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Thank you Bailey💜

Just a little update for the internet world. Lowered medication again by 10 percent and feeling good, no trouble with sleep. I'm starting to think my body / brain can handle 10 percent once a week just fine

@Belajazi and when you started klonopin in August 2023, what happened?

I am starting to remember that, I also did experience some incredible things in my life. I was a traveler, always searching for my soul. I never gave up on finding my true heart, which allowed me to endure every pain I went through.

I was thinking about this while I was walking earlier. I wonder if it would be better to ajust one of the two drug for now? Tapering escitalopram and then updosing naltrexone in a fairly short amount of time seems a bit risky to me. It could get difficult to know which one is causing symtoms. You experience with naltrexone alone seemed bad enough. Is holding escitalopram at 10mg while you updose naltrexone an option for you? To be honest, i'm conflicted telling you this. I don't want to be a downer, but I also don't want you to get any worse. Take care, Tweed

I think I finally figured all this out.

hey alice? how are you?

Hey PSVT, you're often on my mind. How are you?

@Dee12h I'm so sorry you're going through that. I think the hardest part of all this tapering stuff is that life is constantly pushing back and challenging us in the midst of also trying to get off the stupid drugs and deal with all the withdrawal symptoms and nonsense.

It was very very nice of them . I think I took it into the wrong context I’m not myself at the moment . But I do appreciate them . I haven’t walked outside in a while . I think I had fallen into a serious depression from all of this . And I had told them that I was waiting for this Lyme test to come back . And I called the lab and they said it’s not ready yet . But the strange thing is they said the test will only show antibodies and that I have at some point been exposed if possitive . I have been treated and treated for it durning this time . And still have my symptoms. So my new dr knows about bind and phyc med wds . So she said Mabe it is just the wds . That the test will not show if I infact have active Lyme even if possitive cause I have had it on past . So I am just mentally exhausted. And the symptoms make me have health anxiety. No one told me that in 21 that could have been just antibodies . They told me I had active Lyme . Just like these f drs know nothing . I was told I wasn’t in wds all this time that it can’t happen 😢when I had akarhesia they told me o had anxiety . I never had anxiety or aka before . So. Yes. A lot been going on for almost 4 years and had to come off beimg polydrugged for one wd after the other . I’m sorry I’m blabbing on . It’s just what is on my mind . This entire mess . Feels like I’m just going insane . When I never was before 😩. Mabe I will go for a walk tomm . Thank you for ure post . 🙏

It's not nice, but it is temporary, Jami. If you are able, get outside for a walk and chat with a trusted friend. Talking with a friend as you walk outside is a helpful distraction. You will recover from this with time and much patience. It's wonderful to have LostinCanada and BaccatePlayer jump in and offer support and encouragement. A calming voice is so important at this time. Yesterday, I actually did what LostinCanda suggested to you this morning. I went back and read my thread from start to finish (not that long for me - I read my longer offline diary, too). It was helpful to reflect on my journey, the links provided to me by the first moderator who responded to me, and the wonderful encouragement from LostinCanada. Sometimes, you have to grab onto anything to get to the next minute, hour, day, etc. Keep pushing, Jami

I am sorry that you're in wave. I know it hurts, but it will end. Until then, please take care. ☺️

I didn't even know my life was terrible. I thought life was supposed to be this way. I thought people who say they're happy were just faking about it. I thought everyone must be just as miserable as I am. I never knew life could be good.

