Blunted

[ChessieCat]

Please create your drug signature so that we are better able to offer suggestions. 

 

What we need to see is drug/s, dates and doses for ALL drugs for the last 2 years as well as a summary (years and drug only) for anything before that.  Please do not include diagnoses or symptoms.  We need to be able to see your drug history at a glance.  Thank you.  Remember to click Save:  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

Please carefully read post #1 of this topic:  About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

[Blunted]

10 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

Please create your drug signature so that we are better able to offer suggestions. 

 

What we need to see is drug/s, dates and doses for ALL drugs for the last 2 years as well as a summary (years and drug only) for anything before that.  Please do not include diagnoses or symptoms.  We need to be able to see your drug history at a glance.  Thank you.  Remember to click Save:  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

Please carefully read post #1 of this topic:  About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

Done, let me know whats best

[Blunted]

I read the reinstating topic you linked, but what do you think happened in my case. As someone else said, the "relapse" i thought i had was actually a delayed withdrawal from quitting cold turkey. So what i did in May 2018 when i felt that hit is reinstate 5mg for 10 days and then increase to 10mg, i was doing great, but then at week 6 i was hit with what could be a side effect, OR an adverse reaction, which is the emotional numbness. So i decided to stop taking the drug so i tapered off quickly. What do you think is best done at this case? I mean if its an adverse reaction from the drug, im probably sensitized to the drug and shouldnt be taking it at all right? You know better, is reinstating again a good idea? Remember that the emotional numbness appeared when i was STILL on the drug, and not when i stopped it, however persisted even after i stopped.

[jonnypeters1234567]

Hi Blunted

 

How functional are you at the moment?

[Blunted]

1 minute ago, jonnypeters1234567 said:

Hi Blunted

 

How functional are you at the moment?

Focus is bad, cognition is bad..zero motivation to do things and loss of interest in things i like, but its weird because i know i like these things..its not like depression where im just sick of everything and feel i hate life. I actually like those things but cant enjoy them due to the emotional numbness. I just feel lack of care towards things...i mean i can go out and stuff and see friends but i dont enjoy it...and if it comes to university, which starts next month..im sure i will do very poorly, which is why im desperate to take action. I worked so hard to get to this uni and finish. My life would go to hell if i fail now. What do you think?

[Altostrata]

1 hour ago, Blunted said:

Focus is bad, cognition is bad..zero motivation to do things and loss of interest in things i like, but its weird because i know i like these things..its not like depression where im just sick of everything and feel i hate life. I actually like those things but cant enjoy them due to the emotional numbness. I just feel lack of care towards things...i mean i can go out and stuff and see friends but i dont enjoy it...and if it comes to university, which starts next month..im sure i will do very poorly, which is why im desperate to take action. I worked so hard to get to this uni and finish. My life would go to hell if i fail now. What do you think?

 

There's no point in reinstating Lexapro for emotional anesthesia, one of its side effects is emotional anesthesia -- which you've already experienced on the drug.

 

You are experiencing a fairly normal low-grade withdrawal syndrome. If you don't interfere with it, it will gradually go away. This is a "fake it until you make it" situation. Keep doiing things you used to like, enjoy doing them and going out with your friends as much as you can right now. Millimeter by millimeter, it will get better.

 

Your assumption that you will not do well at university is unfounded. You don't have any idea how you will do. Many people here have managed to work or go to school with withdrawal syndrome and done surprisingly well.

 

Reinstatement of Lexapro or taking another drug such as Wellbutrin might do something like destroy your sleep. If you think  you're miserable now, it could get a lot worse.

[Blunted]

On 8/7/2018 at 2:17 AM, Altostrata said:

 

There's no point in reinstating Lexapro for emotional anesthesia, one of its side effects is emotional anesthesia -- which you've already experienced on the drug.

 

You are experiencing a fairly normal low-grade withdrawal syndrome. If you don't interfere with it, it will gradually go away. This is a "fake it until you make it" situation. Keep doiing things you used to like, enjoy doing them and going out with your friends as much as you can right now. Millimeter by millimeter, it will get better.

 

Your assumption that you will not do well at university is unfounded. You don't have any idea how you will do. Many people here have managed to work or go to school with withdrawal syndrome and done surprisingly well.

