Janie: is there any treatment for protracted withdrawal

[mammaP]

Hi Janie, I am so sorry you are feeling so bad. I remember a few months ago feeling just the same as you

and coming here in desperation because I felt that checking into hospital was the only way to go. 

I didn't go there and it passed eventually. It is really really hard sometimes to know what to do and if I could take it

away from you I would in a heartbeat. Being ill and on antibiotics so long will make you feel pretty wretched on top 

of the withdrawal. If it were me I would avoid psych drugs right now, they could make things even worse. 

 

You need some TLC and be easy on yourself, you are probably experiencing a nasty wave right now but it WILL pass

and the window will open again.  I think of riding the waves like a surfer, just stay on that board and you will get back! 

 

Sending you Mamma hugs, remember we are all in this together and are all here for and with you holding your hand. 

[Nikki]

I am so sorry this is happening to you.  The first thing I thought of was like MamaP said it happens to most of us so this isn't so unusual even though it is terribly frightening.

 

When it is happening it is such a feeling of desperation which I sense in your wording.  I can feel it for you.

 

Maybe what you may want to consider is that there are options and where there are options there is hope.

 

Let me give you my experience and my choice.  I have taken Paxil, not Effexor.  They are very difficult drugs to bounce back from.

 

I could not wean off Paxil - the WD was unbearable and I could not function and my daughter was little at the time.  I then chose to take Lexapro.  After a month or so I felt much better.  This is my story and what worked for me.

 

I have an AD history (wish I didn't, but I do).

 

On a few occasions in the last few years (2008) (2010) and recently I felt that I could not go on with anxiety any longer.  I have had it for years. During these times as much as I didn't want to (you know that voice inside saying stay away from drugs) vs. waking with anxiety and having it all day...well I decided to take another medication.  There have been events in my life since 2009 that were the worst times of my life.

 

That decision was up to me.  Believe me I prayed on it, talked about it, researched meds, journaled about it, meditated on it and I took medicine.  I have just done this again.

 

I am scared and confused and the crossover is heavy.

 

It is a personal decision.  Go inside yourself and try to hash this out.  As bad as alot of these meds can be, taking something is sometimes a more viable decision than suffering. Then again what you are experiencing, if you can hold out may lessen. 

 

Alto said something to me yesterday about none of us really knowing the outcome.  With this in mind I decided to try another medication.  I am not a criminal, failure, or mental case.  I feel ashamed to a degree, but I can't go on with anxiety any longer.

 

Sending you a prayer.............

[Altostrata]

I'm sorry, Janie. The effect of any drug with which you might be treated is entirely unpredictable. A clinic is likely to prescribe large dosages, which will be even more risky.

[lexicon]

Hi Janie,

I am so very sorry that you are hurting

I am right there, on the same boat as you, and I completely understand

with deep empathy ..

I do not have any solutions to suggest, only to say that we need to keep walking ..

Taking tiny steps, which can be unbearable at times, will eventually lead us to the other side.

Try any hang in there ..Don't loose faith.

Thinking of you, and holding you in thought and prayer.

Love, Lexi

[Janie]

Thank you both. Mamma P it's good to feel your love and hugs.  I appreciate your thoughts Nikki! Both of you have helped me get through this day.  Your words are helpful and it's always comforting to know others understand what you're going through. 

 

I want to hold out and hope for recovery. I was doing well for awhile but now I am miserable and losing hope again.  The last few days have been a bad struggle to maintain normalcy, to work and to cope. There is constant nervous pain in my core abdomen. My mind is in a very dark and miserable  place.  I can hardly function. I feel negative about almost everything.  My stomach is in knots, I'm agitated and shaky, breathing is off, heart palps, no appetite - the works.

 

Thanks for sharing your story Nikki. And any for prayers!!  I feel so sick at heart to consider what all you have been through for so many years. I am encouraged in a way that you were able to restart meds without it making you worse.  I understand  your decision to go back to meds and do what was necessary to function.  I was reading posts about lamictal and that gave me hope that perhaps I should try that.  I recently ended the treatment of antibiotics for possible lyme disease so maybe the spirochetes were not killed off and I'm getting a relapse!!??  I have read the antibiotics do not kill all the lyme disease in some people. Or it could just be a bad wave.

