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For personal reasons, Healing is stepping down as a moderator.

 

Thank you, Healing, for all your help. You've done a brilliant job making the Finding Meaning forum a vibrant center of the community. We all look forward to your continued contributions.

 

Our level-headed and dedicated Patience is the site's new assistant administrator, to help with administrator tasks.

 

 

Just saw this post.

 

 

I was wondering where Healing was these days. She's been such a positive force in the forum and thus, I'm so sad to hear she has had to step down as moderator. I sincerely hope she's doing okay and I send her positive, healing and supportive energy.

 

I miss her energy and hope she returns soon!

 

 

Patience, congratulations on your position as assistant administrator. It's good to hear that Alto has this additional support.

 

 

Punar

To Face My Trials with "The Grace of a Woman Rather Than the Grief of a Child". (quote section by Veronica A. Shoffstall)

 

Be Not Afraid of Growing Slowly. Be Afraid of Only Standing Still.

(Chinese Proverb)

 

I Create and Build Empowerment Within Each Time I Choose to Face A Fear, Sit with it and Ask Myself, "What Do I Need to Learn?"

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  • 3 months later...
  • Administrator

Please welcome Crocus as a moderator.

 

In a short time, Crocus has become a beacon of comfort and calm on this site. She is also working on establishing peer support groups near Denver, Colorado, where she lives, and has found a purpose in helping people withdraw from psychiatric drugs and return to good health in all ways.

 

On top of that, she's read "book in the library about psych meds, litigation, nutrients for brain health."

 

Thank you for your help, Crocus!

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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Well, thanks Alto for the kind words.

 

I feel very passionate about being here for myself and others as I, like everyone else involved is "playing with all the marbles" in that the quality of our lives is deeply impacted by the misrepresentation of AD's. The way we decide to respond to this challenge can make all the difference in getting our lives back as well as paving the way for the flood of others who will need support in dealing with a problem that we did not create - but must now solve.

xxxx

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Administrator

Problems with e-mail sent to members from the site resolved

 

We had some problems last week because another site (not SA) on our shared hosted server was blacklisted for spamming. This caused e-mails routed through our hosted server -- such as alerts about new posts to watched topics -- to bounce because hotmail, Comcast, etc. were refusing to route mail from a spammer IP address.

 

That has been resolved by our host, and I haven't received any more bounce notices.

 

Such is the risk when you share a big server with dozens of other sites.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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  • 1 month later...
  • Administrator

I want to welcome alexejice to our team of moderators. He will also take on some technical administration tasks.

 

alex has been a valued part of our community since its beginning, contributing posts wise beyond his years. He's seen every kind of up and down in his own condition -- now, thankfully, on the mend.

 

Thank you, alex, for being so kind and thoughtful and offering your skills as a moderator.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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Congrats Alex

Pristiq tapered over 8 months ending Spring 2011 after 18 years of polydrugging that began w/Zoloft for fatigue/general malaise (not mood). CURRENT: 1mg Klonopin qhs (SSRI bruxism), 75mg trazodone qhs, various hormonesLitigation for 11 years for Work-related injury, settled 2004. Involuntary medical retirement in 2001 (age 39). 2012 - brain MRI showing diffuse, chronic cerebrovascular damage/demyelination possibly vasculitis/cerebritis. Dx w/autoimmune polyendocrine failure.<p>2013 - Dx w/CNS Sjogren's Lupus (FANA antibodies first appeared in 1997 but missed by doc).

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  • 6 months later...
  • Administrator

Changes!

 

Crocus and Hopeful have retired as moderators.

 

Crocus has gone back to work. Hopeful has moved on and will be posting her success story soon.

 

I am very happy to announce strawberry17 is a new moderator, keeping an eye on the Tapering forum.

 

No one knows tapering better than strawberry. She's chronicled her multi-year attempt to get off sertraline, switch to Prozac, and get off Prozac here. Her Intro topic is here.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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The admirable Jemima will be moderating the Symptoms and Self-care forum.

 

Jemima knows symptoms only too well! In her own words, she's been on a hellride with misdiagnosis and adverse reactions to all kinds of medications, including misadventures with Lipitor, Lexapro, Pristiq, and Remeron.

 

She is recovering and figuring out how to reconstitute her life. Her Intro topic is here.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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  • Administrator

Please welcome Whatever as a moderator, free-range for the time being.

 

She's also been through everything -- went off a ridiculous cocktail of Celexa, Zyprexa, Depakote, Ativan, Ambien and Phentermine in 2002 cold-turkey (which she would NEVER recommend to anyone), lost several years to recover, and is here to help others rebuild their lives.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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I am glad to see you all in these positions. You're experience, while painful, is now so helpful to us. Very good choices from Alto.

Taper from Cymbalta, Paxil, Prozac & Antipsychotics finished June 2012.

Xanax 5% Taper - (8/12 - .5 mg) - (9/12 - .45) - (10/12 - .43) - (11/12 - .41) - (12/12 - .38)

My Paxil Website

My Intro

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • Administrator

I am happy to welcome peggy as a moderator.

