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Vampybear: Prozac tapering help needed


Vampybear

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I was on flu 20mg for 17 weeks and during that time had horrific sides effects that included no appetite, constant diorreah, huge 4 hour panic attacks and scared to leave home and no sleep.

 

After 3 months most went but sleep was still issue. I could get to sleep and stay a sleep if I used quitipine but that's not long term solution due to health risks.

 

So doctor agreed to give me melatonin sleep hormone and halve my flu to 10mg on 2 november. Have had lovely 3 weeks of good sleep and no issues with mood. Last couple of days I've woke with panic, had erratic sleep, and now lost appetite again and have diarreah and low thoughts. I read flu withdrawal can take 3 weeks to kick in due to long half life.

 

My question is do I continue with 10mg and see if withdrawal improves or go back to 20mg because when my body still had that in system along with melatonin I was functioning. I don't like the hair loss it was giving me either.  Or another drug?  Paroxetine  worked in past but weight gain and painful withdrawal and sleepy all time. 

 

Just not sure what to do that will cause me least pain and effects as I'm single parent of a 5 year old and need to function 

Edited by baroquep

Generalised Anxiety Disorder- had for life, but diagnosed 2011/ Depression on and off since teenager. 

2013- 20 mg Paroxetine (Paxil). First time ever used SRRIS as I had a baby and wanted to get over it quickly

2016- Tried to taper off but had little GP support- within months was back up to 20 mg due to huge panic attacks and dizziness

Early 2017- Slowly tapered off Paroxetine 1mg per week/fortnight. On nothing April-June- but gradual increase in anxiety, panic attacks 

3 July 2017- put onto 20mg Fluoxetine (Prozac) for huge suicidal thoughts, crying, depressive episode

July-Sept- Huge side effects including, no appetite, no sleep, constant diorreah, huge panic attacks up to 4 hours long many times per day, increased suicidal thoughts, hair loss, shakes, sweats, blurred vision

Sept- side effects began to decrease and left with insomnia. Took Quitiopine on and off for few weeks to get sleep (25mg) and this then halved to 12.5mg as 25mg was way too much for me. Also increased appetite and lethargy too much. 

Nov 2nd- Asked to change from quitipine to Circadin (melatonin sleep hormone) as much more natural. Decreased to 10mg Prozac as doc felt was too stimulated by 20mg as even after days of hard physical work my brain would not go to sleep as felt wired. Nov 3-Nov 25 - great three weeks of getting to sleep easier, mood stable, no panics (only very minor) Nov 25-29th -Huge panic attacks, shakes, no appetite, low thoughts- all back to how it was at start of Prozac- Prozac takes 21 days to start withdrawal? Do I stick at 10mg or increase?Last 2days had less anxiety am i adjusting? 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Vampybear, 

 

Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA), I’m glad you found this site.  Sorry to hear that you are dealing with some uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms after what looks like a very short time on Prozac.  Is Prozac the only antidepressant that you have taken?  You may not be aware, but when an antidepressant is discontinued abruptly, doses skipped/alternated or a person tapers off too quickly this puts you at risk for developing withdrawal syndrome.  Because you have experienced difficulties since reducing Prozac by 50% recently, it would appear that your central nervous system has destabilized after reducing Prozac by such a large dose.  You are correct that because of Prozac's long half-life, it can take some time before withdrawal symptoms appear.   How long and at what dose did you take quitipine?  

 

Without knowing about your drug/tapering history beyond what you have written above, it will be hard to provide you with a specific plan to help you stabilize.  We ask all of our members to fill out a withdrawal signature history so that all of your information can be read at a glance.  This helps moderators review your tapering/drug history and we would ask that you follow the instructions at the link below.

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

Surviving Antidepressants recommends tapering by 10% of your current dose with at a hold of at least four weeks before your next decrease.  The 10% taper recommendation is a harm reduction approach to going off psychiatric drugs.  Some people may have to taper at an even more conservative rate as they are sensitive to even the smallest drops.  I am going to attach a few links so that you can become familiar with the recommendations made by Surviving Antidepressants and would ask that you review the links and complete your withdrawal history signature so that one of the moderators can get back to you with a plan specific to your situation to help you get back on track.

 

What is Withdrawal Syndrome?

Before you begin tapering what you need to know
Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

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

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Generalised Anxiety Disorder- had for life, but diagnosed 2011/ Depression on and off since teenager. 

2013- 20 mg Paroxetine (Paxil). First time ever used SRRIS as I had a baby and wanted to get over it quickly

2016- Tried to taper off but had little GP support- within months was back up to 20 mg due to huge panic attacks and dizziness

Early 2017- Slowly tapered off Paroxetine 1mg per week/fortnight. On nothing April-June- but gradual increase in anxiety, panic attacks 

3 July 2017- put onto 20mg Fluoxetine (Prozac) for huge suicidal thoughts, crying, depressive episode

July-Sept- Huge side effects including, no appetite, no sleep, constant diorreah, huge panic attacks up to 4 hours long many times per day, increased suicidal thoughts, hair loss, shakes, sweats, blurred vision

Sept- side effects began to decrease and left with insomnia. Took Quitiopine on and off for few weeks to get sleep (25mg) and this then halved to 12.5mg as 25mg was way too much for me. Also increased appetite and lethargy too much. 

