Gigi66: 30 years on antidepressants

[ShiningLight]

3 hours ago, Gigi66 said:

Status: Although it was recommended from this site I not reinstate anything , my doctor felt I was decompensating to severely with my depression.  I agreed.  I cannot right not afford to leave my son and go into a hospital.  The doctor put me on Lexapro, which I have not been on. 

 

I am really furious at your doctor, who is repeatedly violating scientific principles and norms, such as make changes slowly--isolate variables--so you can better tell what is causing what.

 

In my opinion, your doctor is largely to thank for your "decompensation," which is more likely some combination of various drug withdrawals, drug interactions, and the resulting overwhelming brain confusion. I don't think your doctor's concoctions would hold up well under the scrutiny of review by your doctor's peers--heck, they don't even hold up under a layperson's review.

 

This is how people get iatrogenic brain injury, and it's infuriating. You are not to blame because you're vulnerable, but it's important that you find a way to protect yourself from this hogwash. In my opinion, the best way to do that is to stop making changes and track your symptoms. From there, you can start to identify patterns and then come up with a planned and methodical strategy that will actually help you. 

 

Whatever is causing you to want to go to the hospital, think about getting social support for instead. Have friends or family stay with you awhile. Anything. There is no magic bullet. If you go to the hospital, they will add more drugs and drug transitions. If in fact your symptoms are being caused by brain confusion in the first place, more drugs and drug changes will only make it worse, and then they’ll discharge you anyway because you aren’t getting better.  

 

In the end, you have to decide what to do for yourself. For myself, I had to accept that I was going to be miserable for a while. It was pure human misery, and I had to accept it. I just had to slog through it, and I had to stop complaining to the doctors and take responsibility for my own heath. Because when you complain to them, they add more drugs because they feel inadequate and that’s all they know how to do. They don’t understand that after a certain point, it just makes it worse.

 

 

[Gigi66]

Thank you Shining Light, I agree with you.  I am also very vulnerable.  I did not have a good psychiatrists prior to this one who would listen to me , and then I moved into this one.  My thought process was I was going to try to get out of the depression that was also very debilitating (not as much as now).  I was only trying to help myself and it made things worst.  I appreciate your support. I dont have family ,except my husband and he is doing the best he can.  Friends are null.  

 

[ShiningLight]

There seem to be very few good psychiatrists out there, I am noticing.

 

We were all trying to help ourselves. It's so infuriating. You will find your way with this! It takes time and a ton of perseverance, patience, and courage. 

 

I'm in a similar situation with social support, minus the husband. It's a terrible feeling and can be quite frightening. My family isn't close for the most part. I'm close to my sister but she lives across the country. I've been thinking about trying to find some local support with people who are going through this.

[Gigi66]

Thank you very much for taking the time to do the above work.  I appreciate it .  I am not expecting the mod's here to respond in any way ,like an emergency of any kind.  I understand this is a complex forum which would seem to carry a lot of weight in helping people.  I do understand that Shep had not have had time.  I just cant go into a hospital because of my son it would destroy him and I am holding on by a thread trying to keep it together.  I know it sounds dramatic but I also know you know what it is like and that is somewhat a comfort to be around those who know.  I plainly need to say that I am being pulled in many directions in my life and I need people no matter where I deal with them to be sympathetic and to come off as such.  I have developed this situation where I start to feel very personally emotional about how I "feel" around others and how those react.  Overly sensitive by what they say etc.  While this has never ever been an issue with me before it has develop none the less. I am sure this is a symptom .   I cannot feel like people are chastising me .  Sometimes I can not gauge this online and so it is difficult.  I dont feel attacked here . However, I dont want to feel like I could be attacked for doing the wrong thing in accordance to trying to get out of this.   I do want help , but I dont expect this forum to cure me.  I respect this forum and the people who work very hard in helping people who come for help.  

[Gigi66]

1 hour ago, ShiningLight said:

There seem to be very few good psychiatrists out there, I am noticing.

