Moderator Emeritus Songbird Posted April 19, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 19, 2016 Congratulations!!!! So exciting! (I have to say I'm a bit jealous!) 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
nz11 Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Wow life is just getting better and better for you. What an awesome year is in store....you'll soon wonder how on earth you managed to fit work in! Hey this means you can soon do a big updose ....on the sa hours!! Don't forget to use up those accumulated sick days.... Hold on ...i thought you were already full time sa you mean you had a day job as well! Enjoy your retirement. nz11 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 Shep Posted April 19, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 19, 2016 Congratulations, Brassmonkey! Sounds like a well deserved retirement. Wishing you all the best. Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus apace41 Posted April 19, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 19, 2016 Tom, That is absolutely awesome! May all your and Monica's wishes come true as you embark on your new (healed) life. Best, Andy Sertraline 50mg and Clonazapam .375mg from 2000 -- symptoms of dizziness Spring 2012 increased to .5 Clonazapam and 100mg Sertraline -- no improvement Benzo microtaper from November 2012 to November 2014 (followed benzo sites "taper benzo first") Started Sertraline taper in December 2014 cut by 25mg to 75mg; 62.5mg 1/1/15 and 50mg on 2/1/15 Held at 50mg through April 5 to use liquid Reduced dosage in 10% or less drops from 50mg to 25mg -- at single tablet of 25mg on 10/5/15 Transitioned to all liquid for accuracy while tapering -- Horrible insomnia -- back to 25mg liquid and held until October 1, 2016 10/16 -- 11/18 tapered very slowly to 10.6mg. No real improvement and never really stable so updosed to 12.5mg (1/2 a pill) for convenience and long hold. After 8+ months of holding with no noticeable improvement decided to add .4ml of liquid Prozac (about 1.5mg) to see if that improves the situation Supplements, Magnesium, D3, Omega 3, curcumin, Valerian, 81mg Aspirin, L-Theanine, Vit. C, Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus SkyBlue Posted April 19, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 19, 2016 Congrats, Brass!!!!! I wish you the best! 2020: After 18+ years (entire adult life) on Paxil, a dangerous doctor-led "taper" in 2015, and four years tapering off the last 1 mg thanks to SA and the Brassmonkey slide, I AM COMPLETELY FREE OF PAXIL! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Forever. 2021: Began conservative, proper, CNS-respecting taper of Zoloft, led by the only expert on me -- me. Making own liquid. 5-10% plus holds. 2022: Holding on Zoloft for now. Current dose 47 mg. Hanging in, hanging on. Severe protracted PAWS, windows and waves. While I may not be doing "a lot" by outside standards, things are graaaaadually getting better. Yoga (gentle to medium); walks; daily breath practice; nutrition, fruits/veg; nature; water; EastEnders (lol); practicing self-compassion, self-care; boundaries; connection; allowing feelings; t r u s t ing that I, too, will heal. (--> may need to be reminded of this.) "You are not alone, and this is not the end of your story." - Baylissa Link to comment
katieb Posted April 19, 2016 Share Posted April 19, 2016 Excellent news Tom for you and Monica wishing you all the best from the uk.Im following your posts but not actually always commenting.Im down to 2 mg next drop getting there slowly. Hope that you will stick around when you finish the med and let us know how it's going ☺ Been taking paroxatine for approx 15 years.Tried a few times yo stop but failed. Am currently on 3.5mg liquid Jan 2016 been slow tapering paroxatine and i am currently at 2.9 mg and last drop was 5 weeks ago. Started to feel awful about 3 weeks ago with brain ???? , shakes, blurred vision and dizzyness. .. Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted April 24, 2016 Author Moderator Share Posted April 24, 2016 Thank you all for your congratulations. I am totally excited about the way things are going. I thing it's probably the reduction in stress from quitting but I have had the best several nights sleep I've had in a long time. We just finished up getting my health insurance transferred to a private policy, and that's the last big step. We have confirmations for all the travel plans so that is a go. Now we just have to pack. 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 April 26, 2016 Share Posted April 26, 2016 congrats Brass!! This is going to be a great 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
