☼ Romido: Sam-e gave me withdrawals

[Altostrata]

What a great update! Thanks, Romido. Yours is going to be a success story soon.

[ajnjj]

Loving the good news!!!!

[ratherbedigging]

Hi Romido, I'm new here. Altostrata pointed me to your post. I had checked out your thread awhile ago and am glad to hear of your problems resolving (over a long time though, yikes!). I also think I reacted to SAM-E when I took it 4 1/2 years ago. I had a single full blown manic episode right after that. I didn't take it that long. Then was diagnosed bipolar I. I've been on medication ever since. But I didn't put two and two together until I started reading up on the possible adverse effects of SAM-E.

[Romido]

Hi Rather,

I posted on your thread, thanks for saying hi!

 

I am holding steady with feeling better but not entirely there. I am still quite dizzy and have some tinnitus still. My nerves are staying quiet though, and the anxiety is holding with staying away. It seems like my cognitive function is returning because I am not as distracted by the bad feelings. In the last few days I have been noticing its like I am months behind on everything. It's a little overwhelming, but it's like I have been away for a while and came back to find a lot not done. I try to do what I can, but I still get worn out easily mentally. The headaches that are left are still unusual feeling headaches. I had some salmon this week and had no twitchy hands/feet afterwards! Phew!!

 

I can definitely see returning to normal as a possibility, but I am still constantly wearing a layer of badness that won't quite lift. Maybe another month... Time is my friend.

[Romido]

The end of eight months of this condition passed this week. It seems like I can't quite get all the way better. I am sleeping much better, although if I don't get enough sleep when I am busy, it brings on bad feelings. I still get vertigo type feelings that can last days and have a pretty constant headache. I occasionally still get black flashes in my vision, like blinking without blinking. I thought they were gone but I had a couple yersteday and recent days. My heart palps still come and go but they don't have the "fear" trigger with them anymore. I feel like my calm spirit has broken through but I still have some physical symptoms still going. Interestingly, aside from the heart palps it seems like most of my remaining problems are in my head zone, troubles have pretty much left me below the neck! (except for hot & cold flashes and some slight tingling in my feet). Exercise definitely helps, but I have to find time and can't always align the time with my motivation! I don't feel like I am going to die anymore, but don't feel quite all well either. Patience, patience, patience. Must keep going.

[Romido]

Month nine has passed since I quit Sam-e. I am still not better. I think the emotional symptoms have gone, I feel like my cognitive functioning has returned to normal. I still have a headache pretty much all the time, mostly on the right side of the top of my head. I am still quite a bit light headed and dizzy, and that varies in intensity from very bad to slight. If I have to stand still while standing up, I get very dizzy. I travelled for work recently and that made me tired so I had more symptoms in the days following that. My Ringing ears come and go, some days louder thsn others. Thankfully my heart palps are pretty much quieted down, only an occasional thud felt rarely which is pretty normal for me. The heart palps were one of the scariest things for me, those freaked me out so I am happy they are leaving me alone. I have noticed a few times in the past couple of days that my hearing sort of "shuts off" in one ear, that makes my feel very dizzy, and then it will ring loudly and sort of fade back in to where I can hear normally. Strange and a little disturbing, but I am good at tolerating all of the withdrawal stuff now so I continue to plow forward.

 

I am still avoiding caffiene, trying to exercise (that absolutely makes a difference for me in inducing good windows), and making sleep a priority. Thankfully, my sleep is absolutely back to normal, I can get an interrupted seven to eight hours now no problem. In fact, I pretty much have to get seven to eight hours to keep myself in a more stable place.

 

So what is still left? Headache, a LOT of dizzyness, a little bit of derealization (though I wonder if now it is just extreme lightheadedness), tiny waves of anxiety occasionally though that's coming back to baseline me, and some rare hot flashes though I think those are my hormone cycles not withdrawal. My vision is effected intermittently, most impacted when my dizzyness and lightheadedness are at their worst. When this happens, I can barely tolerate my contact lenses in my eyes too. I still feel like I am in an altered state of consciousness but my sane brain recognizes it as just a layer upon me, with my sanity and normal ability to function hidden underneath.

