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Drummerseve: im guessing im going through effexor withdrawal?


drummerseve

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Im not sure what post its in but i mentioned i used a pill cutter to quarter my pills before i knew a quarter was too much of a drop. Just makin that clear. When im rdy im gonna look into the liquid taper. Thanks guys.

 

 

Good idea Drummer.  A pill cutter is not close enough for the kind of accuracy we need.  It's okay if you split the K in two... a little off does not matter so much as you are taking the entire pill in one day.  But when you take a quarter away, and add it to a half for the next day or discard it, you are going to be taking more on one day, less the next etc.  In any event, a liquid taper is needed for accurate dosing, and for taking 10% (or less) cuts from each previous dose with month long holds, but again, this is only when you are ready, and it would seem the Effexor would come before, but first you need to get restabilized.  Tapering is kind of an art... but once you get the drift you should be fine.

Is liquid k available in Canada? Im guessin when i get there and im stable i might have to mix my own.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Drummer...  I don't know anything about liquid K. that might be comercially available...  I'm pretty sure I've made mention of making your own liquid when you are ready... possibly in the benzo thread... where this conversation should now switch, except you are hopefully not thinking of tapering the K. at present, so will not need to make your own for some months yet... this when you have stabilized enough to resume and complete your AD taper.

 

Regarding quartering pills... I'm not clear on why you would still be trying to quarter a pill?  As Rhi mentioned, there is no reason to take K. more than twice a day.. as it is long acting, unlike Ativan, Xanax, etc.  I only suggested taking it BID because you are having so many WD symptoms at this point you might feel better with a BID dose.  More often than not, taking K. once a day is sufficient.

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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Maybe i confused u with all my posts. Ur right. I was just curios about liquid k for future notice. Im not quartering my k anymore. As of tomo its full dose with my 5 beads. Sry for the confusion;) ill keep u posted. Im not worrying a out the benzo until i get to that point thanks again, Sky.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Suggestion... break the section out for Klonopin separately in your sig line... something like what I put in the sentence below would give folks like me a quick way to see what you are taking.  I personally have a great deal of difficulty reading the gray text that is default in the sig. lines, so I put my current doses in black.. makes it easier for those who want to help.

 

Klonopin 1 mgs as of (the date you started to take 1 mg), taking .5 mgs BID, or 1 mg. once a day.  Holding until I taper off the Effexor. 

 

You can put a link into your sig that goes to the intro post you first entered with your history.. or to any other post that gives a good description.  I do not have a similar link to this in my sig line as my computer somehow screws up the HTML code on this site... most can put in a link.

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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Feeling so-so today. Slept only a few hrs and woke up in hell with the anxiety, dread etc. Is that what they refer to as cortisol mornings? I dunno. Either way im feeling better than yesterday.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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Those mornings are the pits aren't they? :(

Put on Prothiaden for severe depression in 1989.  Recovered.   Prescribed Paxil for another bout of depression around 2000.   Have been trying to taper ever since but always crash about 2 months after getting to zero.   Because of the crashes, for years I thought that there was something wrong with me.   Then found that the crashes were simply withdrawal.   Now following a maximum of a 10% reduction every month or so and ready to slow down any time I feel any symptoms whatsoever.  Feeling good:).

7th Jan 15 - 3.6mg

28th Jan 15 - 3.2mg

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Yes, the worst. I hope they go away soon. Ugh

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Drummer.. do you have coffee in the morning, or anything at all with caffeine? I had to ditch the coffee when I had cortisol mornings, and felt MUCH better as a result. 

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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No, sky. This is literally as soon as i come too after a nights sleep. I haven't even opened my eyes from waking and i feel this way. No matter what time i go to bed i wake up at 8 or so and can't go back to sleep. I feel so messed up i cant even explain it.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Drummer... I doubt it's related to the K from what you have said, but just to humor.... what time of the day do you take the 1 mg. tablet?

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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I dont think its related to the k at all. I think maybe effexor wd if anything. I usually take it at night but now im taking everything together between 10/11. This started maybe 2 weeks ago. Never felt anything like it, Sky. Like i said, hopefully it goes away. I couldn't imagine waking up and feeling like that every day.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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Cortisol mornings. Awful!! No words to even describe them. :(

2005-Zoloft bad reaction.....2006-Lexepro......2012-Upped Lexepro.......2013-Upped Lexepro......2/2014- Attempted Taper Lexepro...2/2014- Updosed Lexepro.......3/2014-Ativan.....5/2014- CT switch from Lexpro to Effexor.....