 

Reinstatement of Lexapro or taking another drug such as Wellbutrin might do something like destroy your sleep. If you think  you're miserable now, it could get a lot worse.

Hey again guys...im getting those times where i feel emotions quite well and i get goosebumps from things i like...sometimes its better than other times..but i can say there is some overall improvement to a certain extent. What does this mean? I guess that the fact im able to "feel" at times means there isnt really any "permanent damage" done? Also bases on my history with antidepressants what do you guys think?

[Altostrata]

Read this The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Recovery from withdrawal syndrome is very gradual, with waves and windows along the way. Stay away from alcohol and other drugs while this is happening.

 

 

[Blunted]

On 8/9/2018 at 10:58 PM, Altostrata said:

Read this The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Recovery from withdrawal syndrome is very gradual, with waves and windows along the way. Stay away from alcohol and other drugs while this is happening.

 

 

I really dont know whats going on but ive been very panicky and anxious lately and having the sense of hoplessness...i was feeling better 2 days ago but then suddenly down. I cant handle this apathy...whats going on with me? 

[Blunted]

I just cant seem to understand why this happened...because for me its different than most people who get the apathy after withdrawal and it persists...i got the apathy when i was still on the drug..discontinued, hoping it will go away but it still hasnt. I mean was it a side effect or what?

[ChessieCat]

ADs numb emotions.  I had apathy whilst taking ADs but it wasn't until I started reducing my dose that I recognised that my emotions had been numbed.  I  can tell that my daughter is experiencing it.

 

When we reduce the drug we can experience the opposite:  Neuro Emotions

 

8 hours ago, Blunted said:

i was feeling better 2 days ago but then suddenly down.

 

That fact that you had improvement is a really good sign.  It's part of the windows and waves pattern as already mentioned above.  It's important to learn and use non drug techniques to get through the tough times.  Non-drug techniques to cope

 

It's also helpful to learn to accept the situation.  It's understandable that you want answers but continually asking questions which cannot be answered adds stress which can slow healing because the brain diverts its attention to deal with the stress.  

 

Acceptance

Acceptance and Mindfulness

[Blunted]

27 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

ADs numb emotions.  I had apathy whilst taking ADs but it wasn't until I started reducing my dose that I recognised that my emotions had been numbed.  I  can tell that my daughter is experiencing it.

 

When we reduce the drug we can experience the opposite:  Neuro Emotions

 

 

That fact that you had improvement is a really good sign.  It's part of the windows and waves pattern as already mentioned above.  It's important to learn and use non drug techniques to get through the tough times.  Non-drug techniques to cope

 

It's also helpful to learn to accept the situation.  It's understandable that you want answers but continually asking questions which cannot be answered adds stress which can slow healing because the brain diverts its attention to deal with the stress.  

 

Acceptance

Acceptance and Mindfulness

I am obsessing over this and cant seem to get anything else done..its on my mind 24/7...i have no idea how this can happen...i just keep worrying that there is permanent brain damage..thats whats stressing me out the most

[ChessieCat]

That's where learning to accept comes in.  No amount of worrying or obsessing is going to change what has happened.  You goal now is to keep yourself as stress free as possible to give your brain the calm environment it needs to regain homeostasis/factory setting.  If your brain was permanently damaged you wouldn't have experienced the couple of good days you did.

[Altostrata]

Please read this The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

It's one of our most useful topics. Having waves of symptoms broken by occasional periods of feeling better is typical of withdrawal syndrome.

[Blunted]

7 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

Please read this The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

It's one of our most useful topics. Having waves of symptoms broken by occasional periods of feeling better is typical of withdrawal syndrome.

 

21 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

That's where learning to accept comes in.  No amount of worrying or obsessing is going to change what has happened.  You goal now is to keep yourself as stress free as possible to give your brain the calm environment it needs to regain homeostasis/factory setting.  If your brain was permanently damaged you wouldn't have experienced the couple of good days you did.

What do you guys think can help resensitize the serotonin receptors? I read something about inositol...is there anything else as well i can do to lessen this feeling of apathy?

[Altostrata]

Don't worry about your serotonin receptors. They need time to readapt. Please treat your nervous system gently, it's very complex and delicate. Take care of it with good food, good sleep, and gentle exercise and let it heal.