 

My family wants me to go to Johns Hopkins and get evauated by a whole team of doctors, but I really doubt even those docs can help me. Perhaps they WILL acknowledge the protracted WD syndrome and perhaps they can try me on Lamictal or something that could help. Perhaps they will test for lyme and be able to confirm it and treat that better.  I am at my wits end. I am not sure I can keep working but we need the income to survive. I pray every day and give thanks for all the times I feel better and the improvements I had made. (thought I made)  I'm just not so hopeful any more that I can or will recover.

 

I feel if these feelings and symptoms escalate further I could go berserk! I feel I'm going insane.  I fear this long term anxiety  will give me cancer or a heart attack.  In a way I would welcome it.  I would prefer to die than live like this year after year.  There are not enough good things in my life to counter balance this much misery.

 

I will hope for relief over the next few days. For now, my husband has made a phone call to his contact to a contact at johns hopkins. I guess we will see what's involved.  I will consider it. I have never missed work except once until today, (aside for many doctor appointments).  This is bad that I cannot work.  So far I hid my symptoms or could take a break to go somewhere private to do deep breathing or cry. Today I could just not bear to go to work.

 

Doesn't any one feel curious about the MTHFR gene defect test?  Isn't that defect something that could be causing or contributing to our WD symptoms? As I understand it, if one can't process folic acid adequately, that causes depression.  Maybe it's time I got the test.  Has anyone else gotten the test. I know Altostrata did. And if so, did the findings and treatment/supplement help you with WD symptoms???

 

I need more answers and weapons to try.  I prefer no meds!

[Janie]

Mr. A, sorry I do not use Facebook.  I thought you meant some kind of friend link on this website.

[Altostrata]

If you have certain MTHFR polymorphisms, they can affect your absorption of folate and vitamin B12. Lack of these nutrients can make your nervous system more fragile. This may add to withdrawal symptoms, but remedying it (with special folate and B12 supplements) probably will not eliminate withdrawal symptoms. Also, if you are sensitized, you should be very cautious adding either folate or B12 supplements: Start at a fractional dosage.

[Janie]

Thank you Altostrata and Lexicon for information and support.  I went swimming and feel better this evening - for now. I hope tomorrow is a better day!!  Thanks for being there.  I appreciate this website and all the support and information. I'm going to make a donation.

[Nikki]

So relieved you feel somewhat better....it helps to talk.  I agree with Alto about going to a an Emergency Room or Clinic.  They can prescribe numerous drugs.  This doesn't mean you have to take them.

 

You need to be your own best advocate, however hard things are to make a decision.  Sometimes doing nothing is a decision.

 

There are options, please don't feel you are at a dead end.  We all do when anxiety takes hold, that is why it is good to post.

 

Hope you get some deep rest tonight.

[Meimeiquest]

Vitamin D is also something that can be low.

 

I read recently that mid-November is the peak time for depression. Anything that you can do to get daytime light might be helpful.

 

You might want to make a list of "emergency measures" since we usually aren't thinking well when emergencies hit. The most helpful thing for me when I was in that anxiety/akinesia state was my husband taking the whole family (girls were little then) for car rides in the country. My grandmother had very serious mental illness in the 1920's to 1940's and they put her on a horse to wander the plains...so my husband called those my pony rides...that I didn't appreciate so much!

[Janie]

Thanks Nikki and Meimeiquest!!  I feel back my most normal (for me) self today. Keeping my options open but not rushing into anything. Thankful I did not call a clinic.  Posting gave me something to do and helped me feel supported.   I agree it could be the change in season contributing again to my mood. I do use a SAD light some mornings.

 

Know I need to brace for the next wave, trying to hold on to this lovely good state I have at the moment. Great idea about emergency preparedness.  I will think on that and I have some ideas.  Would like to write myself a letter or make a recording of reassurance and encouragement, since husband is not so great at that.  I don't know if my own words would feel valid, but I'm going to try it. 

 

Also I had lapsed on vitamin D since some posts warned against it, but my doctor just reiterated people like me who were deficient should always stay on a fairly high dose - she said 5,000 IU so I am starting it up again. THANKS.

[Nikki]

You must feel very relieved...I am feeling much better as well....these waves really knock us for a loop.

 

MQ that must have been very good for you grandmother to get out into the open ride.  Poor woman there were not medicine then.

