Daisy: Effexor xr

[Daisy]

Thank you Shep. Yes, I really do want to get off the medications.

Daisy

[Daisy]

I think it might be best if I leave this forum because I seem to be causing to much conflict. I do not want that for myself or anyone else. Therefore, I will taper off the Prozac and Lexapro myself since I have the tools. When I am done. I will go back to Benzo Buddies and taper off the Xanax like I did before. I did get free of Xanax in 2013 but relapsed.

 

Daisy

[Daisy]

This is not a ploy to try and get someone to ask me to stay. I just think it is the best thing. I might pop in every so often to let Surviving Antidepressants know how I am doing if that is alright. If not, then let me know.

 

Daisy

[Altostrata]

You're not causing conflict, Daisy. We just want to get you centered on what you need to do.

 

How do you feel since you skipped Lexapro last night?

[Daisy]

I feel good! I went out with my sister and a friend to eat, then to an Estate sale and to Hobby Lobby. I laughed, had fun and had times

 

when I was silly right along with the people I was with. No dizziness, nausea or feeling off balance. I had everything I needed to do by

 

10:00 am before they came over with no problem. No fatigue. No crying. I have my normal energy back. I swear I am not manic. I am

 

just relieved to feel like myself again. I think it it almost like the kind of Euphoria that I have felt before when say I have been very sick

 

with the stomach flu, and then it is gone. Maybe it is a Honeymoon period. If so, I will be finding out soon enough and will have to

 

reinstate but really do not want to have to go back up to the 2.5 mgs of Lexapro. For some reason it turns me into a crying, unable to

 

focus zombie and I believe also caused the imaginary thud and vibration experience I had told you about on Thursday. It is a bad drug

 

for me. I will probably need help setting up a taper plan from what I hope will be no more than 1- 1.5 mgs of Lexapro, and if you are

 

willing to work with me, I would be most grateful. I am going to continue on the 5 mgs of Prozac for now and try to change the Xanax

 

back to PRN for anxiety and see how it goes. Having tapered off Xanax before, I will know in about three days how I am going to

 

respond to that. If it does not go well, I will get help setting up a taper plan to get off it but probably with the support of Benzo Buddies

 

where I tapered off Xanax before and was free of it in 2013. Anyway, what I have said is what I am hoping for. But I may come limping

 

back here and have to eat crow if this fails; that is if you will have me. 

 

Daisy

[Daisy]

Sorry about the way it turned out when I double spaced the above post. I should have proof read it before I sent it.

 

Daisy

[Daisy]

Alto or anyone else who wishes to answer

 

I stopped 50 mgs of Prozac in March due to it causing severe anxiety, knot in my stomach and throat to the point I did not even want to swallow my saliva.  I continued the Xanax I was on but it was increased from 1mg  daily as needed for panic to 1.5 mg daily as needed for panic

 

I started 5 mgs of  Lexapro  in March after stopping the Prozac. ( explanation, I am very fearful of going into withdrawal after what happened to me in 2012 when I tried to get off Effexor XL, failed and attempted suicide).

 

Went down to 2.5 mgs of Lexapro May 10th because I felt ill, very foggy mentally and fatigued.

 

Started first 10 mgs  of of Prozac May 15th because I felt worse.

 

Prozac  was reduced to 5 mgs in a few days  after I started having more GERD symptoms and I got scared when I lost one night of sleep.

 

Fast forward to May 25th. 3 a.m. I stopped the 2.5 mgs of Lexapro because I could not manage the side effects and wanted to be clear minded and awake for a visit with my sister and friend.

 

Felt really good the day of May 25 th and even went out with sister and friend for several hours.

 

 Medications taken on May 25  were as follows:

 

Prilosec 20 mgs at 6:15 a.m. 

5 mgs Prozac at 8 a.m.

0.5 mgs  Xanax 8 a.m.

