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freeruby


freeruby

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I have been doing a taper off of Abilify since April 2018.  I have been trying to do 10% a month, but some months that was too fast so held the dose for two months, and now carrying on.  I wanted to note that coming off of Abilify is every bit as difficult as coming off of an anti-depressant.  I tried to come off of Lexapro in 2015 - 2016 (as indicated in my list below) - and ened up reinstating  - sadly as the symptoms were more then I could handle and I didn't know enough to understand what was going on for me was withdrawal.

 

 Coming off of Abilify the symptoms:  definitely waves and windows.  Mostly waves with a few windows.  Exhaustion, agitation, anxiety, agoraphobia - a sense of nerves being very shakey.  A sense of inner shaking.  Being very out of it ... not able to communicate well with others.  

 

I am currently at .35 mg.

 

I am keeping in mind here that I am still taking 6mg of lexapro so that may be involved. 

 

My suggestion for anyone coming off of abilify is to go very slow.

 

The most important tip I can make is that since the half - life of abilfy is very long - - if I make a cut - I don't even notice it for about a week.   So I fool myself into thinking it is going well and it is easy. Then the waves hit.  Take it slow.  Get it in liquid form if you can.  

 

Edited by ChessieCat
bolded tip

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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  • Administrator

Good point, freeruby. You can get ahead of yourself with these long half-life drugs.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • 1 month later...

I wanted to write an update - that might be of interest to others tapering off AD's or specifically in my case - Abilify.  Things happen in life - where tapering has to slow down I have learned.  

 

I had been tapering off of Abilify and it wasn't going well.  My nerves just felt incredibly worn and shakey.  (They still do).  I started to get a similar morning feeling of cortisol spikes (that happened also during AD taper.  So that alone made me wonder how it was all going.

 

 But THEN - very sadly my father died suddenly of a heart attack and this is where everything had to come to a stop in my taper as I got very overwhelmed with everything (this was a month ago).  I saw my Psychiatrist and of course predictably he said - go back up to the full dose (1 mg) of Abilify immediately.  But after 7 months of tapering - I just didn't want to completely throw in the towel.  SO I decided to go up to .5 mg instead.  I was taking about .35 mg at the time of my fathers death. I needed (and still need) support.  Sleep is bad, nerves are very shakey and worn, I am exhausted.  These are all things that also come with grief.  So what a combination - tapering and grief.

 

So when we are trying to take care of ourselves.... what I am wondering is what are peoples experience of going back up on a dose. Not a full reinstatement of the original dose.  From what I have read here... the .5 mg might be good enough for me as my body has changed through the tapering.  I still want to eventually taper off of everything but right now the grief (with PTSD) is just too much to handle and continue tapering. 

 

I welcome feedback please.  I have also taken Ativan for sleep a few nights just to get through and glad I have that option.

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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  • Administrator

Hello, freeruby. Yes, if you're feeling withdrawal symptoms, it's perfectly okay to updose a bit, stabilize for some months, and give a slower taper another go later.

 

Please be careful with the Ativan for sleep. When it wears off, it can cause anxiety in the daytime, which will make you want to take more of it. Those benzos are horrible drugs.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • 1 month later...

Hello Altostrata - I wanted to ask a question. Since my father died late October - I went back up to 1 mg of Abilify.   This calmed everything down.  I still want to come off of it and wonder how soon it would be safe to start SLOWLY tapering. I have been on 1mg now since November 28.  I had been taking .4 mg (on a taper).  Just don't know how soon my nervous system could handle tapering again.  My goal is to come off of Abilify and Lexapro eventually - one at a time.   I am worried about how to do this. Can you or someone recommend how soon to taper after reinstating?  Thank you

 

.med history

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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  • Administrator

freeruby, I don't know what you mean by "calmed everything down." From what you posted earlier, it seems you tapered Abilify too fast and you were having withdrawal symptoms.

 

From your earlier experience, if you taper Abilify, it seems you need to taper it more slowly than you did before.

 

From your signature, it looks like Abilify was added to address Lexapro withdrawal symptoms -- probably from tapering Lexapro too fast previously.

 

It's possible that Lexapro itself causes anxiety, sleeplessness, etc. As it seems you had Lexapro withdrawal syndrome in early 2016, your system is probably hypersensitive to it and maybe other psychiatric drugs, too.

 

You've been making drug changes almost continually since 2014. It might be a good idea for you to hold on tapering anything for another 6 months. If I were you, I would then taper Lexapro very slowly. See Taking multiple psych drugs? Which drug to taper first?

 

Tips for tapering off Lexapro (escitalopram)

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

 

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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Thank you Altostrata for responding to me. "Calmed everything down" - the anxiety I was feeling is mostly gone - taking the 1 mg abilify.

 

What you suggest - not tapering for 6 months - seems like a good idea - thank you.

 

I want to have a plan for when I taper.   It is so frustrating not to have a doctor that can support coming off of the P-drugs.  

 

It sounds like you are saying to come off of the Lexapro first?  Then Abilify? Do I have this right?   VERY slow taper -  I understand this now I think. 10% per month or less for me.  I have a very sensitive system even before I took P-drugs.   Now even more sensitive - so probably even slower. 

 

Thank you again for hearing me.

