Englishman: Introduction

[englishman]

i am from the neighbouring county to you whitelily and i want to come off from 300mg amisulpride per day and 40mg prozac per day as they make me obese.

Edited September 6, 2016 by scallywag
tags added

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

Welcome to the forum, Englishman. I have made you your own separate topic in the introductions forum. Would you like to tell us a bit more about yourself and anything else we should know about why you are here? Such as how long you have been on those particular medications and does your doctor know that you want to get off them?
 
We don't recommend that you try to reduce 2 drugs at the same time, usually a reduction of one and then the other. Here are a couple of topics you might want to read about our philosophy of 'harm reduction' while tapering:
 
Taking multiple psych drugs? Which drug to taper first?
 
Why taper by 10% of my dosage?
 
Important topics in the Tapering forum and FAQ
 
Tips for tapering off Prozac (fluoxetine)

 

We do not have a guide for amisulpride specifically but it comes in tablets and a liquid which is especially helpful for reducing when you get to the smaller dosages. If you have been prescribed the 'coated' tablets, those are not meant to be crushed. Sometimes medications are coated to prevent irritation to the stomach or to make sure they are not inactivated by stomach acids. Which formulation are you taking?

[englishman]

yeah this is my timeline:

 

2000 put on amisulpride for psychosis

got fatter

2007 put on prozac

loss of libido

flat emotions

got obese

2014 offered testosterone to counter side effects of amisulpride

still obese

 

Doctors don't really offer me any viable alternative but becoming interested in orthomolecular psychiatry. currently in india.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

You have been on ami for a very long time, your body has grown accustomed to functioning with that drug. All of your physiological makeup depends on the continued presence of that drug in you system. I am surprised you would be offered testosterone for 'anti-obesity'. It has nothing to do with that at all!

 

Orthomolecular psychiatry might be helpful but if you take up with a practitioner who has you taking a lot of esoteric supplements while simultaneously yanking away your drugs you could get very very ill. Has this started to happen? Are you getting your medications from Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers at this time and for how long? Have you noticed any difference from one prescription to the other while getting them in India?

 

Also, when you were first prescribed the antipsychotic, what were your symptoms? What if they start coming back as you reduce the drug? Have you thought about this (I am not saying they will but it is something you need to consider).

[englishman]

You have been on ami for a very long time, your body has grown accustomed to functioning with that drug. All of your physiological makeup depends on the continued presence of that drug in you system. I am surprised you would be offered testosterone for 'anti-obesity'. It has nothing to do with that at all!

 

Orthomolecular psychiatry might be helpful but if you take up with a practitioner who has you taking a lot of esoteric supplements while simultaneously yanking away your drugs you could get very very ill. Has this started to happen? Are you getting your medications from Indian pharmaceutical manufacturers at this time and for how long? Have you noticed any difference from one prescription to the other while getting them in India?

 

Also, when you were first prescribed the antipsychotic, what were your symptoms? What if they start coming back as you reduce the drug? Have you thought about this (I am not saying they will but it is something you need to consider).

 

i am taking english nhs medicine out here in india i have a big supply

 

my psych is not keen for me to come off the amisulpride but it's that that causes the obesity which can kill me if i don't do something about it.

 

my symptoms were feeling suicidal hearing voices delusions of grandeur etc

 

so far i have been taking and i still take 300mg amisulpride per day 40mg fluoxetine per day and 6 metred doses of testosterone gel per day.

 

the amisulpride raises prolactin levels.

[cymbaltawithdrawal5600]

So the testosterone is sort of keeping the symptoms of high prolactin at bay, not really 'curing' anything, right?

 

Have you done any reading of the links I gave you? It will be difficult (but not impossible) for you to get off meds if your doctor is not on board because any doctor can prescribe the meds you are on (I am pretty sure even where you are living now). What is going to be difficult is staging the decrease of anything so nothing upsets the delicate balance that is maintaining you at the moment.

 

I am going to ask some of the other mods and Admins to weigh in and see what their thoughts are. In the meantime, do as much reading as you can so you get a feel for what is involved here before you start.

[englishman]

So the testosterone is sort of keeping the symptoms of high prolactin at bay, not really 'curing' anything, right?

 

yes right.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Englishman.
 

What effect has the testosterone had on your prolactin levels?

 

http://www.dovepress.com/safety-and-tolerability-of-antipsychotics-focus-on-amisulpride-peer-reviewed-article-DHPS

Amisulpride has a pronounced prolactin-elevating effect which appears to be independent of dosage and duration of administration. Hyperprolactinemia rapidly reverses following amisulpride discontinuation.

 

 

Chronic ingestion of a steroid such as testosterone does not seem to me to be a healthy way to counter adverse effects of amisulpride.

