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Tamtam1

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Hello everyone I found this forum early this year and found some very useful advice here. I'm not very computer savvy so if I put things in the wrong place please forgive me.

 

I am a 40 year old mom to two beautiful daughters and have a wonderful and loving husband. My story starts from my earliest memories I grew up in a very emotional and verbally unstable home I was always anxious and I can remember being depressed very young, I had a suicide attempt at the age of 14 to escape the hell I was in, surprisingly I was never put on drugs.

 

Needless to say after I saw what I did to my parents I never wanted to try again so life goes on and my anxiety is always there but I deal with it, well I get married and I'm Happy we have our first baby and i decide to quit my job and stay home with her, it was very hard on me to do that I felt very isolated and I was a very nervous mom, well when my daughter was 18 months old I developed Ocd pretty much overnight, it started with religious ocd, then morphed to harm ocd.

 

I got to the point where I could barely be in the same room with my daughter so my husband had to pretty much take over her care. It was the absolute worst time in my life and I was suicidal from it.

 

I went to therapy and unfortunately I did not have a therapist who really understood ocd, I was diagnosed with it but her treatment was not effective, during this time I became pregnant with my second daughter so meds were out of the question until about 3 weeks before I had her I got so bad I had no choice and I took prozac 20mg this was March 2005, it worked it stopped the ocd and I was able to become a mom again and repair the broken bond with my older daughter.

 

I stopped taking it twice once in 2006 for about 2 months but the ocd came back, so back on I went and in 2008 I was off for about 7 months, but my husband and I hit a real rough patch and I was in therapy and advised to go back on I was really depressed, fast forward to 2014 I was constantly exhausted sleeping nine hours a night plus naps, I'm back to work part time, I've put on 60lbs and my emotions a numbing, so I decide I've got 10 years of being a parent behind me so no matter what my ocd tells me I won't believe it and I'm sick of being exhausted all the time and numb to life.

 

So I do the taper my dr tells me every other day for a week then every 2 days ect. I had no problems except for the anger stage which was over by six weeks, life was good I had energy I was happy. Then at 3 months off my daughter had a health crisis that sent me over the edge I developed insomnia, my anxiety was through the roof, my fear for my daughter was uncontrollable, my husband told me to start taking my prozac because he couldn't focus on our daughter and me having a breakdown at the same time.

 

I totally agreed with him and got my script and took it by day 4 I was twitching and having monoclyonic jerks when falling asleep scared me senseless so I stopped it. I realized it was not my normal generic brand and I had a history of not doing well on other brands so I found out my brand was out of stock, so I took nothing and waited 6 weeks for it to be available again during this time I'm sleeping 2-3 hours a night or not at all and have GAD, so my script comes in and I start taking it and the twitches and jerks come back after a couple days so I stop again and think maybe the 20mg is too much.

 

So I take nothing as my daughter is getting better so I hope my symptoms will start to improve. Well mid November my harm Ocd came back really bad and it scared me so I got a script for 10mg and decided to taper on just like I tapered off so I took one waited to see what happened then took one 2 days later then every other day for a couple days then everyday it worked great I was sleeping my ocd was gone my mind was calm I felt normal after about 10 days of taking it everyday the insomnia started again and I went into panic mode and freaked out by day 13 the twitches and jerks were back my doctor had me taper every other day for a week and stop as my mental state went down rapidly not sure if mental state was caused by prozac or my hysteria because it was still calm and kept my ocd at bay i just kept saying im going to die i cant keep living like this.

 

So now I'm scared out of my mind that my OCD drugs are not working so I start looking into every alternative therapy for ocd and a friend recommends neuro feedback at this time the only symptoms I had from my 3 1/2 week stint back on prozac was I was exhaustion and my anxiety.

