Suttisan Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 (edited) Hi, I just thought I'd introduce myself and let you all know my story and if it resonates with any of you. I was pretty low before starting antidepressants but they sent me down to a place I haven't experienced before. I was on Sertraline for a couple of weeks at its lowest dose (this caused me to have racing suicidal thoughts so I stopped), I was then put on Venlaflaxine which made me feel like I was a ghost, after I stopped I had extreme suicidal thoughts again, these thoughts have plagued me now for the past 5 months. initially I had these thoughts 24/7, now they come in waves. Hopefully I will be free of these thoughts one day, it's more the feeling I get when I have them, it's like it isn't me thinking them at all. Has anyone had something similar after stopping these drugs. All the best to you all Suttisan Edited October 13, 2017 by baroquep Sertraline for 2 weeks, couldn't sleep, agitated,distressing suicidal thoughts. Stopped this drug without taper, after 2 weeks drug free put on Venlaflaxine, made me feel like a ghost, like I wasn't present, so stopped after a week. After stopping had racing suicidal thoughts which have been with me now since March 2017. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus baroquep Posted October 13, 2017 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted October 13, 2017 Hi Suttisan, Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA). Am glad that you found the site. You don't give us much information to go on and would ask that you complete your withdrawal history signature so that we have a better idea of what you are dealing with. SA recommends tapering by no more than 10% of your current dose followed by a hold of about 4 weeks to allow the brain to adapt to the changes in the central nervous system (CNS). When changes are made too quickly, doses are alternated/skipped or the drug is discontinued abruptly, the brain is unable to adapt to the changes and this results in uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms. What is Withdrawal Syndrome?How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain aka Brain Remodelling Before being able to provide you with any specific information with respect to your current situation, we would ask that you summarize your withdrawal/drug history in a signature - ALL drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months in particular? We ask all members to provide their drug history as a signature. This will be a permanent part of your introduction and It helps moderators to be able to see all of your details at a glance. You can find the information on how to complete your signature at the link below: Instructions: Withdrawal History Signature • Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses. • A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. • 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. Current Prescription Drugs for Hypothyroidism: Synthroid 100mcg / Cytomel 5mcg (15 years Pristiq/Effexor)Tapering Schedule September 15, 2016 - switched from Pristiq 50mg to Effexor XR 75mg; November 10, 2016 - reduced to 67.5 Effexor XR December 9, 2016 - reduced 60.75 January 5, 2017 - reduced 54.67 January 30, 2017 - reduced to 49.0 February 20, 2017 - reduced to 44.0 May 20, 2017 - reduced to 40.25 (holding for additional month due to late onset of withdrawal symptoms after this taper) July 17, 2017 - reduced to 38.24 August 15, 2017 - reduced to 37.5 (50% of my original dose) October 15, 2017 - reduced to 35.6 November 12, 2017 - reduced to 33.8 December 15, 2017 - up-dose to 35.6 December 28, 2017 - up-dose to 37.5 Link to comment
nz11 Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Any update? 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
Suttisan Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 Hi, I still have suicidal thoughts, I only get these every few weeks now though, they are a lot more subtle but still give me cause for concern. I take lots of supplements which I think are helping. I haven't been the same since taking anti depressants to be honest, I have no feelings, I haven't laughed or cried for over a year, I hope to feel the joy of seeing a good film again one day, for now it's zombie mode, hopefully I don;t do anything stupid, I don;t think I will, it just makes life a struggle is all. Sertraline for 2 weeks, couldn't sleep, agitated,distressing suicidal thoughts. Stopped this drug without taper, after 2 weeks drug free put on Venlaflaxine, made me feel like a ghost, like I wasn't present, so stopped after a week. After stopping had racing suicidal thoughts which have been with me now since March 2017. