Fightingawar: Withdrawals after having serotonin syndrome

[Audrey88]

I definitely know what you mean about the doctors not believing in withdrawals. My doctor said I should have been totally fine in two weeks, that's a joke. I know it can feel like forever but one day you will wake up and not even think about it so much and little things will become easier and easier, but I know how you feel I was scared I permanently damaged myself. Im also 3 1/2 months in and am not feeling totally normal yet, still a lot of anxiety and sad feelings but a lot better than before. I think those windows you talk about are signs of getting better. On great supper food that helped me was broccoli , really packed with great vitamins and minerals to heal you faster. I know it can be gross sometimes. Healthy food really is the best medicine.

[Fightingawar]

Okay so I was never able to reinstate last time because I was having some heart related issues so I couldn’t start anything which I believe was from withdrawals but of course the doctors did not so here I am it’s been 4 months off today. Is it to late to reinstate something now, I have no idea what because I wanted to come here first and ask. My anxiety is all day everyday I’m not functioning because of it it’s like a constant panic attack still. So I don’t know what to do need some advice. The doctors are on my back bad they said I need to be back on a antidepressant that I can’t continue to love this way. I’m scared I don’t know what to do I thought I would feel at least a little better by now.

[Survivor1]

Hello Fighting, sorry you are not doing well.  If it were me, I would try reinstating at 0.5 mg.  I reinstated seroquel after 3 months off at 0.5mg and it worked (took 3 additional months to find relief, about I did).  I feel if I hadn't reinstated, I would still be in WD from seroquel.

 

Even though you are 4 months out, I think reinstating still has a chance of working.  If not, 0.5 mg is not too bad to discontinue from.  The longer you wait, the less chance reinstating will work.  So I would advise to make a decision NOW, and stick with it.  

 

I hope this makes it a little easier to decide which way to go.  Best wishes.

[Fightingawar]

But my only problem is they will not let me reinstate the medication I was on which was clomprimine because they don’t know if I had serotonin syndrome so they said I could try Nortriptyline or Trintellix but a moderator from another group said Nortriptyline will probably make my anxiety worse because it hits norepinephrine much harder then clomprimine but the moderator from that group said to ask here again about reinstatement of nortriptyline and see what they think. I know they say to go back on clomprimine but I can not so I have to figure out what to reinstate.

[Survivor1]

I think you should decide which group you feel you get the better information from, and stick with that group.  Personally, I feel I get good information here, so I don't even look anywhere else for advice.  

 

Your choice is between starting Nortriptyline (advice from here) or doing nothing.  Whatever decision you make, stick with it. 

[Fightingawar]

It’s just a page on Facebook for support and I asked the moderator what he thought and that’s what he said but told me to ask here because they are more experienced in it. My doctor is the one that wants me to start the Nortriptyline my problem is wanting to know if it’s the right choice and being scared of it being 4 months out.

[Fightingawar]

What is considered the acute phase of withdrawals how many months?

[Altostrata]

Acute withdrawal is what happens right after you go off the drug. As medicine believes it lasts only a few weeks, anything after that is post-acute withdrawal syndrome (PAWS).

 

We had an extensive discussion about nortriptyline back a ways in this topic. Please re-read it from the beginning.

 

I do not believe nortriptyline "hits norepinephrine much harder then clomipramine", that doesn't make any sense; even if it did, that might not be a bad thing, it could make you sleepy.

[Fightingawar]

Okay so no matter how hard I try to distinguish my severe anxiety from withdrawals or my original anxiety coming back I can’t do it. I try to figure it out but it seems impossible to know. So that being said if it is my original condition coming back what do I do? I’m almost 5 months off a lot of the physical symptoms are starting to get better but the anxiety and depression is there always, which makes it hard for me to leave my house. I just didn’t know if anyone had any recommendations to help with anxiety. All I can do right now is pray that it gets better.

[ChessieCat]

On 6/1/2018 at 9:20 AM, ChessieCat said:

 

Whether the original cause was situational or not we need to learn non drug ways of coping.  All the drugs did/do is numb our feelings.  Even though the anxiety I have been experiencing is WD related (the reason for going on AD was situational) I have found the non drug techniques I have learned since joining SA help me to cope with it.  Several times using them I have been able to stop myself from going into full blown panic attack and at least once I managed to stop myself from becoming hysterical.  