 

I start the neuro feedback 3 weeks after I stopped the prozac again and all of a sudden I start having horrible tremors, twitching, waking in the middle of the night in a panic, crying all the time, suicide idealation, off balance, eye sight not quite right, a migraine that lasted 2 weeks, neck tension, waking up in their middle of the night completely soaked with sweat, waking in the night with my body completely vibrating, all this started when I did the neuro feedback which I did until mid March and when I stopped all the symptoms started to subside and now I would say I'm back physically 90%, unfortunately my OCD is horrible still and I have being seeing a therapist who specializes in ocd while it helps some its still bad, Im not sure if it was adverse reaction or my nervous system was aggravated by the neurofeedback while still in a fragile state I never had anything like that when I stopped prozac before.

 

I'm terrified because I'm tempted to start another drug because my OCD is causing me to stay away from my kids and I can't do that and it's killing me. Oh I also took some Xanax a couple times in December to try and sleep 1/2 of a .25mg pill and once after I stopped the prozac a full .25 Xanax and it caused a burning sensation in the back of my head and down my back and that's where my tremors started a few weeks later. Thanks for your help!

Edited by Altostrata
added paragraph breaks

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • Administrator

Welcome, Tamtam.

 

What are your current symptoms? This is a site for going off drugs, what kind of information are you looking for?

 

Under what screen name did you post on this site before?

 

Please add paragraph breaks to your posts, it's very difficult to read long blocks of text.

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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Hello Alto, I have never posted to this site before I just looked around as a guest. My current symptoms are insomnia still but I am now up to 6 1/2 hours of sleep so its better but nowhere near my normal 8-9 hrs per night, eyesight still acts up every now and then along with morning anxiety, I have trouble with reading now and I always loved reading everyday when I get stressed I get a tingling on my head thats really weird.  I guess I am looking for info on what happened to me was it withdrawal or an adverse reaction. I am doing everything I can to stay off these drugs but its getting harder and harder as my Ocd is controlling my life. So I guess I am looking for  affirmation on what happened so it gives me strength to stay away from them. Thank you for your input and I will add breaks.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • Administrator

I don't think the neurofeedback caused your symptoms, I think you started it coincidentally when the Prozac withdrawal syndrome hit.

 

It sounds like you have gradually recovered from Prozac withdrawal syndrome. 6.5 hours of sleep a night is not bad, relatively.

 

Many people do better with fish oil and magnesium supplements, see
http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/
http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1300-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/
 

We can't advise you about drugs for OCD; however Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is supposed to be effective for it.

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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Inositol - I think someone mentioned this for OCD?

2000 - sertraline for job anxiety low confidence (17 years old) ..which turned the next 16 years into nightmare!

 

On/off sertraline severe withdrawals every time. 2014 - felt better as reduced dose of sertraline no more inner restlessness. Doctor rushed off again. Hit severe withdrawal. Lost the little I had in life. Couldn't get stable again on 12.5mg. Was switched to prozac. Had severe reaction to prozac..came off in November 2015 at 6mg as felt more confused and damaged on it..Even more withdrawal ..rage, depression, dyphoria, near constant suicidal ideation, self harm impulses, doom, concrete block in head, unable to do much of anything with this feeling in head..went back on 6mg of sertraline to see if would alleviate anything. It didn't..reduced from December to June 2016 came off at 2.5mg sertraline as was hospitalised for the severe rage, suicidal impulses, and put on 50mg lofepramine which in 2nd week reduced all symptoms but gave insomnia which still have..psych stopped lofepramine cold turkey..no increased withdrawal symptoms new symptoms from lofepramine except persistant insomnia which has as side effect.

 

Taking Ativan for 8 months for the severe rage self harm impulses 1-3 times a week (mostly 2 times a week) at .5mg. Two months (I'm unsure exactly when the interdose started to happen) ago interdose withdrawal seemed to happen..2 days I think after the Ativan.

 

 

Nightmare that could have been avoided!

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Thank you Alto for the info, just couldnt figure out why I reacted to something that I have taken for years with no problems. I am trying all kinds of alternatives clean my diet up, exercise, using essential oils ect. I really prefer not take any more drugs.

 

Thanks Loveandlight I will look into that.