 

We were all trying to help ourselves. It's so infuriating. You will find your way with this! It takes time and a ton of perseverance, patience, and courage. 

 

I'm in a similar situation with social support, minus the husband. It's a terrible feeling and can be quite frightening. My family isn't close for the most part. I'm close to my sister but she lives across the country. I've been thinking about trying to find some local support with people who are going through this.

 

Thank you for your kindness.  I know from what you are saying you are angry for me and sympathize for me .  Thank you.  I am angry to that this has gone on in my life for so so very long.  It is not this one doctor , it has been many doctors.  Many doctors manipulated into thinking this is the way to go.  As a younger person I belong to a clinic because I could not afford regular mental health care.  Every few weeks I just go in tell them really what they wanted to hear and walk out with the script for these types of drugs.  I had no clue what I was feeling what was happening.  Is this finally the journey of me taking control, I hope so and I need faith that I am strong enough to endure this part and be well in the future.  I do have a mental illness what that means i dont know anymore.  I also had a brain tumor on the right frontal lobe , notorious for personality changes and mood changes.  I have suffered severe depression, trauma, ocd , eating disorders   I think labels are bull an a excuse for them to coordinate the medications in terms of those labels.  Thanks again for your support.

[ShiningLight]

7 hours ago, Gigi66 said:

 

 I am angry to that this has gone on in my life for so so very long.  It is not this one doctor , it has been many doctors.  Many doctors manipulated into thinking this is the way to go. 

 

Me too, Gigi. Me too.   I think almost everyone else here too.

There are different things to contend with when you've been on the drugs, or suffering from their aftereffects, for years or decades. It is very hard to come to terms with.

 

Sometimes it has to get so bad to get our attention, otherwise we would just go on functioning in a fog and not knowing what was happening. That's how it happened for me, too. Everything fell apart. In a big way.

[ShiningLight]

Once I was able to track my symptoms and start to see some improvements--even if painfully slow--I felt more empowered and slowly started getting some confidence back. It's very hard to be in this process until you start to see some positive changes, because you have no feedback from what you're doing. It's like being lost without a map. You don't even have landmarks at that point! Now at least I have landmarks. I know return of neuropathic pain, internal tremors, or increasing hot flashes mean something is going on.

[Shep]

22 hours ago, Gigi66 said:

Status: Although it was recommended from this site I not reinstate anything , my doctor felt I was decompensating to severely with my depression. 

 

You're welcome to go with what your doctor recommends, of course, but your decompensation symptoms are likely coming from the massive number of drugs you've been off and on over the months and years.

 

Please see:

 

How psychiatric drugs remodel your brain

 

One theory of antidepressant withdrawal syndrome

 

 

On 9/5/2019 at 1:26 AM, ShiningLight said:

I highly recommend the book Anatomy of an Epidemic for further info.

 

I'm going to second ShiningLight's recommendation of this book. Here are the details:

 

Anatomy of an Epidemic

 

 

22 hours ago, Gigi66 said:

The doctor put me on Lexapro, which I have not been on.  I said I wanted only the smallest dosage so agreed on 5 mg. and then 10 mg in a week.  I will stay at 5 mg. to see if the depression goes back to baseline. 

 

The problems with this are:

 

• You are 7 months off an SSRI and are dealing with a destabilized nervous system. This means your nervous system may very well hyper-react to this high a dose. The reason for reinstating a drug is to decrease withdrawal symptoms, not to "treat" depression (depression is not a disease - please see Again, chemical imbalance is a myth. Stop the lies, please.).

         Please read the first post in this thread for why we recommend such small doses for reinstatement, especially when you've been off the drug for more than a few weeks.

 

         About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

• You are adding in a new drug, which may or may not address withdrawal from your previous SSRI. Also, Lexapro is an extremely potent drug.

 

On 5/26/2011 at 10:16 PM, Altostrata said:

A significant characteristic of Lexapro is that milligram for milligram, it is much stronger than other SSRIs. Chemically, Lexapro is a variation of Celexa; the molecule was re-engineered to be patentable as Celexa's patent was about to expire. The streamlined molecule is a more potent SSRI, 2 to 4 times stronger than others.