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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Alto: Reading all the links you posted now - thanks!

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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  • Administrator

Yes, I might at least reduce Lexapro first.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Have you seen this?  Brass Monkey Slide

 

You can adjust the taper rate to suit yourself.

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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Thank you ChessieCat - that is a fascinating read.  That might really suit me when I start my Lexapro taper in 6 months.  So glad to be learning about options.

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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  • 3 months later...

I am starting to taper now off of Lexapro (Cipralex in Canada) going down by less than 10% per cut using a compounding pharmacy for at first capsules for the right size. So I have gone from 6 mg to 5.5 mg and am two weeks in. So far so good.  I am hoping to get from 6 mg to 3 mg for now after several months.   MY QUESTION is ... I really want to come off of Abilify completely. I am taking 1mg per day.  Altostrata advised tapering Lexapro first a bit, which I am now doing after waiting for 6 months (to stabilize nervous system) then taper Abilify. When would it be safe to then start the Abilify taper? I guess I will have to see how I do with the Cipralex taper and wait until nervous system is stable before starting Abilify taper? I am anxious to get off of Abilify in particular (and both eventually) ... and know I need to be patient.  My last try at coming off of Abilify last summer did not go well.  Any suggestions are so very welcome. 

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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Hi FreeRuby,

just wanted to say Hi and thanks for sharing your story. 

Very similar to mine. 

Similar drugs, lex and Benzos,  and also grieving through a taper. 

 

Wishing you Godspeed for your next attempt. 

Ill keep up with your story xxx

Sydney, Australia.

Lexapro 5mg since August 2014 for Lyme disease - wasn’t depressed. 

klonopin/ rivitrol since Nov 2013 for brain pain from Lyme disease

Attempted lexapro slow taper from July 2018 - dropped to 2.5mg, increased days in between doses. Jan 2019 went down to 1.25mg daily. 

Withdrawal symptoms started 4-6 weeks later; extreme anxiety, cognitive issues with focus, confusion, memory, DR/DP,  headaches, exhaustion, sore watery eyes, body pain, muscle spasm, relentless diarrhoea, so so tired,  neck and head pain, zaps, can barely stand up. 

Have re- instated lexapro to original 5mg dose on Dr’s advice, 1 week. Symptoms have not stopped yet. 

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I’m on Abilify nothing else but in liquid form. 8.5ml. Going down 0.5ml every two weeks as suggested on here, 10% per current dose. 

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Hi Jera, thanks for writing and your encouragement. Lexapro is hard to come off of I find.  I am on Abilify too (small dose) and try not to use benzos at all now.  I mostly want to come off of the Abilify but need to lower Lexapro first.  

I read about your re-instating. I have been there. Sometimes you just have to and learn from it.  Let your nervous system stabilize.  Keep us posted. I will follow your story. xx

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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On 4/29/2019 at 9:53 AM, mbanks said:

I’m on Abilify nothing else but in liquid form. 8.5ml. Going down 0.5ml every two weeks as suggested on here, 10% per current dose. 

How is the taper going?  When did you start?  I tried tapering Abilify last summer and learned that the cut isn't really felt for a very long time - relatively - because of Abilify's long half life.  I hope its going well for you.

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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Started on Monday 11th Feb. 

Prior to that, made the jump from injection 300ml per month to 12ml oral liquid. Was on injections for 15 months. Was a massive jump no one knew what would happen. From December 2018 onwards I was on liquid with the 300ml from the last injection still in my system. So, every 2 weeks from feb I’ve been going down in 0.5 increments. I have been trying to keep active and somewhat healthy diet. Such as, regular walking and eating salmon and drinking raw milk with raw honey. Also taking black seed oil helps it’s a natural cure for many things. Keep everything natural and exercise you’ll be fine. Abilify has a half life of 3 days. It’s out of your system within 75 hours. Sweating rids toxic chemicals.  One thing Abilify prevents me from doing is walking for more than 30 mins. I struggle greatly even in first 30 mins. My focus is to hopefully come off it by October- December this year. Keep a chart. Tracking your usage everyday. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Mentor

@freeruby I’m trying to taper off Abilify as well. My doc prescribed 1mg to augment 200mg of Zoloft after a too-fast taper from 150 to 50mg. I’m down to .22mg of Abilify. Every cut causes withdrawal for me, and I don’t feel it until about 9 days after the reduction. I’m just feeling the effects of the last cut from .25 to . 22mg. It’s astonishing how powerful these drugs can be. The withdrawal from this tiny reduction has been substantial.