Moderator brassmonkey Posted April 27, 2016 Author Moderator Share Posted April 27, 2016 Last day of work ever!!!! I have to say that things are really awkward feeling around the office. Almost like I don't exist. One or two of the shop workers have expressed that they are sorry to see me go, but for the engineering staff and such it's like I'm gone already. Waiting for the page summoning me to see the owner of the company for an exit interview. I will take bets that they won't have my final checks ready until 4:45 this afternoon. I've been fighting getting over emotional for a couple of days now, the WDs have decided that this would be a good time to be "sensitive" to just about everything. Not a good condition to have around a load of male professionals. I might not get a chance to get on line later today. I get out of here, have a quick nap, an hours drive to the airport (if it doesn't decide to rain) then catch a plane to Savannah Georgia a little after midnight. I'll be gone for just over a week and don't know how much I'll be able to monitor here, so I hope y'all stay well. I'll be out looking for alligators. 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
Moderator Emeritus apace41 Posted April 27, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted April 27, 2016 Congrats, Tom. Enjoy! Sertraline 50mg and Clonazapam .375mg from 2000 -- symptoms of dizziness Spring 2012 increased to .5 Clonazapam and 100mg Sertraline -- no improvement Benzo microtaper from November 2012 to November 2014 (followed benzo sites "taper benzo first") Started Sertraline taper in December 2014 cut by 25mg to 75mg; 62.5mg 1/1/15 and 50mg on 2/1/15 Held at 50mg through April 5 to use liquid Reduced dosage in 10% or less drops from 50mg to 25mg -- at single tablet of 25mg on 10/5/15 Transitioned to all liquid for accuracy while tapering -- Horrible insomnia -- back to 25mg liquid and held until October 1, 2016 10/16 -- 11/18 tapered very slowly to 10.6mg. No real improvement and never really stable so updosed to 12.5mg (1/2 a pill) for convenience and long hold. After 8+ months of holding with no noticeable improvement decided to add .4ml of liquid Prozac (about 1.5mg) to see if that improves the situation Supplements, Magnesium, D3, Omega 3, curcumin, Valerian, 81mg Aspirin, L-Theanine, Vit. C, Link to comment
AmyK Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Oh wow, freedom! Have a great trip and watch out for the alligators. Hugs! Current dose: 0! Free! Quit June 2017. 2017: Last dose zoloft: 17 June 0,00065 mg 18 May 0, 001 mg 14 May 0,002 mg 9 May 0,003 mg 28 April 0,006 mg 19 April 0,009 mg 8 April 0,013 mg 25 March 0,019 mg 22 March 0,039 mg 18 March 0,052 mg 16 March 0,079 mg 4 March 0,086 1 March 0,099 mg 22 February 0,11 mg 15 February 0,13 mg 6 February 0,145 mg 24 January 0,15 mg 19 January 0,19 mg 10 January 0,20 mg 3 January 2016: 0,98 to 0,22 mg; 2015: 2,35 to 1,01 mg; 2014: 4,9 to 2,5 mg; 2013: 9,1 to 5,1 mg; 2012: 15,7 to 9,7 mg; 2011: Started on 25 mg - then 50 mg- dropped to 25- to 12.5 mg - back to 25 mg - after 18.75 mg started tiny tapering to 16.6 mg Started on 25 mg Zoloft in March 2011 due to stressrelated tinnitus that gave me panicattacks. Had a terrible reaction to Zoloft from start, but was told to "hold on". After four months I was stuck. Therefore the long taper. Crazy, I know... Super sensitive to drops and have dropped by 4-6 % from the previous dose. Link to comment
