Colton Posted August 16, 2021 Share Posted August 16, 2021 Hello, I hope everyone reading this is doing well in their recovery journey. I would also like to thank everyone who makes this forum possible. I have been on Prozac for the last 2.5 years at varying doses of 10-30mg (20mg for the majority). It worked wonders until I started experiencing side effects and I really wanted to get off them. However at this time my OCD started rearing it’s head again after I had it under complete control for years. This made me too scared to get off them, and eventually I went on 2mg of abilify to supplement the prozac. I was still feeling side effects, and new issues with cognition and memory. After my OCD got under control, I came off all the drugs. I was on abilify for 5 months and as I said earlier, prozac for 2.5 years. It’s been 2 months off prozac and 4 months off abilify. Right now I am at the lowest I’ve ever been. I have severe depression, brain fog, memory and cognitive loss, and extreme dreaminess. I seem to feel a lot worse after exercise or alcohol. I also have a feeling of non reality that really freaks me out. All of these symptoms I have never felt before and are WAY worse than my initial reasons for getting on the meds. The way I feel now makes those days look like a walk in the park. If anyone else has gone through a similar experience, or could give me some advice that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much! 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 16, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 16, 2021 (edited) Hi Colton, Welcome to this support site. Before we can answer your questions, please give us more information first. Good that you came here. There is a lot of knowledge to be found and shared here. Also the members can support each other here. Can you please give us specific information about your drug history for all drugs you are on and have been on, especially for the past 18-24 months? It would be especially helpful to have the details of your drugs in a concise list (no symptoms), only drug names, specific dates (as best you can say for example early March if you don't recall the day) and dosages of each medication decrease or increase. Please read the link below for instructions. This will allow us to give you the best guidance. https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/18343-please-summarize-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/ So sorry to read what you are experiencing. What you describe shows all symptoms from withdrawal. Also the OCD that came up during tapering may have been a WD symptom. We see that very often here! https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/14397-neuro-emotions/ Please inform us exactly HOW you tapered the prozac down from 20mg to zero. Please describe in detail what dosages you were taking during this tapering period including the dates. This is very important to know! It is fully clear that you tapered much too fast. Don't feel guilty about that. Most members here (including me) have made such "mistakes". Simply because we did not know how to taper and most doctors do not know either or even say it is not necessary to taper... You are still quite near the moment you stopped, so I think reinstating with a very small dosage may make WD symptoms more bearable. I am not saying they will disappear (may also happen if you are lucky). Main thing is to get you stable first. And then you can taper down the low reinstatement (very slowly!) When you provide us with the requested info, we can advise you more in detail. https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/759-tips-for-tapering-off-prozac-fluoxetine/ https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/82-the-windows-and-waves-pattern-of-stabilization/ https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/7562-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-reduce-withdrawal-symptoms/?tab=comments#comment-33809 Edited August 16, 2021 by Go2zero 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Hi, Thanks so much for the quick reply. So I will give you a bit more detail of my dosages in the months prior to where I am now. Background before tapering: 5/11/2020 I was noticing OCD picking up so I increased Prozac from 20, 25mg. I alternated between 3 10mg pills a day and 2 10mg pills a day 10/11/2020 I started ability 2mg while taking 25mg Prozac 26/11/2020 Abilify was working so I went right back down to 20mg Prozac from 20mg. I took 2 10mg pills a day everyday. I stayed at this dose of 20mg Prozac and 2mg abilify until April 2021 when I started tapering. One thing to note, I started experiencing memory issues before I started tapering, at around early March or late February 2021. I’m very curious about what you think about this aspect, because memory is still effecting me a ton today, and it doesn’t seem to have started due to withdrawal. However, it does seem like withdrawal has made it worse. Tapering: 8/4/2021 I started tapering off abilify. At this time I decided to increase Prozac slightly to 25mg to ease abilify withdrawal. I started taking one 2mg abilify pill every other day and and extra prozac pill every other day. So one day I would take 30mg prozac and no abilify, and the next I would take 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify. So basically I was on 25mg prozac and 1mg abilify. 