I haven't done my horse-back riding but it hit me at how wonderful it really is.

[mammaP]

I'm glad you feel better Janie, it's terrifying being in  a wave. I love the idea of writing yourself a

letter and think I might do that myself, thank you for mentioning it. Meime that was lovely that your

grandmother could go off and ride the plains when she was mentally ill, it must have been very

therapeutic for her, I'd love to do that but have never even been on the back of a horse, don't think

a donkey ride when I was 7 would be quite the same, lol. 

[Meimeiquest]

Her horseback riding was back in the days of side saddles...I can't imagine. My family doesn't say much about those days,I think there are just no words. My gfather was told to put her in the state mental hospital, but didn't. I think they did every kind of shock treatment possible. My dad describes seeing his dad at midday when he came in from farming at lunch, kneeling in prayer with his mother in the bedroom of his parents' sod house with a wet towel around his neck. A faithful man.

[MrAnxious]

Hey Janie,long time?! How are you doing? I'm wondering if you can msg me now? How are you, you must be getting better still cause you are on here less:) what's new?

[Janie]

Hi Mr. A. I tired private message to you but it would not work.

 

Yes, I guess I have been better, but then worse again, as usual. Every time I start thinking I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, there is another wave and I get discouraged. Recently I was bad so thought I should check further on whether I might have Lyme disease. 

 

I've not had a good window since Thanksgiving, but finally today is very good. I think I am improving since overall I seem to be getting more things done in my life and feeling more hopeful, partly because we have had some improvement in our financial situation. 

 

I was wondering about you and saw your post that you have felt better lately and maybe from coQ10.  I hope you are truly doing better and not just in a window.  How would you say your symptoms have lessened or improved?  Are you still having some symptoms? Are you still on 15 mg Buspar? 

 

Can you tell me more about coQ10. you said something about 'stations' I don't understand that term.  I never tried coq10 since it is expensive, but if it specifically helps the brain I will get some.

 

I have been using pregnenalone again. It ALWAYS seems to help me after about 30 min of taking it. It is not expensive at all. I take 3 of 10mg capsules for improvement. But now I will try taking 1 capsule 3 times a day to keep it in my system in hopes that will keep me more stable.  I sometimes take it along with 3 omega 3's so maybe that helps too. Pregnenalone is a building block for hormones and neurotransmitters and seems to be something my body needs since I feel better after taking it.  I am also taking a small amount of magnesium at bedtime and seem to be sleeping better and waking up with less anxiety.

 

I am at about 15 months now of this hell and am glad to say I am improving gradually. It's just that I probaby have many more months ahead and on the bad days it seems like 1 more day is too much and what if I never get well? So I think about getting back on something. But then I usually feel at least a little better the next day, so am able to think I can, and must, carry on and wait it out.

 

Thanks for writing. Hope you have a good week.

[Petunia]

Hi Janie,

It sounds like you are slowly improving, I know how disheartening the waves can be, but they do get less.  I've been in this pattern for a long time now, but can finally see some lasting improvement.

 

I take CoQ10, I take 100mg per day with my evening meal.  I can't say if its making any difference or not, but I take it anyway and have done for probably 6 months now.  I didn't notice any significant difference when I started taking it, but because it didn't have any adverse effects, I didn't stop taking it.

 

Sometimes you can save money buying supplements online, I get mine from iHerb.

 

There is a short thread here about this particular supplement: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1754-coq10/?hl=coq10

[Janie]

Thanks Petu!  I will check out iHerb. I also think pregnenalone is amazing. By taking a little (10mg) 3 times a day, I've been able to maintain this window so far, and feel more stable.   When I start feeling edgy and anxious I know it is time for another pill. I will start a new topic on it. I'd like to see if others can be helped by it.

[Petunia]

We have a topic on pregnenolone, here:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/774-pregnenolone/?p=70766

[Needmylifeback]

Janie.... I am jumping in a bit... I read most of the thread from the beginning... But flu symptoms are getting in the way!

 

I just wanted to give you some information I only received last February 2013 when my thyroid symptoms were miserable inspite of solid treatment since fall 2009!! I was finally told that when you have thyroid imbalance and are trying to externally manage your levels, you can exhibit the exact same symptoms whether your taking too little or too much!!

