aberdeen Posted June 20, 2015 Author Share Posted June 20, 2015 arwen, thank you! I really appreciate your input. I have been struggling to decide on a final stopping point. i used to feel that 1mg was fine. But Ive read so much and watched other people and their experience and Ive decided to continue doing what I do until at least .5mg. This past drop, I felt jittery with and adrenallne surges for about 2 days, it was easy to manage and didnt even bother me much, but I noticed it and knew the feeling from some of my earlier days in wd. I was surpised! Since it happened in a typical time frame when I feel drops, Im fairly sure it was the drop i felt. Amazing. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
Administrator Altostrata Posted June 20, 2015 Administrator Share Posted June 20, 2015 You may wish to hold for a bit to let your nervous system get used to this very low level of Prozac and then micro-taper less than 10% from this point. 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. Link to comment
aberdeen Posted June 22, 2015 Author Share Posted June 22, 2015 Hi alto, thanks for stopping by! The anxiousness has subsided and Im back to my normal wd baseline. I find some months I have this reaction and some i dont. Then I may get hit with a few weeks of mild to medium depression every few months. I find summer the toughest part of the entire year because I lose the quiet hours of solitude I have for a few hours each day while they're at school. Also it means my schedule is more unpredictable and its generally much louder around here. Ive held for the summer before and I may do so again. We'll see how the next few weeks go! 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
aberdeen Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 I've been reading the neuro-emotion thread. I was familiar with the concept and ideas long ago but never took the time to really read others experiences and see how widespread this 'symptom" can be!! It has explained so much for me. I struggle daily with this. People talked about feelings of regret, jealousy, excessive anger, sadness, worthlessness...all that fun stuff. I am very familiar with the notion that any excessive anger and despair and hurt is wd, its obvious to me. But the more subtle things like envy (everyones life is moving forward but mine, why is every one else allowed pleasure and joy but me?) or regret (why did I marry my husband, our problems are unlike ANY one elses and are TOTALLY unsolvable, or why didnt I take this or that in college while I was young? Why did I choose this path instead of that one?) and rejection (my family and friends don't appreciate me or want my children around bc of some deep character flaw). Thoughts like this eat at me often, and I believed they were occuring because of the circumstances wd has put me in for so many years...my marriage HAS suffered, my family IS more distant because i dont interact as much, and sure I would probably be in a different financial situation had I pursued a more lucrative career etc ect...but those truths don't justify the intensity of these emotions and on some level I've realize that. But to read that they are being inflated almost completely by a disregulated neurochemistry is such a welcoming thing to realize/remember. I'm tired of blaming myself for unpleasant thoughts and feelings. I was never this way prior to meds, i led a creative, ambitious and busy life, full of happiness and the strength to brush off the irritations of life. Yet somehow those irritations have become all consuming and they have become something my brain wants to feed on daily. I really hope and pray that one day when i am completely off my meds and have put much distance between me and the adverse event from Effexor, its wd crash, and then my paxil taper...i will be free from this. I want to be my old self again..where my thoughts and feelings are under my own control. I miss that self so much. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
aberdeen Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 Also the sense of urgent, "I must DO something NOW" to change something. Its like our brains cant recognize that this upheaval isnt being caused by a real circumstance. perhaps because of that tiny kernel of truth its based on. My latest thing? Moving. We need a new house. I need to make a fresh start, that will fix this sense of boredom, blahness, stress...whatever.Whatever the idea is at the time it feels like its important i act NOW because then i will be happy and this will be over. And this feeling is really strong!!! In normal life, this would be healthy, we need to make changes to improve on things, but when we cant even be sure we're actually truly unhappy about these things, let alone be trusted to make an accurate analysis of what we actually need at all vs what we want, it just gets ridiculous. What a gong show. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
