Rachellynn: Prozac & Remeron support :)

[Rachellynn]

Nose is stuffy, dry and my tummy is in knots. 

8:00:am - avocado toast and 1 Bone Marrow supplement 

 

9:00am chamomile tea 

9:20am brain physically hurts

 

 

[Rachellynn]

Do protracted withdrawal people heal?!

[ChessieCat]

Alto did.  Have you read her story?

 

☼-about-altostrata-withdrawal-syndrome-since-2004

 

See also:  are-we-there-yet-how-long-is-withdrawal-going-to-take

[Rachellynn]

I just made an appointment with the Dr. she recommended. But my family is driving me to the ER right now. I don’t know what they will do. 

[Gracee]

Sending you hugs and healing thoughts.

Be good to yourself.

[Rachellynn]

They want me to take serequel but I’m terrified 

[Rachellynn]

I did not take it. 

 

Came home. 

 

3pm-Adrenal Cocktail.

 

3:50pm- 1 tablespoon Mag Glycinate/Malate 

 

laying down with my dog, trying so hard to relax. Made apt. to see Dr. Prey later this month. On the 26th. 

 

I knowcmy neck neck is causing me issues too. Lots of neck pain, straightened out cervical neck and a rotation of my upper vertebrae. Going to have some gentle chiropractic work done in a couple months. Will also go for a massage soon. 

 

Hopefully a a little bit of yoga, love and miss my yoga🙏🏼

[Rachellynn]

@Altostrata i think I’m having a bad reaction to the remeron now because I’ve gone up and down a couple times. Should i still just hold at 10mg?

[Rachellynn]

Hi guys...feeling like I’m going through this all alone. My sister has abandoned me. She doesn’t want to talk about me or help me at all. It’s hurting so badly. I’m in such a horrible state right now. Please how can i go on after all of this....

[Rachellynn]

Helpful❤️

 

https://youtu.be/jEeNcZ5jzEY

[Rachellynn]

Slept from 8pm - 11:20pm - if it didn’t feel so awful it would be kind of funny. One sleep cycle i suppose!! 

 

I LOVE that feeling of relaxation right before i doze off. The BEST feeling❤️

 

 

 

[Rachellynn]

Oh and the hospital gave me a flyer about menopause🙄😂

[Shep]

9 hours ago, Rachellynn said:

Hi guys...feeling like I’m going through this all alone. My sister has abandoned me. She doesn’t want to talk about me or help me at all. It’s hurting so badly. I’m in such a horrible state right now. Please how can i go on after all of this....

 

You may want to post here:

 

Relationships and Social Life

 

Helping family understand

[Rachellynn]

Thinking that i had a bad reaction to Trazadone and i can’t detox it properly....

[Rachellynn]

So far:

 

7:30pm: Took remeron 10mg

8:00-11:20pm - sleep

been up and on on this site since like midnight. That has to change. 

 

7am soup

very nauseous - new symptom

notice my neck and left shoulder are cracking a lot

9:30am adrenal cocktail 

9:45am self care - shower, self massage, lymph drainage

10:45 tuna/avocado toast

notice mucus at back of throat 

 

its very rainy today, feeling sad. 

Dr. filled seroquel prescription today. Wondering if i should take it for sleep. Trying to get Valium - not working. Not sure which is worse. I know - I’m trying to stay away from both because they will complicate matters ❤️❤️❤️

 

 

[Rachellynn]

Was feeling very tired today BUT i finally took a shower and am participating in the ANS Rewire program for CFS/ME - such beautiful lessons today. 

 

Recognize the Trigger

End the Trigger

Wind down the arousal 

Initiate new Perspective 

Rejoice in your success

Engage in something else

 

Trying to ride a wave of depression. Hit at about 2pm - which is unusual for me - I’m more anxious usually - way more than I’ve ever been depressed but i made some strange choices recently. 

 

Hope ypu you all are feeling good today (considering) ❤️

 

Happy Valentines Day!!!

[Survivor1]

Hello Rachellynn,

 

I wanted to answer your question to me here in your thread.   I see that you are in a lot of distress, and I see a lot of what you are doing in what I did the past, to try to get sleep.  Specifically, adding new drugs and adjusting current ones, each of which just made my sleep worse.