 

My first dr who was treating thyroid would just alter my dose w/o labs and would tell me to just take more if i still felt off.... My body was getting dangerously high doses of T4 while still not at a functional T3 level. Now I won't let anyone touch my thyroid med doses without seeing a new blood test first. Bc a dr cannot tell on such a tight titration which of the levels is off or by how much or if it's too high/too low without a blood test.

 

As for iron and vitamins adek it is possible to OD on these chemical. Iron is such a dangerous oxidizer that it must be contained inside the hemoglobin structure to keep it from touching cells directly. It would oxidize (rapidly age) and kill any cells it came into direct contact with .... Like cutting fruit and the air causing it to brown and wither.

 

Vitamins ADEK are all fat soluble. They can build up to toxically high levels in your fat stores. Then you will have sudden releases of the drug anytime your body needs to metabolize fat.... On top of whatever you took orally that day!! And you can have toxicity of those vitamins. So it is unlike Vit C where renal clearance rates increase as you increase your oral intake.... Which keeps your serum levels between 1.2-1.5 mg/dl (I believe). You need it to be between 80-90 serum levels to have anti viral effects in the body! So it's nearly impossible to OD on Vit C.... But Vit C is water soluble. All fat soluble vitamins build up in your fat stores and can be released w/o your awareness for quite some time after d/c taking the supplement. Making fat soluble vitamins every bit as dangerous as Rxd meds.

 

I hope these bits of information help you to better care for yourself!!!

[Janie]

Thank you Petu. I  hadn't seen that thread on pregnenalone. All the information explains why it seems to help me so much. I am careful not to take very much - only as needed.  I expect to stop it when my brain healing progresses a little more. I venture to say that the reader (I forget the name) might not have given it enough chance, would have entered a wave anyway, or crashed because the Preg. wore off.  Of course everyone is different so it just may not help everyone. I notice it definitely helps me. It is very inexpensive to buy, and with the 10 mg pills it is easy to take a little or more as needed.  Lately I am taking up to 3 or 4 a day, so 40 mg daily max- usually less.

 

Thank you Needmylifeback too!  I appreciate your input and information.  Yes, I have researched thyroid a lot and know it's very tricky getting the t3 and t4 balanced in the right amounts.  That is always a concern of mine. I did not do well at all when I added synthetic t4, but seemed better when t3 was just increased. I might still be off, but doc says reading looks right, and since I am improving I think my problem is probably only the withdrawal syndrome/brain receptor die off.  I  think my vitamins are at a safe level. But will keep that in mind too. I was worried about Lyme disease, and am still not sure if I should investigate that or how it could even be determined, since the tests they say are so unreliable.  because I am improving I tend to think I do not have lyme, but maybe lyme has windows and waves too???

 

I hope your flu symptoms will diminish soon!!  Thanks for writing.

[Janie]

I am coming to the conclusion that I have to get back on something but I don't know what.  It's been 17 months  off effexor and sometimes I feel normal but there are still very very bad times.  I'm so tired of living like this.  Sometimes I feel there are too few joys and too many problems and stresses in my life to ever get fully well anyway.  The biggest reason is that I have to have a major operation and I know I cannot deal with that stress without being on something.  After the operation and recovery I could try to taper off again hopefully.  

 

I have thought about this for weeks and since I am still not recovered enough for the operation, I feel it is what I must do.   Any way, I would like recommendations on what to take. I want to try a very small dose of something and hopefully keep it low enough to just get through the stress of the operation.   Does Neurontin help with anxiety and depression? I heard it is relatively easy to taper off of.

 

I definitely don't want to take any ssri since I have been damaged by them. I would never risk a benzo.   I could try buspar, but am scared of that too.  Of course anything is scary and dangerous.  Lamictal has been mentioned on here.  Is that because it can be administered in small dose and is perhaps easier to taper off of? I need to read up on that one.

 

Any suggestions would be helpful. 

 

My symptoms rotate from being fairly normal for a up to few days in a row, to depression with little physical effect, to four or more days in a row with varying degrees of anxiety, with minor or major physical effects such as severe and scary all-over nerve tingles and sparking, gut and chest nervous pain/palps, internal vibration, jerky gait, painful brain, difficulty performing daily activities due to anxiety, demotivation, or depression.  Not eating well- no appetite.  

 

Has any one gone back on a med after being off for this long?  Did it work for you as expected or was it paradoxical or ineffective? 

