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PseudoMonas Tapering off an assortment of meds


PseudoMonas

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Started last week with Risperdal. Halved my dose and stabilized after five days. I know it's a fast taper but it seems okay so far. I'm going to try going off of it completely Wednesday. That's going to be the hard step.

 

Next up will be Lexapro but I'm going to let my body adjust for a long time after getting off Risperdal. I know Lexapro will be very difficult as I've had horrible times getting off SSRIs in the past. Frankly I'm very scared of even trying. I don't know how to taper slowly easily with pills.

 

Wish me luck!

Current medicines:

Lamictal 100mg

Lexapro 30mg

Neurontin 900mg

Xanax 0.5mg

 

Tapering:

Risperdal 1mg (off of it completely since May 2 2013)

 

Past medicines:

Lithium 600mg

Celexa 60mg

Buspar 30mg

Klonopin 1mg

Cymbalta 30mg

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  • Moderator Emeritus

PseudoMonas,

 

You're tapering off Risperdal way too fast and risking serious injury to your nervous system. Please stop right where you are, be sure you're stable, and then taper off slowly and safely. Here's information on how to do that:

 

Tips for Tapering off Risperdal (risperdone)

 

When you have time, please add a summary of your drug history to the signature area of your profile, like so:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/893-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

 

Having your history handy will help us provide the best advice that we can.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Psychotropic drug history: Pristiq 50 mg. (mid-September 2010 through February 2011), Remeron (mid-September 2010 through January 2011), Lexapro 10 mg. (mid-February 2011 through mid-December 2011), Lorazepam (Ativan) 1 mg. as needed mid-September 2010 through early March 2012

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." -Hanlon's Razor


Introduction: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1588-introducing-jemima/

 

Success Story: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6263-success-jemima-survives-lexapro-and-dr-dickhead-too/

Please note that I am not a medical professional and my advice is based on personal experience, reading, and anecdotal information posted by other sufferers.

 

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  • Administrator

Welcome, PseudoMonas. (A bacterium?)

 

How long have you been taking Risperdal?

 

Often people get about half way off a drug and then withdrawal hits. I agree with Jemima, figure on going much more slowly. It can take several weeks for withdrawal symptoms to show up, which is why we recommend monthly decreases. See http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/ and other pinned topics in the Tapering forum.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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As someone who once upon a time came off Risperdal I must back up the two last posters. Going slow is imperative.

 

It would be helpful to know what dose you're on as well.

 

Something that's quite convenient about Risperdal is that it comes in a liquid and when appropriate, depending on your current dose it's very helpful to use the liquid for a smoother and more easily controlled taper.

Everything Matters: Beyond Meds 

https://beyondmeds.com/

withdrawn from a cocktail of 6 psychiatric drugs that included every class of psych drug.
 

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Well my psychiatrist doesn't believe in needing a long term taper with Risperdal so he won't give me more pills or liquid and I ran out already. My family doc deferred to my pdoc so now I've been off Risperdal completely since Thursday and feel really sick. Don't know what to do.

Current medicines:

Lamictal 100mg

Lexapro 30mg

Neurontin 900mg

Xanax 0.5mg

 

Tapering:

Risperdal 1mg (off of it completely since May 2 2013)

 

Past medicines:

Lithium 600mg

Celexa 60mg

Buspar 30mg

Klonopin 1mg

Cymbalta 30mg

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Ok, after a really hard week of being off of Risperdal completely I'm starting to feel more normal. I had physical withdrawals that were so bad I couldn't function, then emotional disturbances that were so low I felt suicidal, but now I'm feeling ok these past couple of days. It was definitely too fast of a taper and I substituted with a lot of Xanax but I couldn't do anything about it with my pdoc refusing to slow it down. I hope I don't have permanent damage.

 

How long should I wait before tapering off other medicines? I'm SO scared of coming off Lexapro. I've always had an incredibly miserable time coming off of SSRIs. When I came off Cymbalta I had to augment with Prozac and even that made me sick for MONTHS.

 

Also I'm worried I have permanently damaged my brain. I didn't know about slow tapers at all before and some medicine I just stopped cold turkey like Buspar. My poor nervous system is seriously going to be out of whack for a long time.

Current medicines:

Lamictal 100mg

Lexapro 30mg

Neurontin 900mg

Xanax 0.5mg

 

Tapering:

Risperdal 1mg (off of it completely since May 2 2013)

 

Past medicines:

Lithium 600mg

Celexa 60mg

Buspar 30mg

Klonopin 1mg

Cymbalta 30mg

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BTW I was started on Celexa when I was 17 and was on it for most of my life (I'm 28 now). I wonder if it affected my developing brain. I feel like I'll never be free of these meds. The doctors just try to keep pushing more and more on me when most of my problems are situational and family history issues that need to be worked out in therapy. I don't have bipolar, psychosis, schizophrenia. I have anxiety and yet I've ended up on some pretty hard core medicines.