Marta Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 I agree sooo much! I also struggle daily with "strange" feelings....a sense of something-is-wrong-but-i-don't-know-what (also anxiety and fear of course ). I think despite all you have a very good attitude and a lot of strength ...I try to get up every day and try to go on with my job. Is enough in this period. A lot of these "strange" emotions steal a lot of energy. Do you also feel "physically tired" to be pulled in these "emotions" ?? 06/2012 - 02/2015 CIPRALEX 10 mg (for somatic abdominal pain + reflux) - prior to this NOT any significant episode of anxiety/depression on medication: emotional-sexual numbness, total inability to cry, +8 kg, fatigue -> abdominal pain gone 02/2015 - 1/04/2015 tapering from 10 mg to 0 mg doctor advised 05/05/2015 huge anxiety, burning skin sensation, panic, fear, not able to cry again, never-had-before insomnia, totally lost appetite, little loss of vision in one eye, sweating, chest pain, short breath, restlessness, accelerated heartbeat, mild akathisia legs-feet 30/05/2015 reinstated 8mg (I was suggested 5 mg here) middle 07/2015 general improving 10/2015 start disastrous too long taper 7mg 11/2015 6mg 12/2015 5mg 1/2016 4mg 2/2016 4mg 3/2016 3mg ->FAIL back to 4mg .... 8/2016 3mg 8/2017 2mg (short wave in summer '17) 8/2018 2mg stable 8/2019 1mg 1/2020 0.6 mg 1/APRIL/2020 0mg FREE! 7/2020 - 10/2020 MILD WAVE(mostly anxiety, poor sleep) 6/2021 - 9/2021 WAVE (anxiety, severe insomnia, total loss of appetite, deep depression, internal restlessness, anhedonia) 0.125g triazolam 2 times 18/03/2022 WAVE (anxiety, severe insomnia, total loss of appetite, PAIN in muscles and nerves, arms and right leg,cannot exercise,hard to walk) 0.125g triazolam 3 times 7/5 rein 0.1mg Link to comment
aberdeen Posted June 26, 2015 Author Share Posted June 26, 2015 Marta yes! Im tired alot. I sleep a lot if I can. I have very little emotional energy, like even something exciting or positive seems to drain me and I shut down inside my head. i have a limited capacity for any strenuous emotional situations. Sometimes i wonder if the anhedonia is a good thing in that it protects me from "feeling" too much before Im ready. This is really a different phase for me, and honestly its much easier than the 2-3 years after my crash. I had very intense anxiety, DR and depressive episodes back then that i dont have as much anymore. Now its mostly these extreme negative feelings, loss of positive ones and little periods of manageable anxiety (mainly when I wake up, like you). That feeling of "something is wrong" might be DR also, just a dream like, unpleasant wrong feeling. That has improved a lot for me over time. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted June 27, 2015 Moderator Share Posted June 27, 2015 Hi Abeerdeen-- I totally agree with the feeling tired all the time, but have found that it too is improving. Since the first of the year the changes have been dramatic. I have more stamina, not getting as tired and spring back faster. Also my ability to remember things is getting better, still having trouble finding my words at times though. I view anhedonia as the brains way of protecting us from the pain of the intense depression and anxiety that are generated by the healing process. I truly preferred it over the others and think more people here would benefit from embracing it instead of being afraid of it. I can really see the progress you and I have made and can really believe that things will be alright. (((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))) 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