grandmaD Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Hi Tom, I think I missed something - have you retired? Where are you off to and for how long? A holiday is a nice reward after what you have been through and for working for so long. Keep safe, hugs from this end of the world 1995-2007 20mg Aropax/Paxil for pain. Years of up and down doses 2008 Endep, Lexapro and then Esipram (hell!) CT (oh dear!) 2009 20mg Aropax. Tried skipping doses for a year (more hell!) 2010 10mg. 10% taper. Lasted 4 months. Crashed again 2011 5% taper. 9mg-7mg (hell got even worse!) 2012 2.5% taper. 6.6mg – 5.6mg (worser still & unbearable) 2013 5% taper. Big mistake. 5.5mg – 4.6mg (even worserer) 2014 2.5% taper. 4.9mg – 4.5mg; 2015 2.5% taper 4.4 - 4.0mg 2016 2.5% taper. 3.9mg Feb 3.8 Mar 3.7 May 3.6 Jul 3.5 2017 2.5% taper. Jan 3.4; Mar 3.35; Apr 3.3; Oct 3; Dec 2.9; 2018 2.5% taper. Jan 2.8; Mar 2.7; Mar: 2.75; Jun 2.7; Aug 2.6; Oct 2.5; Nov 2.4; Dec 2.3 2019 Jan 2.2; Feb 2.1; Link to comment
mustangwoman Posted May 1, 2016 Share Posted May 1, 2016 Hello friend! Glad to see that you have been doing so well! Have been very busy lately, and still having us and down with withdrawals. Glad you are taking a vacation. You deserve it! zoloft 2004-08 tapered too fast(2 weeks) Luvox 5/08 100 mg 07/10 40mg via small reductions, 08/10 39mg, 09/10 38mg, 10/10 37mg, 11/10 36mg,2/11 35mg, 5/11 34mg, 8/11 33mg, 11/11 32mg, 01/12 31mg, 03/12 30mg, 4/12 29mg, 5/12 28 mg, 8/12 27 mg, 11/12 26 mg, 1/13 25 mg, 3/13 24 mg, 4/13 23 mg,6/13 22 mg, 7/13 21 mg, 8/13 20mg, 10/13 19 mg, 11/13 18 mg, 12/13 17 mg, 1/14 16 mg, 3/14 13 mg, 9/14 10.9 mg, 1/15 10 mg, 3/15 9 mg, 5/15 8 mg. 11/15 7.12 mg. 4/16 5 mg, 6/16 4.5 mg, 9/16 4.2 mg, 1/17 3.48 mg, 2/17 3.2 mg, 4/17 2.2 mg, 5/17 2.0 mg, 6/17 1.74 mg, 7/17 1.58 mg, 9/17 1.27 mg, 11/17 1.0 mg, 1/18 0.79 mg Link to comment
btdt Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 ok you have had a couple wks of retirement it is time to report hope your having a blast still peace WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG Had a car accident in 85 Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89 Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above. One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking. As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/ There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in Link to comment
geminigirl Posted May 6, 2016 Share Posted May 6, 2016 Hi Brass, Would you say you are recovered? 2010 started 10 mg celexa, 2011 went up to 20 mg 06/2014 started tapering (20 mg,10 mg alternate days) 19/09/2014 crashed at 10 mg 20/09/2014 updosed to 20 mg to try and stabilize- Never stabilized and CNS basically plummeted August 31 2015- Started my 5% taper anyways May 3 2016- At 14 mg the tapering caught up with me- Withdrawal included severe anxiety, feeling like im on speed, suicidal and homicidal ideation, akathesia, feeling like I was on heroin, memory loss, PGAD, feeling like I was on an acid May 4 2016- Updosed to 15.5 mg to try and stabilize June 4- Started taking 2 mg 5 times a day which adds up to 10 mg because of akathesia when taking my full dose. Akathesia symtpoms smaller July 27th- Dropped from 15.5 mg to 10 mg because could no longer tolerate taking drug- bad side effects mainly akathesia and emotional deadness. Oct 11- Improved a lot since May 4th after my crash. Withdrawal symptoms still left- DR/DP, emotional anasthesia, akathesia, tingling in head, feeling like my body and face disappears, messed up sound interpretation, perception and difficulty reading social and emotional cues during DR/DP, apathy, inability to tell if I am in dream or reality, disturbed sleep. Started having few windows Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted May 7, 2016 Author Moderator Share Posted May 7, 2016 I'm baaccckkk.... Pulled in the drive this morning at 1am. It was a wonderful way to kick off my retirement. I will have to say that Savannah is a beautiful town and this time of year the weather was lovely. A little hot and sticky on a couple of days but quite comfortable the rest of the time. We stayed in a Bed and Breakfast that was a restored mansion built in 1876 with large rooms and antique furniture. Truly the Old South captured in the present. The town was designed for walking with small parks every few blocks and shaded tree lined lanes covered with long tendrils of spanish moss. Savannah was the 13th of the original colonies so it is steeped in history, with the homes of famous/important people back to back to