gallanthero26 Posted March 25, 2018 Share Posted March 25, 2018 I"ve tried reinstating at a low dose of 1mg multiple times after cold turkeying only 10mg for 3 weeks. Each time I've tried I get worsened WD symptoms. These reinstatements were at about a month off each time, (I'm about 3 months into withdrawal now). I only stayed with the reinstatement for about a week but my intuition told me to get off the drug each time. (Still not 100% if this was just how my withdrawals were naturally progressing anyway). So after still not knowing if the reinstatement was actually making me worse, I tried a third time (still at just 1mg) and I woke up racing thoughts that I did not create on my own and seemed very much like auditory hallucinations but with just thoughts, high anxiety, and worsened memory/concentration the following day. So after experiencing these, today I'm just hoping that the neuro-adaptation that happened effortlessly going on prozac will somehow translate into going back to a normal, non psychiatric drug function brain. Was put on Abilify from about March 2012 to September 2012, 10mg, self tapered no withdrawals Last drugs I was put on - 10 mg fluoxetine (prozac) and 5mg trifluoperazine from December 17th 2017 - Jan 10th 2018. withdrawals about 1 week after quitting cold turkey reinstated about Feb 2nd, prozac, 2.5 mg for about 1 week, withdrawals worsened, quit again cold turkey tried reinstating 3/4/2018, stopped 3/7/2018 Currently taking fish oil Link to post Share on other sites
Sheri755 Posted May 19, 2018 Share Posted May 19, 2018 Bump Effexor XR 300 (brand) mg & various SSRIs 15 yrs (Effexor XR 300 mg past 10 yrs Clonazepam, 1.0 mg. am, .5 mg pm. - 15 yrs, 7-17-16- Began .5 three times a day Vyvanse 60 mg, - 2 yrs, Cut to 50 mg for 6 mths, Cut to 30 mg. on 4-1-16. Tapering. Approx. 4-1-15 began Effexor XR 300 taper, very slowly for a year. Held at 37.5 for about 3 mths. Cut to 18 mg for 2 wks to 0. WD began 2 wks later. Depression, anxiety, paranoia, low appetite, nausea. 7-14-16-Reinstated 5 beads Effx after 4 mths misery.Pooped out 10 days. 9-12-16-to present- Wide eyed terror, bedridden fear, no appetite/feeling of being full. 10-30-16- Began 15% liquid tapering of 30 mg Vyvanse. (25 mg) 11-13-16- Liquid Vyvanse 22 mg,11-27-16- Liquid 15 mg, 12-12-16- Vyvanse 12.5 for 5 days. 12-16 - 12-29, 15 mg. 11-20-16- Switched back to 1.0 clonazepam am & .5 bedtime 12-30-16- Moved to 15 mg COMPOUNDED Vyvanse.Current 4/11-4/25 7.5 mg.(10% ev 2 wks) Off Vyvanse Current meds:Effexor XR- 3 Beads, Clonazepam-1.0 mg am, .5 mg bedtime,Vyvanse-(tapering) Estradiol- 2 mg,Progesterone 200 mg,Testosterone 30 mg/ml,Nature Throid- 48.75 mg.(12-21-16-65 mg.) (4-18-17-81.25 mg) Current supplements: Fish Oil-1360 mg, Curamin- 2706 mg. Link to post Share on other sites
icerose87 Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 Can you stabilize on Mirtazapine when you’re withdrawing from Lexapro (and possibly Lorazepam)? My sister cold turkeyed Lexapro twice before even knowing about withdrawal and has been in Hell for 6 months. She’s been trying to stabilize on Mirtazapine and Zyprexa for one month. Her appetite is back and it took the edge off the anxiety but she’s still very suicidal. What do we do now?? Can the Mirtazapine kick in later on? Link to post Share on other sites
Administrator Altostrata Posted January 1, 2019 Administrator Share Posted January 1, 2019 icerose, one might stabilize on anything, including no drugs at all. Your sister's situation is a little more complicated, please see your Intro topic. 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. Link to post Share on other sites
Administrator Altostrata Posted October 26, 2019 Administrator Share Posted October 26, 2019 bumping -- please post about your experience with reinstatement! 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. Link to post Share on other sites
Subzero42 Posted October 27, 2019 Share Posted October 27, 2019 I quitted Seroplex cold turkey in November 2017, reinstated a month later, it took about 4 months to stabilize 2017 Feb : Lexapro 10mg. 2017 May : Lexapro 20mg. 2017 Nov : CT Lexapro 2017 Dec : Reinstated Lexapro 20mg. 2018 Feb : Lexapro 20 + Effexor 75 May to December : Taper Lexapro 2019 Apr : Effexor 56mg 2019 May : Effexor 37,5mg 2019 Jun : Effexor 18,75mg 2019 Aug : Reinstated Effexor 37,5mg. 2020 Oct : Slowly updose Effexor Link to post Share on other sites
