Eileenm: Bad withdrawal symptoms

[Eileenm]

Hi,

A little background.  I am a 54 year old woman and have taken various SSRI's, SNRI's and Benzo's over about 20 years.  I never felt the depression completely lift, rather lived in what I called survival mode and decided to go off them.  I always felt the therapist was medication heavy but given my life circumstances I stayed on them.  Now that my life has calmed considerably and my therapist retired, on my own I took 6 months to ween off Pristiq via Effexor since Pristiq is only time release.  Finished weening in December 2019.  In January I quickly weened off Lamictal, probably to quick.  I am 2 weeks off and I am miserable feeling flu like symptoms along with anxiety and depression.  I met up with a Natropath Psychiatrist who wants me to follow the Wahls Protocol (diet) and have me treated with Frequency Specific Micro-current.  (FMS) which is costly but I am willing to try anything at this point.  She also ordered labs to be done but since I took a Clariton D I need to wait 21 days to have my blood drawn.  My question is should I just go back on something while changing my diet and cleaning up my system so to speak?  I feel like I am on information overload.  From my raw DNA I saw that I have the MTHFR variant and slow COMT, but the dr is doing these as part of my lab work so I feel good about that.  I do take D3, a chelated magnesium supplement and zinc. Any advise would be greatly appreciated.  TIA Eileen

Edited February 18, 2020 by manymoretodays
name to title, moved from S and S care

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Eileenm.

 

You are suffering withdrawal symptoms from your fast tapers of Effexor and Lamictal.  We recommend tapering by no more than 10% of current dose every four weeks.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

What was your original dose of Effexor and what was your final dose?  What was your original dose of Lamictal and what was your final dose?

 

So that you have a better understanding of what you're experiencing, here is some information on withdrawal and healing.

 

What is withdrawal syndrome.

 

Daily Checklist of Antidepressant Withdrawal Symptoms (PDF) 

 

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 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.

 

AND

 

   On 12/3/2015 at 10:41 AM,  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 asked about getting on something.  Reinstatement of a very small dose of the original drug is the only known way to help alleviate withdrawal syndrome.  The only other alternative is to try and wait out the symptoms and manage as best you can until your central nervous system returns to homeostasis.  Unfortunately no one can give you an exact timeline as to when you will start feeling better and while some do recover relatively easily, for others it can take many months or longer.  

 

Reinstatement isn't a guarantee of diminished symptoms for everyone but it's the best tactic available.  You're still in the time period where reinstatement predictably works, up to 3 months after last dose.  It is best to reinstate as soon as possible after withdrawal symptoms occur. We usually suggest a much smaller reinstatement dose than your last dose.  These drugs are strong and If you take too much it may be too much for your brain.   Then, once you've stabilized on that dosage, which can take several months,  you can begin a 10% per month taper down to zero.   Please read:

 

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

 

If you are interested in reinstating a small dose of the Effexor, please let me know and we will suggest a dosage.  Please do not reinstate without letting us suggest a dosage.

 

It's good you're taking magnesium, which many find to be calming.  The only other supplement we recommend is omegas, also known to be calming.

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Start at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you can answer my questions, ask your own and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rhiannon]

Hi Eileen--

 

Given your history I highly recommend a small reinstatement, then taking some time to stabilize, then doing a slow taper. People with as long a history on meds as you have generally need to taper in terms of years, not months, and don't do well with quick reductions or quitting fast. You quit very, very fast for someone with so many years on the drugs. It's early enough in the process that you can probably safely reinstate to a small dose of both Effexor and Lamictal and stave off the worst of the withdrawal which is just beginning for you now.

 

I wouldn't worry too much about all those alternative therapies and gene variants and that sort of thing. We have found over the past decade of working with people withdrawing from psych meds that those things end up not being much of a help. The problem is that your brain has shaped itself around these drugs and the drugs have been yanked out of the system. There are no magical therapies that can take the place of the time and care that is needed to slowly reduce these drugs and allow your nervous system time to reshape itself at the pace that it can do safely.

 

The great news is that it's still early enough for you to reinstate. So many people don't find this place until they have been suffering for a long time and reinstatement is no longer as reliable of a treatment.

 

Again, you would be reinstating at a much smaller dose than you were taking, just enough to give your CNS some support and stability so you can recover and then taper slowly when you're stable and ready.

 

Good luck to you!

 

--Rhiannon

[Altostrata]

Eileen, did you get withdrawal symptoms after you went off Effexor and before you went off Lamictal? How did the withdrawal symptoms come on?

 

Do you have any Effexor or Lamictal left? What was the last dosage you took of either of them?

[Eileenm]

Thank you for all your responses. I decided to white knuckle through and am seeing a holistic psychiatrist.  Initially I thought 6 months was good amount of weening but obviously I was wrong.  I want to see how I do for 6 months and then I will reevaluate in June 2020.  It may not be what is recommended here but I made it through February and want to continue. 

I started taking Quercetin for my anxiety which skyrocketed when I stopped taking antihistamines for my sinus issues.