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lithiumnomore: withdrawal from Lithium, Prozac after 20 years on lithium, others


lithiumnomore

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On 10/6/2021 at 6:55 PM, Altostrata said:

Lamotrigine withdrawal is about the same as with the other drugs.

Thank you. This is hard. My sleep's been terrible again this week.

 

I've considered reinstating at a low dose (2.5 mg) and then doing slow taper once stable. I also just want to push through. 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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You might want to suspend the supplements and see if that helps, first.

 

What time o'clock do you take lithium? What effect does it have on you?

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

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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I split it half in the morning and half in the evening. Its extended release. I've had a hard time pinpointing its effect. Sometimes I think it's contributing to the anxiety and sleep disruption. Other times not. There's not a clear effect post dose maybe because of the extended release.  When I took a higher dose a few years ago I thought it had a stimulating effect. I'm going to start tapering it as soon as I'm feeling stable, ready to be done with it. I suppose I could try taking all at night or all in the morning. 

 

I've experimented with the supplements some, cutting back on NAC and l-theanine. I thought cutting down on NAC from 1800 mg go 600 mg contributed to anxiety so went back up. And ltheanine was maybe making me feel spacy so I started taking it just at night, 400 mg to 200 mg. I attribute a lot of my progress to the supplements so don't want to mess with them too much. Methyfolate in particular since genetic tests showed I had three mthfr mutations. I also worry about withdrawal from the supplements though I know the consensus is that doesn't happen. Have you seen supplements aggravate withdrawal?

 

 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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1 hour ago, lithiumnomore said:

I attribute a lot of my progress to the supplements so don't want to mess with them too much. Methyfolate in particular since genetic tests showed I had three mthfr mutations. I also worry about withdrawal from the supplements though I know the consensus is that doesn't happen. Have you seen supplements aggravate withdrawal?

 

The answer to the last question is yes.

 

Methylfolate alone might be keeping you awake. Most MTHFR mutations are normal. Rather than take methylfolate, you might want to eat lots of green leafy vegetables for your folate. They're much better for you.

 

No, we do not see withdrawal from most supplements (SAM-e, 5-HTP, nootropics etc. are exceptions).

 

Your lithium schedule may also be affecting your sleep.

 

There are many moving parts here that you might adjust before adding back in lamotrigine.

 

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

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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Thank you. I really appreciate the advice. 

 

I'll try experimenting with the supplements and timing of lithium. I generally notice I feel better in the morning before taking anything but I had always seen the supplements I was on as harmless. I'll try skipping the supplements one at a time. 

 

I'm three months off lamictal now. There's been waves of symptoms but overall pretty steady improvement. Since I'm a year and half from coming off prozac and lithium is at a level where it's less likely to cause significant impairment, I'm very close to being med free. I'm getting all those powerful experiences of feeling alive, rediscovering emotions and thinking in a new way that people describe. This all developed during the lamictal taper and has become more pronounced in the three months since coming off lamictal. I feel like I'm so close and these recent set backs have been frustrating. 

 

Btw, it's also possible that I'm still experiencing PAWS from the prozac cold turkey? Is there any reason you suspect lamictal over that? 

 

 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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I skipped the evening dose of lithium and also dropped the l-theanine. I got good restful sleep, though woke up an hour early. I felt worlds better in the morning. I felt more motivated and optimistic and found myself making plans and thinking about self improvement. I skipped the supplements and tried just taking lithium--the full 450 mg. 

 

I noticed about an hour after taking it, that my thinking was kind of dulled and less free flowing. The blunted thinking then kind of causes some anxiety. I'm not sure what that means for sleep. It seems like dulling would be conducive to sleep but who knows. I did sleep better after missing the evening dose but that could have just been the wave passing. I'll stick with taking it all in the morning for a few days. Apart from it's effect on sleep, it's discouraging that it still has an identifiable effect on my thinking. Even in the windows, I'm going to have to deal with that. I had hoped that on the low dose there weren't really any effects. 

 

For the supplements, I'm going to keep taking them while I experiment with the lithium dose timing. I'll try staggering them to see if there's any immediate effect.

 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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On 10/8/2021 at 9:38 PM, lithiumnomore said:

Thank you. I really appreciate the advice. 

 

I'll try experimenting with the supplements and timing of lithium. I generally notice I feel better in the morning before taking anything but I had always seen the supplements I was on as harmless. I'll try skipping the supplements one at a time. 

 

I'm three months off lamictal now. There's been waves of symptoms but overall pretty steady improvement. Since I'm a year and half from coming off prozac and lithium is at a level where it's less likely to cause significant impairment, I'm very close to being med free. I'm getting all those powerful experiences of feeling alive, rediscovering emotions and thinking in a new way that people describe. This all developed during the lamictal taper and has become more pronounced in the three months since coming off lamictal. I feel like I'm so close and these recent set backs have been frustrating. 

 

Btw, it's also possible that I'm still experiencing PAWS from the prozac cold turkey? Is there any reason you suspect lamictal over that? 

 

 

Paroxetine/Paxil: 20 mg 1996-99, CT, 20 mg 2003-2014, CT; Venlafaxine/Effexor: 150 mg 2014-2016, 75 mg 2016-2018, 37,5 mg 2018-2019,18,5 mg 2019-May 2020, CT (withdrawal problems begin); Tried Sertraline/Zoloft, Prozac, buspirone/Buspar: May-Aug 2020;

testosterone cypronate 12.5mg Pd Oct 2020 -present,  Hcg 100iu PDOct 2021 -present.

 Mirtazapine: 15 mg Aug-Nov 2020, 30 mg Nov-Dec 2020, 15 mg, March 2021-present Tadalifil 2.5mg PD, 5mg 3pd. exemestane 6.25mg every 3days   Jan 2020 to 23 Mar 2021, CT; Trazodone: 150 mg Mar 2021 (one week); Paroxetine: 10 mg, 23-29 Mar 2021; Mirtazapine: 3.75 mg, 29 Mar to 13 Jun 2021, forced CT in hospital; Zopiclone: 7.5 mg, 13 June 2020 (4 nights); Bisopropol fumarate (beta blocker): 1.75 mg, 16 June to 30 July 2021; Mirtazapine/Remeron: 1.75 mg, 16 June to 31 Aug 2021, 1.5 mg, 1 Sept 2021-10 Oct Solifenacin succinate (colinergic receptor agonist): 10mg, 16 Aug 2021-12 Oct 2021

Amoxicillin:1.5G PD, 01-29 Aug 2021.

oxytetracyline :1g PD, 5-10 Oct 2021 metronidazole 0.75% gel, 19 Oct 2021-24 Oct buspirone. 21 Oct - 12 Nov Vortiotexitine :5mg, 
24 Oct- present propanalol 20mg PRN. 13 Nov -16 Nov 25mg Venlafaxine ER, 17 Nov-26 Nov 12.5mg, 12.5mg 12.5mg, 9mg, 9mg, 6mg, 6mg, 6mg 3mg, 3mg, Venlafaxine 