0.25 mgs Xanax when I got back home. I did not look at the clock but it was prob around 3:30 p.m.

0.5 mgs Xanax at Midnight when I went to bed.

Woke up at 6: 00 a.m feeling good.

 

Is it possible I began suffering withdrawal when I decreased the Lexapro to 2.5 mgs?

 

Is it possible I feel better now because I have now taken a small dose of Prozac  for going on 12 days?

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Again let me say I am very afraid of withdrawal from an antidepressant  when I tried to get off Effexor XL in 2012  because I think it contributed to my suicide attempt in 2012.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FYI  I was free of Xanax 2013 after a taper

 

I relapsed and started to take Xanax again to take the edge off my feelings of intense grief when my Mom died Feb 14th 2017

 

I think I started the Xanax again in March 2017 at a low dose of 0.25 mgs daily as needed.

 

Dose of Xanax has gradually increased from 0.25 mgs due to building up a tolerance,  to current dose prescribed at 1.5 mgs daily as needed for anxiety.

 

Sincerely,

 

Daisy

 

 

[Daisy]

1 hour ago, Daisy said:

Alto or anyone else who wishes to answer

 

I stopped 50 mgs of Prozac in March due to it causing severe anxiety, knot in my stomach and throat to the point I did not even want to swallow my saliva.  I continued the Xanax I was on but it was increased from 1mg  daily as needed for panic to 1.5 mg daily as needed for panic

 

I started 5 mgs of  Lexapro  in March after stopping the Prozac. ( explanation, I am very fearful of going into withdrawal after what happened to me in 2012 when I tried to get off Effexor XL, failed and attempted suicide).

 

Went down to 2.5 mgs of Lexapro May 10th because I felt ill, very foggy mentally and fatigued.

 

Started first 10 mgs  of of Prozac May 15th because I felt worse.

 

Prozac  was reduced to 5 mgs in a few days  after I started having more GERD symptoms and I got scared when I lost one night of sleep.

 

Fast forward to May 25th. 3 a.m. I stopped the 2.5 mgs of Lexapro because I could not manage the side effects and wanted to be clear minded and awake for a visit with my sister and friend.

 

Felt really good the day of May 25 th and even went out with sister and friend for several hours.

 

 Medications taken on May 25  were as follows:

 

Prilosec 20 mgs at 6:15 a.m. 

5 mgs Prozac at 8 a.m.

0.5 mgs  Xanax 8 a.m.

0.25 mgs Xanax when I got back home. I did not look at the clock but it was prob around 3:30 p.m.

0.5 mgs Xanax at Midnight when I went to bed.

Woke up at 6: 00 a.m feeling good.

 

Is it possible I began suffering withdrawal when I decreased the Lexapro to 2.5 mgs?

 

Is it possible I feel better now because I have now taken a small dose of Prozac  for going on 12 days?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Again let me say I am very afraid of withdrawal from an antidepressant  when I tried to get off Effexor XL in 2012  because I think it contributed to my suicide attempt in 2012.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

FYI  I was free of Xanax 2013 after a taper

 

I relapsed and started to take Xanax again to take the edge off my feelings of intense grief when my Mom died Feb 14th 2017

 

I think I started the Xanax again in March 2017 at a low dose of 0.25 mgs daily as needed.

 

Dose of Xanax has gradually increased from 0.25 mgs due to building up a tolerance,  to current dose prescribed at 1.5 mgs daily as needed for anxiety.

 

Sincerely,

 

Daisy

 

 

If you care to search for me on Benzo Buddies I will give you my screen screen Name. But I do not think you will, be able to find m,e unless you are a member of Benzo Buddies, I am offering this to proof I was free of Xanax in 2013

 

Sincerely, 

Daisy

[Altostrata]

Daisy, we have enough work to do here, we're not going to read up on your posts on BenzoBuddies.