5/2014-7/2014-Tapered Ativan from 1mg to .25mg.....6/2014-Bad reaction to Effexor........7/2014- Rapid taper Effexor every other day......7/5/2014- Off Effexor.......7/2014-12/2014 - Ativan .25mg.......12/25/2014 -Taper Ativan by 4% due to paradoxical reaction .24mg...11/18/2015-Taper Ativan 1% CURRENTLY ON: .2376mg Ativan taken in 6 .0396mg doses.

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Will they go away?

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

YES! I had cortisol mornings... for about 4 months.  They were during a part of my taper that was more aggressive,  and were one of the few really bumpy parts of my taper experience.  Merdre..  I was about to bite anyone's head off.. including my own.  All my natural feelings were amplified by 10... or more.  It was like I was stuck inside a bell while the clanger was being rung.  I was still me, but on steroids, so to speak.  I could be wrong, but I think benzos are more of a player with those, though folks on ADs certainly have them.

 

I these questions must be tiresome, but I just want to ask.. how long ago did you move the doses from the evening to 10 or 11 AM in the morning? 

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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As of today. I found that the whole day id feel like hell and id take em in the evening. I figured id take both meds together at the beginning of my day and see if it helps me make it thru the day a bit easier. Not to jump the gun but today was one of the better days ove had in the last cpl weeks.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

From what you are saying, the K. may have been wearing off during the course of the day and this could have been amplifying the cortisol effect, (and getting so by the time you need the next dose, you are starting to feel the lower blood leve)l.  Then after you take the med, maybe in 20 mins or so, you start to feel better.  I wonder if this makes sense given the way you have been feeling.  Again, I can't see where it will hurt to take two .5 mg doses, one at say, 8 AM and one at 8 PM to see if the cortisol effect lessens.  You could start by moving the doses apart by a couple of hours a day.  So tomorrow you might take .5 mgs at 8 AM, and .5 mgs at 10 AM.  Then on day two, take .5 mgs at 8 AM and .5 mgs at 12 Noon and so on, then shift 2 more hours on day 3 and so on until they are evenly split at 8 AM and PM.

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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Thats what i did yesterday. But why all of a sudden last week would it start? Ive been using em the same time for months.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Right... but you could have set it off when you got further sensitized by cutting to .75 mgs for several weeks.  No way to know if this happened, or if it is a factor.. but it's not difficult to take doses BID.. so if it helps, you could stay with that for the time being, or if not.. just merge the doses again.  Not a big investment of time or energy... and who knows, it could help.

 

btw... you put all your info back in one paragraph.. it's hard for me to read again.  Oh well...   It was much better the way you had it earlier.

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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Weird i didnt change anything. How the hell did it go back to that?

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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Yeah u could be right. By me settin it off by dropping. Im not really sure. I just hope one day they get lost. I hate em.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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So last night i passed out at 11. I woke up at 1:20 am with a feeling of impending doom, anxiety and panic. Just terrified. Kinda how i feel when i wake up. I put on a self hypnosis track on my headphones that i used before to calm down and managed to fall back asleep after 35 minutes. Well today I slept in and when i woke up i felt normal so i went back to sleep. Its been the first day in weeks i didnt feel like death when I opened my eyes. The only thing i did different was take my K early in the day as opposed to at night. Felt good to be able to wake up like i used to. Its gotta be related to the K somehow. By changing the time of my med it seemed to change the time of my sleep disturbance. I also slept very deep and dreamt all night. Crazy....

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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You felt normal when you woke up? Phew! How cool to get that wee break eh? Hope it keeps up drummer :)

 

Those dreams are just.... disturbing eh? I remember those lol. Haven't had those in a long time thank goodness.

Put on Prothiaden for severe depression in 1989.  Recovered.   Prescribed Paxil for another bout of depression around 2000.   Have been trying to taper ever since but always crash about 2 months after getting to zero.   Because of the crashes, for years I thought that there was something wrong with me.   Then found that the crashes were simply withdrawal.   Now following a maximum of a 10% reduction every month or so and ready to slow down any time I feel any symptoms whatsoever.  Feeling good:).