aberdeen Posted June 27, 2015 Author Share Posted June 27, 2015 Thanks Brass. I have to say though, that the intense depression and anxiety had a way of overriding my ever constant anhedonia when they cropped up...however, I would prefer this to the other two anyday, especially depression and despair. I have seen a lot of improvement in that area though. In fact its almost hard to recall the early days of the "acute" phase, and I was scared it would leave me traumatized, but it hasnt. I can tell that one day I wont be able to remember how it felt exactly. I do like to view the anhedonia as a protective measure, intentional or not. It has robbed me of more joy than I will ever be ok with...however...its probably helped me not short-circuit my brain too, as the "old" me, never knew when to stop and had too much on the go at all times, an impossibly long to-do list always hanging over me. I"m simply not able to do that anymore (for now anyway). I"m sure its helped me heal. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted June 28, 2015 Moderator Share Posted June 28, 2015 I can see that happening. Like everything else in WD there are no constants and really intense depression or anxiety could over power the anhedonia, but at least it can give us breaks from it. The pain and feelings of acute are fading into the past for me too. I still know it was really bad, but have a hard time recalling the details. Another way our brain protects us from ourselves. Like with my Seven Years of Pain, I can remember that it hurt worse than anything ever has, but I can't recall the actual intensity. I am also finding that I have very little tolerance right now for people in acute (sorry everyone) but it is like "this is somewhere I have been and I have to move past it now and for my won recovery I can't let you all drag me back there.". I think the WD part needs to be social as we all need the support and reassurance that a group gives. Recovery however, to me, has to be a private almost selfish thing because we are being introspective, rediscovering and rebuilding our personalities belief systems and emotions and that has to be done alone. 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
aberdeen Posted June 28, 2015 Author Share Posted June 28, 2015 Thats why people drift away from the forums as they heal. Its totally natural. Providing encouragement now and then will be something i always try to do but I think its healthier to distance ourselves from intense memories of the worst of it for sure. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
nz11 Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Warning!! aberdeen and Brassmonkey dont you two dare drift away from this forum when you go drug free.... Well i kinda hope you stick around for awhile ...i donno maybe for a few years say? Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017 Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted June 29, 2015 Moderator Share Posted June 29, 2015 I'm not going too far yet NZ!! I still have the best part of a year before I hit "0" then recovery starts. So you're stuck with me for a while. However, as of tomorrow I am going to disappear for a few weeks. 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
aberdeen Posted June 29, 2015 Author Share Posted June 29, 2015 Oh I'll be around. I like writing too much,lol. I will always be around to let everyone know what life is like post taper. I have to say...It bugs me to no end that no one here will ever see the 3.5 years worth of Effexor "almost CT" healing Ive done, and all of the pages of documentation for it- thanks to PP being snuffed out entirely. I do have my old journal backed up thanks to you NZ1, but it would take forever and a day to upload it to this thread, maybe put it online somewhere and link to it someday. Anyway, Im not going anywhere. I just understand why people need wd forum breaks sometimes. I dont post here as much as I did on PP for sure. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
aberdeen Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 Have had a few days of anxiety DR and depression. Nothing crazy, but it started with my period, and my period was 4 days early. THis always happens if my period is early. If my period os on time, then I get anger and terrible PMS for two weeks ahead. If Im going to have an early period the PMS is lighter. Its got to be hormonal, yet I often blame my taper for these types of days. Only this time I held off on dropping and havent dropped in over 5 weeks, so its not that. Interesting to know! Also, I had a nice few days teaching my daughter how to paint with watercolour, I was surpised how nice it felt to paint a little bit. No stress or pressure or fancy materials, just playing around. I even told myself i would throw away what i painted so i didnt feel i had to come up with something "good". It was really comforting, and didn't make me feel that horrible aversion my creativity has caused for so many years in wd. I felt safe approaching it if that makes sense. When she was smaller we used to paint in my studio together, she had a little table set up and some coloured wool tied from one end of her corner to the other to hang all her art work. I havent even gone up there in at least 2 years, it would be very strange to do that still. Its a little loft with a ladder, above my husbands work shop, I think he uses it for storage now, but i know most of it is still set up. There's even a pair of shoes left up there. How surreal is that? For now we just used the patio table. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