15/4/2021 I started taking no abilify and just 25mg of prozac. So 30mg one day and 20mg the next. 3/5/2021 I started weening off prozac, I went to 20mg everyday. 15/5/2021 I went to 15mg everyday, so 20mg one day and 10mg the next day. . 30/5/2021 I went down to 10mg everyday. 14/6/2021 I went down to 5mg everyday. 10mg one day, nothing the next day. 25/6/2021 No more pills. Note, all these dates are my best estimates. They are not exact. 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 16, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 16, 2021 Thanks for the info. Could you please integrate this info also in your signature! What is your age? How were you feeling when you were taking only prozac as of April this year? 15 hours ago, Colton said: It worked wonders until I started experiencing side effects and I really wanted to get off them. What kind of side effects were you experiencing which made you decide to get off prozac? 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Hi, I don’t have any more space to add to my signature cause it only allows 12 lines. Should I delete some of the older info? And I am 21 years old. When I was taking just prozac in April I wasn’t feeling particularly good. It’s hard to remember very well though because everything since around that time has been so hazy. I know I was feeling dreamy, fatigued/drowsy, more anxious and my memory and cognition were not great. I know I was so done with the way prozac made me feel and I was dead set about getting off of it. Also I probably did feel worse at this point then I did in December right before I started abilify (except my OCD was pretty good in April). The side effects that I began to notice of Prozac about a year before this were drowsiness, numbness, headaches, a dreamlike state, and lack of motivation. It made everything feel like a video game, like I wasn’t experiencing real life. Initially, it felt very healing for me but at around May 2020 these side effects were really starting to bother me. I felt like I needed to get off the drugs. Also, I like the idea of going on a small dose or prozac again to ease the withdrawal effects. What dose do you recommend? 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 16, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 16, 2021 (edited) 14 minutes ago, Colton said: I don’t have any more space to add to my signature cause it only allows 12 lines. Should I delete some of the older info? You can use the total length of each line, and put more dates behind each other. You can look at signatures from other members as example. 14 minutes ago, Colton said: Also, I like the idea of going on a small dose or prozac again to ease the withdrawal effects. What dose do you recommend? I would suggest to start with 1 mg per day and see what it does. Reinstatement should be done with a dose as little as possible. It may take 2-3 weeks to tell if it works. If you would have adverse reactions, please report that immediately here. If you start feeling better or less bad, also report it here please. Do you know how to make dosages of 1 mg? Best is to work with liquid prozac or make your own liquids from prozac capsules. Accurate dosing is much more easy using (selfmade or factory made) liquids. https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/2693-how-to-make-a-liquid-from-tablets-or-capsules/ You will need scales that can measure up to 1mg. So a gram with 3 digits behind the comma. The Gemini 20 is a model which is used very often, but there are more good models on the market. And you will need oral syringes of 1 ml. these are available at most pharmacies. Personally I prefer making my own liquids. Prozac liquid is very thick and very hard to get in the the small oral syringe without getting airbubbles. And the airbubbles make accurate dosing quit difficult. Also the Prozac liquid bottle should be used up in 60 day maximum. One bottle contains 560 mg prozac. So with 1mg per day you would only use 60 mg of that and have to throw away the rest. Making your own liquids is much more efficient. It is a matter of choice. I make my own liquid every 5 days. After some experience I do the whole process in less then 10 minutes. Let me know when you need more info. Edited August 16, 2021 by Go2zero 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 16, 2021 Author Share Posted August 16, 2021 Ok, interesting. 