 

I have tried to take Mag but I get really weird feelings after a couple days of it, I tried doing epsom salts baths and starting feeling weird from it, increased heart rate, anxiety but it subsides pretty quickly if I dont take another one.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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Well I thought I was getting close to being healed, well I hit a wave and it just sucks!!!! I hate, hate, hate, hate it! I had a good few weeks where I felt physically good, now back to this. I can always tell when its coming my leg muscles start twitching like crazy and my insomnia comes back, then the tingling and tremors on my head.

 

It started Sunday I had started using a new essential oil which I think may have triggered it, and I had been just dealing with it then this morning I woke up with the awful fear and It just kept rising and falling. I would calm down and I could feel it raising again I haven't had that in a couple of months and it scared me so bad. I just keep thinking of the people who say they started getting worse at 6 months and I just broke down today telling my husband that I can't do this anymore, he sat there and cried with me. I haven't stopped crying all day. I honestly feel like this is never going to end.

 

I keep trying to remember that it has gotten better and I am way better than 6 months ago but its so hard. I feel like giving up, the last couple of weeks I have felt physically well but have become more and more depressed, my OCD is making life so hard.

 

I had two weeks in May when I felt so good, I was happy, I felt good physically and my OCD was pretty much gone. I keep holding on that maybe that's how it will be when this is over that maybe I wont have OCD anymore.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Tamtam,

How long ago did you stop taking Prozac? Are you still taking any xanax?

 

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/

 

It sounds like you may be experiencing windows and waves, which is the way recovery normally happens, have you read through this topic:

 

The Windows and Waves Pattern of Recovery

 

If all your symptoms went away for a while, that sounds like a nice window, which is how you will feel when you are fully healed.

Hang in there, its going to get better.

 

Petunia.

I'm not a doctor.  My comments are not medical advise. These are my opinions based on my own experience and what I've learned. Please discuss your situation with a medical practitioner who has knowledge of tapering and withdrawal...if you are lucky enough to find one.

My Introduction Thread

Full Drug and Withdrawal History

Brief Summary

Several SSRIs for 13 years starting 1997 (for mild to moderate partly situational anxiety) Xanax PRN ~ Various other drugs over the years for side effects

2 month 'taper' off Lexapro 2010

Short acute withdrawal, followed by 2 -3 months of improvement then delayed protracted withdrawal

DX ADHD followed by several years of stimulants and other drugs trying to manage increasing symptoms

Failed reinstatement of Lexapro and trial of Prozac (became suicidal)

May 2013 Found SA, learned about withdrawal, stopped taking drugs...healing begins.

Protracted withdrawal, with a very sensitized nervous system, slowly recovering as time passes

Supplements which have helped: Vitamin C, Magnesium, Taurine

Bad reactions: Many supplements but mostly fish oil and Vitamin D

June 2016 - Started daily juicing, mostly vegetables and lots of greens.

Aug 2016 - Oct 2016 Best window ever, felt almost completely recovered

Oct 2016 -Symptoms returned - bad days and less bad days.

April 2018 - No windows, but significant improvement, it feels like permanent full recovery is close.

VIDEO: Where did the chemical imbalance theory come from?



VIDEO: How are psychiatric diagnoses made?



VIDEO: Why do psychiatric drugs have withdrawal syndromes?



VIDEO: Can psychiatric drugs cause long-lasting negative effects?

VIDEO: Dr. Claire Weekes

 

 

 

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Thank you Petunia, I am not very computer user friendly. I am trying to figure the signature out I followed the link you sent and I don't see how to do it. I will figure it out though.

 

My history is pretty simple March 2005 to May 2014 20mg of Prozac for OCD. I took a couple of breaks in there the longest being 6-7 months, my last break was fall of 2008.

 

My wave that had started the previous Sunday lasted until Friday morning, I woke up feeling good on Friday. Interestingly enough since my really good window in May I had started to get really depressed, everyday I felt a little worse until Friday when my wave ended I woke up and could just feel the depression lift, which is a great feeling. My OCD calmed down my anxiety was down, my eyesight was better, my sleep was back on pattern. I also noticed the wave was not as hard as usual, though the normal symptoms were there, they were milder then before.

 

I hope this ends completely soon!!

