drugged: multiple drugs

[drugged]

Since reducing the Lyrica dose on April 6 I've been more easily irritated/angered.  Again I don't know if it's all down to the Lyrica reduction or the current circumstances or some of both.  

 

We have two neighbors who are definitely not social distancing as they had people from out of the county and out of state in and out over the last four days which is kind of disturbing given that my spouse and I are older.  My spouse has been working a lot more hours in retail grocery than usual.  He has at least two co-workers who've been in self-quarantine due to presumed covid-19 (Iowa is doing almost no testing).  They're working w/o masks or gloves.  I found cloth masks and my husband wears one of them and gloves whenever he leaves the house.  Still, he's in contact with several hundred customers everyday he works and he guesses only about half wear any protective gear.  Little bits of additional worry add up.  

[drugged]

Just feeling really down.  Between the understandably slow nature of tapering off so many nasty drugs, the chronic pain and fatigue, and now the added uncertainty and isolation of the pandemic I feel trapped, like a fly on sticky tape.  Before, whether I took advantage of them or not, I did have some options for getting out of the house like the fitness center or visiting the one friend I have in the area.  Just knowing they were available was a comfort.  

 

In addition, it feels like my cognitive problems are getting worse.  Concentration is non-existent, recall is even worse, I've been having bad dreams and not sleeping well, lots of ruminating though I do use mindfulness to break it off, as soon as I stop focusing on my breathing my brain is right back at it. I'm having more problems with misspeaking and suddenly losing my train of thought.    

[drugged]

I've decreasing my daily bit of Lyrica little-by-little and, so far, haven't noticed any withdrawal symptoms.  That initial irritability I think had more to do with current circumstances.  

[drugged]

Finished tapering the Lyrica about a week ago.  Pretty much a non-event.  Glad to be done with that one.  At the higher doses it had the most frightening side effects.

[drugged]

I'm thinking I'll wait until the beginning of July and then begin to complete my taper off trazodone.  

 

As far as I can tell I've had no withdrawal symptoms from stopping the Lyrica.  Nothing I can distinguish from stress related to current events anyway.

[drugged]

Overall it seems like my muscle pain has been less troublesome since stopping the Lyrica.  Particularly that constant painful tightness on the left side of my neck, should, and upper back.  Ice pick headaches have reduced in frequency.  Skin sensitivity is somewhat lessened - I've spent time outside on sunny days and even gotten a bit of color to my skin without it triggering a lot of itching.  Last Saturday I even went out and visited with a friend in the country.  

 

My mood is a bit labile and I've had some nights I didn't sleep very well but there have usually been outside factors involved in both.  

 

The first part of July I'm going to start tapering off the remaining trazodone.  

[drugged]

The scale I ordered  is due to be delivered today so I'll be ready to finish tapering off trazodone beginning in July.  The tablets crumble a bit when I split them into four pieces (all I have are 100 mg tabs) so I doubt that I've been taking exactly 25 mg at bedtime each night.  Now I'll grind the tabs to powder with the mortar and pestle and be able to weigh it precisely.  

[drugged]

Am going to start tapering the trazodone with tonight's dose.  Feeling very discouraged by all that's happening in this country and wondering if it's even worth it to continue working toward getting off these drugs.  I feel helpless and hopeless.

[Erell]

4 hours ago, drugged said:

Am going to start tapering the trazodone with tonight's dose.  Feeling very discouraged by all that's happening in this country and wondering if it's even worth it to continue working toward getting off these drugs.  I feel helpless and hopeless.

 

I understand this feeling.

But I also know that my taper is a gift I'm offering to myself. 

Whatever is the world situation, I deserve a better life and you deserve it too ☺

 

Perhaps you could try to avoid the media and news for some time, and focus on positive news ?

It helps me ☺

 

And perhaps, if you feel too fragile at the moment you could wait a bit before tapering trazodone ?

A lot of people, in WD or not,  report helpless and hopeless feelings while navigating in this very troubled period.

 

Hang on dear, worth it !

 

 

[Dejavu]

@drugged, I know how you feel. I'm the same. I live in Texas where the virus is surging out of control right now. The science is showing that we should lock down again, but our state government has refused. Instead, they are forcing kids back to school and people are congregating and walking around without masks. I don't know what has happened to my country, and it really gets me down. That being said, I'm going to agree with @Erell. I try to look beyond the immediate. This pandemic is a lot like withdrawal. We are in the thick of it now, but it won't last forever. Try to look ahead to better days. They're going to happen, and we want to be ready when they do! Hugs!

[drugged]

@Erell  @Dejavu

Thank you for the encouragement. 

 

@Dejavu - I live in Iowa and our governor never even mandated a stay-at-home order, schools and universities are opening with zero precautions, few people wear masks, we're breaking records for daily cases just as the more populous states are but we're still not closing bars or mandating masks, etc.  My husband was exposed at work, he's older so at high risk.  Fortunately it's been over two weeks w/o symptoms.  Iowa has one of the higher per capita number of infections and it's getting worse.  Yeah, I don't understand why we don't seem to be even trying to slow this down.  