1mg seems pretty low, what do you think would happen if I went on a slightly higher dose like 5mg? It might be easier to see if it works. Also, do you have any idea what could have caused the memory loss before I started tapering? Thanks so much for your advice and quick reply’s. 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 16, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 16, 2021 (edited) Reinstating should be done at very low dosages. Especially when it is somewhat longer back in time that one has stopped. Which is the car with you. Here is more info: https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/7562-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-reduce-withdrawal-symptoms/?tab=comments#comment-33809 1mg of prozac still blocks around 29% of the serotonine receptors. 5mg would block around 62% of the receptors. These meds are extremely string at low dosages! Going up and down too much in dosages is really asking for trouble! A 1mg reinstatement is best to start is our experience here. If no relief comes after 2-3 weeks you might go up to 1,5mg and if necessary later to 2mg. But the best is always as lees as possible. Otherwise it might trigger more WD symptoms! I do not know where your memory loss came from before you started tapering. Did you experience it also before you started the abilify? Memory loss is however often seen as a WD symptom. Edited August 17, 2021 by Go2zero 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 Sounds good, I decided to start off with 1.5mg, just because I’m really going through some difficult stuff right now. I will keep you posted on what happens in the next couple weeks. Also with the memory loss, no I never experienced it before the abilify. It showed up a couple months into using abilify. Thanks again for all the advice. It really means a lot to to have someone out there giving me some help. Especially when the doctors I have been to have been so nonchalant about withdrawal symptoms. I really appreciate you taking time out of your day to help people like me, you are doing a great thing 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 17, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 17, 2021 I just edited my former post, since I found I gave a wrong number for the serotonine receptor blockage (SERT). At 1mg the blockage is 29%. At 1,5 mg it is 37% and at 5mg 62%. Sorry for that. I still would think 1 mg is better to start with. The less it may work better. If it does not work (enough) you can always updose to 1,5mg But you decide of course. Thanks for you comment! Happy to help. We all know from experience what the members are going through and that there is little good help to be found at most doctors. This website helped me so much. So I am glad to be able to do something back! 🙏 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 17, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 17, 2021 2 hours ago, Colton said: Also with the memory loss, no I never experienced it before the abilify. It showed up a couple months into using abilify. That points in the direction that the memory loss was initiated by the abilify. Have you noticed (even slight) improvements in you memory loss last months? (after stopping the abilify). 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 17, 2021 Author Share Posted August 17, 2021 Ok, I started 1.5mg yesterday, would it be suitable if I went down to 1mg today and stayed there for a while? And with the memory I haven’t noticed any improvements, it’s actually gotten worse. I would guess that the Prozac withdrawal added more issues with memory loss on top of the original ones from abilify. 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 17, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 17, 2021 2 minutes ago, Colton said: Ok, I started 1.5mg yesterday, would it be suitable if I went down to 1mg today and stayed there for a while? No problem to go down to 1,5 mg. You just took it 1 day. 2 minutes ago, Colton said: And with the memory I haven’t noticed any improvements, it’s actually gotten worse. I would guess that the Prozac withdrawal added more issues with memory loss on top of the original ones from abilify. I cannot say anything else than that this will probably will improve after a period of time. This happens nearly always with WD symptoms. How long it may last is hard to say. Maybe other members can say something about this. Did you look around on this website for members who experienced the same after using abilify? 