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Antidepressant Withdrawal Survey ***Your input needed***


UCIZotMD

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Hi everyone,
I’m a longtime lurker to this forum and a Clinical Professor at UC Irvine Medical Center in California. I’m conducting research on antidepressant withdrawal, specifically with the serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs) like fluoxetine, escitalopram or venlafaxine. 
 

We're working to better identify and treat this condition. If you've experienced withdrawal with an SRI, we would be very appreciative if you could fill out this survey and share your experience. It should take no more than 10 minutes, but would be very informative for us.

 

 

 

 

Please take this survey only if you:

(1) Are age 18-65

(2) Took a serotonin reuptake inhibitor (includes fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, fluvoxamine, citalopram, escitalopram, venlafaxine, desvenlafaxine, duloxetine, vortioxetine, or vilazodone) continuously for at least a month 

 

Please refrain from taking this survey if you would like to comment on withdrawal from other antidepressants or other classes of psychiatric drugs.


Thanks so much in advance for your help.

Edited by Altostrata
updated link
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  • UCIZotMD changed the title to Antidepressant Withdrawal Survey ***Your input needed***
  • Moderator Emeritus

This question does not take into account updosing or reinstating.  I reduced my Pristiq from 100mg to 50mg and then updosed at the suggestion of SA.  If I answer that my withdrawal symptoms resolved after 2 weeks then it will be assumed that I stopped my drug cold turkey and that I "healed" from the withdrawal in a very short period of time so the information will not be accurate.

 

 

Please provide your best estimate of when your withdrawal symptoms resolved. If they are ongoing, please provide today’s date. *
MM

/
DD

/
YYYY

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • Moderator Emeritus

It also does not take into consideratiion delayed withdrawal.

 

When I cold turkeyed citalopram I felt great for a couple of months and then was bedridden for 2 weeks with what felt like the flu but definitely wasn't.  I had trouble eating and lost 8kgs / 17.5 lbs.  It wasn't until I learned about withdrawal here at SA that I made the connection and realised that it had been caused by stopping the citalopram.

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • Mentor

Chessiecat we could use our first taper recommended by dr in this survey before we came to SA and learned how to taper correctly and answer that one question as ongoing. ??

And those of us that did the drug merry go round because of misdiagnosis of withdrawals??  Which one do we use ? Just thinking! Lot of questions of how each of us would apply our ssri withdrawals to this survey correctly. 

2000-2013 Paxil - 1 year fast taper

2013-2018 merry go round
zoloft, cymbalta, lamictal, Prozac.

 Nov. 2018 lexapro 15 mgs, Dec. 2019 to Mar. 2020 taper to 10mg. Jul 2020 to October 2020 taper to 8.5 ml.
Oct 2020 reinstated to 9 ml.
Apr 2021 to Jul  taper to 7ml. Oct 2021 to Jan 2022 taper to 5.9ml, Mar 5 2022 5.8 ml, Mar 12 5.7ml, Mar 20 5.6ml, Mar 27 5.5ml, April 23 5.4ml, April 30 5.3ml, May 7 5.2ml,  Jul 9 2022 5.4ml, 

Klonopin prn, Allegra 180 for 3 seasons, aspirin 81 mg, plavix , nitroglycerin 0.4 mg prn, 2k mg  turmeric Qunol, 4- Trader Joe’s omega 3 -2400 mg, Pepcid 20mg,  Prilosec 40 mg, Tylenol arthritis 4 tablets daily, 350mg calm magnesium citrate, melatonin 2.5- 5mg as needed to sleep. Saline spray as needed. 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Research on withdrawal of antidepressants is very much needed.  But it needs to be understood that there are also many and largely varied ways that people try to get off their drug/s as well as a wide variety of experiences doing this.  I was very willing to answer the survey and was going to do it twice to cover the experience I had with getting off my two drugs at different times and completely different experiences (citalopram and Pristiq).  However once I started responding I found that I was not able to provide accurate information about my experience so I cancelled my survey.

 

Please note that 2 members who have "liked" my post/s above, which I assume they agree with the comment/s I have made.  I receive notification of these, but I assume you would not, so I wanted to draw your attention to this.

 

I do not think your current survey asks enough correct questions, allows enough answers for participants to respond accurately or asks enough questions to cover the vast array of antidepressant withdrawal experiences.

 

Suggestions:

 

If your research is regarding cold turkey / abrupt stopping of antidepressants with NO reinstatement, then that should be stated.