 

21 hours ago, Daisy said:

I am going to continue on the 5 mgs of Prozac for now and try to change the Xanax back to PRN for anxiety and see how it goes. Having tapered off Xanax before, I will know in about three days how I am going to respond to that. If it does not go well, I will get help setting up a taper plan to get off it but probably with the support of Benzo Buddies where I tapered off Xanax before and was free of it in 2013. Anyway, what I have said is what I am hoping for. But I may come limping back here and have to eat crow if this fails; that is if you will have me. 

 

It is possible 5mg Prozac is enough SSRI for you and you do not need the 2.5mg Lexapro. In effect, you have completed the Prozac switch.

 

Please keep notes on paper about your daily symptom pattern to make sure you don't have any ill effects from dropping Lexapro.

 

If you have been taking Xanax regularly, do not skip doses. Past performance is no indicator that you can take it haphazardly. I am concerned about your inclination to make sudden changes in your drugs.  Read

 

The rule of 3KIS: Keep it simple. Keep it slow. Keep it stable.

 

Benzo withdrawal can be very, very bad. If you bring this on yourself, we can't do much to help you.

 

As you may know, we differ with BenzoBuddies in that we recommend going off the antidepressant, which may cause sleeplessness, before the benzo.

[Daisy]

Alto

I am keeping notes on paper about my reaction to stopping the Lexapro. I have also ask my therapist to to alert me if I am deteriorating in case I am not catching it myself. I trust him to be honest with me.

 

I understand and did not expect my posts on Benzo buddies to be read except for my signature which proved I was free of Xanax in 2013 after a taper. I wanted it understood and believed that the use of Xanax is a relapse.

 

I have been keeping the dose of Xanax at a total of 1.25 mgs a day, but have moved the evening dose to bedtime instead of 6:30 PM after reconsidering my initial decision to change it suddenly to PRN.

 

My plan is to monitor my reaction to the changes made in the antidepressants, and if all goes well, taper off the Xanax with the help of Benzo Buddies because I am familiar with it more so than Surviving Antidepressants.

 

I stand with you in your belief to taper off an Antidepressant before tapering a Benzo.. But at the time when I had failed getting off Effexor XL in 2012, and started Prozac, I needed to be successful at something. I chose Xanax. It was difficult, but I did it. I still have a great fear of going off an antidepressant again.

 

There was a time in 2012 that I was Antidepressant free, but it was so hard when I tried to resume a normal life because I needed the income,  I reinstated. That did not work out well.

 

Hopefully things will go better this time because I have the support of a PD and a therapist.

I kept what I was going through with the withdrawal from Effexor XL in 2012 from my family and friends and even my Internist.

I did seek the help of SA when I had tapered Effexor XL too fast after my resolve to get off it after a forced cold turkey of 7 days that was horrible.

 

After the suicide attempt in 2012, I was pretty mixed up for along time and very fearful of going off of an Antidepressant again. But because of my  bad reaction of going up to 50 mgs of Prozac recently, I wanted off it right away, thus starting the Lexapro.

 

So here I am back at SA again,  trying to be honest and getting into trouble because I am not following what is recommended. 

 

I  do have trust issues, so it takes me a long time to feel comfortable enough to believe that others are trying to help me or that they are really hearing me and not just writing me off as a nut job.

 

If it is believed that I am a nut job here at SA, I can understand that because withdrawal from an antidepressant really clouds my thinking plus I am all over the place emotionally and physically.

 

I do have times of clarity and I think that is where I am right now, thus I think I am doing the right thing for myself by stopping the Lexapro and taking my chances with just being on the 5 mgs of Prozac and rethinking my initial thought of trying to take the Xanax PRN.

 

Daisy

[Daisy]

On 5/24/2018 at 1:38 AM, mammaP said:

Daisy, this link will take you to the signature box. http://survivingantidepressants.org/settings/signature/

It is important to include all current drugs and doses, and the last year. Also the drugs and approximate month or year started and stopped previously. You can copy from your post but without the explanations, just the drugs doses and dates.  Thank you for listing them for us

mammaP

I would appreciate if if you can help me with how to mark notifications as read. It looks like if I have read them that they become lighter in color, but it is not enough contrast for these old eyes even with my contacts and reading glasses on.( FYI. I am putting my age out there which is 65 years old).