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 20, 2021 Author Share Posted August 20, 2021 Hi, So I’ve been taking the 1mg a day of Prozac for a few days now. I am already feeling a bit more stable. I will continue to keep you posted about that. So I recently saw a naturopath to supplement some of my recovery. The naturopath gave me 3 supplements to try, these included: -Hemp seed oil -Pascoflair, a Passionflower supplement -Neurapas, a supplement containing St. John’s wort, Valerian, and Passionflower She also wanted me to get an IV containing a combination of amino acids such a tryptophan, as well as B vitamins, vitamin C and minerals. She also wanted me to up my current dosage of vitamin D to 4000 IU’s a day and increase my fish oil to 2000mg a day. What do you think about these recommendations? I’ve looked on the forum about St. John’s Wort, and it looks like I should stay away from that for now but what about the others? Are they worth taking or should I stay away for now? By the way, I will look on the forum for other people with similar experiences with abilify. Thanks so much! 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 21, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 21, 2021 10 hours ago, Colton said: So I’ve been taking the 1mg a day of Prozac for a few days now. I am already feeling a bit more stable. I will continue to keep you posted about that. This is a very good sign. Take time (at least a month) to stabilize on this dosage. 10 hours ago, Colton said: So I recently saw a naturopath to supplement some of my recovery. The naturopath gave me 3 supplements to try, these included: -Hemp seed oil -Pascoflair, a Passionflower supplement -Neurapas, a supplement containing St. John’s wort, Valerian, and Passionflower As you say your self, you should better stay away from St Johns wort. The same fro tryptophan and all other supplements that influence neurotransmitters. Your brain and nervous system needs to find it natural balance again. And you are again taking prozac. Main thing is that you can get away from prozac after getting stable. Everything you add that influences neurotransmitters and/or your nervous system should better be avoided. Personally I would wait now before taking many supplements. When in withdrawal it is also important to know what changes in meds. dosages or supplements do. When you change or add more than 1 thing at a time or over a shorter period, you will have no clue where changes (better or worse) come from. Here on SA only fishtail and magnesium are suggested to take. Personally I take sometimes (only when needed) 2-4 drops ORGANIC lavender oil in a glass of water and drink that. It gives me relief within 30 minutes when having anxiety through WD. Also it helps me when having a lot of stress. For me it helps. More members report good results. Others notice no result.... 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 Sounds good. Thanks got the info I will stay away from too many supplements for now. Also, I am going through a bit of a tough time and I am looking for a bit of reassurance. I saw this video on withdrawal that kinda freaked me out. It said that improperly withdrawing can actually damage your brain long term. I don’t know if this is true, but I was worried this would apply to me. I really hope taking these drugs or withdrawing from them improperly didn’t cause any lasting or permanent damage. Any thoughts on this? I know this may be a tough question to answer, but anything helps. Thanks again 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 22, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 22, 2021 10 hours ago, Colton said: I really hope taking these drugs or withdrawing from them improperly didn’t cause any lasting or permanent damage. Any thoughts on this? Vey hard to predict how long recovery takes. We all react different. What we see very often that people that have made a extreme lot in changes in meds and/or who have done CT or who have up and down in dosage very often need much more time to heal than the ones who taper very carefully and slowly. But most of us heal in the end.... As I said in my last post, it is a very good sigh that you feel a bit better already. This can change, because of the windows and waves patterns. But that is normal and shows also that you are healing. https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/82-the-windows-and-waves-pattern-of-stabilization/ SIGNATURE Could you please update your signature? Please specify how you tapered down the prozac from the 20 mg until 23/6/21. Please give dates and dosages of all changes. Please als update with you reinstatement and please report every upcoming changes also in your signature. This makes it easier for the mods to advise you. Otherwise we have to work through your thread every time. 