back. I think we visited every one of them. There is also an abundance of wildlife in the area too. We made day trips to several of the local game preserves were I was able to add to my life list of creatures by seeing and photographing some good sized alligators. I was very excited to do that. We also got to tour the local cemeteries, which had stones going back to the early 1700s and some truly amazing statues. Once I get the pictures organized, I took well over 2000, I'll share some here. Of course we had to eat out almost every meal. This ranged from premade sandwiches from the corner store to some of the best specialty cooking I have ever had. Needless to say I have to watch what I eat for a while to loose the extra I gained. There were no problems with the WDs the entire time. I did have to control my anxiety while trying to get to the airport and make connections as I frequently have to when traveling, but that is not related to coming off of the paxil. Now that the whirlwind has calmed it's time to start settling into retirement and establish some new routines. 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 May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Welcome back BM we have all been missing you. You did very well not checking into sa while on holiday...i noticed your absence at 5 am. Looked at some pictures online of savannah looks very beautiful place. 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
btdt Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 It sound wonderful I am glad you had a wonderful time peace to you and Monica WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG Had a car accident in 85 Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89 Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above. One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking. As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/ There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in Link to comment
geminigirl Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Awesome update. 2010 started 10 mg celexa, 2011 went up to 20 mg 06/2014 started tapering (20 mg,10 mg alternate days) 19/09/2014 crashed at 10 mg 20/09/2014 updosed to 20 mg to try and stabilize- Never stabilized and CNS basically plummeted August 31 2015- Started my 5% taper anyways May 3 2016- At 14 mg the tapering caught up with me- Withdrawal included severe anxiety, feeling like im on speed, suicidal and homicidal ideation, akathesia, feeling like I was on heroin, memory loss, PGAD, feeling like I was on an acid May 4 2016- Updosed to 15.5 mg to try and stabilize June 4- Started taking 2 mg 5 times a day which adds up to 10 mg because of akathesia when taking my full dose. Akathesia symtpoms smaller July 27th- Dropped from 15.5 mg to 10 mg because could no longer tolerate taking drug- bad side effects mainly akathesia and emotional deadness. Oct 11- Improved a lot since May 4th after my crash. Withdrawal symptoms still left- DR/DP, emotional anasthesia, akathesia, tingling in head, feeling like my body and face disappears, messed up sound interpretation, perception and difficulty reading social and emotional cues during DR/DP, apathy, inability to tell if I am in dream or reality, disturbed sleep. Started having few windows Link to comment
LexAnger Posted May 7, 2016 Share Posted May 7, 2016 Wonderful! Drug free Sep. 23 2017 2009 Mar.: lexapro 10mg for headache for 2 weeks. 2009-2012: on and off 1/4 to 1/3 of 10mg 2012 June--2013 Jan,: 1/4-1/3 of 10mg generic, bad jaw pain 2013 Jan-Mar: 10 mg generic. severe jaw and head pain; 2013 Mar--Aug. started tapering (liquid ever since) from 10 to 5 (one step) then gradually down to 2.25 mg by July. first ever panic attack, severe head/jaw pain 2013 Aug.: back to 2.75 mg; Nov: back to Brand Lex. 2.75mg -- 3mg, 2014 June: stopped PPI, head pressure/numbness. up-dosed 4.5mg, severe reaction mental symptoms added on 2014 Aug--2015 Aug: Micro taper down to 3.2mg, .025mg (<1%) cut holding 2-3 weeks. 2015 Aug 15th, Accidental one dose of 4.2mg. worsening brain non-functional, swollen head, body, coma like, DR 2016 Feb., started dosing 10am through 11 pm everyday 2/13--3.2mg, 3/15-- 2.9mg, 4/19-- 2.6mg, 6/26--2.2mg, 7/22 --1.9mg, 8/16--1.8mg，8/31--1.7m g, 9/13--1.6mg, 9/27--1.5mg, 10/8--1.4mg, 10/14--1.3mg， 11/1--1.2mg, 11/29--1.1mg, 12/12--1mg, 12/22--0.9mg 2017: 1/7--0.8mg, 1/15--0.7mg, 1/17--0.6mg, 1/20--0.52, 1/21--0.4mg, 1/22--0.26, 1/23--0.2, 2/13--0.13mg, 2/20--0.06mg, 3/18--0.13mg, 6/1--0.12mg, 7/6--0.1mg, 7/14--0.08mg, 8/17--0.04mg, 8/20--0.03mg, 8/28--0.02mg, 9/6--0.0205mg, 9/8--0.02mg, 9/17--0.015mg, 9/20--0.01mg, 9/21--0.0048mg, 9/22--0.0001mg, Link to comment