12 Oct- 1 NovZopliclone 7.5mg, 1 Nov-14 Nov 5.9mg, 14Nov-28Nov 3.75mg, 28Nov-14Dec 1.9mg, 14Dec-21Dec 7.5mg, 21Dec-4th Jan 5.9mg, 4thJan-present 4.8mg

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Hi lithiumnomore

i was reading for you thread for inspiration and also to see someone having similar experiences.  I can completely identify how you feel as my main complaints are chronic insomnia and extreme anxiety. 
 

all the things you have said I feel exactly the same. I haven’t taken a mood stabiliser but feel my damage has been done on long term use of anti  depressants which have have been wrongly advised by doctors to CT 3 times! They never even recognised withdrawal and I have found this site too late. I too was like yourself I have been successful career wise for 20yrs on them and my problems have only started since coming off. I never worried about this kind of stuff before I experienced these new symtoms I never had before. I am at the stage in my withdrawal 17mths post Venlafaxine first withdrawal problem and 7 mths post mirtazapine withdrawal. I now know I had withdrawal in 2014 and then they put me on Venlafaxine. This  semi levelled me abit from the withdrawal but when they tried to up the dose all hell broke out with Akathisia and insomnia the reason they put me on it in the first place. Unfortunately for me I’ve lost my wife and family and we have lost our house. My wife didn’t understand and I don’t expect her too. I have had time off work twice this year since March due to the anxiety, insomnia and panic. Unfortunately I’ve just lost my job now as I’m getting worse and unable to work. My only self respect I had left was being able to support my daughter and now I’ve lost my job and this. I asked the same questions on here as I was so well for so long but because of how severe withdrawal has been and how long I took the drugs for  I’m not sure how long I will be disabled like this for or that I will heal. I like you for my family want advice If some medication could stabilise me so I could return to work and a more ‘normal’ life. I have asked for help on this on here but it isn’t the right forum for it and doesn’t appear to be received  well. People’s support on here is all I have but I do find the tough love approach testing especially when suicidal thoughts come.

Anyway glad to see your doing well good look and keep us informed of your progress it’s an inspiration that your working for your family 

Paroxetine/Paxil: 20 mg 1996-99, CT, 20 mg 2003-2014, CT; Venlafaxine/Effexor: 150 mg 2014-2016, 75 mg 2016-2018, 37,5 mg 2018-2019,18,5 mg 2019-May 2020, CT (withdrawal problems begin); Tried Sertraline/Zoloft, Prozac, buspirone/Buspar: May-Aug 2020;

testosterone cypronate 12.5mg Pd Oct 2020 -present,  Hcg 100iu PDOct 2021 -present.

 Mirtazapine: 15 mg Aug-Nov 2020, 30 mg Nov-Dec 2020, 15 mg, March 2021-present Tadalifil 2.5mg PD, 5mg 3pd. exemestane 6.25mg every 3days   Jan 2020 to 23 Mar 2021, CT; Trazodone: 150 mg Mar 2021 (one week); Paroxetine: 10 mg, 23-29 Mar 2021; Mirtazapine: 3.75 mg, 29 Mar to 13 Jun 2021, forced CT in hospital; Zopiclone: 7.5 mg, 13 June 2020 (4 nights); Bisopropol fumarate (beta blocker): 1.75 mg, 16 June to 30 July 2021; Mirtazapine/Remeron: 1.75 mg, 16 June to 31 Aug 2021, 1.5 mg, 1 Sept 2021-10 Oct Solifenacin succinate (colinergic receptor agonist): 10mg, 16 Aug 2021-12 Oct 2021

Amoxicillin:1.5G PD, 01-29 Aug 2021.

oxytetracyline :1g PD, 5-10 Oct 2021 metronidazole 0.75% gel, 19 Oct 2021-24 Oct buspirone. 21 Oct - 12 Nov Vortiotexitine :5mg, 
24 Oct- present propanalol 20mg PRN. 13 Nov -16 Nov 25mg Venlafaxine ER, 17 Nov-26 Nov 12.5mg, 12.5mg 12.5mg, 9mg, 9mg, 6mg, 6mg, 6mg 3mg, 3mg, Venlafaxine 

12 Oct- 1 NovZopliclone 7.5mg, 1 Nov-14 Nov 5.9mg, 14Nov-28Nov 3.75mg, 28Nov-14Dec 1.9mg, 14Dec-21Dec 7.5mg, 21Dec-4th Jan 5.9mg, 4thJan-present 4.8mg

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  • 1 month later...

4 months and a week since fully coming off lamictal. I'm still having significant sleep, anxiety and cognitive issues that come in waves. It seems like about once a week now.  The windows I'm having seem clearer, and I'll have days when I feel like I'm myself again.  I've noticed I'm caring more about my life and have a stronger desire to be well. During the windows, I'll see a complexity in the world I had forgotten was there and have a strong desire for connection to the world and others. The other day, during a therapy appointment I found myself absent mindedly doodling on a sheet of paper and realized I hadn't done that in at least two years--before the prozac withdrawal. Like so many other experiences, it was like a part of my brain was coming back online. The cognitive issues are also much better, and I'm starting to be able to think normally--again, in the windows. 

 

All that said, these bad days are really bad, though I'm not sure if they're actually worse or I'm just more aware. My sleep issues have been the worst they've been the last few weeks with some nights getting no sleep. I've stopped all supplements except for magnesium and fish oil, but it doesn't seemed to have made a difference. I've also tried experimenting with the lithium dose, switching it between the morning and evening and even tried dropping it to 300 mg for a few days. The timing doesn't seem to matter and lowering the dose--ill advised, I know--maybe brought on a wave. If I had to guess, the wave was just part of the natural pattern, but I've accepted I can't mess around with the lithium until the lamictal withdrawal settles down. I'm sure everyone here will agree with that. When the time comes to get off the remaining lithium, I'd like to do a slow taper. 

 

During the waves, I'll still doubt what I'm doing and question if I just need to go back on meds--probably a therapeutic dose of lithium. I don't like that either since I know how those years felt, and I don't think I should have ever been put on lithium in the first place. It's also not certain it would put me back to where I was before Prozac and Lamictal withdrawal. During the waves, I just can't fully buy into the story that I should have never taken meds and this is withdrawal. If I could, this might be a lot easier because I would know "the only way out is through." 