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 22, 2021 Author Share Posted August 22, 2021 Thank you. I updated my signature by the way. One more thing, I recently found out through my psychologist that abilify and prozac together are an off label prescription. He also provided me the following information about the drug interactions between prozac and abilify from the Handbook of Psychiatric Drugs: A current clinical strategies medical book (2011 edition). "Coadministration of aripiprazole with potent inhibitors of CYP2D6, such as quinidine, fluoxetine [i.e., Prozac] or paroxetine, can markedly increase blood levels (112% with quinidine) and requires dosage adjustment to one-half of its normal dosage" (p. 48). (I added the bold font above) So basically what this is saying is while I was on abilify and prozac together, I essentially had a double dose of prozac without knowing it. This would explain why I felt so bad after coming off abilify. It also brings up the question, should I be re-instating with more than 1mg prozac (because I was effectively on a higher dose before)? Or would you recommend staying at 1mg. Thanks so much 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 22, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 22, 2021 47 minutes ago, Colton said: So basically what this is saying is while I was on abilify and prozac together, I essentially had a double dose of prozac without knowing it. This would explain why I felt so bad after coming off abilify. It also brings up the question, should I be re-instating with more than 1mg prozac (because I was effectively on a higher dose before)? Or would you recommend staying at 1mg. This is very interesting information. I know that this happens with other meds as well (like Wellbutrin). But for Abilify I did not know. You could be very right in your assumption. However I would not suggest to reinstate more than 1 mg Prozac now. Reinstating a low dose when in WD is not meant for giving a "therapeutical" effect. But it is meant to decrease WD symptoms. The lower the reinstatement the better is works most of the time. Do you feel some improvement or changes yet after starting the reinstatement? It would be quite fast to notice, but if you notice anything, please report it here. 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 23, 2021 Author Share Posted August 23, 2021 I thought I was feeling better, but these last 3 days I’ve been awful. 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 23, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 23, 2021 This can still be WD symptoms. Reinstatement may lessen this. But most of us have to deal with certain levels of good and bad periods (windows and waves), also after reinstatement. But without reinstatement it is often much worse and may often takes much longer to heal. Just see how it goes, you just started the reinstatement. If no improvement in 2 weeks, you could try a (small) updose to 1,5 or max 2 mg. As said the less the better. 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 25, 2021 Author Share Posted August 25, 2021 Hi, I’m really not doing well, and to be frank, I can’t take it much longer. I am now strongly considering taking 5mg of prozac. I went to the emergency room today, and I talked to 2 doctors who have both done some independent research and both recommended I take 10mg, and after I expressed my concerns based off what you said, they said 5mg as a minimum. I haven’t seen anything online or in the medical community that suggests I am at risk by upping my dosage. Also I am going back to university in a week into 3rd year engineering, and I can’t afford to be in this condition. Further I am in extreme pain at the moment, and I don’t think I can wait the weeks necessary to see if this 1mg works. Lastly, when I first took prozac I noticed it made me begin to feel better within a week. Although I thought I was feeling better before, I now feel very bad again. Based off how I first reacted to prozac this would suggest I need more. However I respect your opinion on wanting to take the 1mg and that’s why I am making this post now. Also, I am aware that medical industry is biased in favour of drugs. However I need to have some more evidence that shows going to 5mg is dangerous. Can you provide any of this? Anecdotal or scientific evidence? I think having a phone conversation about this would be extremely helpful if you are open to that. I can give you my number to call or vis versa. I know I keep expressing doubt about this, and I am sorry but I am on a knifes edge. I can’t afford to make an incorrect decision at this point. I feel like my life is at stake. 