Faithingod: one down three to go

[Faithingod]

Hey Warriors!

 

I’m approaching 3 months tapering off Pregabalin, reducing 1-2mg/day using water titration. Today marks -80mg, or 520mg down from 600mg/day. And the day I found this forum.

Feeling constant sadness most days, with some energy and a few happy moments here and there. Sleep has been erratic, it affects me badly to be so tired all the time.

 

I’ve got appointments next week: 

- Julia Ross Nutritional Consultant for Amino acid therapy

- New GP To get referral to Psychiatrist 

 

Three other meds to come off after this. The order I’m hoping to follow is:

1. Pregabalin

2. Lamotrigine

3. Fluoxetine 

4. Moclobemide 

 

I’d love to be blessed with a quick and easy tapering journey but I know it’s not always possible. But I’ll do my best to have the best possible outcome. 
 

Thank you for sharing in the good and the challenging times xxx

[Gridley]

Welcome to SA, Faithingod.

 

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 include the current doses of all drugs, plus the original dose of pregabalin, the date you started tapering it and your rate o taper.

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.

 

Were you feeling the symptoms of sadness, tiredness and erratic sleep before you started tapering pregabalin?  If the symptoms, which are typical withdrawal symptoms, are from your pregabalin taper, you may need to slow down your taper or hold for a while until the symptoms calm down.  

 

The type of taper you're using is called a micro-taper.  You can read more about it here.

 

Micro-taper instead of 10% or 5% decreases

 

A micro-taper is perhaps the gentlest method of tapering.  Another method is to taper by 10% of current dose every four weeks.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

We recommend tapering only one drug at a time.  Otherwise, if there are problems, you won't know the cause.  

 

How did you choose the order of the drugs to taper? In the absence of other factors (such as side effects), we recommend tapering the stimulating drug(s) first, leaving the sedating drug(s) in order to help preserve sleep to be tapered later.  Pregabalin has a sedative effect and moclobemide can have a sedative effect.  Fluoxetine and lamotrigine have a stimulating effect.

 

The following link is specifically about tapering pregabalin.

 

Tips for tapering off Lyrica (pregabalin)

 

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 Introductory topic, where you can compete your drug signature, ask questions and connect with other members.  We're glad you found your way here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Faithingod]

Hello!

 

Thank you so much for your reply! So good to not feel alone in this. I’ve added a signature with my meds history and here’s a more thorough introduction.
 

I’ve had a history of depression since my early 20’s, took Zoloft for just about 6 months then. A decade later was told by a GP that I needed antidepressants ‘indefinitely’ following post partum depression. That’s when I wish I’d looked for natural alternatives. It’s been trial and error since, often increasing dosages or switching to other types of ADs to achieve a level of functionality, whatever that means in today’s sick society. 

I ended up on three prescriptions for depression and one for nerve pain. And I feel depressed and in pain. This is my current situation.
 

At first the antidepressants and Lyrica combo worked a treat. I was pain free, great mood, was able to look after the kids, do the housework, have energy and the awesome bonus was the easy weight loss. 

March/April this year I started experiencing horrible side effects from Lyrica and that’s why I’ve chosen to taper down from it first. Huge cognitive impairment (memory, word retrieval, verbal fluency, focus, reasoning, decision making, all forced me to stop working), involuntary head movements, loss of eyesight, coordination, and awful withdrawals when attempting to reduce or skip doses (extreme panic attacks, anxiety, agoraphobia, insomnia, fear, isolation, worsened depression, suicidal thinking, and more I probably can’t remember)

 

I found the Lyrica Survivors page in July, stabilised my dose for 2 weeks and started tapering. I haven’t had a panic attack since starting tapering -1mg/day but other new symptoms are pretty much constant:

 

- ravenous hunger, have put on 15kg since starting tapering (80 days)

- deep constant sadness, not able to smile 

- apathy, no motivation, drive, initiative

- no physical or mental energy
- insomnia most nights, tired all the time 

- sometimes an internal shakiness/anxious feeling
 

I’ve also quit cigarettes, edible cannabis and an unhealthy relationship around that time so it’s hard to know how much of the sadness I feel is mostly from Lyrica withdrawal or a combination.

 

Sometimes I think the Pregabalin itself is what’s continuing to damage my CNS the most. Am I intensifying the damage by staying on it so long due to micro tapering? Would it be a good idea to start going a bit faster to see if I can cope and reinstate if not?

 

Regarding supplements, where can I find personalised support? I’ve read so much and bought all the different things but get really lost, not knowing the ideal schedule etc?

 

Also I’ve been reading about amino acid therapy to assist with neurotransmitter production, have you heard if this is helpful/dangerous, if under a registered nutritionist/consultant? 

 

Do you mind making suggestions of where I can post this info to start sharing with others going through similar things? I find forums so hard to understand...

