sama: using jewelry scale for tapering

[sama]

I was diagnosed with depression in 2002 and given amiram 20 I took it for one year then I stopped I returned to it in 2007 without any relief I until I diagnosed with bipolar2 in 2015 it helps and I get hypomania in 2020 and stopped all my medications rather quickly which were lithium 1000 mg sereqol 300mg and larogenr400mg and Prozac 40 mg I get akatisia after two month and I returned to psych who reinstate sereqol and raised it up to 400mg and Prozac 40 and larogene 100mg this was three weeks ago I still depressed but akatisia is gone I want to start a new taper is that possible

Edited July 27, 2021 by manymoretodays

[sama]

I need help to tapering

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @sama

 

What is larogene?

 

Why are you taking 400mg Seroquel?

 

Please explain more about your depression. How does this feel?

[sama]

Lamical

the psychiatrist said because I am in a depressive bipolar episode 

i am depressed because I can’t function i am bed ridden I am hopless that I will get better even with medication better I think I am a little better

[Altostrata]

On 4/30/2021 at 5:33 AM, sama said:

I get hypomania in 2020 and stopped all my medications rather quickly which were lithium 1000 mg sereqol 300mg and larogenr400mg and Prozac 40 mg I get akatisia after two month and I returned to psych who reinstate sereqol and raised it up to 400mg and Prozac 40 and larogene 100mg this was three weeks ago

 

Before you got hypomania in 2020, did you skip or reduce any of your drugs?

 

It appears you got withdrawal syndrome, akathisia included, from quitting your drugs. While some symptoms have gone away with reinstatement of Seroquel, Prozac, and lamotrigine, it may take some time for your nervous system to settle down from withdrawal.

 

This is not necessarily a relapse, but if you agree with your psychiatrist, we can't do much to help you. We do not treat depressive bipolar episodes here, all we do is help people go off the drugs. How may we help you?

 

To help us out, follow these instructions Please put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

[sama]

yes i skip and reduce two of my drugs and i forget to add that i take diazepam 150 mg since the reinstatement

[sama]

yes i skip and reduce two of my drugs and i forget to add that i take diazepam 150 mg since the reinstatement. i know it is not relapse and i do want to get well and taper

[sama]

My spychiatrist want to refuse the diazepam dose by 25% is this extreme cut and I am taking it for only two months now and according to his plan I will continue to be medicated for the rest of my life

[sama]

I mean reduce and I want to be medication free and I want to start tapering right please help me

 

[sama]

Hello l really need help .I started taking diazepam three month ago for the first time 15 mg a day and I started tapering 25 days ago by decreasing 3 mg every 2 weeks as adviced by my psychiatrist now I am taking 9 mg but in five days it should be six mg  is that too fast although  I take it for a short period also I am not tapering anything else with it I will start tapering seroquel after finishing diazepam

[Frogie]

You are tapering way too fast. We suggest only 10% a month as a taper protocol.

 

Unfortunately dr’s don’t know how to taper these medications. Even though Diazepam has a very long 1/2 life you are probably feeling withdrawal symptoms.

 

If you can I would hold for a good long time before tapering any further. 
 

Please keep daily notes of times of day you take your drugs, their dosages, and your symptoms throughout the day. Post 24 hours of notes at a time in this topic, in a simple list format with time of day on the left and notation (symptom or drug and dosage) on the right. This can show if your symptoms are adverse effects from one of your drugs.

 

Take care,

Frogie xx

[sama]

How long to hold ?

[Frogie]

I would hold for at least a month or so and see how your body is doing then.

[sama]

Okay thanks

[sama]

Tommorow I ‘ll continue tapering diazepam I will reduce by 5% for the first two week and 10 % for the following two week my questions are can I start tapering others medications as well or just tapering one in a time which will took more than five years ?i am now taking 400 mg of seroquel my tablet are 300 mg rx so I have to split the tablet into three is that okay and we don’t have seroquel on other form in my country my psychiatrist suggestion is to take it quarter of the dose in the morning and the rest in the evening another problem is that we have Prozac in capsule form only 20 mg  and we don’t have gelatine capsules to make the wright dose I am thinking of taking one capsule a day and hold for a year or so starting from tomorrow. and do the same for seroquel dropping to 300 mg .

[sama]

I really need answer to this question all the years of my illness I only had psychotherapy for one month and the Thearbist didn’t insisted for more and she work under the supervision of my  previous psychiatrist.I didn’t know why that happened I thought at that time I must be in need for medication only all that before I began to research and decided to stop believing in mental health system so now I am tapering and it will probably end in ten years or even more since I am polydruged do I need therapy during tapering because I think there are a lot of underlying issues in me it all came back  when I stopped my medication in the beginning of this year but now all are numbed again  and I have no one supporting me on my attempt and now my psychiatrist is my uncle all my family agreed to be against me it hurts me but they know I am tapering for good but no support my uncle agreed to wean me of two drugs but his tapering way is too fast and I saw the result of this previously so I am tapering slowly and he agreed on that so should I opt for therapy since now

[sama]

What to do when you hit by depressive episode because of stressful event- one weak ago- during tapering I started doing multitapering more than two week ago I dropped from 400mg seroquel to 280 to 260 this week and from 50 mg of lamictal to 45 mg and continuing with diazepam tapering I reached 8.10 mg and I will hold all this for a month should I stop multi tapering and reinstate or wait ?