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 25, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 25, 2021 I understand how you are feeling. I have been there also 3 times before I found this website. And every time doctors told me to reinstate a high dosage. What this most often creates is kindling. By changing dosages too much and too often up and down we sensitize the nervous system. If you look around on this website you will be able to find enough proof of that. Most doctors don't know this. They even do not know what the serotonin blockage (SERT) is at low dosages. However there is quite some research about. They talk about therapeutical dosages. But the given (standard) dosages are often 4 times as high as needed. Which also can be seen in the SERT graphs. Here is an example: https://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp.161.5.826 Reinstatement as we mean on this website is not meant as creating a therapeutical level. It is meant to decrease the withdrawal symptoms created by too fast tapering. Please read this again (it explains a lot about why reinstating with low dosages) https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/7562-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-reduce-withdrawal-symptoms/?tab=comments#comment-33809 You decide. We cannot take decisions for you. We do know however from so many member what the risks are of a high reinstatement. And we have seen so many good result from low dose reinstatement. You cannot expect wonders when in withdrawal. Also not from high reinstatements. When reinstated higher dosages several years ago it took me at least 8 months to become a bit stable again... We see that a lot here with the members as well. 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 25, 2021 Author Share Posted August 25, 2021 Ok, thank you. Quick question, do you need to use distilled water for the Prozac solution? I have been using tap water is that ok? 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Mentor Greatful Posted August 25, 2021 Mentor Share Posted August 25, 2021 @Colton Hi I am sorry you are going through this. We all know the pain and can relate to the desperation to find something to stop the pain. I really can't give you any advice on up dozing and how much. I am trying to stabilize myself from a botched taper off of Prozac. I do know that this is a hard journey to be on and my heart goes out to you. You are heading back to collage soon, you are in a rough spot. The doctors are clueless. I for sure would not start out at 10mg like the doctor wants. Kindling is not fun. Always start slow and work your way up. I really hope the reinstatement works for you. Hang in there and keep reaching out. 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 , 0.05mg 4/1/2024 0 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 Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 25, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 25, 2021 2 hours ago, Colton said: Ok, thank you. Quick question, do you need to use distilled water for the Prozac solution? I have been using tap water is that ok? You best use distilled water and work as clean as possible. I make a solution with distilled water and keep it refrigerated. I keep it for 5 days and make a new solution then. Keeping it longer or out of fridge may have negative influence on shelf life. 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted August 26, 2021 Author Share Posted August 26, 2021 Ok, will it still work with tap water? 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted August 26, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 26, 2021 Tap water can be used in many cases, where you live it shouldn't be a problem. The thing about tap water is all the chemicals that are use to sanitize it. Some of them can react badly with the drugs and cause problems. Purified bottled water is the best. Distilled water or deionized water has the ions removed which in some cases will inhibit the drug from dissolving properly. 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
Kat66 Posted August 28, 2021 Share Posted August 28, 2021 How are you feeling today @Colton? History of depression and anxiety. Symptoms of PTSD. 1998-1999 Venlafaxine 2006-2007 Prozac.2013-15 Sertraline 50mg. 2015 cross-tapered to citalopram 20mg. 2015-2021 Citalopram 20mg (brief increase to 30mg for 2/3 months in 2019. 01/2021 Dropped from 20mg to 10mg, back up to 20mg til June. 25/6/21 stopped CT. Started 50mg 5htp after a week without citalopram in the hope this would balance out my serotonin levels. After 3 days increased to 100mg 5htp. 11/7/21 Stopped 5htp with the intention of reinstating citalopram at 1mg. 16/7/21 Reinstated cit at 1mg. 2/8/21 Increased dose to 2mg. 28/11/21 10% reduction to 1.8mg. 8/12/21 2mg 6/1/22 1.8mg 10/2/22 1.6mg 13/5/22 1.5mg 4/6/22 1.55mg 4/7/22 1.4mg 4/8/22 1.25mg 1/11/22 1.1mg 3/3/23 1mg 18/4/23 0.9mg 2/6/23 0.8mg 4/10/23 0.7mg 11/11/23 jumped off @0.7mg started on 5htp 200mg -400mg, L-Theanine, and L-tyrosine 200mg. 25/11/23 came off 5-htp, l-tyrosine and l-Theanine. 