 

I'm considering taking extended leave--up to four months-- from work again to focus on healing and my family. Work is particularly stressful, because my ability changes so much from day-to-day. I can't consistently make progress on projects, and feel like I'm waiting to be "found out" is difficult. The holistic psychiatrist I'm seeing and my CBT-focused therapist both think the time would be good but most of the leave would be unpaid and losing the structure of work might make things worse. If I were to take leave, I'd go all in on supporting my healing, upping all my self care. I'd appreciate anyone's advice on this given the timing. 

 

                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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  • 1 month later...

6 months since coming off lamictal and about 2 years since Prozac. I felt like I had been making progress and then coming back to work after the holidays I've developed some pretty significant depressive symptoms--really hard to concentrate, intense rumination, depressive catastrophizing. What's interesting is it's paired with this general sense of greater awareness and I'll have moments when I forget the obsessive thoughts and suddenly feel better. I need to just relax into the moment, but it's really hard. The depression symptoms are paired with really bad tinnitus which has been an odd part of my withdrawal symptoms and something I've viewed as a wave signature. This is just longer and more depressive-like than previous waves.

 

I continue to struggle with if I am bipolar--if that even exists--and if so what role medication can play in my life. Where I'm at now only a low dose of lithium combined with the experiences of coming off drugs and withdrawal from the last two years, I can see clearly how the drugs affected me and diminished my experience of reality. I was certainly more functional than I am now--at this moment-- but to what end? And, now, truly knowing all that I would be missing on drugs, I don't think I can ever go back to that. 

 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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To add one more thing, a lot of my struggle right now is I'm just really confused by everything that's happened. I feel really bewildered and just spend a ton of time trying to figure out what happened and how I experienced things at the different points in time. 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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Oh, for the record, I dropped methyfolate about 2 months ago and NAC about a month ago. I didn't see much change after dropping either. I've been trying to eat much healthier, cutting out all junk food and eating a lot of whole foods. Updated my signature with the current supplements.

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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  • 4 weeks later...

7 months since coming off lamotrigine and 2 years 2 months since prozac. I still seem to be improving, and looking back at some of my posts from a few months ago--I'm much better. My sleep is improving, and when the insomnia does come, I'm calmer about it and no longer want to take meds for it. I'm having about one or two days with withdrawal symptoms a week--mainly anxiety, depression some times, cognitive symptoms, sometimes headaches and tinnitus. It's impossible to know what's lamotrigine and what's still the prozac two years later, and, sadly, I think it's some of both. 

 

In the windows, it's like I'm learning to think again. My concentration and memory are much better, and I can comprehend and explain much more complicated topics. I'm learning to focus again, and at times will find myself in "flow" where my mind quiets down and it feels like I'm normal again. I'm much more social, interested in others' lives, and am generally more interested in the world. There's this feeling of reconnecting with my life and myself, which is both exciting and also really hard at times. Feeling better I have to acknowledge how  unwell I was for so long. 

 

Please see member's comment regarding his experience with this medical professional.

 

I've been seeing a new psychiatrist/therapist, a Dr. Joseph Tarantolo here in Washington, DC. He's against long-term use of meds and has pretty good knowledge of the criticism of psychiatry. I found him on Mad in America. He's older, and I think was trained before the medical model fully took hold. He focuses almost entirely on therapy and getting people off or minimizing meds. After seeing him for a couple months, we've decided to go ahead and start the lithium taper. I did 450-400 mg for my first cut, and am now taking the manufactured 300 mg ER and 100 mg of compounded ER lithium. I'm a little puzzled about the compounding of ER lithium, but the pharmacist was pretty confident about it. The plan is to go 50 mg per month barring any complications. I may ask to slow down to something closer to 10% of current dose as I get lower, but would like to get to 300 mg at that rate. 

 

I am a little nervous about starting the taper of lithium when I'm still having some withdrawal symptoms from the previous drugs. Lithium seems like it might be aggravating those symptoms, though, and I'm going to go slow and be careful to be aware of any changes. I appreciate any advice anyone has but mainly posting for the case history. I really feel like I can do this. 

 

Edited by ChessieCat
added link to member's comment

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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  • Moderator Emeritus
40 minutes ago, lithiumnomore said:

I've been seeing a new psychiatrist/therapist, a Dr. Joseph Tarantolo here in Washington, DC. He's against long-term use of meds and has pretty good knowledge of the criticism of psychiatry. I found him on Mad in America. He's older, and I think was trained before the medical model fully took hold. He focuses almost entirely on therapy and getting people off or minimizing meds.

 

Please post about your experience in this topic:

 

recommended-doctors-therapists-and-clinics

 

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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13 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

 

Please post about your experience in this topic:

 

recommended-doctors-therapists-and-clinics

 

Thanks. I'll add something.

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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I'm having a rough day after a solid window over the weekend. I barely slept at all last night and then decided to take sick leave today. Work continues to be a huge struggle during the waves. It's like I've forgotten everything I know and have no idea how to think or write.

 

 

The other thing I'll notice is it's like I'm learning to do those things again. Like my brain is adjusting back to it's normal functioning.amd everything is a little rusty. Despite that, I just see so much more complexity in everything. I'm more curious about everything and find myself asking questions constantly. And while it takes a lot of time and effort, I can gain a deeper understanding of difficult concepts. It's like my unmedicated brain is coming back online, and since I haven't thought with such a brain in 20 years, everything is more labored.

 

Anyway, a little scared today as I'm always worried about not being able to work but hopeful due to some areas of marked improvement. I'm ready to get back to my life.

 

 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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  • Mentor

@lithiumnomore

Stopping by to check in with another Lamictal user.🥴 I  also experienced blunting in my thinking on Lamictal.  I started to not be able to find words, hard to think a thought all the way through, Had a hard time doing math  at work.  Loss my car at the store.....Memory issues. I saw hubby with something new and asked him when he got it and he told me I was there with him when I bought it lol😬

 

I did a fast taper last winter from 200mg to 37.5mg in a few months......I remember as I was tapering the front of my forehead felt like a knot was loosening and a clearing/ I was so surprised when I first noticed it...I took  50mg less of  the Lamictal in the morning before work several hours later I could feel something was changing in my brain........the knot was loosening.....

 

Anyway you give me inspiration to keep moving forward and to get off these drugs.......I also have been drugged for about 25 years....We can heal and be stronger and healthier without the drugs.....Patience is the key.   Try not to obsess over how things are different...., just take it a day at a time and enjoy it as you slowly watch the world and life around you open up....... 

 

Have you ever visited Baylissa Frederick's website?  http://BAYLISSA.COM

It offers an archive of webinars, videos, gentle reminders, meditations, mindfulness exercises, reflections, daily challenges and coping tips, all to encourage ...