 

If your research is not about the above, then I think that the questions you are asking / need to ask should be reviewed, otherwise the results are not going to be real world experiences.

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • Moderator Emeritus
19 minutes ago, Heath said:

Chessiecat we could use our first taper recommended by dr in this survey before we came to SA and learned how to taper correctly and answer that one question as ongoing. ??

And those of us that did the drug merry go round because of misdiagnosis of withdrawals??  Which one do we use ? Just thinking! Lot of questions of how each of us would apply our ssri withdrawals to this survey correctly. 

 

You responded as I was typing my post.  I've tried to explain clearly what the issues are with the survey questions.

 

 

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • Moderator Emeritus

SA members, please note that generally only the member posting gets notification of the "likes" of a post.

 

Because I can only comment and offer suggestions related to my experience and observations I have made whilst being a member / mod for 6 years please post comments to assist the researchers.

 

I suggest that you post with either a quote of the post you agree with and/or state your own thoughts and/or suggestions about the survey and/or reasons why you are not able to complete the survey accurately.

 

@Heath Thank you for posting your question about poly drugging.  Because that didn't happen to me I hadn't included that or even thought to include that.

 

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • Mentor

Chessiecat yes I was just typing the same thing to tell you I got it 😂.  
 

I agree . I will be happy to do survey if it had all the questions to get the whole story ! But this survey will only get half the story or the facts could even be taken as opposite of what really happened. 

2000-2013 Paxil - 1 year fast taper

2013-2018 merry go round
zoloft, cymbalta, lamictal, Prozac.

 Nov. 2018 lexapro 15 mgs, Dec. 2019 to Mar. 2020 taper to 10mg. Jul 2020 to October 2020 taper to 8.5 ml.
Oct 2020 reinstated to 9 ml.
Apr 2021 to Jul  taper to 7ml. Oct 2021 to Jan 2022 taper to 5.9ml, Mar 5 2022 5.8 ml, Mar 12 5.7ml, Mar 20 5.6ml, Mar 27 5.5ml, April 23 5.4ml, April 30 5.3ml, May 7 5.2ml,  Jul 9 2022 5.4ml, 

Klonopin prn, Allegra 180 for 3 seasons, aspirin 81 mg, plavix , nitroglycerin 0.4 mg prn, 2k mg  turmeric Qunol, 4- Trader Joe’s omega 3 -2400 mg, Pepcid 20mg,  Prilosec 40 mg, Tylenol arthritis 4 tablets daily, 350mg calm magnesium citrate, melatonin 2.5- 5mg as needed to sleep. Saline spray as needed. 

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Thank you for all for your participation this far in this survey. I appreciate all the feedback. All quantitative surveys will unfortunately not be able to capture the full patient experience, but my hope is that we can get an accurate assessment of nature of acute SRI withdrawal and factors associated with more severe symptoms. 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

 

I am very confused.

 

@UCIZotMD Some of the questions appear to be different or have been changed.  Has something been changed? 

 

@Altostrata  You updated the link in Post #1 of this topic.  Was the original link to a different survey or version of the survey or was it only because it went straight to the survey and not the survey information?  Some of the questions are different to what I saw when I went to do the survey as can be seen from what I copied below:

 

On 11/24/2021 at 4:24 PM, ChessieCat said:
Please provide your best estimate of when your withdrawal symptoms resolved. If they are ongoing, please provide today’s date. *
MM

 

/
DD

 

/
YYYY

 

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Thank you for answering my question.

 

However considering the feedback that you were getting from SA members I am very surprised that you did not mention this in the following post which you made yesterday(?)

 

22 hours ago, UCIZotMD said:

Thank you for all for your participation this far in this survey. I appreciate all the feedback. All quantitative surveys will unfortunately not be able to capture the full patient experience, but my hope is that we can get an accurate assessment of nature of acute SRI withdrawal and factors associated with more severe symptoms. 

 

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • 2 months later...

Thank you for your help so far! We’re still looking for more respondents to this survey and would be very grateful for your time.

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  • 2 months later...

Is this Survey still active?

Lexapro Fast Track/ Cold Turkey

Last dose end Dec 2018 

Tapered 1/2 a daily dose a week (20mg) for  14 weeks, last dose was a 20 mg pill!!  

 3.5 times slower than Psychiatrist recommended, I felt proud of myself!! Little did I know!!!!Got too scared to reinstate because I’d left it too long.

