Bee5: reinstated paroxetine, dose too high?

[Bee5]

I seem to have posted twice, please see post below.

[Bee5]

Hi Carmie,

I am doing well; my cold is almost over and my withdrawal symptoms are manageable.

Are you eating/drinking anything close to bedtime that could be stimulating, and therefore causing your insomnia?

Regards,

Bee

[Carmie]

31 minutes ago, Bee5 said:

Hi Carmie,

I am doing well; my cold is almost over and my withdrawal symptoms are manageable.

Are you eating/drinking anything close to bedtime that could be stimulating, and therefore causing your insomnia?

Regards,

Bee

 

Hi Bee, so glad you’re doing well and your cold is nearly gone. No, I’m not eating anything stimulating before bedtime, I actually don’t eat after 8pm, unless I’m going  out to dinner. I haven’t had any coffee for thirty years either.😃 I’m having an apple and ginger tea at the moment. Yummy! 

 

Take care💚

[Bee5]

Ok, but perhaps the ginger could be stimulating. And also, you could try not eating later than 7pm. The only tea I allow myself to drink before bedtime is rooibos and camomile. But even the camomile I take infrequently because I have read that it can cause dependence, as strange as it sounds (because it works on the GABA receptors - like benzos!). Also, have you tried to avoid screen from 2 hours before bedtime?

[Carmie]

 

Hi again Bee, 

 

Tonight is the first night I’ve drank the ginger tea. I usually just drink water or soda water(fizzy water), or peppermint tea in the evening. I do like herbal teas though. I must get some rooibos, Thanks for reminding me, I was thinking of doing that ages ago. Yes, I knew about the chamomile tea, I don’t actually drink it. 

 

 I’ve stopped screen time before bed too the last couple of nights. I’ve started reading if my brain lets me, or doing something creative. I’m thinking of getting into the habit again of getting up at 6am in the morning, like I used to, and see if it helps with my body clock. 

 

Again, I’m very glad your doing so well, sending hugs🤗

[Bee5]

Looks like you have everything under control!

[Carmie]

Hi Bee, 

 

Hope you’re still doing well.💚

[Bee5]

Hi Carmie,

I currently have MANY life events going on that are stressing me out (I am doing my master's degree and I have just moved house), so I am just trying to manage the stress as best I can. My symptoms are manageable, but not great; I have mild bedtime anxiety, and I struggle to calm my mind down to sleep. I have not exercised in a while, but I just keep telling myself: the final submission deadline is 7 April, and thereafter, I can breathe for two weeks.

My next drop is coming up, but I will only do it after the submission on 7 April, since it involves cutting pills. My next drop is 18.75 mg to 162.5 mg.

How are you doing on your new dose. I keep reading from people who have been off meds for a long time that the cog fog never goes away. Do you think we will be able to return to baseline after we stop taking the meds, if we taper slowly?

I don't want brain fog forever :(

Regards,

Bee

[Bee5]

Unrelated: I would like to thank the mods for their selfless contribution to the prescribed harm community. There are some days that I just can't open this website, because reading about others' brutal symptoms makes me anxious. I don't know how you do it, but I am very grateful to you.

[Bee5]

I just found out that I am sensitive to MSG. I had Chinese food last night and added soy sauce, and I really struggled to fall asleep. I searched on SA and saw that other members experience it too. Oh well, another addition to my 'do not eat' list.

[Carmie]

Hi Bee, 

 

Yes, I’ve read quite a number of people coming off psych meds have had problems with msg, and also artificial sweeteners. These things aren’t any good for us anyway, even if we aren’t going through withdrawals.

 

How are you doing with your Masters degree? Are you breathing again now you’ve submitted the final submission? 

 

Have you made your next drop yet? Is it going okay if you have?

 

Sending hugs🤗

 

 

[Bee5]

Hi Carmie,

 

It was not the final submission, but one of many. It's going to be a tough year. 

I have made my next drop, and so far so good. I see you have also made your next drop, how are you feeling?

 

Bee

 

[Carmie]

On 4/21/2019 at 9:13 PM, Bee5 said:

Hi Carmie,

 

It was not the final submission, but one of many. It's going to be a tough year. 

I have made my next drop, and so far so good. I see you have also made your next drop, how are you feeling?