 

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • 4 months later...

I was wondering how do you know if your nervous is no longer sensitive to things? Is it only by trying them? I have purchased some insotiol and I just put some on my finger and tasted it and that was all and they next morning I woke up with anxiety and dread. Now I've been feeling much better, waves are farther apart and when they do come the severity is less, still not fun though, but I do have OCD, my original disorder, which keeps my anxiety high on its own.

 

So how do I know if it was the insotiol or just one of my bad OCD days? I'm nervous to have a set back by trying something if I'm still sensitive I can eat sugar no problems I stay away from caffeine just because of my anxiety, but I need sometime for my OCD hence the insotiol. Thank you for your replys.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • Administrator

You'll have to try something a few times to see if there's a pattern. As you've noted, one incident might be due to something else.

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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  • 1 month later...

Well I just had my one year anniversary from my last dose of Prozac. I had been off for 6months when I tried to go back on and had some scary physical side effects I've never had before I lasted 3 weeks and when I stopped I was thrown into withdrawal hell that I never knew existed. Im not sure if I'm a year off or 18mths does those 3 weeks cancel out the previous 6 months? Regardless I was not in withdrawal hell prior to those 3 weeks.

 

Pain that I never knew was possible,mental torture that made me wish I was dead were all there. I remember my lowest point during withdrawal I was looking up how to make suicide look like an accident so my young daughters would never know that I killed myself and suffer from it. It was only by the grace of God, my kids and husband that kept me here.

 

I didn't even have it 1/2 as bad as most people here and I was ready to end my life because I couldn't live one more day like that, but I'm so happy to say I'm so much better then I was a year ago. Im still getting waves but they are shorter and milder. Things a rougher around my womenly times, but again milder. Most days are mild symptoms and I've just had a window where I had many days with no symptoms even my OCD was hardly there, I'm hoping this will be the case when this is over. I've even been able to read books again I read one in a day and a half I couldn't put it down just like I use to.

 

I'm still Leary about supplements and luckily I haven't needed antibiotics, I seem ok with food, my sleep is consistently around 6.5 to 7 hrs and on the weekends I'm up to 8hrs, unless I'm in a wave then I'm back to 5.5hrs but it only last a couple of days. My last large wave was between month 9 and 10 and lasted 3 weeks I still get unnerved when old symptoms that have been gone come back it makes me feel that it will never end.

 

My current symptoms are light to moderate morning anxiety, I always feel better by lunch and I don't feel like this is withdrawal anxiety but my OCD anxiety, sporadic jumping vision, tinnitus in my left ear(that's been there since being on Prozac), pressure around my eyes, jaw clenching, parathesis, buzzing sensation down my left leg and groin area, twitching, involuntary throat swallowing( rarely happens and only in a wave and only happens as I'm About to fall asleep maybe a monocylonic jerk? Now I don't have all these everyday some days it's just 1 or 2 and they are all down to mild levels. So here's to the next year where I pray to be fully healed and this will just be a very bad memory.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Tamtam,

 

It's great to read such a positive post.  I'm pleased things are going so well for you and hope they continue to do so.

 

CC

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

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  • Administrator

Very happy to hear you're doing better. I added our cheerful "here comes the sun" symbol



to the title of your Intro topic, to show you're recovering.

Please continue to let us know how you're doing. I hope you will add your story to our Recovery Success Stories eventually!

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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You've been through hell and back by the sounds of it, I'm so very happy to hear you've survived and are thriving now YAY :D

 

Drug history

  • 20mg paxil in 2001 - 4 months use  
  • 20mg paxil in 2003 - 2 months use 
  • 20mg paxil in 2008 - 8 years continuous

Withdrawal history:

  • March 2014 - disastrous alternate day taper
  • Jan 2015 - 15mg to 10mg. Disaster
  • Sept 2015 -  10mg to 5mg. Disaster. Reinstated to 6mg. Relief
  • Oct 2015 - started slow 10% taper 
  • Oct 2016 - at 4mg- stop taking paxil (not recommended)

 

I'm not a medical professional. Seek advice from a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thank you everyone.

