bajusbeach 15 years on severeal AD adn now cannot take them because forboding thoughts

[bajusbeach]

I am a 44 year old female mother of three happily married for over 20 years. In the past twenty years I have lost both parents through death. 1998 was the first and I was put on Paxil .

 

After two years and increasing the dose(40 mg) I was switched by my choice (because of weight gain) to Zoloft which also had to be increased after time 40 mg. I was on that for three years. That made me agitated and irritable so I switched over to Celexa which I was on for 15 years.the highest dosage was 60mg.

 

All these doses were only once a day. Twice I tried to taper off and got as far as 35 mg. This was under my Dr. supervision. I had never been to a psychiatrist at that point.( Believe it or not I never thought of it)I had always gone to my GP.

 

I had never had health problems at all in my life and to this day my blood work is pristine. When I got down to 35mg by tapering I started having racing thoughts and suicidal feelings. It scared me so much that I checked my self into a behavioral health center for 4 days .

 

They kept me on celexa and increased it and just gave me new anxiety meds. Nothing changed.

 

After that I went to my GP and he proceeded to tell me that I would need to be on meds for the rest of my life and said he thought I had bipolar. He proceeded to try (for three weeks) different meds (mood stabilizers(lamictal-only one day tried that)seroquel(horrible) 2 weeks, then wellbutrin thinking I was bipolar and it would help and changed celexa 50 mg to Prozac 40 mg.

 

Finally after this awful roller-coaster ride he told me that he could not do any more and was going to refer me to a psychiatrist. Well, I found my own with a good reference.

 

This guy told me that if i was having racing thoughts and suicidal feeling that the meds I was put on would cause me problems(wellbutrin and prozac). He thought we should try just prozac 40mg - it did not change much. Then he though maybe Lithium 600mg twice a day. That had terrible side affects but the racing thoughts and suicidal thinking was gone.

 

Last time I saw him we were talking and he and i were discussing that he thought that maybe these meds were all causing the issue and how about not taking any and having xanax there if there is anxiety. So we agreed. I weaned off of lithium and only have xanax . This is the 4 day with no lithium and i have had some minor anxiety and have not had to take xanax often and feel better.

 

My question is this ******** with all these years of taking these meds will i have problems . My blood work is really good and I eat well and exercise. I take omega fish oil and a multi. Do you have any advice. I cannot go on those antidepressant again. It was a nightmare and all those years I think the meds just topped off and then i had to switch.

 

So far the withdrawal symptoms i am having some anxiety, a little shaky and had some brain zaps when i got off the lithium in the beginning.

 

Update- I am now having anxiousness during the day alot only a couple brain zaps the past 2 weeks . I take 0.5 xanax at night if i have to to settle down. Last night I had no anxiousness at all but then I had brain swooshes and internal shakiness. I waiting along time to see if it would continue or go away . I felt that i should take my 0.5 xanax.

 

I think I may waiting 8 weeks for it to wash out of my system and then look into some getle herbal teas so i will not have to be dependent on xanax , but for now I know i need to give my body time and I know the lord is with me .I trust Him even when I feel bad.

Edited November 14, 2012 by Altostrata
added line breaks for readibility

[Altostrata]

Welcome, bajus, to our community.

 

You started on an antidepressant because of grief. Grief is a natural feeling. Having to deal with the situation of your parents' deaths does not mean you have a psychiatric disorder.

 

Yes, it is likely the drugs caused your symptoms all those years. Your GP was wrong in every regard.

 

The psychiatrist you went to does sound like a cut above, since he recognized your symptoms were due to the drugs. How did you go off Prozac? When was the last dose?

 

Did you have any symptoms after you went off Prozac?

 

How did you go off lithium? Did you go off Prozac and lithium at once?

 

The anxiety, brain zaps, and shakiness are withdrawal symptoms. Does Xanax make them go away completely?

 

The problem with taking Xanax for withdrawal symptoms is that Xanax itself can go paradoxical, causing symptoms to worsen. Also, if you take it regularly, you may become physically dependent on it. You will have to taper it to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

 

If your system has been weakened by Prozac or lithium withdrawal, withdrawal from Xanax can be very, very difficult.

 

So it's best to take Xanax sparingly.

 

So what to do about the withdrawal symptoms? You've had so many drug switches, you may wish to go very carefully with this, and reinstate a very small amount of lithium, to see if this helps the withdrawal symptoms. Then, you stabilize and taper slowly from that low dose.

