Fosca: fluoxetine hypersensitivity - please advise

[Fosca]

Hi @rebeccaannxo, thanks for stopping by on my thread! 

 

It looks like you had an immediate adverse reaction to Lexapro with no other psychiatric drug history.  From what I've read about immediate ADRs, I'm sure you will heal.  It seems like it's not uncommon for people who suffered immediate ADRs to have little improvement for quite some time, but eventually they turn a corner and fully recover.  I know it sucks, but please hang in there 🙏🏻.  I know you will see the other side.

 

My situation, unfortunately, is more complicated and uncertain.  I don't fall in the "immediate adverse reaction" category like yourself.  I had taken fluoxetine for many years on-and-off, and then had a horrible kindling / adverse reaction after reinstating at too high a dose, and further kindled multiple times trying to correct the situation.  On some days I feel like I'm seeing a few improvements, on other days things are awful and I think I'm just deluding myself because I'm desperate to see any small sign of healing.

 

Is your living situation ok?  Are you in a supportive environment?  How are you spending your days?

 

I'm lucky that I don't have to work (otherwise I'd be screwed), but I'm living with my family and unfortunately they are growing more resentful of my presence everyday.

[Fosca]

1 minute ago, rebeccaannxo said:

I’m really hoping I make a full recovery.

 

You will!!  I believe it.  Immediate ADRs are brutal, but you will recover

 

2 minutes ago, rebeccaannxo said:

I don’t have much support from my parents. They tell me it’s all in my head and to get over it. Sadly I can’t even walk, let alone drive or work so I’m dependent on them for everything. I hate it.

 

Ugh, I'm sorry your parents are not supportive.  My parents don't understand what is going on, either.  Very frustrating.  And they aren't very empathetic or kind or caring people to begin with.  At least other people on this forum understand.  I'm hoping you will soon have some more good days where you can at least get a little walking in.

 

11 minutes ago, rebeccaannxo said:

 

I hope you make a full recovery. I’m positive you will. 

 

That's very kind of you, thank you.  I appreciate your well wishes ♥️.  I will keep you in my thoughts.

[Fosca]

1 hour ago, rebeccaannxo said:

Have you spoken to many others who recovered fully from an adverse reaction? 

 

I haven't directly spoken to anyone because my situation is different, but I've seen a bunch of recoveries and success stories.  Including people who had multiple ADRs in a row and very severe symptoms.  You'll eventually recover from 3 doses of Lexapro, but it might be a long slog.  

[Fosca]

3 minutes ago, rebeccaannxo said:

I don’t want to waste years of my life being housebound and debilitated from only 3 pills of a medication. It’s absolutely inhumane. 

 

It might not take as long as you think it will -- we can't know what the future holds.  You might not feel like you're getting better, but it sounds like you are having windows and waves, which is a good sign.  It means your body has the capacity to change and is trying to correct itself.  And I think sometimes the better the window, the worse the wave.  Everyone's healing pattern is different.  Some people suffer for a long time with little improvement and then turn a corner.  There are even a few people who have recovered without a window and wave pattern.

 

Try to take it day-by-day and stay positive.  You have more to be grateful for than you realize.   Based on what you've written on your thread, it sounds like you're young and otherwise in good health.  Many people on this forum (myself included) are not so lucky.  In addition to withdrawal, I'm dealing with a chronic condition that I cannot treat conventionally because I am hypersensitive to medications and supplements.

[Fosca]

Experiencing a tinnitus spike after stupidly agreeing to watch an action movie with my family two days ago.  They turned up the volume part way through the film and I could tell it was too loud for me.  The thought of this being a permanent worsening is honestly making me suicidal.  I guess I have to isolate myself even further going forward and not watch any tv or films with my family.  I don't know how I'm going to make it through this.

