bubbles

[bubbles]

Saturday, still all good

[bubbles]

Thursday, still all good. Absolutely nothing I could think was WD.

[Gracee]

Hi Bubbles,   I am so happy your are comfortable in your tapering.    Way to go!!!!!!

❤️

[bubbles]

8 hours ago, Gracee said:

Hi Bubbles,   I am so happy your are comfortable in your tapering.    Way to go!!!!!!

❤️

 

Thanks Gracee. I find I usually have a few drops that are fine and then after 3? 4? they catch up with me a bit and I want to hold for a while. But it's looking good to drop again on the weekend. How is your taper going?

[Gracee]

5 hours ago, bubbles said:

 

Thanks Gracee. I find I usually have a few drops that are fine and then after 3? 4? they catch up with me a bit and I want to hold for a while. But it's looking good to drop again on the weekend. How is your taper going?

 

Thanks for asking, bubbles.   I'm doing fine with my WD.   However, tapering from Paxil's larger doses (which I'm at) tends to be easier going than when you get to the small ones.   I'm sure you've discovered that's the case with Sertraline as well.  Best wishes on continued good results. 

[bubbles]

9 hours ago, Gracee said:

 

Thanks for asking, bubbles.   I'm doing fine with my WD.   However, tapering from Paxil's larger doses (which I'm at) tends to be easier going than when you get to the small ones.   I'm sure you've discovered that's the case with Sertraline as well.  Best wishes on continued good results.  

 

Yes, it was the same with sertraline. Easier at the top end - I had to do a 25% drop from my top dose due to severe side effects, and while it was a bit rough, it was less rough than a smaller drop at the pointy end - where I am now. I'm taking a long time with this taper and I think that's the main reason why it's going well. I seem to find that a few drops are okay and then I need a hold. Oh well, it is what it is. Hope your taper goes well.

[Carmie]

Hi Bubbles, 

 

Glad to hear everything is going well💚

[bubbles]

Thanks @Carmie

 

Today (being a Sunday and the day my weekly pillbox starts) is the first day of my next 10% drop, from 4.5mg to 4.1mg. I'll do 4.4 for a few days, then 4.3, 4.2 and 4.1 which I'll hold. Definitely finding these smaller cuts easier than one bigger drop.

[Carmie]

All the best with your continued tapering Bubbles, 

 

You look like you’ve got a really good plan happening there, Sending hugs🤗

[JackieDecides]

On 4/20/2019 at 8:52 PM, bubbles said:

Definitely finding these smaller cuts easier than one bigger drop.

😍  I'm glad it's going so well. 

[bubbles]

9 hours ago, JackieDecides said:

😍  I'm glad it's going so well. 

 

Thanks @JackieDecides. I seem to find that a few consecutive drops are fine and then I start to feel like I need a longer break, so I'm playing it by ear, but overall I'm going really well. I wouldn't quite say the end is in sight, but I'm getting there.

[bubbles]

I'm okay but I think I'll stick on 4.4mg for a few days longer.

[bubbles]

I took 4.4 for 5 days and then moved down to 4.3. It'll be 4.2 in a few days and then Sunday of next week will be 4.1mg. Today I'm at:

 

Current: down 95.7mg to 4.3mg. I've updated my signature but already I'm uncertain of dates, lol at myself.

 

I'm okay. I'm a bit stressed with work and deadlines and stuff happening, but I just have to power through. I did some extra on the weekend which helped to bring the stress levels somewhat. It's not WD, it's just a busy time of the year until about the end of May. It will settle down again after that for a while and pick up again later in the year, but I can see the cycles and patterns and it helps not to get overwhelmed by it. It's another reason to go slowly with these drops.

 

All good, moving forward.

[bubbles]

Down to 4.2mg yesterday. It's fine so far.

[bubbles]

So today will be 4.1mg, which is down 95.9mg from my original high of 100mg. I'll hold for two weeks minimum, but in fact I might hold an extra week or two, depending on what is going on in my life - as always seems to be the case, I'm really busy. I'm doing really well.

 

Next step: 19 May (decide to drop or hold) to 3.6mg.

[nick1990]

So glad your doing so well with your taper bubbles. Make sure you have some good holds , it’s so important and a few extra weeks here and there can make a huge difference. 

[bubbles]

1 hour ago, nick1990 said:

So glad your doing so well with your taper bubbles. Make sure you have some good holds , it’s so important and a few extra weeks here and there can make a huge difference. 

 

Thanks @nick1990. Yes, I find that I usually do about 3 drops before I want to have a longer hold. I'll be in the middle of a lot of a heavy workload at 19 May and that will go on for a month or so, so I might preempt that and hold longer then since I can't afford to make myself unwell. I'll see how it feels. So far I'm not noticing these microdrops, which is nice.

[bubbles]

Still going well.

 

(And just re-reading the above post, can't write! Must have deleted a bit and not read it properly!)

[bubbles]

Saturday. Feeling fine.

[bubbles]

Thursday, still fine. Decision day is Saturday evening when I count out my pills for next week. Currently on 4.1, next drop will be to 3.6, which will be done in five drops - 4/3.9/3.8/3.7/3.6, so a microdrop every 3-4 days should take up about two weeks. That's been working well for me so I'll do that again. And then a two week hold at a minimum.