7th Jan 15 - 3.6mg

28th Jan 15 - 3.2mg

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Actually the dreams werent bad at all. Usually I don't dream when i take a K at night. I was a nice break tho.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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So last night i passed out at 11. I woke up at 1:20 am with a feeling of impending doom, anxiety and panic. Just terrified. Kinda how i feel when i wake up. I put on a self hypnosis track on my headphones that i used before to calm down and managed to fall back asleep after 35 minutes. Well today I slept in and when i woke up i felt normal so i went back to sleep. Its been the first day in weeks i didnt feel like death when I opened my eyes. The only thing i did different was take my K early in the day as opposed to at night. Felt good to be able to wake up like i used to. Its gotta be related to the K somehow. By changing the time of my med it seemed to change the time of my sleep disturbance. I also slept very deep and dreamt all night. Crazy....

 

Drummer, glad to hear you got some quality sleep.  This belongs on the benzo thread as what you are experiencing seems to be interdose WD.  IMO, You need to take the K. twice a day.  It's okay if you manually split the tablets for this, as long as the split is reasonably close. 

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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Whats the benefit of takin it twice a day, Sky? It can be confusing. Some people say 4 times, some say once and others say twice. I dont know what to do...

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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Also its confusing because i have people tellin me its ad withdrawal and others say benzo. It can be really confusing jumping back from thread to thread considering im still trying to figure out what the symptoms are from. I hope that didnt come off harsh cuz it wasnt supposed to. Im just struggling and lookin for answers but im told different things by everyone. Its a lot to take in. Especially when i cant think straight half the time.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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it is confusing. :( I know.

 

Skyler has helped me with a benzo situation, and for a while it was confusing as to what was happening with me.

 

Hang tight. Hold on. It will get better. I'm sorry it's such a bumpy ride.

2005-Zoloft bad reaction.....2006-Lexepro......2012-Upped Lexepro.......2013-Upped Lexepro......2/2014- Attempted Taper Lexepro...2/2014- Updosed Lexepro.......3/2014-Ativan.....5/2014- CT switch from Lexpro to Effexor.....

5/2014-7/2014-Tapered Ativan from 1mg to .25mg.....6/2014-Bad reaction to Effexor........7/2014- Rapid taper Effexor every other day......7/5/2014- Off Effexor.......7/2014-12/2014 - Ativan .25mg.......12/25/2014 -Taper Ativan by 4% due to paradoxical reaction .24mg...11/18/2015-Taper Ativan 1% CURRENTLY ON: .2376mg Ativan taken in 6 .0396mg doses.

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Whats the benefit of takin it twice a day, Sky? It can be confusing. Some people say 4 times, some say once and others say twice. I dont know what to do...

>Also its confusing because i have people tellin me its ad withdrawal and others say benzo.

 

It's some of each.. there is no clear dividing line.  For example, my main WD symptom is tinnitus.  Most drugs can cause tinnitus.  Mine was set off because I did not realize Lyrica needed to be tapered, and I lowered the dose by 25% to wean off.  Wayy to big a jump and this activated the tinnitus (which I realized in retrospect has been coming on).  So then the diazepam I was on started to trigger off the same.. tinnitus.  Just one word here... whereas tinnitus sometimes does not go away... it's an iatrogenic effect from many meds, the type of WD symptoms you have will remit when you are stable.  I just use this as an example because both of the drugs I was taking cased the same symptom.

 

I'm going to respond to this in the benzo thread you started in that forum.  Listen to feedback on klonopin from either Alto, Rhi or myself for the benzo piece.. you can get as many different responses as you ask questions.. and then several different opinions for each inquiry.   When you give equal weight to everyone who replies, you will be confused.

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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Hi Drummer,

 

just wanted to let you know that you are doing fine and getting great advice. This is just tweaking that will make you feel the best possible.

 

I would just like to add that after reinstatement things don't bounce back to what it was before. It will take some time depending on how long you were off the drug. This is normal so don't worry if symptoms get back. They will disappear gradually.

