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Orthomolecular supplements for tapering


GordonWarren

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Your taper sounds good to me, but it's much faster than this site's recommendation of 10% per month so you'll probably be in trouble :). I didn't have any trouble coming off 3 mg fast. I took a multi vitamin one morning about six months ago and had a horrid day. It may have been a fluke but in my mind now multi's are of the devil. I have been adding individual supplements like fish oil, cod liver oil, and magnesium lately with no trouble though.

As requested. In the last 3 years to the best of my recollection I first dropped the max dose of Lamictal. Yes I just stopped it was doing absolutely nothing. Then I dropped Lexapro, that was even easier I had been on and off that a dozen times before. There were at least 2 odd off label attempts at anxiety that I won’t be able to remember. Then there was sweet/evil Seroquel. That was the last to go it’s been around 16 months.

Lithium, Prozac, Paxil, Wellbutrin, Effexor, Celexa, Lamictal, Lexapro, Luvox, Viibryd, Brintellix, Pristiq, Zoloft, Seroquel, Zyprexa, Geodon, Abilify, Latuda, Ritalin, Adderall, Valium, Clonazepam, Alprazolam, Propanalol, Spravato

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GordonWarren, I moved your topic to the Introductions forum as your Intro topic.

 

You have been fortunate in your tapers. People vary widely in their tolerance for dosage reductions. It is likely you did better because you tapered, not because of the supplements.

 

We have not see any supplements that reliably reduce the necessity to taper to individual tolerance.

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.

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That much Niacin will bump up your blood sugar by 20-30%. I know this because I tried the Niacin thing. Add the high dose Vit C - better not be pre-diabetic!

50 yr old with Chronic Insomnia

Halcion 0.25 mg on and off 20 yrs - 10 yrs ago

Diagnosed GAD 10 yrs ago - Remeron 6 weeks (didn't work) Doxipem - 6 weeks (DW). Ambien CR 12.5mg started nearly 10 years ago.

Year later - sleep study - nothing conclusive (per report) started on Xyrem 4.5 gms (9cc) - new wonder drug, for insomnia, in town. 3 months later, couldn't sleep on the Xyrem, agitated, super anxious. Psych Doc (not the one who prescribed Xyrem) put me on Klonopin till symptoms under control. was taking 0.5 mg 3 times a day. (no Ambien while on Xyrem). Klonopin stopped working 3 weeks into therapy. Sleep doc/neurologist --> Continue back on Xyrem. Worked for 3 months - again saturated, WD symptoms relieved by Klonopin. Same cycle after 3 weeks. 3rd time, PD stopped Xyrem, started back on Ambien CR 12.5mg with lexapro built up to 20mg/day.

nearly 5 years later Ambien CR working for only about 4-5 hours, so PD presribed 10mg regular ambien for breakthrough.

2 years ago repeat sleep study - moderate OSA (weigh 185 lbs, height 5'11") CPAP controlled 75% anxiety in 4 months. Began lexapro taper 3 months later to off in 3 months

Last year father passed away - bad anxiety /depression. New PD started back on lexapro 20, Clonazepam 4-8mg (worked at 6mg - so stopped at that dose) and started Nuvigil (theory - awake during the day - will sleep at night). Clonazepam saturated in 4 weeks. Went back to Ambien CR 12.5 +regular ambien 10mg.

Tapered off Nuvigil end of Novemmber (theory didn't work out). Tapered off Lexapro end of February. Tried tapering off Ambien - was off for nearly 2 weeks in early May. But a stressful event - led me back to Insomnia --> Ambien CR+regular ambien.

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  • 1 month later...

I have been taking a plethora of supplements for various health issues for decades (see the link in my signature line) and have not noticed any untoward effects pre-taper, but am of course concerned as to the effects during a taper - whether such will help or contribute to prolonging withdrawal symptoms.

 

Here's a link that warns NOT to consume any substances that enhance GABA (GABA agonists) which include niacin/niacinamide: http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/54028-treating-anxiety-safely-effectively/

 

Since these pro and con observations I would categorize as anecdotal (as we don't have actual studies), it is difficult to determine how much is opinion vs. fact and I would say would fall into self-experimentation.

 

Alto's thread on supplementation raises concerns and makes some good points on supplements:  http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/9853-dont-waste-your-money-on-these-supplements/?hl=mthfr

 

In mine and many people's case, however, we have genetic mutations (i.e. MTHFR) that require specific supplementation that diet alone cannot resolve, so there are always exceptions.