grandmaD Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 Welcome back. Enjoy retirement - my husband has not worked to hard since he retired! Be built a new house and he has not stopped! He built 2 sheds himself, lots of retaining walls, holes to dig for plants and trees,, always spraying for weeds, mowing, patios to build, paths and road to make, water tanks to tend to, gutters to clean (gum trees lose leaves all year round) and on and on it goes! What are your plans? 1995-2007 20mg Aropax/Paxil for pain. Years of up and down doses 2008 Endep, Lexapro and then Esipram (hell!) CT (oh dear!) 2009 20mg Aropax. Tried skipping doses for a year (more hell!) 2010 10mg. 10% taper. Lasted 4 months. Crashed again 2011 5% taper. 9mg-7mg (hell got even worse!) 2012 2.5% taper. 6.6mg – 5.6mg (worser still & unbearable) 2013 5% taper. Big mistake. 5.5mg – 4.6mg (even worserer) 2014 2.5% taper. 4.9mg – 4.5mg; 2015 2.5% taper 4.4 - 4.0mg 2016 2.5% taper. 3.9mg Feb 3.8 Mar 3.7 May 3.6 Jul 3.5 2017 2.5% taper. Jan 3.4; Mar 3.35; Apr 3.3; Oct 3; Dec 2.9; 2018 2.5% taper. Jan 2.8; Mar 2.7; Mar: 2.75; Jun 2.7; Aug 2.6; Oct 2.5; Nov 2.4; Dec 2.3 2019 Jan 2.2; Feb 2.1; Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted May 11, 2016 Author Moderator Share Posted May 11, 2016 There is no end of things to keep me busy GrandmaD. We've been working on a kitchen remodel for a couple of years and that's the big project right now. I'm not doing the actual work, but making the decisions and arrangements is a lot of work. Then there is a lot of other things that need done to the house, floors, ceilings, HVAC, bathrooms. That will keep me busy for a while. I can't see it all being done before we start on the Halloween stuff in August. Which will take us up to a big trip to London for the holidays. So all in all this year is shot already. LOL 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
AliG Posted May 11, 2016 Share Posted May 11, 2016 That sounds awesome , B. My daughter is living in London , and I'm hoping that we can get over there sometime soon. Welcome back . It sounds like you had fun . Many SSRI's and SSNRI's over 20 years. Zoloft for 7 years followed by Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, Cymbalta, Celexa, Pristiq, Valdoxan, Mianserin and more - on and off. No tapering. Cold turkey off Valdoxan - end of May 2014 Psych Drug - free since May 2014 . Link to comment
grandmaD Posted May 12, 2016 Share Posted May 12, 2016 It is amazing how busy things can keep you - it took us 5 years to get around to getting a heater and then another 3 years after that we have started putting awnings up. Just checking around, pricing, quotes, etc all takes time. How fantastic to hear you are travelling and planning to go to London, what a wonderful reward! I trust all the rest of us here can follow in your steps! Enjoy! 1995-2007 20mg Aropax/Paxil for pain. Years of up and down doses 2008 Endep, Lexapro and then Esipram (hell!) CT (oh dear!) 2009 20mg Aropax. Tried skipping doses for a year (more hell!) 2010 10mg. 10% taper. Lasted 4 months. Crashed again 2011 5% taper. 9mg-7mg (hell got even worse!) 2012 2.5% taper. 6.6mg – 5.6mg (worser still & unbearable) 2013 5% taper. Big mistake. 5.5mg – 4.6mg (even worserer) 2014 2.5% taper. 4.9mg – 4.5mg; 2015 2.5% taper 4.4 - 4.0mg 2016 2.5% taper. 