 

Non-drug techniques to cope

 

Claire Weekes' Method

 

Audio:  First Aid for Panic (4 minutes)
 

CBT Course:  An Introductory Self-Help Course in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy
 

Audio:  How to Recover from Anxiety - Dr Claire Weekes
 

Anxiety Stuff - all kinds of stuff about anxiety attacks and things that help ...

 

 

[Fightingawar]

Thank you @ChessieCat ❤️

[ChessieCat]

It's worthwhile going back through the responses you have already received.

[Fightingawar]

Has anyone had low boood sugar in withdrawals? I feel like it crashes throughout the day. And this anxiety is still as bad as it was almost 5 months ago, I still barely get out of the bed. Can I really keep going like this, and survive?

[Fightingawar]

Okay so I am almost 5 months off of clomprimine cold turkey and the anxiety is still so severe all day long I don’t know what to do. I didn’t reinstate because I was having some cardiac problems and tricyclics can make that worse so the only thing I can take are the other antidepressants. I know it’s dangerous to reinstate this late and also a whole different class of medication but I honestly don’t know what to do. I’m still taking Ativan 3 mg a day and I feel like it’s doing nothing. I can’t keep going like this, am I still in acute withdrawals?

[Altostrata]

What is your daily symptom pattern? Please keep daily notes on paper about your symptoms, when you take your drugs, and their dosages. Use a simple list format with time of day on the left and notation (symptom, drug and dosage) on the right.

 

[Fightingawar]

Okay I will start doing that, but my symptoms now are severe anxiety, panic attacks, body aches, severe dry mouth, headaches, blood sugar fluctuations, depression. I take my Ativan 3 times a day 6:00am, 12:00pm, 6:00pm. I will start writing it down tomorrow what time the symptoms come and all that but the anxiety is pretty constant. It’s to late to go on medication isn’t it? At what stage is acute usually over? 

[Fightingawar]

Has anyone come off a antidepressant and been in withdrawal but was still on a benzo that they were in tolerance too, did you start tapering during withdrawal or wait till you were out of one withdrawal before going into another one? And how do I know if it’s not me being in tolerance to the benzo that’s causing my symptoms? I’m so confused I need some guidance. Plus I’m trying to debate going back on antidepressants to stabilize I need some guidance and steps to take please!!

[Altostrata]

On 7/20/2018 at 1:09 PM, Altostrata said:

What is your daily symptom pattern? Please keep daily notes on paper about your symptoms, when you take your drugs, and their dosages. Use a simple list format with time of day on the left and notation (symptom, drug and dosage) on the right.

 

 

Fighting, we are not kidding when we say we need that symptom pattern.

 

We can't answer your question about what to do without the symptom pattern. That means times of day for the symptoms.

[Fightingawar]

I’m sorry I have it written down right here in front of me I wrote it down on paper like you told me to do. Am I supposed to post it here everyday or just once please be more specific I got confused I’m really going through a lot right now I didn’t do it on purpose. So should I post it for today?

[Fightingawar]

I really feel alone please don’t be upset with me this group is all I have that understands what I’m going through I’m sorry if I’m not doing things the right way 😪

[Fightingawar]

July 21, 2018 

6:00am-Ativan 1mg

I go back to sleep after I take it 

8:30am-wake up with severe anxiety and shaking 

10:00pm-metoprolol 50 mg

11:00am-anxiety panic dry mouth 

11:30am-body aches 

12:00pm-Ativan 1 mg 

2:00pm-anxiety panic

3:00-body aches

4:00pm-headache

4:30-anxiety panic

5:00-short of breath, dry mouth bad

6:00pm- Ativan 1mg

6:30pm-headache 

7:00pm-body aches 

10:00pm-metoprolol 50mg

10:30pm-bed 

The anxiety and panic normally last for a couple of hours each time 

 

[Audrey88]

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Hi, Im so sorry you are still feeling this way. I wanted to ask how your diet and appetite is? I know when I was going through the worst times its really hard to eat because I had no appetite. but when I did eat I would eat only extremely healthy food like dark green lettuce, broccoli, tomatoes,  blueberries, strawberries,  organic oatmeal ( not the instant kind), avocados, fruits like apples and bananas. I think you might be surprised how much great vitamins and minerals these kinds of foods have. I found it helped heal me a lot faster once I changed up my diet. Also cutting out sweets like chocolate, caffeine and alcohol really helped keep the anxiety under control. Fast food makes you just feel worse. Also drink plenty of water all day. I hope this helps you a little bit.