Even though I am not exactly following the recommended ways of getting off an Antidepressant and a Benzo for my own personal reasons, I am still gathering information to help me come to a decision as to what will work best for me.

Sincerely,

Daisy

[mammaP]

  I have the same problem and had a stroke last year that affected my sight.  My family tinkered with the laptop and made the font huge. That made a difference.  To the left of a line in the list of topics there is a blue circle, if the circle is missing it means you have read that topic. The circle indicates a new reply. Hope that helps. 

[Altostrata]

Daisy, we believe you, we don't need any proof! I hope we can gain your confidence. We're by no means infallible.

 

You've done a great job switching to Prozac by listening to your body and reporting your symptoms.

[Daisy]

3 hours ago, mammaP said:

I have the same problem and had a stroke last year that affected my sight.  My family tinkered with the laptop and made the font huge. That made a difference.  To the left of a line in the list of topics there is a blue circle, if the circle is missing it means you have read that topic. The circle indicates a new reply. Hope that helps.

Thank you mammap

[Daisy]

1 hour ago, Altostrata said:

Daisy, we believe you, we don't need any proof! I hope we can gain your confidence. We're by no means infallible.

 

You've done a great job switching to Prozac by listening to your body and reporting your symptoms.

Thank you Altostrata. I am working on developing trust and confidence in what I have ask help with from SA, but it does not come over night for me and it does not come over night for me that I am believed when I write things down when I feel I have clarity in thought. I will do my best to report on here only when I feel I am having clarity, that is if you will have me.

Sincerely,

Daisy

[Daisy]

I learned a lesson last night which is to set up my medication for the day ahead of time instead of leaving it in the bottle and taking it out from there. 

 

What happened was that instead of taking 0.5 mgs of Xanax at bedtime, I took a 1 mg tablet.

 

I did spend some time criticising myself for my mistake, but eventually came around to the conclusion that "What is done is done. Learn from it".

Daisy

[bubbles]

16 minutes ago, Daisy said:

I learned a lesson last night which is to set up my medication for the day ahead of time instead of leaving it in the bottle and taking it out from there. 

 

What happened was that instead of taking 0.5 mgs of Xanax at bedtime, I took a 1 mg tablet.

  

I did spend some time criticising myself for my mistake, but eventually came around to the conclusion that "What is done is done. Learn from it".

Daisy

 

Daisy, I have to do this too. I measure mine out a week at a time. If I don't measure it out and have the reminder of the weekly box, I forget and miss days.

 

[Daisy]

9 minutes ago, bubbles said:

Daisy, I have to do this too. I measure mine out a week at a time. If I don't measure it out and have the reminder of the weekly box, I forget and miss days.

We are all human and it is normal for us to make mistakes. I guess the trick is to learn from one's mistakes and find a way to not repeat it. I am glad you have found a way that works for you.

Daisy

[Daisy]

I have decided to start tapering the Xanax by 10% every 4 weeks, but stay on the 5 mgs of Prozac for now. I know this is contrary to SA's beliefs, but I am trying to listen to my body and do what I think is best for it. I would like to continue posting on SA if that does not go against the rules that have been set up. 

 

I have an active mind and because I am unable to work right now because of the medication transition I am going through, I need an out let for my thoughts. Living by yourself does have its disadvantages in that all I have to talk to on a daily basis is my dog and cats.

 

I do have my sister whom I have confided in about what I am going through and also 1 good friend that I trust not to judge me and is supportive of me. 

 

I do have a therapist and a PD for support.

 

But I do not want to be a burden to any of these people because I do not thing it is a fair thing to do.

