felin Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Hello, I am still in the information gathering stage before I actually begin tapering. Really wondering if I should begin some important supplements a few weeks BEFORE I start so that they are fully "on board" and in full working order once I begin. Dunno. Though I know that we are each and everyone quite different and what works for one may not work for another, I am very interested in hearing what supplements or the like you have tried and found to be either helpful or NOT so helpful (maybe even hindering)? Please mention what you are/were tapering off of. Thank you so much. I am really trying to figure out what to get started on (supplements/food-wise) so that I can once and for all get this tapering started. Just not wanting to jump in too quickly, is all. All that I can give you at this point is what I can remember. Will add more after I've called the zillions of doctors that I've had over the past 30 years. I have spent all day calling old insurance co's, etc to get the long list of doctors names that I once had, so will update this someday. Unfortunately, most records are no longer available. Haven't started tapering yet. Will. Currently am on: Cymbalta 60 mg/ daily - actually taking the generic for it. It is called Duloxetine Wellbutrin XL 150 mg/ daily - taking the generic for this. It is called Bupropion XL Naturethroid 3/4 grain/ daily - this is a natural dessicated thyroid med for my Hypothyroidism Relpax only take as needed - for migraines FINALLY started tapering Cymbalta by 5% reduction May 5, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member cymbaltawithdrawal5600 Posted April 9, 2015 Member Share Posted April 9, 2015 You can use search in the Introductions and Updates forum for specific supplements and see what the members have to say about them. What happened and how I arrived here: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4243-cymbaltawithdrawal5600-introduction/#entry50878 July 2016 I have decided to leave my story here at SA unfinished. I have left my contact information in my profile for anyone who wishes to talk to me. I have a posting history spanning nearly 4 years and 3000+ posts all over the site. Thank you to all who participated in my recovery. I'll miss talking to you but know that I'll be cheering you on from the sidelines, suffering and rejoicing with you in spirit, as you go on in your journey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felin Posted April 9, 2015 Author Share Posted April 9, 2015 Hi cymbalta, Having trouble with organizing my thoughts when searching, etc. Getting really overwhelmed. Anxiety, etc. Was hoping to see if some folks might be willing to participate so that, perhaps, I might be able to read in a consolidated area. ?? Thanks for the tip though! All that I can give you at this point is what I can remember. Will add more after I've called the zillions of doctors that I've had over the past 30 years. I have spent all day calling old insurance co's, etc to get the long list of doctors names that I once had, so will update this someday. Unfortunately, most records are no longer available. Haven't started tapering yet. Will. Currently am on: Cymbalta 60 mg/ daily - actually taking the generic for it. It is called Duloxetine Wellbutrin XL 150 mg/ daily - taking the generic for this. It is called Bupropion XL Naturethroid 3/4 grain/ daily - this is a natural dessicated thyroid med for my Hypothyroidism Relpax only take as needed - for migraines FINALLY started tapering Cymbalta by 5% reduction May 5, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLB Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 The usual is magnesiun and fish oil Paxil start September 2003 due to Fluoroquinolone adverse reaction that I wish doc. knew what it was. 10mg. most of the time with a few short runs of 20mg. FAST tapered 3 times and finally hit poop out or a reaction to nsaid's in Nov.2013. Started a 10% taper Jan. 2014 and have been ok until Sept 14 and went through a short hell. Now plodding through and looking for the light with unrelenting insomnia and pain, fog, loss of interests....<p>12/20/14 - .8mg. 1/01/15 - .75 mg. 1/15/15 - .42 mg. better sleep now, hope it continues... 2/11-15 - .25 mg. doing really good!! 2 weeks feel 85% of old me! 3/17/15 .14 mg. Knee pain bad! 4/07/15 .05 mg. this is so small now that I am estimating and just licking it off palm small as a "." 4/13/15 NOTHING !!!! Took my last little micro dose on 4/12/15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottly9999 Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 In my experience I ordered a bunch of supplements and took thEm. Had a mouthful of tablets etc. I didnt really find any of them helped at all. I guess just a really healthy diet, light exercise and a sloooow taper is about as good as you can do. I find one of my early symptoms is pain and numbness in hands and arms. Ibuprofen and some codeine helps, but go easy on those. It can be disheartening to read that supplements dont help much. The best is slow and steady on the taper. Good luck 2008 (approx) Lexapro 10mg. 2009 attempted cold turkey 5mg for 2 weeks - crash and burn. 2009 back on 10mg. 2012 - pooped out - but didn't know. 2014 - poop-out got worse. 