aberdeen Posted July 19, 2015 Author Share Posted July 19, 2015 Below 1mg ! Where am I at? I am exactly 4 years and 4 months from when I finished a very fast taper off Effexor after crashing and pooping out. I am 3 years and 9 months out from when I last switched a medication and began my slow taper from Paxil. I still have waves, they are nothing like they were at year 2 off Effexor, not even close. My waves are mild depression and anxiety, morning cortisol, DR. They seem to occur monthly, especially around my periods and last from days to a couple of weeks, once or twice a month was skipped wave wise. In between i have days, sometimes weeks, of feeling closer to normal than ever. In those windows the anhedonia remains, however it seems to be lessening sloooowly, I'm maybe 75% now instead of 100% anhedonic. That difference makes me feel like I can tackle my life, be more productive, have empathy, hope, enjoy creativity again, even though blunted...and when the window closes, it all goes with it. I still have neuro emotions off and on, and a new one is tearfulness which honestly, is wonderful as for almost 4 years I have been unable to cry at all. I continue to taper at 10% every 4-8 weeks. I dont know if this is ideal...but its worked. i have found my waves manageable and been able to care for my family and work at various part time jobs which i have kept simple for now, as the demands of a household with young kids is more than enough at this stage. I am planning to go down to .5mg...which should happen in 5 more months, after which I imagine healing will continue, unencumbered by a constant shift in dosage and no other meds in my body. I dont take any supplements, but try to eat healthy when I can, make sure I have probiotics in my diet, and walk a couple times a week, nothing more strenuous. I drink a lot of water and sleep as much as I can when I can. Ive tried to keep it really simple. Ive considered supplements many times, but have no idea where to even begin. I might try a good multi vitamin though. So thats where I am today, let the journey continue! For those in early stages, I had some horrid symptoms, that went away and have never returned, in over 2-3 years. They include akathesia, chills, shaking internally, visual disturbances (white flashes), head swooshy feeling, intense (INTENSE) terror and inexplicable raw fear. Those things are GONE, and have stayed GONE. So please have hope! 1 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
Athena Posted July 19, 2015 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Aberdeen! I just want to say: good job!! Bravo!! Bravissimo!!! 2000-2001: Effexor 2005-2012: Celexa, Zoloft, Effexor, desipramin, Wellbutrin, mirtazepin, Lamictal, Remeron, Abilify, nortriptylin, Cipralex, Cymbalta, and others I don't remember. Really bad side effects to all. Sept-Nov 2012: Paxil 20mg, Wellbutrin 100mg, Imovane 5mg Nov 2012: Paxil 20mg --> 10mg Dec 2012: Paxil 10mg-->0; 1 week later: HUGE WD symptoms. Started to get informed on the internet and back to 10mg Paxil. Dec 2012-Jan 2013: Paxil 10mg, Wellbutrin 100mg, Imovane 2.5mg End Jan 2013: P 9mg, W 100mg, I 2.0mg Feb 2013: P 8mg, W 100mg, I 1.5mg April 2013: P 7mg, W 100mg, I 1.25mg May 2013: P 7mg, W 90mg, I 1mg June 2013: P 7mg, W 80mg, I 0mg July 1/2013: P 7, W 70 July 22/2013: P 7, W 60 Aug 2013: P 7, W 50 Sept 2013: P 6.1, W 50 Oct 2013: P up to 6.3, W 50 Nov 2013: P 6.2 to 5.9, W 50 Dec 2013: P 5.9, W 40 Jan 2014: P 5.3, W40 Feb 2014: P 5.3, W 30 March-April 2014: P 5.3, W 26 May 2014: P 5.3, W 20 June 2014: P 5.3 W 15 July 2014: P 5.3, W 14 Aug 2014: P 5.3, W up to 15 Sept 2014: P 5.3, W 14 Oct 2014: P 4.8, W 14 Nov 2014: P 4.3, W 14 Dec 2014-Jan 2015: P 3.9, W 14 Feb 2015: P 3.9, W 12 March 2015: P 3.6, W 12 April-May 2015: P 3.3, W 12 June 2015: P 3.3, W 10 July 2015: P 3.3, W 8 Aug-Sept 2015: P 3.3, W 6 Oct 2015: P 3.0, W 6 Nov 2015: P 2.7, W 6 Dec 2015: P 2.4, W 6 Jan-Feb 2016: P 2.4, W 5 March 2016: P 2.2, W 5 April 2016: P 2.2, W 4 May-June 2016: P 2.2, W 3 July 2016: P 2.2, W 2 Aug 2016: P 2.2, W 1 Sept 2016: P 2.2, W 0!! Oct 2016: P 2.0 Nov 2016-Jan 2017: P 1.8 Feb-Mar 2017: P 1.9 April-May 2017: P 1.8 June 2017: P 1.6 July-Dec 2017: P 1.5 Jan-April 2018: P 1.6 Others: Cytomel 25mcg (thyroid), vit. C, vit D, Omega-3 fish oil, Magnesium bisglycinate , Melatonin 1mg, 81mg Aspirin, Milk