On ADs for 20 years (Prozac approx 10 years/ Pristiq approx 3 years/ Citalipram approx 2 years/. Lexapro a approx  5 years/. Last two years 40mgs Lexapro day.

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  • 3 weeks later...

@UCIZotMD

 

To UC Irvine researchers:

 

I would like to see research into two very troubling aspects of antidepressant withdrawal syndrome: 1) adverse reactions after reinstating an AD at the original dose and 2) adverse reactions upon increasing or decreasing the dose (which frequently occurs after reaching tolerance on the previous dose.)  I believe that these reactions are very common causes of SUICIDE with or without resulting akathisia.  
 

I fear that you are chasing your own tails with the research you are currently conducting.  Perhaps it is a first step you must take, but I would not expect too much in the way of finding solutions.  If you do not delve deeply into these matters of stopping, starting, decreasing, increasing and switching ADs, you will not see any solutions.  
 

Simple AD withdrawal wherein a person quits an AD and never goes back is much less common than withdrawal followed by reinstatement and the patient can end up in a state that is very similar, if not identical, to withdrawal syndrome nonetheless.  This is because of faulty, dangerous, and ill-advised reinstatements — overdoses —overseen by MDs.  That is the key to this scourge.
 

First time CTs or fast tapers can, at times, do far less harm than repeated stops and starts, excessive increases in dose and reinstatements conducted with essentially zero research-backed procedures for safe reinstatement.
 

You are all aware of the need to carefully monitor a person who has just started an AD.  You have known this for many, many years.  In the late 90’s, my friend’s mother hung herself within in the first six (6) weeks of taking an AD.  I remember how shocked and angry he was that “patient confidentiality” prevented him from being aware that he needed to save her although he knew she was in treatment and taking ADs.  Neither he nor his father were ever told that the first few months were a dangerous time.  They found out afterward because the doctors knew, had known, and failed to warn her family.


The same goes for any change in dose — up, down, reinstatement.  In fact, reinstatement of an AD is as dangerous as reinstatement of heroin.  While death is not as immediate nor as likely, the resulting disability and increased likelihood of eventual, untimely, self-inflicted death can be very much the same (and is wholly unnecessary! A doctor is involved and prescribing the dose, for Heaven’s sake, but that is of no use to far too many patients.)
 

How many die from reinstating an AD at the original dose after cessation for a period of weeks?  How many lose their jobs, get divorced, lose their children, become homeless?  How many lose everything they have to live for because of this ignorance on the part of doctors and PCs?  They are handing out a drug that causes dependence, abstinence syndrome and long term post-acute withdrawal syndrome, but they know nothing of overdose dangers.  Nothing.

How hard would it be to study and prove via peer reviewed journal publications that the dose matters greatly when reinstating after a period of abstinence?  How many more people, both average and celebrity types, have to die from “mental illness,” “depression,” and “anxiety,” from which they “have suffered for much their lives.”  They died from malpractice, not depression.  They died from a drug overdose.

 

I am speaking from personal experience.  I had a baby, and the very next day my citalopram was discontinued and replaced with 10 mg of Sertraline.  The response to my adverse reaction was more sertraline - for 5 years — over and over again ver again — up to 150 mg.  The fact that I am alive today is astounding.  
 

I have no doubt that adverse reactions to medications are frequently the cause of “surprise suicides.”  Over and over, I see people claim that a loved one was holding on, perhaps getting better, and the person’s medication was being “adjusted.”  “Out of the blue” the person committed suicide, and it was a surprise to everyone, including the doctor, therapist, etc.  Having been through literally 30 years of medical malpractice via antidepressants, I have been suddenly overcome with the need to suicide many, many times.  From the very first AD in 1990, my suicidal tendencies increased in frequency and intensity.  I thought it was my brain, my body, my “chemistry” that was driving these episodes, thoughts, needs, and fears. I thought that these intense, sudden, terrifying urges to suicide were because of a “relapse,” “the original condition” and a “chemical imbalance” — all hogwash that the pharmaceutical companies feed to gullible doctors who have every reason to know better.  There was certainly a chemical imbalance - caused by the AD.
 

Now that I have been off of ADs (and all the other prescriptions given to treat what I now know were adverse effects of ADs) for five (5) years, I no longer have the need to die.  I do not think that fact is a coincidence.

