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Crystopper: desperation


Crystopper

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Hey everyone, first time posting here, hope I am doing everything correctly :)

 

I am kind of desperate right now and mad over the dumb choices I made, which got me to this point. I took prozac 20mg from July 2018 to February 2019 and quit cold turkey (now I know what a huge mistake that was). Tried to get through the withdrawal for 5 months (two weeks of wellbutrin 150mg and paxil 20mg inbetween). Saw another psychiatrist and took lexapro 5mg for 3 weeks and 10mg for 2 weeks. Finally found this forum and want to ween of my lexapro, to be finally able to live medication free. Im not sure if the 10% method I read about is required for being on the drug only for such a short time. Any advice would really be appreciated!

 

Thank you!

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  • ChessieCat changed the title to Crystopper: desperation
  • Moderator Emeritus

Welcome to SA, Crystopper.

 

First of all withdrawal means we make mistakes.

Doctors and psychiatrists know nothing about A/D and Benzo withdrawal, indeed most still believe it does not exist.

At this moment in time do no not even contemplate tapering read the link below

 


 

To start, please add a drug signature, including drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements in the last 12-24 months.  .  Also include supplements. This will help us give you the most accurate advice we can. 

I realise you have given the info in your first post but your drug signature will appear under every post for moderators to see at a glance.

 

  • Any drugs and supplements prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years. 

  • Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses. 

  • A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. 

  • This is a direct link to your signature:  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

  Please post details of your current symptoms as soon as possible.
 

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

Glenmullen’s withdrawal symptom list.

 

When we take medications, the CNS (central nervous system) responds by making changes over the months and years we take the drug(s). When the medication is discontinued, the CNS has to undo all the changes it made. Rebuilding the neurotransmitter production and reactivating the receptor and transporter cells takes time -- during that rebuilding process symptoms occur.  

 

These explain it really well:


 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery


 

  On 8/30/2011 at 8:28 PM, Rhiannon said:
   On 8/30/2011 at 2:28 PM,  Rhiannon said: 
When we stop taking the drug, we have a brain that has designed itself so that it works in the presence of the drug; now it can't work properly without the drug because it's designed itself so that the drug is part of its chemistry and structure. It's like a plant that has grown on a trellis; you can't just yank out the trellis and expect the plant to be okay. When the drug is removed, the remodeling process has to take place in reverse. SO--it's not a matter of just getting the drug out of your system and moving on. If it were that simple, none of us would be here. It's a matter of, as I describe it, having to grow a new brain. I believe this growing-a-new-brain happens throughout the taper process if the taper is slow enough. (If it's too fast, then there's not a lot of time for actually rebalancing things, and basically the brain is just pedaling fast trying to keep us alive.) It also continues to happen, probably for longer than the symptoms actually last, throughout the time of recovery after we are completely off the drug, which is why recovery takes so long.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms. -- at least the first page of the topic

 

If you decide reinstatement is something you want to consider, we can suggest a reinstatement dose after you've completed your drug signature.  Please do not reinstate without first hearing our recommendation.  If you do decide to reinstate, you would wait to stabilize on the drug, which can take several months, and then begin a slow 10% every four weeks taper of the dose you reinstated.  

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

We strongly recommend the use of  non-drug methods to cope with withdrawal syndrome.  Some of these can be found in the Symptoms and Self-Care forum of this site.

 

Symptoms and self-care

 

Please also read through this link to see what it contains that might be of help to you.

 

 Non-drug techniques to cope

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system.  Magnesium glycinate is a good form of magnesium.


 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 


 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 


 

Please research all supplements first and only add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your Introductiontopic, where you can ask questions, monitor your progress and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here.

 

Sassenach

 

 

 


 

Escitalopram 10mgs from mid 2007 ( can't remember exact date) to 11th Dec 2018

Fentanyl patches ( don't remember dose ) from Nov 2014 to 11 Dec 2018

Quit both cold turkey Dec 2018

Reinstated 3rd March 2019 2.5 mgs.

Updosed  8March to 5mgs and holding

25/11/19 Started taper 4.5mgs and holding

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

If you are going through Hell, keep going. NCIS series 15, David MaCallum:rolleyes:

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