Introduction: babybiscuit

[babybiscuit]

April 2nd, 2013

Hi - I'm Cassie. I'm 25 years old, living in Western New York with my husband Bryan. I've been on Antidepressants since late 2005, and I feel like I'm in enough of a stable place in my life right now to try tapering off the drug. My husband and I would like to start a family in the next couple of years, and I don't want to be taking ANYTHING while I'm pregnant. I also have religious reasons for wanting to taper. I'm planning to follow Dr. Glenmullen's 5-step tapering program, and am wondering if any of you can recommend nutritional supplements to take (I've started taking 400 IU of Vitamin E and NatureMade's full strength mini Super Omega-3 softgels). I'm really glad this community exists... It's good to know I have somewhere to go to ask questions and get support.

[basildev]

Hi Cassie, and welcome!

 

You've come to the right place.

 

I haven't heard of the 5-step tapering program, but I'm sure somebody more knowledgeable will chime in with their thoughts.

 

We recommend a taper of no more than 10% per month. From your history I see you have dropped 50mg in one go - that is quite a lot! If I were you I would drop no more than 20mg if that is your first drop.

 

 

Regarding supplements - omega 3s are a great place to start. Personally I don't take any supplements while I'm in withdrawal, because they have the opposite effect. Some people can become hypersensitive to supplements when they are tapering. I'm one of those people, you may not be though. Magnesium is another supplement that seems to help a lot of people.

 

 

In the meantime here is a link to our recommendations for the tapering process:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/300-important-topics-in-the-tapering-forum-and-faq/

 

 

I wish you all the best:)

[laineyk]

hi Cassie, welcome & God Bless....He will help you through this process, but having this forum to come to & get feedback from so many who have either been there or are doing it is so beneficial.

 

you didnt say what you are on these meds for...anxiety, depression?

 

I am in the process of reinstating because I came off way to fast...slow & steady will win this race.

 

dont be to eager to rush the taper, it will just set you back.

 

please let us know what we can do to help

[Meimeiquest]

Welcome! Expect this to be a great growing process! I too urge you towards a slow, educated taper. Unlike most of us, you're doing your research up front instead of after you're already in trouble. I really believe the withdrawal process is very helpful in learning how to live without meds, otherwise life sometimes rushes in faster than we can learn to deal with it. Wishing you the best!

[Jemima]

Welcome, Cassie, and thanks so much for putting your drug history in your signature. That helps the rest of us keep your background in mind when giving suggestions.

 

I'm not familiar with Dr. Glenmullen's tapering program, although I've certainly seen his name many times. Could you tell us more about that? 50 mg. is a really big drop, so if you begin experiencing any withdrawal symptoms I hope you'll feel free to updose back to at least 180 mg. Antidepressants make changes in the structure of the brain, so the idea is not to get off of them as fast as possible, but to support the brain while it heals and grows back to normal. That's why the long, slow taper.

 

In any event, I'm glad you found us right at the beginning of your journey. I've found getting off these drugs to be quite an experience in personal growth, and this forum has been a wonderful source of support and friendship.

 

Here's some info on fish oil and magnesium, two supplements that seem to help just about everyone:

 

Fish Oil, King of Supplements

 

Magnesium

[Altostrata]

Dr. Glenmullen knows tapering, though his recommended schedule is too fast for my taste. However, he urges continual monitoring of symptoms and updosing if they occur.

[babybiscuit]

I may be really stupid for asking this, but can someone help me with my tapering schedule? I was originally planning to go from 200 -> 150 -> 100 -> 50 -> 25 -> 0, but I'm hearing from everyone that that's too fast... I chose that particular schedule because that's the specific tapering schedule that Dr. Glenmullen recommended in his book specifically for Zoloft. If I decide to do the 10% down each month, I know that this month I'll be taking 180mg, because 10% of 200 is 20. My question is, next month when it's time to reduce again, do I do 10% of 180, or take it down another 20mg and reduce to 160mg? If someone could just get me started with a schedule for the next few months I'd really appreciate it.....

[Altostrata]

Your next decrement would be 10% of 180mg:

 

180mg reduce to 162mg

162mg reduce to 146mg

146mg reduce to 131mg

 

and so on....

 

If you're doing well with 10% reductions per month for 2 months, you might want to reduce every 3 weeks for a couple of cycles, then every 2 weeks -- but no faster than that. And if you get withdrawal symptoms, slow down!

[babybiscuit]

How can I take a 162mg dose when I have 100mg tablets? The only thing I can imagine doing is getting Zoloft liquid, which I hear is astronomically expensive...

[Altostrata]

Read this about tapering Zoloft http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1441-tips-for-tapering-off-zoloft-sertraline/

[babybiscuit]

Just checking in to let everyone know that I'm down to 150mg... the only withdrawal symptom I've had is a depression for a couple of days, but I'm feeling better. I'm a little confused, to be honest.. I expected this to be really hard. I'm still toward the beginning of the taper, though, so maybe that will change...

[Jemima]

You're going too quickly and since you're already having withdrawal symptoms, i.e. depression, it would be best if you just stay where you are for a few weeks until you're certain that you're stabilized.

 

The early part of tapering usually goes quite well. When I halved my 10 mg. dose of Lexapro, I was fine. Below that, going down by half again and then taking the 2.5 mg. every other day, withdrawal became very painful and eventually disabling for several months.

 

Please understand that getting the drug out of your system as fast as possible is not going to make you feel better. In fact the opposite is more likely to occur. Antidepressants make changes in the structure of your brain and nervous system that remain for months after the drug is stopped abruptly. Then your brain has to struggle to get back to normal without any help from the chemicals upon which it was depending. This is like yanking a crutch away from someone with a broken leg. BOOM! Down she goes!

 

Do yourself and your brain a favor and take it slow and easy. That is the very best and easiest way to get off of antidepressants.

 

In case you're still having a problem getting liquid Zoloft, here are instructions for making your own:

 

How To Make A Liquid From Tablets Or Capsules

[basildev]

I agree with Jemima, babybiscuit.

 

Withdrawal symptoms have a nasty way of sneaking up on you.

 

Like you, I had very few symptoms earlier on. This lulled me into a false sense of security and once I got down to 11mg the withdrawal symptoms hit me like a tonne of bricks.

 

2.5 months later I'm still paying the price.

 

Don't make the same mistake I did.