 

So why does it seem when we finally post that we are feeling somewhat better that something happens that throws us in a wave? Well after writing how much better I was feeling I felt like I was getting sick my lymph nodes is my neck were swollen and tender to to the touch, so I used an essential oil that I have used previously in withdrawal with no problems and guess what, it turned on me big time. I felt with minutes of putting the oil on my body just felt hyper and I was internally shaking, it lasted all night and was horrible.

 

It has been almost 2 weeks since then and today I feel like I'm finally starting to come out of the mess it caused. Just really irritated, I was doing so well and this was a nasty wave by far the worse in months and a minor symptom of pins and needles became a huge one this time it was all over my body even my eyeballs felt like a needle was being poked into it and my anxiety was very high too. I hate waves, but self induced waves are even worse I was so mad at myself.

 

Something interesting did happen in this wave though. every wave from day one my insomnia kicks in even as my sleep has progressively gotten better in a wave it reverts right back, but this wave my sleep was not affected at all so maybe my sleep is almost healed and I have been able to nap a couple times too

 

Well so far no pins and needles today so maybe it's over for now.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • 1 month later...

Well I am having a pity party, been in and out of a wave for 2 1/2 weeks. I tried taking magnesium last week and it brought on bad neck pain and insomnia so I stopped after the second day I started feeling better after a couple day then this morning I wake up at 3am with my heart racing and anxiety just washing over me again and again. Not sure what I did to bring this on, I keep looking at yesterday to see what I did, I went for a long walk but it was at a slow pace not even really raising my heart rate and I went tanning. I get very depressed in the winter and my vit D is low to begin with, so I decided to tan. I went a couple weeks ago with no problem so I don't know if it could be the problem today.

 

I am feeling hopeless, I am over a year into this and I feel like I am going backwards to square one. On my darkest days I consider going back on Prozac, because I would rather be numb then feel this fear over and over again. I just cant stand it, to start feeling better and then have the carpet pulled out from under you again and again, I cant keep going on like this.

 

Sorry for being so negative, I try not to complain too much, but I can't see the end of this and I read about other people who are farther out than me and they aren't doing great or are even worse, how are we suppose to have hope?

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Tamtam ,  I'm going to quote you from an earlier post:

" It was only by the grace of God, my kids and husband that kept me here."

 

That's why , as simple as that.  You know in your heart that you have been recovering , that this slip back is just that , 

a slip.  It seems that after each of these waves , we usually have a higher baseline when it resolves.  So your job is to

hang in there , if not for yourself then for your family.  

 

It looks like you're terribly sensitive to supplements , have you ever tried melatonin?  That may help take the edge off.

 

Don't feel bad about complaining - we all need to express our disappointment and frustration from time to time.

 

bw ,  Fresh

1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg

2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg

Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta

Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months.

July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months.

Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg.

October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive.

March 2016 , 21mg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Well I have been continuing in the window and waves patterns, more windows than waves lately. I had a wave of insomnia last week that lasted 5 days and my toes moving involuntarily (still weirded out by that one).

 

I had a family member pass on Sunday in a horrific way I was up all night and had severe anxiety couldn't breathe, shaking internally it was bad. the way she died really triggered me horribly. I was sure I was in for a massive wave that would last for days, on Monday morning I was still shaking and crying but by the afternoon I was calm, sad but calm. I couldn't believe it I felt that my emotions by the afternoon were normal for the situation, and I did not have any other symptoms.  I think I may be getting closer to healed ( hope I didn't just set myself up).

 

I have a question, my sleep is still not back to normal, I'm still having days here and there where I wake up between 3-4, but not with the anxiety rush just up and most of the time I can fall back into a broken sleep,  most days its closer to 5am. My question is even though my sleep is still less then pre-withdrawal I am feeling well rested most days, so do you think that maybe the 6 1/2 - 7 hours is my new normal sleeping pattern and my sleep is mostly healed? I was a 8-9 hour with naps before withdrawal. Thanks.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • Moderator

Hi Tamtam--  I'm so sorry to hear about the loss of a family member.  That's a rough one no matter what state of mind you're in.  It does sound like you handled it very well though, that is a real sigh of healing.  It can take a while for ones nerves to settle down after something like that, so be gentle with yourself for a while.  Your emotions will probably cycle in fits and starts for a few weeks, it's all part of the grieving process.

