Fighter: Using CBD oil while withdrawing antidepressants?

[Fighter]

Hi everyone, and thank you for accepting me as a member. 
I have been diagnosed with under active thyroid ( Hashimoto) 10 years ago. I am currently on mixed NDT (naturally derived thyroxine) . After the birth of my first child( 5 years ago)  I was diagnosed with post natal depression and I was put on 20mg of Fluoxetine. The biggest mistake ever . I didn’t have a clue what I was getting myself into. For the last 5 years I have been trying to come of the antidepressants. The GP advised that it only takes few weeks to come off it . Not true of course. During the summer I went cold turkey for 3 months and I developed severe anxiety and panic attacks so ended up going back to 40mg of fluoxetine and propranolol the physical symptoms were awful I thought I was going mad and dying. After a week I had to drop the fluoxetine down to 20 mg because my prolactin levels started rising and that interferes with my thyroid. Following the forum advice I started withdrawing fluoxetine 4 weeks ago reducing 20mg by 10% . Couple of days ago I started using a spray of low concentration of CBD oil. Thinking natural is good and will help but reading more I am not sure if it’s a good idea mixing CBD oil with fluoxetine? Please advice is welcome. Thank you 

[Sassenach]

Hello  Fighter        and welcome to SA.

 

This site is run entirely by volunteer Administrators and Moderators, all have been through or going through withdrawal.

There are no commercial interests or influences  involved .

 

I am sorry you are having such a rough time but you are now in the right place.

 

We do not recommend the use of CBD oil as it is unregulated and can contain  inconsistent constituents.

Your CNS ( central nervous system ) needs consistency.

You are experiencing W/D (withdrawal symptoms) because of cold turkey and subsequent drug and dose changes.

You should make no further changes at the moment.

You are currently on the drugs escalator which all GPs use because they do not understand or accept W/D from these drugs.

 

What is your current daily drug schedule and dosages?

What are your current symptoms?

Are your symptoms better or worse at any particular times of day?

 

Please see the links below to understand what is happening to you.

the-windows-and-waves-pattern-of-stabilization/

the-rule-of-3kis-keep-it-simple-keep-it-slow-keep-it-stable/

why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/

 

As soon as we recieve the requested info. we can advise you further.

 

In the meantime DO NOT MAKE ANY CHANGE TO YOUR CURRENT MEDS please.

Please feel free to browse the site, it is a wealth of info.

Other members threads will give you an insight and the opportunity to share experiences.

 

Again welcome.

 

Sassenach

 

 

[Fighter]

Hi Sassenach , and thank you so much for the reply. 
I followed the forum protocol and I started decreasing my daily fluoxetine dose(20mg) by 10% every 6 weeks . So currently I am on 18 mg of Fluoxetine daily . And you are right because it’s consistent I started feeling better. Also reading your forum helped me a lot to understand how my body works , how anxiety works and why it happens so I feel more in control now and it doesn’t scare me as much because I understand why I feel this way. 
I usually have bad morning and evening anxiety, especially if I am on my own with my two small children. Which happens a lot. But now that I read the forum I understand that the morning one is because of a adrenaline rush and not because I am dying so that helps me to understand it better and control it. I take 18mg of fluoxetine and 10mg of propranolol between 7-8 pm , (although I should in the morning ) but they interfere with my thyroxine intake and absorption so I take them at opposite end. I stopped the CBD now as well. 
 

many thanks 🙏  

[Sassenach]

Hi Fighter

 

Good to see you are improving.

One concern.

Your first drop of 2mgs was fine as 10% of starting dose.

From now on that needs to be 10% of current dose, not starting dose

ie 10% of 18mgs = 1.8mgs therefore dose = 16.2 mgs.

The following link will take you to an online calculator if you wish to use it,

http://www.taperoff.co/

Also remember the 6 weeks is not rigid.

You should not continue to taper unless you are feeling stable, it is counterproductive and can lead to the need to updose.

Hope you continue to improve.

Keep in touch.

 

Sassenach

 

[Sassenach]

Hi Fighter

 

How are you doing?

 

Sassenach

[Fighter]

Hi Sassanache , 

thank you so much for checking on me. 
I love this forum because you help everyone but also you  make me feel that I am not alone and I matter. 
yeah I have good days and bad days. I read a lot and I go over and over the articles in the forum. Educating myself about it definitely makes massive difference. I am still trying to understand what and when I can say that I feel STABLE so that I can reduce the dose of Fluoxetine  by 10% again ?! But not sure . On a bad day with a severe panic attack that I can’t overcome by just controlling my breathing and mind I have to reach for diazepam but only take 4 mg . I hate it because I don’t like medications. I bought some soy-free Phosphatidyl serine in combo with omega 3 ,  which helps with the neurotransmission according to info from the forum . I also take magnesium glicinate 3 x2 time a day and it all helps.

any advice is welcome 🙏

 

also my mom has been on, Deanxit-0,5mgFlupentixol/10mgMelitracene, for nearly 10 years and wants to know how to come off it? Is it the same principle 10% every 6 weeks?  This antidepressant is not popular in UK and it has 2 different ingredients so I don’t know how can she start withdrawing? Mom says that the pill is very small and will be tricky to break even in two.. has anyone heard of Deanxit here and how to tapper it . ?!