 

Take care

Bubble

Current: 9/2022 Xanax 0.08, Lexapro 2

2020 Xanax 0.26 (down from 2 mg in 2013), Lexapro 2.85 mg (down from 5 mg 2013)

Amitriptyline (tricyclic AD) and clonazepam for 3 months to treat headache in 1996 
1999. - present Xanax prn up to 3 mg.
2000-2005 Prozac CT twice, 2005-2010 Zoloft CT 3 times, 2010-2013 Escitalopram 10 mg
went from 2.5 to zero on 7 Aug 2013, bad crash 40 days after
reinstated to 5 mg Escitalopram 4Oct 2013 and holding liquid Xanax every 5 hours
28 Jan 2014 Xanax 1.9, 18 Apr  2015 1 mg,  25 June 2015 Lex 4.8, 6 Aug Lexapro 4.6, 1 Jan 2016 0.64  Xanax     9 month hold

24 Sept 2016 4.5 Lex, 17 Oct 4.4 Lex (Nov 0.63 Xanax, Dec 0.625 Xanax), 1 Jan 2017 4.3 Lex, 24 Jan 4.2, 5 Feb 4.1, 24 Mar 4 mg, 10 Apr 3.9 mg, May 3.85, June 3.8, July 3.75, 22 July 3.7, 15 Aug 3.65, 17 Sept 3.6, 1 Jan 2018 3.55, 19 Jan 3.5, 16 Mar 3.4, 14 Apr 3.3, 23 May 3.2, 16 June 3.15, 15 Jul 3.1, 31 Jul 3, 21 Aug 2.9 26 Sept 2.85, 14 Nov Xan 0.61, 1 Dec 0.59, 19 Dec 0.58, 4 Jan 0.565, 6 Feb 0.55, 20 Feb 0.535, 1 Mar 0.505, 10 Mar 0.475, 14 Mar 0.45, 4 Apr 0.415, 13 Apr 0.37, 21 Apr 0.33, 29 Apr 0.29, 10 May 0.27, 17 May 0.25, 28 May 0.22, 19 June 0.22, 21 Jun updose to 0.24, 24 Jun updose to 0.26

Supplements: Omega 3 + Vit E, Vit C, D, magnesium, Taurine, probiotic 

I'm not a medical professional. Any advice I give is based on my own experience and reading. 

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Also its confusing because i have people tellin me its ad withdrawal and others say benzo. It can be really confusing jumping back from thread to thread considering im still trying to figure out what the symptoms are from. I hope that didnt come off harsh cuz it wasnt supposed to. Im just struggling and lookin for answers but im told different things by everyone. Its a lot to take in. Especially when i cant think straight half the time.

 

Steve, I don't think you need to be switching back and forth from thread to thread right now. We usually keep conversations about benzos in the benzo area, and you have been asking questions about your Klonopin, so Skyler is trying to keep the Klonopin conversation separate from the Effexor withdrawal conversation. But you're going through a lot right now and I can understand how it would feel pretty overwhelming to figure out which questions to ask where.

 

Maybe when you've settled down from the Effexor withdrawal (which will be a few months at least) you can start a conversation about Klonopin over in the benzo area. 

 

Skyler, I think it's best for Steve to keep his thread here for now. His primary problem is Effexor withdrawal and he's in pretty acute withdrawal. Let's give him time to settle down mentally and physically before really digging in on the benzo stuff.

 

As far as how often to take the Klonopin, Steve, there's no advantage to taking it more than twice a day, and most folks do fine taking it once a day. Since you're not actually tapering it right now, I think you should do okay with taking it just once every 24 hours. Given your instability due to the Effexor withdrawal, I think keeping things as simple and as stable as possible (taking the same thing at the same time every day) is your best bet.

 

Cortisol mornings are common with AD withdrawal. They will come and go, as will other symptoms (like the sleep problems), and you'll always be looking for explanations (what did I do differently, what did I take or not take) but in withdrawal the symptoms will come and go no matter what you do or don't do, so you can end up trying to tweak things around and just making everything worse because of all the changing, when really the waves will come and go no matter what you do.

 

For right now, your best bet is to keep it simple and keep it stable and stick to a regular schedule.

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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Whats the benefit of takin it twice a day, Sky? It can be confusing. Some people say 4 times, some say once and others say twice. I dont know what to do...

 

Definitely no point in taking it four times a day, not Klonopin.

 

I have found that when tapering a drug it can help to take it twice a day even if it ordinarily is taken only once a day. It just helps to keep the blood levels smooth--they never get as high (since you're only taking half) or as low (since you are taking it twice instead of just once).