 

I wish this would leave my brain, I am done with this hell. I am coming around the bend back to normal, but it's still not here yet and feels still out of reach. I am thinking full recovery will be at least a year, maybe more like eighteen months or so. I need a time transporter. Sigh, still not better - I was hoping to be a success story by now, but must continue to be patient.

[Altostrata]

I can hear your frustration. Still, there have been improvements and I'm very happy your sleep is back to normal and those palpitations have quieted.

 

Patience, patience. We'll all be Zen masters from this by the time we're done.

[ajnjj]

Hey Romido,

Just wanted to say great going and also, I get the EXACT same ear problem!!!! It's so uncomfortable.

 

You're not alone

 

Hugs

[Romido]

Thanks Alto & Aj! I am continuing forward even if I am still wobbly! I will get better, little by little. I can't believe you have the ear shutting off too Aj, its a weird sensation, but I try to tolerate it like all the other weird sensations! Some are more disturbing than others!

 

Alto I am still an avid reader on the withdrawal topic and have run across a few more references to withdrawal symptoms of Sam-e and even an account or two of st john's wort withdrawal. I wonder if overall a destabilized nervous system produces these symptoms no matter what agent was used to get here. My symptoms are so much like all those here from rx ssri use it just seems amazing. Any thoughts on that in your time and experience with this community?

 

I will keep on keeping on!

[Skyler]

My Ringing ears come and go, some days louder thsn others. I have noticed a few times in the past couple of days that my hearing sort of "shuts off" in one ear, that makes my feel very dizzy, and then it will ring loudly and sort of fade back in to where I can hear normally. Strange and a little disturbing, but I am good at tolerating all of the withdrawal stuff now so I continue to plow forward.

 

Hi Romido.. the ear shut off problem sounds distressing. I don't know what the vertigo link is, perhaps Alto is in the know? I've had tinnitus for 3 months now and but it is finally fading.. last night there was total silence for about 2 hours. Amazing. I hope you start to experience the same. Ears really do improve, though it does not seem so at times. Keep on keeping... you are doing good, real good. ~S

[Nikki]

Glad to hear you are getting better. I have read about St. John's Wort causing problems. Read about it back in 2006, so there is literature out there.

 

Nikki

[ajnjj]

My left ear shut off at work last night when I was talking to a customer. I stopped mid sentence, thought id vomit, then began talking again but it was so uncomfortable. It lasted about 5 minutes.

[Romido]

Thanks everyone! Hopefully we can all be success stories at some point soon! I am better at tolerating it all, but that doesn't mean I am all better yet. Aj, I don't get nauseous with my hearing issue, I am thanking my lucky stars for that! Luckily my headache lifted though it will probably be back.

 

I have to laugh a little at some of these weird symptoms, its like being a teenager trying to hide your drinking from parents or the law. That's not me with a buzz, its my withdrawal symptoms acting up (hiccup)!!

[Altostrata]

Correct, Romido. As you can see, many different psychoactive substances seem to produce the same symptoms in withdrawal. Autonomic dysfunction is the common denominator.

 

If you have a chance, please start a topic with all the references you've found to withdrawal from SAM-e and St. John's Wort in Tapering, with advice to taper these too!

[Romido]

I will do that, thank you Alto.

[Matthew]

Hi Romido!

 

I am a 24 male and I understand your pain...well i think in time I will understand it completely! =( I took SAM-e close to just over a month ago. At first I felt amazing! In fact I was feeling so good it makes me wonder if i wasnt having a manic episode, since it supposedly can trigger mania in people with bipolar, and despite not having a formal diagnosis I have felt for a long time that I might suffer from mild bipolar since I have terrible mood swings and suffer from periods of severe depression whilst other times feeling quite normal and optimistic. It was a particlar bad period of depression that caused me to try SAM-e in the first place...if only i had known!

 

In any case, I only took 5 or 6 400mg tablets of SAM-e spaced over a week but by the end of that week I was having the worst anxiety which finally culminated in a full blown panic attack! It was the most awful experience...I couldnt even string a sentence together and it was like my mind had gone completely blank perhaps from over exhaustion or cortisol levels that were through the roof? I decided the next day to quit SAM-e cold turkey. The anxiety however didnt resolve itself, and a month on I am starting to get very concerned.

