Theodore28: not sure what to do

[Theodore28]

I first started Prozac 20mg in October of 2008 when I was 10 years old. I had a random onset of severe OCD and anxiety in June  leading to panic attacks and suicidal thoughts. A few weeks after starting, I was golden. No notable side effects. More or less back to normal after months of hellish anxiety. It was great and I stayed on it for maybe 8 months before dropping down to 10mg for a few weeks and then dropped it all together. No real withdrawal.

 

I was off Prozac until January 2018. I was laying in bed and randomly started having my first panic attack in ten years. I had an extremely difficult time in 2017 and was in a toxic relationship. The next few nights I had suicidal thoughts and couldn’t sit still. I went to the doctor and got put back on Prozac 20mg. After restarting, my anxiety got worse. I didn’t really eat for a week, went to the emergency room the third day after starting because of severe suicidal thoughts and contemplation, had severe digestive problems, and just overall felt horrible. After about three weeks, I started feeling better. The next few months I had many peaks and valleys and ended up going up to 40mg, where I stayed until February. I decided to taper off Prozac. I went to 30mg for a few weeks, then 20. When I went to 20 I started getting light headed frequently and stayed there for an extra week. Then went down to 20 every other day for a week or so, then dropped it mid March. 

 

I have been having a lot of light headed mess and a few harsh brain zaps, but I started taking 500mg tryptophan in the morning and 1g at night. This seemed to get rid of the problem. However, yesterday, April 18th, I got a small panic attack following some severe restlessness in my arms and legs. The restlessness lasted from about 1pm until about 10, getting worse until about 7 before slowly declining. I take small amounts of kratom throughout the day but this has been consistent for a few months, and I have taken it before, and it doesn’t have any effects like this. 

 

Today, I woke up and have had restlessness in my arms and legs all day, especially my arms. It’s somewhat painful as well, like my muscles are sore. I have also had bad anxiety and borderline panic attacks since about noon. I also have been crying uncontrollably all day, on and off. I took 5mg of Prozac about half an hour ago, hoping to find out whether this is withdrawal or something else. I still feel everything but don’t know if I need a higher dose. I am also sick for the past 4 days with possibly the flu and don’t know if that could be triggering anxiety as well. I just don’t know what to do. This is my current situation and I’m trying to figure out what to do from here. 

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Theodore.

 

I'm not sure what's going on, I don't know anything about kratom. If you're still taking it, I would taper off it. It or the tryptophan, which also needs tapering, may be contaminated or something. It's possible the combination could be causing serotonin toxicity. See

 

Serotonin Syndrome or Serotonin Toxicity

 

Going on and off psychotropic drugs and having adverse reactions, such as withdrawal symptoms, can make your nervous system hypersensitive to all psychotropic drugs and sometimes supplements and even foods. The tryptophan alone could be causing problems for you.

 

5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) and tryptophan   

 

Brain zaps are a red flag for a distressed nervous system. You will need to treat yours very gently for many months. It needs to settle down from all drug changes.

 

Once you're off kratom, tryptophan, etc., a lot of people find fish oil and magnesium supplements helpful, see
https://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/
https://survivingantidepressants.org/topic/15483-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

 

Try a little bit of one at a time to see how it affects you.

 

In the meantime, stay as calm as possible. Breath through your symptoms. See

 

Easing your way into meditation for a stressed-out nervous system

 

Music for self-care: calms hyperalertness, anxiety, aids relaxation and sleep

 

Sudden fear, terror, panic, or anxiety from withdrawal

 

Ways to cope with daily anxiety

 

Please let us know how you're doing.

 

[Theodore28]

Do you think I should reinstate a dose of Prozac? 

[Altostrata]

My guess is your more recent ingestion of psychotropic substances has kindled your nervous system made vulnerable from going off Prozac. You are overstimulated.

 

 

You will need to taper off kratom and tryptophan. I would do that one drug at a time, you can definitely get withdrawal symptoms from tryptophan. Keep daily notes about what you're taking and how you feel.

 

It could be that when you reduce kratom enough, your symptoms will go away, but tryptophan may need to go, too.  Keeping daily notes is essential.

 

If I were you, I'd lay off psychotropics and nootropics for a good long time.

[JB1234]

@Theodore28 I don’t have the answers but I certainly have a lot of experience with multiple med cocktail ( this is a bad thing). All these things affect your brain chemistry and quitting one and adding another is a recipe for disaster. I think you are better off staying on 5 mg Prozac quitting the Kratom and 5htp and stabilizing your moods and anxiety first before you make any other decisions. Kratom has a lot of mixed info about it. I is reportedly activating for some which is not good if you are anxious. Remember you aren’t fixing anything if you take a new mind altering chemical in place of stopping an old one. Best to be very cautious. Good luck 

[Theodore28]

Thanks for the reply. It’s been about five hours since I took the Prozac and I’m feeling some crazy anxiety. I feel hellish and like I can’t stay in my skin. Could this be withdrawal? Or is it from starting again? I’m scared. I can’t go through this again. It feels like when I first started Prozac. I almost want to go to the ER or an inpatient thing. 