 

Bee

 

 

Hi Bee, 

 

Thanks for asking. So far the last drop hasn’t been too bad. I just take a day at a time. You never know how you’re going to be from one hour to the next. The drop before this one I had lots of bad waves for three weeks. I’m happy though that I’m moving forward. Any forward movement is a day closer to healing. 

 

Keep us updated as to how your last drop continues to go.💚

[Bee5]

Hi All,

Does anyone get one-sided symptoms (i.e. symptoms that only affect one side of the body)? I have almost completely stopped drinking any alcohol, except for the odd beer (about one per week if I go out to dinner). After the beer, I get one-sided restless leg syndrome on my left side. This never happened before I started experiencing withdrawal. Does anyone know why my symptom would be one-sided?

Thanks,

Bee

[ChessieCat]

Solution:  Don't drink!

[Bee5]

Fair enough. I will need to stop altogether.

I was just curious about the asymmetrical nature of my symptoms.

[brassmonkey]

It's an interesting subject that needs more looking into.  I have noticed a lot of people mentioning that they are having pain or other physical problems on the left side but rarely on the right.  If you find out anything else please let us know about it. While in ADWD I noticed that most of my twitching and weakness was on the left.  Possibly because it's the less dominant side, or weaker side.  Are you left handed or right handed?

[Bee5]

That's really interesting. My symptom (restless leg) was on the left side only. I am right-handed. I will keep a look out for explanations and let you know. 

[bhasski]

11 hours ago, brassmonkey said:

It's an interesting subject that needs more looking into.  I have noticed a lot of people mentioning that they are having pain or other physical problems on the left side but rarely on the right.  If you find out anything else please let us know about it. While in ADWD I noticed that most of my twitching and weakness was on the left.  Possibly because it's the less dominant side, or weaker side.  Are you left handed or right handed?

 

 

I also felt restless legs in left leg.  Also I had to surgically operate my left hand which developed ulnar neuropathy and numbness and weakness in left hand.

 

Also , I am left dominant.

[Bee5]

This is so interesting. Like with everything else, I hope we identify the root cause. 

[bhasski]

46 minutes ago, Bee5 said:

This is so interesting. Like with everything else, I hope we identify the root cause. 

 

We have the data proving that its happening , but don't have resource and knowledge base to look into it.  And people who should remain unconcerned about this.

[Bee5]

True. But the problem is growing worldwide, and as more and more people go on disability due to psych drugs, maybe someone will sit up an listen.

[Carmie]

Hi Bee, 

 

How have you been doing?💚

[Bee5]

Hi @Carmie,

Good to hear from you. I am doing OK. Trying to manage stress as best I can. Luckily no further illness, and just taking one day at a time. I am down to 118.75 mg of quetiapine!

How is your recent cut going?

Regards,

Bee

[Carmie]

1 hour ago, Bee5 said:

Hi @Carmie,

Good to hear from you. I am doing OK. Trying to manage stress as best I can. Luckily no further illness, and just taking one day at a time. I am down to 118.75 mg of quetiapine!

How is your recent cut going?

Regards,

Bee

 

Glad to hear you’re doing okay Bee, 

 

Isn’t it great when you see the numbers going down? My tapering isn’t going too bad, just the usual windows and waves. I always end up in waves no matter how low a percentage I taper by, but as long as I’m moving forward I’m happy. I just keep distracting myself through the waves. It’s day ten since I dropped from 7mg to 6.75mg. I’ll probably be holding for at least six weeks or so. I always listen to my body. 

 

I’m off to dinner and a concert tonight, so that will be a happy distraction.🎸🎷🎺🎤🍲🥘🍜

 

Glad you’ve no further illnesses, sending hugs🤗

[Bee5]

Just posting an update. 

This last cut has been particularly trying. My next 4 cuts will be 12.5 mg ones, and then 6.25 mg ones. I will make a call from there about whether to move on to liquid taper.

I am experiencing the following symptoms: struggling to fall asleep, brain zaps, and recently, allodynia.

Also, I suspect the quetiapine is related to my weight gain, and I continue gaining weight. I will deal with this after I am off the seroquel.

Hope you are all well.

Bee

[brassmonkey]

The symptoms that you mention are indications of tapering too fast. Your last several reductions have been much larger than the 10% we recommend and it looks like it is catching up with you.  For the time being you should hold for an extended time to let things settle out and then do a more conservative taper when you restart.

 

Are you still drinking alcohol?