Nov 2nd- Asked to change from quitipine to Circadin (melatonin sleep hormone) as much more natural. Decreased to 10mg Prozac as doc felt was too stimulated by 20mg as even after days of hard physical work my brain would not go to sleep as felt wired. Nov 3-Nov 25 - great three weeks of getting to sleep easier, mood stable, no panics (only very minor) Nov 25-29th -Huge panic attacks, shakes, no appetite, low thoughts- all back to how it was at start of Prozac- Prozac takes 21 days to start withdrawal? Do I stick at 10mg or increase?Last 2days had less anxiety am i adjusting? 

Generalised Anxiety Disorder- had for life, but diagnosed 2011/ Depression on and off since teenager. 

2013- 20 mg Paroxetine (Paxil). First time ever used SRRIS as I had a baby and wanted to get over it quickly

2016- Tried to taper off but had little GP support- within months was back up to 20 mg due to huge panic attacks and dizziness

Early 2017- Slowly tapered off Paroxetine 1mg per week/fortnight. On nothing April-June- but gradual increase in anxiety, panic attacks 

3 July 2017- put onto 20mg Fluoxetine (Prozac) for huge suicidal thoughts, crying, depressive episode

July-Sept- Huge side effects including, no appetite, no sleep, constant diorreah, huge panic attacks up to 4 hours long many times per day, increased suicidal thoughts, hair loss, shakes, sweats, blurred vision

Sept- side effects began to decrease and left with insomnia. Took Quitiopine on and off for few weeks to get sleep (25mg) and this then halved to 12.5mg as 25mg was way too much for me. Also increased appetite and lethargy too much. 

Nov 2nd- Asked to change from quitipine to Circadin (melatonin sleep hormone) as much more natural. Decreased to 10mg Prozac as doc felt was too stimulated by 20mg as even after days of hard physical work my brain would not go to sleep as felt wired. Nov 3-Nov 25 - great three weeks of getting to sleep easier, mood stable, no panics (only very minor) Nov 25-29th -Huge panic attacks, shakes, no appetite, low thoughts- all back to how it was at start of Prozac- Prozac takes 21 days to start withdrawal? Do I stick at 10mg or increase?Last 2days had less anxiety am i adjusting? 

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On 11/27/2017 at 2:41 AM, Vampybear said:

I was on flu 20mg for 17 weeks and during that time had horrific sides effects that included no appetite, constant diorreah, huge 4 hour panic attacks and scared to leave home and no sleep.

 

After 3 months most went but sleep was still issue. I could get to sleep and stay a sleep if I used quitipine but that's not long term solution due to health risks.

 

So doctor agreed to give me melatonin sleep hormone and halve my flu to 10mg on 2 november. Have had lovely 3 weeks of good sleep and no issues with mood. Last couple of days I've woke with panic, had erratic sleep, and now lost appetite again and have diarreah and low thoughts. I read flu withdrawal can take 3 weeks to kick in due to long half life.

 

My question is do I continue with 10mg and see if withdrawal improves or go back to 20mg because when my body still had that in system along with melatonin I was functioning. I don't like the hair loss it was giving me either.  Or another drug?  Paroxetine  worked in past but weight gain and painful withdrawal and sleepy all time. 

 

Just not sure what to do that will cause me least pain and effects as I'm single parent of a 5 year old and need to function 

feel better

JOINED THIS BOARD AUGUST 27, 2017

 

 

250mg trazodone

250mg   Aug 21, 2017  tapering before I found SA

200mg -  Aug 21, 2017 to Aug 25, 2017 tapering before found SA

225mg -  Aug 26, 2017  updose holding

November 26, 2017. I reinstated my original dose of 250mg  trazodone..planning on holding for a very long time. No more withdrawal

June 14, 2020  at 10% 507  My first start of my trazodone 250mg  taper

6/16/20  90 mgai    7/26/20   81 mgai    9/6/20  72 mg ai 10/17/20- updose to 77 mgai  11/11/20- updose to 81 mgai  

 

 

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On 11/28/2017 at 7:26 PM, baroquep said:

Hi Vampybear, 

 

Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA), I’m glad you found this site.  Sorry to hear that you are dealing with some uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms after what looks like a very short time on Prozac.  Is Prozac the only antidepressant that you have taken?  You may not be aware, but when an antidepressant is discontinued abruptly, doses skipped/alternated or a person tapers off too quickly this puts you at risk for developing withdrawal syndrome.  Because you have experienced difficulties since reducing Prozac by 50% recently, it would appear that your central nervous system has destabilized after reducing Prozac by such a large dose.  You are correct that because of Prozac's long half-life, it can take some time before withdrawal symptoms appear.   How long and at what dose did you take quitipine?  

