KellyS: Off Meds for a week!

[KellyS]

Oh wow, I didn't know that, I will ask him, thanks!

[KellyS]

I found more medication in my cabinet, if I count the beads could you tell me again how many mg each one is like you did before? Do you think I tapered too quick down to the 5mg then and maybe I should go back to the approx 8mg I was on and do it again? I will count the beads tonight and message you back on here.

[Altostrata]

I'd go back to 5mg.

 

There is no set number of beads in 5mg. Are these the same type of Effexor XR you were taking when you were at 5mg? Can you remember how you measured it out before?

[KellyS]

I just counted the beads for Venlafaxine ER I was taking, its 140 beads approx per 150 MG pill, I was taking 8 beads up until about 2 weeks ago but the fibromyalgia symptoms have been going on for months now getting worse in the last 2 months. How many beads should I take for 8 mg out of the 150 MG pill? or should I go back to the 5mg again? how many beads would that be? Thanks so much for your help!

PS I was counting the beads back for the 8mg from a 37.5 mg capsule..

[Altostrata]

If your symptoms started getting worse 2 months ago, it may have been because the reduction was too fast.

 

If (all approximate) 140 beads = 150mg, 14 beads = 15mg, 7 beads = 7.5mg.

 

How about taking 5 beads for a few days and see if symptoms are relieved at all?

[KellyS]

OK I will do that, thanks!

[flower]

Kelly did you stop taking Trazadone also? If so how did that go for you..I don't mean to be to nosey but I would like to cut back the Traz a little. The last time I did I got really weepy and anxious, but I cut 25mgs of 100mg..I guess that was all wrong. I only get 3 or 4 hours of sleep on it anymore.

[KellyS]

Hi flower,

 

Of course it's OK if you ask!

I stopped Trazodone a few months ago and my sleep has improved over time. I didn't sleep well for the first few weeks, barely at all but I stuck it out and now I am doing MUCH better, sleeping better just waking up a few times at night. I am actually going to get a sleep study done to see why I have trouble sleeping, because the DR thinks I might have sleep apnea...I now take an all natural over the counter supplement, it helps ALOT, its called Nature Made Sleep, you can get it from Amazon for $9.14 for a 30 day supply. Mind you, no sleep meds have worked and this one actually helps me and I notice the difference when I dont take it, so its a good one as far as I am concerned. Any other questions, feel free to ask, thats what we are all here for, to help each other out

[flower]

Thanks alot Kelly how was the daytime anxiety when you gave up the Traz. did you taper it? Did you have to increase the benzo? I worry about anxiety when I'm already tapering Celexa. I might just drop a tad. Congrats on your taper..Good job

[Nikki]

Congratulations are in order here Kelly. Good for you.

 

Hugs

[KellyS]

HI Alto,

 

I thought it was long overdue for an update on me. I developed fibromyalgia from lack of sleep this year and was in so much pain I started going to a rhematologist. I had a sleep study done because he had a sleep specialist in his office and it was intertesting to see the results. Basically I stay in a level 1-2 (barely dosing) state 90% of the night and do have sleep apnea but its not enough to be the culprit of what is causing the lack of sleep. Yes, think it partially has to do with withdrawal symptoms as I have been on 5mg approx of venlafaxine for 6+ months now and try to go to 4 beads and my insomnia kicks in worse. Through talk therapy I figured out that part of my original sleep insomnia back before ALL the medications were even started 15 years ago I went through major trauma in 1991-1993 from a abusive ex boyfriend who physically and mentally abused me. Long story short, I ended the relationship when the abuse got really bad towards the end and he kept breaking in at night while I slept in the middle of the night, drunk. and threatening me at gun point. He ended up trying to kill me by strangling me and the neighbors heard my screams out the window for them to call the police and they got there in the nick of time. thank god. So, after this all happened over the next few years I started to develop anxiety, depression, insomnia. I kept thinking someone was going to break in. (Mind you, I was living on the second floor of a 2 family home and my ex climbed over the side of the deck into a window to break in) So, very recently, I started to wake up from any window rattling yelling "He's breaking in! or "He's going to get me!" Its CRAZY to me that after all these years I have figured out the source of my orignal insomnia! So, the sleep DR told me the ONLY medication that would get me to level 3 of sleep I needed for my body to rest and to heal from the fibro was XYREM, a GHB dangerous drug. I was VERY afraid to take this drug but after weeks and weeks of not sleeping I gave in and had the script filled. I took it ONCE and it did work for a few hours but once I woke up I had severe depression, crying jags, and feelings of hopelessness which are all side effects of this scary drug. I decided never to take it again. I tried to get the sleep dr to talk to me over the phone I just wanted to ask him if there was something else I could take even though I knew the answer, he wouldnt get on the phone with me and said I had to come in for a consult. So I was at my WITS END hanging on by a thread mentally and went BACK to a psychiatrist.