MEDS SUMMARY:

1) Valium: 10mg avg prn from 09-06-14 to 10-20-14
2) Xanax: 0.75mg avg prn from from 09-19-14 to 10-16-14
3) Lexapro: 5mg q.d. from 10-06-14 to 10-16-14
4) switched immediately to Clonazepam: 0.5mg average/day for 2 weeks (10-17-24-10-30-14); titrated to 1mg (0.5mg bid) on 10-31-14 to present; started microtaper @ .625% (.0031250mg x 2) from 08-09-15 to 08-15-15; .800% (.0038750mg x 2) from 08-16-15 to present; destabilized 08-19-15 (due to change from original tablet); reinstated, on day 54, and have tapered a total of 14% as of 09-30-15 with zero symptoms (knock on wood)!
5) Lamictal: 100mg q.d. from 10-23-14 to 12-04-14; started tapering 12-05-14, 25mg every 2 weeks; destabilized 01-15-14; reinstated 01-22-15 at 25mg q.d. from 01-24-15 to 02-19-15; cut approx. 3-4mg every 5-10 days until 03-22-15, then cut 2mg every 5-6 days until 05-12-15; holding at 4mg q.d. from 05-13-15 to present.
Detailed Analysis - Lamictal history: https://app.box.com/s/rnermghleue9aemyhd57l1a00gsk2i4u

6) Also taking meds for blood pressure (Coreg @ 6.25mg b.i.d. and Losartan @ 50mg b.i.d.) + for blood clot I had back in 2012 (Xarelto @ 10mg) + for hypothyroidism (Armour Thyroid @ 1grain q.d.)

 

HISTORY & SUPPLEMENT LIST: https://app.box.com/s/mc9mch8za2lbizgs9z8j4mzhz2oswn8l

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I'm very sorry, I have not see that orthomolecular medicine has any answers for withdrawal. If it did, I'd be recommending it to everyone.

 

I am glad GordonWarren has had good luck with the regimens he's followed. Since some people can quit drugs fairly quickly with no significant problems, sample sizes of one person are not much help. Could be he was one of the lucky ones and the supplements weren't doing much.

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.

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I had posted on a previous thread before a few months back on this, but since this topic has once again been raised with respect to the orthomolecular approach, I thought I'd re-post it here for those interested in alternative remedies.

Following are some links from Dr. Jonathan Prousky, a naturopath in Canada that has apparently had success in utilizing an orthomolecular approach to psych med withdrawal:

Tapering Off Psychiatric Drugs So They Don’t Ruin Your Life:
https://app.box.com/s/ksnz7p4w4ivu4shqoz6plzy5ra8sgsk9

The Manifestations and Triggers of Mental Breakdown, and its Effective Treatment by Increasing Stress Resilience with Psychosocial Strategies, Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes, and Orthomolecular Interventions:
https://app.box.com/s/3sjb65unv0ss1txyhmp4pkhyi5d4owbz

Tapering Off Psychotropic Drugs: Using Patient Cases to Understand Reasons for Success and Failure:
https://app.box.com/s/tlp79ocmv5fqtllvh59fuondji82qq29

My take: Regardless of whether these remedies actually help lessen the severity of withdrawal or are even used, I still believe that the biggest component after reading enough anecdotal stories and posts here and on other forums is still one's rate and amount of taper (slow wins the race) - and I'm a big believer and user of OTC supplements.

As such, one size does not fit all. YMMV.

MEDS SUMMARY:

1) Valium: 10mg avg prn from 09-06-14 to 10-20-14
2) Xanax: 0.75mg avg prn from from 09-19-14 to 10-16-14
3) Lexapro: 5mg q.d. from 10-06-14 to 10-16-14
4) switched immediately to Clonazepam: 0.5mg average/day for 2 weeks (10-17-24-10-30-14); titrated to 1mg (0.5mg bid) on 10-31-14 to present; started microtaper @ .625% (.0031250mg x 2) from 08-09-15 to 08-15-15; .800% (.0038750mg x 2) from 08-16-15 to present; destabilized 08-19-15 (due to change from original tablet); reinstated, on day 54, and have tapered a total of 14% as of 09-30-15 with zero symptoms (knock on wood)!
5) Lamictal: 100mg q.d. from 10-23-14 to 12-04-14; started tapering 12-05-14, 25mg every 2 weeks; destabilized 01-15-14; reinstated 01-22-15 at 25mg q.d. from 01-24-15 to 02-19-15; cut approx. 3-4mg every 5-10 days until 03-22-15, then cut 2mg every 5-6 days until 05-12-15; holding at 4mg q.d. from 05-13-15 to present.
Detailed Analysis - Lamictal history: https://app.box.com/s/rnermghleue9aemyhd57l1a00gsk2i4u

6) Also taking meds for blood pressure (Coreg @ 6.25mg b.i.d. and Losartan @ 50mg b.i.d.) + for blood clot I had back in 2012 (Xarelto @ 10mg) + for hypothyroidism (Armour Thyroid @ 1grain q.d.)

 

HISTORY & SUPPLEMENT LIST: https://app.box.com/s/mc9mch8za2lbizgs9z8j4mzhz2oswn8l

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