 

Without knowing about your drug/tapering history beyond what you have written above, it will be hard to provide you with a specific plan to help you stabilize.  We ask all of our members to fill out a withdrawal signature history so that all of your information can be read at a glance.  This helps moderators review your tapering/drug history and we would ask that you follow the instructions at the link below.

 

Instructions:  Withdrawal History Signature

 

Surviving Antidepressants recommends tapering by 10% of your current dose with at a hold of at least four weeks before your next decrease.  The 10% taper recommendation is a harm reduction approach to going off psychiatric drugs.  Some people may have to taper at an even more conservative rate as they are sensitive to even the smallest drops.  I am going to attach a few links so that you can become familiar with the recommendations made by Surviving Antidepressants and would ask that you review the links and complete your withdrawal history signature so that one of the moderators can get back to you with a plan specific to your situation to help you get back on track.

 

What is Withdrawal Syndrome?

Before you begin tapering what you need to know
Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

hi baro, i been on this site since august and tapered my drug without any help, i didnt know this board, and for the past 3 months i was at 225mg, but wasnt seeing any improvement, so what i did couple days ago was i reinstated back to my original dose which is 250mg of trazodone, this is the only drug i have been on  in the 2 yers of using, when i taper at the tiime i had stop my drug for one day cold turkey, and then i  found this board, and got back on my drug at 225mg,  with gods help i hope he can pull me through this. i was doing a compound pharmacy but it was for only 225mg, and i am using my 250mg pill that i have at home.

 

to get to 237.5mg  when i get stable will be 5 percent instead of 10 percent but i dont  even know as yet how to make 237.5 im horrible in math... the worst. thanks for listening. i just want to share my tapering with members on this site.

JOINED THIS BOARD AUGUST 27, 2017

 

 

250mg trazodone

250mg   Aug 21, 2017  tapering before I found SA

200mg -  Aug 21, 2017 to Aug 25, 2017 tapering before found SA

225mg -  Aug 26, 2017  updose holding

November 26, 2017. I reinstated my original dose of 250mg  trazodone..planning on holding for a very long time. No more withdrawal

June 14, 2020  at 10% 507  My first start of my trazodone 250mg  taper

6/16/20  90 mgai    7/26/20   81 mgai    9/6/20  72 mg ai 10/17/20- updose to 77 mgai  11/11/20- updose to 81 mgai  

 

 

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On 29/11/2017 at 5:00 AM, Vampybear said:

Nov 25-29th -Huge panic attacks, shakes, no appetite, low thoughts- all back to how it was at start of Prozac- Prozac takes 21 days to start withdrawal? Do I stick at 10mg or increase?Last 2days had less anxiety am i adjusting? 

 

Hey Vampybear,

 

I'm new here too, but I've also experienced rapid withdrawal before and it sucks. It can happen right away when you change the dose or for some people it takes longer for the symptoms to start. I don't think that Prozac has a specific number of days. Are you feeling any better since your last post? Hopefully one of the mods can give you advice on where to go from here.

 

Cheers,

Marmot

2004: Clonazepam and Celexa. 2005 - 2006: Effexor, then increased to high dose, then switched to Valproate and Seroquel. 2007: Wellbutrin + Strattera + Celexa. 2007 - 2008: Wellbutrin + Adderall + Paxil. 2008 - 2012: Wellbutrin + occasional SSRIs when I had worsened "depression", which happened around 4 times, usually after CT of WB. 2012 - 2014: WB + Sertraline, then WB + Pristiq (awful W/D) then WB + rTMS, then ketamine. 2014 - 2016: Wellbutrin 200 mg + Abilify 4 mg + Adderall 20-40 mg + Cipralex 20 mg. Oct 2016: "Tapered" Cipralex, felt outrageously anxious, irritable. Dec 2016: "Tapered" Adderall, then felt depressed, hopeless, fatigued.  Feb 6 2017: reinstated 20 mg Adderall. Mar 2017: switched to Vyvanse, upped to 30 mg. May - Aug 2017: "Tapered" Vyvanse + Abilify to zero. Oct 25, 2017: Wellbutrin from 200 to 100 mg. Sep 10, 2018:  Wellbutrin from 90 to 60 mg. Oct 29, 2018: WB from 60 to 50 mg. Dec 19, 2018: WB from 50 to 45 mg. Apr 15, 2019: WB 41 mg. May 14, 2019: WB 37 mg. Jun 8, 2019: WB 33 mg. Jul 22: WB 30 mg, then down by around 10% per month. Aug 2020: 0

 

Working hard to take my life back. Anything I say here is as a friend or peer supporter; it is not medical advice.

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