 

There are periods when I feel myself but mostly I seem to be living my life in a state of constant hypervigilance and tension. During these periods its not uncommon for my mind to feel quite blank and its as if im almost unable to think, which is probably a normal side-effect of the anxiety? It is debilitating and often will come on without any external trigger (i.e. it doesnt require a stressful life event to send me into an anxious state). I feel like this is ruining my life! It is affecting my relationships with others, for example ive noticed my friends are starting to distance themselves a little because when I am having one of my anxious days i am almost completely zoned out and unresponsive since i am almost completely cognitively crippled by the fight or flight response battling out in my mind. What frustrates me the most about this whole thing is that prior to taking SAM-e I would get social anxiety in certain situations but it was entirely dependent on environmental factors and somewhat within my control, whereas now it feels like I can be sitting at home relaxing with a book and sipping a green tea whilst listening to bhuddist meditation CDs and still experience debilitating anxiety! It is completely out of my control and seems dependent on some chemical process that is occuring in my brain independent of my external experience! This is absolutely worse than the depression and fatigue (which incidentally have come back since quitting SAM-e) so i feel i am in a much much much worse position than before!

 

I believe the mind and body are capable of healing themselves naturally with enough time and proper healthy living but there is a nagging fear in the back of my mind that this is permanent! Despite your progess Romido i am somewhat shocked to read that 8 months on your symptoms are still not entirely subsided! I know what you mean about not being sure if you can live like this...i feel that if i dont shake this anxiety soon my life might become unbearable! I am a very resilient person but i can see that this has the potential to completely destroy my life since it is impossible to function normally whilst experience this level of anxiety at such regular intervals!

 

I think you are onto something with the exercise, i have noticed that any intense physical exercise or cardio seems to counteract whatever abnormal process is occuring in my brain/nervous system but it is only a temporary fix and life often gets in the way of regular exercise! I am thinking about seeing a GP and suggesting the possibility that I have bipolar as well as asking about being put on some sort of medication to eliminate the anxiety? It is not ideal and I try to avoid pharmaceuticals as much as possible but after the last month I am desperate to do anything to shut this off! I just want to feel completely relaxed and comfortable instead of feeling jittery and like i want to jump out of my own skin all the time!

 

Please Romido let me know if and when you recover completely, and what if anything has helped? Would you consider going on pharmaceutical drugs to relieve your symptoms? I know it must be a daunting thought given your experience with SAM-e? Perhaps staying away from all medications is the smarter option but I simply dont think i can function like this? I feel so angry and upset at myself for not doing any research on this drug first and ar the pharmacists who sold it to me without any warning! I have had a very difficult journey with mental illness having struggled with it for over 4 years now and having tried almost every remedy under the sun...ive beein suicidual and hit rock bottom and thought my life was over but always there were those brief periods of clarity to pull me through...but since SAM-e it feels like even those days of clarity arent enough because im just too worked up and disconnected to truly appreciate life anymore! This could be the last straw for me!

[Romido]

Hi Matthew,

First let me say welcome to this community! People here are wonderfully supportive. It's truly the thing that has kept me from going insane. I also gain strength from the group of people who are pressing on, despite the debilitating conditions we have going on in our bodies. This phase of your life will take determination of your spirit, but you can get through it.

 

I am doing much much better now. I actually need to post my ten months off update, so here goes. I am almost entirely back to my old self, but get anxious easily now, much more so than before, but it's tolerable. No more heart palps, that's gone. I still have some vision problems, like my eyes get anxiety symptoms. Unfortunately, I had salmon last weekend and my hands began involuntarily twitching. I do think it's tarditive dyskinesia, but it's manageable if I avoid omega products. It's also brought on by stress. Thankfully, it's only in my hands and feet, not my face or some other more bothersome place. I think it has something to do with how Sam-e effects dopamine, so hopefully it will entirely resolve as I fully heal. Still lots and lots of unusual feeling headaches. Occasionally I will have a spell of dizzy/disoriented/anxious/hot flash, but I can talk myself through it and it will pass.. I am almost there, but I would still give it a few more months to totally resolve. I have A LOT of life stress right now, so I am sure that's not helping things.