 

My work related pressure has been lifted somewhat, though I'll still be busy for the next few weeks. I have been feeling completely normal - no symptoms at all from the last two drops, but if there is even the slightest wobble between now and counting out pills day, I'll hold another week.

 

[Rosetta]

So very happy to see you are doing well. -R

[JackieDecides]

On 5/15/2019 at 5:14 PM, bubbles said:

I have been feeling completely normal - no symptoms at all from the last two drops

 

wow, that is excellent. I hope it continues. 

[bubbles]

Thanks @Rosetta and @JackieDecides.

 

Today is decision day. I'll drop to 4mg today, hold for a few days and then down to 3.9 fore the rest of the week.

[bubbles]

So, I'm a little stressed at the moment. I don't think it's WD, I think it's entirely reasonable that I'm stressed, but it is perhaps telling me that tomorrow is not the time to be dropping further. I went to 4mg on Sunday and I think I'll stay there until this period passes (about 2 more weeks at this stage) and then reevaluate. Not giving up, just making a strategic withdrawal for the moment. As always, I'm going to focus on how far I've come rather than how far I still have to go.

 

Current status: current dose 4mg, down 96mg.

[ChessieCat]

4 hours ago, bubbles said:

As always, I'm going to focus on how far I've come rather than how far I still have to go.

 

Yes, definitely!

 

4 hours ago, bubbles said:

Current status: current dose 4mg, down 96mg.

 

Well done.  I'm at 3.25mg down from 100mg.  It's better to hold for a bit longer during stressful times.  I've had to do it a couple of times and I think it's been worth it.  A couple more weeks added to the total length of tapering time is not much.  Silly risking the egg falling off the spoon so close to the finishing line.  Or upsetting the apple cart.

[bubbles]

3 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

Well done.  I'm at 3.25mg down from 100mg.

 

Well done!!! 3.25 is brilliant!

 

Yes, I agree. I am probably okay and could probably keep going, but why risk it? My taper has been notable for long holds and extra holds, lol at myself. Still, here I am, doing well and getting closer to the end, so it's working and I'm not going to shoot myself in the foot at this late stage. 4mg for a few weeks it is, and I'll revaluate when all of these tasks are done and I've got some breathing space.

[ChessieCat]

👍

[bubbles]

Feeling better - I cleared off something rather stressful yesterday - but I'm still going to stick to 4mg for a bit.

[bubbles]

So, feeling better again. Sticking at 4mg was definitely the right move. I'll stay here for another week at least.

[bubbles]

Another week later. Have been feeling a bit anxious, though it is situational - I have something huge coming up at work next week (for a few weeks). It's a great opportunity, and mostly I'm excited about it, but it's also somewhat stressful. I do not need to be making myself anxious at this stage, so I am going to hold at 4mg until it is finished.

 

Sigh. Yet again, my taper is characterised by not tapering. Oh well.

 

Current status: on 4mg, down 96mg.

[bubbles]

So the first of my few huge weeks has finished. I'm exhausted and my head is spinning :) but it's been a good week. It was absolutely the right move not to destabilize myself at this stage and I'm not even going to think about changing anything until it's finished - likely to be two more weeks. By then I'll have had about 7 weeks on 4mg and I'd only dropped 0.1mg at that stage, so I think it will be good to go again.

[bubbles]

My second week is finished, and there is now one week to go. It isn't as head spinny now, thankfully. I'm still pretty tired, and actually slept for a few hours this afternoon. I've managed to miss one dose of my sertraline entirely this week and one of my afternoon doses of armour too. I can't work out when this was, but I'm not feeling any real effects so I'm just moving on - I won't double up to make it up. I'll be more careful this week.

 

I'm currently taking 2x 2mg capsules to total 4mg, but am running out of the 2mg capsules. I'm doing a crossover of 1x 2mg capsules with 2x 1mg capsules until I run out of the 2mg capsules (about 2 weeks ish). This still totals 4mg so hopefully won't cause any problems. I will probably refill the 2mg capsules but can't do it in the next week or so.

 

[ChessieCat]

On 6/6/2019 at 10:25 AM, bubbles said:

on 4mg, down 96mg

 

Yes!!! 😊  That's the best way to look at it.

[bubbles]

Still ticking over. I'm really looking forward to the end of the next two days when my life will go back to normal. It's been mostly good, with a bit of a dud part, but that's life. Mostly I'm pleased to be nearly finished.

 

I don't think I'm feeling any ill effects from the change to 1x2mg and 2x1mg caps. I'm going to keep going for another week or so.

[bubbles]

Another update. Overall the three weeks went really well and it will, hopefully, open more doors for me in the future. Back to normal now and I actually have a bit of time off.

 

I'll probably drop again next week, which would be from 4mg to 3.6mg, in several steps over about two weeks. I'll see how I feel on Sunday when it comes time to measure out capsules.

[bubbles]

So I'm a bit anxious and ruminating and tired and headachey. And have another cold, but that's par for the course this last year or so - I must be run down. At least it didn't hit until after I got through that busy patch and it's now about a week so I must be about to get better. It's clearly too soon for me to be thinking of dropping again next week, even if dropping wasn't the cause of this rough patch.

 

I guess I'll be holding a bit longer. I've also organised to reduce my workload for the second half of the year which will hopefully help a bit too.