 

23 hours ago, Gigi66 said:

9/4     6 am     Gabapentin 100 mg

           9 am   Lamictal , didnt take two night before

           9 pm    Lamictal 100 mg

                        Lorazapam 1/2 mg

                        Progesterone 100 mg

                        Rexulti 1 mg

       

9/5     530 am Lorazapam  1/4 pill .25                     

          12 noon  Lorazapam      1/2 .5 mg

          9 00 pm   Progesterone 100mg

                           Lamictal 200mg

                           Rexulti 1mg

                            Lorazapam .5 mg

 

I copied your drug and symptoms journal for these days and highlighted the drugs to create a visual. I'm not surprised your struggling so much right now - your drugs are all over the place.

 

It's best to take your drugs at the same time every day and at the same dose. Not doing so means you're going to get rebound symptoms, as well as interdose withdrawal.

 

Please let us know if you're interested in getting on a regular schedule with these drugs. If so, please do not add in Lexapro. The goal will be to see if we can get you on a very structured drug regimen that gives you relief from rebound and interdose withdrawal symptoms.

 

 

 

[Gigi66]

17 hours ago, ShiningLight said:

Once I was able to track my symptoms and start to see some improvements--even if painfully slow--I felt more empowered and slowly started getting some confidence back. It's very hard to be in this process until you start to see some positive changes, because you have no feedback from what you're doing. It's like being lost without a map. You don't even have landmarks at that point! Now at least I have landmarks. I know return of neuropathic pain, internal tremors, or increasing hot flashes mean something is going on.

Thank you for being so sympathetic .  It is helps me to hear about others struggles although I am sadden they have suffered as well . And the wisdom you gain from them .  I will work harder on the protocol.  Sometimes I cant even identify the symptoms.   I cant loose my son , or my husband.  I just cant ruin them

 

[Gigi66]

17 hours ago, Shep said:

he problems with this are:

 

• You are 7 months off an SSRI and are dealing with a destabilized nervous system. This means your nervous system may very well hyper-react to this high a dose. The reason for reinstating a drug is to decrease withdrawal symptoms, not to "treat" depression (depression is not a disease - please see Again, chemical imbalance is a myth. Stop the lies, please.).

         Please read the first post in this thread for why we recommend such small doses for reinstatement, especially when you've been off the drug for more than a few weeks.

Hi Shep, I appreciate your expertise in this matter.  I thought maybe just sticking with lorazepam over the gabapentin was better.  Even though the lorazepam is a benzo, I have been on it longer .i have been on Gabapentin only a little over a month.  I also reasoned that the lexapro according to a genesight test done (Genotype may impact drug mechanism of action and result in reduced efficacy.) came back with this statement .  I thought going on 5 mg. was a reinstatement that was low in addition to this statement .  If that makes sense.  I am not looking for my depression to be treated because it wasnt prior to all of this .  That is why I foolishly set off on this 7 months ago.  I was on SSnri sooner than the 7 months, does that play into the timeline of being off the medication and in relation to reinstatement.  My struggle started when we initially in February started messing around with med changes and slowly decompensated from there and now as I agree with you this current situation.  I know you recommend not adding in the 5 mg.of Lexapro .  However, I have to take a chance that this reinstatement will at least help somewhat at this time .  My son with autism is asking if I am going to kill myself.  I will also try to keep better schedule of my meds and times .  

 

I read One theory of antidepressant withdrawal syndrome and How psychiatric drugs remodel your brain when I joined and was trying to taper then.  I got down to 12 mg of zoloft at the time then had problems reinstated small.  Then shortly after I found out about the brain tumor.  I am also not fully doubtful that long term use of antidepressants didnt contribute to the brain tumor.  I will go ahead and look into getting the book on kindle , thank you.  