24/12/23 went on 7.5mg mirtazapine. 27/12/23 stopped mirtazapine & reinstated citalopram @.35mg. 1/1/24 increased to 0.5mg. PTSD diagnosis October 2023. 11/11/23 started EMDR therapy for PTSD. Multiple unsuccessful attempts to taper off citalopram. Vegan, otherwise healthy lifestyle. Other medications; tapering off combined HRT. Other supplements; magnesium glycinate, vegan omega3. Completely OFF caffeine (since July 21). Finding it difficult to completely give up alcohol but haven’t had any since 25/12/23. Main symptoms; crushing depression, anhedonia/emotional anesthesia, irritability, rage, anxiety/fear, intrusive thoughts, cognitive fog, inability to focus, restlessness and some insomnia Link to comment
Colton Posted August 31, 2021 Author Share Posted August 31, 2021 Hi, I’ve been taking 2mg now since August 26th and yesterday I took 5mg. Practically everyone in my life is telling me to go up on my dosage so I don’t know who to believe. For the life of me I can’t make up my mind. I am second guessing myself now, if I went back to 2mg would after taking 5mg for a day would that be ok? 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Colton Posted August 31, 2021 Author Share Posted August 31, 2021 @kat66 thanks for your reply by the way. It’s good to hear you are more stable on 2mg. I recently decided to up my dose to 2mg cause I wasn’t feeling any improvement. It may have been to big of a step based off advice from this forum but I needed to do something cause I have to go back to university soon, and I’m not very functional at the moment. It’s been about 4 or 5 days on 2mg and no improvement. 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Colton Posted August 31, 2021 Author Share Posted August 31, 2021 Hello, so if I took 5mg for one day yesterday would it be ok if I went back down to 2mg today and stayed there? Or do I need to stay at 5mg now? I have to go to bed soon, can anyone give me advice on this? 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Mentor Greatful Posted August 31, 2021 Mentor Share Posted August 31, 2021 @Colton What a distressing game we play with our minds about these awful pill. I'm truly is amazing the destructive mess they put us in. My heart goes out to you just trying to feel better. If you want a quicker response and if you want to talk to someone specific you tag them by @ and the start typing their name a box will pop up and the you click on their name, it will highlight in blue like yours did. This will notify them that they have been tagged Hang in there, one day at a time 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 , 0.05mg 4/1/2024 0 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 Link to comment
Colton Posted August 31, 2021 Author Share Posted August 31, 2021 @Go2zero 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
Moderator Go2zero Posted August 31, 2021 Moderator Share Posted August 31, 2021 10 hours ago, Colton said: Hello, so if I took 5mg for one day yesterday would it be ok if I went back down to 2mg today and stayed there? Or do I need to stay at 5mg now? Hi Colton, So sorry to read that you are still suffering. It really takes time to stabilize after so many changes in dosages, stopping and reinstating. And the more you keep switching the more upset your nervous system may get. Nearly all doctors will say you have to updose to 10mg or 20mg. Most of them have no clue what that does after stopping. There is a big chance of kindling and this may make everything worse. This forum is full with members who were advised to updose extremely (to standard dose or higher) by their doctors (me too). Quite often people in withdrawal even become diagnosed as bipolar or psychotic. And give more meds to treat that. Making everything worse. Doctors often say that withdrawal from AD's does not exist. It is in the end your choice what you want. Continue to get off the meds by slowly tapering or reinstate to a high dose. Both ways will not make you stable in a few days or week probably. Once a nervous system is sensitized and upset it can take week and more often months to stabilize... It is not nice to hear, I know. But I want to be honest to you. You have to decide yourself what you want. Going too high up in dosage will make things not better probably. You could try 3 mg. Personally I do not expect much from that, but you could try. If I were you I would not go higher than 3 mg. The strength of prozac at 3 mg is already very strong, although most doctors believe that that is a non therapeutic dose... In the underlying table you can see the effect on the serotonin receptor blockage (SERT). % of 1 pill(20 mg) Dosage in mg Prozac % blockage serotonin receptor (SERT) 