[Carmie]

Hi Bee, 

 

Thanks for popping over to my thread. Yes, the Seroquel does put on weight. I put on heaps but I managed to lose it again when I cut out all sugar and grains. Off course, in withdrawals you have to be careful to do things slowly, not just cold turkey things as our bodies are so sensitive to everything. But I see you’re going to deal with the weight once you’re off Seroquel. 

 

As brassmonkey said it looks like you may need to cut down the percentage rate you’re tapering by too. It can catch up on you, it’s happened to me in the past  before I knew much about tapering too, At the moment I can only taper by about 4% or so about every month and a half. I found that the lower I got in the Seroquel taper the smaller the cuts I had to make. 

 

Good idea to hold for a while. 

 

Wishing you all the best for your continued tapering after your hold.💚

[Bee5]

12 hours ago, brassmonkey said:

The symptoms that you mention are indications of tapering too fast. Your last several reductions have been much larger than the 10% we recommend and it looks like it is catching up with you.  For the time being you should hold for an extended time to let things settle out and then do a more conservative taper when you restart.

 

Are you still drinking alcohol?

 

Thanks @brassmonkey, I am going to hold until things settle. Then I will do two more 12.5 mg cuts, then I will do 6.25 mg cuts until I am done. That said - I will listen to my body, like I am currently, and slow down whenever the withdrawal symptoms become too much. I tapered quetiapine like this successfully once before, I anticipate the real challenge to be the paroxetine. 

 

As a rule, I drink zero units per week; the sole exception is that I will have a drink with a friend on birthdays, but those are few and far between. 

 

I have been supplementing with Vit D3, Folate and Vit B6, and this has helped my allodynia pretty quickly. I am a firm believe in the power of micronutrients.

Thanks for your advice as always,

[Bee5]

6 hours ago, Carmie said:

Hi Bee, 

 

Thanks for popping over to my thread. Yes, the Seroquel does put on weight. I put on heaps but I managed to lose it again when I cut out all sugar and grains. Off course, in withdrawals you have to be careful to do things slowly, not just cold turkey things as our bodies are so sensitive to everything. But I see you’re going to deal with the weight once you’re off Seroquel. 

 

As brassmonkey said it looks like you may need to cut down the percentage rate you’re tapering by too. It can catch up on you, it’s happened to me in the past  before I knew much about tapering too, At the moment I can only taper by about 4% or so about every month and a half. I found that the lower I got in the Seroquel taper the smaller the cuts I had to make. 

 

Good idea to hold for a while. 

 

Wishing you all the best for your continued tapering after your hold.💚

 

Thanks @Carmie. I will be holding until my symptoms settle completely. I am not being too hard on myself about my weight, and I know this sounds ridiculous, but eating chocolate really helps with my symptoms. But I also learned that chocolate contains large amounts of copper, and the copper:zinc ratio is linked to depression, so I am trying to keep copper intake low.

[DMV64]

Hi Bee, just popping in to say hello and introduce myself! How are you doing today?

XO DMV

[Bee5]

Hi @DMV64,

 

I am doing ok, but I am going to hold for a while before cutting again.

 

Thanks for checking in,

Bee

[Bee5]

Just journalling an update. I am sick AGAIN. I don't know why my immune system is so low, but this is the third or fourth virus I have had in 2019. It is so frustrating, because viral infections always ramp up my withdrawal symptoms (there are many articles on 'flu-brain' explaining the effects of viral infections on neurotransmitters). So I continue to hold. If all goes well, I will make my next cut at the end of July, if everything has stabilised again.

[brassmonkey]

Might I suggest starting to wear a surgical mask when you go into public places.  It can really work wonders on keeping from catching things.  I wear one in airports, concerts, theaters and the like ever since I caught some exotic lung thing in China a few years ago.  It has really helped keep the colds to a minimum.

[Bee5]

9 hours ago, brassmonkey said:

Might I suggest starting to wear a surgical mask when you go into public places.  It can really work wonders on keeping from catching things.  I wear one in airports, concerts, theaters and the like ever since I caught some exotic lung thing in China a few years ago.  It has really helped keep the colds to a minimum.

 

Thanks Brassmonkey, I will look into it. I am also going to start on a kombucha vinegar-based immune supplement. 

[brassmonkey]

Saline nasal spray is also a good thing.  Use it after being around people to disinfect your nose, it helps stop the cold before you can catch it.