 

I have read a little bit of your thread.  An important question:  are you taking trazodone along with remeron and prozac?  If so this could be a major contributor to your sleep issues.  These three drugs affect serotonin and in combo could cause serotonin syndrome (SS) which leads to insomnia (among other things).  I was on both exact drugs at the same time (along with a micro dose of Seroquel), and suffered horrific insomnia and myoclonic jerks on the combination.  Luckily I researched, realized that SS was causing my insomnia, and dc'd remeron because it was a lower dose (2.4 mg) than trazodone.  But the SS did not go away until I dc'd the micro dose of Seroquel (0.5mg) also.  After that, sleep started to come back.

 

Even if you are not on trazodone, I feel that the 4 mg of prozac and the 10 remeron are sufficient to cause SS.  Note that my symptoms did not fully remit until I discontinued the very small 0.5mg of seroquel also. So very small amounts of two drugs could cause this condition.

 

I see earlier that Altostrata had mentioned you could try a dose of prozac as low as 0.5mg.  I don't know if you are open to this.  But I feel that you need to be on as few drugs as possible for sleep to come back.  My advice would be:

1) If you are on trazodone, discontinue it.  You have only been on it for a short while

2) Decrease prozac to as low as possible.  I also think that 4 mg is too high

3) Keep remeron at 10 mg.  I do not feel that you are having an adverse reaction to this drug - you can confirm this. And I do not feel that "it is not working any longer" ( I felt the same way about trazodone at one point, but as I began to stabilize, it worked for me just fine).  It is just the environment in which remeron finds itself that is not conducive to its working well (prior ct from prozac, other serotonergic drugs you are taking).  I would keep this as stable as possible for a long, long time, until you stabilize.  Think many months ...

4) Do not add any other drugs, especially other serotonergic ones (other AD's, AP's); I can almost guarantee this would worsen your sleep. Also no benzo's, just because this would further destabilize you, and you need stability.

 

There will be fallout from the steps I advised above.  Discontinuing trazodone if you are on it could give some WD symptoms, as could decreasing prozac, but sometimes you have to make hard choices ... Also, do some research on serotonin syndrome.

 

I hope I have been helpful.  Don't hesitate to ask for additional advice.  Take care.

[Rachellynn]

Wow. Thank you so so much. This helps a lot. I went through some stressors and my sleep got messed up and then grew anxious about it. That’s when i started trying tons of things. I took trazadone three nights only (but still) and i did the Prozac for like 5 or 6 days (but still) and then i took Ativan for a while - and oddly that only helped my sleep for one night and then i would only take 1/2 tablet and then 1/4’s - probably not great. So yeah. Too much. 

 

I thought the remeron wasnt wasn’t working because some of my old symptoms came back but probably all the stress. I wasn’t managing that well. But working on it. 

 

Thank you you so much again❤️

[eymen23]

Hi Rachellynn,

 

It sounds like the stressors caused the initial bout of sleeplessness, but the numerous drug introductions and changes maintained it (and perhaps made it worse).

 

Alhough insomnia can be distressing and sometimes very debilitating, please try not to get caught up in the panic of ‘I have to sleep’. The unfortunate truth is that any attempt to ‘fix’ the sleeplessness with drugs will come at a greater cost later down the line, in fact it’s how many end up with a benzo dependence. 

 

If the sleeplessness was mostly caused by stress, sometimes it’s a case of waiting until that stress passes (or avoiding it if possible) and waiting for normal sleep quality to return.

 

I remember back in 2015 when I was working on a very high pressure assignment and I was running on about 4 hours sleep for nearly 2 months. The sleeplessness was caused entirely by work, as I was working intensely for up to 14 hours a day. As soon as the project ended, I quickly transitioned into sleeping 8 hours per night, before levelling off at my  usual 7-7.5 hours. 

 

Although a lack of sleep can feel like torture at the time, your body has an incredible ability to re-establish its sleep pattern further down the line. The key is to try and become less phased about sleeping a few hours per night. The more you worry about sleep, the harder it can become to sleep well. 

[Survivor1]

A coping strategy I used when I had horrific insomnia is reading the threads of those who suffered a lot with sleeplessness for a long time and come out the other side.  Two that I remember are Petunia and AliG.  Eventually their sleep returned; so will yours but it may take a while.  Good luck.

 

(And remember, do not take the seroquel!)

[Rachellynn]

It’s a really hard situation because i believe (dour to my physical symptoms) that i have developed CFS (got really sick after running a half marathon and visiting Costa Rica - one year post Prozac) and it’s like - how can i heal without sleep? 