2000–2015: sertraline 50mg, eventually up to 150mg for most of those years. Prescribed for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. Two major attempts at discontinuing per psychiatrist's tapering advice were failures; each failure resulted in the dose being increased by 50mg. Those were my only increases in dose over the first 15 years

2000–2002: clonazepam .5mg 3x/day, then tapered quickly with no withdrawal
Jan 2015–Dec 2016: tapered sertraline from 150 to 50mg (relatively slowly from 150 to 100 and then pretty quickly from 100 to 50); severe withdrawal at 50mg
Jan 2017-Aug 2018: increased dose of sertraline from 100mg to 150mg to 200mg/day over the course of a few months per psychiatrist, who also added aripiprazole 1mg/day and clonazepam .5mg 2x/day

Found SA; Aug 2018-May 2023: Slowly tapered off clonazepam and abilify from 2018 to 2020; sertraline 200mg/day (200 mgai)

Taper: May 2023, 200 mgai; June 2023; 190 mgpw; July 1, 185 mgai; July 29, 181 mgai; Aug 27, 178 mgai; Oct 31, 175mgai; Dec 1, 171mgai; Jan 21, 2024, 168mgpw

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 5/18/2019 at 1:12 PM, marconyc said:

@freeruby I’m trying to taper off Abilify as well. My doc prescribed 1mg to augment 200mg of Zoloft after a too-fast taper from 150 to 50mg. I’m down to .22mg of Abilify. Every cut causes withdrawal for me, and I don’t feel it until about 9 days after the reduction. I’m just feeling the effects of the last cut from .25 to . 22mg. It’s astonishing how powerful these drugs can be. The withdrawal from this tiny reduction has been substantial.

Hey Marconyc - how are you doing?  I just saw your  post now a month later - and really empathize.  I tried to do a slow taper off of abilify and found it to be excruciating.

I didn't think it would be because was on 1mg - like you - and thought that was such a small dose.  However the withdrawal was really difficult. I am taking 1mg still and tapering my AD first now a bit - and then will give it another go.  How are you doing now with your taper?  

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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  • Mentor
13 hours ago, freeruby said:

Hey Marconyc - how are you doing?  I just saw your  post now a month later - and really empathize.  I tried to do a slow taper off of abilify and found it to be excruciating.

I didn't think it would be because was on 1mg - like you - and thought that was such a small dose.  However the withdrawal was really difficult. I am taking 1mg still and tapering my AD first now a bit - and then will give it another go.  How are you doing now with your taper?  

 

Hi @freeruby Thanks for stopping by my thread. My Abilify taper has not been easy. At all. Sometimes it's been excruciating. That's a good word for it. I also thought it wouldn't be very difficult to discontinue such a small dose, but that stuff is powerful. It digs in like a tick.

 

I'm down to 0.2 mg. I've followed the advice of the moderators here on SA and only decreased by 10%, with at least 1-month holds.

 

Usually I feel significant withdrawal some time between day 9 and 14 following every cut. My withdrawal symptoms are the usual suspects, at least for me: depressed mood, anxiety, morning nausea from the anxiety, some depersonalization followed by obsessive thoughts/hyperawareness of consciousness, fatigue during the day, insomnia at night, and a fear that I'll never get back to normal.

 

So far I've been able to ride out each cut and return to my "WD normal" baseline, in which I'm not symptom-free but the symptoms aren't intolerable, either. I continue to have some decent windows where I feel back to my pre-withdrawal self, or close to it. But I also have waves, usually in conjunction with external stressors. With the exception of the predictable withdrawal reaction 9-14 days after each cut, which seems to be almost entirely due to the drug, most of my symptoms appear to be triggered by external stressors. For me, AD withdrawal seems mostly stress intolerance. Even minor stressors elicit powerful reactions, usually starting with hyperarousal (eg, anxiety, agitation) and then progressing to hypoarousal (eg, depression, dissociation). 

 

I decided to taper the Abilify first, then move on to the Zoloft. What was your rationale for tapering your AD first? Also, were you tapering the Abilify at no more than 10% at a time, with at least 1-month holds?

2000–2015: sertraline 50mg, eventually up to 150mg for most of those years. Prescribed for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. Two major attempts at discontinuing per psychiatrist's tapering advice were failures; each failure resulted in the dose being increased by 50mg. Those were my only increases in dose over the first 15 years

2000–2002: clonazepam .5mg 3x/day, then tapered quickly with no withdrawal
Jan 2015–Dec 2016: tapered sertraline from 150 to 50mg (relatively slowly from 150 to 100 and then pretty quickly from 100 to 50); severe withdrawal at 50mg
Jan 2017-Aug 2018: increased dose of sertraline from 100mg to 150mg to 200mg/day over the course of a few months per psychiatrist, who also added aripiprazole 1mg/day and clonazepam .5mg 2x/day

Found SA; Aug 2018-May 2023: Slowly tapered off clonazepam and abilify from 2018 to 2020; sertraline 200mg/day (200 mgai)

Taper: May 2023, 200 mgai; June 2023; 190 mgpw; July 1, 185 mgai; July 29, 181 mgai; Aug 27, 178 mgai; Oct 31, 175mgai; Dec 1, 171mgai; Jan 21, 2024, 168mgpw

 

 

 

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32 minutes ago, marconyc said:

 

Hi @freeruby Thanks for stopping by my thread. My Abilify taper has not been easy. At all. Sometimes it's been excruciating. That's a good word for it. I also thought it wouldn't be very difficult to discontinue such a small dose, but that stuff is powerful. It digs in like a tick.

 

I'm down to 0.2 mg. I've followed the advice of the moderators here on SA and only decreased by 10%, with at least 1-month holds.

 

Usually I feel significant withdrawal some time between day 9 and 14 following every cut. My withdrawal symptoms are the usual suspects, at least for me: depressed mood, anxiety, morning nausea from the anxiety, some depersonalization followed by obsessive thoughts/hyperawareness of consciousness, fatigue during the day, insomnia at night, and a fear that I'll never get back to normal.