3.9mg Feb 3.8 Mar 3.7 May 3.6 Jul 3.5 2017 2.5% taper. Jan 3.4; Mar 3.35; Apr 3.3; Oct 3; Dec 2.9; 2018 2.5% taper. Jan 2.8; Mar 2.7; Mar: 2.75; Jun 2.7; Aug 2.6; Oct 2.5; Nov 2.4; Dec 2.3 2019 Jan 2.2; Feb 2.1; Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted May 12, 2016 Author Moderator Share Posted May 12, 2016 " I trust all the rest of us here can follow in your steps! " That's my greatest hope. I am wanting people to realize that the drug phase that they're going through is just a bump in the road and to not let it rule their lives. It may place limits while going through it, but they can be worked around. Once it's over, it's in the past and it's time to move on and make up for lost time. The time during WD should not be wasted in self pity, it should be used to lay the groundwork for the good times to come. Wd will last a finite amount of time, we don't know how long, but it does end, and when it does it's our time to shine. I don't want people to think I'm bragging or showing off, I want to lead by example and have people see how much is possible if they take the initiative. Monica and I have been planning for retirement ever since we got together. The past twelve years have been rough but they have not spoiled those plans. 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
LexAnger Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 We need the faith by hearing the wisdom in what you say, Tom! Thanks for giving all of us hope, assurance, and encouragement! Drug free Sep. 23 2017 2009 Mar.: lexapro 10mg for headache for 2 weeks. 2009-2012: on and off 1/4 to 1/3 of 10mg 2012 June--2013 Jan,: 1/4-1/3 of 10mg generic, bad jaw pain 2013 Jan-Mar: 10 mg generic. severe jaw and head pain; 2013 Mar--Aug. started tapering (liquid ever since) from 10 to 5 (one step) then gradually down to 2.25 mg by July. first ever panic attack, severe head/jaw pain 2013 Aug.: back to 2.75 mg; Nov: back to Brand Lex. 2.75mg -- 3mg, 2014 June: stopped PPI, head pressure/numbness. up-dosed 4.5mg, severe reaction mental symptoms added on 2014 Aug--2015 Aug: Micro taper down to 3.2mg, .025mg (<1%) cut holding 2-3 weeks. 2015 Aug 15th, Accidental one dose of 4.2mg. worsening brain non-functional, swollen head, body, coma like, DR 2016 Feb., started dosing 10am through 11 pm everyday 2/13--3.2mg, 3/15-- 2.9mg, 4/19-- 2.6mg, 6/26--2.2mg, 7/22 --1.9mg, 8/16--1.8mg，8/31--1.7m g, 9/13--1.6mg, 9/27--1.5mg, 10/8--1.4mg, 10/14--1.3mg， 11/1--1.2mg, 11/29--1.1mg, 12/12--1mg, 12/22--0.9mg 2017: 1/7--0.8mg, 1/15--0.7mg, 1/17--0.6mg, 1/20--0.52, 1/21--0.4mg, 1/22--0.26, 1/23--0.2, 2/13--0.13mg, 2/20--0.06mg, 3/18--0.13mg, 6/1--0.12mg, 7/6--0.1mg, 7/14--0.08mg, 8/17--0.04mg, 8/20--0.03mg, 8/28--0.02mg, 9/6--0.0205mg, 9/8--0.02mg, 9/17--0.015mg, 9/20--0.01mg, 9/21--0.0048mg, 9/22--0.0001mg, Link to comment
grandmaD Posted May 13, 2016 Share Posted May 13, 2016 Yes, thanks Tom for your encouraging words. 1995-2007 20mg Aropax/Paxil for pain. Years of up and down doses 2008 Endep, Lexapro and then Esipram (hell!) CT (oh dear!) 2009 20mg Aropax. Tried skipping doses for a year (more hell!) 2010 10mg. 10% taper. Lasted 4 months. Crashed again 2011 5% taper. 9mg-7mg (hell got even worse!) 2012 2.5% taper. 6.6mg – 5.6mg (worser still & unbearable) 2013 5% taper. Big mistake. 5.5mg – 4.6mg (even worserer) 2014 2.5% taper. 4.9mg – 4.5mg; 2015 2.5% taper 4.4 - 4.0mg 2016 2.5% taper. 3.9mg Feb 3.8 Mar 3.7 May 3.6 Jul 3.5 2017 2.5% taper. Jan 3.4; Mar 3.35; Apr 3.3; Oct 3; Dec 2.9; 2018 2.5% taper. Jan 2.8; Mar 2.7; Mar: 2.75; Jun 2.7; Aug 2.6; Oct 2.5; Nov 2.4; Dec 2.3 2019 Jan 2.2; Feb 2.1; Link to comment
btdt Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 I hope your right Tom I really do but I have some doubts I can feel how happy you are from your posts good for you I am happy for you peace WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG Had a car accident in 85 Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89 Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above. One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking. As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/ There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted May 21, 2016 Author Moderator Share Posted May 21, 2016 It's been a very busy week since I last posted. Getting a lot of things started, but not a lot done. Well, it all takes time. Had some blood work done, everything is fine for the most part. Bad cholesterol has taken a spike so I have to watch that for a while. My kidney function has been sliding slowly down hill, nothing bad just enough for the doctor to be concerned, so I started on a med for that. It lowers BP also, so I stopped my