 

Its 12:30 now and i think I’ve slept from 9:30-10:45pm. It’s just the weirdest thing. I fell asleep having a weird pain near my heart (which I’ve had before) and my arms are so hot/cold. 

 

I made an apt. with the Dr. that Alto saw and he even said “you may have to go back on meds to recover” i didn’t talk to him long enough that he knows I’m already taking the remeron. 

 

Anyhow, my only real stressors right now are how I’m physically feeling and no sleep. 

 

Thank you you all for your input. I’m going to try and sleep/relax again. 

 

Sending love❤️

[Rachellynn]

3am. Meditation. Usually 3 times per day and relaxation music, guided imagery, bedtime story all night.  I used to lay in bed and be relaxed at night (at least) but now I’m up and anxious. How is it possible for my sleep to get worse at this point?

[Rachellynn]

10 hours ago, Survivor1 said:

Even if you are not on trazodone, I feel that the 4 mg of prozac and the 10 remeron are sufficient to cause SS.  Note that my symptoms did not fully remit until I discontinued the very small 0.5mg of seroquel also. So very small amounts of two drugs could cause this condition.

It looks like both remeron and seroquel block seretonin??? Is my research flawed cuz I’m not sleeping? In any case - not good. 

[Rachellynn]

Intense agitation. 1 hour sleep. Swollen lymph nodes too. Ugh. 

[Rachellynn]

Am i in Ativan withdrawal? Prozac? Trazadone? Will i really sleep again?!

[Rachellynn]

Hello all. Help with Hashimotos and withdrawal. Has anyone started WP thyroid in withdrawal ??? I think it’s finally time for me to tackle my thyroid issues. 

 

Thanks for the support!

 

Posted in the Thyroid topic:

 

6 hours ago, Rachellynn said:

Can anyone here help me figure out a first step on treating my hashimotos? No idea where to start and my Dr only looks at TSH. 

 

TSH - 1.13

Free T4 - .97 low (1.4 -1.8)

Free T3 - 2.7 low (3.4 - 4.4)

Reverse T3 - 10

 

TPO - 56

TBG - 141

 

any input would be much appreciated

 

 

Edited February 17, 2019 by ChessieCat
added quote from Thyroid topic post

[Rachellynn]

Just kinda wanna know if the thyroid meds are activating? Certainly don’t need that 😕 

 

thank you❤️

[ChessieCat]

Alto's response regarding thyroid:

 

 

[Rachellynn]

Yes. I’ve been pouring over the websites and reading Wentz book. I also have floppy cartilage, etc... i have symptoms of hypo and hyper. Which i think is common for hashis. Which i May have had for a long time. In the book, she says to take meds for it, like WP...just was wondering if they ate activating. I don’t want to make myself worse because my insomnia is terrible but just thought it might be worth looking into/being treated for. Thank you for the reply! 

[Rachellynn]

I guess...i know what the resources say outside of AD withdrawal, just trying to piece together how hashis fits in and to see whether others have found dessicated thyroid helpful or not in calming immune system hyperarousal during w/d. In my labs - apart from also strange hormone levels, hashis is the only “diagnosis” so thought i could tackle something to bring homeostasis🤷🏼‍♀️

[Rachellynn]

 

7am - breakfast (eggs on toast and Avocado) 

7:30 - back to bed until 11am - very lethargic - used meditation music

11:15 - hit with anxiety

11:30 - lunch 

nausea 

high anxiety

3pm - my friend came over - brought me presents and soup 

3:30 - lentil/Pinang soup

anxiety

6pm - piece of steak/avocado 

6:30 - 10mg remeron 

meditation 

7:30pm sleep

9:45pm - awake 

laud in bed relaxed until 3:30am 

cortisol spike 

still awake 

 

notice an an increase in joint popping/cracking which happened the last time i could not sleep. Only to recover once i was sleeping with the use of remeron. 

 

Goin to be trying one drop of fluoxetine in the mornings and see how that goes. Is that crazy?!?!

 

[Karma]

I was tagged to respond on your thyroid questions. I apologize for the delay. I am certainly not an expert, but I have experience in this area.

 

I need the measures for your T3 and your reverse T3 and the normal ranges. It is unlikely the measures will be common to one another but I have a calculator to make the conversion between the two. It will be something like Triiodothyronine (T3) 3.9 pg/mL (2.0-4.4). It is likely reverse T3 will something like ng/dL with a different normal range. We want to find the ratio of T3 to reverse T3.