[JB1234]

I went to the ER twice last year.  Calm down and take a deep breath!

[JB1234]

Do you have a way to IM?  If not I can just tell you that you should allow yourself to feel this anxiety and know it’s going to pass.  You aren’t going to feel better taking that other stuff. I know some might disagree but I take Benadryl if I start to wig out too much.  It won’t fix things but it can take off the edge.  Don’t drive on Benadryl!!  I’ll check my messages again later. 

[Theodore28]

Since my reinstatement of 10mg, I started doing much better. 3-4 days in I was almost normal and basically was doing good since then. Mostly normal with maybe some slight nicety here and there, but manageable. I felt stable.

 

 For the past 4-5 days however I haven’t been doing well. I have been getting pretty severe anxiety and OCD with intrusive thoughts. It has been pretty random. The first day it was just a few hours in the evening. The next day it was most of the day. I have been waking up mucous but it fades until the afternoon. Today I wasn’t anxious until around 5pm but once it hit it was bad. I was getting obsessive/intrusive thoughts of hurting myself, something that I have never ever done before but I have definitely gotten the thoughts before especially when I had a bout of anxiety when I was younger.

 

Is this just part of the stabilization process? I’m just so scared I’m never gonna feel better again or that I’m going to act on these thoughts. That’s always my main fear. I thought I was stable and now I’m just feeling scared and unsure again. Should I raise my dosage again? Or is this just a wave?

[Theodore28]

Topic title:  Bad wave?

 

Hi all, I need some help to determine what to do moving forwards. I posted about a month ago about some severe anxiety and restlessness I was feeling after a fast taper. I had quit 6 weeks prior and was doing fine before a huge wave of anxiety and despair hit me from nowhere. I figured it was withdrawal so I reinstated 10mg.

 

The third day after reinstating I had a wave of relief in the afternoon and from there the anxiety was fleeting. Since then I’ve felt almost normal, with small periods of anxiety here and there but all manageable. I figured I was stabilized and that I would remain here for the a few months and start a slow taper properly. 

 

Then, 5 days ago I had a sudden hit of anxiety. It wasn’t the worst but it was pretty bad and I almost started panicking. The next evening same thing. Then the next morning the same, followed by an okay day but then an anxious night. The next day I was great! Just some light anxiety at night. Then yesterday hit.

 

I woke up somewhat anxious but wasn’t too bad. I had a good day at work but started feeling somewhat anxious on the ride home. Around 5 I started feeling pretty severe anxiety and it felt like it wouldn’t ever go away. Then I started having obsessive, intrusive thoughts, specifically about hurting myself in really terrifying ways. I haven’t really had this much except before I started Prozac. I don’t want to do it I just can’t shake the thought and it’s terrifying. 

 

I then began feeling extreme restlessness in my arms and legs, hot then cold, rushes of dread down my body, and the usual this is never gonna go away feeling. I know I’ve felt this bad and worse before it’s just so unnerving. I thought I was better.

 

I’m just unsure what to do. Could this just be a wave, even after my generally stabilized couple of weeks? Do I need to increase the dose maybe? I dropped during my taper in about two week periods, could this sort of be the next drop hitting me if that makes sense? And if so should I updose? 

 

The only other thing that’s changed is kratom. I’ve been slow tapering but have stopped at 6 grams per day, 2g 3 times a day at noon, 5:30 and 9:30. I have remained at that dose but had to change strains because I ran out of the one I had been using maybe 9 days ago. I ordered more of the same strain and plan to use it exclusively but I really don’t think this is a big factor. I was going to continue to slow taper this once I’m stable.

 

i could really use some support I’m feeling somewhat stuck and scared for the next few weeks. I have finals next week and can barely focus.

 

Edited May 14, 2019 by ChessieCat
added topic title

[Altostrata]

Hello, Theodore. What time of day do you take Prozac? How do you feel in the hours after you take it? Are these symptoms worse at any particular time of day?

 

Have you added any other drugs recently, such as an antibiotic?

[Theodore28]

Hi, I take it 7-7:30 am. I wake up very anxious and usually end up feeling less so by late morning. The rest of the day is entirely random though. Yesterday I was extremely anxious all day. I felt desperate at times. I’m starting to think that maybe this is a relapse of my symptoms or that I didn’t reinstate high enough. I took 20mg today and plan on staying there.

 

No new drugs added to the mix at all. 

[Theodore28]

It’s been 12 days on 20mg and it’s been a ride. Maybe a little better than before I up-dosed but still bad. OCD is bad, anxiety is bad, been feeling depressed and almost suicidal at times.

 

Today is really bad. I woke up and am so restless and anxious. I just want this to be over. I don’t know if the updose was good or bad, or if I need a higher dose even. I’m so lost and confused.