☼ strongereachday: partial success story, starting to feel normal again

[RockSie]

Strongereachday, i know exactly what you going throught! I promise you: this horrofic condition passes too! Never give up, this is not how your story will end!!! Stay strong!!

[MissSerene]

Stronger: Hang in there! I'm in middle of these kinds of symptoms, too. I feel out of control, way over-reactive and defensive, hyper-critical of myself and others...Like I hate everyone LOL. And then I hate myself for hating everyone! Know that you're not alone.

[eiledon20]

Isn't this a return of depression?

[LoveandLight]

Yep..miss serene I feel like that also

[Skyler]

Merged with your intro thread as this question relates to your personal journey.  Please link to your intro thread from your sig. line so you can access it easily.  Thanks

[Petunia]

Hi Stronger,

I was reading some of your posts on another thread and was wondering how you are now?

 

It would be great if you would put your drug and withdrawal history in your signature. Doing this helps people understand your context, it appears below each of your posts. Here are instructions for how to do it:

 

http://survivinganti...your-signature/

[strongereachday]

Hi guys. It's been awhile since I posted here. I am currently two years off (24 months) and am in a terrible wave. I have healed alot up until the wave. At around 22 months I started experiencing many great windows and was convinced the worst was over. Unfortunately a bad wave came about that really knocked me on my a**. I'm pretty sure it started after drinking quite a bit of alcohol one night. I have since given up alcohol because my withdrawal brain can't handle it. I also think overexcercise contributed. I was feeling better and got a bit cocky and started doing twenty minutes on the treadmill three times a week. Now I'm in a bad wave and very scared. My memory has gotten very bad...i have racing thoughts...impulsive behavior...and have generally been having trouble doing anything because I can't think straight...it's very strange I walk around feeling like I'm half conscious...i have almost grandiose thinking at times and am constantly daydreaming...the mental confusion has gotten very severe almost to the point of what id imagine dementia feels like...i even had my brother ask me if I was okay cuz I was acting very confused...i rarely have people ask cuz most of the time even though my brain isn't working I apparently appear normal but nonetheless he was very concerned...what is going on with me? Am I losing my mind? Will I ever come back from this?

[KarenB]

Nice to see you again Stronger, but sorry you're getting hammered with this wave.

 

How long has it been going for?  My first thought is that waves do always pass, cause if it can get worse due to some outside influences, it can get better when you have addressed those. 

 

I imagine that some of the members who have more experience with being off for a long time will chime in here. 

 

Do you have some self-care going right now?  It may be time to pick that back up again if you don't.  The old fish oil and magnesium...

 

I'm glad you came to update and get some help,

Karen

[strongereachday]

Thanks for the reply Karen. The wave has lasted about a month to a month a half (hard to remember exactly). As for self care I've definitely been spending more time in bed just relaxing trying to cut down on obligations as much as possible so I can get adequate rest and relaxation. I have been taking magnesium and fish oil quite regularly too as well as a probiotic that I just started. I have taken a break from the treadmill until I start to feel better...when I do start back up I will be doing less intensity jogging. I definitely just can't handle as full of a schedule as I could before this wave

[strongereachday]

hey guys. Just wanted post to see if any have experience with tho. I was doing cbd almost every day for weeks n it seemed to be the only thing helping. Had son side effects but was able to ignore them til recently probably due to taking too much. I was also taking gingko which I think contributed buti feel very off now. I feel super foggyheaded and depersonalized. Sometimes feel I'm going crazy. Just very scared cuz last time I smoked weed it set me back two years even though there's far less thc in the CBd than was in the weed. Does anybody have experience with this? Did it fade?

[strongereachday]

Titled:  Pregnancy and Tapering

 

Hi guys it’s been awhile. This time I am writing in response to my pregnant girlfriend. She doesn’t believe in abortion and I’m not a fan either. The thing is she has been on topamax and welbutrin for awhile and topamax has been known to cause birth defects so she stopped taking topamax a few days ago and the welbutrin is half the dose now. I told her how dangerous withdrawal is and so I wanted to know if anyone has any experience on or tapering while pregnant and maybe specifically topamax or welbutrin. We want her off this for the baby but also in the safest way possible. Thank u from both of us! ❤️

Edited February 17, 2020 by manymoretodays
added title, moved from tapering forum

[manymoretodays]

Hi stongerreachday, @strongereachday and welcome back,

 

I just moved your recent post from tapering back here.  Yes, it's been awhile.  How are you doing now?  Are you still off of medications yourself?

I'm not seeing a signature.  Please put your withdrawal history in your signature to help us out.

 

Congratulations.  Would your girlfriend be open to starting her own introduction, on site?

And I am so glad that you both are trying your best, to do everything possible for a healthy environment for this baby, now in utero.

How far along is the pregnancy now?

 

And,  as I am assuming you know, if she has been on her medications for awhile, it might be better to do a more harmfree reduction, rather than CT.  So this gets a little complicated. 

I'm hoping that you guys have some decent pre-natal care going now too.  I really encourage you to get started with some pre-natal care now, if you have not done so already.

 

We do have a topic here:  Antidepressants/withdrawal during pregnancy

And many members who have dealt with decisions around tapering and WD, when finding out they were pregnant, or planning on pregnancy.  We might not find an exact case of someone on topomax and wellbutrin, but some similarities.

You can do a search, from your main browser......just put in survivingantidepressants.org followed by pregnancy and withdrawal, and several cases or introductions should come up that you could look at.

 

It's tough.  I love that you came back here to seek information and help.  And we can try our best in this regard.

 

Way back when, I was counseled to stay on my medication, when I became pregnant.  It was an MAOI antidepressant.  My pregnancy went well, as did the birth of my son.  And now, he's a whopping 27 years old!  Doing well, all things considered.  When I did withdraw from that medication, it was pretty horrible, and well before I had come across any information, regarding WD or harm free reductions of medications.  But, for me, I am so glad I did not go through WD, during pregnancy.

 

Here is also an article, written back in 2001, that addresses abrupt withdrawal or discontinuation of psychotropic drugs during pregnancy:

Einarson, 2001, Abrupt discontinuation of psychotropic drugs during pregnancy

 

2 hours ago, strongereachday said:

The thing is she has been on topamax and welbutrin for awhile and topamax has been known to cause birth defects so she stopped taking topamax a few days ago and the welbutrin is half the dose now. I told her how dangerous withdrawal is and so I wanted to know if anyone has any experience on or tapering while pregnant and maybe specifically topamax or welbutrin. We want her off this for the baby but also in the safest way possible. Thank u from both of us! ❤️

 

How is she doing now?  Your girlfriend. 

Were both medications changed just a few days ago?

And again, so tough, if the topomax IS known to cause birth defects versus the health of your girlfriend right now.

 

Okay.  All for now.  Do see if your girlfriend would start an introduction for herself.  Meantime, we can try and help both of you, right here.

All my best.

Love, peace, healing, and recovery,

moderator manymoretodays(mmt)

 

Edited February 17, 2020 by manymoretodays
spelling, grammar

[Altostrata]

Hello, stronger. How is your girlfriend feeling now? Whether she gets strange symptoms from going off the drugs so fast, and how bad those symptoms are, should guide her next steps.

 

If she gets mild withdrawal symptoms that seem to get better each day, she may be able to ride them out. If her symptoms are severe or get worse over a week, she may want to reinstate a small amount of each drug and taper more slowly one at a time, probably the topiramate first. As the dosage gets lower, there is lower risk to the baby.