now - very slowly tapering down from Venlafaxine, one half-mini tab at a time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neurogenesis Posted May 10, 2022 Share Posted May 10, 2022 Hello I started my taper ,the method used is a brassmonkey slide micro taper at 5 percent maximum rate I am taking 2 pills a day one in morning 1 at night Each pill is weighing 266 mg So i reduce 3 mg from pill's weight from the morning pill And i reduce 3 mg from the night pill Is this corect? So in week nr 2 each pill is down to 263mg weigh Is this corect? April 2020 Zuclopenthixol decanoate quetiapine,sertraline 150 mg march or april 2021 st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine 2021 tapered Quetiapine once a month reductions 300mg, 200mg ,100 , april 50 mg stopped Cold turkey, april st john worth May sertraline 150 mg, st john worth (highest strenght),nicotine,loratadine may:experienced symtoms i never had before treatment (intense delusion,intense paranoia) Rehospitalization Sertraline 150 mg stopped cold turkey during rehospitalization Zuclopenthixol decanoate depot injection (in june)2021 and restarted 400 mg,200mg quetiapine.curently tapering.On 263mgpw(taken 2x day) May neuroplasticity help me finalize the taper safely Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator brassmonkey Posted May 10, 2022 Moderator Share Posted May 10, 2022 Yes, that is correct. Your first reduction cycle would look like this: Week 1: 266 x .9875 = 263 Week 2: 266 x .975 = 260 Week 3: 266 x .9625 = 256 Weeks 4-6: 266 x .95 = 253 For your second cycle you use the same calculation except use 253 instead of 266. 1 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 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted May 13, 2022 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted May 13, 2022 @brassmonkey Are you able to help this member please? The post has been moved from elsewhere and is now further up the page. Thanks. Please refer to this post: On 5/10/2022 at 4:15 AM, SlimDunkin6o4 said: Having difficulty with measurements on the tapering homestretch Hey there, So I'm just on the home stretch of my taper, down to the last mini-tablet (12.5mg) of my Effexor XR. * 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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