[normalhuman]

Hey Fosca, that sounds really difficult. I only have minor intermittent tinnitus but it acts up when I wear headphones but also stress so maybe the subject matter might not have been as helpful either.  Earlier on when I was super sensitive to noise (normal levels of volume for other people physically hurt my ears) if I wanted to participate I asked my partner on occasion to turn down the volume and watch with closed captioning. Maybe sometimes your family or partner can understand and would be willing to do that with you to share the time, as well as watching less stimulating shows. Other times they can watch as loud or whatever they want and you can do something more calming.  Are there other ways to spend time with them like going outside in the backyard or to a park etc? Not sure where you are but since summer time is so short it can be good to just spend time outside in the shade.

 

Oh, and if it were me I would try to have conscious awareness that suicidal ideation is like a mind trick, it's about wanting relief from suffering, not wanting to die. The level of agony you have isn't permanent.  With that awareness it can help you focus on the sense that you just need to hang on and do what you can to endure what you're going through & not make it worse. Don't indulge ideas about ending anything - it's about bolstering yourself up just a little and having a willingness to hang on & maintaining insight. I see you have compassion and hope for others in comments but potentially somehow have less for yourself and that's something else I would look at- you have just as much hope and capacity to heal as anyone else. Give yourself the same compassion you offer to others.

[Fosca]

Is there anything that can be done to lessen medication sensitivity???  I need to be able to take medication to treat my PCOS.  My symptoms are getting worse and worse.  I am continuing to go bald, grow in facial hair, and now I'm slowly developing acanthosis nigricans on my neck, armpits, even my eyelids I think.  Seeing myself slowly deteriorate and being unable to doing anything is driving me insane.

 

My ears were damaged from the loud movie incident.  I have new tinnitus tones and the tones are louder.  I also had a terrible worsening of hyperacusis and ear pain.  The hyperacusis and ear pain are getting better, though.

 

I went to a psychiatric practice at the behest of my family and they are telling me that I have health anxiety and want me to try l-methyl-folate and Cymbalta.  They (and almost everyone else I've encountered) say that my symptoms are a result of anxiety and are psychosomatic.  I've been told by my family that I should stop believing stuff I read on the internet and listen to the doctors.  I feel completely crazy and I don't know what to believe.

 

My number one concern is the PCOS.  Even more than my ear problems, which are horrible.  I would do anything in the world to be able to take spironolactone again.  I'm at a complete loss.  Please can anyone help?

[Fosca]

Unending torture.  Haven't had a single night of normal sleep.  Ears are killing me nonstop.  My mind and my body are deteriorating.  I don't know how much longer I can stay alive.  The suffering is unbearable.  I just want to die.  

[Fosca]

I don't understand how this happened from stopping and starting one drug.  Meanwhile there are people I know irl and on this forum that have been poly-drugged for decades and have never had symptoms this severe.

[Fosca]

I think I failed to mention this explicitly, but I did finally get diagnosed with PCOS by an endocrinologist.  They want me to go back on the spironolactone, take metformin, and/or go on hormonal birth control.  I'm at a complete loss because I don't think I can tolerate any medication.  I highly doubt I will be able to tolerate spironolactone because I couldn't tolerate it before my horrible kindling, and now I am a thousand times worse.  My PCOS symptoms are steadily getting worse.  I am trying to make lifestyle changes to help the PCOS but it is difficult given how exhausted and brain dead I am.  My PCOS is also difficult to treat because there aren't any easy solutions -- it's not a matter of losing weight (I'm not overweight) or cutting out junk food (I eat a decently healthy diet).  If I do not find a way to control the PCOS, what will become of me?  Completely bald?  Bearded?  Diabetic?  Endometrial cancer?  Burst ovarian cysts?

 

At times it is hard for me to tell if some of my symptoms are from withdrawal or from PCOS (which also has systemic effects), and I'm afraid the two issues will compound each other and prevent me from ever healing.

 

My insomnia is still horrible, as I mentioned above.  I have yet to experience one night of ordinary sleep.  The kindling and loud movie incident destroyed my auditory system.  I have clicking, popping, fullness, pain, 24/7 unstable tinnitus, and hyperacusis.  I feel like the tinnitus and insomnia combined are slowly driving me insane.  All I do is survive.  I am unable to work or lead a normal life.  I can barely leave the house.  It's unbelievable to think that I was completely physically healthy before this happened.