[sama]

Any suggestions I am all alone in here and I am very depressed 

[Altostrata]

Hello, @sama. What drugs are you taking now, at what times o'clock and dosages?

 

What drug did you change last? When did you do this?

[sama]

I take 3.10 mg liquid diazepam I did 10% taper on 25/8 the first two week by 5% and and 50 mg lamictal (I reinstated it after my last post when I went down to 45mg tapering by 10%.50 mg  is  the original dose)in around 11:30 am after I take breakfast .I take 40 mg Prozac after lunch (I didn’t make any change regarding this drug)I take at evening- I try to do it as early as possible but some time I forget and take it like 10 pm -5 mg diazepam tablet and 360 mg seroquel Rx-sadly I had to split 200 mg rx tablet - I started tapering it in 25/8 by 10% also.it is the one I changed lastly I didn’t reinstate it like lamictal because 400 mg is a lot and I hate it’s side effect.I am now feel much better than when I post lately .

[sama]

Hi everyone i need help i am tapering prozac and i just bought a scale but i don’t know how to use it i thought when i put the bill it will weight 20 mg but it didn’t how to calculate the 2,5 taper weekly i hope i made the problem clear

[Onmyway]

 

[sama]

Thank you onmyway

[sama]

A year after reinstating ten month tapering but no mental change

 

so, in a couple of days it’ll be a year since I reinstated my medications and I it went fine even after two months. so I started tapering again in June 2021 and I began with the benzo which I started taking for the first time during the reinstatement.and I finished tapering it in mid mar.during this time I started tapering the other drugs as well every time I add one and it went fine.sometimes I make big drops for different reasons but try to followed the rule of 10% .I think I want to be off so badly since I wasn’t questioning about psychiatry my whole life.and I only found all this informations only a year ago and it was eye opening.but I reached so far in this process and I am afraid of continuing tapering everything together.I want to know what to start tapering with the three rest medications.I am at 100 of seroquel and I always reduced that at 25mg every month and for the last 25 I hold for a month and a half.also I want to know which tests I should do during this stage. but my big concern is my future.I still have no idea what I want to do I started medications at the age of sixteen so I stumbled my whole life without a clear bath or identity .the medications I took still affecting me the same . There are some positive physical change that I love .like no acne because of Lamictal.not sleeping a lot.the drowsiness has gone the thirst also and for the first time for over a decade I fasted 12 days.but nothing has changed mentally those medications are so effective even at lower doses I think. for how long I will keep being home person. I am active in home I exercice I mediate but nothing out.

 

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

[ChessieCat]

Q:  Are these the drugs and doses that you are currently taking?

 

Seroquel:  100mg

 

Lamictal:  20mg

 

Prozac:  8.4mg

 

5 hours ago, sama said:

nothing has changed mentally those medications are so effective even at lower doses I think.

 

Yes even at the low doses psychiatric drugs are strong.  These help to explain why:

 

VIDEO CLIP:  Mark Horowitz explaining SERT occupancy   (the whole video is worth watching)

 

Also see this post which has a simple explanation.

 

And psychiatric drugs numb our emotions.  I was taking 100mg Pristiq and it wasn't until I got below 10mg that I noticed that I started feeling joy and excitement again.

 

Drug interaction report from https://reference.medscape.com/drug-interactionchecker

 

• lamotrigine + fluoxetine

  lamotrigine increases toxicity of fluoxetine by unspecified interaction mechanism. Modify Therapy/Monitor Closely. CNS depressants may increase the toxic effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors; psychomotor impairment may be enhanced.

 

 

Psychomotor impairment involves a slowing down of thought and a reduction of physical movements in an individual. Psychomotor impairment can cause a visible slowing of physical and emotional reactions, including speech and affect.Wikipedia

[ChessieCat]

I think the month is supposed to the June, not July.  Please correct this:

 

-Seroquel: 6 Apr 2021 400 mg,9 Sept 360 mg ,22 Oct 300 mg, 11 Dec 250 mg ,16 Mar 2022 150 mg , 20 Apr 125 mg , 3 Jul 100 mg 

[ChessieCat]

I've asked the other staff to assist you.

[sama]

2 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

Q:  Are these the drugs and doses that you are currently taking?