BP med at the same time. BP dropped to 92/64 with the first tablet. Caused a lot of dizziness all day, so I didn't take it again. I'll be talking to the Doc on Monday about it. Lead for a rough night too. Oh well. Making plans for another trip. Week and a half in Portland, the middle of next month. Have a lot of friends there and some beautiful country to look at. Unofficially dropped to 8mgpw during the week. It was easier than weighing out 9mg for some reason so just stuck with it. It's a couple of days early but shouldn't hurt anything. I'll hold until after the trip to make up for 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 May 21, 2016 Share Posted May 21, 2016 Wow great going BM 0.64 mg. Not long to go now. 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
chia1214 Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Hi brass - thanks for commenting on my intro thread update! I read the last couple pages of your thread here to see what you have been up to. Oh my! Quite a bit! Congratulations on your retirement! And so good to see how your taper is going. Sliding right down there, slow and easy. -- Chia Read my intro here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/7569-chia1214-tapering-lamotrigine-maybe-clonazapam-later/#entry110043 1975 Hospitalized and first exposure to psych. drugs age 13-15 Haldol, Tofranil, Cogentin, Thorazine. On and off numerous AD’s & AP’s no records until 2000 2000 Celexa, Clonazepam 1mg – never exceeded 1 mg except occasional emergency use 2004 Lamictal (Lamotrigine), Effexor, recall add-on trials of Lexapro, Prozac, Wellbutrin during this time also 2007 Lithium added, switch Effexor to Pristiq, still on Lamictal (Lamotrigine) Clonazepam. Some cold turkey quits of everything over the years. No knowledge of WD 2011 Lithuim Gabapentin Lunestra, Lamictal (Lamotrigine), Clonazepam 2012 Taken off all but Lamictal (Lamotrigine), Clonazepam, began Zyprexa 2013 Abilify replaced Zyprexa (high lipids) added Wellbutrin, Prozac, Adderall 2014 Discontinued Abilify, Wellbutrin, Prozac, Adderall, added Latuda, Quetiapine, then stopped those. December 2014 Found SA Began slow taper of the only remaining two drugs I'm taking Clonazepam 0 mg Benzo free as of May 30, 2017 Lamotrigine 0 mg as of Jan 7, 2018 Link to comment
geminigirl Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Good Job BrassMonkey! I am cheering for you. Yana 2010 started 10 mg celexa, 2011 went up to 20 mg 06/2014 started tapering (20 mg,10 mg alternate days) 19/09/2014 crashed at 10 mg 20/09/2014 updosed to 20 mg to try and stabilize- Never stabilized and CNS basically plummeted August 31 2015- Started my 5% taper anyways May 3 2016- At 14 mg the tapering caught up with me- Withdrawal included severe anxiety, feeling like im on speed, suicidal and homicidal ideation, akathesia, feeling like I was on heroin, memory loss, PGAD, feeling like I was on an acid May 4 2016- Updosed to 15.5 mg to try and stabilize June 4- Started taking 2 mg 5 times a day which adds up to 10 mg because of akathesia when taking my full dose. Akathesia symtpoms smaller July 27th- Dropped from 15.5 mg to 10 mg because could no longer tolerate taking drug- bad side effects mainly akathesia and emotional deadness. Oct 11- Improved a lot since May 4th after my crash. Withdrawal symptoms still left- DR/DP, emotional anasthesia, akathesia, tingling in head, feeling like my body and face disappears, messed up sound interpretation, perception and difficulty reading social and emotional cues during DR/DP, apathy, inability to tell if I am in dream or reality, disturbed sleep. Started having few windows Link to comment