 

You can do this😊 

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/24894-greatful-is-this-withdrawal-or-to-many-med-changes-at-once/

1995? Prozac,  tried several Paxil, Serzone, St John's Wart back to Prozac and Trazodone ct:d Traz

 Lexapro. Tried to stop Crash in 2015  Kindled   Hospitalized, Vybrid, Seroquel, Effexor, Abilify  Pristiq, Wellbutrin-- 2016  ended back on   Prozac and Lamictal 200mg

5/2020  thru 12/2020 taper from 20mg  Prozac  down to 3mg.  Crashed  12/13/2020 Zoloft 50mg 1/29ct  1/29/2021 Seroquel 50mg ct  2/12/2021 Wellbutrin 75mg.  Became hypo manic 2/1  6ct Trazodone 50mg 4/25  25mg 2/5/ 2021 Lamictal 150mg.  2/24  100mg   4/9  75mg   4/21 37.5 

2/16/2021 Seroquel 50xr  3/3 100mg  3/17  150mg  side effects ct   4/3 2021 Lexapro 5mg  4/14  7.5mg  4/30 10mg  5/10  7.5mg 

2021/ 5/16  5mg Lexapro   37.5 Lamictal   25mg trazadone,   xanax  .0625mg  3x a day   

Lexapro  Taper> Sept/01/2021  4.90mg>  Sept/25  4.75mg>   Oct/19 4.69mg > Nov/14 4.2mg    Jan/30/2022-- Split dosing 2x a day All liquid  4.2mg  (2.20mg at 8am & 2mg at 4pm) 2/17 4mg>  2/24  3.8mg  slow taper to  Aug/12/2022 2.04mg  2023> 2mg,  1.90mg, 1.80mg, 1.70mg, 1.5mg, 1.4mg, 1.3mg 1.2mg, 1.1mg, 1mg, 0.9mg, 0.8mg, 0.7mg 0.65mg, 0.6mg, 0.55mg, 0.5mg, 0.45mg, 0.4mg, 0.35mg, 0.3mg, 0.25,mg, back to once a day dosing 0 .1mg, 0.07mg

Lamictal  taper  4/17/ 2022 25mg, 9/9/ 22 -20mg, 9/25/22- 15mg , 10/20/22-   0

 Trazodone..2023.>down to 14mg, 7mg, 6mg  July 2023   0

Xanax  0.0625 3 x a day,  2023>  0.042 3x a day

Supplements  Magnesium glycinate, Omega 3, D3, vitamin c , zinc, NAC 

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10 minutes ago, Greatful said:

@lithiumnomore

Stopping by to check in with another Lamictal user.🥴 I  also experienced blunting in my thinking on Lamictal.  I started to not be able to find words, hard to think a thought all the way through, Had a hard time doing math  at work.  Loss my car at the store.....Memory issues. I saw hubby with something new and asked him when he got it and he told me I was there with him when I bought it lol😬

 

I did a fast taper last winter from 200mg to 37.5mg in a few months......I remember as I was tapering the front of my forehead felt like a knot was loosening and a clearing/ I was so surprised when I first noticed it...I took  50mg less of  the Lamictal in the morning before work several hours later I could feel something was changing in my brain........the knot was loosening.....

 

Anyway you give me inspiration to keep moving forward and to get off these drugs.......I also have been drugged for about 25 years....We can heal and be stronger and healthier without the drugs.....Patience is the key.   Try not to obsess over how things are different...., just take it a day at a time and enjoy it as you slowly watch the world and life around you open up....... 

 

Have you ever visited Baylissa Frederick's website?  http://BAYLISSA.COM

It offers an archive of webinars, videos, gentle reminders, meditations, mindfulness exercises, reflections, daily challenges and coping tips, all to encourage ...

 

You can do this😊 

 

Thank you. I appreciate the encouragement on a really hard day. I want my mind and life back. And I'm so angry about my decision to take lamictal. Prozac withdrawal was bad enough. That's been eating at me for a couple weeks.

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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  • 1 month later...

8.5 months off lamotrigine, 2 years and 3.5 months off of fluoxetine. I'm now down to 300 mg of lithium, tapering at 50 mg/month every two weeks. I've identified new symptoms I'm attributing to lithium withdrawal, so plan to hold at 300 mg until those resolve and then resume at <10% of current dose every 2-4 weeks. 

 

Windows and waves have continued with the windows seeming clearer and the waves harder to endure, though not necessarily more severe. I find that the windows and feeling like I'm so close to well now make the return of symptoms that much harder. I tell myself each time things clear that I should enjoy it but know it won't last. Still, there's always a little hope of "maybe this is how it ends. I just wake up, and I'm fine." During the windows, I'll notice myelf being more optimistic. I can really see what I want out of life and a path to get it. I get excited about a life off of meds and being able to apply my full capabilities to enjoying a life. I've also noticed I'm much more attuned to people, more sociable and more empathetic. This is true for all levels of familiarity from strangers to my family. I've been particularly more attuned to my children, and I feel it's because I can relate better to them.

 

I notice memories continuing to come back. Sometimes they'll just pop into my head. Other times, I'll be doing something that prompts them like revisiting a place. This is still a little uncomfortable, but I think it's normal recall and just something that I lacked while on higher doses of lithium and on other drugs--or in the more acute SSRI withdrawal. There's also been a lot of emotion, as I've felt like I'm reintegrating with myself and remembering who I really am. I recently had to go back to my hometown to attend the funeral of my uncle, and went back to my old house where I lived until I was 12. I walked around some and started crying. I ended up sobbing for almost an hour, really feeling all that I lost due to drugs. It was the reflection on my childhood, all the potential, and then how it was robbed from me. A lot of it feels like, due to meds, I never really processed childhood and young adult trauma or the trauma from meds. As I've come off and withdrawal symptoms dissipate, I now have to feel all of it. And it's hard.

 

Another odd experience I've had is everything becoming more real again. It's like I'm just slipping back into the simulation and really believing it again. I've had issues with dissociation, especially in the waves, so this might just be that resolving. I've started caring more about the way my house looks and feeling like I can take on things and actually get them done. 

 

While there's a lot of reason to be optimistic and a sense of deep healing, I'm definitely still experiencing withdrawal symptoms, and I think the lithium is contributing to it now. Since starting my lithium taper I've noticed some new symptoms such as headaches, and I'm having more cognitive difficulty especially during the waves. Rumination is much worse. And work is becoming a real struggle again, after issues due to apparent lamictal withdrawal peaking in the fall and then starting to get better. That always creates a lot of anxiety, because I honestly don't know if I can make it through my taper while doing my job, and then an added fear of either "maybe I'm just not good enough" or "what if I can only do my job on lithium and stimulants." I don't really believe them now and am kind of resolved to just see it play out. I don't have the same kind of extreme anxiety around them--driven by SSRI withdrawal--but there's a real worry there. I just can't seem to fix myself fast enough.