 

As cymbaltawithdrawal asked, what form is your amisulpride in? Uncoated tablets that are scored, coated tablets, etc.?

 

Please put ALL the drugs you take in the Drug Interactions Checker http://www.drugs.com/drug_interactions.html and post the results in this topic.

 

Also see La Torre, 2007 Pharmacological causes of hyperprolactinemia

[englishman]

hi

 

my amsulpride tablets seem to be scored and uncoated with these 100mg ones.

 

the testosterone increase in theory should lower my prolactin and though it kind of helps make my sex drive a bit better and gets rid of the man-boobs it doesn't help with the weight gain.

 

i went on the drugs interaction checker but it would not let me include amisulpride as not a usa drug. the tesosterone and fluoxetine seemed to have no major interactions.

[Fresh]

Hi Englishman ,   just wanted to say WELCOME to the site.  

 

When I was in India I planned to stay for 2 weeks , but then ended up staying for 4 months.     I was on a few medications and had no trouble getting more via the local

hospital.   Good to know just in case you run out.    Funny thing is , they were so much cheaper there that I stocked up before coming back to Oz  .

 

Namaste ,     Fresh

[ang]

Welcome Englishman. 

 

I find all these drugs make me fat.....  I wish you well.........

[englishman]

Welcome Englishman. 

 

I find all these drugs make me fat.....  I wish you well.........

 

yeah right well the amisulpride made me fat then after the prozac on top of that i am obese.

[Altostrata]

I cannot find any sources recommending testosterone for treatment of iatrogenic hyperprolactinemia. My guess is your doctor is conducting an experiment on you.

 

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/121784-treatment

 

Hyperprolactinemia Treatment & Management

 

Direct treatment is geared toward resolving hyperprolactinemic symptoms or reducing tumor size. Patients on medications that cause hyperprolactinemia should have them withdrawn if possible. Patients with hypothyroidism should be given thyroid hormone replacement therapy.

 

When symptoms are present, medical therapy is the treatment of choice. Patients with hyperprolactinemia and no symptoms (idiopathic or microprolactinoma) can be monitored without treatment. Consider treatment for women with amenorrhea. In addition, duel energy radiographic absorptiometry scanning should be considered to evaluate bone density.

 

In cases of pharmacologic-induced hyperprolactinemia, an evaluation of the risk-benefit profile of the causative agent is imperative. Stopping the drug is ideal, but this may not be feasible. A good example would be in the schizophrenic patient in whom a single antipsychotic agent is the cause, but is keeping the patient’s psychoses under control. The cautious addition of a dopamine agonist may be considered....

 

 

If I were you, I would seek a doctor who will help you minimize your drugs. For what reason was the Prozac added? You are taking a high dose of Prozac.

 

Amisulpride is available as a liquid, which is the safest way to taper it. http://www.patient.co.uk/medicine/amisulpride

 

See Why taper by 10% of my dosage? and Using an oral syringe and other tapering techniques

 

Very careful tapering is necessary when you have had psychotic symptoms. Such symptoms can appear as withdrawal symptoms; that will cause you to become diagnosed as relapsed and re-medicated. See Psychiatrist: Some patients are better off without antipsychotics...

 

Whitelily: trying to withdraw from an antipsychotic (amisulpride)...

 

Should you decide to reduce Prozac: Tips for tapering off Prozac (fluoxetine)

[englishman]

I cannot find any sources recommending testosterone for treatment of iatrogenic hyperprolactinemia. My guess is your doctor is conducting an experiment on you.

 

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/121784-treatment

 

Hyperprolactinemia Treatment & Management

 

Direct treatment is geared toward resolving hyperprolactinemic symptoms or reducing tumor size. Patients on medications that cause hyperprolactinemia should have them withdrawn if possible. Patients with hypothyroidism should be given thyroid hormone replacement therapy.

 

When symptoms are present, medical therapy is the treatment of choice. Patients with hyperprolactinemia and no symptoms (idiopathic or microprolactinoma) can be monitored without treatment. Consider treatment for women with amenorrhea. In addition, duel energy radiographic absorptiometry scanning should be considered to evaluate bone density.

 

In cases of pharmacologic-induced hyperprolactinemia, an evaluation of the risk-benefit profile of the causative agent is imperative. Stopping the drug is ideal, but this may not be feasible. A good example would be in the schizophrenic patient in whom a single antipsychotic agent is the cause, but is keeping the patient’s psychoses under control. The cautious addition of a dopamine agonist may be considered....

 

 

If I were you, I would seek a doctor who will help you minimize your drugs. For what reason was the Prozac added? You are taking a high dose of Prozac.

