EmmsieA: Hypnic jerks - how long will they last?

[ChessieCat]

Found it:

 

On 12/22/2014 at 7:42 PM, Songbird said:

Excel spreadsheet to calculate dose weights using a scale

 
If you are tapering using a scale, you will need to convert each dose to a weight so that you know what your scale should be displaying for the dose you want. The instructions are actually inside the spreadsheet but here is a little more detail:

1. Enter the dose of one whole pill in the orange cell (e.g. if your pills are 20mg pills then type in 20, or if your pills are 10mg pills then type in 10). Press tab.

2. Enter the weight of one whole pill - after calibrating your scale, making sure it is in 'gram' mode, weigh one pill and type the weight in the turqoise cell (e.g. 0.336). Press tab. (Note: some people like to weigh several pills and take an average in case the weights of the pills vary).

3. Enter the percentage drops you want to do for your taper in the green cell (e.g for 10% type in 10, for 5% type in 5). Press tab.

4. Enter the starting dose for your taper in the yellow cell. (For some people this will be the same as the dose of one whole pill above, if you are currently taking one whole pill as your dose.) Press tab.

The spreadsheet will now calculate your doses and the corresponding weights for your taper. For whichever dose you are dropping to (in the yellow), your scale should say the number in turquoise next to it. i.e. that's what you are aiming for when you cut and weigh your pills.

The spreadsheet has been protected so that you can only type in the cells you need to enter data into. This is to prevent you messing it up by accidently typing other places! I hope this makes some sense. Any questions, just ask.

Dose_weights_SA.xlsx

Dose_weights_SA.xls

 

[EmmsieA]

Thank you so much @ChessieCat 

 

I found a spreadsheet to calculate pill dosages to weights - is this something that I can use? 

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=222

 

Mom unsure if this will take you to the one I mean by SongBird...

 

im happy using the Gemini-20 scale and has a trial go tonight at making my own capsules with the reduced rate. I just need to check if the mayhsbis definitely correct:

 

eg I have a 30mg tablet that weighs 0.296mg. I want to reduce this by 10% (3mg) to 27mg. This would mean I would weigh out 0.266mg of fragments. 

 

I got these measurements above by using the spreadsheet mentioned, provided. Just want to check it isn’t out of date or anything as my maths is pretty bad!! 

 

Thanks so much. 

 

[EmmsieA]

Ah thank you @ChessieCatI’ve just seen your post above - yes that’s the one.

 

Is it ok to use chunks/fragments of tablets rather than grind to a powder? I’m unsure of the uniformity of drug in any one tablet  if I use chunks/fragments but I’m sensitive so not sure if my body will like all powder...

[Songbird]

Some people worry about the active ingredient being unevenly distributed throughout the tablet.  It's hard to know how much of a problem it is.  Manufacturers try to get uniform mixtures when making tablets, so that each tablet contains the correct dose of active ingredient, so I think it's unlikely to be extremely uneven.  I've always used pill chunks myself, while other members have crushed pills and put the powder into capsules.  Powder would be absorbed more quickly, although putting the powder in a capsule would slow absorption to some degree.

[EmmsieA]

Thank you @Songbird

I guess I can only go with it and hope...

and if I use your spreadsheet above, those would be correct dosages to weights, providing I enter all the information correctly? Sorry to ask but I am so nervous about all of this! 

[Songbird]

21 hours ago, EmmsieA said:

and if I use your spreadsheet above, those would be correct dosages to weights, providing I enter all the information correctly? Sorry to ask but I am so nervous about all of this! 

 

Should be fine.  If you want to double-check, get a calculator and multiply by 0.9, which gives a 10% reduction.

[EmmsieA]

Hello anyone,

Just checking in for some reassurance. I’m so desperately terrified of the road ahead. I have cut down to 27mg Mirtazipine and will continue to cut down each month slowly. 

However, im terrified of what’s to come with the Benzo. How in earth am I meant to get off that? I’m just so scared for myself and my little family. How am I going to do this? Will being on the benzo for so long whilst I taper the mirtazipine to 7.5mg make things worse? 

I would dearly love some support. You’ve all been so great recently with helping me. I’m just petrified and can’t find a doctor to help me with anything. 

Xx

[Gridley]

I've got another two years to go on my Lexapro taper before I can even begin to think about tapering my benzo.  The best advice I can give you is take it one day at a time, and when the time comes to go off the benzo, assume you will be able to do it.  That's much more productive than fearing you can't.  There are many benzo success stories.  Google "SurvivingAntidepressants benzo success stories"

[EmmsieA]

Thank you so much for replying, Gridley. And good advice, I guess I will just need to make my peace with it. A hard thing to try and get my head around as I still have the Hypnic jerks which get me down so much. Thinking of the years ahead that this will take is so very difficult if I have to put up with this awful symptom too for so long. I keep praying for us all X 

[EmmsieA]

Hello, just a little update. I’m down to 26.25mg Mirtazipine and 0.5mg clonazepam. Am still very anxious and sad a lot of the time. Sleeping about 6 hours most nights with some twitches - most nights it’s reasonable but I wake up at 5am with horrible anxiety and then can’t get back to sleep because of the twitches. So no real change in symptoms, so I guess I will keep going with th Mirtazipine drops until I get to 7.5mg, as suggested. 

I just wondered...given I’ve been on clonazepam for just a matter of months, am I really doing the right thing by leaving myself on it longer whilst I taper the mirtazipine first? I’m worried about things getting worse if I’m on it longer...

thanks so much for all your help and support, I need so much reassurance right now that things will be ok. Thank you xx

[ChessieCat]

Taking multiple psych drugs? Which drug to taper first?

If you're not having an adverse reaction from the other medications, taper the most activating drug first. This is usually an antidepressant or stimulant (ADHD drug).

[EmmsieA]

Thank you @ChessieCat at the moment I can’t really tell if I’m having adverse reactions from the benzo. I feel very anxious and low a lot of the time and very worried. I’m wondering if I should taper the mirtazipine completely or just get down to a low dose on it, i.e 7.5mg then switch. I know it was suggested to me to lower it to 7.5mg but perhaps it would be better to get off it all together whilst I kind of had the back up of the benzo? What do you think? Thanks so much 

[Wellbutrinsucks]

Hey @EmmsieA, how are you feeling now?