 

Maybe you would consider working with me  even though I went against your recommendation to see if I will stabilize with this combo of drugs to the point that I can make decisions better.  Should I continue to let you know about my status ?  What are your thoughts about the above?  Again I appreciate your expertise.  

 

[ChessieCat]

5 hours ago, Gigi66 said:

What are your thoughts about the above?

 

Shep has already posted her thoughts.

 

22 hours ago, Shep said:

You're welcome to go with what your doctor recommends, of course, but your decompensation symptoms are likely coming from the massive number of drugs you've been off and on over the months and years.

 

[Gigi66]

Chessie Cat, I was meaning the additional questions I asked.  Also , I did mentioned if willing to work with me If I was going to reinstate against the recommendation at a very low dose and go from there.I felt I had no choice than to try to reinstate because the last time I was on Pristiq and I wasnt great but it wasnt this bad.  That of course was before the wretched Lithium.    I can not say anymore.  It been too much .    Is there a way to remove or archive my stuff here.  I would still like to have the articles available to me but I feel that I am being attacked for trying to help my self and since the mods are not with me 24/7 they dont know what I am dealing with at home here and with the stressors of having a son with autism who is worried about his mom.  Having a son who thinks his mom is going to commit suicide.    If I can keep my account with out this last few weeks (erased or archived)  , if not please let me know how to delete. I truly appreciate  the time, research and effort that  you all take from your own lives to do this for people.  

[Shep]

7 hours ago, Gigi66 said:

I thought maybe just sticking with lorazepam over the gabapentin was better.  Even though the lorazepam is a benzo, I have been on it longer .i have been on Gabapentin only a little over a month. 

 

It only takes a month to become dependent on a psychiatric drug, so you may or may not be dependent on the gabapentin. You took lorazepam three times on the day you didn't take the gabapentin (and only once on the day when you did take the gabapentin). So you may be using the benzo to mask withdrawal from the gabapentin.

 

7 hours ago, Gigi66 said:

I also reasoned that the lexapro according to a genesight test done (Genotype may impact drug mechanism of action and result in reduced efficacy.) came back with this statement .  I thought going on 5 mg. was a reinstatement that was low in addition to this statement . 

 

5 mg is not a low dose of Lexapro, even with "reduced efficacy," especially since there's no way to measure that. Lexapro is a very powerful drug, as I posted earlier. It's more concentrated than other SSRIs, and with a destabilized nervous system, you may hyper-react to it. We recommend starting very low and slowly increasing over time.

 

The Genesight test doesn't have any meaning when it comes to this aspect of withdrawal. Many people hyper-react to drugs, supplements, and even foods they were able to eat prior to withdrawal. This is about a destabilized nervous system.

 

We've seen far too many people traumatize their already damaged nervous systems by trying to go with what doctors call "therapeutic doses", but what you really need is the lowest effective dose to stave off withdrawal.

 

 

7 hours ago, Gigi66 said:

Maybe you would consider working with me  even though I went against your recommendation to see if I will stabilize with this combo of drugs to the point that I can make decisions better.  Should I continue to let you know about my status ? 

 

Please work with your doctor for now. You are expressing an interest in leaving the forum in your latest post, so let's take a breather for now.

 

This forum can get a bit intense, and right now you are feeling very vulnerable, so I think this is a good solution. Your medical situation with history of a brain tumor makes your situation more complicated, and I don't feel confident in advising you since you are doing something that the staff here knows can be very dangerous.

 

Work with your doctor to get your current drug regiment set up. Once you are stable, which means no suicidal thoughts and your home life with your autistic child is in order, please return and we can help you set up a taper at that point.

[Gigi66]

8 minutes ago, Shep said:

 

Please work with your doctor for now. You are expressing an interest in leaving the forum in your latest post, so let's take a breather for now.

 

This forum can get a bit intense, and right now you are feeling very vulnerable, so I think this is a good solution. Your medical situation with history of a brain tumor makes your situation more complicated, and I don't feel confident in advising you since you are doing something that the staff here knows can be very dangerous.