I didnt want ANY anti-d again and made that clear. I didnt want anything that had a side effect of depression either because I clearly get that side effect quickly. So after talking it over with the Doc, I went BACK on the trazodone. It makes me so sad to even say it outloud!! BUT I feel this med was the LEAST trouble to get off last time and I am dying without sleep after all this time. One thing that got me thru it was the rhematologist gave me a mild 5mg muscle relaxer and to take it at night since I had muscle pain in my knees at night and THIS helped me sleep a LTTLE better but the script ran out after 2 months and they wont refill it without a DR appt so I was able to get into the psych dr sooner so I went there instead of him. I felt the muscle relaxer was a bad way to go and didnt want to depend on it I needed something different. After a few nights of the trazodone again I am sleeping a LITTLE. The depression is gone thank GOD and I feel mentally MUCH better however the dose is too low I was on 200mg before and she had to wean me up to that so I am only on 100mg right now. I have mixed emotions about all this, I feel like I take 10 steps forward and 1 mile BACK with these meds!!! The psych dr said effexor or venlafaxine is the HARDEST MED TO GET OFF, I was like No SH*T!!! hahaha It has been now 1 year and 3 months since I STARTED trying to get off it and I feel like I will never be rid of it.

[Altostrata]

Thanks for checking in, Kelly.

 

Whew! Quite a journey you've been on.

 

If the trazodone is helping, if I were you I'd stay at the lower dose for a while to see if your sleep gradually gets better. Don't try to clobber your nervous system into submission. More is not necessarily better when you're dealing with a sensitive system.

 

Can you tell if the muscle relaxer (what drug is it?) would help your sleep on its own? Maybe you could get by with one drug.

[flower]

HI Alto,

 

I thought it was long overdue for an update on me. I developed fibromyalgia from lack of sleep this year and was in so much pain I started going to a rhematologist. I had a sleep study done because he had a sleep specialist in his office and it was intertesting to see the results. Basically I stay in a level 1-2 (barely dosing) state 90% of the night and do have sleep apnea but its not enough to be the culprit of what is causing the lack of sleep. Yes, think it partially has to do with withdrawal symptoms as I have been on 5mg approx of venlafaxine for 6+ months now and try to go to 4 beads and my insomnia kicks in worse. Through talk therapy I figured out that part of my original sleep insomnia back before ALL the medications were even started 15 years ago I went through major trauma in 1991-1993 from a abusive ex boyfriend who physically and mentally abused me. Long story short, I ended the relationship when the abuse got really bad towards the end and he kept breaking in at night while I slept in the middle of the night, drunk. and threatening me at gun point. He ended up trying to kill me by strangling me and the neighbors heard my screams out the window for them to call the police and they got there in the nick of time. thank god. So, after this all happened over the next few years I started to develop anxiety, depression, insomnia. I kept thinking someone was going to break in. (Mind you, I was living on the second floor of a 2 family home and my ex climbed over the side of the deck into a window to break in) So, very recently, I started to wake up from any window rattling yelling "He's breaking in! or "He's going to get me!" Its CRAZY to me that after all these years I have figured out the source of my orignal insomnia! So, the sleep DR told me the ONLY medication that would get me to level 3 of sleep I needed for my body to rest and to heal from the fibro was XYREM, a GHB dangerous drug. I was VERY afraid to take this drug but after weeks and weeks of not sleeping I gave in and had the script filled. I took it ONCE and it did work for a few hours but once I woke up I had severe depression, crying jags, and feelings of hopelessness which are all side effects of this scary drug. I decided never to take it again. I tried to get the sleep dr to talk to me over the phone I just wanted to ask him if there was something else I could take even though I knew the answer, he wouldnt get on the phone with me and said I had to come in for a consult. So I was at my WITS END hanging on by a thread mentally and went BACK to a psychiatrist.