 

If you're getting enough sleep to feel rested, that's wonderful. Six to seven hours is quite common for a lot of people, and contrary to popular belief waking up several time a night is pretty normal too, as long as you can roll over and go back to sleep.  I wouldn't try to put a fixed number on how long to sleep.  Over a lifetime ones sleep patterns can be quite variable due to a lot of different factors and adding the stress of having a target amount can cause trouble.

 

((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))

20 years on Paxil starting at 20mg and working up to 40mg. Sept 2011 started 10% every 6 weeks taper (2.5% every week for 4 weeks then hold for 2 additional weeks), currently at 7.9mg. Oct 2011 CTed 15oz vodka a night, to only drinking 2 beers most nights, totally sober Feb 2013.

Since I wrote this I have continued to decrease my dose by 10% every 6 weeks (2.5% every week for 4 weeks and then hold for an additional 2 weeks). I added in an extra 6 week hold when I hit 10mg to let things settle out even more. When I hit 3mgpw it became hard to split the drop into 4 parts so I switched to dropping 1mgpw (pill weight) every week for 3 weeks and then holding for another 3 weeks.  The 3 + 3 schedule turned out to be too harsh so I cut back to dropping 1mgpw every 4 weeks which is working better.

Final Dose 0.016mg.     Current dose 0.000mg 04-15-2017

 

"It's also important not to become angry, no matter how difficult life is, because you can loose all hope if you can't laugh at yourself and at life in general."  Stephen Hawking

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I'm very sorry about your loss, Tamtam. My thoughts are with you for continued healing. 

Klonopin 2.0 mg 1994-2015
Klonopin increased to 3.25 Sept. 2015 (no longer controlling anxiety and caused depression) Significant life event: lost sister to overdose
Seroquel Nov. 2015-present 150 mg. (does nothing for depression but sometimes lets me sleep--I want to taper off) 
Zoloft 100 Dec. 2015-mid Jan. 2016 (unhelpful for depression so began to wean off) 
Zoloft 75 mg (2 weeks) 
Zoloft 50 mg (1 week) 
Zoloft 25 mg (1 week) holding

http://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=2136-1391,2136-6566,703-357,1979-1274,2057-1348

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  • 1 month later...

Hi everyone I need some advise. I believe I may have dystonia and I am freaking out. When I initially tried to reinstate Prozac 3 separate times, my toes on my left foot would start moving on their own just being up and down and when I stopped the Prozac it went away. I believe this was a dystonic reaction which I never had a issue with on the Prozac.

 

My toes are now doing it periodically without the Prozac and I am scared out of my mind. I do believe it is only happening in waves but I've been reading about dystonia and I heard it progresses, so I am scared. I have been having the feeling of food being stuck in my throat the last couple of weeks and 1 night last week I woke up to my mouth slamming shut and my throat swallowing involuntarily (this has happened a couple of times during withdrawal only in waves).

 

Has anyone has this happen?? I've watched the videos on dystonia and I am scared. I felt like I was getting better in every way but now with this happening I feel like my life is going to be over. Please any help would be appreciated.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Tamtam , try not to panic.

 

What you describe sounds like a type of dystonia. We know that stress or fatigue may bring on the

symptoms or cause them to worsen (webmd).

 

Some treatments include massive doses of b vitamins , or botox injections to relax specific muscles.

It will be important to use as many non-drug techniques as possible to minimize and manage stress

in your life. It may have been triggered by the shock of losing your cousin not long ago , and will

disappear as you recover.

 

Do you take magnesium? It may help , and is essential for your cns to recover after 10 years of

prozac. See the magnesium thread in Symptoms and Self Care.

Stay away from things that make you panic - this does NOT mean your life is over by any means.

 

It's going to be okay.