 

Time is running out. I need the operation in a few months.

 

[dunerbug]

I'll be very interested to see the replies. I too have considered going back on something. It will be 2 years off in April and things are pretty awful at times. I can really relate to how you feel. I also have a lot on my plate and it makes everything just that much harder. (((hugs)))

[alexjuice]

If I were in your shoes, I would take longer to think about this decision. I think just trying a drug based on a recommendation from someone on the internet is a bad idea. But doctors will not be able to help you much either, unfortunately.

 

I am not one to judge you. Because I went belly up financially and found myself in an inpatient rehab where I was removed from klonopin (not my idea the bellyup, going to rehab, or klon dc) ... Two years later I quit effexor and risperdal and couldn't function and I restarted on klonopin and this did make my symptoms better for a while -- though in the end it may cost me much much more by further poisoning me.

 

So if I were you I would not go on any more drugs because they are by definition toxic to the body because they are inorganic.The body can be nourished from things that were recently alive and everything else is a stressor, according to my perspective. Also surgery may be needed in life threatening situations in other cases it is often a bad idea that is often regretted down the road. If I were you I'd pray about having the surgery too.

 

I guess my advice is to pray. Only you know how bad you are suffering. Also you should continue to discuss your plans with others because when you are in severe distress you can easily make a bad decision so don't be secretive, tell someone what you are planning so you can get feedback. If you don't want to discuss the plan, it's probably a bad plan for you!

[alex]

I am coming to the conclusion that I have to get back on something but I don't know what.  It's been 17 months  off effexor and sometimes I feel normal but there are still very very bad times.

 

I think it's a VERY bad idea to put more drugs into your body.

Your resiient body is traying to heal, you just have to give it time.

You should focus on the good days and try to make the best from them, and not the other way.

You are in the typical pattern of waves and windows.

At 18 months off, I am exactly like you;having bad and good days, but more good days every time, and I am grateful, because the dreadful, horrible part is getting behind.

TIME, HOPE AND COURAGE;that is what we need, not more drugs, more damage.

 

Sending you healing positive vibes, A.

[Barbarannamated]

I'll be very interested to see the replies. I too have considered going back on something. It will be 2 years off in April and things are pretty awful at times. I can really relate to how you feel. I also have a lot on my plate and it makes everything just that much harder. (((hugs)))

I am totally nonfunctional since the holidays -- living on Boost, no solids, and a few hours of sleep each night since Christmas. Horrible depression with SI. Too weak and disoriented to do anything except get to bathroom or kitchen. Husband is very frustrated and getting mean with me. I have no other local support. Ive been to ER and urgent cares 4x since holidays. They just give me fluids and drugs to help symptoms (nausea, dizziness, anxiety/sleep).

 

Saw a neurologist; waiting on mri results. Have appointment with psychiatrist next week. I have no idea what he might suggest but I can't go on like this.

 

My living situation is a large contributor. I feel like I must get out but am too weak to do so.

[Janie]

Thanks for everyone's comments.  I knew there would be advice to not cave in.  I appreciate the encouragement to stick it out.  I am trying to wait a while longer, and I am studying all I can on some meds I'm considering.  The thought of a med actually working and giving me a functional, productive, happier life back is what I'm hanging my hope on.  This current life is not acceptable. I don't want to spiral down, which may happen with upcoming stresses in private and job life.  My family and close friends know what I've been going through but they don't know how to advise me. They support whatever I  feel I must do.    If I start with a minimal dose and back off at the sign of trouble, perhaps that is the safest way.

 

I sooooo hate having to be a slave to the drug companies.   I am saying okay, you win. You got me. I will pay for your meds every month because you got me hooked on them. I can't live my life - any decent life - without your poison. But I will tell my story and make a big stink. I will try to sound the alarm.

 

I just can't take the stress of my life situation. It is not THAT bad. But to my damaged brain, about half the time it is the end of the my world - no joy, no hope, no motivation, no goals - my life is over - just obligations and suffering.  No way to reason with myself.  Excrutiating anxiety or depression. I feel I can't cope. Brain just acts up and I am a mess much of the time.   Is it brought on by my own thoughts and actual stressors in my life or just random brain flair ups like a seizure?  I'm really not sure. I guess a combination.  But whatever causes the bad periods, I am not able to deal with things I need to deal with.  i am not functioning well enough. 

