Cgomg: hi there, I am in full blown withdrawal

[Cgomg]

Thank you XX I really really appreciate the time everyone is taking to respond to me and help - I’ve bought syringes so can do a pretty good job of being accurate at measuring the lower dose.

 

I’m now able to think more clearly as you can see from my posts and my memory is beginning to work again ! I am in fact shocked by the how much I must of been withdrawing in the last weeks before actually stopping - thinking my physical symptoms were from the stress of moving not ever connecting them to withdrawal.

 

i will not take a diazepam at all if I can possibly manage and am already making sure I am managing my stress , and putting things in place .

 

thank you again 

[Cgomg]

Oh as for my mum sorry no it wasn’t advice on her per se it was just because she’s been on fluoxetine for years and has very bad health most of which I now think is from tolerance withdrawal .

 

i suppose my question I’ve been worrying about is whether to mention what I now know about antidepressants to her -even though at 77 it might be too late to start tapering for her - I suppose I’m thinking is there an age limit on tapering off - maybe it’s crueler to tell her if she wouldn’t be able to get off them.

[ChessieCat]

6 hours ago, Cgomg said:

i suppose my question I’ve been worrying about is whether to mention what I now know about antidepressants to her -even though at 77 it might be too late to start tapering for her - I suppose I’m thinking is there an age limit on tapering off - maybe it’s crueler to tell her if she wouldn’t be able to get off them.

 

Generally the lower the drug burden the better.  Especially if she is taking other drugs.  I suggest that you put all the drugs she is currently taking into Drug.com Interactions Checker

 

Reminder:  this is your own Introduction topic.  If you wish to discuss this further, please create a topic in this area of the site:  relationships-and-social-life

[Cgomg]

Hi there ,

 

just checking in , I managed to get some sleep , woke about 2 anxious but tried talking my self through it and managed .

 

woke again at 7 dreadful headache neck ache feel sick and waves of anxiety.

 

i took paracetamol for the headache , I think I saw here anti inflammatories aren’t a good idea - still thumping -

 

I’m going to take 10mg fluoxetine as I did yesterday and hope that I start to stabilise .

[Cgomg]

Just checking in again - managed all day pretty well starting to feel anxious again now it’s the evening- I think the worst thing is the fear that I’m going to feel as awful as I did ..... managing that escalating fear is really difficult and the catastrophising 

[Cgomg]

Just checking in again , still very anxious - sleeping on and off but waking up seized by anxiety - trying to implement the acceptance ideas as said here.

 

i’m now on my 3rd day of fluoxetine 10mg do I just keep taking the 10mg and hope the anxiety settles ? I know it takes a few days so far after withdrawal on my reinstatement I’ve had 

3 x days at 20mg

3 x days at 10mg

 

thank you xx

[Cgomg]

Or should I lower the dose as im

still anxious ? This is so difficult to know what to do for the best - I think I’m so upset I feel this way and so scared xx

Any advice would be appreciated 

[ChessieCat]

Prozac has a very long half life.  It's going to take a little while for the 20mg to start reducing in your body.  Each day the 20mg will be getting less and hopefully you'll start to notice things easing.

 

The long half life means that when you start taking it, it takes a while to get to its full effect and when you reduce it the same thing happens, that it takes a while for the effect to lessen.

 

Just take a day at a time, or hour by hour if necessary.

 

SA strongly encourages members to learn and use Non-drug techniques to cope

[Cgomg]

16 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

Prozac has a very long half life.  It's going to take a little while for the 20mg to start reducing in your body.  Each day the 20mg will be getting less and hopefully you'll start to notice things easing.

 

The long half life means that when you start taking it, it takes a while to get to its full effect and when you reduce it the same thing happens, that it takes a while for the effect to lessen.

 

Just take a day at a time, or hour by hour if necessary.

 

SA strongly encourages members to learn and use Non-drug techniques to cope

Ok will do thank you xxx is it ok to take paracetamol for the headaches ?

 

 

[Erell]

5 hours ago, Cgomg said:

Ok will do thank you xxx is it ok to take paracetamol for the headaches ?

 

 

 

Hello

 

Here is a thread where people share their expériences with painkillers :

 

 

 

Whatever you try, start with a very low dose to see how it affects you.

 

Take care ☀️

[Cgomg]

36 minutes ago, Erell said:

 

Hello

 

Here is a thread where people share their expériences with painkillers :

 

 

 

Whatever you try, start with a very low dose to see how it affects you.