 

Work with your doctor to get your current drug regiment set up. Once you are stable, which means no suicidal thoughts and your home life with your autistic child is in order, please return and we can help you set up a taper at that point.

 

 

I appreciate  your understanding in this matter and yes, I need to take a deep breath and breather.  It is really intense.  It is hard when everyone family, forums, doctors are telling you things and you cant distinguish what is what .  I have taken into account very seriously about the lexapro dosage and I am praying I will be able to come back at some point when I have stabilized .  I might of jumped in to soon as I was desperate and I hope I didn't take up to much of your time.  I really do think you do good things.  

[ChessieCat]

On 9/7/2019 at 9:26 AM, Gigi66 said:

I said I wanted only the smallest dosage so agreed on 5 mg. and then 10 mg in a week.  I will stay at 5 mg.

 

As Shep said Lexapro is a strong drug.  Please be aware that it takes about 4 days for a dose to get to full level in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.  Increasing to 10mg after 1 week of being on 5mg might be too soon and/or too much.

 

Please note what Alto has said in the quoted post below, especially the dose comparison at the bottom.

 

On 5/27/2011 at 12:16 PM, Altostrata said:

 

Special considerations
A significant characteristic of Lexapro is that milligram for milligram, it is much stronger than other SSRIs. Chemically, Lexapro is a variation of Celexa; the molecule was re-engineered to be patentable as Celexa's patent was about to expire. The streamlined molecule is a more potent SSRI, 2 to 4 times stronger than others. (Wikipedia has a good explanation of this at https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Escitalopram.)

However, many doctors are unaware that escitalopram is stronger than other SSRIs and dose it as though it were the same strength. Although the so-called usual starting dose of escitalopram, 10mg, is equivalent to 20mg-30mg or more of, for example, paroxetine (Paxil), your doctor may have moved you to an even higher dose. If you are taking 20mg of escitalopram, you are taking a hefty dose of an SSRI.

If you are taking 5mg, it's not tiny, it's equivalent to 10-20mg Paxil or Celexa.

 

 

[Gigi66]

Thank you Chessie Cat for this additional information.  I am going to search here how I might accurately reduce the dosage even more.  I appreciate the above information very much and I am thankful for it.  

[ChessieCat]

There are links to tapering different drugs, as well as other helpful topics, in Post #1 of this topic:

 

important-topics-in-the-tapering-forum-and-faq

 

[Altostrata]

Hello, Gigi. In general, fewer psychotropics is better for you than more psychotropics. However, we know you feel you are in a bind and need to follow your doctor's advice.

 

Polypharmacy is very complicated for doctors and for patients, and probably unnecessary in most cases. You may have gotten into a snarl with the benzo and benzo-like drugs such as gabapentin, which also can cause rebound symptoms.

 

For example, we often see people who take a benzo such as lorazepam at night have a surge of anxiety in the morning, when it's starting to wear off. This is a rebound symptom from physiological drug dependence, not a re-emergence of your own "anxiety," although most doctors would mistake it for that. These types of adverse effects from benzos often cause people to increase dosage, that's how people get even more dependent on them.

 

Doctors might also try to counter adverse effects from benzos and other drugs by adding even more drugs, which cause their own adverse effects. This might be your situation.

 

Gabapentin, Lamictal, lorazapam, progesterone, and Rexulti  are all "brakes" which usually slow the nervous system down. However, if you take too many "brakes," the nervous system rebels and throws up more activation. More is not better.

 

If you're not sleeping, that's probably why. Too many "brakes" can also cause "depression."

 

The addition of Rexulti and Lexapro are probably desperate experiments by your doctor. Overall, your cocktail is weird, indicating your doctor doesn't know what to do.

 

If you have seizures or abnormal brain activity, you need to see a neurologist and minimize your drug burden to properly treat that condition.

 

What we've found is that if someone is having trouble with a batch of psychoactive drugs, we need to have a baseline symptom pattern relative to the drug dosing schedule.