 

I'm afraid given the length of time I was on the drug and the severity of the kindling I will never heal.  I keep on thinking I'm going to turn the corner, and I never do.  The suffering is unending.  I've seen multiple people on here who never healed after 3+ years and went back on the drugs.  With my kindling, tinnitus, and hyperacusis I do not believe that is an option for me.  If I take a drug that makes my tinnitus go catastrophic I think there is a high probability I will commit suicide.

 

I cannot believe my horrible luck with fluoxetine and spironolactone.  Literally millions of people go on and off these drugs with few repercussions.  I feel completely cursed and like God wants me to suffer slowly and painfully over many years before forcing me to take my own life.

 

Before this happened my life was already a tragic failure.  I had multiple people tell me that my life was tragedy -- so much wasted potential and time.  I had nothing.  Now I have even less.

 

I do know what the point is of continuing to post here.  Just to catalogue my decline?  No one can offer me any suggestions on what to do about my inability to take any medications which prevents me from treating my PCOS.  I'm trying to decide if I commit suicide whether or not I want my family to inform the forum.  There probably isn't a point.

[ChessieCat]

My suggestion would be to forego the drugs and go on a low carb diet.  If you want more information please PM me.

[Fosca]

I just self-harmed again.  Haven't self-harmed in at least a month.  I'm not getting any better.  I don't think I will heal from this.  My brain will not adapt back to its pre-fluoxetine state.  I'm thinking of risking going back on psychiatric medication even with my horrible kindling because I genuinely do not think I will survive this.  

[Fosca]

I think I should have never taken a psychiatric med in the first place, but unfortunately I am one of those people whose body becomes dependent on the medication and has to take it for the rest of their life.  So once the doctor put me on it at 17 years old I needed to take it until my death.  Now I am screwed beyond repair because I cannot take the medication my body is adapted to because of kindling. 

[Fosca]

I have no good choices -- continue suffering indefinitely for years, commit suicide, risk taking another medication and destroying my body even further

[Fosca]

Sorry to post so much, but I should also clarify that I haven't had a single window.  I do not have the waves and windows pattern as I understand it.

 

Kindling screwed me up beyond repair -- permanent insomnia, permanent tinnitus.  No end in sight.  I have read cases on here of people who never recovered after years and years of insomnia.

[Fosca]

I haven't read a single case of someone who was on a single medication for as long as I was, and then kindled as badly as I did on it, that went on to recover.  At least before the kindling I could sleep and experience silence.  Now that's been permanently taken away for whatever is left of my life.  Before kindling I had no physical symptoms other than medication sensitivity.  It didn't take much to destroy me.

[Fosca]

I am sorry for my posts.  I am just really mental and physically unwell.  I am suffering severely.  I am not seeing any improvement and my sleep has been getting worse.  I think from the beginning of my topic I really minimized the severity of my symptoms.  I have been self-harming on and off and having suicidal ideation and suicidal impulses this whole time.  Among other things I don't talk about.  I was never like this before I started fluoxetine all of those years ago.  I'm not seeing any end in sight to this.  Being on fluoxetine long-term screwed up my brain chemistry and now I have become mentally ill from coming off of it.  Maybe I should risk reinstating fluoxetine again or a small dose of another drug?  I don't think I'm one of the lucky ones that will have a spontaneous resolution of my symptoms over time.

 

I wish I had found this forum earlier before I screwed up my life.  It's somewhat difficult to find from my experience.  In all of my reading on here I don't think I've ever read of someone kindling so badly on the same drug over and over again.

 

I will shut up for now and stop bothering the forum.  I know it's pointless.  I don't know how long I can wait and how bad it needs to get for me to risk trying another drug.  

[methuselah]

Hey @Foscai know how hard this is, trust me, I’m struggling with Prozac too.  i thought this was the easy one to come off of!  I’m probably kindled and still going thru benzo wd and god knows what else.