 

Or, it's possible the withdrawal symptoms are from Prozac, you may wish to reinstate say 2mg-5mg, stabilize, and taper from there.

 

Reinstatement works best if done immediately. You don't need to wait for the drugs to wash out of your system. It's not the presence of the drugs that causes withdrawal symptoms, it's the absence of the drugs.

[Nadia]

Hi Bajus.

 

So sorry for everything you have been through... it's a shame we weren't given better information to prevent the situation we are in now!

[bajusbeach]

Welcome, bajus, to our community.

I alsnwered next to your questions please answer me back

You started on an antidepressant because of grief. Grief is a natural feeling. Having to deal with the situation of your parents' deaths does not mean you have a psychiatric disorder.

 

Yes, it is likely the drugs caused your symptoms all those years. Your GP was wrong in every regard.

 

The psychiatrist you went to does sound like a cut above, since he recognized your symptoms were due to the drugs. How did you go off Prozac? When was the last dose?

 

Did you have any symptoms after you went off Prozac?I think I am going through it now

 

How did you go off lithium?He tapered me over a week and i had only been taking it two weeks. Did you go off Prozac and lithium at once?No I stopped the prozac and switched to lithium 600mg the same day. I have been off prozac for less than a month.

 

The anxiety, brain zaps, and shakiness are withdrawal symptoms. Does Xanax make them go away completely?Yes the Xanax does make it go away right away . Before I hardly ever took it at all just for emergency panic attack but I have had to take it since going on the lithium nightly and try to take the least i can 0.5mg.

 

The problem with taking Xanax for withdrawal symptoms is that Xanax itself can go paradoxical, causing symptoms to worsen. Also, if you take it regularly, you may become physically dependent on it. You will have to taper it to avoid withdrawal symptoms.I was thinking the same thing for that . I was wanting to get a a tea or hoping maybe taking valerian root can do the trick . The reason why Is I don't care about shaking,brain swishes it is just the internal anxiosuness and they are not anxiety attacks.I was thinking the next prescription i get is the whole pill of xanax of 0.5 and that i could hold out a slong as i could and take half of that . But i think I want to try the valerian root first.

 

If your system has been weakened by Prozac or lithium withdrawal, withdrawal from Xanax can be very, very difficult.

 

So it's best to take Xanax sparingly.That is what i would like to do

 

So what to do about the withdrawal symptoms? You've had so many drug switches, you may wish to go very carefully with this, and reinstate a very small amount of lithium, to see if this helps the withdrawal symptoms. Then, you stabilize and taper slowly from that low dose. Not sure my psychiatrist is going to be seeing me soon and he is observing how I do at this point and i am sure we can come to some aggreement. I know the lithium gave me terrible diarrhea.Even when i tapered but not as bad.

 

Or, it's possible the withdrawal symptoms are from Prozac, you may wish to reinstate say 2mg-5mg, stabilize, and taper from there.Prozac gave me suicidal feelings terrible and i am afraid of that. I think that is why the dr. tapered me off the lithium and gave me xanax for emergencies.

 

Reinstatement works best if done immediately. You don't need to wait for the drugs to wash out of your system. It's not the presence of the drugs that causes withdrawal symptoms, it's the absence of the drugsI have had bad experiences from the drugs and right now I am not sure what to do other that give valerian a shot i had taken it before for similar symptoms

[Altostrata]

How did you go off lithium?He tapered me over a week and i had only been taking it two weeks. Did you go off Prozac and lithium at once?No I stopped the prozac and switched to lithium 600mg the same day. I have been off prozac for less than a month.

Okay, it's possible you are experiencing withdrawal from Prozac. How long had you been taking it? How did you switch from Celexa to Prozac?

 

The anxiety, brain zaps, and shakiness are withdrawal symptoms. Does Xanax make them go away completely?Yes the Xanax does make it go away right away . Before I hardly ever took it at all just for emergency panic attack but I have had to take it since going on the lithium nightly and try to take the least i can 0.5mg.

What kind of side effects did the lithium cause? Did you take Xanax for these side effects? You said earlier when you took lithium "racing thoughts and suicidal thinking was gone."

 

Do you have the same kind of racing thoughts and suicidal thinking now?