 

As for what helps? Avoid caffiene entirely. I was a coffee drinker before but had to endure the headache and get off. It was over stimulating and when you are in that hypervigilance state, you don't need that. Stop everything else that may be giving you stimulation, there are lots of hidden supplements in foods like taurine, green tea extract, guaranara etc. carefully read labels before ingesting anything. You just want to be sure you have no other factors over stimulating you. I also gave up aspartame, you can see in my history when I did. I think it was giving me heart palps, which would bring on anxiety. You can also take comfort in the fact that you are male and 24. I just found a link recently that said women over 40 can get anxiety from sam e, and it can be severe. I am also a person who has general anxiety without Sam e, so I think Sam-e is not for people who are anxious (there should be a warning for that!). Being young, you will have much better chances of faster neuro plasticity than me at 40. There is also a good bit of research out there that supports exercise inducing neuro plasticity and generation of bdnf. So even though you feel like cowering under a blanket right now, I can tell you that exercise will help settle things down. And it has to be hard exercise, enough to get you sweating and heart pumping. I feel best after an hour on an elliptical machine.

 

I also can't take anything anymore. Omega supplements, while many recommend and they are probably worth trying, I get bad insomnia and bloody noses from them and involuntary trembles in my hands that match symptoms of tarditive dyskinesia. Ibuprophen seemed to give me anxiety. Claritin (allergy medicine) gave me insomnia, and I used to take it daily. I take nothing, drink decaf, and read labels and eat very healthy. I think it has helped. I also don't let my blood sugar get low, be sure you are eating regular meals & snacks. Never tried melatonin, a few warned about morning anxiety so I just tried to get through.

 

As for taking psych drugs to get through this, I was so bad off in the first month or two that I went down that path. Dr gave me 10 mg Prozac and .5 mg Ativan. I think it made things worse. I got some relief from the Ativan, but when it wore off I think I got more rebound anxiety than if I would have not taken it. There is also quite a bit out there to read about benzo addiction being very fast, so I didn't want to enter that while withdrawing from something else. I would strongly advise against going with psych meds considering the experiences of everyone who comes to this gathering place to discuss their horrors in getting off. I think the whole thing rests on regenerating your brain back to the factory settings. Diverting it on another path will not get it back to its normal functioning state. I am getting there, though slowly. I can tell you the brain fog and cognitive problems go away. I don't feel as sharp as when I was taking it (it's also quite regularly recommended as a neurotrophic) but I am nearly able to do the thinking I could do before when I make myself focus. You should put up a thread in the intros session so we can watch your progress. I am sadly not surprised you are having this reaction, there are a few of us here now. I also put a link in one of the threads about a study I saw with brain maps of people on Sam-e, showing the brain responses similar to tricyclic antidepressants. Have no doubts, what you are experiencing is definitely from the Sam-e! Hugs to you, and thanks for checking in. I would be interested in hearing how you progress in the coming days and weeks. Don't give up. Time will pass, though the days are agony sometimes. It will get better. Not quickly, but it will.

 

Ps, I just retread your post and wanted to say green tea is a problem for me. Makes me feel very strange, like tingly all over with a blahhhh and nervous kind of feeling. Also has caffiene. Try giving it up and see how you do.

[Altostrata]

Matthew and Romido, I think the two of you are examples of people who are extremely sensitive to serotonergics. It's a good thing you haven't tried to stay on SSRIs for any length of time.

 

Please take this as a warning to stay away from all serotonergics, including antidepressants, LSD, MDMA (Ecstasy), etc. -- a lot of the hallucinergics boost serotonin.

[Romido]

That's interesting, Alto. I did try LSD as a teenager and had a raging panic attack for my first trip. Was NOT good. I agree with you, i think I am hypersensitive to serotonin, and will avoid all that messes with it for the rest of my existence!

[Matthew]

Thanks for the advice and support! =)

 

I dont drink caffiene, it has never done good things for me as it tends to overstimulate and leaves me feeling slightly fatigued as it wears off? However, I have always found green tea to be quite calming, though i might cut it out and see if i notice a difference? I think exercise is most definitely the key! I have done a few bikram yoga classes in the last few weeks and it has been the ONLY thing that seems to get my mind and body completely out of its tense state for a few days...however it is very gruelling exercise and depletes my body of electrolytes, salts and trace minerals, which take time to replace, so I can only do it once a week if that? I think to counterbalance I will have to take up some sort of regular intense cardio exercise?

