Dmil101: Want to quit fluoxetine

[Dmil101]

Hello all, someone told me about this group. I have been on fluoxetine 20 mg for about 8 months and suddenly out of no where, my anxiety and panic attacks started up again this week. I have decided that I don’t want to be on this medication anymore. There has to be better ways. I am terrified to come off the medicine though. When I started the fluoxetine, the side affects were pretty rough. I wish I had stopped then but here I am 8 months later and scared to stop. Thanks for any help from y’all 

[Gridley]

Hello, Dmil101, and welcome to SA.  We are a site dedicated to helping people safely come off of psychiatric drugs, and so you've come to the right place.  It's also great you found your way here before you started to taper so we can help you.

 

To give members the best information, we ask them to summarize their medication history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly.  If the 20mg fluoxetine is the only drug you've been on, simply click on the link, write the date you started the drug and the dosage.

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

At Surviving Antidepressants, it is recommended that a person taper by no more than 10% of their current dose with at least a four week hold in-between decreases.  The 10% taper recommendation is a harm reduction approach to going off psychiatric drugs.  Some people may have to taper at a more conservative rate as they are sensitive to even the smallest drops.

  

Before you begin tapering what you need to know

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

The following link explains why it is important to taper slowly.

 

Brain Remodelling

 

The following link gives very specific information about how to taper fluoxetine, including instructions on how to make smaller doses.  Under the 10% method, your first reduction would be to reduce 10% of 20mg, and your dose would be 18mg.  You would stay at 18mg for 4 weeks and see how you're doing.  If you're doing well, you would reduce by 10% of 18mg (1.8mg), so your next dose would be 18 - 1.8 = 16.2mg.

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Please research all supplements first and only add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your introduction topic -- the place for you to ask questions, record symptoms, share your progress, and connect with other members of the SA community.  I hope you’ll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation.  I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but I am glad that you found us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dmil101]

I am wondering how I can suddenly wake up one day and start having anxiety again all day long? I have been taking fluoxetine for 8 months and things have been pretty good once I got past the intitial side affects. But now, I am having anxiety everyday for the past week. How does this happen? I am quitting this med but I wonder how it will work tapering off fluoxetine when I am experiencing this anxiety already while still taking the 20mg

[Dmil101]

So i have ordered my scale and will begin tapering from 60 mg and I have been on fluoxetine for 1 year total time, and 2 months at the 60 mg dose. I am so scared to start because of how rough the side effects were when raising the doses from 20 to 40 to 60

[Gridley]

Dmil101,

 

There is no need to be afraid. The getting side effects of your dosage increases earlier are different from withdrawal symptoms from a taper, which should be mild if you go slowly and follow the 10% method, as described in my August 19 post to you.  Please re-read especially the link 

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

 

 

[ChessieCat]

Yes, withdrawal symptoms and side effects are two different things.  Side effects are issues that the drug causes.  Withdrawal effects can occur when the drug is taken away.

 

I originally reduced my Pristiq from 100mg to 50mg because it is only available in those 2 doses.  I suffered extreme cog fog for 2 weeks.  But thanks to the suggestion from SA I increased my dose and the withdrawal symptoms eased.  After stabilising I have since been tapering following SA's protocol and only experience mild withdrawal symptoms.  And I'm now down to 5mg.  I get my tablets compounded.

 

Even doing a careful taper there will most likely be times when you experience withdrawal symptoms.  Sometimes this can be caused by external stress, or if you get sick, overdo things like exercise or working.  Some members also seem to have trouble at a particular dose, which can be different for different people.  Also, being a female, your monthly cycle can affect things.   It's important to try and stay as calm as possible and not panic.  When we panic we can make bad decisions.  It's important to learn and use  Non-drug techniques to cope to help get through the discomfort.

 

If at any time during your taper you are having difficulties please post about it here before doing anything like increasing your dose or adding in a supplement etc, so you can get some more information and input about your situation.

[Dmil101]

I am confused about the 10% taper. I will be tapering from 60 mg and weighing and removing some of the capsule. Would it be: the first day I go from 60 mg x 10% = 6 mg. Which would make my first month at 54 mg? 

 

[ChessieCat]

Yes, that is correct.  It is easier to do the math the opposite way around by multiplying the current dose by 0.9.  So 60mg x 0.9 = 54mg.

 

The next reduction 54mg x 0.9 = 48.6.  If you round the number for easier measuring, always round up.  If you do round the number, next reduction needs to be calculated on the rounded up amount.  Just as an example for you to use as a guide:  round to 48.75, 48.75 x 0.9 = 43.875.  Round up to 44mg x 0.9 = 39.6, roundup to 40 etc.  As I said, just examples for you to follow.  You can decide what dose you want to take.

[Dmil101]

Thank you! 

[Dmil101]

So most people spend one month at a time on new dose 

[ChessieCat]

Yes after a reduction it is a good idea to hold at the new dose for 4 weeks.  This allows the brain to adapt to the lower dose.  However, if you find that you are feeling withdrawal symptoms it is better to hold for extra time until things settle down, or if it happens that you get sick or there is added stress in your life.

 

It's a good thing to note that many members find that the lower their dose gets the slower they need to go by reducing less and/or holding for longer.  This topic helps to explain why this may be the case:  Why taper paper: dose-occupancy curves

 

See:  this post in the Dose Occupancy topic:

 

 

This is a "perfect" 10% taper every 28 days:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 14, 2020 by ChessieCat
removed graph

[Dmil101]

Thanks for this. Is it complicated to measure out the powder inside the capsule? I currently take 3 of 20 m pills. So I would simply be taking 2 full pills and taking some out of the 3rd one to get down to 54 mg 

[ChessieCat]

Yes, you would take 2 capsules and make up the extra dose with powder from the 3rd capsule.

 

using-a-digital-scale-to-measure-doses