Current medicines:

Lamictal 100mg

Lexapro 30mg

Neurontin 900mg

Xanax 0.5mg

 

Tapering:

Risperdal 1mg (off of it completely since May 2 2013)

 

Past medicines:

Lithium 600mg

Celexa 60mg

Buspar 30mg

Klonopin 1mg

Cymbalta 30mg

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hi there,

it's great you're feeling better. wonderful.

 

Please wait several weeks before tapering anything else to see how this plays out and to give your body and brain time to heal. Don't worry about permanent damage if you can help it. Our bodies and brains are potentially highly plastic and will restore themselves in lovely fashion given the chance, but it does help to support them as much as possible and giving yourself time to heal between tapers is imperative.

 

hang in there...

Everything Matters: Beyond Meds 

https://beyondmeds.com/

withdrawn from a cocktail of 6 psychiatric drugs that included every class of psych drug.
 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Your age is actually to your advantage when it comes to recovery from psychiatric drug "treatment". You will likely heal faster than someone decades older than yourself.

 

I would wait at least a month before tapering any other drugs. Your cold turkey off Risperdal has no doubt given your nervous system a good jarring. And please be careful with the Xanax. I've heard of people becoming addicted to benzos in a week.

 

That's just a crime that neither of your doctors would give you another script for Risperdal. What ignorance!

Psychotropic drug history: Pristiq 50 mg. (mid-September 2010 through February 2011), Remeron (mid-September 2010 through January 2011), Lexapro 10 mg. (mid-February 2011 through mid-December 2011), Lorazepam (Ativan) 1 mg. as needed mid-September 2010 through early March 2012

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." -Hanlon's Razor


Introduction: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1588-introducing-jemima/

 

Success Story: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6263-success-jemima-survives-lexapro-and-dr-dickhead-too/

Please note that I am not a medical professional and my advice is based on personal experience, reading, and anecdotal information posted by other sufferers.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well it's been about a month since coming off Risperdal and I feel like garbage. Achey, exhausted, severely low moods. I think it's my brain trying to restabilize after such a potent medicine so I'm just taking it easy but it's SO rough. I've missed so much work. Some days all I can do is just lay in bed.

 

I never knew these meds could have such harsh, long term affects. It's so scary considering how much more I have to go before this will all be over :(

Current medicines:

Lamictal 100mg

Lexapro 30mg

Neurontin 900mg

Xanax 0.5mg

 

Tapering:

Risperdal 1mg (off of it completely since May 2 2013)

 

Past medicines:

Lithium 600mg

Celexa 60mg

Buspar 30mg

Klonopin 1mg

Cymbalta 30mg

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  • Moderator Emeritus

PM, I know it feels like a really long and impossible journey at this point, but it's like that journey of a thousand miles: a single step at a time.

 

Right now all you need to do is heal from the Risperdal CT (such a fast "taper" is really a CT in my opinion). That's going to take some time. Don't even think about starting to taper the other stuff until you're feeling at least about 80% back to normal.

 

And then, when it's time, now you know: there's a reason everyone here says "go slow." You can get all the information you need about tapering here on this forum, there's tons of it.

 

And the nice thing is, if you taper slowly (when the time comes), you don't have to wait until you're 100% off the drugs to experience improvement.  You'll notice improvement just from getting down to lower doses. 

 

So don't focus on the future. It will take care of itself. Just be good to yourself now.

 

I'm so sorry for your suffering. It's a tough road. Hang in there.

Started on Prozac and Xanax in 1992 for PTSD after an assault. One drug led to more, the usual story. Got sicker and sicker, but believed I needed the drugs for my "underlying disease". Long story...lost everything. Life savings, home, physical and mental health, relationships, friendships, ability to work, everything. Amitryptiline, Prozac, bupropion, buspirone, flurazepam, diazepam, alprazolam, Paxil, citalopram, lamotrigine, gabapentin...probably more I've forgotten. 

Started multidrug taper in Feb 2010.  Doing a very slow microtaper, down to low doses now and feeling SO much better, getting my old personality and my brain back! Able to work full time, have a full social life, and cope with stress better than ever. Not perfect, but much better. After 23 lost years. Big Pharma has a lot to answer for. And "medicine for profit" is just not a great idea.

 

Feb 15 2010:  300 mg Neurontin  200 Lamictal   10 Celexa      0.65 Xanax   and 5 mg Ambien 

Feb 10 2014:   62 Lamictal    1.1 Celexa         0.135 Xanax    1.8 Valium

Feb 10 2015:   50 Lamictal      0.875 Celexa    0.11 Xanax      1.5 Valium

Feb 15 2016:   47.5 Lamictal   0.75 Celexa      0.0875 Xanax    1.42 Valium    

2/12/20             12                       0.045               0.007                   1 

May 2021            7                       0.01                  0.0037                1

Feb 2022            6                      0!!!                     0.00167               0.98                2.5 mg Ambien

Oct 2022       4.5 mg Lamictal    (off Celexa, off Xanax)   0.95 Valium    Ambien, 1/4 to 1/2 of a 5 mg tablet 

 

I'm not a doctor. Any advice I give is just my civilian opinion.

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