 

I agree that sometimes it is only time and healthy living that can truly benefit your brain but I think i need to go down the prescription drug path unfortunately since i was already somewhat socially anxious and this has pushed me over the edge! If i knew it would wear off in a few weeks or even a few months I might just try and fight it out but considering the lenght of time you have undergone to recover I am not sure ill be able to endure for such a lenght of time?

 

I am actually studying psychology at university, perhaps not so surprising? And what has got me most perplexed about this drug is that the mechanism by which it works seems largely unknown or at least uncertain? I probably need to do more digging but im yet to find empirical research explaining the neurotransmitters and receptors that this drug affects nor any studies on long term side effects? Perhaps this is why this drug is not FDA approved yet? Considering the dramatic symptoms and long-term negative effects this drug has on some individuals i am wondering if it does not cause some sort of permanent brain injury? I think I read an article a while back suggesting that excess SAM-e could cause neurotoxicity however it was suggested that high doses would need to be taken over long periods for this to occur. I certainly dont think I took anything excessive but everyones brain is different and perhaps I already had abandunt amounts of SAM-e naturally in my system?

 

Does anyone know of any research outlining the precise mechanism by which this drug works? It might shed some light on what went wrong? After all, it does seem like SAM-e can have positive effects in certain individuals? I would be interested to know what this drug is doing because quite often the effects of one drug can be reversed or diminished by counterbalancing with another. It feels like my brain needs to be restored to its old functioning and i cant help but wonder if a drug might help this process short-term?

 

I will keep updating and hopefully pass on some insights in the future! Stay hopeful! I think you have done amazingly well to push on considering how awful this whole experience has been. At the very least it is comforting to know that im not the only person who was impacted this way and it is somewhat hopeful to know that it slowly resolves with time and patience.

 

p.s. I find it concerning in your case that Omega would cause such strong physiological response! I cant say ive noticed the same? But I honestly think that you might need to see a specialist since Omega fatty acids compose the majority of brain tissue and for your body to be reacting so violently against it suggests it is not being utilised appropriately by the brain perhaps? What medical explanation has been suggested for this anomoly? This is something i would be taking up with a doctor though to what end i cannot say? It is a shame modern psychology is only just now emerging from the dark ages...future peoples will probably never know what it is to suffer with mental illness! But for now we are the guinnea pigs!

[Altostrata]

All good points, Matthew.

 

You may wish to start your own Intro topic as this one is for Romido's Intro and Updates. These Intro topics also serve as our journals.

 

Or, put info and musings about SAM-e in this topic http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/572-sam-e-s-adenosyl-l-methionine/

[Romido]

Hi again! Here I am at eleven months. I can't believe it but I am still somewhat dealing with withdrawal symptoms. They have subsided a good deal, the anxiety has thankfully retreated its physical symptoms, but there are still some things lingering. I still have some dizzyness and head symptoms, but they are reduced from past severity. I am struggling with feeling forgetful, and like my cognitive functioning is not what it used to be. I have to write things down because I have trouble with small details. My vision is somewhat affected still, it's a little bit like I am looking at things through an altered filter, but it's very light now compared to what it was before. I am still improving slowly, but not all better yet. I am still having good days and worse days, the symptoms are still in waves. My waves seem to come in 24 hour blocks, each morning i wake to see whats going to be with me for that day. I still have rare bouts of twitchy hands and other muscle twitches, though they seem to be reducing in intensity a little. Sleep is pretty good, most nights if I do wake, I am able to go back to sleep easily and hardly remember waking, but I am still waking here and there but not with anxiety. The weird regional headaches seem to be retreating, maybe that was the re-wiring in progress! The depression I was dealing with originally is back to what it was, I am just trying to deal in other ways like exercise and trying to redirect my thoughts. I am going to make it, but this has been the hardest thing I have ever done.

 

I am still a regular visitor here, and cheer everyone on in their journey! It takes time, but it gets better.

 

R

[Altostrata]

Thank you, Romido, for checking in, and good to hear you're doing better.