 

In the past, I have been involved with very needy people and it was draining. I do not want to do that to anyone else, including my therapist and PD. 

 

At least here on SA, members have the choice to reply or not reply to my posts which I think is a good thing.

 

Please let me know if it is okay to continue posting here at SA. My desire is to have support for myself and to encourage those that are going through a rough time or comment on how appreciative I am of something someone has posted.

 

Sincerely,

Daisy

[Gridley]

Daisy, you are welcome here, and it is fine for you to keep posting.

 

Could you please add Xanax to your signature?  Here's the link:

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

[Daisy]

 

1 hour ago, Gridley said:

Daisy, you are welcome here, and it is fine for you to keep posting.

 

Could you please add Xanax to your signature?

Yes. I really need to update my signature because it is not accurate. If you do not mind, I would like to start from when I was off Effexor XL in 2012 and started on Prozac and some other psych meds. I am really weary of the whole Effexor XL experience I went through. I would also just like to short cut through my Xanax taper that was successful in 2013

Daisy

[Gridley]

That would be fine.  The last 24 months are the most important.

[Altostrata]

Daisy, why do you want to go off Xanax first? Are you having an adverse reaction to it?

[Daisy]

I am more afraid to go off the Prozac and experience W/D than the Xanax. I had taper Xanax successfully in 2013 and stayed off for 4 years.

Daisy. 

[Altostrata]

Daisy, we recommend going off Prozac first because the Xanax might keep you from developing sleep disruption as a withdrawal symptom. Going off the Xanax first, you may have problems with this.

 

However, you've just made the switch to Prozac. If I were you, I'd let that settle for a couple of months before making any more drug changes.

[Daisy]

I understand. But in my line of work, if I am driving and have an accident that is my fault, if a Benzo is found in my blood, I could either lose my license or have it suspended for 3 years during which time I would be expected to attend and pay for a very expensive drug rehab program. Because I worked part time, I never took more than 0.125 mgs of Xanax or at the most 0.25 mgs  before I had to drive. Most of my Xanax intake has been restricted to the days I was off work and not going anywhere, or in the afternoon or evening when I got home. When I had to take a leave of absence from work, first due to extreme anxiety when I went up to 50 mgs of Prozac, and then again when I had problems tolerating the Lexapro, that is when I started to take the Xanax at more regular intervals. I want to be able to work again soon. If I can reduce the Xanax to where I do not feel my driving is impaired, I can do that.

 

Of course I am not addressing your concern about letting my system settle down  before I make any more drug changes am I? That is because I can not commit to that right now, at this very moment. I really will rethink what I am doing with the Xanax taper. 

 

Daisy

[Altostrata]

I see. Do you only take Xanax occasionally? Have there been any recent periods when you've taken it every day?

 

You probably know when you're dependent on it, you're likely to get interdose withdrawal.

[Daisy]

1 hour ago, Altostrata said:

I see. Do you only take Xanax occasionally? Have there been any recent periods when you've taken it every day?

 

You probably know when you're dependent on it, you're likely to get interdose withdrawal.

Yes. I am well schooled on interdose withdrawal, rebound anxiety, kindling and the short half life of Xanax. And yes I more than likely have been going through interdose withdrawal for awhile now which is not a picnic. None of this is a picnic or a walk in the park. I am getting tired now so I probably should not even be on here. I wish you a good night.

 

Daisy

 

 

[Daisy]

I have come to the realization that I can not participate on 2 forums at the same time. It just causes me too much conflict and I am not handling conflict easily right now. Thank you for all the help you have given me since I made the switch from Prozac to Lexapro then back to Prozac. I really do hope to remain on just 5 mgs of Prozac and weather the rest of the storm.

 

I feel like I am thinking a lot clearer now than I was, and want to thank you again for hanging in there with me during my time of physical and cognitive confusion.