 

Take care ☀️

Thank you💕I wish I felt better xxx

[composter]

Hi Cg, it’ll be a bit rough right now as the dose settles into your system and you begin to stabilize. As we’ve mentioned before it’ll take about 4 days for you to notice if it’s helping. 
 

I’d recommend you do what you can to take your mind off your symptoms. Call a friend, go for a gentle walk, prepare some nice tea and good music. You can always jot down notes on paper. Sometimes even taking a step away from the forum will help too. 
 

Give it a few days and let us know how you’re doing. We’re hoping the anxiety was due to a too-high reinstatement so hopefully if we see the anxiety lessening then it’s a good sign we’re on the right dose to stabilize. 

[composter]

@Cgomg how are you doing?

[Cgomg]

5 hours ago, composter said:

@Cgomg how are you doing?

Hey how lovely to ask after me ! Head down and plodding best describes it!

 

Good and Bad days still xxx

[composter]

Do you feel like you are stabilizing on the 10 mg fluoxetine? More good days than bad days?

[Cgomg]

Hi there , I’m here  and struggling. I did join here before (two accounts now merged) but got so anxious I had to leave . Since then I’ve been trying to read up as much as possible on withdrawal  and get a bit stronger .

 

I originally discovered SSRi withdrawal on stopping Prozac 20mg too quickly last year . Had withdrawal reinstated at 10mg which gradually held although so anxious I covered with clonazepam ( I now know better ).

Have been doing 10% taper over 6 months down to 5mg but have hit a wall including suicide ideation which I have never had so strongly before ! ( I have had it when going on Prozac before but this is something else. I think it’s akathisia. 

 

I have told my husband and my therapist and arranged to see a withdrawal informed psychiatrist hopefully soon , I’m waiting on a Doctor’s referral .

 

I have cautiously upped my dose to 6mg which was the last dose I felt stable. That was   4 days ago Had a couple of windows of feeling good and then today about 6 hours of severe anxiety and suicide ideation the worst I’ve ever had. This has passed for now . Shall I continue at 6mg for a couple more days and see if I settle ?

 

Any thoughts would be great - this is terrifying xx

 

Edited November 28, 2021 by Cgomg
added note about 2 accts merged

[ChessieCat]

I will let the other mods know that you need assistance.

 

Please update your drug signature for cgomg.  Thank you.  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

This is the second account's drug signature.

 

1987 - 20 mg Prozac abrupt stop @2 years 

2006 - 20mg Prozac abrupt stop @ 3 years 

2011- 20mg Prozac abrupt stop @ 3 years 

2017 20mg Prozac withdrawal August 2020 reinstated @10mg 

slow taper to 5 mg @ 10% over 6 months 

reinstatement to 6mg 25/11/21

diazepam and clonazepam occasionally for severe anxiety 1mg clonazepam taking 20/11/21 but 0mg at present

[Cgomg]

I will do that Chessiecat thank you . I’m in a pretty bad place st the moment. I reread on the forum and I think I’ve got to a point in my taper where I’m really unstable .

 

 

[ChessieCat]

From Post #1 of the Tips for Tapering Prozac topic:

 

On 7/3/2011 at 4:11 AM, Altostrata said:

 

Prozac has the longest half-life of any SSRI. After you take it for a few days, half-life is about 16 days. Fluoxetine itself has a half-life of 2-4 days, but as it is processed, your body creates an active antidepressant metabolite, norfluoxetine, which has a half-life of 7-15 days. So Prozac keeps on extending its half-life as it is metabolized.

According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoxetine , fluoxetine and norfluoxetine inhibit each other's metabolism, extending the half-life of the drug. Because the half-lives are so long, the full effect of Prozac on the brain may not be felt for several weeks.

 

 

[Cgomg]

Chessiecat Thank you I’ll stay at my updose of 6mg for a while longer then. I do get the occasional window of calm normally in the evening .

 

mornings are dreadful for anxiety I can barely get up . Many waves , couple of windows .

 

just hoping I can stabilise , I did feel the withdrawal symptoms coming I just thought I could cope with them . 
 

my mistake x

[Altostrata]

Hello, @Cgomg Are you still taking a benzo?

 

How did you taper? Have you skipped any doses of fluoxetine?

[Cgomg]

Hi , I’m not taking any Benzo’s and I didn’t skip any doses of fluoxetine.

 

the last 24 hours things have been much calmer for me .  I’m hoping the slightly higher dose has done the trick but maybe too early to tell.

 

thank you