 

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond, I hope you’re doing well on your personal journey

 

All the best x

 

[Gridley]

2 hours ago, Faithingod said:

Am I intensifying the damage by staying on it so long due to micro tapering? Would it be a good idea to start going a bit faster to see if I can cope

 

If you wanted, you could try the 10% taper, which is reducing by 10% of your current dose every four weeks. Read the link and, if you feel comfortable with it, you could try it for four weeks and see how you feel.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage

 

Here's the link for tapering Pregabalin, including how to get the nonstandard doses you'll need for the taper.  You could continue the water titration. The fo link has instruction for making your own liquid Pregabalin.

 

Tips for tapering off Lyrica (pregabalin)

 

2 hours ago, Faithingod said:

 

Regarding supplements, where can I find personalised support? I’ve read so much and bought all the different things but get really lost, not knowing the ideal schedule etc?

 

 

With the exception of magnesium and omega oil, as I said in my first post, 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.  If you do introduce a new supplement, introduce one at a time and at a low dose to see how you react.  Google SurvivingAntidepressant.org supplements and you'll see a number of links with posts from other members about their experiences and suggestions.

 

2 hours ago, Faithingod said:

 

Also I’ve been reading about amino acid therapy to assist with neurotransmitter production, have you heard if this is helpful/dangerous, if under a registered nutritionist/consultant? 

 

 

 Amino acid therapy may be too strong for those in withdrawal with sensitized nervous system. Here's one link with a discussion of one type of amino acid therapy.

Marty Hinz supplements and neurotransmitter imbalance ...

If you Google SurvivingAntidepressants.org amino acid therapy you'll see several other threads on the subject.  I'd research it thoroughly if you're considering this.

 

2 hours ago, Faithingod said:

 

Do you mind making suggestions of where I can post this info to start sharing with others going through similar things? I find forums so hard to understand...

 

If you google survivingantidepressants.org lyrica pregabalin you'll see posts by other members dealing with this drug.  If the post is old, likely that member is no longer active, but your could post on the threads of members with recent posts.  If the post is new information about you, it's best to post here in your own Introduction thread so that all your information is in one place.

 

 

 

[Faithingod]

Headaches - Please help

 

Hi everyone 

 

Quick summary (I’ve had headaches for 2 weeks and it’s even hard to type). Currently on Prozac 40mg 1xday and Lamotrigine 50mg 2x day.

 

Finished Lyrica taper 2 mths ago. Successful, no major issues aside from at the very beginning horrible akathisia when dropped 25mg at once to start with. Then reinstated and dropped from 600-0 very gradually over 2years. 

Made the mistake of starting next taper (Prozac) a month after (should have waited I know, was told it’d be easy compared to Lyrica). 

Started dropping 1mg day, realised it was too fast, 10 days later horrible thoughts and weeping. Reinstated, then started dropping 0.01 a day. Horrible headaches at night into the morning/day plus weepiness. Sore back of neck too, general aches and pains and tiredness. Do you think it’s typical withdrawal?
 

Decided it’s not the time for me to taper. Reinstated and now taking the original dose of 40mg.

 

Were those two attempts enough to create kindling? Never missed a dose in 4 years or tried to taper this before.

 

I understand I’ve made some mistakes there so please only needing solutions.

Taking Panadol for headaches w no relief.
 

Also considering if I’ve become extremely sensitive to EMR as very fatigued and achey when/after using devices.

 

Any ideas please?

thank you heaps

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by ChessieCat
added intro topic title before merging with intro topic

[ChessieCat]

I have moved your new topic to your Introduction topic.

 

Please update and correct your drug signature.  I have bolded the errors.  Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

Started 300, up to 1200mg | 11 Jul to 25 Jul 20 stable at 600mg | 25 Jul started micro taper 01Aug 592 | 01Sep 561 | 01Oct 52

 

I will ask the other staff for their assistance.

 

You can connect with other FB members in this topic.  Please read Post #1 first:

 

BeyondGabapentinoids: Transitioning Members from Lyrica Survivors FB group

[Altostrata]

On 4/4/2022 at 4:43 PM, Faithingod said:

Started dropping 1mg day, realised it was too fast, 10 days later horrible thoughts and weeping. Reinstated, then started dropping 0.01 a day. Horrible headaches at night into the morning/day plus weepiness. Sore back of neck too, general aches and pains and tiredness. Do you think it’s typical withdrawal?

 

This is exactly how withdrawal symptoms from Prozac would show up. We tell people to stop tapering when they have withdrawal symptoms, but you continued to attempt to reduce the dosage.

 

On 4/4/2022 at 4:43 PM, Faithingod said:

Reinstated and now taking the original dose of 40mg.

 

How long have you been doing this? What effect has this had on your symptom pattern?

[Faithingod]

Hi Altostrata

 

Thanks for your reply. I’m trying to remember exact dates/dosages, I think they were:

 

Start of taper 12/03

 

12/03 to 22/03
40mg down to 30mg in 10 days (-1mg/day)

Water titration method using syringe and scales

 

22/03 to 28/03

30mg down to 29.2 mg in 6 days (-0.02mg/day)

Weighing the powder on scales - big mistake I know
 

Back to 40mg since 29/03

 

Horrible thoughts of hopelessness and crying gradually stopped. Ok today.