[Blunted]

Hey guys...i recently tried wellbutrin to see if it would help me...but its increasing my anxiety and giving me negative thoughts...this is my seventh day on it...5 days 100 mg...2 days 300 mg..what should i do? Give it more time or stop it?

[Altostrata]

26 minutes ago, Blunted said:

Hey guys...i recently tried wellbutrin to see if it would help me...but its increasing my anxiety and giving me negative thoughts...this is my seventh day on it...5 days 100 mg...2 days 300 mg..what should i do? Give it more time or stop it?

 

This is the sort of thing that belongs in your Intro topic.

 

Well, we told you it wasn't a good idea. Anxiety is a side effect of Wellbutrin. What do you think you should do?

[ChessieCat]

2 hours ago, Blunted said:

I read something about inositol...is there anything else as well i can do to lessen this feeling of apathy?

 

1 hour ago, Blunted said:

Hey guys...i recently tried wellbutrin to see if it would help me...but its increasing my anxiety and giving me negative thoughts...this is my seventh day on it...5 days 100 mg...2 days 300 mg..what should i do? Give it more time or stop it?

 

I suggest you read back through your Intro topic from the beginning.

[Blunted]

12 hours ago, Altostrata said:

 

This is the sort of thing that belongs in your Intro topic.

 

Well, we told you it wasn't a good idea. Anxiety is a side effect of Wellbutrin. What do you think you should do?

What is the best way to taper? 

[SkyBlue]

5 hours ago, Blunted said:

What is the best way to taper? 

Rereading your topic from the beginning as Chessie suggested is important ; please do that. 

[Martina23]

6 hours ago, Blunted said:

What is the best way to taper? 

Blunted, in my opinion you should taper it off very quickly. When you took it only for 7 days, you can also stop it or stop it (wean it off) over two -three days. Because the longer you take it, the bigger is the possibility that afterwards you have to taper it off really slowly. So (in my opinion) rather stop it now, and try to heal drug free - give it at least one year drug free so that your nervous system can heal.

[Blunted]

3 hours ago, SkyBlue said:

Rereading your topic from the beginning as Chessie suggested is important ; please do that. 

Sorry abit confused by what you mean by that. Do you mean to reread everything we talked about from the start? If so, i did, but im confused because it doesnt say anything about tapering off wellbutrin...if you mean by warning me not to take it..then yes..lesson learned..i was actually rushed to the ER last night due to the worst panic attack humanly possible, i lost control of literally my whole body and felt paralyzed. Anyways they gave me oxygen and 0.5mg of xanax to take for 3 days...now im worried about the xanax causing more issues but it seems to actually calm me down alot and slightly reduce my apathy. I just dont wanna get addicted to it so is it fine to just take it for some days until the wellbutrin is out of my system?

 

3 hours ago, Martina23 said:

Blunted, in my opinion you should taper it off very quickly. When you took it only for 7 days, you can also stop it or stop it (wean it off) over two -three days. Because the longer you take it, the bigger is the possibility that afterwards you have to taper it off really slowly. So (in my opinion) rather stop it now, and try to heal drug free - give it at least one year drug free so that your nervous system can heal.

I reduced the dose today to 150mg, but my doctor said i could stop it immediately as its not like other antidepressants, and wont have any withdrawal, especially because i took it for so little. so i guess i wont take it anymore or what do you think is best? Funny enough, this doctor told me that i dont really have any apathy because he made me smell certain types of perfumes and i was able to distinguish the type of smell, and he said if you were anhedonic you wouldnt have even laughed or talk to me in this way, or even able to distinguish the smells. He said im rather extremely obsessive and anxious (which is true because i spend 90% of my day googling on how to find ways to recover), and im in a state of extreme fear that im anhedonic, which is making this all much worse. He prescribed Agomelatine and says it works for anhedonia and anxiety, and also agreed that i should not take effexor, which the previous doc prescribed...i did my research on Agomelatine and it seemed to help alot of people with apathy and anhedonia, and reversing ssri apathy, however i dont wanna be a lab rat and keep trying meds and stay in this loop...this really sucks..what do i do?