peptides, L-theanine, Valericalm tincture mix, scullcap tincture, Suan Zao Ren (jujube seeds) Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted July 19, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 19, 2015 WOW!! finally breaking below 1mg. I am soooo pleased for you. I can't wait for you to make the jump, but don't want you to rush. I started on fish oil just over a month ago and will have to say I have had some good results. Primarily in the brain fog dept. but I think overall it is helping too, much better cognitive all around and more control over the emotions. Don't rush in to the supplements, but this might be a good one to start with. I hope you're finally getting the summer that you've been longing for the past years. ((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))))))))))))))) 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
aberdeen Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 Athena thanks! You're getting there too! Brass I've considered the fish oil. This recent wave is heavy in the brain fog department. Sooo very sluggish in thinking, short term memory is crap, lots of DR. I may just give it a try! Summer wise...well, this one started out better than any so far, pre-wave. Also my kids are getting older and are more independant now, and it helps on the stress levels a tonne! Still.. I'm keeping the summer of my dreams in my mind, aiming for that one maybe next summer, when I'm totally off everything! We have a lot of nice things planned with friends and family so I"m looking forward to that this year. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
nz11 Posted July 20, 2015 Share Posted July 20, 2015 So glad to hear Aberdeen and Brass will not be doing a runner anytime soon. Wow seconded! aberdeen below 1mg way to go...from the bottom of the world. Now remember you dont have to sprint for the finish line Brass is a good few months behind, the coast is clear ...thanks to rounding errors....take it easy! aberdeen you are a legend ...i think im changing my song from look at mapleleaf and Brass to 'Look at aberdeen' . Im really sad too we lost pp. Especially the most recent 2 years worth. Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017 Link to comment
aberdeen Posted July 20, 2015 Author Share Posted July 20, 2015 NZ1 thanks! You know what sucks even more? You helped me retrieve my journal and then I had the "Cryptolocker" ransomware virus, encrypt my whole hard-drive! Our computer guy saved what he could and returned my old hard drive so there's hope one day someone may be able to find it again. So much writing. But really, the story is here anyway on this site.I just dont have all the individual posts and all the specific tapers, but I dont think they're even necessary. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
nz11 Posted July 21, 2015 Share Posted July 21, 2015 Computers i have decided are simply conduits to put stuff onto hard drives as soon as possible because they cant be trusted imo Sorry aberdeen i dont even recall retrieving your stuff for you ..are you confusing me with another? Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017 Link to comment
aberdeen Posted July 21, 2015 Author Share Posted July 21, 2015 You didnt retrieve it, but on the night pp was closing you gave me some pointers on how to get ahold of my pages quicker via some of the functions on pp's site. if you hadnt shown me that< i would never have managed to get it all before she locked it down. Thanks so much! 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
nz11 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 oh ok...your welcome!! Hey aberdeen if you jump off at 0.5 mg in 5months time then assuming you in total tapered for 4 years and 2 months, travelling from 20 mg to 0.5mg and assuming drops were made monthly (off course you sometimes held longer) then i get your overall rate of taper (tripled checked) would have been 7.25 % which was close to MLG's of 6.1% . Be interesting to see what rate Brassmonkey comes in at. When you, MLG and BM finally collaborate and write the taperbook can you put me down for buying the first copy!! Signed by all three legends of course! Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017 Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted July 22, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 22, 2015 I've been dropping consistently by 10% every 6 weeks the whole time. I did throw in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg, but that won't change the math much. Now that I am dropping by 2mgpw every 6 weeks it will probably make a small difference, but will be a lot of "fun" to calculate. I guess waiting till it is all over is going to be the best way to figure it. 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