 

It is very frustrating to see you tell us that you are incapable of fashioning a survey that covers all aspects of antidepressant withdrawal so this was the best that you could do.  I suspect very strongly that your current research project is unlikely to give you the answers you seek.  You include many different drugs in your list as if they are all the same.  Simply changing the dose is a risk; changing the drug is often devastating.  You are comparing apples to oranges to bananas and then to things that are not even fruits.  
 

I encourage you to look into research on heroin withdrawal and subsequent overdose.  Try to understand how and why the health of heroin addicts who repeatedly relapse while attempting to recover parallels the trajectory of the descent into disability experienced by long term patients on anti-depressants who have quit ADs, reinstated, been deprescribed one drug and prescribed another, had their doses raised and lowered — essentially prescribed into PAWS, akathisia, disability, and death.
 

****You cannot take a group of people who took dependency-forming drugs called ADs and consider them a homogenous group when the number of times a particular patient started and stopped the drug was a KEY factor in whether or not they developed withdrawal symptoms.****  You cannot consider them a homogenous group when the number of times a particular patient started and stopped the drug was a KEY factor in how SEVERE their PAWS would be.  You cannot ignore the people who reinstated a different AD because the various ADs do not cover for each other, but more importantly, you cannot consider this a homogenous group when whether each of them were overdosed upon reinstatement was a KEY factor in how severe their case of PAWS would be.  
 

You must look at what happens to people after the first CT or fast taper.  What did the doctor prescribe then?  How long did the patient abstain? What was the reinstatement dose? What was the result of that? Does the fact that there are there so few possible doses available in pill format affect the outcome of reinstatement to such a degree that most, if not all, reinstatements result in overdoses? How does the fact that many doctors ignore the usefulness of liquid medications for reinstatement after abstinence affect the usefulness of reinstatement?

 

This syndrome is complicated and yet it is also very simple: heroin users get sicker each time they relapse because they do not have a competent doctor helping them choose a dose for reinstatement when they decide that more heroin or suicide are the only two options.  People suffering from AD withdrawal who are diagnosed with relapse of “depression or anxiety” do not have a COMPETENT doctor helping them choose a dose for reinstatement.  Chills, the inability to regulate body temperature, postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, and several other symptoms of autonomic nervous system disorder such as loss of appetite and exercise intolerance are signs of street drug withdrawal, AD withdrawal AND adverse reactions to overdoses on reinstatement of ADs.  That — prescribed overdose of ADs after abstinence is your blockbuster research project, if you dare.

 

 

Edited by ChessieCat
added tag to post to alert member

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/16629-rosetta-ct-may-2011-too-fast-taper-feb-2017/?page=25

2001-2011 Celexa 10 mg raised to 40 mg then 60 mg over this time period

May 2011 OB Doctor's Cold switch Celexa 60 mg to 10 mg Zoloft sertraline (baby born)

2012-2016 - Doctors raised dose of Zoloft up to 150 mg

2016 - Xanax prescribed - as needed - 0.5 mg about every 3 days (bad reaction)

2016 - Stopped Xanax

Late 2016- Began (too fast) taper of Zoloft

Early 2017 - Trazodone prescribed for bedtime (doseage unknown)

Feb 2017 - Completed taper/stopped Trazodone

Drug free since Feb 2017

2017 - Unisom otc very rarely for sleep

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YES  @Rosetta !!!!  

Standing ovation <3

 

 

1996-2018 - misc. polypharmacy, incl. SSRIs, SNRIs, neuroleptics, lithium, benzos, stimulants, antihistamines, etc. (approx. 30+ drugs)

2012-2018 - 10mg lexapro/escitalopram (20mg?)    Jan. 2018 - 10mg -> 5mg, then from 5mg -> 2.5mg, then 0mg  -->  July 2018 - 0mg

2017(?)-2020 - vyvanse/lisdexamfetamine 60-70mg    2020-2021 - 70mg down to 0mg  -->  July 2021 - 0mg

March-April 2021 - vortioxetine 5-10mg (approx. 7 weeks total; CT)  -->  April 28th, 2021 - 0mg

supplements: magnesium powder (dissolved in water) as needed throughout the day; 1 tsp fish oil w/ morning meal; 2mg melatonin 

August 1, 2022 - 1 mg melatonin

 

Courage is fear that has said its prayers.  - Karle Wilson Baker

love and justice are not two. without inner change, there can be no outer change; without collective change, no change matters.  - Rev. angel Kyodo williams

Holding multiple truths. Knowing that everyone has their own accurate view of the way things are.  - text on homemade banner at Afiya house

 

I am not a medical professional; this is not medical advice. 