I didnt want ANY anti-d again and made that clear. I didnt want anything that had a side effect of depression either because I clearly get that side effect quickly. So after talking it over with the Doc, I went BACK on the trazodone. It makes me so sad to even say it outloud!! BUT I feel this med was the LEAST trouble to get off last time and I am dying without sleep after all this time. One thing that got me thru it was the rhematologist gave me a mild 5mg muscle relaxer and to take it at night since I had muscle pain in my knees at night and THIS helped me sleep a LTTLE better but the script ran out after 2 months and they wont refill it without a DR appt so I was able to get into the psych dr sooner so I went there instead of him. I felt the muscle relaxer was a bad way to go and didnt want to depend on it I needed something different. After a few nights of the trazodone again I am sleeping a LITTLE. The depression is gone thank GOD and I feel mentally MUCH better however the dose is too low I was on 200mg before and she had to wean me up to that so I am only on 100mg right now. I have mixed emotions about all this, I feel like I take 10 steps forward and 1 mile BACK with these meds!!! The psych dr said effexor or venlafaxine is the HARDEST MED TO GET OFF, I was like No SH*T!!! hahaha It has been now 1 year and 3 months since I STARTED trying to get off it and I feel like I will never be rid of it.

I don't know what I'd do without the Trazadone during all this changing of meds.I've gone down to 75mgs. You're right,it's the least of my worries too. I hate this gabapentin. Hang in there we will get it sooner or later.

[KellyS]

Alto,

 

I have been going through a very stressful time at work and while I love my job and have a great supportive boss, I am not handling the stress well at all. I had a melt down today at a gas station when the guy filled my tank and I told him $20 over and over again. I have been progessively getting angrier and angrier and short with people and even my poor pet. I am to the point where I am afraid I will go off on someone at work and lose my job if I don't get some help. I do NOT want to go back on meds but I do not see any other options. I went down in dose about a month ago now to 3 beads of the venlafaxine capsules which is a very low dose and I am not sure if my anger and high anxiety is as a result or what, I was ok on the 4 beads before this. I have been weaning over a year now and REALLY do NOT want to go back to 4 beads as I feel its more than that going on. My Anxiety is so bad even a little caffeine from half a cup of coffee gives me anxiety now. I feel the butterflies in my chest before even finishing a cup. super sensitive to EVERYTHING right now. Also I am much more talkative now and ALL my friends have noticed and said I seem very high strung since going down on my meds in the past year. HELP!!!!!!!!!

[lexicon]

Hi Kelly's,

I am so sorry that you are going through a distressful time ..

Hopefully it will be short lived, and you will find some peace and relief soon.

I do not have any help to offer you to relieve your symptoms,

I just wanted to offer my support and encouragement to you ..Please hold on,

and don't loose hope ..

It will get better, it always does.

Please hug your beloved pet ..Sending you love, and thoughts of wellness ..

Love, Lexi

[KellyS]

Thank you that means a lot, even a virtual hug is a relief right now

[KellyS]

I am hoping Alto will check in as I would love some guidance....

[Altostrata]

KellyS, you have only two choices: Try the 4 beads or stay at 3 beads and manage your emotions with non-drug methods. See http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1112-non-drug-techniques-to-cope-with-emotional-symptoms/

 

Are you taking fish oil and magnesium? See http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1300-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/

[KellyS]

I looked at the links you sent before I posted, thanks.

[mammaP]

Hi Kelly, I am at the same stage as you and have been at 4 beads since June, I tried dropping to 3

but had to go back to 4, I decided it just wasn't worth the suffering at this stage! . .

. I think probably it's because it was a 25%drop which is quite a lot really. I now have liquid to finish my taper,

I 've only just started the liquid yesterday so it's early days yet. I just want off this but am trying to be patient 

 

We will get there in the end but these last few beads seem to be problematic for us. 

[KellyS]

Thanks mammaP, I don't feel so alone now. I get withdrawal at the 2 week mark but have not went back up to the 4mg again. I appreciate your feedback!