2014 sept 20mg, 2014 oct 15mg, 2014 nov 10mg 2014 dec 7.5mg, 2014 dec 23rd crashed. Dec 24th 10mg - trying to stabilize 2015 Jan Stabilized as much as thought I would, 2015 Jan 9mg, 2015 Late Feb, 8mg, 2015 late Mar 7mg. 22nd May 6.3mg 2015 small "slide" down to 6mg. 19th June 5mg. 15th Aug 4.5mg - slid down to 4mg. Sept 20th 3.8mg. 2015 gradual decrease between Oct and Nov 10th to 3mg: Dec between 3-2mg. 2016 Jan15th 2mg Feb: 1.8mg, somewhere got to 1.6mg. 2016 Feb 25th crashed! Not sure if sick or WD, back to 2mg. 2016 During March - gradual decrease to 1.8mg, then 1.5mg. April 19th 1mg 2016 June 8th 0.8mg July 1st 0.6mg: Sept 0.4mg (long hold) 2017 Jan 0.2mg 2017 May 0!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felin Posted April 12, 2015 Author Share Posted April 12, 2015 Thanks DLB and Scottly! Appreciate your feedback! All that I can give you at this point is what I can remember. Will add more after I've called the zillions of doctors that I've had over the past 30 years. I have spent all day calling old insurance co's, etc to get the long list of doctors names that I once had, so will update this someday. Unfortunately, most records are no longer available. Haven't started tapering yet. Will. Currently am on: Cymbalta 60 mg/ daily - actually taking the generic for it. It is called Duloxetine Wellbutrin XL 150 mg/ daily - taking the generic for this. It is called Bupropion XL Naturethroid 3/4 grain/ daily - this is a natural dessicated thyroid med for my Hypothyroidism Relpax only take as needed - for migraines FINALLY started tapering Cymbalta by 5% reduction May 5, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
btdt Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 In my experience I ordered a bunch of supplements and took thEm. Had a mouthful of tablets etc. I didnt really find any of them helped at all. I guess just a really healthy diet, light exercise and a sloooow taper is about as good as you can do. I find one of my early symptoms is pain and numbness in hands and arms. Ibuprofen and some codeine helps, but go easy on those. It can be disheartening to read that supplements dont help much. The best is slow and steady on the taper. Good luck Some body here recently had a bad reaction to ibuprofen it is here in this thread http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/3248-iggy131313-validation-is-imminent/page-26 I am not sure about the others I have used them all and did not equate a rougher time with them but I may not have been as aware as others hard to say now. I went cold turkey and before I did I was being investigated for MS a health person suggested I use fish oil while waiting on results of testing... so i did... I continued its use thru the ct. Later in the process I found my hair and skin was oily so I stopped taking it.... I actually felt better after quitting but I had already taken it a few years by then. I have reacted to most supplements so I am not a big supplement person. WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG Had a car accident in 85 Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89 Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above. One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking. As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/ There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
compsports Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 Most supplements didn't really help or if they did, it was only temporary. Knowing what I now know, I would have focused exclusively on cutting out sugar and as much caffeine as possible and eating a very healthy diet. CS Drug cocktail 1995 - 2010 Started taper of Adderall, Wellbutrin XL, Remeron, and Doxepin in 2006 Finished taper on June 10, 2010 Temazepam on a PRN basis approximately twice a month - 2014 to 2016 Beginning in 2017 - Consumption increased to about two times per week April 2017 - Increased to taking it full time for insomnia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freespirit Posted April 12, 2015 Share Posted April 12, 2015 I've found very little help through supplements. But I realized before starting the taper (as in several years before), I was going to need to make major changes in my lifestyle. Just taking some pills wasn't an answer for me, though I realize it is for some folks. Most of the supplements I tried not only didn't help, but made things worse...a whole lot worse. I took one probiotic recommended at a health food store and was profoundly sick for a week. My focus has been around diet, exercise, being in nature, relaxation practices, changing my patterns of thinking, and doing a lot more listening to my own body. I don't want to be putting massive doses of anything into my body. I try to get as much nutrition as possible through what I eat. I'm only supplementing with a few things right now, mostly related to histamine intolerance..and consider the vitamins to be very temporary. Once in awhile, I've found the homeopathic "calms forte" to be helpful with insomnia. I don't think there's a "magic supplement" anymore than there's a "magic drug". Even once WD is complete, a person is going to have to deal with emotions, losses, changes, health issues, pain, sleepless nights, which are a part of everyone's life. To me, the question is how I'm going to face those things. As I posted on my own thread, it's been a deep change in how I view symptoms and how I work with them. There's so much in the west that amounts to taking a stick of dynamite to everything. That's what I did in taking the meds..and not how I choose to go through the rest of my life. It wasn't