thecowisback Posted November 16, 2019 Share Posted November 16, 2019 what's the longest anyone's been off a drug before they reinstated? Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years. January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began. Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan: 26 Feb 2019, 4mg. Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019 Reinstated prozac: 14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg Link to post Share on other sites
Subzero42 Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 On 11/16/2019 at 8:07 PM, thecowisback said: what's the longest anyone's been off a drug before they reinstated? How come you reinstated after 2 years, you didn't feel like you were healing even after this long ? 2017 Feb : Lexapro 10mg. 2017 May : Lexapro 20mg. 2017 Nov : CT Lexapro 2017 Dec : Reinstated Lexapro 20mg. 2018 Feb : Lexapro 20 + Effexor 75 May to December : Taper Lexapro 2019 Apr : Effexor 56mg 2019 May : Effexor 37,5mg 2019 Jun : Effexor 18,75mg 2019 Aug : Reinstated Effexor 37,5mg. 2020 Oct : Slowly updose Effexor Link to post Share on other sites
thecowisback Posted November 17, 2019 Share Posted November 17, 2019 no, not at all. mentally i was sinking deeper and deeper and felt like i had nothing to lose by trying as things were desperate. Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years. January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began. Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan: 26 Feb 2019, 4mg. Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019 Reinstated prozac: 14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg Link to post Share on other sites
Subzero42 Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 Ok and since you reinstated, you'd say things are getting better or not ? 2017 Feb : Lexapro 10mg. 2017 May : Lexapro 20mg. 2017 Nov : CT Lexapro 2017 Dec : Reinstated Lexapro 20mg. 2018 Feb : Lexapro 20 + Effexor 75 May to December : Taper Lexapro 2019 Apr : Effexor 56mg 2019 May : Effexor 37,5mg 2019 Jun : Effexor 18,75mg 2019 Aug : Reinstated Effexor 37,5mg. 2020 Oct : Slowly updose Effexor Link to post Share on other sites
thecowisback Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 my depression has mostly gone, but the anxiety panic and ocd remain. my husband thinks my ocd is a little better but i have a hard time seeing it. Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years. January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began. Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan: 26 Feb 2019, 4mg. Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019 Reinstated prozac: 14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg Link to post Share on other sites
Subzero42 Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 7 hours ago, thecowisback said: my depression has mostly gone, but the anxiety panic and ocd remain. my husband thinks my ocd is a little better but i have a hard time seeing it. Have you ever thought about taking another drug instead of Prozac? 2017 Feb : Lexapro 10mg. 2017 May : Lexapro 20mg. 2017 Nov : CT Lexapro 2017 Dec : Reinstated Lexapro 20mg. 2018 Feb : Lexapro 20 + Effexor 75 May to December : Taper Lexapro 2019 Apr : Effexor 56mg 2019 May : Effexor 37,5mg 2019 Jun : Effexor 18,75mg 2019 Aug : Reinstated Effexor 37,5mg. 2020 Oct : Slowly updose Effexor Link to post Share on other sites
Moderator Gridley Posted November 18, 2019 Moderator Share Posted November 18, 2019 3 minutes ago, Subzero42 said: Have you ever thought about taking another drug instead of Prozac? Subzero, We are a site for going off drugs and as such we don't make recommendations about switching or adding drugs. Gridley Introduction Lexapro 20 mg since 2004. Begin Brassmonkey Slide Taper Jan. 2017. End 2017 year 1 of taper at 9.25mg End 2018 year 2 of taper at 4.1mg End 2019 year 3 of taper at 1.0mg Oct. 30, 2020 Jump to zero from 0.025mg. Current dose: 0.000mg 3 year, 10 month taper is 100% complete. Ativan 1 mg 1986-1991 CT, soon reinstated. CT 2000. RI 1 mg 2011-2016. Sept. 2016 0.625mg X 3 Nov.27, 2020 Begin 7-week Ativan-Valium crossover and change from 3 daily doses to one 18.75mgai dose (0.311mgpw). Jan. 11, 2021 begin hold at current bedtime 18.75mgai dose. Imipramine 75 mg daily since 1986. Jan. 2016 began every 3-weeks 10% taper, down to 16mgai (0.44mgpw). Aug 2016, discovered SA, holding at 16mg. Taper is 78% complete. Supplements: omega, vitamins E and D3, magnesium glycinate, probiotic, melatonin .3mg I am not a medical professional and this is not medical advice, but simply information based on my own experience, as well as other members who have survived these drugs. Link to post Share on other sites