kitschywoman Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 That is AWESOME! I can't wait to be in your shoes some day (both on the reduction and retired)! Started Celexa in 2001, moved to Lexapro (at doctor's suggestion), then Cymbalta (when Lexapro pooped out), stayed on Cymbalta for several years until it pooped out in 2011 (had a hospital stay and polydrugging that included Seroquel, Trazodone, Remeron, Ambien and Klonopin...never at the same time...just individually with my AD for insomnia). Tried Celexa again without much success and then settled on Zoloft (Sertraline) in 2012. 2012-2014 - Sertraline 150mg 2014-2015 - Sertraline 100mg (after unsuccessfully discontinuing and having to reinstate after about 3 months) Summer 2015 - Cut dose down to 50 mg over several weeks, but started having anxiety and insomnia again. Fall 2015-Spring 2016 - Stabilized at 75mg in September 2015 and held until May 2016. May 2016-December 2016 - **STARTED BRASSMONKEY SLIDE** Moved from 75mg (25mg liquid and 50mg tablet) down to 50mg. January 2017-May 2017 - HOLD at 50mg May 2017 - Starting to taper again from 50mg (25mg liquid and 25mg tablet) February 2018 - Now at 25mg Sertraline and holding for one year (just to give the ol' noggin a rest) Link to comment
Moderator brassmonkey Posted May 28, 2016 Author Moderator Share Posted May 28, 2016 Hi everyone-- thanks for dropping in with the cheering comments. It's getting so close I have to restrain myself and not rush. We have another trip coming up in a couple of weeks and I should make a drop right in the middle of it, but will wait until we're home to do it. I finally ran out of gel caps,which I was thinking would be my jump off point. But that was still at .52mg. I've just been sprinkling the little bit of powder on my breakfast bagel and it seems to be working well. I'll have to get some gel caps for the trip as dealing with just the powder and scales while traveling would be a total pain. As expected the elbow is being slow to recover. I'm going out of my way to take it easy on it. Right now I'm doing a lot of forearm massage to keep the muscles loose, and will probably start some light exercise pretty soon. It still gets a lot of work as it's a right handed world out there. The transition into retirement is going well. I do get the occasional thought of "when will this vacation be over" but it's usually just in passing. Trying to get a flow going on the remodel is a bit of a challenge. Things are slowly starting to fall into place and we've accepted that it's going to take a lot longer that planned. (Where have I heard that before?) It's a beautiful, cool overcast day, so I'm going to go play in the yard in a little while. 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
Africa Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Congratulations on your retirement Brassmonkey! Thank you for all your encouragement and support. You are a true inspiration! Africa <p>February 2009 started taking Paroxetine 10 mg everyday. Reducing very slowly in February 2015.15 December 2015 was on 5 mg Paroxetine 4 days a week and 7.5 mg 3 days a week. Severe withdrawal. Back to 7.5mg everyday from today 25 March 2016 7.1 mg everyday (stayed on this dose for 8 weeks) 23 May 2016 6.7 mg everyday (stayed on this dose for 6 weeks) 4 July 2016 6.3 mg everyday (stayed on this dose for 8 weeks). 2 September 2016 5.9 mg (stayed on this dose for 10 weeks) 9 November 2016 5.6 mg (stayed on this dose for 8 weeks) 4 January 2017 5.3 mg (stayed on this dose for 6 weeks) 20 February 2017 5 mg (it's taken me 2 year to get half way!!) (stayed on this dose for 4 months) 20 June 2017 4.6 mg (stayed on this dose for 5 months ) 27 November 2017 4.2 mg (stayed on this dose for 7 months) 17 June 2018 3.9 mg (stayed on this dose for 7 months) 22 January 2019 3.5 mg {stayed on this dose for 2 years) 16 January 2021 3.2 mg 3 April 2021 3mg Link to comment
Member cymbaltawithdrawal5600 Posted May 31, 2016 Member Share Posted May 31, 2016 I saw you talking somewhere about "Anger Spiral", I think that was your term for it. Do you have a link and what exactly do you do to short circuit it? What happened and how I arrived here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4243-cymbaltawithdrawal5600-introduction/#entry50878 July 2016 I have decided to leave my story here at SA unfinished. I have left my contact information in my profile for anyone who wishes to talk to me. I have a posting history spanning nearly 4 years and 3000+ posts all over the site. Thank you to all who participated in my recovery. I'll miss talking to you but know that I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines, suffering and rejoicing with you in spirit, as you go on in your journey. Link to comment
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