 

So far I've been able to ride out each cut and return to my "WD normal" baseline, in which I'm not symptom-free but the symptoms aren't intolerable, either. I continue to have some decent windows where I feel back to my pre-withdrawal self, or close to it. But I also have waves, usually in conjunction with external stressors. With the exception of the predictable withdrawal reaction 9-14 days after each cut, which seems to be almost entirely due to the drug, most of my symptoms appear to be triggered by external stressors. For me, AD withdrawal seems mostly stress intolerance. Even minor stressors elicit powerful reactions, usually starting with hyperarousal (eg, anxiety, agitation) and then progressing to hypoarousal (eg, depression, dissociation). 

 

I decided to taper the Abilify first, then move on to the Zoloft. What was your rationale for tapering your AD first? Also, were you tapering the Abilify at no more than 10% at a time, with at least 1-month holds?

Hi there, I’m intrigued about your withdrawal reactions Marco! Everyone is different. But you know what? Cbd will help ease withdrawal for some ppl it’s medication without the side effects! Also, I’m now on 4.5ml. I too experienced terrible reactions to a 1ml taper. So I decided to do 0.5ml every 5 days from now on. But I took cbd medical cannabis capsules to combat the anger. Once you are off Abilify it’s a beautiful life. Our cpn said Abilify is not addicting at low doses. Maybe he’s right?! If you can’t tolerate side effects take cbd or at least look into it. Buy from a company called cbd brothers or at least do your own research. I’m hoping to be off it within 8 weeks. Without drs approval. You’ll get there everyone it’s a matter of time.. 

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  • Mentor
16 minutes ago, mbanks said:

Hi there, I’m intrigued about your withdrawal reactions Marco! Everyone is different. But you know what? Cbd will help ease withdrawal for some ppl it’s medication without the side effects! Also, I’m now on 4.5ml. I too experienced terrible reactions to a 1ml taper. So I decided to do 0.5ml every 5 days from now on. But I took cbd medical cannabis capsules to combat the anger. Once you are off Abilify it’s a beautiful life. Our cpn said Abilify is not addicting at low doses. Maybe he’s right?! If you can’t tolerate side effects take cbd or at least look into it. Buy from a company called cbd brothers or at least do your own research. I’m hoping to be off it within 8 weeks. Without drs approval. You’ll get there everyone it’s a matter of time.. 

Thanks @mbanks I've heard a lot about CBD but have been hesitant to try it because my nervous system is already very sensitized. 

2000–2015: sertraline 50mg, eventually up to 150mg for most of those years. Prescribed for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. Two major attempts at discontinuing per psychiatrist's tapering advice were failures; each failure resulted in the dose being increased by 50mg. Those were my only increases in dose over the first 15 years

2000–2002: clonazepam .5mg 3x/day, then tapered quickly with no withdrawal
Jan 2015–Dec 2016: tapered sertraline from 150 to 50mg (relatively slowly from 150 to 100 and then pretty quickly from 100 to 50); severe withdrawal at 50mg
Jan 2017-Aug 2018: increased dose of sertraline from 100mg to 150mg to 200mg/day over the course of a few months per psychiatrist, who also added aripiprazole 1mg/day and clonazepam .5mg 2x/day

Found SA; Aug 2018-May 2023: Slowly tapered off clonazepam and abilify from 2018 to 2020; sertraline 200mg/day (200 mgai)

Taper: May 2023, 200 mgai; June 2023; 190 mgpw; July 1, 185 mgai; July 29, 181 mgai; Aug 27, 178 mgai; Oct 31, 175mgai; Dec 1, 171mgai; Jan 21, 2024, 168mgpw

 

 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

 

19 minutes ago, marconyc said:

Thanks @mbanks I've heard a lot about CBD but have been hesitant to try it because my nervous system is already very sensitized. 

 

Here's a short SA thread on CBD oil with a link to another thread..  SA doesn't recommend it for the reason you posted, marconyc.

 

Entaroadun: thoughts/experiences regarding CBD/THC ...

Gridley Introduction

 

Lexapro 20 mg since 2004.  Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017.   

End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg 

End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg

End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg  

Oct. 30, 2020  Jump to zero from 0.025mg.  Current dose: 0.000mg

3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete.

 

Ativan 1 mg to 1.875mg 1986-2020, two CT's and reinstatements

Nov. 2020, 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover to 18.75mg Valium

Feb. 2021, begin 10%/4 week taper of 18.75mg Valium 

End 2021  year 1 of Valium taper at 6mg

End 2022 year 2 of Valium taper at 2.75mg 

End 2023 year 3 of Valium taper at 1mg

Jan. 24, 2024: Hold at 1mg and shift to Imipramine taper.

Taper is 95% complete.

 

Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986.  Jan.-Sept. 2016 tapered to 14.4mg  

March 22, 2022: Begin 10%/4 week taper

Aug. 5, 2022: hold at 9.5mg and shift to Valium taper

Jan. 24, 2024: Resume Imipramine taper.  Current dose as of Feb. 22: 7.6mg

Taper is 90% complete.  