 

As far as care goes, I've gotten much stricter about diet. I now eat a smoothie every morning for breakfast with strawberries, blueberries, banana, kale, avocado, greek yogurt and organge juice. A lot brain food, and despite the fructose, I find I have sustainable energy and no crash.  I also eat the same thing every day for lunch-- a peanut butter and jelly -- for nostalgia and I find it's simple and also has no reaction. Dinners usually fish or chicken with veggies. I often forego carbs at dinner. I've also been avoiding glutamate, both MSG, and natural forms, as I've found a correlation between consuming it and symptoms. I have a theory that it has to do with whatever lamictal did to my glutamatergic system, creating a sensitivity.

 

 Please see member's comment regarding his experience with this medical professional

 

I'm doing therapy 1-2 times a week, mainly with Dr. Taranotlo, who is a psychiatrist and has been very effective as a therapist. He's been a little pushy with the taper, and I just learned today in the provider thread he apparently views SSRI withdrawal as psychosomatic. That's pretty disconcerting, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep seeing him for the lithium taper. It's going to be a little tricky, and I'm looking forward to discussing it with him. But if you can't recognize that some of my issues are still about healing from prozac, then that's going to cause problems. I also worry he'll downplay how hard it is to get off of lithium--though he knows you need to go slow in some form and has helped me work with a compounding pharmacy.

 

Anyway, appreciate any encouragement and support. I may try to write here more regularly as writing is getting a little easier and it's therapeutic. 

 

 

Edited by ChessieCat
added link to member's comment

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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My issues could very well still be PAWS from Prozac right? I feel like the lamictal course and taper and lithium have been significant but Prozac issues have predominated and I've slowly recovered over the last 2 years.

 

I've noticed a shift in my thinking on lamictal that is somewhat significant. About 3-4 months off of lamictal I was considering reinstating at a microdose. Then at 5-7 months or so I spent a lot of time struggling with if I was actually better on lamictal and what that meant. Now I can clearly see that it worsened my condition and the withdrawal was even worse. Dealing with feelings of anger and regret like a lot of my psychiatry experience. I'm struggling with why I bought into the appeal of a magic pill with minimal side effects and no withdrawal symptoms as the psychiatrist represented. After all I had been through, I bought into that one more time, and feel like I lost another year because of it. Trying to keep some perspective and see growth and learning from the suffering but it's hard.

 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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Worst sleep week in a while. I took sensoril ashwaghanda middle of night last night and if seems to have kept me up. So won't do that again. L-theanine nightly does seem to be helping though. 

 

 

Screenshot_20220318-075702.png

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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  • Mentor

@lithiumnomore

Stopping by as another traveler on this journey.😊

 

 

22 hours ago, lithiumnomore said:

Windows and waves have continued with the windows seeming clearer and the waves harder to endure, though not necessarily more severe. I find that the windows and feeling like I'm so close to well now make the return of symptoms that much harder.

Boy, I bet a lot of us can relate to this.......I use to get so excited that this might be it...I will slowly get better and soon I will back to living life,, then the wave would hist and I would sink back into the spiral of pain and dysfunction.......I am coming out of my wave( I cut a few weeks ago) and I am very cautiously thinkin optimistic this time😬

22 hours ago, lithiumnomore said:

apparently views SSRI withdrawal as psychosomatic.

This is so disheartening......There is so much information out there that's showing/recognizing 

withdrawal is real and that maybe many people are being told that there illness is coming back or a new one is emerging....  Have you had a chance to look for information here on SA that you can print out to show him........I know that the UK is out front on this......They even have a book/pamphlet out there form therapist to learn how to help clients in WD

Here is a link https://prescribeddrug.info/

I think Amsterdam has opened the first WD client/doctors 

Here is a link https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/24343-first-clinic-opened-for-tapering-off-antidepressants-in-amsterdam-nl/#comment-523321

 

22 hours ago, lithiumnomore said:

and went back to my old house where I lived until I was 12. I walked around some and started crying. I ended up sobbing for almost an hour, really feeling all that I lost due to drugs.

Do you think it helped to go through your childhood home.  Did you walk around by yourself.........I also have trauma from childhood.........Last winter my father pasted away. Mom has been gone for several years and we will be selling the house.....I have not decide if I am going to go back into the house...........I have been back in it may times throughout my adult hood so I am not sure going back in will make a difference........Since I have been in WD and a lot of hidden emotions/pain have been coming up, I am learning to got through the emotions now and it is not easy when your brain is not working right.........I also have been having flashbacks from childhood, not all bad.......some good ones too.........The drugs really do damper our emotions and make it hard to live life in the way we were meant to.

I have until mid April to decide if I want to walk through the house again.....My therapist tells me it's my journey and I get to decide what is right for me.......Not sure I want to remember the house empty,  I think I want to remember it the way it was when the it was full of life.........

 

Have you  ever heard of Therapy in a nutshell?  

Emma McAdam, she is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

She does segments on You tube about mental health issues and gives helpful copy skills.  She does a lot of this for free.  You might find this helpful.  I am doing the her course on" How to Process Emotions" 1-30

Here is a link on you tube

https://www.youtube.com/c/TherapyinaNutshell

 

Hang in there. Your sleep will come back....You could try melatonin. 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/24894-greatful-is-this-withdrawal-or-to-many-med-changes-at-once/

1995? Prozac,  tried several Paxil, Serzone, St John's Wart back to Prozac and Trazodone ct:d Traz

 Lexapro. Tried to stop Crash in 2015  Kindled   Hospitalized, Vybrid, Seroquel, Effexor, Abilify  Pristiq, Wellbutrin-- 2016  ended back on   Prozac and Lamictal 200mg

5/2020  thru 12/2020 taper from 20mg  Prozac  down to 3mg.  Crashed  12/13/2020 Zoloft 50mg 1/29ct  1/29/2021 Seroquel 50mg ct  2/12/2021 Wellbutrin 75mg.  Became hypo manic 2/1  6ct Trazodone 50mg 4/25  25mg 2/5/ 2021 Lamictal 150mg.  2/24  100mg   4/9  75mg   4/21 37.5 

2/16/2021 Seroquel 50xr  3/3 100mg  3/17  150mg  side effects ct   4/3 2021 Lexapro 5mg  4/14  7.5mg  4/30 10mg  5/10  7.5mg 

2021/ 5/16  5mg Lexapro   37.5 Lamictal   25mg trazadone,   xanax  .0625mg  3x a day   

Lexapro  Taper> Sept/01/2021  4.90mg>  Sept/25  4.75mg>   Oct/19 4.69mg > Nov/14 4.2mg    Jan/30/2022-- Split dosing 2x a day All liquid  4.2mg  (2.20mg at 8am & 2mg at 4pm) 2/17 4mg>  2/24  3.8mg  slow taper to  Aug/12/2022 2.04mg  2023> 2mg,  1.90mg, 1.80mg, 1.70mg, 1.5mg, 1.4mg, 1.3mg 1.2mg, 1.1mg, 1mg, 0.9mg, 0.8mg, 0.7mg 0.65mg, 0.6mg, 0.55mg, 0.5mg, 0.45mg, 0.4mg, 0.35mg, 0.3mg, 0.25,mg, back to once a day dosing 0 .1mg, 0.07mg

Lamictal  taper  4/17/ 2022 25mg, 9/9/ 22 -20mg, 9/25/22- 15mg , 10/20/22-   0

 Trazodone..2023.>down to 14mg, 7mg, 6mg  July 2023   0

Xanax  0.0625 3 x a day,  2023>  0.042 3x a day

Supplements  Magnesium glycinate, Omega 3, D3, vitamin c , zinc, NAC 

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On 3/18/2022 at 4:58 AM, lithiumnomore said:

Worst sleep week in a while. I took sensoril ashwaghanda middle of night last night and if seems to have kept me up. So won't do that again. L-theanine nightly does seem to be helping though. 