 

This means keeping daily notes of times of day you take your drugs, their dosages, and your symptoms throughout the day. If you have adverse reactions to the drugs -- these would not be "psychiatric" or "neurological" symptoms but adverse drug reactions -- they will also occur on a regular schedule, though they can be some hours later.

 

When you feel you want our help, please be sure to keep those daily notes, because we'll need them. You can post 24 hours of notes at a time in this topic, with a simple list format with time of day on the left and notation (symptom or drug and dosage) on the right.

 

[Gigi66]

Hello Everyone, I have been successfully doing a taper with my provider for 2 years off sertarline  100 mg.  I have had very little if any problems at the very slow rate I am going.  However, my provider wanted me to switch my tablets from 100 mg to 50mg to taper from.  I use a google sheet and I plug in weights.  Unbeknowst to me I plugged in the weight but didnt change the mg. dosage on the other side.  As a result I thought I was taking 46.2 mg but I now realize I am actually taking 23.3 .  It has been 2 weeks. This of course is why I have been having such a hard time. I am not sure how I made this error, I have been so good at all of this but I think I am just tired of all it in general.   I am very afraid to up dose and reinstate too much.  Is there a general rule of thumb?  Thank you in advance.

 

 

 

[manymoretodays]

Merged:  Error with doing my spreadsheet, Now what?

That post is above.

 

On 3/13/2023 at 7:15 PM, Gigi66 said:

Unbeknowst to me I plugged in the weight but didnt change the mg. dosage on the other side.  As a result I thought I was taking 46.2 mg but I now realize I am actually taking 23.3 .  It has been 2 weeks. This of course is why I have been having such a hard time. I am not sure how I made this error, I have been so good at all of this but I think I am just tired of all it in general.   I am very afraid to up dose and reinstate too much.  Is there a general rule of thumb?  Thank you in advance.

 

I'd suggest redoing your spreadsheet correctly, for working with a 50 mg tablet.

This is sertraline(Zoloft)?

 

Any withdrawal symptoms from your 50% reduction error?

  

 

On 3/13/2023 at 7:15 PM, Gigi66 said:

This of course is why I have been having such a hard time.

 

Can you be more specific as to what "such a hard time" is as far as symptoms go?

 

I wouldn't hestitate to go back up, if it was me.  Perhaps your provider might give input too.  Did you contact them?

You've had some rocky times apparently from what I can glean back in 2019 above.  And I sure wouldn't want to rock the boat of trying to re-establish homeostasis and heal from your other drug trials now. 

Me, I'd go back up to 30 mg for a week, and if after another week no improvement, back up to your previous dose of 46.2 mg.

It might take a week or more, so for any symptoms to begin leveling off.  I would think you would feel some improvement in a weeks time.  Then hold steady.  No tapers for a couple of months.  I'd go with 3 months time.

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

 

Other current drugs/medications?

Update your signature please:  AccountSettings/signature

Here's a sample signature, different drugs than yours, but clear with the years on the left and then if recalled, add a month, and then drug name, and last dose, or when off completely.  I'm confused as to when you came off Lorazepam.  And see many drug trials above here in your topic, back in 2019.  You could just summarize what that past 30 years looked like as far as medications and drugs.  Pick a year and then go from there to 2021, with some of the drugs you have been prescribed. 

Like 1990- 2021 many AD's, mood stabilizers, etc.  Give the names if you remember.  Note if on any one drug for several years.

Example:

2001–2002 paroxetine 
2003  citalopram 
2004  paroxetine
2008  paroxetine slow taper down to 2016 Aug off paroxetine
2016  citalopram May 20mg  Oct slow taper down
2018  citalopram 13 Feb 4.6mg 15 Mar 4.4mg 29 Apr 4.2mg

 

Make sure and hit Save, when you have your drug signature edited.

 

And let us know know how you are doing right here, in a reply as well.  Symptoms go here in the reply boxes.  Drugs and drug changes in the signature.

Hope you are healing.