Not improved yet:
Strong headaches that start during sleep 

Extremely sore back of neck 

Fatigue

Body aches 

 
thank you for any input 🌷

 

 

 

[Altostrata]

You only reinstated 40mg fluoxetine only a week ago? It takes a fluoxetine increase several weeks to ramp up to full strength.

 

Please put ALL your drugs in this Interactions Checker and post the report or a link to it in this topic.

[themartian1000]

Hi there, I just saw your thread when I was looking for encouragement in my pregabalin taper. It sounds like you are one of the only people who tapered at 1-2mg a day even when on 600mg - I am doing that too! I am at 410mg and feel like it's getting harder. I was just curious if you would share your taper experience with me. 

 

I've not tapered fluoxetine, but have heard that due to its long half life it's a bit gentler. Still, the 10% a month guidelines is probably best. 10mg in 10 days is 25% reduction in less than 2 weeks! Maybe give yourself a few months to be sure that you are recovered from pregabalin and also the reinstatement, then try maybe 1mg a week. If you can taper off pregabalin, then you've got this 🙂

[Faithingod]

Hi!
Thank you, you’re right about the 25% and waiting a while longer after Lyrica. I’ll do that. I naively thought that after pregabalin anything else would be a walk in the park - not quite! 
 

Yes not many people do the 1mg/day but I think it really suited me. To start with I dropped 25mg at once and got badly traumatised by the akathisia symptoms, a feeling of ‘inner terror’ I didn’t know existed. So I knew I couldn’t deal with large drops - and also found encouraging to see I was reducing the dosage daily. My experience:

 

Mental-Emotional-Spiritual

It took a lot of determination and faith, and I knew I had to lower the bar about any other life accomplishments during the taper. I had to reduce my work hours to a minimum and let close friends know I’d need support.  
I tried to have a spiritual routine of reading the bible, praying, art (drawing) even if very imperfectly and inconsistently - this gave me a chance to get to know God better and learn to rely on his strength… This was not me before and I’m sharing because I think it’s what got me through.

Practical

I used a syringe and scales to weigh the 1:1 water solution, did mostly 1mg/day (maybe 80%) but not always. After a while I could read the symptoms and ‘feel’ if I needed to hold for a day, reduce 0.5, 0.8 or even if I could go 1.2, 1.5, etc This also depended on what I had on, for example when my kids were away for a week I knew I could cope with worse symptoms at home as I could focus more on self-care, so I’d try to reduce a bit more - but always a day to day assessment.
 

For the most part stayed away from doctors. Mine was sort of supportive but there was always that weird vibe that I wasn’t fully believed and was weak for doing a slow taper. They have no idea. Attempted detox clinic but they were insisting on more meds to speed things up, which I knew wasn’t for me, so that didn’t help - apart from having vitals checked and cooked meals, so a bit of respite wasn’t all bad.

 

Supplements and other lifestyle factors - let me know if you want to know this, apart from the basics I don’t think it was that key, but I can share.(message getting too long 😆)

 

Last, below is what I sent to my loved ones when I finished, I hope it’s encouraging 🌷

You can PM me or stay in contact, I’m here to help x

 

25/07/20 - 14/02/22 (unplanned date!)
From 600mg to 0 Pregabalin 

Hey amigos,

In these crazy times of revelation and wonder, I hope you’re doing well and facing incredible opportunities.

Today was my first day Lyrica free!
As you are someone who might have been concerned for me, I need to tell you that this is a day of victory.

It was a long and difficult journey and I want to thank all my wonderful friends, family, kids and God, for giving me the courage and strength to persevere until the end. Thank you very much to those who instigated this whole thing by pointing out I should check the small print in the tablets insert and realise I had every side effect listed there. This has certainly informed major decisions I’ve made since then. Life changing!

I used the water titration method and reduced 1mg/day preparing and weighing the powder and warm water mixture 1,138 times. I didn’t think this day would come but miracles do happen and here I am today - living to tell the story. 

I won’t list every symptom, intervention or supplement I’ve used here but will share my experience strength and hope with those on the same path. I’m already considering ways in which I can support others to overcome this type of affliction. 

Sending prayers of gratitude and hugs to every single one of you awesome people. 

 

[themartian1000]

Wow, Faithingod, thank you for sharing your story!!! Such an amazing accomplishment. I hope to be there one day. I also did the 1mg per day after making a big drop of 30mg (considered small since it was 5%!) I felt absolutely horrific - panic, terror and akathisia also. I reinstated the dose and started the slow taper. 

 

I hope that I can find a way to live my life without torture for then next 2 years! I mean, I know there will be hard times to come, but I am not sure if I can survive two years of straight torture. I have tried to do everything I can to reduce stress, improve diet and so on, but it's still so very difficult. Anyway, thank you for the inspiration. I know after that, you can do anything, you should be so proud! Take is slow and steady with your next tapers, and I am sure you will find success again!

[Faithingod]

Thank you, I will. 
Let me know if you have any questions as you go, it’s not easy but I’m sure you’ll succeed! Blessings 💕