 

 

Screenshot_20220318-075702.png

 

 

I've just finished a lithium taper. I was thankfully only on it for about 6months, but even that has left me foggy headed. I'm also currently. Under the influence of a fluanxol depot injection, and 100mg of lamictal - one 50mg tablet in the evening one in the morning. I'm trying to taper off the lamictal (but also finish the fluanxol at the end of this month). I see you managed it fine but still have some lasting effects (apparently 18months post medicine is the best recovery you're going to get. I wanted to ask you about your manic episodes - you speak a lot about depression/anxiety (my current phase), but when I'm unmedicated I end up in mania with anxiety and paranoia - always between 6 and 9 months of being unmedicated. I'm keen to follow and work through my lamictal withdrawal with you and see how it goes. Also - how did you convince your doctor to allow you to come off meds? 

 

Edited by Altostrata
deleted mod note
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On 3/18/2022 at 1:51 PM, Greatful said:

This is so disheartening......There is so much information out there that's showing/recognizing 

withdrawal is real and that maybe many people are being told that there illness is coming back or a new one is emerging....  Have you had a chance to look for information here on SA that you can print out to show him........I know that the UK is out front on this......They even have a book/pamphlet out there form therapist to learn how to help clients in WD

Here is a link https://prescribeddrug.info/

I think Amsterdam has opened the first WD client/doctors 

Here is a link https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/24343-first-clinic-opened-for-tapering-off-antidepressants-in-amsterdam-nl/#comment-523321

He's really idiosyncratic, came up through psychosocial approach to psychiatry. So he doesn't believe in meds but doesn't fully appreciate withdrawal syndromes either. There's definitely a psychological component to withdrawal. It's like you have to fill the holes that the meds previously occupied. My relationships and other big parts of my life and being had been neglected, and he's supportive in repairing those. It has to happen in tandem with the healing of whatever brain injury is being healed, though, and there must be recognition that there are inherent limits to what therapy can do--mainly not being able to speed up the biological healing.

 

On 3/18/2022 at 1:51 PM, Greatful said:

Do you think it helped to go through your childhood home.  Did you walk around by yourself.........I also have trauma from childhood.........Last winter my father pasted away. Mom has been gone for several years and we will be selling the house.....I have not decide if I am going to go back into the house...........I have been back in it may times throughout my adult hood so I am not sure going back in will make a difference........Since I have been in WD and a lot of hidden emotions/pain have been coming up, I am learning to got through the emotions now and it is not easy when your brain is not working right.........I also have been having flashbacks from childhood, not all bad.......some good ones too.........The drugs really do damper our emotions and make it hard to live life in the way we were meant to.

I have until mid April to decide if I want to walk through the house again.....My therapist tells me it's my journey and I get to decide what is right for me.......Not sure I want to remember the house empty,  I think I want to remember it the way it was when the it was full of life.........

I couldn't go inside but walked around outside recalling what it was like to be kid and innocent. Before meds wrecked my life. I could remember what it felt like to be alive and full of potential. And I could feel all this loss because of what followed that childhood. It was an important moment in my healing process I think.

 

It's interesting you mentioned flashbacks, that's been a prominent withdrawal symptom for me. Just seemingly random memories popping in to your head. I view it as my brain recovering memories that were previously severed. Mine have probably been more good lately. The harder ones are flashbacks to when I was more heavily drugged and seeing what I was missing at the time. I don't really understand how I lived in that state for so long.

 

I've also experienced this awakening of meaning where I just understand the world better. I can see what's going on and understand it all better. I'm creating my world in a way that had been diminished while on drugs.

 

On 3/18/2022 at 1:51 PM, Greatful said:

Have you  ever heard of Therapy in a nutshell?  

Emma McAdam, she is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist

She does segments on You tube about mental health issues and gives helpful copy skills.  She does a lot of this for free.  You might find this helpful.  I am doing the her course on" How to Process Emotions" 1-30

Here is a link on you tube

https://www.youtube.com/c/TherapyinaNutshell

 

Hang in there. Your sleep will come back....You could try melatonin. 

 

 

 

 

Thanks. I will check it out. Altostrata has posted at times about needing to develop basic coping skills after meds. Sometimes it seems like I'm experiencing very normal things, but they're so unfamiliar they're disturbing. I remember being freaked out by daydreaming for example before I realized what it was and I had just stopped it while on meds. I'm learning to just allow everything to unfold and just be.

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

Link to comment
On 3/20/2022 at 2:31 AM, Winnerwinner said:

I've just finished a lithium taper. I was thankfully only on it for about 6months, but even that has left me foggy headed. I'm also currently. Under the influence of a fluanxol depot injection, and 100mg of lamictal - one 50mg tablet in the evening one in the morning. I'm trying to taper off the lamictal (but also finish the fluanxol at the end of this month). I see you managed it fine but still have some lasting effects (apparently 18months post medicine is the best recovery you're going to get. I wanted to ask you about your manic episodes - you speak a lot about depression/anxiety (my current phase), but when I'm unmedicated I end up in mania with anxiety and paranoia - always between 6 and 9 months of being unmedicated. I'm keen to follow and work through my lamictal withdrawal with you and see how it goes. Also - how did you convince your doctor to allow you to come off meds

 

I've only had one manic episode in my entire life. I was 18 and on 250 mg sertraline for depression. It clearly caused the mania, but it took me about 18 years to fully realize that. I had bought into "it doesn't cause mania if you're not bipolar" and the "unmasking bipolar" view. Under the operative DSM IV at the time, that episode shouldn't even have counted for diagnosis but no one told me that or said "that could have just been a reaction to the drug, let's get you off everything and see how you do." Instead, I was scared into taking lithium with warnings of a worsening condition if I declined meds. That causes so much outrage in me. Especially because looking back -- and having the benefit of a sense of myself on and off drugs -- I can see a lot of what I thought was depression was just the drugs. Lithium and a string of SSRIs. Every subsequent hospitalization was also likely withdrawal as I would try to stop the meds not knowing what I was doing. This all makes me outraged.