 

bw , Fresh

1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg

2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg

Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta

Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months.

July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months.

Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg.

October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive.

March 2016 , 21mg

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Do you think fresh since I have times where it isn't there at all, that it will go away with withdrawal? I have gone months where is hasn't bothered me, I am terrified that it will get worse I have read somewhere on here that a couple of people had the mouth shutting and the throat swallowing and they both said it went away.

 

I never knew that this was possible when I took Prozac, I don't want to be a burden to my family. I have never thought this was dystonia until yesterday probably because it comes and goes, and I thought it was a weird withdrawal symptoms and then it just clicked. if it stays where it is now I could live with it, but I see it almost always progesses.

 

thank you Fresh for your input.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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This wave is killing me, it's all physical stuff. I've barely slept in 2 weeks I'm jerking all over the place trying to fall asleep, I have twitches all over my body nonstop, I have body parts moving on their own. I feel like I'm back at square one why doesn't this just end.

 

I'm exhausted I haven't had this bad of a wave since October and I'm scared I've got dystonia. Trying to stay calm but my lack of sleep has my body so stressed out. It's to the point where when I'm trying to fall asleep that if my body doesn't jerk then my brain is o high alert and won't let me sleep. This is stuff I had in the beginning. Why now? I'm so far out.

 

When I am in a wave with mental stuff I wish for the physical stuff, you know what they both suck equally. I just want to sleep.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • 3 months later...

So... I screwed up. My OCD has been Getting really bad and I became desperate so on Sunday I opened up and old Prozac pill and put a dusting on my finger and put it in my mouth. I felt weird at first but I can't decide it it was from the Prozac or me being scared of what I just did and if it was going to hurt me. The weird feeling didn't last long, Sunday night I woke up at midnight with a jolt and a Racing heart it died down very quickly and I was able to go back to sleep, last night I was jolted with a racing heart at 3:30 it died down very quickly but I was unable to go back to sleep.

 

I'm really scared that I really screwed up. I was desperate and now I scared to death that I screwed my nervous up back to the beginning. Now I'm not sure if it's a reaction or myself getting all worked up. I haven't had the jolting awake in awhile. But my sleep has been getting erratic again the last couple of months due to stress.

 

Please any advise.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • Moderator Emeritus

It's unlikely that your recent exposure to a minute amount Prozac has set you back to the beginning. It should settle out over a few days.

 

Let us know how things are going.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.
1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results

Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to  0.0 mg  Aug. 12; details here


scallywag's Introduction
Online spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet

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Thank you scallywag, and you were right. Last night I slept fine and to 5am so it looks like everything has evened out again.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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  • 1 year later...

How are you feeling now, Tamtam1?

Zoloft 50 mg from April 23, 2015 to August 28th, 2016 (1 year, 4 months).

4 week taper. Last dose on August 28, 2016

 

Mianserin 30 mg in an attempt to reverse PSSD from September 6th, 2017–around mid November 2017 after a few week taper. Did not fix PSSD

 

Currently taking: Melatonin and magnesium every night.

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  • 2 months later...

Hi everyone,  long time not posting.  I am feeling much better now that I am 4 years out of withdrawal hell. I still have some residue symptoms but they don't stop me from living my life. I still have trouble exercising, if I do it too many days in a row I will start waking up with a racing heartbeat, anxiety and my insomnia will come back with a vengeance. too much stress causes me to start twitching all over like crazy. I have to say I stay away from the site because reading what others post really puts me right back into where I was in Withdrawal, I guess you can say its PSTD. When I read what everyone here is going through my heart starts racing, I get dizzy and anxious and it all floods back to me. I will say though you will get through this, the 1st 18 months were hell then year 2-3 was more windows than waves. After year 3 I really started to feel like my life was getting back to as close to normal as it could be.