 

L, P, H, and G,

mmt

 

 

Edited March 15, 2023 by manymoretodays
added in a possible reinstatement plan

[Gigi66]

Thank you for answering my post.  I will try to address your questions in parts as well.  

 

I'd suggest redoing your spreadsheet correctly, for working with a 50 mg tablet.

This is sertraline(Zoloft)?

 

Any withdrawal symptoms from your 50% reduction error?

 

I did redo the sheet and that is how I found that it was such a dramactic reduction.  My symptoms are up and down.  Irritable , depression and anxiety some depersonalizaton.  Quite frankly it is not the worst I have ever had considering the huge reduction error I made.  However, it has lasted longer obviously then when I make my 2-5% reduction every two weeks.  In reference to "hard time" , it is harder than it has been in the recent past.  My tapering has actually been quite stable and consistent.

 

I can try to update the signature as much as I can .  It actually is intimidating and a bit stressful, because I archive my notes and medical information off my computer as looking at it makes me upset.  I know I was off Lorazapaem as of February 2021.  I was sereverely pollydrugged and ended up in the hospital and I have come such a long way.  Looking at what happen to me is very upsetting.  Thank you for your input.  

  

[manymoretodays]

Okay.  These things happen.  @Gigi66

Don't go back in time right now, to the worst of the worst.

Just do enough to get the average of your new 50 mg pills, so you know how much to measure for a week now of a dose of 30 mg.

I never used spread sheets, but if those help with your recalculation of the pill weights to dose........use one.

Otherwise, you get a break from the spread sheet temporarily.  It sounds like you had a good system......again, these things happen,  you just forgot it was a new pill strength.  Out there living your life, and that's so encouraging to hear.

This, what happened is a really good reason to updose.  And we don't really have an exact formula, as we have to take into account everything, and the individual.

 

 Right now, you just need to find that sweet spot of up dosing.

Try 30 mg for a whole week, same time, same dose, same way of measuring the dose.

Report back.

Expect to feel better. 

I'm rethinking what I typed in last evening, and so why don't we just see what that does for now.......and work out what to do next, as far as dose goes if you just have not improved at all in a weeks time.  I'm now thinking 30 mg for the first week.  Seeing how that goes.  And not all the way to 46 or 47 mg, if still about the same, and absolutely no improvement after week one.   Let's just go by 6 or 7 mg increments, weekly if needed for updoses.    With lot's of observation too. 

 

And.....after all, it's only been 2 weeks......not months........this is good.  I want to know if you feel worse at any point though.  I don't think you will......yet let's go forward safely.

 

Keep us updated. 

You can do that in a reply box. 

What time do you take your sertraline?  Try and line up times on the left, then note how you feel both before and after you take your sertraline.  Note clearly when you take it, by name and dose.  And keep the times going, filling in how you feel, and how you slept, what you are able to do for a whole 24 hours at a time. 

I want you to really notice what you can do now as opposed to getting swept up with the past.  And also to share here how it goes.  I don't want the reminder symptoms to bring up a whole post trauma situation now.

 

I'm feeling certain you'll get back to where you were, or how you were feeling.

I know it's daunting, after all you have endured to date. 

Best case, is you'll stabilize in the next week or two,  and then have less to taper from later.

 

You've come a long way.  Don't ever forget that.  Give yourself some hugs and kind thoughts.

 

L, P, H, and G,

mmt

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Gigi66]

Dear MMT, Thank you most for your understanding and encouragement. Out of everything just you understanding the trauma I feel after looking at things is huge and the guilt I feel making the mistake. Okay, after reevaluating my sheet I can go up to 29.9 mg. and the correlating weight. I actually take my Sertraline at 4pm . I dont know why it ever came down to that specific time but taking it too late interrupted my sleep or in return if I took in the morning made me too tired throughout the day . I will keep accurate track of the symptoms and times. This should be easy since I am so attuned to any shift having done this for so long. I will check back by the end of the week to let you know of any changes. Thank you again your encouragement is invaluable to me. On a side note a couple things I am still doing.  I am still walking daily but my motivation has dropped significantly.  I still meet my friends in morning for coffee but I am awfully irritable and it is a hard to get out of bed type thing.  The thing is I have gone through so much worst so I take this as a blip in the realm of things and having to reset is okay.  Thanks agian.  