 

I sought out doctors that were supportive of my coming off meds and didn't believe in the use of long term medications. It took me a while to realize that any mainstream doctor was just going to try to push me back to the pills. If you can find someone steeped in critical psychiatry I highly recommend it.0

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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29 minutes ago, lithiumnomore said:

 

I've only had one manic episode in my entire life. I was 18 and on 250 mg sertraline for depression. It clearly caused the mania, but it took me about 18 years to fully realize that. I had bought into "it doesn't cause mania if you're not bipolar" and the "unmasking bipolar" view. Under the operative DSM IV at the time, that episode shouldn't even have counted for diagnosis but no one told me that or said "that could have just been a reaction to the drug, let's get you off everything and see how you do." Instead, I was scared into taking lithium with warnings of a worsening condition if I declined meds. That causes so much outrage in me. Especially because looking back -- and having the benefit of a sense of myself on and off drugs -- I can see a lot of what I thought was depression was just the drugs. Lithium and a string of SSRIs. Every subsequent hospitalization was also likely withdrawal as I would try to stop the meds not knowing what I was doing. This all makes me outraged.

 

I sought out doctors that were supportive of my coming off meds and didn't believe in the use of long term medications. It took me a while to realize that any mainstream doctor was just going to try to push me back to the pills. If you can find someone steeped in critical psychiatry I highly recommend it.0

Thanks for this. Problem is, I've been searching too and haven't been able to find someone who understands that a lot of my symptoms have been withdrawal/circumstance driven. Some people are just really unlucky in life. The first time I made contact with a Psychiatrist is when my life fell into what currently feels like disrepair. It's so frustrating :(

 

I'm under review by our health professions Council, so may now also be unable/not allowed to work in my given profession. 

 

I'm torn between getting well and off medication, and staying foggy headed and zombified - and even then it's not a given that I'll be allowed to work. 

 

Anyway enough wallowing... I'm keen to follow your taper of lithium and hear how you do off it. I think I'm staying on my lamotrigine for now. For me, the lithium taper was possibly the worst one - it made me really anxious and tearful. Hope yours is going well - it looks like it based on what you've been posting. 

 

Would you mind sharing your Doctor' s details in a DM? Keen to see if he/she knows of anyone with a similar ethos in the UK. 

 

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15 hours ago, Winnerwinner said:

I'm torn between getting well and off medication, and staying foggy headed and zombified - and even then it's not a given that I'll be allowed to work. 

 

I'm struggling with this too. Since I came off of prozac and had a disabling withdrawal syndrome from that, I've been struggling to work. My brain just hasn't worked the same way with awful cognitive dysfunction. I went about 7 years relatively stable on lithium (plus adderall for most of it) and I'm tempted to think "maybe you can go back to that and at least work." The problem is I don't think I really could. The combination of lithium and adderall wasn't really sustainable and my work is much more difficult today. I need to be off meds and well to really be effective in my profession. So if I'm going to be out of work either on meds or off meds, I might as well stay the med-free course and see what all it has to offer me. 

 

On the doctor's details. I'm kind of having a falling out with the psychiatrist I'm seeing. It somehow took 3 months for me to realize that he didn't really understand medication withdrawal. He basically said the withdrawal symptoms I'm having are psychosomatic. I pushed back about the physical symptoms that coincide with the psychological ones and he didn't really have a response. He berated me for not continuing my taper when I'm having disabling symptoms and suggested I had chosen to take medication and implied it was a moral failing.

 

Like many others, I was told I had a chemical imbalance, and I trusted the doctors who said they had medication to fix it--at 18. Then, after the SSRI-induced mania, I was presented with the choice of "take your lithium and you can have a normal life" or don't and you'll have repeated episodes and deteriorate. I questioned the meds even then. I didn't understand how something as complex as the brain could be finetuned by such coarse methods, but when everyone around you is pressing you to take them and when you try to stop--not knowing that it requires a slow taper--bad stuff happens, you accept it. I didn't choose this. 

 

Anyway, that doctor won't be helpful. Through my lamictal taper and withdrawal, I was seeing a doctor with freerange phsychiatry, https://freerange.org/. I had kept seeing her periodically the last few months, and will go back to her now to help with lithium now that this local psychiatrist has proven to be a quack. You might try the provider thread on this website to try to find someone in the UK. 

 

 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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16 hours ago, Winnerwinner said:

Anyway enough wallowing... I'm keen to follow your taper of lithium and hear how you do off it. I think I'm staying on my lamotrigine for now. For me, the lithium taper was possibly the worst one - it made me really anxious and tearful. Hope yours is going well - it looks like it based on what you've been posting. 

 

Your "tearful" comment is interesting. I've been really emotional since I started tapering lithium. Some of it has been cathartic and therapeutic but at times it seems a bit much. But so far it seems like it'll be easier than prozac and lamictal, which each seemed to involve a complete rewiring of my brain. This seems more subtle and the withdrawal symptoms seems more limited and self contained. That's my hope anyway. 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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Sleep has been even worse this week, and I've just taken the last couple days off work after a rough start to the week. I've averaged about 2 hours of sleep/night the last four nights. I took the last two days off work and am considering taking a few weeks off to help myself stabilize after coming down too quickly. 

 

Anyone have any thoughts on updosing? Maybe going back to 350 mg? I hate going backwards but I have to sleep. 

 

Screenshot_20220324-152117 (1).png

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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I'm taking some time off work to try to get a handle on sleep. I went ahead and updosed lithium to 350 mg and may try upping again if I don't feel like I'm making progress in a week or two. I get focused on 0 mg as the goal but the goal for now at least is stability. I can function on lithium, particularly a low dose, and when I finally taper off of it, I want it to be for good.

 

Insomnia continues. Tonight, I woke up after a couple hours of sleep, and then made myself get out of bed. I went to sleep really calm after making the decision about work and expected to sleep through the night. When I woke up anxiety and agitation, a "do something" feeling were back. I'm wondering now if either l-theanine or magnesium are contributing to the insomnia as I take both right at bedtime. They're supposed to promote sleep, but I've read reports of people having the opposite experience. I figure if I'm not sleeping anyway, might as well try dropping them and see what happens. I'll probably shift them to the morning, so I'm not dropping them entirely. I dropped Taurine tonight--which again, supposed to help with sleep but definitely isn't for me now.

 

 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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21 minutes ago, lithiumnomore said:

I'm taking some time off work to try to get a handle on sleep. I went ahead and updosed lithium to 350 mg and may try upping again if I don't feel like I'm making progress in a week or two. I get focused on 0 mg as the goal but the goal for now at least is stability. I can function on lithium, particularly a low dose, and when I finally taper off of it, I want it to be for good.