 

So while I have come a long way, I still have some ways to go. My OCD is greatly reduced it actually only really bothers me at my monthly female time. I was lucky enough my doctor in 2017, who is more into holistic medicine, decided to follow the Walsh protocol for OCD and tested my Copper Levels which were very high causing me to have low Zinc. He started me On several supplements which from previous experience scared me to death, so I only started with 1/2 what he recommended for Zinc and only Zinc. Within about 10 days my OCD dropped about 65% I was completely stunned. After that I got myself on a probiotic and it dropped another 10-15%. So while I am not 100% the mom I was before I have overcome a lot of my intrusive thoughts.

 

So I am going through something I am not sure how to explain, my husband sustained a neck injury he was unaware that he hurt it that bad but he started becoming severely fatigued and confused. We had no idea at this time he had a injury to his neck it was sore for a couple of days and then he felt ok. he started going downhill pretty rapidly and we went to the emergency room and our doctors which none of them could find anything wrong (they weren't looking at his neck) he had to stop working because he couldn't even understand anything above basic instructions and  about 10 days into this he went outside and stepped on our lawn which had just had lawn fertilizer and weed killer applied to it. He was only on it about a minute and when he realized what he had done he went a washed his feet. He started to feel weird and his legs got cold and started twitching, later that night for the first time he had what I have been calling an episode. He woke up twitching all over, seeing flashing lights in his vision, blood pressure shoots through the roof,  feeling of vibration up and down his body, tingling on his face, metallic taste in his mouth, feeling of adrenaline pumping through his body.

 

I believe he now has a nervous system injury, listening to him tell me what is happening to him sounds almost exactly like withdrawal except he has never taken any psych meds, He doesn't even take vitamins. He feels horrible every morning and somewhat better in the evenings and seems to be following a window and waves pattern he has days where he feels almost normal and then will fall back into neuro hell.  It's crazy to watch him, he feels like his life is over and he will never get back to normal. These episodes scare him to death and I try to remind him of everything he saw me go through and survive, but he feels this can't be the same because he's never taken antidepressants or benzo.

 

we found his neck injury his spine cord was being compressed by his C2 and that was most likely causing his confusion and fatigue in the beginning. I took him to a cervical chiropractor who adjusted him and the amount of improvements in the first 48 hours was remarkable. The chiropractor suggested that I use frankincense oil on his neck because it benefits the brain and the first night he did fine with it and sleep wonderfully and woke up rested. So the next day he put it on 3 times and that night had another huge episode. The next few nights he had mini episodes and finally last night it seemed to stop.

 

I have to tell you that I am reliving all my withdrawal watching him, I know in my heart what had happened to him I just can't figure out how it happened. My only guess is his neck injury made his nervous system hyperactive and the chemicals (like supplements) gave him a negative reaction and thrown it into chaos.

 

If anyone has any advise or speculation I would love to hear it. Right now he wants to go to every neurologist he can find because he believes it started with the fertilizer and I know in my heart that no one will be able to help him like they could never help me,  only time will help.

Took 20mg of Prozac from March 2005 until May 2014 with a couple of breaks in there, my last break was 6-7months in 2008.

Tapered every other day for a couple of weeks May 2014 and quit, only symptom was rage for a couple of weeks.

August 2014-major stress in life insomnia started, tried taking Prozac for 4 days and started twitching and moncylonic jerks. stopped taking it, wasn't my generic I thought that was the problem, my Prozac was unavailable for 6 weeks so I waited.

October 2014- took my generic Prozac for a couple of days, twitching and jerking starts again so I stopped.

November 2014-OCD make a very unwelcome appearance so I decide to start at 10mg of Prozac and it works for a couple of weeks, I am sleeping and feeling like me again, after 2 1/2 weeks insomnia kicks in and in the next couple of days the twitching and jerking start again. So I wean off in one week and that's when the problems begin.

December 2014-stop the Prozac, symptoms begin. waking between 3-4 every morning with panic, tremors in back of head, waking up to my entire body vibrating, suicidal, anxiety, eyes blurry, feeling off balance reacting to sleep aids.

February 2015-first window lasted a day.

May 2015- 2 week window (it was beautiful)

June 2015-became depressed, but lifted at the end of the month, had a couple mild waves, but can absolutely tell they are not as bad as 6 months ago.

 

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