 

suixide is not the answer.  It’s permanent and it not a solution.  Please keep pressing through for yourself and your family.  People get through this horror show, read the success stories again. Please reach out to local emergency resources if needed.  Folks here can only provide online support here.  

[Fosca]

@methuselah Thank you.  I will try to keep going for now.  I know people on here can only do so much.  But I am losing hope.  I am dealing with too much.  I don't think I will see the other side of this.  And unfortunately I don't have much of anything to live for.

[methuselah]

The unknown things you haven’t found yet are the things you have to live for.  You said you had family too!  You’re young, you have a whole life ahead of you.  Get thru this first and the rest will be a breeze.

[normalhuman]

Have you thought about weekly therapy or an IOP? I did an IOP where I learned DBT skills some of which were helpful but it also forced me to interact and be a part of something. 

[Fosca]

@normalhuman I have started with a psychologist but to be honest I don't think she is going to be helpful.  I might try changing to a different therapist.  I will look into IOP, but I'm not sure how I will be able to handle it.  My hyperacusis is improving after the movie incident, but it still makes it difficult to do things.  Sound exposure (too loud, too long, or of certain frequencies / qualities) risks damaging my ears again.  My ability to be out in public is limited, and wearing earplugs is bothersome because then I am stuck listening to my horrendous tinnitus, which permanently worsened after the movie.  DBT might be doable, especially if it was done online.

[MothGarden]

Have you heard of Mikhaila Peterson? She has autoimmune disorders and also went through ssri withdrawal after being on them for over a decade. She only eats beef. I personally haven’t tried it or necessarily even recommend it but I do wonder if only eating meat could potentially help someone with PCOS since it affects your ability to process any carbs or sugars. Just something to think about.

If you look into her at all be aware that she does a lot of right wing political commentary. 

[Fosca]

@MothGarden Thanks for the suggestion.  Yeah, I've heard of people doing carnivore type diets, extreme low carb (keto), and anti-histamine diets for various ailments.  Low carb or keto works for some people with PCOS, but not all.  I would be willing to test out a moderately low carb diet -- I think too extreme a diet change might put my body under too much stress.  I've started working with a dietician but implementing changes is slow going for me since I'm so sleep-deprived and brain dead.  Even before withdrawal I struggled with food, cooking, and meal planning. 

 

Unfortunately my insomnia, stress, and limited ability to exercise due to withdrawal is probably exacerbating my symptoms.  I'm doing the best I can, but it's incredibly frustrating.  I also feel like my attempts to improve my insomnia have made me more stressed out about sleep and have actually worsened it.  I've also been trying to create more structure during my days and I worry that even the loose structure I've implemented is too much stress for me and making things worse.

[normalhuman]

There are definitely some more helpful therapists than others. I've had a couple I didn't like and needed to switch but I found trauma informed therapy and EMDR helpful personally. Although I don't think if I was in acute withdrawal how much EMDR would help but someone that understands trauma may be more beneficial to work with since it's essentially what you're going through.   EMDR may be something to look into down the line if it's of interest.  You could ask the current psych though, if she knows of any IOP programs that teach online DBT, that's what I ended up doing I didn't even feel comfortable leaving my house when I was really struggling. Some of the techniques help in various ways but I recall them giving distress tolerance practices in place of self harm and other things people do. If you can learn to replace those it can be less harmful in the long run. I know all you want is for it to improve or stop- it's exhausting, awful, unrelenting, terrifying. And that leads to thinking about darker alternatives & temporary fixes but you have to hang in there in the span of any of our lives even if it took a a year or so remember how much more you have. 