  

Supplements: multiple, quercetin, omega-3, vitamins C, E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotics, zinc, melatonin .3mg, anti-candida, iron, serrapeptase, nattokinase


I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice but simply information based on my own experience, as well as other members who have survived these drugs.

Link to comment
2 hours ago, marconyc said:

 

Hi @freeruby Thanks for stopping by my thread. My Abilify taper has not been easy. At all. Sometimes it's been excruciating. That's a good word for it. I also thought it wouldn't be very difficult to discontinue such a small dose, but that stuff is powerful. It digs in like a tick.

 

I'm down to 0.2 mg. I've followed the advice of the moderators here on SA and only decreased by 10%, with at least 1-month holds.

 

Usually I feel significant withdrawal some time between day 9 and 14 following every cut. My withdrawal symptoms are the usual suspects, at least for me: depressed mood, anxiety, morning nausea from the anxiety, some depersonalization followed by obsessive thoughts/hyperawareness of consciousness, fatigue during the day, insomnia at night, and a fear that I'll never get back to normal.

 

So far I've been able to ride out each cut and return to my "WD normal" baseline, in which I'm not symptom-free but the symptoms aren't intolerable, either. I continue to have some decent windows where I feel back to my pre-withdrawal self, or close to it. But I also have waves, usually in conjunction with external stressors. With the exception of the predictable withdrawal reaction 9-14 days after each cut, which seems to be almost entirely due to the drug, most of my symptoms appear to be triggered by external stressors. For me, AD withdrawal seems mostly stress intolerance. Even minor stressors elicit powerful reactions, usually starting with hyperarousal (eg, anxiety, agitation) and then progressing to hypoarousal (eg, depression, dissociation). 

 

I decided to taper the Abilify first, then move on to the Zoloft. What was your rationale for tapering your AD first? Also, were you tapering the Abilify at no more than 10% at a time, with at least 1-month holds?

Hey Marconyc - glad to hear back from you -- and I feel for you that is for sure. Much of what you describe is what I went through.  When I did my Abilify taper last year - I thought I was going slow enough - but apparently I wasn't.    The last .5 mg I was tapering at 10% per month as directed here.  I got super shakey - like internal tremors, morning anxiety, and somewhat obsessed over things at times and wasn't managing.  THEN my father died suddenly - and I completely bailed on my taper as it was too much for me and returned to 1mg.  ALSO - my reasoning for doing the AD before Abilify now is from what Altostrata (administrator here) said to me - she sent me this link.  Have a look at this link: 

AD's are stimulating, and Antipsychotics are "brakes".  So the idea is to lower the stimulators first.  

 

I am not totally coming off the AD's yet. I will go down to 4 mg of Lexapro - THEN I will start my Abilify taper going at 10% per month. I hope it works better!

 

You are very close now.  It might be worth doing longer holds in the final stretch?  Keep me posted.

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

Link to comment
  • Mentor
1 hour ago, Gridley said:

 

 

Here's a short SA thread on CBD oil with a link to another thread..  SA doesn't recommend it for the reason you posted, marconyc.

 

Entaroadun: thoughts/experiences regarding CBD/THC ...

Thanks, @Gridley

2000–2015: sertraline 50mg, eventually up to 150mg for most of those years. Prescribed for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. Two major attempts at discontinuing per psychiatrist's tapering advice were failures; each failure resulted in the dose being increased by 50mg. Those were my only increases in dose over the first 15 years

2000–2002: clonazepam .5mg 3x/day, then tapered quickly with no withdrawal
Jan 2015–Dec 2016: tapered sertraline from 150 to 50mg (relatively slowly from 150 to 100 and then pretty quickly from 100 to 50); severe withdrawal at 50mg
Jan 2017-Aug 2018: increased dose of sertraline from 100mg to 150mg to 200mg/day over the course of a few months per psychiatrist, who also added aripiprazole 1mg/day and clonazepam .5mg 2x/day

Found SA; Aug 2018-May 2023: Slowly tapered off clonazepam and abilify from 2018 to 2020; sertraline 200mg/day (200 mgai)

Taper: May 2023, 200 mgai; June 2023; 190 mgpw; July 1, 185 mgai; July 29, 181 mgai; Aug 27, 178 mgai; Oct 31, 175mgai; Dec 1, 171mgai; Jan 21, 2024, 168mgpw

 

 

 

Link to comment
  • Mentor
45 minutes ago, freeruby said:

Hey Marconyc - glad to hear back from you -- and I feel for you that is for sure. Much of what you describe is what I went through.  When I did my Abilify taper last year - I thought I was going slow enough - but apparently I wasn't.    The last .5 mg I was tapering at 10% per month as directed here.  I got super shakey - like internal tremors, morning anxiety, and somewhat obsessed over things at times and wasn't managing.  THEN my father died suddenly - and I completely bailed on my taper as it was too much for me and returned to 1mg.  ALSO - my reasoning for doing the AD before Abilify now is from what Altostrata (administrator here) said to me - she sent me this link.  Have a look at this link: 

AD's are stimulating, and Antipsychotics are "brakes".  So the idea is to lower the stimulators first.  