 

Are you currently taking any thyroid meds?

 

Your antibodies indicate Hashimoto’s and it appears you already have that diagnosis. If you have a reverse T3 problem it means the receptors for thyroid hormone on your cells are blocked with the inactive form of thyroid. I had this condition most of last year. It caused me to feel depressed and lack motivation.

 

I have a friend who was able to reverse her Hashimoto’s through diet, supplements and the support of a functional doctor. I went the thyroid hormone path, but also changed my diet. I just had a thyroid ultrasound and she said my thyroid didn’t look like a Hashi’s thyroid. That’s because through diet and healthy habits I stopped my body from attacking my thyroid.

 

My number one recommendation is stop trying things and changing things. Once your system is out of balance it can become hyper sensitive. You need to stabilize before you make your next change. You need to track your symptoms daily. As you begin to make changes notice whether there is a slight improvement or a slight worsening. Only change one thing at a time and give yourself time to see how the change affects your system.

 

Natural desiccated thyroid (NDT) can be activating. When I first started NDT I started on a quarter of a grain (15 mg) and had my normal coffee drink. I felt like I had taken a hit of speed. I was on 300 mg Effexor, 400 mg Gabapentin and 1mg Xanax. But I hadn’t started tapering. By the next day I just cut back on the coffee and eventually found my balance with NDT. 

 

I am not telling you not to address your thyroid, but I am cautioning you that in my experience it was initially activating. You will want to ensure B12, iron and adrenals are in good shape before going down that path.

 

Regarding inability to sleep. I experienced two years of excessive stress and inability to get a good nights sleep. Going to bed at the same time every night, doing a deep relaxation meditation prior to sleep, making my room as dark as possible, keeping my room cool and most importantly  not panicking when I woke up early allowed me to return to a normal sleep. When I wake early I tell myself, “I am safe, I am secure, I am OK.” I repeat that calmly over and over until I relax myself back to sleep, sometimes off and on or until time to rise.

 

My apologies for the long post. Lots to address. Please share answers to thyroid measures, normal ranges and whether you are taking any thyroid meds. Also, Alto asked what is in your adrenal cocktail. I’d also like to know what caused you to start an adrenal cocktail.

 

Love and light,

Karma 

 

[Rachellynn]

Does this help? This is all i have. I also have low DHEA and Estradiol. B12 was high for some reason. 

 

Adrenal Coctail is sea salt, coconut water and squeezed orange. I was going low in potassium and a long time ago Sodium. Scary.  I cannot digest my food when I’m in a highly anxious state nearly 24/7 with no sleep. 

 

Thank you you for checking in. I’m going to see Altos Dr in 9 days. He said i May have to get on meds (more?) to heal...

[Rachellynn]

OMG. My friend is trying to convince me that I’m some sort of psychotic or schizophrenic. Do these actually exist?! Aren’t they just caused by deficiencies?! Withdrawal?! Her dad is a psychiatrist and apparently she had meds too. I don’t even know. Ugh. 

[savinggrace]

Of course you’re not psychotic or schizophrenic , Rachelynn. Seriously I have a schizophrenic sister and you are nothing like her. She could never communicate normally like you do. Your friend is being influenced by her “drugs are the answer” farher and is not understanding the damage these drugs do to  our brains. Her father will deny this so she will too. In my opinion trying to get ANYONE who is not going through this, or isn’t really really close to someone who is, or has, is a waste of time and energy and all it does is feed the fear. I have shared the facts about my psych drug withdrawal with only 4 people in my life (besides doctors who don’t believe me). Sharing this stuff with most people who have not been on psych drugs is futile. Even the 4 people who know what is at the bottom of my dysfunction don’t really understand, but they support me. 

 

Seriously, if you have to talk to someone, talk here at SA or only to someone who tries to understand and doesn’t plant  fears in your head. You know you are not psychotic. The drugs and withdrawal may make you feel that way but you’re not. Schizophrenia is such a terribly devastating condition...not to be compared to anything I read here. When my sister was diagnosed at age 17 she heard voices constantly that made her harm herself. The label schizophrenia  never be bandied about by people who don’t know. 

 

If you want to keep your friend in your life, tell her to read some of the links and posts here, though with a psychiatrist father, that could be problematic. 

 

Please put this thought out of your head. 

 

Grace

 

 

 

 

[Rachellynn]

@savinggrace I LOVE YOU. 

 

Can anyone remind me why not to turn to benzos during withdrawal insomnia?