 

Peggy will be keeping an eye on the Introductions forum and helping taperers, as well as others -- because peggy is a very helpful person!

 

peggy was initially prescribed Effexor XR 13 or 14 years ago for post-partum depression. She tried to go off several times.

 

She is now counting out Effexor XR beads to taper and has become quite an expert on this technique.

 

Welcome, moderator peggy.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Administrator

dalsaan has graciously agreed to help as a free-range moderator.

 

She's been wrestling with mirtazapine (Remeron) withdrawal since 2008. After an accidental cold turkey and 4 unsuccessful withdrawal attempts, she's winning this bout with gradual tapering using a liquid.

 

There's no one who knows tapering better! Welcome, dalsaan.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • Administrator

A few days ago, this site suffered a minor hacker attack. This caused Google to put a warning on our site address.

 

There never was any malware being downloaded from this site.

 

The bad code inserted by the hacker was fixed and this site is safe. The Google warning has been removed.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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Alto, if you need any help at ALL with running this site, please let me know I would be glad to help out!

I am a 40 year old woman who has been on Effexor XR, Clonopin and Trazodone since 2001, and Abilify since 2010. I have been on Effexor XR 150mg 2x day, Abilify 1 mg daily, Trazodone 200mg daily, and Clonopin .05mg as needed. 8/26-I have started back up on 10.71mg of Effexor XR Capsules because after 1 1/2 weeks my withdrawal symptoms were terrible so I re-instated this small dose to re-start my taper at a much slower rate. 11/13-I am now on 7mgs of Effexor XR NO WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS AT ALL :)

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Thanks, Kelly. E-mail sent!

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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I just got the google warning and proceeded anyway.

15+ years on various ADs and combos. Spent 3 yrs tapering (off & on ) off 225mg Effexor venlafaxine) XR & Remeron (mirtazapine). Finished tapering Oct 2014.

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The home page directs to the Discussion forums lately.

 

Started approximately at same time I got DANGER warnings. It used open to the Welcome page.

 

Coincidence?

"Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast
I'm drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past
But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free
I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me.

Everybody's moving, if they ain't already there
Everybody's got to move somewhere
Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow
Things should start to get interesting right about now."

- Zimmerman

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  • Administrator

Request for fix has been made. Some setting has gone awry, it's no problem. Thanks.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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The site URL is set to default to Welcome, it should be displaying properly. If not, try flushing your browser cache.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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The site URL is set to default to Welcome, it should be displaying properly. If not, try flushing your browser cache.

 

It's back!

"Well my ship's been split to splinters and it's sinking fast
I'm drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past
But my heart is not weary, it's light and it's free
I've got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me.

Everybody's moving, if they ain't already there
Everybody's got to move somewhere
Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow
Things should start to get interesting right about now."

- Zimmerman

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  • 3 months later...
  • Administrator

When tezza first joined SurvivingAntidepressants.org in January 2012, she was so groggy and confused she could hardly type.

 

tezza was taking Risperdal, Lamictal, Xanax, Remeron, and Neurontin, and pain medications SOMA and Lorcet, plus other medications for glaucoma, etc. Her story is here.

 

tezza was having a terrible time tapering off Risperdal. She was very sensitive to dosage decreases. Using the micro-taper method she learned here, she reduced from .5mg to .19mg Risperdal. She also tapered 100mg Lamictal to 6.25mg; Remeron 30mg to 4mg; and discontinued Neurontin.

 

Along the way, tezza found her voice. She also became very knowledgeable about tapering off psychiatric drugs.

 

Please welcome tezza, our new moderator! She'll be keeping an eye on the Introductions forum and Tapering forum.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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  • Moderator Emeritus

A big welcome to tezza! I've been noticing how helpful your posts have been for some time now, and I believe you will be quite an asset as a moderator! :) Welcome to the team!

Psychotropic drug history: Pristiq 50 mg. (mid-September 2010 through February 2011), Remeron (mid-September 2010 through January 2011), Lexapro 10 mg. (mid-February 2011 through mid-December 2011), Lorazepam (Ativan) 1 mg. as needed mid-September 2010 through early March 2012

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." -Hanlon's Razor


Introduction: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1588-introducing-jemima/

 

Success Story: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6263-success-jemima-survives-lexapro-and-dr-dickhead-too/

Please note that I am not a medical professional and my advice is based on personal experience, reading, and anecdotal information posted by other sufferers.

 

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Congrats, Tezza. Ditto what Jemima said!

Pristiq tapered over 8 months ending Spring 2011 after 18 years of polydrugging that began w/Zoloft for fatigue/general malaise (not mood). CURRENT: 1mg Klonopin qhs (SSRI bruxism), 75mg trazodone qhs, various hormonesLitigation for 11 years for Work-related injury, settled 2004. Involuntary medical retirement in 2001 (age 39). 2012 - brain MRI showing diffuse, chronic cerebrovascular damage/demyelination possibly vasculitis/cerebritis. Dx w/autoimmune polyendocrine failure.<p>2013 - Dx w/CNS Sjogren's Lupus (FANA antibodies first appeared in 1997 but missed by doc).