 

Due to other family member's health problems, things are going to get worse.  There will be more stress and more things to deal with.  I just have to have something to help cope and deal with it all.  I need to be stronger.  I need to be here for my family. I am not a help right now. I am a burden. I need to be the helper.  Going back on a med is the only way I can do that.  i have to risk my brain health to help others. I can't explain the details here because I want to maintain some anonymity.

 

I do value and trust the opinions of everyone here about our mutual problem-- much more than any doctor or friend I personally know. You guys are the only ones who have a true idea of what I'm going through, of what has helped, what might work, what doesn't work. I know everyone is different but everyone's experiences are useful and helpful to share, evaluate, learn from.

 

I wish we could be together and actually support each other with hugs and live support.   I feel so alone sometimes. This is such a private lonely hell we live in.

 

I have been damaged by ssri.  If i try another class, will I be damaging other parts/functions of my brain?  Should I stick with SSRI. I don't think so.  I must take my chance with another class.

 

Thank you for understanding Dunerbug.  Barb, my goodness how awful for you to be unable to eat or do anything. You really need to get some help. I wish I could come help you. When these mental problems start seriously impacting our body's health, it is going too far. We need to survive.  A med could possibly help us at least survive and keep our bodies healthy.  Nor can we let it go so far as becoming suicidal.   I hope you can get some help soon. I will pray for you.

 

The biggest problem I had from being ON effexor was Restless Leg Syndrome. I've read all ADs seem to contribute or cause it but Effexor is one of the worst offenders. So that is the main reason I wanted off it.  It did go away as soon as I was off effexor!   If I had to live with RLS to be normal otherwise, I guess I would do it.  I am that bad off that I am finally saying that.  I traded RLS for debilitating anxiety and depression.  Bad trade.  Bad me for wanting to be normal without any drugs.  Maybe in time I could get there, but I don't have time and I doubt I could now anyway due to life problems.  I definitely want something that is not as likely to cause RLS.

 

Does anyone have an experience to share about going back on a med - what was it like?  How long had it been?  Same or different class AD?

[dunerbug]

So sorry for your pain. 

 

Where I get discouraged is when I think of my husband and three kids. Our relationships have greatly suffered because of what I've gone through. I guess if I knew things would definitely get better in x amount of time. 

 

But I have no way of knowing....It's already been almost two years. That's just the time of being off the med, not including weaning.

 

I think of everything I endured with this and I think.... I can't ever un-see or un-feel any of this, so I don't even know what "better" will look like. I have been so very traumatized by this.

 

Now I have a bunch of life stress and health issues and stuff (my daughter's health issues too)

 

I am going to stick it out for a while more. I still have fight in me. I still have to get an MRI before I can know for sure if my brain is ok. But I totally understand where you are with this decision. I know at some point soon, if things don't start to improve, I might be making the same choice.

[dunerbug]

Barb (((hugs)))

[Meimeiquest]

I really feel for all of you.

 

I have just barely started tapering lithium, and it's ridiculous. Many people who have done it had no problems. But it makes me more sure that what I thought happened to me in 2006 has the background I suspected. I became manic 3 months into Cymbalta (somewhat similar to Effexor) after a Prozac poop-out. There is mental illness in my family. I was diagnosed with bipolar and Cymbalta was stopped, not quite cold turkey as the high dose had been halved twice before. I did the immediate head and nausea things, then started improving...and then started going rapidly downhill into a bizarre, horrible anxiety, never once thought about the Cymbalta. Took many drugs, side effects to all but Zyprexa which I took for years. Four or so months in, the dr. asked me if I wanted to do this in the hospital or at home and started me on lithium. I started getting better within a month, and was working by Jan. I am not recommending this at all, it's just what happened. So it seems like trimming away the lithium is bringing me back to that basic glutamate-GABA issue. There are many thoughts about how lithium works, but most everyone believes one action is reducing or dampening glutamate.

 

You asked about Lamictal. There is info in the forums under the generic name, lamotrigine. It's "rescue" effect is also believed to be it's effect on glutamate.

 

Janie, I see you asking so many questions about Lyme. Don't you want to see what could be done about that possibility? My brother-in-law has it. His doctor worked with him for a full year on building up his resilience with dietary changes and supplements before he started treatment, and he has done really well, had been symptomatic for many years.