[Gigi66]

Update:  It has been 5 days since updose by to 29.9 mg. I do slightly better, not a full week yet.  My sleep is good.  I still have anxiety and thought processing problems.  These are not new symptoms since the mistake. However, I feel they are maybe slightly better.  I had a flu like symptom feel since the updose and more tired and more motor retardation.  These are new symptoms.  However, I have had this before with the medication it is not new.  Motivation is still very low.  I anticipate though this is the right direction and it will improve.  I will keep you updated.  Thanks again.

[Gigi66]

Update: I am doing okay.  I have had many stressors lately that have messed with the progress from the up dose I believe.  So I am trying to get back on track as things hopefully come down.  I hope I will continue to be able to stalilize.  Will keep updating here when I can.  

[Shep]

Thanks for continuing to update, @Gigi66. Glad to read you're doing okay in spite of the stressors. 

[Gigi66]

I have been working for the past couple of years trying to taper off Sertraline.  I am down to 23.3 mg. currently and been holding for months now due to some bad symptoms.  I had a mishap last March where I miscalculated switching from 100 mg tablets to 50 mg. tablets.  Recently I noticed my scale acting weird.  I would calibrate it and then it would just numbers and when I went back to weigh my cut tablets they were way off.  This could explain why I have been having symptoms.  OVer the weeks my weighing possibly was not accurate and I have inadvertently been jumping around.  I bought a new scale same one. I had the last one for 3 years it worked fine till it didnt.  This new does the same thing.  I have no idea what to do because I cant trust it .  I have weigh and then reweigh to make sure it is right.  It is very frustrating and adding to the stress.  I was thinking about the liquid and read on the forum about it but I am bad with numbers and I am wondering if there is a guide on how to figure small doses under 20 mg.  I am concern about switching too from the tablet to the liquid.  Please any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

[Gigi66]

I have been working for the past couple of years trying to taper off Sertraline.  I am down to 23.3 mg. currently and been holding for months now due to some bad symptoms.  I had a mishap last March where I miscalculated switching from 100 mg tablets to 50 mg. tablets.  Recently I noticed my scale acting weird.  I would calibrate it and then it would just numbers and when I went back to weigh my cut tablets they were way off.  This could explain why I have been having symptoms.  OVer the weeks my weighing possibly was not accurate and I have inadvertently been jumping around.  I bought a new scale same one. I had the last one for 3 years it worked fine till it didnt.  This new does the same thing.  I have no idea what to do because I cant trust it .  I have weigh and then reweigh to make sure it is right.  It is very frustrating and adding to the stress.  I was thinking about the liquid and read on the forum about it but I am bad with numbers and I am wondering if there is a guide on how to figure small doses under 20 mg.  I am concern about switching too from the tablet to the liquid.  Please any help would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks.

[Emonda]

Welcome back @Gigi66,

I've moved your new post back to your own thread. It's best to keep everything relating to yourself in the one spot.

 

As you know, accuracy and consistency are so important.

 

What brand of scale do you use? I know LostinCanada has a fancy one that is very accurate/reliable (I don't recall the name, but she may post it here).

 

As to transitioning to a liquid, you should read this: Transitioning from pills to liquid

 

I hope this helps.

 

Emonda

[Gigi66]

I mentioned recently that my scales have been giving me issues.  I bought a new one and it still keeps flipping and I have to weigh multiple times to get it right.  However I am looking at the liquid sertraline and I can’t find information on what will be easiest to do when I get down to the lower amounts. What have others done?  I am terrible at calculating and I don’t understand much of what is written often by others and there methods.  Can someone point me in a  direction?  Also have others got to the small micro doses by weighing?   Thanks in advance.