About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

[ChessieCat]

@Manati

 

Please ask questions about your own situation in your Introduction topic.  This way your history will all be in one place and it is easier for the mods to access previous history.  Thank you.

[Manati]

2 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

@Manati

 

Please ask questions about your own situation in your Introduction topic.  This way your history will all be in one place and it is easier for the mods to access previous history.  Thank you.

 

Oh sorry -  I didn't mean to hijack the thread for my own concerns, and will stick to my intro topic with those questions! 🙈

[Melany]

Anyone felt even worse when reinstating after 2 1/2 months? I was finally doing better but took the path of reistating and I got so bad and depressed . My depression wasn t even back. Why is my brain reacting so bad at this? Anyone felt worse? 

[SouthernFreeze]

14 hours ago, Melany said:

Anyone felt even worse when reinstating after 2 1/2 months? I was finally doing better but took the path of reistating and I got so bad and depressed . My depression wasn t even back. Why is my brain reacting so bad at this? Anyone felt worse? 

Yup!! I think alot of people on here have, that's part of the risk of reinstating. 

How long have you reinstated for? You could go back to your regular dose if you haven't been reinstated for too long. Either way, it's going to be a matter of patience waiting for your brain to regulate itself.

[Melany]

How can we tell if it s the reinstatement that makes us feel worse or the WD that got worse?

Should I pause for 2 3 days? See if I get better?

[SouthernFreeze]

5 hours ago, Melany said:

How can we tell if it s the reinstatement that makes us feel worse or the WD that got worse?

Should I pause for 2 3 days? See if I get better?

Usually, for me, if the reinstatement works I feel better very quickly. 

 

You will feel better eventually either way, it's a matter of whether its worth upping your dose if your going to have to go through withdrawal symptoms until your brain levels out anyway. 

[Melany]

Thanks ! I ve delayed my dose and feeling ok so far. We ll see in a few days what happends and then tough it up and deal with it  whatever it is.

[JustBella]

I have read through this entire topic again.  My impression when I first read it was that reinstatement is not recommended after being several months off.  This time it seems that any time reinstatement occurs, it should be at a very minimum dose to start and that amount of time off does not always mean you should not try reinstatement.  Is that correct?

I also want to clarify if you reinstate at say.5 and it creates problems, do you still taper off @10% or just stop.

My situation is dire at 18 months off, so trying to figure this out. I did post my specifics on my own thread, but have not received a response.  I addressed that post to @Altostrata but I know all of you are very busy, so thought I would go back through this thread.  I do appreciate all this information and the time you spend creating and monitoring it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ChessieCat]

@JustBella

 

Post #1 of this topic explains what to do if you start to feel worse after reinstating.

 

Reinstatement is basically a gamble whether you reinstate after a few months or many months.  We have seen it work/fail for both time spans.  It seems that the sooner you reinstate/updose (usually starting with a small amount) after experiencing withdrawal symptoms the better chance there is of it being successful.

 

Generally SA suggests reinstating the last drug that you took.  However if you have been off a drug for longer than a few months, or the drug you stopped is one that is difficult to taper (either because of the physical difficulty of getting doses OR side effects), changing to a different drug like Prozac or citalopram is an option that might work.

[thecowisback]

i went back on prozac after struggling for 2 years with crippling ocd and anxiety. i started at a tiny dose and gradually increased over a year with very little benefit. eventually i bit the bullet and went back on 40mg, the dose i originally took. it took a long time to work - over 3 months before i saw a difference but now 4 years later i'm feeling a whole lot better and i can see the sunshine again. i wish i'd bitten the bullet sooner and gone back to my original dose. 

[ChessieCat]

@thecowisback

Please update your drug signature.

[Nowwhat]

Alto it seems that all references to reinstatement come from the point of view of having come completely off drug. Is my situation still considered reinstatement where I only made 2 10% cuts albeit too quickly?

[Altostrata]

Your changes would be updosing.

[Nowwhat]

Ok thanks 

[Manati]

Looking back, reinstating made everything so much worse for me, so please think thrice about it once you're more than 3 months out!!

[curiousnootropics]

I have been 13 months off Zoloft. It is not getting any better

 

Thinking of reinstating 13 months off. Anyone did that after so long off? Thoughts?

 

Original dose 50 mg

[ChessieCat]

4 minutes ago, curiousnootropics said:

Thinking of reinstating 13 months off.

 

After such a long time off the drug if you did decide to reinstate it is better to start of with a very tiny tester dose to see how you respond.  The idea of this is not to reduce the withdrawal symptoms but to see how you respond to the drug.

 

Please make sure that you carefully read all of Post #1 of this current topic.

[curiousnootropics]

7 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

 

After such a long time off the drug if you did decide to reinstate it is better to start of with a very tiny tester dose to see how you respond.  The idea of this is not to reduce the withdrawal symptoms but to see how you respond to the drug.

 

Please make sure that you carefully read all of Post #1 of this current topic.

What would be a dose to consider? Like 1 mg? How fast would you feel improvement?

[ChessieCat]

8 minutes ago, curiousnootropics said:

What would be a dose to consider? Like 1 mg?

 

If it was me I would be testing with 0.25mg.  It is better to start with a small amount than to risk taking too much.  And if you have no issues with the test dose you could increase by small amounts gradually.

 

The idea of reinstating is NOT to get rid of withdrawal symptoms completely but to bring them to a bearable level.

 

It takes about 4 days for a dose to get to full level in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.

[rilexapro]

10 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

 

If it was me I would be testing with 0.25mg.  It is better to start with a small amount than to risk taking too much.  And if you have no issues with the test dose you could increase by small amounts gradually.

 

The idea of reinstating is NOT to get rid of withdrawal symptoms completely but to bring them to a bearable level.

 

It takes about 4 days for a dose to get to full level in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.

 

How long would it take to feel a severe adverse reaction during reinstatement? I possibly had a kindling reaction while trying to go back on Lexapro, but it took about 3 weeks to feel it.

[ChessieCat]

8 hours ago, rilexapro said:

How long would it take to feel a severe adverse reaction during reinstatement?

 

18 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

Please make sure that you carefully read all of Post #1 of this current topic.