 

Seroquel:  100mg

 

Lamictal:  20mg

 

Prozac:  8.4mg

 

 

Yes 

[sama]

1 hour ago, ChessieCat said:

I think the month is supposed to the June, not July.  Please correct this:

 

-Seroquel: 6 Apr 2021 400 mg,9 Sept 360 mg ,22 Oct 300 mg, 11 Dec 250 mg ,16 Mar 2022 150 mg , 20 Apr 125 mg , 3 Jul 100 mg 

I’ll correct that

[Altostrata]

On 6/4/2022 at 11:13 AM, sama said:

I want to know what to start tapering with the three rest medications.I am at 100 of seroquel and I always reduced that at 25mg every month and for the last 25 I hold for a month and a half.also I want to know which tests I should do during this stage.

 

Hello, @sama

 

You went off diazepam in March, and reduced lamotrigine and Prozac May 30 -- only a week ago.

 

These are a lot of drug changes over the last 2 months. There hasn't been enough time to see what effects the Prozac reduction might have had.

 

I suggest that you not make any changes in June, to see how you feel on your new drug combination.

 

How are you sleeping now? What times o'clock do you take your drugs, with their dosages?

[sama]

Thank you for your reply

 

10 hours ago, Altostrata said:

 

How are you sleeping now?

for the last two months I slept for 10 h.I used to go to bed lately.but I had a couple of day when I reduced to 106.25 mg of  seroquel of 7 hours to 8 ,so I go to bed now at 10 or 11 pm and I went back to 10 h.also I stopped the alarm and took omega 3 at night beside the morning doze.
 

 

10 hours ago, Altostrata said:

What times o'clock do you take your drugs, with their dosages?

if I am not fasting I took prozac after breakfast or lunch.otherwise I took the three of them in the evening.without splitting any dozes.

the reasons I went on the three medications tapering that I got a blood clot (dvt) in  my leg in 2017 and no doctor no why .my leg still isn’t functioning as the other one,so I am afraid of getting onther one .and when I was put on lithium my thyroid enlarged and after stoping it it hasn’t gone.

10 hours ago, Altostrata said:

There hasn't been enough time to see what effects the Prozac

I am afraid that yesterday was the time to make my capsules for the week so I dropped Prozac to 8.18 2.5 % reduction.

what should I do now?

[Altostrata]

What exactly is your daily drug schedule, with times o'clock and dosages? Do you skip doses of your drugs when you are fasting? How often do you do this?

[sama]

between 10 am to 12 am I take Prozac 8.18 mg now.

9 -9.30 pm I take the seroquel and lamictal. 
has always been my way since reinstatement.

11 hours ago, Altostrata said:

Do you skip doses of your drugs when you are fasting?

No, I only take Prozac in  the evening . I started that in last April It was Ramadan and I did it  for 12 consecutive days and four days at the end May. 

 

 

[Altostrata]

It's important that you take your drugs at the same times every day and not skip any doses at all, for any reason.

 

On 6/4/2022 at 11:13 AM, sama said:

but nothing has changed mentally those medications are so effective even at lower doses I think. for how long I will keep being home person. I am active in home I exercice I mediate but nothing out.

 

I don't understand this question. Why must you be a home person? Do you feel well enough to go outside? Do you have to isolate because of covid-19?

 

What is your current symptom pattern?

[sama]

Need for staying sleep

 

So I am still tapering, I have trouble staying a sleep every day I am waking earlier till I reached a point of sleeping four hours today since  I started this new job, I am thinking about quitting , I haven’t been working since 2018 but since I reached 100 mg of seroquel I can wake up early.but this isn’t my own problem I can’t stay present.My work as a teacher with kids needs a lot of focusing , and I am living in my head I had thinking about what other teacher says , have low self-esteem. Afraid of my new boss and always afraid that my weakness is going to show ,if I interact I’ll be just oversharing. all this time I just had like few minutes that I felt connected when I spoke with one teacher and after it I felt great for a whole hour even in my interaction with kids I was happy and felt like my old me when I am early years. before bipolar is part of the story .is there hope for me after stoping all these medications or I will just returned to the depression phase of it and getting hypomania every five years which is something that during the depression I don’t mind at least I could make friends during it or before it get so bad I don’t know I am just venting here and sorry English isn’t my first language.I had to mention also that I just learned how to drive and I got into a small accident today is this related to the lack of sleep or what and also I am tearful .what solutions do you have for dealing with bipolar without medications 

 

Edited September 27, 2022 by ChessieCat
added Intro topic title before merging with intro topic

[Altostrata]

13 hours ago, sama said:

 

So I am still tapering, I have trouble staying a sleep every day I am waking earlier till I reached a point of sleeping four hours today

 

If I were you, I'd stop tapering Seroquel. If your sleep broke up, that's a withdrawal symptom. Stay at the same dosage until after your sleep comes back. You should see gradual improvement over the next few weeks.