 

@Erell - some days I feel pretty good.  WD hasn't been too bad since I stabilized from that rapid dose change last summer.  I had hopes for a decent summer this year until the pandemic but, you know, tapering is the one thing I CAN at a time when I can't do much else so I think I'm going to forge ahead for now.  

 

[drugged]

Opted to hold everything for a bit.  Lots of emotional turmoil in my life right now.  I keep getting started on an easy exercise routine then somehow injuring something often just by 'sleeping wrong'.  What an expression!  Anyway putting my focus on getting moving and eating better as preparation for continuing my taper(s).

[Sottana]

Taking a break when you feel worn out by the taper(s) is always a good idea. It’s not a race. Harm reduction is the always key! I find getting a consistent exercise routine to be extremely difficult too due to my WD issues. I think it’s incredibly common to struggle with this while withdrawing. Hope you have a good day! 

[drugged]

Update from drugged

 

Just stopping by to say I'm completely off of Lyrica, trazodone, buspirone, and zolpidem.  Effexor is down to 60mg a day from the original 300mg per day several years ago and 150mg about 3 years ago.  I stopped all tapering from early 2020 until late in 2021.  Had COVID at the end of last year.  My 22 year old cat companion died this August.   I was diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis and Ehlers Danlos last year so I don't know that tapering tramadol is ever going to be in the cards.  Still, I do know what was 'causing' the fibromyalgia.  

 

Edited November 8, 2022 by ChessieCat
added Intro topic title before merging with intro topic

[wantrelief]

Wow congratulations @drugged - you have accomplished so much!

[RachelSusan]

@drugged You have been through so much; it must have been very difficult for you. Congratulations on managing to get off so many drugs.

 

Thank you for stopping by to give us an update.  I spend a lot of time reading the stories here and I come to feel like I know some of the people here.  Having someone such as yourself comeback to update is something I really appreciate.

[drugged]

Today is my first day on the 37.5mg venlafaxine XR capsule.  I am going to stay at this dose for a month, I was micro-tapering by removing 10 more beads every other week from the 75mg capsule.  I thought I recalled reading that each bead in the 75mg capsule had 0.3mg of venlafaxine.  Does anyone know how much venlafaxine is in each bead of the 37.5mg capsule?  I haven't opened a capsule yet to count the beads.  

 

I had two bouts of COVID-19, the second one left me with something like a mild long covid for several months and I still have brain fog that is worse, I developed psoriatic arthritis, struggle with exercise intolerance,etc.  Withdrawal symptoms have been minimal, mainly akathesia first thing in the morning before I take my daily venlafaxine dose. 

 

My T4 level is well below normal but the NP I see refuses to investigate further or change my thyroid meds because the TSH level is borderline low too.  She thinks I've suddenly become hyperthyroid.  There were several other findings on my last blood work that were flagged but the NP says I'm fine.  I should mention she doesn't believe in the COVID boosters so I got all my vaccinations through Walgreens.  

[Go2zero]

Hi, I merged your last post with your introduction thread. Please only post in this thread and do not open new threads. In this way we have all your info together.

 

On 4/17/2023 at 4:05 PM, drugged said:

Today is my first day on the 37.5mg venlafaxine XR capsule.  I am going to stay at this dose for a month, I was micro-tapering by removing 10 more beads every other week from the 75mg capsule.  I thought I recalled reading that each bead in the 75mg capsule had 0.3mg of venlafaxine.  Does anyone know how much venlafaxine is in each bead of the 37.5mg capsule?  I haven't opened a capsule yet to count the beads.  

 

We need more info to answer these questions. 

 

Please understand that every brand and form of venlafaxine may have other beads. To help with your questions, please let us know what brand the 75 capsule is and how many beads it contains.

 

2nd, what is the brand of the 37,5mg capsule and how many beads do they contain?

[drugged]

On 4/19/2023 at 10:50 AM, Go2zero said:

Hi, I merged your last post with your introduction thread. Please only post in this thread and do not open new threads. In this way we have all your info together.

 

 

We need more info to answer these questions. 

 

Please understand that every brand and form of venlafaxine may have other beads. To help with your questions, please let us know what brand the 75 capsule is and how many beads it contains.

 

2nd, what is the brand of the 37,5mg capsule and how many beads do they contain?

Both the 75 and the 37.5mg are made by Aurobindo. The 75mg had about 250 beads in it.  I haven't opened the 37.5mg yet. It's hard to know what to count as a 'bead' because some look like two beads stuck together while others look like only part of a bead.  

[Go2zero]

10 hours ago, drugged said:

I haven't opened the 37.5mg yet. It's hard to know what to count as a 'bead' because some look like two beads stuck together while others look like only part of a bead.  

It clearly would help to answer your questions if you would open 2 capsules of 37,5 mg and count the beads in the same way as you you counted them as in the 75mg capsules.

 

Another way is weighing the beads with scales that weigh up to 1 mg. Do you own such scales?