fullofdetermination: Benzo brain, tinnitus and oriented on switching from Zoloft to Lexapro

[fullofdetermination]

Hey all,

 

I am currently on my 17th week since I increased my Zoloft from 100mg (which I took since the end of 2018) to 150mg.

 

I have been tapering benzos since the last quarter of 2018 starting on Xanax and now I am holding for 2 months at 2.5mg of Valium.

 

Thing is, I reported all my issues to my doctor: OCD, tinnitus, upset stomach and mental exhaustion which makes me easily go into a burnout state that was making me unable to work sometimes.

 

She then decided to crosstaper Zoloft to Lexapro. 6 days ago I, following her instructions, cut my Zoloft from 150mg to 125mg and introduced 1mg of Lexapro.

 

2 days ago I increased Lexapro to 2mg.

 

Problem is: yesterday by the afternoon my tinnitus got LOUDER and still is even today. I am afraid that such a chance was too much for my system already sensitive due to the benzos. Now idk if this spike was from the Zoloft cut, from the Lexapro introduction or whatever.

 

I feel a mess rn, I intend to follow the 10% rule presented on this forum but now idk what to do: should I updose to 150mg of Zoloft? Should I keep the dose hoping that tinnitus will return to the baseline level before this change (keep in mind that rn the tinnitus volume is my main concern)? Is Is safe to stop Lexapro?

 

I decided to try a more natural way to deal with my OCD, going through food and exercises, maybe using memantine for some time due to the glutamate excess from benzo tapering. But I am very afraid that such a cut from Zoloft might cause a persistent increase in tinnitus volume. What would you recommend doing now?

[fullofdetermination]

Still on 125mg of Zoloft. Should I keep the cut or is it too late to updose to 137,5?

[getofflex]

Hello, and welcome to SA.  We are a peer owned and run forum of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  It is generally not suggested to make changes to more than 1 drug at a time, since then if there are problems its hard to tell which change is causing the problem.  

 

First of all, can you please give us specific information about your drug history?  Please read the link below for instructions.  This will allow us to give you the best guidance.  

 

How to List Drug History in Signature

 

This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: 

 

What is Withdrawal Syndrome?

 

Here is some information about how these drugs actually work.  

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

Tapering is best done extremely slowly, and we taper by 10% of the current dose, so that the taper becomes exponentially smaller.

 

 Why Taper by 10% of my Dosage  

 

Also, as we are tapering, we suggest keeping things slow, simple, and stable. 

 

Keep it Simple, Slow, and Stable

 

 

When we recover, there are times of feeling OK mixed in with times of feeling bad.  This is called windows and waves.

 

Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Here are some techniques to cope with symptoms: 

 

Non Drug Ways to Cope with Withdrawal Symptoms

 

 

We don't suggest many supplements, but 3 that many of us find helpful are magnesium, omega-3, and melatonin. Here are the links for info about those. It is suggested to add one at a time, and start with a low dose to see how it affects you. 

Magnesium

Omega 3 Fish Oil

Melatonin

 

 

I will bring your situation to the attention of the other moderators, and in the meantime, you can read the information I've given you. Take care of yourself, and take heart.  We in this forum have been through this, and we understand first hand the pain and discomfort you are going through.  Hang in there. 

 

[fullofdetermination]

Sorry for the late update and response, I had some tough times.

 

I updated my signature and I decided to keep the cut I did from 150mg to 125mg two weeks ago. My tinnitus volume is lower, thank God, but now I need to deal with ruminating thoughts and obsessions. Given I already endured till now, is it better to hold on 125mg or updose a bit?

 

Is there any consensus on using Memantine/Namenda to help withdrawing from benzos and ADs? I just found a few topics on this.

[Altostrata]

Hello, @fullofdetermination

 

Good to hear the tinnitus has diminished. That is an indication it's an adverse effect of the drug.

 

Are you still taking a benzodiazepine? Are you still taking Lexapro? What dosages of each?

 

Are ruminating thoughts and obsessions the reason you started on antidepressants in the first place?

 

14 hours ago, fullofdetermination said:

Is there any consensus on using Memantine/Namenda to help withdrawing from benzos and ADs? I just found a few topics on this.

 

We generally advise not to add other psychotropic drugs in order to go off your present psychiatric drugs, especially drugs developed for Alzheimer's that probably are not very effective for that.

[fullofdetermination]

Hey, @Altostrata. Yes, no doubt regarding this anymore... I wonder if big cuts like that might be risky regarding persistent tinnitus but Idk I think I am going to stick to the 10% rule from now on.

 

I still take Valium, I will update my signature with my current regimen. I take 2.5mg daily. I am not taking Lexapro anymore: took it for like 5 days and then stopped after being scared of tinnitus.

 

3 hours ago, Altostrata said:

Are ruminating thoughts and obsessions the reason you started on antidepressants in the first place?

 

 

Oh, totally: I had long times off ADs in the past but OCD sometimes manifest itself in a strong way. After being sometime without any drug and experiencing unbearable ruminating thoughts, a doctor put me on Prozac and that was so activating that I entered the benzos that I still trying to get off.

 

I am in a tricky situation right now: my obsessions got stronger after this Zoloft cut. Unfortunately I am almost sure I will need to stick to some AD to control my obsessive thoughts or any other aid to successfully quit benzos or even control my baseline level of this kind of thoughts for now.

 

Given this I really don't know what to do. That was the reason I was going to crosstaper to Lexapro: reach stability even if more making me more numb to taper Valium using the 10% rule and then after a few months from this taper the AD using the same rule.

 

What is more tricky is that I don't know what to do and is really impacting my personal and professional life.