just the drugs that were a failure to me, but my overall approach to life..and that was also what got me on drugs in the first place. Remeron for depression. Started at 7.5 mg. in 2005. Gradual increases over 8 years, up to 45 mg. in 2012.Began tapering in June 2013. Went from 45 to 30 mg in the first 3-4 months. Held for a couple of months.Started tapering by 3.75 mg every month or 2, with some longer holding periods. Eventually went down to 3.75 mg. about April 2014. Stopped taking Remeron August 2014. Developed issues with histamine a week after stopping--symptoms reduced through diet and a few supplements. Currently having issues with a few foods. Most of the histamine intolerance has resolved or is at least, in remission. Current Medications: Current Supplements: Cannabis (CBD and THC), Vitamin C, D, Quercetin, CoQ10, Tart Cherry, Probiotic, Phytoplankton oil, magnesium, Methyl B. What has helped me most: spending time in nature, qi gong, exercise, healthy diet, meditation, IV vitamins, homeopathy, massage, acupuncture, chiropractic, music, and cuddling my cats.. My introduction: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/8459-mirtazapine-withdrawal-freespirit/#entry144282 Please note: I am not a therapist or medical practitioner. Any suggestions offered come solely from my personal experience in recovering from childhood trauma, therapy, and AD use. Please seek appropriate care for yourself. “After a cruel childhood, one must reinvent oneself. Then re-imagine the world.” ― Mary Oliver Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felin Posted April 15, 2015 Author Share Posted April 15, 2015 btdt, freespirit and compsports, So grateful to hear your feedback. Thank you for it! I AM listening. All that I can give you at this point is what I can remember. Will add more after I've called the zillions of doctors that I've had over the past 30 years. I have spent all day calling old insurance co's, etc to get the long list of doctors names that I once had, so will update this someday. Unfortunately, most records are no longer available. Haven't started tapering yet. Will. Currently am on: Cymbalta 60 mg/ daily - actually taking the generic for it. It is called Duloxetine Wellbutrin XL 150 mg/ daily - taking the generic for this. It is called Bupropion XL Naturethroid 3/4 grain/ daily - this is a natural dessicated thyroid med for my Hypothyroidism Relpax only take as needed - for migraines FINALLY started tapering Cymbalta by 5% reduction May 5, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Designerguru Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 What worked for me was fish oil, 5000 mg IU Vitamin D3, 1000 mg Vitamin B12 & some supplements from my naturopath formulated especially for me. Also--a huge help is a very clean diet & exercise--even when you don't feel like it. These things still help me to this day. I was on 150 mg Effexor for less than two years (for hot flashes after breast cancer). I tapered for a year--the first 3 months too quickly. I slowed way down when I found this site & followed the 10%/ month rule for the other 9 months until I got to zero. I have been off 5 1/2 months. So far--no side effects. Good luck on your journey. Oncologist prescribed Effexor 37.5 for hot flashes after my dx of breast cancer in December 2011. Up dosed to 75 then 150 XR before it worked. Decided to come off after my naturopath/nutritionist gave me a couple of supplements that worked on the hot flashes. Started weaning November 2013 from 150. Got down to 37.5 by mid-February 2014--WAY TOO FAST!! Found this site and am now going much slower. WD side effects are much better--still there-- but manageable. Lesson learned the hard way!! Short RX for Xanax prescribed for PPD/anxiety after childbirth in 1985--about 3 months--can't remember dosage. Effexor 150 XR March 2012dates are fuzzy) Started taper November 2013 Mid February 2014--28 mg; 3/22/14--24 mg; 4/19/14--18.75 mg; 5/14/14--14.1 mg; 6/11/14--11.7 mg; 7/2/14--9.4 mg; 7/23/14--7.8 mg; 8/18/14--6.25 mg; 9/7/14--4.7 mg; 9/21/14--3.75 mg; 10/5/14--3.125 mg; 10/12/14 --2.56 mg; 10/19/14-2.34 mg; 10/26/14--1.56 mg; 11/2/14--1 mg; 11/9/14--.5 mg; 11/16/14--0 mg. Current Rx: Synthoid 100 mg daily Cytomel 5 mg Both due to thyroid cancer & subsequent removal of thyroid in June, 2010. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
felin Posted April 17, 2015 Author Share Posted April 17, 2015 Thank you designer!! How is it, may I ask, that you know those things helped? Did you ever go without and feel worse and then once on those things, feel better? Thanks again! All that I can give you at this point is what I can remember. Will add more after I've called the zillions of doctors that I've had over the past 30 years. I have spent all day calling old insurance co's, etc to get the long list of doctors names that I once had, so will update this someday. Unfortunately, most records are no longer available. Haven't started tapering yet. Will. Currently am on: Cymbalta 60 mg/ daily - actually taking the generic for it. It is called Duloxetine Wellbutrin XL 150 mg/ daily - taking the generic for this. It is called Bupropion XL Naturethroid 3/4 grain/ daily - this is a natural dessicated thyroid med for my Hypothyroidism Relpax only take as needed - for migraines FINALLY started tapering Cymbalta by 5% reduction May 5, 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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