 

I am not totally coming off the AD's yet. I will go down to 4 mg of Lexapro - THEN I will start my Abilify taper going at 10% per month. I hope it works better!

 

You are very close now.  It might be worth doing longer holds in the final stretch?  Keep me posted.

 

Thanks @freeruby. I was only aware of the recommendation to taper one drug at a time, not to taper one type of drug before another. 

 

@manymoretodays @Gridley Did I make a mistake tapering the Abilify before the Zoloft?

2000–2015: sertraline 50mg, eventually up to 150mg for most of those years. Prescribed for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. Two major attempts at discontinuing per psychiatrist's tapering advice were failures; each failure resulted in the dose being increased by 50mg. Those were my only increases in dose over the first 15 years

2000–2002: clonazepam .5mg 3x/day, then tapered quickly with no withdrawal
Jan 2015–Dec 2016: tapered sertraline from 150 to 50mg (relatively slowly from 150 to 100 and then pretty quickly from 100 to 50); severe withdrawal at 50mg
Jan 2017-Aug 2018: increased dose of sertraline from 100mg to 150mg to 200mg/day over the course of a few months per psychiatrist, who also added aripiprazole 1mg/day and clonazepam .5mg 2x/day

Found SA; Aug 2018-May 2023: Slowly tapered off clonazepam and abilify from 2018 to 2020; sertraline 200mg/day (200 mgai)

Taper: May 2023, 200 mgai; June 2023; 190 mgpw; July 1, 185 mgai; July 29, 181 mgai; Aug 27, 178 mgai; Oct 31, 175mgai; Dec 1, 171mgai; Jan 21, 2024, 168mgpw

 

 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus
30 minutes ago, marconyc said:

Did I make a mistake tapering the Abilify before the Zoloft?

 

Normally we'd recommend tapering the Zoloft first, because it makes things a little more comfortable during the taper, but it doesn't really matter at this point.  Congratulations on getting so low with the Abilify. 

 

 I don't see a current dosage for Zoloft in your signature (last mention is July 2018).  Are you off it?

Gridley Introduction

 

Lexapro 20 mg since 2004.  Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017.   

End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg 

End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg

End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg  

Oct. 30, 2020  Jump to zero from 0.025mg.  Current dose: 0.000mg

3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete.

 

Ativan 1 mg to 1.875mg 1986-2020, two CT's and reinstatements

Nov. 2020, 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover to 18.75mg Valium

Feb. 2021, begin 10%/4 week taper of 18.75mg Valium 

End 2021  year 1 of Valium taper at 6mg

End 2022 year 2 of Valium taper at 2.75mg 

End 2023 year 3 of Valium taper at 1mg

Jan. 24, 2024: Hold at 1mg and shift to Imipramine taper.

Taper is 95% complete.

 

Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986.  Jan.-Sept. 2016 tapered to 14.4mg  

March 22, 2022: Begin 10%/4 week taper

Aug. 5, 2022: hold at 9.5mg and shift to Valium taper

Jan. 24, 2024: Resume Imipramine taper.  Current dose as of Feb. 22: 7.6mg

Taper is 90% complete.  

  

Supplements: multiple, quercetin, omega-3, vitamins C, E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotics, zinc, melatonin .3mg, anti-candida, iron, serrapeptase, nattokinase


I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice but simply information based on my own experience, as well as other members who have survived these drugs.

Link to comment
  • Mentor
2 minutes ago, Gridley said:

 

Normally we'd recommend tapering the Zoloft first, because it makes things a little more comfortable during the taper, but it doesn't really matter at this point.  Congratulations on getting so low with the Abilify. 

 

 I don't see a current dosage for Zoloft in your signature (last mention is July 2018).  Are you off it?

@Gridley I'm still on 200mg Zoloft.

2000–2015: sertraline 50mg, eventually up to 150mg for most of those years. Prescribed for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. Two major attempts at discontinuing per psychiatrist's tapering advice were failures; each failure resulted in the dose being increased by 50mg. Those were my only increases in dose over the first 15 years

2000–2002: clonazepam .5mg 3x/day, then tapered quickly with no withdrawal
Jan 2015–Dec 2016: tapered sertraline from 150 to 50mg (relatively slowly from 150 to 100 and then pretty quickly from 100 to 50); severe withdrawal at 50mg
Jan 2017-Aug 2018: increased dose of sertraline from 100mg to 150mg to 200mg/day over the course of a few months per psychiatrist, who also added aripiprazole 1mg/day and clonazepam .5mg 2x/day

Found SA; Aug 2018-May 2023: Slowly tapered off clonazepam and abilify from 2018 to 2020; sertraline 200mg/day (200 mgai)

Taper: May 2023, 200 mgai; June 2023; 190 mgpw; July 1, 185 mgai; July 29, 181 mgai; Aug 27, 178 mgai; Oct 31, 175mgai; Dec 1, 171mgai; Jan 21, 2024, 168mgpw

 

 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus
18 minutes ago, marconyc said:

I'm still on 200mg Zoloft.

 

Could you indicate this in your signature to clarify? Just a separate line with something like, "Currently continuing at 200mg Zoloft."

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Abilify is a nasty drug and consider yourself (almost) well off it.  Many of us (myself included) have tapered brakes before accelerators.  