Subzero42 Posted November 18, 2019 Share Posted November 18, 2019 3 minutes ago, Gridley said: Subzero, We are a site for going off drugs and as such we don't make recommendations about switching or adding drugs. Ok got it. 2017 Feb : Lexapro 10mg. 2017 May : Lexapro 20mg. 2017 Nov : CT Lexapro 2017 Dec : Reinstated Lexapro 20mg. 2018 Feb : Lexapro 20 + Effexor 75 May to December : Taper Lexapro 2019 Apr : Effexor 56mg 2019 May : Effexor 37,5mg 2019 Jun : Effexor 18,75mg 2019 Aug : Reinstated Effexor 37,5mg. 2020 Oct : Slowly updose Effexor Link to post Share on other sites
Onmyway Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 On 11/18/2019 at 8:57 AM, thecowisback said: my depression has mostly gone, but the anxiety panic and ocd remain. my husband thinks my ocd is a little better but i have a hard time seeing it. Have you tried CBT for OCD in specialist clinics? OCD for sure is amplified by WD, even ppl who never had it get it during WD but CBT can provide great tools for managing it. Aug 2000 - July 2003 (ct, 4-6 wk wd) , citalopram 20 mg , xanax prn, wellbutrin for a few months (don't remember dates), trazodone prn Dec 2004 - July 2018 citalopram 20 mg Aug 2018 - citalopram 40 mg (self titrated up), occasionally did this in difficult times September 2018 - January 2019 tapered citalopram - 40/30/20/10/5 no issues until a week after reaching 0 Feb 2019 0.25 xanax/day, then 0.5/day (3 weeks) over to klonopin 0.25 once a day to manage severe wd March 6, reinstated citalopram 2.5 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 mg for sleep 2-3 times a week Apr 1st 2.0 mg (liquid), klonopin 0.25 once a week, April 14 , 2019 - citalopram 1.8 mg (liquid), May 8, 2019 - citalopram 1.6 mg (liquid), July 27, 2019 - citalopram 1.5 mg (liquid), August 15, 2019 - citalopram 1.35 (liquid) supplements: melatonin 1 mg Link to post Share on other sites
thecowisback Posted November 19, 2019 Share Posted November 19, 2019 i was assessed many months ago at my local psych clinic but am now on an endless waiting list for cbt. god knows how long it will take until i'm seen. i first asked for help over 2 years ago and was assessed earlier this year so i'm not holding my breath Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years. January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began. Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan: 26 Feb 2019, 4mg. Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019 Reinstated prozac: 14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg Link to post Share on other sites
thecowisback Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 has anyone else been off more than a year before going back on the meds? Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years. January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began. Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan: 26 Feb 2019, 4mg. Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019 Reinstated prozac: 14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg Link to post Share on other sites
Lloyd Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 I was off Effexor for over 1.5 years and reinstated a full 37.5mg. Felt better within a few hours which proved that it was discontinuation syndrome. I'm currently off at the moment and my discontinuation is more severe this time around. Paroxatine - 2004-2006 Effexor XR 75mg 2006 - 2016 (Discontinued Feb 2016) - Withdrawal for 6 months. Effexor XR 75mg Re-instated June 2017 (Discontinued Dec 2017) Effexor XR 2-3 mg Re-instated March 10 2018 - 1 day (Didn't work) Effexor XR 2mg Reinstated (Again) May 11 2018. 6 Beads July 2018 - 0.0mg of Effexor. Zilch Link to post Share on other sites
thecowisback Posted January 7, 2020 Share Posted January 7, 2020 wow! how long did you take it before deciding to taper off again? Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years. January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began. Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan: 26 Feb 2019, 4mg. Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019 Reinstated prozac: 14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg Link to post Share on other sites