nz11 Posted July 22, 2015 Share Posted July 22, 2015 oops confession time ...I made a mistake...couldn't sleep because I thought something wasn't right. I cant explain it and I don't understand it but the log function does weird things on numbers less than one. As such all I can say is Aberdeen you tapered to 1mg at 6.6 % . Below one the formula bounces the rate back up again which is wrong. Brass, just crunched some numbers for you assuming you have been tapering for 48 months starting at 40mg and going to 1.6 then I get your rate on an average monthly drop of previous dose comes out at 6.6 % ..hey that's weird too!!! what a coincidence. Spooky even. Hey you two haven't been colluding have you...lol If assuming intervals of approx. 6 weeks then I get current to date rate of 9.3 % taper rate. I am sure being an engineer your maths is better than mine but that's what I get. ... Oh dear I wish I had tapered at 6 something % ...it would have been nice to be functioning and holding down a job....oh well how does the cbt go...oh yeah ..change the tape to 'I could have but I didn't because my ex-doc is a clueless idiot.' I have ben known to make mistakes ...I made a real big one in 2000 when I asked for the docs opinion on a sore arm. Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017 Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted July 23, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 23, 2015 The funny thing about my being an engineer. I suffer from a condition called "dyscalculia", similar to dyslexia but with the values of numbers. Unless I am concentrating hard on the problem at hand numbers don't mean a thing to me. It drives Monica nutz, she was a mental math champion in school and is still a real whiz now. Took me three tries to pass College Algebra and that ended my math career, but filled the requirements for my degree. It's surprising just how little math I have to use, basic fractions and ratios is about it. 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
aberdeen Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 you guys are both WAY beyond me, lol! I am not a math person, and I actually have no idea what you're talking about but Im eager to see how it all pans out. NZ You will probably be the one to write the book one day, with all of your research and figures! You will be able to create a formula for taper. I have done both, the rapid near CT, and the slow taper. So my experience is a combo of both of you. Brass being the true sensible (lucky?)one, to have started the taper right the first time. Im curious how we'll be doing by years end! 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
nz11 Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Brass i am sure you are being your normal modest humble self.. but yes aberdeen Brass has definitely 'lucked out', 'engineered' the taper right first time up. (pun intended!). Yep well those are the numbers and i am standing by them. Aberdeen your multiplying factor is 0.9342, (6.58%), ie multiply 20 by .9342 and every iteration thereafter for 45 times and you will get 1 Brass your multiplying factor is 0.9338, (6.62%) ie multiply 40 by .9338 and every iteration thereafter for 48 times and you will get 1.6. It is interesting looking at the numbers that it took Brass only 10 months to go from 40mg to 20mg yet it took aberdeen 7 months (nearly the same length of time..only 3 months in it) to go from 1.6mg to 1mg. If one assumes traveling at the average taper rate of 6.6%. MLG was actually 6.2% (after rounding). Looks to me like you guys have found the the magic number, 6.6% and this ensures: one has a life, one keeps the wife, and one stays employed and out strife! aberdeen i am assuming you have been able to hold a job while tapering? Hey insomnia not such a bad thing in winter i get to get up at 3am and can put another log on the fire!! That way the house stays warm until morning ...just lookin on the bright side! Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing. http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651 Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos. Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you Recovering paxil addict None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped." Dr Mosher. Me too! Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015 I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015 Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017 Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Songbird Posted July 23, 2015 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted July 23, 2015 It's great to hear of the improvements and milder symptoms. Congrats on getting down to such a low dose! 2001–2002 paroxetine 2003 citalopram 2004-2008 paroxetine (various failed tapers) 2008 paroxetine slow taper down to 2016 Aug off paroxetine2016 citalopram May 20mg Oct 15mg … slow taper down2018 citalopram 13 Feb 4.6mg 15 Mar 4.4mg 29 Apr 4.2mg 6 Jul 4.1mg 17 Aug 4.0mg 18 Nov 3.8mg 2019 15 Mar 3.6mg 21 May 3.4mg 26 Dec 3.2mg 2020 19 Feb 3.0mg 19 Jul 2.9mg 16 Sep 2.8mg 25 Oct 2.7mg 23 Oct 2.6mg 24 Dec 2.5mg 2021 29 Aug 2.4mg 15 Nov 2.3mg Link to comment