 

Crosstapering using the 10% rule would be slow and take years and I am suffering too much to endure this without help (I have therapy sessions though). That's why I considered the memantine. I don't like sticking to pills but I feel I might need a few steps back and unfortunately Zoloft don't help me with my obsessions as Paxil or Anafranil already helped in the past but too sedating.

 

Any suggestions? I am so tired of this med game.

[Altostrata]

You might seek psychotherapy or other coaching to learn ways to manage your repetitive thoughts. We're not going to be able to help you with that.

 

Crosstaper from what to what? If you want to stay on an antidepressant, please speak to your doctor. That is what they're paid to do.

 

If you're a long-time user of Valium, you will need to taper it to go off. What is it you want to do?

 

 

[fullofdetermination]

30 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

Crosstaper from what to what? If you want to stay on an antidepressant, please speak to your doctor. That is what they're paid to do.

 

If you're a long-time user of Valium, you will need to taper it to go off. What is it you want to do?

 

From Zoloft to Lexapro... I don't want to stay on them as I already had nice periods in my life where I was med free. It would be temporary... I am currently able to pay the price of numbness of an SSRI to help me quit the Valium, as for me at least it's being much harder quitting benzos compared to ADs. But as you know, doctors don't know a lot of things, even less when we consider the "benzo brain" condition. I wonder if there is a good crosstapering strategy on the point of view of the SA forum having in mind that my goal is just to use it to stabilize and quit valium and then taper off the AD.

 

In short, my goal is: stabilize on an AD, taper off Valium and then taper off the AD. I am not sure I can quit benzos without anything else and I have years of CBT and it's toolbox in my favor: it wasn't enough given a baseline obsessive profile boosted by a "benzo brain".

 

Any source or threads you think that might help me with any of these issues would be very appreciated.

[Altostrata]

Why don't you just go back to 50mg Zoloft, the dosage you were taking before developing tinnitus?

 

 

[fullofdetermination]

Oh, sorry, a little but important update is that my tinnitus went back to the baseline volume after 2 weeks from the cut. My major concern now are my obsessions and being able to quit Valium.

 

A low dosage of zoloft was unfortunately ineffective for my ruminating thoughts. My hope is that other AD might help to control those while quitting the benzo. Paxil was effective but made me fat and an unproductive zombie...

 

Any help would be nice, it could be supplements or a thread focused on this for me to check how people with the same profile dealt with it. I wonder how many in this forum suffer from severe OCD.

[Altostrata]

We're not going to be able to help you with your habit of rumination. We can suggest ways to taper the benzo, but we cannot provide non-drug methods to cure your obsessive thoughts here.

 

Please seek psychotherapy or other coaching to address your repetitive thoughts.
 

If you're looking for a drug to control those thoughts, please consult a psychiatrist.

[fullofdetermination]

Can updosing and then tapering off slower be somehow a good strategy?

 

One hypothesis I consider is that one can updose until reaching a comfortable dose and then taper at a very slow rate. The lack of accumulated stress due to the updosing could make you feel better even when you reach your previous dose before updosing.

 

Are there experiences like this here or anyone heard about someone that had success doing this?

 

Like... feeling bad at 5mg of diazepam then going to 7.5mg but still bad and then 10mg feeling comfortable. Stabilize for like 3 weeks and then start a 5% taper or even 2% taper... yes, longer, but keeping the normalcy of your life. Is there then a chance of reaching the 5mg mark again feeling better than before all the updosing?

 

Can having this steps back actually help overall?

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by ChessieCat
added Intro topic title before merging with intro topic

[Shep]

@fullofdetermination

 

Benzo updoses work best within 2 - 4 weeks after the last reductions.

 

Continuing to make abrupt changes can kindle your nervous system. Kindling is trauma to the nervous system caused by abrupt increases and decreases.

 

Please update your signature with what you are currently taking ("Feb/21" is the last date you have listed).

 

A direct link to your signature is here:

 

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

Please list the name and dose of your current drugs and any changes over the past two months.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Shep
fixed typo

[Ninabird]

@fullofdetermination

 

I am following. I am sending you lots of love. I KNOW you can do this. 

 

I tapered off of Benzo's over two years ago. I followed the Ashton method and while it was a struggle at times it went pretty well (can't believe I wrote "pretty well," in the same sentence at "Benzo.") 

 

YOU GOT THIS!!!!!

[ChessieCat]

  

22 minutes ago, fullofdetermination said:

I am considering it to help with my diazepam taper to protect me from glutamate storm/excitotoxicity. It's been hard to taper even using the 5% rule.

 

But I am still on fluvoxamine (100mg) and pregabalin (200mg). Is this still safe to use while polydrugged?

 

I am afraid it could mess with serotonin and make my tinnitus worse as my tinnitus started with antidepressants.

 

Any experiences on using it while still on ADs? Any experience on people with AD induced tinnitus?

 

 

Please read this post and note that lithium is toxic to the kidneys and thyroid

 

 

[ChessieCat]

Please note that SA is a site for tapering psychiatric drugs not for what other drugs you could try.

 

From what will get you warned or banned:

  

On 6/16/2011 at 4:45 AM, Altostrata said:

Drug shopping or recommending drugs
This is a site for going off drugs. It is not a site for finding out what drug to take next, comparing drug cocktails, or recommending what drug to add.

 

 

 

[ChessieCat]

I suggest you also check out the possible side effects:

 

https://www.drugs.com/lithium.html

 

Common lithium side effects may include:

• dizziness, drowsiness;

• tremors in your hands;

• trouble walking;

• dry mouth, increased thirst or urination;

• nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite;

• rash; or

• blurred vision.

 

Edited August 16, 2022 by ChessieCat