100 20 78 50 10 72 25 5 62 12,5 2,5 48 10 2 44 7,5 1,5 37 5 1 29 4 0,8 25 3 0,6 20 2 0,4 14,5 1,5 0,3 11 1 0,2 8 0,5 0,1 4 0,25 0,05 2 0,1 0,02 0,9 0,05 0,01 0,5 As you can see 2mg blocks already 44% of the serotonin receptors.. Whereas 20mg blocks 78%. These meds are extremely strong at low dosages. I hope you can make a decision based on this info. It is not easy, I understand. But fast healing from AD withdrawal most often does not work... It needs time and stability. https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/23081-are-we-there-yet-how-long-is-withdrawal-going-to-take/?tab=comments#comment-492493 The fact that you took 5mg for only 1 day is not a big problem. But I keep saying that stability in dosage is most important... The more you differ in dosage the more you sensitize your nervous system.... 1993 Anafranil (Clomipramine) for a few months. Later in 1993 Paxil for a few months 1993- 2006 No medication 2006 Effexor, Cymbalta, some Benzo’s. All for short periods. Later in 2006 Lexapro (escitalopram) 10 mg and shortly after Wellbutrin XR 150mg, against side effects Lexapro Since 2006 until end of 2015: Several times on and off Lexapro and Wellbutrin and several slight dosage changes. Mostly taken dosages: 5mg Lexapro and 150mg Wellbutrin 2016 Dosage change Lexapro from 5mg to 2,5 mg. Wellbutrin stayed om 150mg November 2016 – April 2017 Down from 2,5mg to 0,6mg Lexapro (in steps) without much problems. Wellbutrin down from 150mg to 66mg. Also without much problems. April 2017 – March 2019 Lexapro 0,6 mg April 2017 - August 2018 Wellbutrin in small steps down from 66mg in to 37,5 mg . Quite heavy WD after each step. March 2019 – May 2019 Lexapro down from 0,6 to 0,3mg then Prozac to 0,6 mg switch because severe discontinuation effects (may also have been from Wellbutrin..) Wellbutrin down from 37,5mg to 35,3mg October 2019 Seroquel 12,5 mg for 4 weeks because of extreme sleeping problems, then weaning off in 2 weeks Prozac up dosage to 1,2 mg March 2020 Wellbutrin in 2 steps down from 35,3mg to 33,3mg Extreme withdrawal effects during 8 months. Stopped tapering Wellbutrin until total off Prozac. February 2020 – November 2020 Prozac down in steps from 1,2mg to 0,57mg. Jan 2021 : Prozac down to: 0,55> 0,53>0,51mg, Feb 0,47mg , Mar 0,42mg, Apr 0,37, longer hold because of WD symptoms July 0,36 and hold again, Sept 19 0,35, Sept 26 0,34mg, Oct 3 0,33mg Long hold of 172 days until March 2022 January 20, 2022: Wellbutrin from 33,3 to 32,3mg March 22, 2022 Prozac down from 0,33mg to: 0,30mg, Apr 0,29, May 0,28, 0,27, June 0,26, 0,25, July 0,24, 0,23, 0,22, 0,21, Aug 0,20, 0,19 Sep 0,18, Oct 0,17. 0,16, 0,15, Nov 0,14 Jan 2023 0,13, 0,12, 0,11 Feb 0,10, 0,09 Mar 0,08 , June 0,07 , July 0,06, 0,05, Aug 0,04, 0,03, Sept 0,026, 0,024 Nov 0,022, 0,019, 0,016, 0,013 Dec 0,012, 0,011, 0,010, 0,009 Jan 2024 0,008, 0,007, 0,006, 0,005, 0,004, 0,003, 0,002, 0,001, Feb 0,0007. 0,0005, 0,0003, 0,0001, Feb 23, 2024: 0,00000 Supplements: Fish Oil (3000mg), Magnesium 100 mg, 2 drops of Lavender Oil, only when feeling extreme anxiety. 50mg of L-Theanine only when severe discontinuation effects caused by Wellbutrin Please note this is NOT a medical advice. Discuss all your medical issues with a doctor who understands psychical drugs and really knows how to withdraw from them. I wish that you will find one. Link to comment
Colton Posted September 6, 2021 Author Share Posted September 6, 2021 Hi, So my doctors and family convinced me to up my dose of prozac. I was so hesitant to go fully up I kept second guessing myself and I moved up and down somewhat. In the end they convinced me to go to 10. August 26: started 2mg August 28: 2mg August 29: 5mg August 30: 2.5mg August 31: 2.5mg Sept 1-4: 10mg My symptoms have gotten worse. What should I do now? Do I have to wait to stabilize on 10? Or should I go back down? 7/10/2017 prozac titrated up to 20mg 25/6/2018 Fully off prozac after weening 15/11/2018 trintilix 5mg 15/1/2019 prozac 10mg 15/5/2019 prozac 20mg 15/7/2019 prozac 30mg 15/11/2019 prozac 20mg 15/11/2020 prozac 20mg abilify 2mg Weening off and then reinstating: 15/4/2021: Increased prozac and decreased abilify to ease withdrawals. 1mg abilify 25mg prozac. (30mg prozac and no abilify one day, and 20mg prozac and 2mg abilify the next day) 1/5/2021: weaned of prozac from 25mg went down to 20mg 15/5/2021: Went to 15mg prozac (20mg one day, 10mg the next day) 30/5/2021: 10mg prozac everyday 14/6/2021: 5mg prozac everyday (10mg every other day) 25/6/2021: no more pills 16/8/2021: reinstated 1mg prozac daily 26/8/2021: increased to 2mg prozac daily 1/9/2021: increased to 10mg prozac daily. After 5 days massive improvement and after 1-2 weeks withdrawals almost entirely gone! Link to comment
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