aberdeen Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 Thanks Songbird!! You will be able to write the book on the micro taper! i see you're doing well too, almost below 3 now! NZ1... I had been staying home with our young children for several years when acute started, so i didnt work for those years anyway. However, if I had already had a job at the time acute started I think i would have needed to take a leave for a few months. But since then, I have had a few part time jobs with very low stress to try to make ends meet. But this is what I mean when I say Im a bit of a combination of scenarios. i experienced the effect of a too fast taper, almost cold turkey from the Effexor, for about two years WHILE slow tapering the Paxil. The true test of a slow taper for me, didnt really begin until the first 2 years post Effexor because the first 2 years of my Paxil taper I was dealing simultaneously with Effexor wd. But certainly the last two years, even 3 years for me, while maintaining the 10% rate per 4-6 wks, I could handle employment for sure. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted July 23, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 23, 2015 The whole thing has been totally lucky engineered from the very beginning. I was in hard core poopout on the paxil and looking to switch drugs when I happened on Prior Place. After reading through some of the threads what they were saying about the 10% taper made sense and the lightbulb came on. So I ended up with a "clean start" to a one drug habit, the rest is just "monkey business". Things went really smoothly the first couple of drops and by then I had been reading a lot and knew it was the right path because I could see what was happening to the fast taperers and CTs and the success that the micro taperers like Songbird and MLG were having. Once I made the move to SA I picked up on the reasons for going even slower at the end and going as low a possible before jumping off. That information has really helped, because I had a rougher than planned time between 6mg and 3mg, but the nerve loading charts made it clear why it was happening so it was easier to it ride out. 20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013. Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks. The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better. Final Dose 0.016mg. Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017 "It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general." Stephen Hawking Link to comment
aberdeen Posted July 27, 2015 Author Share Posted July 27, 2015 My husband and I had houseguests for a few days, and today they returned home. It turned out to be so nice, and despite my small home, we all found room and had a fun time. It truly reminded me of how thankful I am for my truest friends. The sort who never judge or feel higher than you, and never attack you at your weak points (to your face or behind your back). I've had some unbelievable experiences with the wrong sorts of people in my life, as we all have at times, so this was a wonderful reminder. We've been friends for 20 years and I'm doing well enough now that the entertaining was a pleasure and not a strain, slowly but surely! 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
