Alrightman: Should I reinstate?

[Alrightman]

Hey all, have been lurking for a couple weeks and am in a pretty rough place as to withdrawals. 
 

had recently been on fluvoxamine for a long time, roughly 3 years on and off. Managed to quit around March this year with no discernible side effects. Feeling relatively good, OCD(reason I had been taking drugs) was up and down, but life was good. Family was unaware I had stopped, kept telling them I was taking the dosage even when I wasn’t. One family me ever was insistent that it was the be all end all and that I need to take the medication. To this day I am so angry at the glorification they have it, they are in my opinion a detriment to society.

 

Anyway, after an ocd outburst one night, said family member told me they were not going to leave the house until they had witnessed me take it every night. I was adamant to not take it as I knew how it stifled sexuality and caused numbness.

 

One day just so they would stop nagging me I foolishly took a whole 300 mg dose. As soon as that happened I felt an unease as if I had done something horribly wrong. Fast forward the next couple weeks, had stomach cramps at night, difficulty sleeping, but nothing too bad.

 

Then on August 15, I realised I had completely numb in my penis area, there was no arousal and   No libido. The 3 weeks since then have gradually gotten worse. In addition to what I believe is PSSD, I have had this strange unexplainable feeling of discomfort in my upper back, as if it’s impossible to relax. Insomnia has been terrible, literally waking up every 20

minutes or so to the point of waking up 15-20 seperate times a night. Extremely dry body, no relief from taking a shower after waking up. No motivation to do anything except eat and lie in bed. It’s been 5 weeks since that dose, and am thinking of reinstating to a lower dose of fluvoxamine just to counteract some symptoms, but scared of making PSSD even worse. Should I reinstate now and then hold for a bit, I read all the withdrawal and reinstatement info already but would like some personal advice.

 

been to gp, urologist, of course they do not think an antidepressant from one day could have caused all this. 
 

please need some help,

 

thanks

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Alrightman.

 

To give members the best information, we ask them to summarize their medication history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly.  Please use the following link and click "save" when you're finished.  This will appear under all your posts and is a big help to the moderators.

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Please include the following information:

1. Year you started Fluvoxamine (2017?) and dosage.

2.  When you say you've been on the Fluvoxamine on and off for three years, how often did you go off and did you stop cold turkey?

3.  Include your stop date of March, 2020 and did you stop cold turkey and at what dosage did you stop?

4. Date (approximate is fine) you took the 300mg dose (July 22?)

5. August 15 sexual symptoms began

I can advise you better once I have this information.

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium and omega 3 (fish oil). Many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

This is your Introduction topic, where you can ask questions, complete your drug signature and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your 

way here.

 

Edited August 31, 2020 by Gridley

[Alrightman]

Updated signature and guys the post should be tagged FLUVOXAMINE

[Gridley]

Thanks for doing your signature.

 

What appears to have happened is that your reinstatement of 300mg Fluvoxamine (your previous dose from 3-4 months earlier) was too high, which overwhelmed and destabilized your system.  As a general rule, we recommend reinstating a much lower dose than your previous dose because of the sensitized systems of those who have CT'd.  Reinstating too high can destabilize the system, as it apparently has done in your case.  Please read:

 

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

 

Regarding a further reinstatement, your situation is complicated by the destabilization caused by the too-high reinstatement.  I'm going to bring your situation to the attention of the administrators and other moderators regarding the advisability of reinstatement at this point and, if advisable, at what dose.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alrightman]

Thankyou for your reply,

 

just to clarify though in case there is any misunderstanding, I took one dose of 300 mg only on the 27th July, and nothing after as I had no intention of ever going back on the drug. I definitely did not want to reinstate it if my own accord

[Gridley]

54 minutes ago, Alrightman said:

I took one dose of 300 mg only

Understood, thanks.

[Alrightman]

Hey Gridley, is there an update as to if I should reinstate at a small dose?

 

thankyou

[Gridley]

8 hours ago, Alrightman said:

Hey Gridley, is there an update as to if I should reinstate at a small dose?

I'm still waiting to hear from the other moderators.  I'm sorry for the delay.

[Gridley]

17 hours ago, Alrightman said:

is there an update

I haven't heard from the other moderators so I'll give you the best advice I can.  Reinstatement works most predictably within 3 months of your last dose.  You're six months out.  So reinstatement might work or, as you mentioned, it could make things worse.  If you decide to reinstate, I'd reinstate 30mg Fluvoxamine or even less. 

 

This link tells you how to get the nonstandard 30mg dose you'll need if you decide to reinstate.  There are several methods to get a small dose, depending on whether you were taking the immediate release (tablets) or extended release (beads).

 

Tips for tapering off Luvox (fluvoxamine)

Once you've stabilized on the reinstated dosage, which can take several months,  you can begin a 10% per month taper down to zero.  

 

 It takes about 4 days for a dose change to get to get to full state in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain. If after reinstating you feel worse, stop immediately.  

 

Please keep us updated on what you decide and, if you reinstate, how you're doing.

 

 

Edited September 2, 2020 by Gridley

[Alrightman]

Does the last 300 mg dose I took in July not count in the timeframe? Because I was feeling fine before that and that amount was way too much. Or do you guys count it from the last regular dose?

[Gridley]

3 minutes ago, Alrightman said:

count it from the last regular dose?

Yes, the last regular dose.  After that point the time clock starts running regarding reinstatement, specifically in terms of how much your system has adapted to not having the drug, which has a bearing on how much of a shock the reintroduction of the drug would be.