 

Insomnia continues. Tonight, I woke up after a couple hours of sleep, and then made myself get out of bed. I went to sleep really calm after making the decision about work and expected to sleep through the night. When I woke up anxiety and agitation, a "do something" feeling were back. I'm wondering now if either l-theanine or magnesium are contributing to the insomnia as I take both right at bedtime. They're supposed to promote sleep, but I've read reports of people having the opposite experience. I figure if I'm not sleeping anyway, might as well try dropping them and see what happens. I'll probably shift them to the morning, so I'm not dropping them entirely. I dropped Taurine tonight--which again, supposed to help with sleep but definitely isn't for me now.

 

 

Sounds like you're a bit irritable as well. I find when I get like that I do exactly what you're doing - I have a tendency to search for external things and change a bunch of externals, when sometimes it's just an dinternal thing to ride out for a bit. Sometimes changing everything around can make the whole thing that much worse. So tricky to know which it is and how to act accordingly though! 

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31 minutes ago, Winnerwinner said:

Sounds like you're a bit irritable as well. I find when I get like that I do exactly what you're doing - I have a tendency to search for external things and change a bunch of externals, when sometimes it's just an dinternal thing to ride out for a bit. Sometimes changing everything around can make the whole thing that much worse. So tricky to know which it is and how to act accordingly though! 

 

Looking back over the last couple months, it's pretty clear to me I started the lithium taper too soon and went too fast. I just need to figure out how to get back to stability there. 

 

I wish I could edit the post above about Joseph Tarantolo (mod note:  link has been added in the 2 above posts to this comment).  If the mods could add a note from me there, so others are sure to see it I would be appreciative. What I thought was a sympathetic provider who could provide therapy turned out to be a disaster. He really pressured me into starting the lithium taper, and then when I started experiencing withdrawal symptoms was dismissive and tried to convince me they were normal or even a weakness. It became clear to me over the last few months seeing him, that he doesn't really understand medication withdrawal. I got some good therapy out of it and was able to let go of some things, but his ignorant views on withdrawal and harsh therapy methods were too much. I'll add a note in the provider thread as well.

 

Edited by ChessieCat
added note regarding comment link being added

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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  • Moderator Emeritus
12 minutes ago, lithiumnomore said:

I wish I could edit the post above about Joseph Tarantolo (mod note:  link has been added in the 2 above posts to this comment).  If the mods could add a note from me there, so others are sure to see it I would be appreciative.

 

I've added the following to the 2 earlier posts (both quotes provided below so that you can click to go to those posts):

 

On 3/18/2022 at 5:27 AM, lithiumnomore said:

 Please see member's comment regarding his experience with this medical professional.

 

 

On 2/5/2022 at 12:20 PM, lithiumnomore said:

Please see member's comment regarding his experience with this medical professional.

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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On 2/4/2022 at 8:20 PM, lithiumnomore said:

In the windows, it's like I'm learning to think again. My concentration and memory are much better, and I can comprehend and explain much more complicated topics. I'm learning to focus again, and at times will find myself in "flow" where my mind quiets down and it feels like I'm normal again. I'm much more social, interested in others' lives, and am generally more interested in the world. There's this feeling of reconnecting with my life and myself, which is both exciting and also really hard at times. Feeling better I have to acknowledge how  unwell I was for so long. 

 

On 2/4/2022 at 8:20 PM, lithiumnomore said:

I am a little nervous about starting the taper of lithium when I'm still having some withdrawal symptoms from the previous drugs. Lithium seems like it might be aggravating those symptoms, though, and I'm going to go slow and be careful to be aware of any changes. I appreciate any advice anyone has but mainly posting for the case history. I really feel like I can do this. 

 

Sleep issues have continued. Having a rough day today and really regretting starting the lithium taper before I felt ready. Revisiting these posts in hopes of building acceptance and for others benefits. I'm afraid this whole thread is a cautionary tale in why to go slow and listen to yourself. I'm not sure of the way forward with my life. 

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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2 hours ago, lithiumnomore said:

 

 

Sleep issues have continued. Having a rough day today and really regretting starting the lithium taper before I felt ready. Revisiting these posts in hopes of building acceptance and for others benefits. I'm afraid this whole thread is a cautionary tale in why to go slow and listen to yourself. I'm not sure of the way forward with my life. 

I've just come off a fluanxol depot injection and in the interim started weaning down off lamotrigine. Also had sleep issues so I've increased the lamotrigine back to where it was last week as a precaution. I'd rather take one step back now than have a full relapse and start from scratch again 😕 just my experience and thought it may highlight where to go from here. It's not that I'm Increasing it forever - just until I'm properly ready to come off it :)

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I went back to 400 mg. I should probably wait go back to 450 mg. I didn't want to give up the drop. My worry is that this is past withdrawal and is something triggered by withdrawal. I think I screwed up again. Hoping sleep comes. It always feels like a good night of sleep would reverse this.

Current Meds/Taper: Lithium 450 mg - only drug. Tapered from 450 mg on 2/4, dropping 50 mg every 2 weeks to 300. Started having extreme insomnia after 2 weeks at 300 mg. Updosed to 350 mg on 3/24 and then back to 450 mg on 4/7. Will resume taper at 5-10%/month or slower when the time comes.

Current supplements: Magnesium - Dr Best Chelated 100 mg PM, probiotic.

Recent meds/tapers:

Seroquel: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg up to 100 mg then tapered off rapidly to 0 mg (took for 2 weeks total)

Lithium: 9/4/2020 - 900 mg, 11/20 - 750 mg, 12/15 - 600 mg, 12/21 - 750 mg, 2/11/21 - 600 mg, 3/15/21 - 450 mg

Lamictal: 9/7/2020 - 25 mg, 9/17 - 50 mg; 10/1 - 100 mg; 10/13 - 200 mg, 10/23 - 300 mg, 11/6 - 400 mg, 1/15/21 - 200 mg, 4/15/21 - 100 mg, 5/13/21 - 75 mg, 5/27/21 - 62.5 mg, 6/8/21 - 50 mg, 6/22/21 - 37.5 mg, 6/28/21 - 12.5 mg, 7/7/21 - 0 mg

Past meds: 2001-2010 - lithium and/or other mood stabilizers, ssris and benzos; 2011 - 2018 - lithium and adderall; 2018 - tapered lithium 900 mg to 0 mg in about 6 months, stopped Nov 2018 (no identified withdrawal symptoms), started fluoxetine @ 20 mg spring 2018 through May 2019,  then tapered in two steps: May - 10 mg, Nov - 0 mg; Dec 2019 - ssri withdrawal starts, hell begins

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