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  • Mentor

Well said Rosetta ! Thank you very much for speaking/writing for us !

2000-2013 Paxil - 1 year fast taper

2013-2018 merry go round
zoloft, cymbalta, lamictal, Prozac.

 Nov. 2018 lexapro 15 mgs, Dec. 2019 to Mar. 2020 taper to 10mg. Jul 2020 to October 2020 taper to 8.5 ml.
Oct 2020 reinstated to 9 ml.
Apr 2021 to Jul  taper to 7ml. Oct 2021 to Jan 2022 taper to 5.9ml, Mar 5 2022 5.8 ml, Mar 12 5.7ml, Mar 20 5.6ml, Mar 27 5.5ml, April 23 5.4ml, April 30 5.3ml, May 7 5.2ml,  Jul 9 2022 5.4ml, 

Klonopin prn, Allegra 180 for 3 seasons, aspirin 81 mg, plavix , nitroglycerin 0.4 mg prn, 2k mg  turmeric Qunol, 4- Trader Joe’s omega 3 -2400 mg, Pepcid 20mg,  Prilosec 40 mg, Tylenol arthritis 4 tablets daily, 350mg calm magnesium citrate, melatonin 2.5- 5mg as needed to sleep. Saline spray as needed. 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

@UCIZotMD

 

I was very disappointed with the survey and decided NOT to take part in it.  If you read my abbreviated history below you will understand why I was not able to complete the survey, even though I really wanted to.  My thought is that it may only have been people with a simple withdrawal history (possibly only one drug) who would have taken part, so the information collected is not going to be a true representation of what is happening.

 

@Rosetta

 

Excellent post.  Thank you for the time and effort and also the emotional energy that it took to compile it.

 

5 hours ago, Rosetta said:

This is because of faulty, dangerous, and ill-advised reinstatements — overdoses —overseen by MDs.  That is the key to this scourge.

 

As well as undiagnosed withdrawal symptoms, which may be better treated with low/very low dose reinstatement of the same drug rather than a switch to a different drug, which we see here a lot.  My withdrawal syndrome from CT of an SSRI, citalopram, (which I now understand had reached tolerance which is why I CTed it because I felt awful on it) was undiagnosed, diagnosed as "relapse of depression", told that I needed an antidepressant for life "like a diabetic needs insulin" (theory debunked several decades ago), ended up being prescribed an SNRI, the dose of which was doubled shortly after, and I ended up with mild serotonin syndrome which was not picked up by the doctor, and I suffered for many years before I did my own research about the drug side effects.  I found AD when searching for answers after reducing the SNRI by 50% (tablets only available in 50mg and 100mg, government has not authorised 25mg in Australia - yet the patient information says not to stop your drug suddenly, but also says that tablets cannot be cut - FYI Pristiq - I had mine compounded to taper) and suffering very bad withdrawal symptoms.  After 2 weeks on the lower dose I was unable to type.  FOUR HOURS after updosing I was able to type again.  I am a professional typist and had a benchmark; it was not placebo.

 

After being on an AD for 25+ years I have been SUCCESSFULLY AD free for almost 6 months.  Yes, during the time since I've been off I do have times when my mood is low/very low but I have learned non drug ways to get through those times.

 

I truly thank God for sites like SA.  It is sad and very disappointing that doctors' training about drugs comes from the pharmaceutical companies who have a vested interest in keeping people on drugs, as do the doctors (ie kick backs).

 

There is a wealth of information on this site which has been compiled by lay people and the many stories of people who have first hand experience of what these drugs, and trying to get off them, can do to a person.  And not just physically and mentally, but, as Rosetta stated above, how it can impact their life in general and the people around them.

 

Thanks to the help of SA and the members who supported me through my taper - I AM AD FREE!!!

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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Fantastic post @Rosetta

Thank you. 🙏

Lexapro Fast Track/ Cold Turkey

Last dose end Dec 2018 

Tapered 1/2 a daily dose a week (20mg) for  14 weeks, last dose was a 20 mg pill!!  

 3.5 times slower than Psychiatrist recommended, I felt proud of myself!! Little did I know!!!!Got too scared to reinstate because I’d left it too long.

On ADs for 20 years (Prozac approx 10 years/ Pristiq approx 3 years/ Citalipram approx 2 years/. Lexapro a approx  5 years/. Last two years 40mgs Lexapro day.

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