 

I'm about 21 months (and reinstated 2mg after 25 years of psych meds) and still have some hearing sensitivity but not as bad as the first 9 months or so.  I also see a naturopathic Dr & I've been able to tolerate more supplements again but I started with my own empty gel caps and trying fraction of doses even for them.  A lot of what I deal with off and on is chronic pain off and on now, so I've been able to add back Curcumin, which helps but I recall trying it months ago and feeling off or light headed. So I think sometimes as things calm down most people are able to tolerate a bit more. Everyone has their own timeline but another online group I do there's a woman I recall said it took her a full year before she could tolerate even tylenol.  There are some supplement alternatives to Spiro too but you might have to work with a Naturopathic Dr (and some are just supplement pushers so you have to search for a good one) and there's always a risk of set back for some... but if it's matter of severe sickness there are possibly some alternatives to Spiro. Not advocating anything it has to be your decision just mentioning there are some other options if all other natural means with diet and exercise don't do enough.

[Fosca]

@normalhuman Yes, thank you for taking the time to write and the input.  I am looking into more intensive therapy programs.

 

It is hard to keep going and stay positive because I don't believe my sleep or ears will ever recover, and this is simply not livable long-term.  After the damage that was done to my ears because of the loud movie, I lost all hope of recovery.  I cannot live with these damaged ears for the rest of my life.  I have no windows and I feel like I am being tortured 24/7.  If I had windows and waves where I had some sense that things were improving I would be able to hold on.  But I don't.  I don't think this is withdrawal -- this is medication brain damage coupled with extremely severe anxiety and depression, unlike anything I have ever experienced before.  The longer this situation goes on the more anxious and suicidally depressed I get.  I would give anything in the world to be able to go back on fluoxetine and I am strongly considering risking going back on some sort of medication in an attempt to keep myself alive.

[Fosca]

I know this forum is for tapering drugs, is anti-drug, and refuses to recommend any drugs.  So I'm assuming no one is willing to discuss this with me here.  Are there are any other forums or resources online for discussing psychiatric drugs.  Or psychiatrists that actually know anything about complicated cases like this.  For example -- I know some people have recovered with lamictal, but I have a significant drug-gene interaction with lamictal, so I don't know if another anticonvulsant could act similarly?  Or if maybe I should try a low dose of another drug.  Or even try reinstating an even more minuscule dose of fluoxetine again, now that 7 months have passed.  My psychiatric nurse practitioner wants me to try l-methylfolate supplementation and Cymbalta, which I'm not sure is a good idea.  Given I have zero windows, I'm having a hard time believing that my insomnia is somehow magically going to resolve itself in 2-3 years, or however long I am expected to suffer.

[Altostrata]

There are many forums for discussing psychiatric drugs, and many doctors willing to prescribe them according to their best guess, but we can't make that guess for you.

 

I can't help but wonder why you think your problems are psychiatric and an extreme form of kindling and can only be resolved by psychiatric drugs. You may have physical conditions, such as PCOS, that are causing some of your symptoms, and you are reacting in a self-blaming and self-punishing way, which is a habit of mind that you might examine with your therapist.

 

Sometimes talking with a therapist about why you feel they are not helping can advance your progress. If you don't feel your current therapist is helpful, you might look for another one.

 

For your physical conditions, you might look for medical specialists. Sometimes finding the right one who won't brush you off with a psychiatric drug prescription is quite a bit of work.

 

7 hours ago, Fosca said:

I don't believe my sleep or ears will ever recover, and this is simply not livable long-term.

 

Have you seen any ear specialists? 

 

From your topic, it also seems like you've been on and off spironolactone, which does not appear in your signature. Please read up on the adverse effects of this drug. It can cause hearing symptoms and tinnitus.

 

When people go on and off psychiatric drugs, they often become sensitized to all kinds of drugs -- any amount of alcohol can cause a big setback -- and sometimes supplements and even foods. This may have happened to you, and you may still be hypersensitive, as this only slowly goes away over months.

[Fosca]

@Altostrata I appreciate you taking the time to reply.  I know that there is little that the forum can help me with given my situation.  I've been to a ton of specialists (including ear specialists) to no avail.  I don't believe spironolactone or PCOS have much to do with the bulk of my issues.  My most significant issues started when attempting to reinstate fluoxetine, and I've been in hell ever since.

 

I was wondering if anyone has ever heard of a case where someone who had a failed reinstatement was able to successfully reinstate the drug at a later time.  If so, please let me know.  It's been almost 9 months since I last took fluoxetine and I am extremely depressed.