Hi @HonestAbe it might be helpful to keep a daily symptom log so that you know how these changes are impacting you. When we are in the middle of a crisis it may seem like things are really bad and those bad days may color our view of the whole journey. On the other hand, if a drug makes our mood bad, we may ignore physical symptoms. Many people here rate symptoms on some scale daily esp. when making changes. With V you would know fairly quickly if things are getting bad/good but we want to allow 1-2 weeks for symptoms to appear/resolve. I just noticed in your signature that you are taking omeprazole. That may impact absorption and may result in unstable dosages as well, worsening hypersensitivity. I would try to understand the reason behind GERD (H-Pylori? Diet?) and deal with those first. I will describe the principles under which I am operating and the tradeoffs that you need to make without opining on your current cocktail. Lots of simplifications here but in general psych drugs are downers and uppers. For most people V is an upper (not as in it improves mood necessarily but as in it makes you agitated, energetic etc.) Then trazodone is a downer - I took it briefly and it knocked me out so much that I would take it in the bathroom, walk 10m and fall in bed and asleep. Pregabalin is also a downer (similar to benzos) but supposed to have an effect on neuropathic pain. Doctors believe that they work individually but each drug impacts many neurotransmitters and even just impacting serotonin itself may have downstream effects on other neurotransmitters and hormones. So in effect they are more like mixing colors than like sound dials. The final result can be very different from the individual contributions. What we have learned here is that over time humans adapt to these drugs - the receptors that have too much serotonin end up getting less sensitive to serotonin. Other downstream hormones and neurotransmitters change, hormone secretion changes etc. The body finds a new balance. When you withdraw the drug it is not just about taking away serotonin and the drug getting out of your body. You now need to restore that balance again and a new re-adaptation is necessary which sometimes takes years. One of the things that happens when you are in withdrawal and your nervous system is dysregulated and vulnerable is that new changes make things more difficult - new symptoms, hypersensitivity, lack of effect etc. Not only that but the drugs were probably working as a placebo to begin with so now that you are in real trouble that may not cut it. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4172306/ So you are trading off a few things here: 1) If you stay on the lower dose of V, your body may think you CT'ed and go into withdrawal dysregulation. Restoring the drug fairly quickly may avoid that. 2) Some adaptation to the lower dose of V has happened already 3) You are already hypersensitive and have symptoms while on the drug - it is unclear if those symptoms are drug side effects of if they are withdrawal symptoms and hypersensitivity from previous changes If I were you I'd read as much as I can on the site and see how we think to make these decisions for yourself. In the end you bear the consequences of these decisions and my advice lacks the depth of knowledge that you have from your symptoms. Managing drug cocktails is beyond my pay grade and to be honest your doctor doesn't have a clue either because these drugs have not been studied in randomized trials together. He/she is trying to tinker with neurotransmitters as if they are not interrelated but in reality they are and he/she has only a very vague idea how interrelated. You are an experiment of one for them. You can have a look at my thread to see my journey if you wish. I was in a horrible spot when I found SA but I was lucky that I found an article by Mark Horowitz and reinstated within a month at half my dose. It took me 4-5 months to get to some level of normalcy with windows and waves since then. I am still at 0.3mg of my drug but taking long holds when symptoms resurface. My last cut was in August last year as life has been difficult. OMW

I feel so terrible today. I really feel so much like my old self. I am so disgusted about how I feel. I feel so disconnected from everything good in the world. There is so much darkness in my mind. But I've seen some real brightness that was still in me. I thought I've lost it forever, but it was still there. And I believe it will come back to me again.

@Kaylaq, I think that's a great idea. I should try to learn something new. Thank you. ☺️

He sounds very sweet. I hoope all evens out quickly. I too find that ginger tea really helps my stomach. Sending healing vibes your way, too ❤️

You probably read my reply to LostinCanada. Wished I hadn’t taken the ibuprofen but my husband said perhaps try a little bit as he is desperate when he sees me cry in pain. I will keep you updated. Sending healing vibes 💗

@Xcaretuk nausea is a big one I deal with regularly on paroxetine. I have come to love ginger tea with honey. Adrenaline adds to the nausea as well. Overall that sounds positive. Good for you ☺️

Hi, Felt a bit nauseas yesterday and an increase in my morning symptoms but not sure if that is from the dose cut or a small amount of Ibuprofen I took a few days before which didn’t work but I thought it was I was ok as I only took a small amount for 3 days. I am an idiot but was desperate to try and get relief. I won’t change anything yet as it’s such a small decrease. Thank you for checking in…

@arbor You are most welcome. Also, thanks for the link to a great song.

Hello @BrokenWings--Thank you so very much for your response. I appreciate your company in all of this. Also, however, wish you weren't having to weather it--if "weather" could ever possibily cover what we're going through. Recently I heard the redwing blackbirds singing, dear early-birds of spring. Here's for you: Blackbird (Live / Remastered) 2:28

@missy27Hi, yep, I've felt exactly as you describe all day today. It's been a stressful day so I put it down to that.🙂

I'm sorry you're still not feeling well. After 4 months, I feel better. But I noticed that later there should be no windows or waves, it's more like ordinary days. As calm as possible, these days do not make you despair or jump for joy. Rather, something in between. You can get sad or try to adjust your mood. This is the normal life of a healthy person. I am so convinced that I need to change my diet and add physical activity. All of this won't work right away, after 3-4 weeks. Try to eat right, control your daily calorie intake. Eat healthy food and give your body activity, walking, light running, swimming, but without fanaticism. It may not work at first and even speed up the condition, but it gets better in the process. Noticeably better.

I have the same question. I’m 21 months out, and in my case the symptoms not only haven’t lessened during any interval of time, but have just consistently worsened. Not sure what to do at this point. Anyone else heard of this happening?