Edited by Gridley

Gridley Introduction

 

Lexapro 20 mg since 2004.  Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017.   

End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg 

End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg

End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg  

Oct. 30, 2020  Jump to zero from 0.025mg.  Current dose: 0.000mg

3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete.

 

Ativan 1 mg to 1.875mg 1986-2020, two CT's and reinstatements

Nov. 2020, 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover to 18.75mg Valium

Feb. 2021, begin 10%/4 week taper of 18.75mg Valium 

End 2021  year 1 of Valium taper at 6mg

End 2022 year 2 of Valium taper at 2.75mg 

End 2023 year 3 of Valium taper at 1mg

Jan. 24, 2024: Hold at 1mg and shift to Imipramine taper.

Taper is 95% complete.

 

Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986.  Jan.-Sept. 2016 tapered to 14.4mg  

March 22, 2022: Begin 10%/4 week taper

Aug. 5, 2022: hold at 9.5mg and shift to Valium taper

Jan. 24, 2024: Resume Imipramine taper.  Current dose as of Feb. 22: 7.6mg

Taper is 90% complete.  

  

Supplements: multiple, quercetin, omega-3, vitamins C, E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotics, zinc, melatonin .3mg, anti-candida, iron, serrapeptase, nattokinase


I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice but simply information based on my own experience, as well as other members who have survived these drugs.

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  • Mentor
3 hours ago, Gridley said:

 

Could you indicate this in your signature to clarify? Just a separate line with something like, "Currently continuing at 200mg Zoloft."

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Abilify is a nasty drug and consider yourself (almost) well off it.  Many of us (myself included) have tapered brakes before accelerators.  

Thanks @Gridley I updated my signature.

2000–2015: sertraline 50mg, eventually up to 150mg for most of those years. Prescribed for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. Two major attempts at discontinuing per psychiatrist's tapering advice were failures; each failure resulted in the dose being increased by 50mg. Those were my only increases in dose over the first 15 years

2000–2002: clonazepam .5mg 3x/day, then tapered quickly with no withdrawal
Jan 2015–Dec 2016: tapered sertraline from 150 to 50mg (relatively slowly from 150 to 100 and then pretty quickly from 100 to 50); severe withdrawal at 50mg
Jan 2017-Aug 2018: increased dose of sertraline from 100mg to 150mg to 200mg/day over the course of a few months per psychiatrist, who also added aripiprazole 1mg/day and clonazepam .5mg 2x/day

Found SA; Aug 2018-May 2023: Slowly tapered off clonazepam and abilify from 2018 to 2020; sertraline 200mg/day (200 mgai)

Taper: May 2023, 200 mgai; June 2023; 190 mgpw; July 1, 185 mgai; July 29, 181 mgai; Aug 27, 178 mgai; Oct 31, 175mgai; Dec 1, 171mgai; Jan 21, 2024, 168mgpw

 

 

 

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  • Mentor

Today my wife and I are having our families over for a baby shower. We worked really hard to make the yard look nice, bake a cake, prepare food, etc. Everyone is supposed to arrive in about 30 minutes and I feel so anxious that I want to cry. I think some of what I’m feeling is due to the last cut of aripiprazole, some of it is due to work stress, and some due to concerns about where we’re going to live when the baby comes (we only have a 1-bedroom), how we’ll manage financially, etc. 

 

Re work, after a month or so of a more manageable workload thanks to a new hire, I got three big writing projects dumped on me recently. I’ve worked like a dog for the past 2 weeks under a lot of pressure and managed to get most of the work finished, but I’m really anxious. Sometimes it’s difficult for me to unwind after an extended period of intense stress at work, even when the assignments are complete. I guess I went right from work to preparing for this party. I need some down time.

 

i just wish I felt better today because I want to enjoy this time with our families. Instead, I’m dealing with clawing anxiety and my usual philosophical obsessions running through my head. I want a break from this. It’s exhausting and depressing. Today is one of those days when I want to just take a pill to make myself feel better.

2000–2015: sertraline 50mg, eventually up to 150mg for most of those years. Prescribed for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. Two major attempts at discontinuing per psychiatrist's tapering advice were failures; each failure resulted in the dose being increased by 50mg. Those were my only increases in dose over the first 15 years

2000–2002: clonazepam .5mg 3x/day, then tapered quickly with no withdrawal
Jan 2015–Dec 2016: tapered sertraline from 150 to 50mg (relatively slowly from 150 to 100 and then pretty quickly from 100 to 50); severe withdrawal at 50mg
Jan 2017-Aug 2018: increased dose of sertraline from 100mg to 150mg to 200mg/day over the course of a few months per psychiatrist, who also added aripiprazole 1mg/day and clonazepam .5mg 2x/day

Found SA; Aug 2018-May 2023: Slowly tapered off clonazepam and abilify from 2018 to 2020; sertraline 200mg/day (200 mgai)

Taper: May 2023, 200 mgai; June 2023; 190 mgpw; July 1, 185 mgai; July 29, 181 mgai; Aug 27, 178 mgai; Oct 31, 175mgai; Dec 1, 171mgai; Jan 21, 2024, 168mgpw

 

 

 

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  • Mentor

Well, the party was exhausting. It ended with our niece having a total meltdown and my wife having words with the girl’s mother. Kind of a disaster, actually. My mother-in-law took the party as an opportunity to tell me where we should live and question our financial readiness for a baby. 