[Romido]

Hi again,

Checking in again at just over a year. I marked my calendar with the year date (9/29 cold turkey, 10/3 severe withdrawal arrived) and hoped the whole withdrawal thing would be absolutely over. I am happy to say "almost"! Things have significantly calmed down. Even the involuntary hand twitches seem to have gone away in the last month or so. I am sleeping much better, I feel no hesitation about doing things, like I did for so long this last year because of the terrible anxiety. The only thing left for me is kind of a full feeling in my head, like when your ears adjust to altitude, but it is with a slight bit of dizzyness. I have muscle twitches and jolts, but they are not so disturbing anymore. I also have days where the anxiety seems to come back a little bit, and I have a tight soreness in my chest. Thankfully, the scarry palpitations are pretty much done, maybe once a week or so now, but i did have irregular heart beats before for most of my life. No more fear of panic, that has absolutely passed and i am back to my calm self. My cognitive functioning is just about back, though I feel just a little bit slower mentally than I normally did before, but it's getting better. I write stuff down and use calendar reminders to help. I think that maybe its because I am still off caffiene. I am still sensitive to a lot, and those sensitivities manifest in disrupting my sleep! For example, I drank a 16 oz Propel water (like a sports drink with extra b vitamins) and didn't sleep but two or three hours that night, very choppy sleep. So I still have sensitivity, but now I recognize it and manage it better.

 

I would say overall though, I am just about recovered.

 

My heart goes out to everyone struggling. Keep up the fight. You will see more of your old self every day.

[Altostrata]

Good to hear from you, Romido! Yours will soon be a success story.

[Romido]

Saying hi again, tomorrow is 14 months since I quit cold turkey. I am so much better than before, I can tell this won't be permanent. I have faint symptoms still, they are going on, but also going away. Still get the weird headaches but only once in a while instead of every day. While I am not constantly dizzy anymore, I do get spells throughout the day but not as severe anymore. That awful hypervigilance and constant derealization from the early days is so far behind me. I have more symptoms in my pms days before my period but other times I am modtly stabilized. I have been socializing more, I even hosted a couple social things at my house for friends and hosted thanksgiving dinner for my family. I can do it now. There are still symptoms, but life is going on. My cognitive functions are normalizing and work is easier again. I need to take care of myself with extra effort to stay well, but that does work. I pay careful attention to how much sleep i get and need eight hours to feel well. Still eating healthy, exercising more to keep the good waves coming, and no alcohol, caffiene, or artificial sweeteners. I can truly feel my receptors are normalizing after the horrible upset they went through. It does happen. The first year was hard, but I made it.

 

I still check in on everyone here and I am sad to see a couple others here struggling with Sam-e. I knew that stuff was the cause of my problems even when my doctors glossed it over and didn't believe me.

 

I am not 100% but I am on the happy side of very much almost there. I was walking out of work tonight and thought to myself, "I really almost feel like me again.". I don't know if it's time to make me a success story because I still have sensitivities and windows and waves of symptoms, but I'm definitely doing cartwheels around who I was a year or so ago!!

[Altostrata]

Very good to hear from you, Romido. I hope your holidays are happy.

[roya]

I just want you to know that you have helped me so much by posting your awful ordeal. I am currently going through it. You are describing verbatim everything I am going through. You give me hope and inspiration. Here is what I have found on phases of withdrawal from SSRI:

 

http://npanth.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/phases-of-ssri-withdrawal/

[Jemima]

I just want you to know that you have helped me so much by posting your awful ordeal. I am currently going through it. You are describing verbatim everything I am going through. You give me hope and inspiration. Here is what I have found on phases of withdrawal from SSRI:

 

http://npanth.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/phases-of-ssri-withdrawal/

 

When you have the time and energy, please tell us about yourself under 'Introductions and Updates'. And thanks for posting that blog. I'm very impressed with it and re-posted it under 'In the Media'.

[Romido]

Hi Roya,

Thanks for saying hi! Are you coming off Sam-e like me or something else? I think I may have read that link you posted before, it's a good one. I have googled so intensely that I think it was one of the things I read when I was earlier on. What the heck was happening to me was all that was on my mind, and I read and read and read! I was even translating pages from other languages to try to just learn a little more!

 

I have found this site to be so helpful in keeping it in perspective that things do get better in time. There was so little I could find about withdrawals from Sam-e I just had to write down my experience. Nice to know it is helping someone, that means a lot to me. If I can show just one person what this stuff did and prevent another person's horrors (either through recommending tapering or avoiding it altogether) then it would all be worthwhile. So thanks for saying so! I hope you start an intro topic about yourself here, there is so much great info here, but the people and support are outstanding. To me these were the darkest hours (year!) of my life, if there was no internet and this community to bring clarity to what was happening i dont think i would be where i am now (i probably would be following dr advice!). You will make it; it's so hard but can be done. I'm almost there and you will be too.