 

You can do this with your Klonopin if you want to. As I said above, I feel like right now you're in such acute withdrawal instability from the Effexor that it's not a good time to be experimenting with your other meds. But if you find your symptoms getting worse an hour or two before your next Klonopin dose is due, you might try splitting it into two. That is up to you.

 

There's no reason to divide it into more than two doses.  Klonopin is long-acting.

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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Will they go away?

 

Withdrawal symptoms will come and go. If you find you're having consistent problems with high cortisol every morning, take a look in the Symptoms and Self Care area for topics on cortisol and cortisol mornings.

 

No withdrawal symptoms will last forever. They all go away eventually (except in a few very, very rare cases, and there's no reason so far to think you will be one of those.)

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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Hi Rhi and Steve.... I just thought it would help to make for better benzo feedback (I saw someone on this thread give what appeared to be misinformation because some of the needed info was on the benzo thread, and not available here), but fine with me to stay on this forum.  And Rhi, thanks for the response.. now I don't need to go into the similar again. :)

 

Hope this all helps Steve..   I wish I'd gone to twice a day dosing (BID) with K. when I hit the cortisol AM patch.  I'll bet some of my associated angst would have been lessened.  Go for it... it's not a difficult transition to BID, easy to undo if it does not help, and it does sounds like your AM cortisol response will be considerably less... congrats for hanging in there!  You're doing good. :D

 

PS.. if you read info on this site that seems to conflict, give me a PM.. it might be easier to sort out some of the confusion you have that way.  Just put a link into the message you are referencing.. or cut and paste it into the body of the PM.

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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Thanks guys. The last cpl days have been better. Since going back to 1mg my symptoms have calmed down. Today i went in to let my dr know what was going on amd that i wanted to switch to .5 twicw a day and he ok'd it but that wasnt before he told me that :

"Its all in my head", "taking a 1/4 out will not give me any side effects", "1mg is too low a dose to get side effects". He said hes never dealt with anyone ever havin a problem stopping these drugs. And theres no way i was withdrawing from 2mg of an AD. So instantly i wanted to beat him to a pulp. I kept my **** together and went to the pharmacy. I had a good talk with the pharmacist and he said the exact opposite. I was relieved to hear that but then he told me takin a ten percent drop when i decide to (in the future when im stable) is pointless and its just me being obsessive. ****....what a day. If i didnt have a supportive family and gf and people like u guys id feel quiye alone. These people are so uninformed.

Put on Paxil 20mg for anxiety in 1998. Crapped out fall of 2005. Taken off cold turkey by my Dr.Put on Effexor xr 150mg within a week. Crapped out summer 2012.  Dosage was upped to 225mg.  Symptoms worsened.  Quit smoking and started a slow taper at 10% every 4-5 weeks or so.  At around 25mg started developing ocd like symptoms(intrusive thoughts mainly)Slowed taper down.  Symptoms remain.  Got down to 2mg and quit the Effexor.  I was fine for a few weeks and was hit with a wall of symptoms. (I had started tapering my benzo at this point not knowing I shoulda waited much longer) I then hit with a wall of WD symptoms.  Debilitated.  Reinstated December 30th, 10 beads.  Felt really messed up.  Dropped to 5 beads.  Remaining until stable.

Started Klonopin 1mg once a day during my taper. Summer 2014. (At this time I was at 25mg Effexor) Dropped to .75mg of Klonopin for 3 weeks. Wd symptoms worsened. Klonopin is back to 0.5mg twice daily. Waited for a month and made the mistake of starting a slow taper(what I thought was slow) at 6.25 percent for one week but had insane nightmares. It was too early to try and taper.  I went back to .5mg twice daily but seem to be having interdose wd. Symptoms are Sleep disturbances, depression and weird chest pains. Working my way to .25 mg spread evenly 4 times a day. Gonna stabilize and start a taper after 6 months er so.

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Your doctor sounds like an idiot. Nothing personal, of course, he's just parroting what he has been taught by the pharmaceutical indu$try, but he sounds pretty arrogant.  Those guys make me crazy.

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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  • Moderator Emeritus

>These people are so uninformed.

 

Yes they are Steve.. and the amount of suffering so caused is a criminal. But you will not fall into the abyss... help is here! 

 

Good job holding your temper with the doc.  What many here do, after they learn the 'lay of the land', so to speak, is get a script for what they need from the doc, and then proceed to taper on their own.  Less hassle that way.

 

Power to the Peoples!

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

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