 

Sincerely,

Daisy

[Daisy]

I just realized that I am heading down the same path that I did in 2012 when I attempted suicide. It started with having a  bad reaction to trying to get off Effexor XL in 2012. Because of it, I wanted off all drugs as soon as possible. I crashed and burned. I am not going to make the same mistake twice. I value life too much. I will talk about this with both my PD and my therapist and go from there. I am in agreement with Alto. I should not make any changes in medications until I feel more stable. Cognitively I feel much clearer, but physically I tire very easily. Today I went for over 12 hours without food because of a fasting blood test I was having and the long wait at the lab due to it being just after a Holiday. I was really the fluctuation in blood sugar. Thank goodness I had the presence of mind to go to a pharmacy in the same building and buy some glucose tablets to take after my blood was drawn. I had a banana with me, but felt it would not work fast enough. Almost instant relief after the glucose tablet. Headache was gone and so was the shakiness. 

 

I do apologize again for being all over the place with what I want to do and how I present myself on this forum. It has been a rough time for me as of late.

 

Daisy 

[Altostrata]

That's okay, Daisy. You can always look back on your posts in this topic to review your decisions.

[Daisy]

Thanks Alto. I feel like I have suddenly come down with a multiple personality disorder. I know that is not true, but I sure am disorganized right now.

Daisy

Edited May 30, 2018 by Daisy
want to add something

[Daisy]

I am going to post a link to an article from the New York Times that came out in April of this year.  My PD sent to me when I was having a hard time trusting him to believe me when I told him some of what I was going through. If it is not appropriate, please just delete it. But I am putting it here because it helped me to know I was not alone and withdrawal from Antidepressants is being recognized as a real problem and can be quite severe for a percentage of the population.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/07/health/antidepressants-withdrawal-prozac-cymbalta.html

 

Daisy

 

[Daisy]

First off, please feel free to merge this with my Introductory as I may not be putting this in the right place.

 

5/30/18

Morning-few what I am going to call "head bounces" which is a noise in my ears. Came on with turning slowly to look at something

Solution-put on Sea Bands for motion sickness

 

Easily distracted and have difficulty completing one task before moving on to another. Easily forget to go back and complete the task I had started first.

Solution-Make myself complete one task at a time. It is uncomfortable, but I am trying to retrain myself.

 

Difficulty remembering when I am to take my medication and organizing day.

Solution- Set the alarm on my phone for times of meds and when I want to complete a task later on. Write down what I need to do for the day and cross it off when it is done.

 

Irregular sleep pattern.

Solution- Correct it by going to bed at the same time and getting up at the same time. Decide on the times.  Not an easy thing for me to do,  but I feel it is important for my recovery. Not beat myself up if there are nights and mornings that I fail but keep trying until it becomes a habit. Sleep mask to block out morning light which I do already. It does help with early morning wake ups,

 

No true schedule as to when I eat meals.

Solution-Work on correcting that.

 

Comments and encouragements are welcome 

 

Daisy Effexor XL

Edited May 30, 2018 by Daisy
ADD something

[Daisy]

5/30/18

Easily fatigued.

Solution- Pace activities so I do not get over tired

 

Added solution to- Morning-few what I am going to call "head bounces" which is a noise in my ears. Came on with turning slowly to look at something

Solution- Put in contacts

 

Sore muscles, especially low back, buttocks and sometimes hips

Solution-Massage therapy with person I have gone to before which includes yoga breathing and imagery once a week for at least 3 weeks. I had my 1st session last Friday. This weeks session has already been set up. 

Edited May 30, 2018 by Daisy
add something

[Daisy]

5/30/18 continued:

 

Noticing frequent decision changes and head fog. Not trusting my behavior  during this withdrawal period.

Solution- Head fog has gotten better with time. I have enlisted a therapist I trust and have seen for over thirty years to question my decisions and tell me when he thinks they are "over the top", or poor decisions. I have also ask him to monitor me and if he sees me deteriorating, he will let me know.