 

R

[Romido]

I think I'm ready to say "I am better." Almost all the symptoms are gone and I am returning to my usual self. I am able to do everything I used to do and don't have any fear of committing to do anything because most days are pretty predictably stable. I do have just a little bit of physical anxiety symptoms, but I think that's just me as I was before. My life is pretty hectic, I work full time, have little kids, have a husband I am not so fond of (which is a great stressor for me) who hasn't worked since last May. I have lots of life stressors so I have some level of stress playing with how I feel all the time, but the withdrawal related feelings are pretty consistently quieted down and holding. I have a counter on my phone that I set to when I last took Sam-e. More than 500 days have passed, a whole year and then some! I never thought it would take this long, but I am mostly ok now. Insomnia flares up here and there, manifesting as 4am wake ups, but it's tolerable since I get up at 5. My nervous system is definitely on the mend. There, I said it - I AM BETTER!

 

This experience has changed my outlook on life, the fragility of "sanity", and my outlook on big pharma, supplements, and neuroadaptation.

 

Thanks everyone here, for all the support and knowledge sharing. This is a wonderful place. I still check in on how everyone else is doing and wish all healing in their journey back to their old self.

 

R

[Altostrata]

Yay, Romido! So good to hear the good news.

 

Please start a topic in Success Stories when you have time and summarize your experience of healing.

[moonbow0202]

Romido,

 

Good news! I'm still working on the SAMe (and Remeron) WD. My worst symptom is back pain.

[Horty]

Congratulations !!!!!!

And thankyou for sharing your story. I am still tapering off Sam-e. I'm down to 600mg from the 1.2g I was taking 8 months ago. My last drop was 200mg and probably too big a drop....Anywa, I'll take it more slowly from now on and then deal with the 7.5mg of mirtazapine I have left...sigh- I have been tapering drugs and supplements constantly for over 2.5 years now. I don't know how much further I have to go.

My very best to you and thankyou again.

Horty

[milkteeth]

I've been taking Nature Made brand SAM-e (this is very important, as their version has undergone extensive testing) on-and-off since 2001, and I started at 200 mg daily then worked my way up to 400 mg. I've also tried several SSRI's during the past 15 years, and most recently tried a 30 mg dose of Vyvanse for just shy of a month. Before starting the Vyvanse in January of this year, I quit taking the 400 mg of SAM-e I had been taking daily for the past 4-5 years. There were ZERO withdrawal symptoms, and while I know everyone is different, I find "Romido's" experience to be completely unique based on extensive feedback. Now as regards the side effects and withdrawal symptoms of Vyvanse - THAT was a complete nightmare. This is my review of Vyvanse on another site:

 

http://www.prescriptiondrug-info.com/Discuss/Withdrawal-from-Vyvanse-195440_s2.htm?ts=1361866318 (I am Gail, posting #71)

 

SAM-e is not for everyone, and it did accentuate my anxiety (the only noted side effect, and yes, this can be problematical), which somewhat affected my ability to sleep. The dearth of major physical side effects and almost zero withdrawal symptoms still make it a good bet for some people who suffer from depression. The main withdrawal symptom has been weight gain, as it tends to give you more energy while cutting down on your appetite.The most respected psychiatrist in Toronto (Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre) felt that SAM-e was the best thing for me to take, given my inability to tolerate SSRI's.

 

Please take "Romido's" dismissal of SAM-e with a grain of salt. This is ONE person's experience, and it certainly isn't the norm. Best of luck to all of you in your path to wellness.

[Altostrata]

Thanks, milkteeth. Yes, we're all different, and I'm glad you had no adverse reactions after quitting SAM-e.

 

I believe Romido's experience does not show that withdrawal syndrome ALWAYS follows quitting SAM-e, but that it MIGHT follow quitting SAM-e, and that people should taper SAM-e to reduce the risks.

 

(SAM-e made your anxiety worse? That is an adverse reaction indicating the dosage you were taking was too much for you.)

 

Please start an Intro topic for yourself here and tell us about your experience going off Vyvanse. This will help a lot of people who might face the same problems.