 

The problem with taking Xanax for withdrawal symptoms is that Xanax itself can go paradoxical, causing symptoms to worsen. Also, if you take it regularly, you may become physically dependent on it. You will have to taper it to avoid withdrawal symptoms.I was thinking the same thing for that . I was wanting to get a a tea or hoping maybe taking valerian root can do the trick . The reason why Is I don't care about shaking,brain swishes it is just the internal anxiosuness and they are not anxiety attacks.I was thinking the next prescription i get is the whole pill of xanax of 0.5 and that i could hold out a slong as i could and take half of that . But i think I want to try the valerian root first.

The shaking and brain swooshes are withdrawal symptoms. They may change or get worse. If possible, you should try to stabilize. If I were you, I would not experiment with herbs or supplements now.

 

So what to do about the withdrawal symptoms? You've had so many drug switches, you may wish to go very carefully with this, and reinstate a very small amount of lithium, to see if this helps the withdrawal symptoms. Then, you stabilize and taper slowly from that low dose. Not sure my psychiatrist is going to be seeing me soon and he is observing how I do at this point and i am sure we can come to some aggreement. I know the lithium gave me terrible diarrhea.Even when i tapered but not as bad.

 

Or, it's possible the withdrawal symptoms are from Prozac, you may wish to reinstate say 2mg-5mg, stabilize, and taper from there.Prozac gave me suicidal feelings terrible and i am afraid of that. I think that is why the dr. tapered me off the lithium and gave me xanax for emergencies.

Yes, the SSRIs (Celexa and Prozac) don't get along with your nervous system it seems.

 

A little lithium might be better, since it helped the hyper-stimulation symptoms, the anxiety and brain zaps before, but a much, much lower dosage than you were taking before. This may enable you to minimize the Xanax. Then, you can very, very slowly taper off lithium.

 

How is your psychiatrist observing you if he's not seeing you frequently?

 

Reinstatement works best if done immediately. You don't need to wait for the drugs to wash out of your system. It's not the presence of the drugs that causes withdrawal symptoms, it's the absence of the drugsI have had bad experiences from the drugs and right now I am not sure what to do other that give valerian a shot i had taken it before for similar symptoms

 

Yes, I agree, the drugs don't seem to be good for you at all.

[bajusbeach]

Here is what happened Iwas on celexa the longest and when i started tapering I got down to 35 mg and had an episode of hypomania(terrible racing thoughts), they jumped me back up to 50 mg and I continued to have it . I went to my GP who then had me try some mood stablizers with the celexa.

1) seroquel -on it 3 weeks with celexa 50 mg feeling suidical feelings then and terrible on seroquel

2) no taper quick switch to lamictal- one day and I had a brain pop

and did not take it after one day .( went back to the dr.)

3) wellbutrin and switched to prozac 40 mg (he thought since it was in the same class as celexa he said) 40mg- he though I had underlying bipolar(lasted 2 weeks with suicidal feelings and it was terrible and wellbutrin made me feel overly wound up)

4) GP gave up and I went to a psychiatrist- He told me to stay on the wellbutrin and the prozac till then .

5) Psychiatrist said that if I still ws having racing thoughts wellbutrin would have made it worse.We dropped the wellbutrin- he said I should not have an issue with that and I did not . The i just stayed on 40mg of prozac and had rescue anxiety meds xanax which i rarely used but had to use more.

6) 2 more weeks on prozac alone and still had suicidal feelings.

7) Went back to Dr. and he asked about going on lithium 300 twice a day so we agreed. the racing thoughts left as did the suicidal feelings. But I got the runs teribble bad and had accidents,

8 that was two weeks of being on lithium and then we discussed after blood work which came out pristine( shocker) about letting my body wash out all meds and using xanax as a rescue med if needed for anxiety cause that was my main problem.

9) we tapered off the lithium cutting the dose in half for one week and then stopping it all together.

I felt good and side affect free and then after a week the main withdrawal symptoms I have is anxiety at night , anxiousness during the day( on and off), swooshing of the brain so if i try to go to sleep when I am about to fall aslep I get the swooshing and end up taking a xanax although I have been trying to hold out. I will take a 0.5. I am thinking about cutting that in half to see of that will do it .

i did not take xanax for side affects with lithium

I do not have racing thoughts or suicidal feelings now just really wound up, jitters outside and sometimes inside.I can get where I just want quiet

What do you mean about stablize right now?

My dr and and I agreed on seeing each other three weeks from now. Before that we were seeing him often and close and he worked very cloesly with me and my husband went .

[Altostrata]

Please add spaces between your paragraphs, they make posts easier to read.