 

Then today day I became overwhelmed with a feeling of grief for my father. I think part of the anxiety I’ve been feeling the past few days was due to holding back these feelings.

2000–2015: sertraline 50mg, eventually up to 150mg for most of those years. Prescribed for dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder. Two major attempts at discontinuing per psychiatrist's tapering advice were failures; each failure resulted in the dose being increased by 50mg. Those were my only increases in dose over the first 15 years

2000–2002: clonazepam .5mg 3x/day, then tapered quickly with no withdrawal
Jan 2015–Dec 2016: tapered sertraline from 150 to 50mg (relatively slowly from 150 to 100 and then pretty quickly from 100 to 50); severe withdrawal at 50mg
Jan 2017-Aug 2018: increased dose of sertraline from 100mg to 150mg to 200mg/day over the course of a few months per psychiatrist, who also added aripiprazole 1mg/day and clonazepam .5mg 2x/day

Found SA; Aug 2018-May 2023: Slowly tapered off clonazepam and abilify from 2018 to 2020; sertraline 200mg/day (200 mgai)

Taper: May 2023, 200 mgai; June 2023; 190 mgpw; July 1, 185 mgai; July 29, 181 mgai; Aug 27, 178 mgai; Oct 31, 175mgai; Dec 1, 171mgai; Jan 21, 2024, 168mgpw

 

 

 

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On 6/21/2019 at 7:23 PM, marconyc said:

Thanks @mbanks I've heard a lot about CBD but have been hesitant to try it because my nervous system is already very sensitized. 

 

Yh it’s works depending on the strain you get. Works for me. It can cause interactions with other meds depending on what compounds are in them.. but try it, it may just work! 

 

But I have some terrible news.. I’m going cold turkey tonight. Down to 3.5ml, might just quit as I’m taking nothing else. Except Thyroid meds. 

 

Maybe this is wise move! 

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

@mbanks

 

Please see my response to your decision to cold turkey.  Here is your Introduction topic:  quitting-abilify-tonight-cold-turkey

 

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry I see now this shoudl have been posted in the introductions topic.  I don't know how to move it there?

 

I have been tapering off a little bit - of Lexapro.  I went from 6 mg to 5 mg over a three month period.  I am now hoping to start tapering off of the 1mg of Abilify I am taking - 10% per month or slower.  But I don't know how long I should wait between the taper from Lexapro to start the abilify taper.  I have a lot going on in my life right now that is stressful and am about to travel for a month.  The last cut I made on Lexapro was May 25th.   I notice my sleep is slightly out of whack - waking up a bit too early with slight anxiety.  Should I wait longer before starting Abilify taper?  That is my guess?  Any suggestions?  Thank you so much.

Edited by freeruby

1997 - effexor for 4 months. Came off without issue (as far as I recall)

2000 - 2004 - Celexa 10 mg (came off very quickly - and had a "nervous breakdown" to use my words. High anxiety, out of control and life became unmanageable. Reinstated briefly then came off successfully )

2006-2009 Celexa 10 mg - somehow came off for a while but then... things got hard.

2010 - started (Lexapro in the U.S.) 5 mg  2012 for 6 months I was on 2.5 lexapro,  ativan - for sleep very occasional use 2014 5 mg cipralex (lexapro) : attempts to come off 5mg  2014 failed - way too fast - terrible anxiety  2015 march ---- started a SLOW taper of Lexapro. I was able to get down to .5 mg Lexapro in early 2016 February and March started to get intense strange symptoms of shaking body, loss of control, panic, weight loss.  Especially in early morning.  Reinstated- on Psych. Docs advise. (sadly! now I think but didn't know what else to do). 

August 2016 was on 6 mg Lexapro and still having panic and anxiety. Re-instating was very hard. Took .5 mg Ativan 3 x per day for two months. August 2016 - started 1mg Abilify and tapered off of Ativan over three months. 

From November 2016 - Janaury 2018:  1mg Abilify - 6 mg Lexapro

 ABILIFY taper started May 2018:  lots general anxiety. Moved to a liquid dose of Abilify. September 2018: 6mg lexapro a day,  Abilify taper is at .4mg. Experienced terrible anxiety, worry, restlessness, sleeplessness. Then Father died traumatically. P-Doc said to go back up.  reinstated 1mg Abilify started Nov. 28, 2018.   LEXAPRO 6mg.

2019 April started taper of Lexapro to 5.5, June 2019. Lexapro 5 mg, Abilify 1mg.  Holding for now til life stabilizes. Fish oil, melatonin, vit d, bio identical hormones, magnesium citrate.

2020 - Abilify taper to .8mg, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg

2022 - Abilify taper in progress started in june at .8mg.  September .58, Lexapro 5 mg, Progesterone SR 300 mg. Going as slow as possible - but worried I will be too old by the time I get off of everything to eventually have a life left to enjoy.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

My suggestion is to not reduce until at least 1 week, 2 would be better, after you return from your trip.  And then only if things are "settled", eg you are well, no other additional stress, you feel at withdrawal normal.

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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