[Martina23]

I dont believe your doctor that wellbutrin has no withdrawal but you took it very shortly so yes you can stop it also immediately (just my opinion)

 

I would be careful with xanax, it is quite a powerful benzodiazepine.

 

If you want to heal and live drug free you just have to learn to cope with the symptoms on a nondrug basis in other case you will only fall further under the drugs.

 

This agomelatine I dont know (have never tried)

[SkyBlue]

33 minutes ago, Blunted said:

Sorry abit confused by what you mean by that. Do you mean to reread everything we talked about from the start? If so, i did, but im confused because it doesnt say anything about tapering off wellbutrin...

 

I reduced the dose today to 150mg, but my doctor said i could stop it immediately as its not like other antidepressants, and wont have any withdrawal, especially because i took it for so little. so i guess i wont take it anymore or what do you think is best? Funny enough, this doctor told me that i dont really have any apathy because he made me smell certain types of perfumes and i was able to distinguish the type of smell, and he said if you were anhedonic you wouldnt have even laughed or talk to me in this way, or even able to distinguish the smells. He said im rather extremely obsessive and anxious (which is true because i spend 90% of my day googling on how to find ways to recover), 

 

Correct, there isn't any information on tapering Wellbutrin in this thread, but the reason I suggested you reread it is because I'm not seeing that you're understanding the seriousness of withdrawal, the The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization  and the dangers of taking more psych meds. 

 

Altostrata, the founder and leader of this site who knows more about withdrawal than probably anybody recommended,

"If I were you, I would not take another psychiatric drug, ever. You are lucky you only have emotional anesthesia.

Strongly recommend you pursue other remedies, such as exercise." 

 

There's no magic or quick answer once our systems have been destabilized. That is still true now after taking Wellbutrin. 

 

The fact that your doctors said you "don't have apathy" because you were able to smell different kinds of perfumes is ... I don't even know what to say to that. But the main issue here is:

 

If you feel your googling ways to recover is hindering you, what can you do to help reduce that?

If you are concerned about starting to take Xanax, an extremely potent benzodiazepine, what are you going to do?

 

If you are going to choose to take other medications, that is your choice, but we aren't going to be able to help you with the results. Your doctor would be the one to monitor that situation, and it will be between you two. 

 

 

[Altostrata]

Martina has given you good advice about tapering off Wellbutrin quickly.

 

If I were you, I would not take Xanax anymore at all. Yes, it can make you feel good. That's why people get addicted to it.

 

We've already given you what advice we can. I don't know how I can be clearer. We don't give people suggestions about how they can get re-medicated, that's what doctors are for. If you insist on more drug experiments, we can't help you.

[ChessieCat]

Alto's post came through just before I had completed mine but I will post it because it might help.

 

Benzos can cause rebound anxiety when they wear off, which can end up with the person taking another dose and on and on it goes.

 

You've already got on the drug merry go round.  If you want to get off it before it gets out of control you need to make the decision now to do what you can using non drug techniques to get through the discomfort.  Doing this might save you years of drugging/polydrugging.

[Blunted]

3 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

Alto's post came through just before I had completed mine but I will post it because it might help.

 

Benzos can cause rebound anxiety when they wear off, which can end up with the person taking another dose and on and on it goes.

 

You've already got on the drug merry go round.  If you want to get off it before it gets out of control you need to make the decision now to do what you can using non drug techniques to get through the discomfort.  Doing this might save you years of drugging/polydrugging.

Alright guys..got it..im gonna follow your advice ...but just so i dont lie im gonna leave the xanax as an absolute last resort in case my anxiety goes out of control. I am certainly not on them regularly as i am aware of the severity of addiction and withdrawal. Just for final confirmation is it fine to stop the wellbutrin as of now? One week of use only ..and as i said before...5 days on 150mg, 2 days on 300..then one day on 150mg

[ChessieCat]

4 hours ago, Blunted said:

Just for final confirmation is it fine to stop the wellbutrin as of now?

 

It's helpful if members read the information which is provided.

 

8 hours ago, Altostrata said:

Martina has given you good advice about tapering off Wellbutrin quickly.

 

14 hours ago, Martina23 said:

When you took it only for 7 days, you can also stop it or stop it (wean it off) over two -three days.