 

hope you are well too 😊
 

[BlueCookie]

Hi Fighter!

 

I used to vape CBD quite a lot for a while and I noticed that my mood got very bad. First you notice that you feel more relaxed but when you continue smoking CBD the mood gets kind of negative, at least that was my experience. But everyone reacts different. But if you got a feeling that CBD is not good for you,  you should listen to your gut instinct at eventually stop using it.

 

Regarding your medication I just can say that the advice given here to reduce 10% every 4-6 weeks is a good one. I felt very anxious after reducing my anti-psychotic med too fast. Now I am reducing slowly and didn't notice any anxious feelings in that regard.

 

Wish you all the best!

[Sassenach]

Hi Fighter

 

On 11/3/2019 at 3:13 AM, Fighter said:

During the summer I went cold turkey for 3 months and I developed severe anxiety and panic attacks so ended up going back to 40mg of fluoxetine and propranolol the physical symptoms were awful I thought I was going mad and dying. After a week I had to drop the fluoxetine down to 20 mg because my prolactin levels started rising and that interferes with my thyroid. Following the forum advice I started withdrawing fluoxetine 4 weeks ago reducing 20mg by 10% .

Can you give me a timeline for the above please.

ie dates/ months rather than relative times.

Please do not make any further reductions until I have this info.

I am concerned you may have begun your taper while your CNS was still in disarray.

 

We try not to deal with third parties as it can complicate issues.

However we can get info. together and if your mum decides to proceed she will need to create her own thread.

Why was she prescribed the  Deanxit originally?

As you are aware it is a combination drug which is no longer popular.

Is your mum experiencing any symptoms or side effects at the moment?

 

Sassenach

[Fighter]

9 hours ago, BlueCookie said:

Hi Fighter!

 

I used to vape CBD quite a lot for a while and I noticed that my mood got very bad. First you notice that you feel more relaxed but when you continue smoking CBD the mood gets kind of negative, at least that was my experience. But everyone reacts different. But if you got a feeling that CBD is not good for you,  you should listen to your gut instinct at eventually stop using it.

 

Regarding your medication I just can say that the advice given here to reduce 10% every 4-6 weeks is a good one. I felt very anxious after reducing my anti-psychotic med too fast. Now I am reducing slowly and didn't notice any anxious feelings in that regard.

 

Wish you all the best!

Thank you BlueCookie , your info definitely helps . I bought some CBD but after reading the information from the forum I realise that I can’t use it while I am withdrawing so just threw it away . Xx

[Fighter]

5 hours ago, Sassenach said:

Hi Fighter

 

Can you give me a timeline for the above please.

ie dates/ months rather than relative times.

Please do not make any further reductions until I have this info.

I am concerned you may have begun your taper while your CNS was still in disarray.

 

We try not to deal with third parties as it can complicate issues.

However we can get info. together and if your mum decides to proceed she will need to create her own thread.

Why was she prescribed the  Deanxit originally?

As you are aware it is a combination drug which is no longer popular.

Is your mum experiencing any symptoms or side effects at the moment?

 

Sassenach

Hi Sassenach, thank you for your reply. What does CNS stands for ?

 I have been on 20mg of Fluoxetine for 6 years now , but on and off all the time because I hated the fact that I was on medication. It is the only medication I take . Although I have under active thyroid everything I take is natural supplements. So I wanted to get rid of fluoxetine, but I didn’t know what was going to hit me . Going cold turkey for 2-3 weeks was never a problem because I never had any symptoms but after the  3 rd week I always had to go back to the medication. So this summer  ,1ST OF JULY,I decided to go cold turkey for longer and manage my symptoms trough breathing, diet , supplements..etc..and ignoring them . I didn’t know about this forum . Until the 12 TH OF AUGUST  when I had severe panic attack and was taken into hospital. Then the nightmare started day after day I was getting more sick .. thought I was dying.. then I had tests and my prolactin levels were high so I was concerned. I always keep in touch with the Thyroid forum, so I started sharing with them and one of the girls gave me the link to this forum. Thank God she was right my symptoms were stress related and that was due to going cold turkey not knowing how to properly withdraw from the fluoxetine. So last test 15TH of SEPTEMBER My prolactin was getting higher so the GP gave me beta blockers PROPRANOLOL and increased my fluoxetine to 40 mg daily. After 1 week my PROLACTIN WAS DOUBLED So I refused to stay on high dose of fluoxetine because I read that was a side effect of the medication. Prolactin levels were interfering with all my hormone and health . I was constantly on my period. Constantly anaemic and in bed .. thought I was dying NO IT WAS THE ANTIDEPRESSANTS!!!!