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Gridley Posted February 19, 2018 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted February 19, 2018 Good to hear from you, Suttisan. I'm glad the suicidal thoughts are less frequent. If the supplements are working for you, that's great. A few suggestions: Start with low doses and work up since our nervous systems are sensitized. Add only one supplement at a time, so if something doesn't agree with you, you can identify the cause. Many members find B vitamins to be too activating, so monitor how your system reacts. Two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium and omega fish oil, which many find calming to the nervous system. Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) Please research all supplements first and only add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems. The non-drug techniques in these links have helped many members deal with withdrawal: The Dr. Claire Weekes Method of Recovering from a Sensitized Nervous System Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms. Best, Gridley Gridley Introduction Lexapro 20 mg since 2004. Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017. End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg Oct. 30, 2020 Jump to zero from 0.025mg. Current dose: 0.000mg 3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete. Ativan 1 mg to 1.875mg 1986-2020, two CT's and reinstatements Nov. 2020, 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover to 18.75mg Valium Feb. 2021, begin 10%/4 week taper of 18.75mg Valium End 2021 year 1 of Valium taper at 6mg End 2022 year 2 of Valium taper at 2.75mg End 2023 year 3 of Valium taper at 1mg Jan. 24, 2024: Hold at 1mg and shift to Imipramine taper. Taper is 95% complete. Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986. Jan.-Sept. 2016 tapered to 14.4mg March 22, 2022: Begin 10%/4 week taper Aug. 5, 2022: hold at 9.5mg and shift to Valium taper Jan. 24, 2024: Resume Imipramine taper. Current dose as of April 1: 6.8mg Taper is 91% complete. Supplements: multiple, quercetin, omega-3, vitamins C, E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotics, zinc, melatonin .3mg, iron, serrapeptase, nattokinase I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice but simply information based on my own experience, as well as other members who have survived these drugs. Link to comment
Suttisan Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 thx so much for the reply, I really appreciate the advice. Sertraline for 2 weeks, couldn't sleep, agitated,distressing suicidal thoughts. Stopped this drug without taper, after 2 weeks drug free put on Venlaflaxine, made me feel like a ghost, like I wasn't present, so stopped after a week. After stopping had racing suicidal thoughts which have been with me now since March 2017. Link to comment
Suttisan Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 Getting good results from 5mg lithium orotate daily, just thought I'd let you know. Cheers Sertraline for 2 weeks, couldn't sleep, agitated,distressing suicidal thoughts. Stopped this drug without taper, after 2 weeks drug free put on Venlaflaxine, made me feel like a ghost, like I wasn't present, so stopped after a week. After stopping had racing suicidal thoughts which have been with me now since March 2017. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted December 28, 2018 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted December 28, 2018 Please update your drug signature with drug/s, date/s, dose/s. Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature * 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
Administrator Altostrata Posted December 29, 2018 Administrator Share Posted December 29, 2018 What kind of results, Suttisan? 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. Link to comment
Suttisan Posted December 29, 2018 Author Share Posted December 29, 2018 9 minutes ago, Altostrata said: What kind of results, Suttisan? The suicidal thoughts I got from the zoloft have pretty much disappeared in a few weeks, feeling a bit calmer too. Incidentally suicide / homicide rates are lower in cities with higher amounts of lithium in their water. Sertraline for 2 weeks, couldn't sleep, agitated,distressing suicidal thoughts. Stopped this drug without taper, after 2 weeks drug free put on Venlaflaxine, made me feel like a ghost, like I wasn't present, so stopped after a week. After stopping had racing suicidal thoughts which have been with me now since March 2017. Link to comment
Administrator Altostrata Posted December 29, 2018 Administrator Share Posted December 29, 2018 1 hour ago, Suttisan said: The suicidal thoughts I got from the zoloft have pretty much disappeared in a few weeks, feeling a bit calmer too. Incidentally suicide / homicide rates are lower in cities with higher amounts of lithium in their water. That's what fans of lithium orotate say. Please be aware that although it's a relatively tiny dosage, this supplement can also cause kidney or thyroid damage. Be sure not to overdo it, lithium is toxic. It might be a good idea to get baseline kidney and thyroid function blood tests now, test every 6 months to be sure they haven't been hurt. 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. Link to comment
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