Deb1: Dosulepin & Prothiaden tapering assistance

[Deb1]

Hi all,

 

I had been taking a benzodiazepine to assist with sleep for 30 years but I've now been benzo free for 15 months after a long taper. I was prescribed an antidepressant (Dosulepin) a few years ago to deal with a severe bout of depression which I now know can be attributed to long term benzo use. I'm currently taking 75mg a day and would like to begin a taper. Currently I have only the 75mg strength tablets but I'm getting that prescription changed to 3, 25mg strength tablets and am hoping initially to reduce by 25mg. Does that reduction sound too much? If so, how would I go about making a smaller reduction? Thank you in anticipation of replies. Deb1

[joy2730]

I have done a dothiepin taper many years ago and found it very difficult.  I felt ice cold, with a severe runny nose and very low mood and very bad headaches. 

 

I used to open up a 25 mg capsule and mix the contents with icing sugar and then divide the mixture up which helped a lot.  I got this advice from a pharmacist in my local rural town.  Mixing like   this made me feel like a street drug addict but it really helped.

 

I found the withdrawal awful.  I am just finishing off a citalopram withdrawal now, down to 5 mg per morning and that is a walk in the park in comparison.  However, it may have just been made.  The runny nose was so bad I used to take antihistamine pills every day for many months and couldn't go anywhere without loads of tissues.  It made me think I had a faulty thyroid as I was so cold, but it all resolved in the end.

 

You might be fine though, I think a lot depends on how your body has coped with the drug and your brain.  Let me know how it goes, I would like it to be easy for someone.

[Deb1]

Sorry to hear you had such problems Joy, I hope I dont have a similar experience as I'm still having problems after the benzo taper. Thank you for the tip about opening the capsule, I might well try that and I'll let you know how I go on after the first cut.

 

Deb1

[dalsaan]

Hi Deb

 

Welcome to the forum. It's good to hear other peoples accounts of withdrawal but keep in mind everyone is different. I think you are making to big a cut going from 75-50. We recommend no more than 10 percent of your previous dose or a cut of 7.5 in your case. Here is a link that on why we recommend this http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/

 

We also recommend tapering using liquids where possible. Some medications have a liquid version. If not, some people have their medication made into a liquid via a compounding chemist (i do this). Others make a liquid themselves. Here is a link on this http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2693-how-to-make-a-liquid-from-tablets-or-capsules/. I'm not sure about your AD and your liquid options, you would need to check this out.

 

Others may have more advice

 

D

[Deb1]

Thank you for the advice D and for the links provided, I'm going to check them out now.

 

Deb1

[joy2730]

Do not be put off by my account of my prothiaden taper, because everyone is different, you will probably find it much easier.  I found myself a lot clearer in thought after going off prothiaden and I felt less sweaty and physically fitter.

 

Take good care.  Another thing I used to do was taking a 25 mg capsule push the powder into each end of the  capsule, crease the capsule in the middle and then snip it with sharp scissors, that way you get half a 25 mg capsule in dosage.

 

But this was the olden days before liquids and compound pharmacies.  Don't let me put you off, it is all worth it in the end.

[Altostrata]

Hello, Deb, how are you doing?