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  • Administrator

Please welcome basildev to our moderator team.

 

After some false starts over the years, basildev is slowly tapering off citalopram. She's quickly learned the ins and outs of tapering and supported others with her calm insights.

 

Welcome, basildev!

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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Hey thanks Tezza and Alto.

 

 

I hope I can help in some small way:)

July 2001 prescribed 20mg citalopram for depression;
On and off meds from 2003-2006.
February 2006 back on 20mg citalopram and stayed on it until my last attempt at tapering in September 2011.
By far the worst withdrawal symptoms ever. Reinstated to 20mg citalopram
October 2012 - found this forum!
Nov 2012 to Feb 2013 did 10% taper, got doen to 11mg - was going great until stressful situation. Cortisol levels hit the roof, hideous insomnia forced me to updose to 20mg.
March 2016 - close to 100% back to normal!



****** I am not a medical practitioner, any advice I give comes from my own experience or reading and is only my perspective ******

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  • 1 month later...
  • Administrator

Narcissus (formerly pgd0308) is our newest moderator.

 

Narcissus has been on one psychiatric medication or another since he was a teen. After a couple of failed attempts to quit, he is now involved in the great adventure of tapering off Effexor, in all its permutations.

 

Welcome, Narcissus, to our mod team.

 

In the meantime, peggy is going to take a break from being a mod to take care of herself. Thanks for your help, peggy, and good healing to you.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hey Narcissus,

 

welcome! Great to have you aboard

July 2001 prescribed 20mg citalopram for depression;
On and off meds from 2003-2006.
February 2006 back on 20mg citalopram and stayed on it until my last attempt at tapering in September 2011.
By far the worst withdrawal symptoms ever. Reinstated to 20mg citalopram
October 2012 - found this forum!
Nov 2012 to Feb 2013 did 10% taper, got doen to 11mg - was going great until stressful situation. Cortisol levels hit the roof, hideous insomnia forced me to updose to 20mg.
March 2016 - close to 100% back to normal!



****** I am not a medical practitioner, any advice I give comes from my own experience or reading and is only my perspective ******

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Welcome Narcissus and Basildev.

*** Please note this is not medical advice,discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner***





http://prozacwithdrawal.blogspot.com/
Original drug was sertraline/Zoloft, switched to Prozac in 2007.
Tapering from 5mls liquid prozac since Feb 2008, got down to 0.85ml 23/09/2012, reinstated back to 1ml(4mg) 07/11/2012, didn't appear to work, upped to 1.05ml 17/11/2012, back down to 1ml 12/12/2012 didn't work, up to 1.30ml 16/3/2013 didn't work, bumped up to 2ml (8mg) 4/4/2013 didn't work, in July 2013 I reinstated Sertraline (Zoloft) 50mg, feeling better now. 

A few months down the line I switched to 5ml liquid Prozac and tapered down to a compromise dose of 3ml liquid Prozac and have stayed there ever since, no withdrawals and no emotional blunting/loss of libido.

 

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Welcome, Narcissus! Good to have you on board in a more authoritative capacity. I've been appreciating your thoughtful posts for some time. :)

Psychotropic drug history: Pristiq 50 mg. (mid-September 2010 through February 2011), Remeron (mid-September 2010 through January 2011), Lexapro 10 mg. (mid-February 2011 through mid-December 2011), Lorazepam (Ativan) 1 mg. as needed mid-September 2010 through early March 2012

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." -Hanlon's Razor


Introduction: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1588-introducing-jemima/

 

Success Story: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6263-success-jemima-survives-lexapro-and-dr-dickhead-too/

Please note that I am not a medical professional and my advice is based on personal experience, reading, and anecdotal information posted by other sufferers.

 

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In case you could not access the site earlier, from our hosting service:

 

Maintenance Notice - In order to provide a higher level of performance and service for our customers, we will be upgrading the server your site is located on this evening, this upgrade will improve the performance and increase it's availability and uptime. While we try to minimize any schedule downtime, this upgrade will require approx. 1-2 hours of downtime for this process. We have scheduled this for between the hours of Friday April 19th at 23:00 and 03:00 EDT Saturday. 

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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  • 1 month later...
  • Administrator

SOFTWARE UPGRADE AHEAD JUNE 1

 

The software this site runs on is going to be upgraded.

 

Some of the moderators have looked at it and don't think the changes will be very difficult to get used to.

 

Some things will work better and be easier to use. The biggest change is that we will lose our "Welcome" page until I figure out how to configure it again. (We will also lose the "Donations" tab, but donations can still be made through the PayPal button.)

 

The site's security will be better.

 

Very sorry for the disruption, the hosting service requires this change. I hope it will not be too confusing for you and me!

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

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  • Administrator

Reminder, everyone -- the site software will be upgraded for tomorrow, June 1.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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