 

I know Barb already knows all this, but I think you other ladies would do well to look into some of the methylation stuff out there. It is incredible to me that an integrative pdoc in NYC, Kelly Brogan, has had three patients WITHOUT methylation issues in five years. I am sorry I am just too tired to write more about it, but there is a methylation thread here and stuff on the web.

 

Wishing you all the best!

[Momo123]

Dear Janie and everyone else,

Please do not beat yourself up for your need of medication! This is not a failure although you worked so hard to come of it.

I am exactly in the same position and have just started a new drug after many trials and errors to come of one and finding one which works. I tried so hard to stay of any drugs as I react badly to anything and appear to become the laughing stock of my doctors by now.

I also know that if I do not go back and try to stabilize myself I will not survive. I got a child and a spouse, family and friends who love me and I have put through hell the last few months.

 

If there is a God I pray that this new drug works and I can slowly see life again.

So again, Please do not beat yourself up, and I think you are very brave to put your story on here.

All the best to you xx

[Nikki]

Hi all....

 

Janie one of our former members whom I still keep in touch with made the decision to go back on a med after a long time of carefully thinking about it.  She did come back to tell us about it.  She said "there is no right or wrong".  I believe that.  After being on support groups for a long time I really see that everyone here makes the best decision we can at the time.

 

Some of them pan our and some don't.  My last decision did not pan out for the better.  I did what I felt I had to do at the time to survive.

 

I think 99% of us are on 'survival mode' and it stinks.  The drugs we were directed into taking hurt alot of us when we tried to get off of them.  And then again, these same drugs help alot of people and prevented suicide in many cases.

 

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about possibly taking another drug and what it would possibly be.  And then I know that I can't do that right now because I was put on too many drugs recently.  Working on getting off nefazadone for now.  And then after that....imipramine.

 

No one lives in your skin, but you.  All of what you said completely resonated with me.  Particularly: I just can't take the stress of my life situation. It is not THAT bad. But to my damaged brain, about half the time it is the end of the my world - no joy, no hope, no motivation, no goals - my life is over - just obligations and suffering.  No way to reason with myself.  Excrutiating anxiety or depression. I feel I can't cope. Brain just acts up and I am a mess muc

 

I get it, I am there 24/7.

 

Do your homework, research your options, pray on it, think about it talk to other people.  Wishing you all the best and  admire your honesty:)

[Zoe]

Well said Nikki- thank you! I just recently switched from Zoloft to Prozac. I am hoping to get some relief and then hopefully wean down off of it. One day at a time though. Sending love & prayers to everyone.

[Nikki]

Zoe you swapped out the zoloft for prozac?  How did you do that (I mean what dosages) and how are you feeling?

 

Janie one size fits all is not really the case in taking medications.....the common denominator for taking meds is the hellacious time we have when trying to get off.

 

I think this is what brings us here and is the reason for the decision to give them up altogether. 

 

Believe me Janie no one is judging you.  We all have to do what we have to do...Hugs

[Barbarannamated]

I think the original question was directed toward situations of being completely off of a med for an extended period and deciding what to do. I have had SCARY and immediate paradoxical and severe depressive reaction to drugs that I barely noticed effect with in the past. I never had that happen in many years of switching or trying new meds.

 

I, too, would like to hear from those people but I doubt there are many on this forum.

[Zoe]

Hi Nikki- Around Christmas time I was up to 150 of Zoloft and 400 Neurotin. I called my Psych nurse & told her that I needed to go off of the Zoloft - that I was feeling worse than ever. I dropped it to 125 myself since we had just bumped it to 150. So she wrote out a schedule for me to start 20 mgs of Prozac and to drop the Zoloft 25 mgs every 5 days. I was really nervous about doing this, but was so miserable I decided to go ahead. I got off of the Zoloft with less anxiety than I had had while on it. I am now on 30 mgs of Prozac & dropped the Neurotin to 300. So far so good. Feeling a lot less anxious. I am hoping to get off of the Neurotin & then see how I feel. This transition went sooo much better than the previous ones that I had done. The family doc (no more for me) had simply switched me from 1 drug to another without any taper or start up of the drug that I was going to. Had absolute hell each time he did this. Thank goodness I found this site & have started to learn a bit about these drugs.