 

Amisulpride is available as a liquid, which is the safest way to taper it. http://www.patient.co.uk/medicine/amisulpride

 

See Why taper by 10% of my dosage? and Using an oral syringe and other tapering techniques

 

Very careful tapering is necessary when you have had psychotic symptoms. Such symptoms can appear as withdrawal symptoms; that will cause you to become diagnosed as relapsed and re-medicated. See Psychiatrist: Some patients are better off without antipsychotics...

 

Whitelily: trying to withdraw from an antipsychotic (amisulpride)...

 

Should you decide to reduce Prozac: Tips for tapering off Prozac (fluoxetine)

 

the amisulpride has caused hypogonadism that's what the testosterone is treating!

[Altostrata]

I understand that. But I can't find any reference recommending testosterone for iatrogenic hyperprolactinemia.

 

There may be a cosmetic improvement but no actual correction of the underlying endocrine imbalance. The iatrogenic obesity is a serious health problem.

 

It's up to you -- if you think you're getting proper care, continue with your current treatment.

 

I've given you information about tapering your drugs, if you care to work with a doctor on that. Testosterone will also require tapering.

[englishman]

I'm not sure whether i am getting proper care or not but they give me no alternative other than wait for cannabidiol to be licensed here in POSSIBLY ten years time. thanks for the information i have read it very interesting.

[englishman]

problem is i am still smoking pot.

[englishman]

Correction: i've stopped NOW.  I wanna come off this SSRI and feel a little bit of my emotions again. I might have to stay on amisulpride forever but at least minus the SSRI i will lose a bit of weight and will likely be back to my weight pre prozac 2007 then i'd hope to be only overweight than clinically obese.

 

But... i will wait and see what my GP and psych say.  I think they would be ok with supporting me come off the SSRI but staying on the amisulpride.

[Altostrata]

They absolutely need to address the hyperprolactinemia. If they don't, I would find doctors who will.

 

The testosterone treatment is a sham, in my opinion.

[englishman]

Hi there,

 

I posted a while back from India but not long after i was then in Nepal my luggage was lost at the airport so i could not get to all my medication so i came off the testosterone just like that and various physical illnesses followed like chest infections and colds and things like that... i wasn't quite right at the time and a long way from home.  Eventually i had 2 days of no money until i had no money again and long story short i wound up sectioned in Nepal. So used this time to recover from testosterone withdrawel and abruptly came off the prozac.

 

I was hallucinating/angry/deluded and all sorts of things so they were pinning me down giving me shots of tranquilisers or something.  But within a week i was off it.

 

2 and a half months later i am no longer on the prozac and my wait has dropped to pre-prozac levels.  Though i am still on the amisulpride antipsychotic which i is likely to be for my whole life unless something better comes up.

 

I am not the same as i was before prozac but much more closer to "normal" now. But in all honesty if there wasn't that weight gain i would go back on Prozac but maybe that's just the "grass is always greener on the other side" thing going on.

 

Any meds or supplements that can help me that don't cause weight gain?

 

 

[Altostrata]

Here's your Intro topic, Englishman.

 

Good to hear the iatrogenic weight gain corrected so quickly.

 

What is it you expected Prozac to do for you?

[englishman]

Here's your Intro topic, Englishman.

 

Good to hear the iatrogenic weight gain corrected so quickly.

 

What is it you expected Prozac to do for you?

 

hmm it seems th weight gain is back on after weighing myself again.

 

I went on prozac as i had severe ocd and was stuck in bed and debilitated.  The prozac helped in a funny way but brought other problems and benefits. It was a real roller-coaster ride.

[englishman]

Pre SSRI i could feel a sort of romantic love if say with a partner... and cry maybe if sad.  It went with the sex-drive as soon as i went on the Prozac.  Now off the Prozac two and a half months on my emotions feel blunted as if i am still on Prozac.  Will they ever come back?  What can i do?

[Altostrata]

If I were you, I'd stop depending on drugs, take a mental inventory, look for non-drug ways to deal with your symptoms, and work hard at them.

 

As this is a site for going off drugs, we really don't discuss what drugs to try next.

[nz11]

Hey Englishman do you really want to have 'that' avatar?

Your choice i guess.

Cats seem to be the rage at the moment why not go for something like a cat.

 

Good luck in the cricket...go the kiwis!

[Petunia]

Pre SSRI i could feel a sort of romantic love if say with a partner... and cry maybe if sad.  It went with the sex-drive as soon as i went on the Prozac.  Now off the Prozac two and a half months on my emotions feel blunted as if i am still on Prozac.  Will they ever come back?  What can i do?

 

Your emotions will return eventually, it may take a while. See:

 

Anhedonia, apathy, demotivation - Surviving Antidepressants

[englishman]

thanks all of you...