 

Regarding my mom she doesn’t live in UK and doesn’t speak very good English so I am trying to help her , now knowing how bad antidepressants are .. she was prescribed it 8 or 10 years ago because she had anxiety and depression and she had difficulties taking deep breaths because of the anxiety. So if you know anything about Deanxit please tell me so that I can help her. 
 

PS. 
I DONT TAKE BETA BLOCKERS ANY MORE  I took them for 3 weeks only .my diastolic BP was getting to low. I am on 18 mg of FLUOXETINE NOW withdrawing now . Due to 16.2 mg of FLUOXETINE ON THE 27 of NOVEMBER WILL BE 6 weeks since I started withdrawing  
 

Thank you so much 

[Sassenach]

Hi Fighter

On 11/22/2019 at 10:08 PM, Fighter said:

Due to 16.2 mg of FLUOXETINE ON THE 27 of NOVEMBER WILL BE 6 weeks since I started withdrawing  

I understand that the six week period will up but is important that you do not plan tapers and use timelines only as a guide.

Listen to your body and if symptoms are bearable on the 27th then go ahead but only if you feel it is right.

You do not need another failed taper.

I do not wish to sound negative because we all want off these drugs, but caution is your best friend.

CNS means central nervous system which is destabilised by withdrawal.

The following may help you understand what is happening and why time is so important.

 

On 12/3/2015 at 3:41 PM, apace41 said:

Basically- you have a building where the MAJOR steel structures are trying to be rebuilt at different times - ALL while people are coming and going in the building and attempting to work.

It would be like if the World Trade Center Towers hadn't completely fallen - but had crumbled inside in different places.. Imagine if you were trying to rebuild the tower - WHILE people were coming and going and trying to work in the building!  You'd have to set up a temporary elevator - but when you needed to fix part of that area, you'd have to tear down that elevator and set up a temporary elevator somewhere else. And so on. You'd have to build, work around, then tear down, then build again, then work around, then build... ALL while people are coming and going, ALL while the furniture is being replaced, ALL while the walls are getting repainted... ALL while life is going on INSIDE the building. No doubt it would be chaotic. That is EXACTLY what is happening with windows and waves.  The windows are where the body has "got it right" for a day or so - but then the building shifts and the brain works on something else - and it's chaos again while another temporary pathway is set up to reroute function until repairs are made.

You can and will get better as long you do not rush it.

 

Sass

PS I am posting below for attention of senior mods regarding your mum. 

[Sassenach]

Hi Fighter

@Altostrata

 

With regards to your mum.

On 11/22/2019 at 10:08 PM, Fighter said:

now knowing how bad antidepressants are

The sites raison d'etre is to help members discontinue these drugs safely.

It has to be your mum's decision whether she wants to stop them.

On 11/22/2019 at 10:08 PM, Fighter said:

Deanxit

appears to be a combination antidepressant and antipsychotic med.

It is likely that the same tapering guidelines would apply however senior mods will be more knowledgeable than myself.

 

Sass

[Altostrata]

Hello, Fighter.

 

Have you found use of CBD oil to be helpful?

 

How often are you taking diazepam or another benzo? Can you recall when you took it over the last 2 weeks?

 

What times of day do you take your drugs, and their dosages? Do you feel better or worse at any particular times of day?

 

As for your mother tapering Deanxit, yes, she'd follow the same tapering principles.

[Sassenach]

Hi Fighter

 

How are you feeling today?

 

Sass

[Fighter]

Hi Sass , 

I am sorry I haven’t been in touch for a while. Just very busy at the moment and I haven’t been feeling too good . On the 28th of December I supposed to decrease my Fluoxetine dose with another 10% but unfortunately I couldn’t. After reading the advice from the forum I realised that I still have strong symptoms and I am going to carry on the same dose (18mg) for a while, until I feel completely confident to decrease it again. At least I haven’t had any severe panic attacks and haven’t been taken any diazepam for a month now. Just overcoming difficult moments with breathing and prying. 
at night still gets worse also sometimes I wake up sweating and anxious 😟  

[Sassenach]

Hi Fighter

 

You are doing the right thing, you should never taper if you are feeling unstable.

19 hours ago, Fighter said:

At least I haven’t had any severe panic attacks and haven’t been taken any diazepam for a month now.

Great news, if you can manage without the Diazepam that is one drug out of the equation.

Panic reduction means your system is settling.

19 hours ago, Fighter said:

I wake up sweating and anxious

W/D normal, these need to settle before any further reductions.

Sorry bit brief time short.

 

Sass