[ChessieCat]

On 9/10/2022 at 5:17 AM, Fosca said:

I need to be able to take medication to treat my PCOS.  My symptoms are getting worse and worse.  I am continuing to go bald, grow in facial hair, and now I'm slowly developing acanthosis nigricans on my neck, armpits, even my eyelids I think.

 

My suggestion would be to look into low carb.  Do a search on Youtube for:  pcos metabolic syndrome low carb keto

 

Here is the link to one by a lady who has found that it helps:

 

PCOS | Improvements since going Keto / Low Carb & Losing weight

 

I was diagnosed with diabetes in October 2021 and now eat a low carb diet.  After only about 2 weeks of cutting out the sugar and a lot of medium and high carb foods the cravings went.  I've now been eating this way for 1 year and I'm getting great results in all areas.  Without even trying I have lost 20% of my weight (80kg down to 64kg).  My waist measurement has gone from 44" to 38".

 

If you do decide to change your diet I suggest you do it gradually, by cutting out obvious sugars first and then cut out the highly processed foods and then the high carb foods.  I threw out/gave away a lot of foods.  As I used the unhealthier foods I either replaced them with better options and didn't replace them at all.

 

[ChessieCat]

The following video by Dr Ken Berry (yes a proper doctor, not just an honorary title) on PCOS has literally just been uploaded to YouTube.

 

In a nutshell his advice:  low carb diet.

 

This is the description below the video:

 

PCOS affects Millions of people around the world! Many doctors are confused as to what actually causes PCOS, and how to reverse it. HINT: There is no medicine to reverse PCOS. The quick & simple steps I explain in this video will help you start to reverse your PCOS symptoms today, and in many cases, erase the symptoms all together.

 

PCOS Solution in 5 Minutes [Reverse PCOS Starting Today!] 2022

 

[Altostrata]

Not sure what we're talking about here. Are you asking advice about how to treat depression? We would not be able to answer that. We provide peer support for going off drugs only.

 

On 3/2/2022 at 11:08 AM, Fosca said:

The last time I discontinued the drug (fluoxetine 20mg), I noticed within 2 months that I could no longer tolerate, even at a very small dose, another drug that I had previously tolerated (spironolactone). 

 

If you have withdrawal syndrome from Prozac, which you've already identified as causing you to become sensitized to spironolactone, and you continue to take spironolactone (which does not appear in your signature), why would you not think that your symptoms may be from spironolactone?

 

At any rate, as mere Internet peer support, we're not able to resolve an apparent confounding effect of multiple drugs. The usual method requires reducing or stopping the drug that may be causing the adverse effect and see if that helps. Since you have rejected that, if you are having adverse effects from spironolactone, you'll have to cope with them. We wish you the best in your efforts.

[Fosca]

45 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

If you have withdrawal syndrome from Prozac, which you've already identified as causing you to become sensitized to spironolactone, and you continue to take spironolactone (which does not appear in your signature), why would you not think that your symptoms may be from spironolactone?

 

My apologies, there is some confusion here.  When I became sensitized to spironolactone I stopped taking it -- that was back in December of last year.  That resolved the adverse effects I was experiencing from spiro.  What I am left with now are problems related just to Prozac withdrawal / failed reinstatement (and what seems to be very severe rebound depression.)  I have been completely off Prozac since March of this year, and not been on any other drugs or psychoactive substances (no drinking, no caffeine, I've tried only a few supplements like fish oil in small doses.)

 

The problem is that almost 9 months later I am doing extremely, extremely poorly, and I feel like I need to take a risk and try something.  Either another reinstatement (maybe 0.1 mg Prozac) or another drug.  I guess I was just wondering, with regards to reinstatement, if anyone had heard of a case where someone who had a failed reinstatement (like me) was able to reinstate the drug successfully sometime later (with further passage of time).  I know it's probably fruitless, but I'm just trying to figure out what has the best chance of helping.