 

 

 

[Fightingawar]

July 22, 2018

6:00am-Ativan 1mg

8:30-anxiety 

9:00-headache 

10:00-metoprolol 50mg

11:00-anxiety 

12:00-Ativan 1mg

1:00-nausea 

3:00-Anxiety

4:00-anxiety, depression, obsessive thoughts, shaking 

5:00- anxiety, shaking, feels like sugar low 

6:00-Ativan 1 mg

7:00- Headache 

9:00- feels like low blood sugar 

10:00-bed

[Fightingawar]

@Audrey88 I have cleaned up my diet a lot I have no sugar or caffeine. I have this weird thing going on though I feel like I get low blood sugar a lot and I feel like I don’t have a lot of appetite but I feel like I’m starving but can’t really eat much if that makes sense at all. I don’t know I’m just trying to figure out what to do next. I don’t know if I should start another antidepressant or try to get off this Ativan it’s definitely a mind war everyday.

[Altostrata]

The Ativan is causing a paradoxical reaction. Instead of calming, it is causing anxiety. You need to take smaller doses more often.

 

Please start a topic for yourself in the Benzo forum, post your symptom pattern, and ask Shep about getting a schedule for the Ativan. Once that gets settled, you can start tapering the Ativan.

[Shep]

Fightingawar's benzo topic is here:

 

Fightingawar Ativan Taper

 

Fighting, please see your new Ativan schedule, which spaces your dose out evenly 6 times a day. 

 

 

[Fightingawar]

Has abyone had a lot of hair loss in withdrawals I’m really starting to freak out, I have thick hair but I feel like im losing a lot it feels so thin now 😔

[manymoretodays]

I had worries about that too early on, Fightingawar.    Not so much anymore.  Don't freak out. 

We do have a discussion on it here with other's experiences and wisdom.  Quite a few comments there.  I hope it helps.

 

Hair Problems: Hair loss......

 

Love, peace, healing, and growth,

mmt

 

Also you can always check to see if we have any topics already on whatever it is that concerns you by typing in your main browser(when off this site, or in a new window) something like this:

Hair loss survivingantidepressants.org

That's what I just did.

hugs

[Fightingawar]

Thank you @manymoretodays when did that subside for you?

[Fightingawar]

Is it normal to be 5 months off your AD CT and still be in acute severe withdrawals?

[brassmonkey]

Hi Fighting-- I think you might find this link informative:  Are We There Yet? How Long is Withdrawal Going to Take?

[Fightingawar]

Thank you @brassmonkey just got done reading it all and taking it all on. I really need to reinstate but it’s so risky

[Fightingawar]

I had a window yesterday thank God I had no symptoms all day for the first time in months. My question is if my Ativan is not working why didn’t I get symptoms from it yesterday?  I’m still getting off the Ativan but is it at all possible that the Ativan is still working but my anxiety is just so bad it’s not covering it? These medications are so confusing but I’m so happy I got a window just wish it lasted longer then a day. I have a psychiatrist appointment tomorrow I’m hoping it goes well she wants me back on meds like yesterday and I have to talk to her about my Ativan starting some kind of taper soon, I’m so scared to go off them

[Fightingawar]

So I had that window and now I am 100 times worse then I was when this started 5 months ago, I feel like I’m dying!! Why am I so much worse please advice anyone 😪

[coldturkmama]

It’s a wave and they suck.  

they can feel worse or just as bad as the start. I’m sorry you’re suffering.

[JLex1981]

Why don’t you try reinstating an anti depressant?