lotusflower Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 My husband and I had houseguests for a few days, and today they returned home. It turned out to be so nice, and despite my small home, we all found room and had a fun time. It truly reminded me of how thankful I am for my truest friends. The sort who never judge or feel higher than you, and never attack you at your weak points (to your face or behind your back). I've had some unbelievable experiences with the wrong sorts of people in my life, as we all have at times, so this was a wonderful reminder. We've been friends for 20 years and I'm doing well enough now that the entertaining was a pleasure and not a strain, slowly but surely! Aberdeen, Such a pleasure to read this...I always knew you would one day write a post like this. I am so delighted for you. And really grateful to have the opportunity to witness your amazing growth and healing. hugs, joanne June, 1998 zoloft 50 mg. Had entered menopause, was irritable and anxiousSummer 2010, added welbutrin to zoloft, switched to effexor,did not work9/ 2010 zoloft 75 mg. 11/25/10 50 mg. 12/30 451/19/11 40.5 2/6 36.5 3/7 32.83/29 29.5 4/20 25 5/28 22.56/16 20.2 7/7 18.2 7/28 16.48/18 14.7 9/8 13.0 9/23 12.510/10 11.2 11/6 10.6 11/9 11.212/7 10.5 1/1/12 10 2/1 9.53/1 9 3/23 8.5 4/30 8 5/29 7.5 6/26 7 7/31 6.58/22 6 9/15 5.5 10/20 5 12/17 4.8 (switched to homemade liquid) 2/8/2013 zoloft free Link to comment
aberdeen Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 Thanks jo! I know you're going to be fine again soon, this is just a phase for you. I have seen some nice improvements for myself this year, and I just keep praying the healing continues all the way. I still have stuff of course (mainly anhedonia) and little waves, but I'm not done tapering and know that all the other stuff I went through before the taper will still require more time also, but it's coming! This summer has seen more window time than the others, so I'm happy about this. We're all lucky to know what needs to be done (get off these meds). So many people have no idea. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
aberdeen Posted August 7, 2015 Author Share Posted August 7, 2015 We went on a 5 day camping trip last week, returning Wednesday. As it happened I got pretty sick right before we left, my daughter had been sick all week the week before and it was the same virus. A nasty one with a 3-4 day fever and then chest symptoms and coughing. We were going with other people and so I sent my kids and husband the first night and joined them the following night, staying home to rest. I had to resort to Advil on the trip and even a few pseudoephedrine, which scared me (when i was alone at home with no advil it was all I could find with ibuprofen in it and I took it to try to get some sleep as the fever had me up and walking around freezing in a daze all night) I even took Tylenol which I hate, and its not as good at keeping the fever down as long. Anyway I joined everyone the next night and once the fever broke I felt somewhat better. Im now at the coughing stage and back home. I crashed into a low mood yesterday and today some morning anxiety, also my period came while on the trip...not one of the most fun camping trips for sure. I was well aware that my system may not tolerate meds too well but I'm surpised, honestly, that I dont feel worse. I took Advil round the clock, every 4 hours while the fever was on and we were camping. At home I used it less. When i took the pseudoephedrine I didnt noticed feeling ramped up or anything, which I was watchful for. I guess its safe to say I can tolerate it... somewhat. Today is just typical for the low mood symptoms, depressed and hopeless, life sucks and I suck and everyone else sucks kind of thinking. "This isnt wd it's me, and its me forever" You know the thoughts. Hopefully it passes soon! Just wanted to document the meds I used, as I typically put nothing in my system at all. Oh...and two nights before the virus hit full scale i was taking Cold FX, a ginseng capsule in a desperate attempt to ward off what I could feel brewing in my chest (it didnt stop it from coming). So that was in the mix too. Hopefully it stays just with the depressed mood and bit of morning anxiety and doesnt burst into full on acute style torture... but so far so good. 2 Timothy 1-7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Effexor 75mg to 262.5mg 2005-2010 for post partum depression Started having poop out mid 2010, also switched generic brands, then crashed in Dec 2010 (anxiety/ "terror", intense DR, anhedonia, suicidal ideation, chills, insomnia, horrible intrusive thoughts, disorientation, ect)Rapid "tapered" from 262.5mg Effexor in 3 months Tried Celexa,Cipralex, then Paxil to deal with wd(this switching made things worse and added akathesia) Found online support and started tapering Paxil 7 months after quitting Effexor (at this point was having small windows). Paxil taper: dropped 10% every 4-8 weeks Year 1 October 2011 to Nov 2012 20mg to 10mg Year 2 March 2013 to Feb 2014 10mg to 4mg Year 3 April 2014 to May 2015 4mg to 1.1mg Year 4 June 2015 1.1mg , dropping by 10% until .5mg, after then dropped by 0.1mg every 5 weeks until 0.1mg. Finished! Official last dose of 0.1mg on June 15/16 Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now