Camille Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 I tapered too quickly Lexapro 15mg to 2,5mg (over the course of 3-4 months) and had major withdrawal symptoms when lowering to 2,5mg. I stayed on 2,5mg for 3 days , then increased to 5mg for about 5 days, then 7,5 for 5 days and then reinstated 10mg. It took about 1,5 month after the 10mg reinstatement for me to be better again and for the withdrawal to stop. Unfortunately, I didn't learn from my mistakes and decreased from 10mg to 7,5mg (so a 25% decrease, way too much for me) in September 2020, immediately my mood became depressed and nothing improved at all (it didn't worsen either) so I reinstated 9,375 beginning of December. Around beginning of January 2020, my mood still hadn't improved and I didn't have the patience to wait anymore so I reinstated my full 10mg. It was 5 days ago, so I'll keep you updated when (or if) things improved. But as a conclusion, I would say that I think reinstatement is generally a good idea when you tapered too fast, but it doesn't resolve things immediately, you have to wait 1-2 months for things to be back to normal 2012 : Started antidepressants, almost without interruption until now. I tried many different sorts (Effexor, Zoloft, Brintellix, Prozac...). Tried stopping multiple times with fast tapers but always ending up back on them again November 2019 : Tapered pretty quickly Brintellix, no major WD symptoms but original anxiety and depression came back March 2020: Started LEXAPRO 15mg April 2020: lowered to 10mg Lexapro, no major WD Mai 2020 : 7,5mg then 5mg Lexapro, no major WD June 2020 : lowered to 2,5mg --> major WD July 2020 : back on Lexapro 10mg and started probiotics which helped a lot (also with acne) September 2020 : BIG MISTAKE of lowering to 7,5mg (so a 25% decrease which is way too much, especially after such a recent bad experience of WD, nervous system didn't have time to repair), depression comes back immediately (like right on the day of the decrease) (1 December 2020: Tried the liquid formulation --> doesn't work on me, it's like I didn't take my meds) 5 December 2020 : Decides to up my dose because my mood doesn't seem to improve -->9,375 (by crushing in 2 a 15mg pill (so 7,5mg) and crushing in 4 with a pill cutter a 5mg pill(so 1,25mg) and crushing it in 8 (so 0,625mg) waiting to see how it goes. 5 January 2020 : back on 10mg again, mood still bad, waiting for it to improve Plan for the future : I finally realized how sensitized my nervous system have become and how slow I have to taper. I won't start the taper again until at least August 2020 and I plan on taking around 5 years to completely stop. I want to do a water titration method (with a seringue) and lower 0,1mg a month at the beginning. Link to post Share on other sites
tryingtosurvive330 Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 On 8/4/2011 at 12:15 PM, Nadia said: I think it "worked" for me to reinstate after 4 months because I put up with a couple of weeks of jitteriness and such created by the ADs and didn't freak out about it. I had JUST started to suffer from anxiety, though... maybe one or two weeks. The other stuff, like depression, depersonalization, anhedonia, etc. had also just started, and those were immediately relieved by reinstating. I should mention that I felt immediately bad after quitting the meds, but in a way I could handle... really emotional, getting back in touch with my huge sensitivity, etc. But not that creepy weird-bad that I now think of as withdrawal... probably my brain starting to spastically find its way back to normal. @Nadia This sounds exactly like me, the way you described how you felt after quitting the meds, and how the anxiety and depression started after. Did you reinstate at a microdose? And then when you CTed in 11/10 was that from the reinstatement? Zoloft 25mg - June 2015-April 2018 - 2 month taper, had extreme antsiness (different from my normal anxiety) Xanax 0.25-0.5mg - Aug 2018- Dec 2020 - Rarely took, probably less than every other month. Over 2020 holidays took 0.5mg 5-6times Escitalopram 10mg - Aug 2018 - Nov 2020 - tapered over 5 months: June 25 2020 - Aug 14 2020 - Can't remember what I did but assuming it was 5mg this whole time. Aug 14 2020 - Oct 24th 2020?? - 2.5mg for awhile, then tried every 27 hrs...did some weird thing where I kept trying to extend the length of hours, up to 36. This is where my symptoms got bad but I was able to tolerate as it was more fatigue and irritability. Oct 25 2020 - mid Nov 2020 - 1.25mg ever 24-36 hours, then I stopped completely. These are also estimates because I was cutting the pills and this is an eighth of 10mg but by this time, it was basically dust. I tried just having the dust toward the end. Dec 27 2020 was when I began having major crying spells and depressive, empty/hopeless feeling dead thoughts. Had a couple ok days and a couple more really bad ones a week out. Reinstated Escitalopram 0.15mg - Jan 12 2021 - doing my best to measure 0.15mg but it may be closer to 0.14-0.145mg Link to post Share on other sites
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