 

As I understand it, you cold-turkeyed Prozac when you went on lithium. How long had you been taking Prozac? How did you switch from Celexa to Prozac? Were your symptoms any different after that?

 

My guess is you are experiencing withdrawal from Prozac and maybe Celexa.

 

To eliminate the brain swooshes, etc. and danger of worsened withdrawal syndrome, you might go back on a very low dose of Prozac, 2mg-5mg, stabilize, and taper from there.

 

"Stabilize" means feeling fairly normal, your nervous system stabilizes.

 

Side effects are dosage-related. A very small dosage might not give you the bad effects while it helps the withdrawal symptoms.

 

The danger in not dealing with the withdrawal symptoms is they might get worse and last for a long time. Or, they may clear up in some months, it's impossible to predict.

 

When someone has cold-turkeyed, the danger of severe withdrawal symptom is higher.

[bajusbeach]

Yeah I see what you mean . I am taking down a daily log of how i feel and will be calling the dr. Monday to discuss this with him. Also to give him an update since I saw him last and before the holidays to see what would mkae the most sense.

[moonbow0202]

bajusbeach,

Welcome to the site. I started on ADs over 15 years ago when my grandfather, who was like a father to me, was dying. i'm still new here but I'm very gld to have found this site and I'm sure you will be too.

[bajusbeach]

Anger the past two days . I have not gotten so angry before and it is scary. During my cycle I had no anxiousness during the day. This past week, What can i do with this anger to calm down . My poor husband just sees me witha sour attitude and my daughter too . It makes me sad. I still take 0.5 xanax at night I have been able to taper that dose down .

I see my doctor Decemeber 6,th 2012

[moonbow0202]

bajusbeach,

 

Was the anger preceded by a change in meds? From my experience, a bad reaction to lowering meds could start a couple of days later. This is how Remeron has been for me; 2 or 3 days after lowering my dose my mood can tank.

[bajusbeach]

No , I am not tapering I am off all that i had been on for a few weeks. But , before that I had been on anidepressants for 15 years.

Anna

[Altostrata]

bajus, I suggest you call your doctor's office and insist he phone in a prescription for liquid Prozac for you right away. Tell him you are experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms.

[bajusbeach]

I cannot get my doctor till tuesday . Last night was the worst . I had been taking xanax at night since I had gone off the meds(AD) because anxiety would get really bad then but not having to do anything all day .He told me not to wait to take it when it got bad but if i noticed it starting to come on. I contribute the anger with having my period since going off the meds so I cannot say I know that it is that exactly( i am not sure if that was part of withdrawal) . The night before last I thought I would not take the xanax ( i was not thinking about tapering it -big mistake- I don't think I thought that through at all). slept fitfully with no panic that night but the next day felt really weird and tired and wobbly. That night I had the worst Panic ever, I paced the house crying and praying ,intense fear wanting to die.I had to make my self throw up because of nausea and after walking two miles in the dark outside with my husband finally the meds kicked in . That was awful I was so terrified. I plan on calling their office tuesday and taking the xanax at night until I see them tuesday. Or maybe even monday but I know Yuesday my Psychiatrist will be in .

[Altostrata]

Leave a message with his answering service and say it's an emergency. He should show some medical responsibility for severe withdrawal symptoms.

 

If they say they can't contact him, ask to be connected to whatever doctor is covering for him.

[bajusbeach]

They have no oncall psychatrist. The only suggest calling 911 or going to the Er. If i go to the ER thy will give me 2 atvivan and send me home at the tune of alot of money.

[Altostrata]

Well, you'll have to give him what-for on Tuesday.

 

Or, any doctor can write the prescription. How about your GP?

[bajusbeach]

I would rather go to my Psych because he has made more senses in helping me figure all this out and my GP referred these problems I have had over to the Psych.. So needless to say I cannot see him and I had recelty changed insurance and had to change my GP anyway but this lady is so new i would rather talk to my Psych. I am wonderinf as well if I need certain vitamins that can help with anxiety. I eard alot oabout the B vitamins but at what poojt can I take those and will they really help.? I take a liquid multivitamin 2x a day. I tak 1000mg omega 3 and take those thre times a day and then i take a calcium magnesium capsules from Melaluca 3 times a day.

Any insight? I have been staying away from herbs for calming because i don't know if it is wise to take teas right now or valerian root or calm tabs or whatever they have out there.

Anna

[Altostrata]

Many people find the B vitamins make withdrawal symptoms worse.

 

You might take omega-3 fish oil 6 times a day, it may help your mood.