[Altostrata]

2 minutes ago, Fosca said:

The problem is that almost 9 months later I am doing extremely, extremely poorly,

 

What are the symptoms of this? Is it only what you're calling depression? What is this depression like?

[Fosca]

I'm really sorry to be in this position -- I don't know what to do.  Not sure how to reach my nurse practitioner on the weekend.  I caved into pressure from my family and doctors and took 1 mg of Lexapro 2 days in a row.  I am feeling emotionally better but very jittery like I drank way too much caffeine -- can't sleep, shaky, spaced out.  I can tell this is way too strong for me.  I feel very similar to how I felt when I tried to reinstate the small doses of fluoxetine (2.5 mg, 1.25 mg etc.) back in March.  After taking it for only 2 days, do I just quit the Lexapro?  Or do I try to stabilize on an extremely low dose ?  It is actually helping my mood it's just WAY too strong given how sensitized I am.  Or do I try to switch to fluoxetine instead?  I'm afraid and don't know what to do since I can't reach my prescriber.

[getofflex]

I realize you are doing very poorly, but here is what I see on this forum quite a lot:  people are in withdrawal, and out of desperation try to get help from health care professionals, and they get put on another psych drug, and then they get worse instead of better.  In the vast majority of cases, the advice and treatment they will give you will conflict with the advice we give you on this site.  This site is about getting off drugs, while health care people will put you on drugs.  Once the nervous system is destabilized, more psych drugs will have a chance of causing unpredictable and adverse reactions, and making you worse, instead of better.

 

Lexapro is 2x to 4x stronger than other SSRI's.  We usually suggest reinstating to the same drug you got off of.  Yes, it is fine to quit Lexapro now, if fact I would suggest that.  

 

In the past you have done reinstatements, but they were higher doses than what we would suggest, and you may have had adverse reactions to these - kindling.) It is important not to react to your symptoms, and jump around on doses of drugs, and jump on and off different drugs.  This puts you at risk of worsening your condition, and further destabilizing your nervous system. You got away with this in 2009 -2021, but then your system became sensitized, and now can't do this anymore without causing major symptoms.  This is very common.  For example, I see you tried a reinstatement back in March, but only gave it a few days, and varied the dose every few days.  This sort of thing is very hard on your system.  Please read this very carefully:  

 

Considerations About Stability - Stop Jumping Around

 

You have 2 options here: 

 

1) attempt a very tiny reinstatement of fluoxetine, not Lexapro.  Based on your past history (you reported it burning through your system when you tried a 0.5 mg reinstatement) I would suggest trying only 0.1 mg of fluoxetine.  I would suggest the liquid, as it is easy to measure a precise small dose in a syringe.  Take that exact dose, each and every day, at the same time of the day.  Don't skip, or vary your dose.  Please find out from the pharmacist how many mg of the drug is in one mil of the liquid, and report it back to us, and we will make sure you get the right dose.  If your prozac liquid contains 20 mg/5 ml, then you would take 0.03 ml.  You can measure this with a very small 1 ml syringe that has increments of 0.01.  Here they are on amazon: 

 

https://www.amazon.com/ExactaMed-Medication-Medicine-Dispenser-Exacta-Med/dp/B01628G5A2/ref=sr_1_5?crid=2H6J8B21G2TSB&keywords=1+ml+syringe+in+0.01+increments&qid=1669575988&sprefix=1+ml+syringe+in+0.01+icrements%2Caps%2C1096&sr=8-5

 

Give the reinstatement at least 1 week, unless you feel significantly worse, in which case stop it right away.  It takes at least a week to fully get into your system.  If it works, it should decrease your symptoms.  If you feel the same, or only helps a little bit, after a week or two, you can very carefully increase the dose to 0.0.04 mg of fluoxetine, and so on. Read this link to understand about reinstatement and the risks: 

 

About Reinstating and Stabilizing to Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms

 

2) stay off the psych drugs entirely, and find non drug ways to cope with the symptpoms, and do natural self care.  There are a plethora of techniques, both on this site and on the internet.  

 

Edited November 27, 2022 by getofflex