Search the Community

Hi. I'm not sure that I am doing this correctly. I am on escital. and mirtaz. I want to begin a harm reduction taper, but I am still struggling from rapidly tapering off of a benzo 16 months ago. I was also put on HRT 4 years ago and I wonder if that is causing me problems, as well. I'm afraid that all the medications that I've taken over the years have just exacerbated my mental struggles.

Hi all, I haven't been on here for quite some time as I have been very busy with life. I guess that is a good thing? I thought that now is a good time to write my success story since I have been off Mirtazapine for well over 1 year and haven't had any symptoms related to that for 1 year also. Here is my introduction and journal I wrote to give you an idea of the journey I went through: The problem: So back in 2017 I was blighted with a severe case of anxiety, I won't go into how this was triggered as this could have been from a number of things that contributed to this happening including lifestyle, stress, partying too much, among other things. Initially i was prescribed Sertraline that literally sent me into panic after taking 1 tablet, this was then switched over to Mirt. I was prescribed Mirtazapine to relieve some of the symptoms which initially worked (It helped me sleep and get my appetite back). However as any of you on this medication will know this drug is very unpredictable and can cause all kinds of mental and physical symptoms. Withdrawing + Symptoms I was only on Mirtazapine for a total of 6 months which included 2 months of tapering (see journal for more information on this). Initially I found coming off the drug quite easy, some stomach pain, sleep pattern changes but not much more. After approximately 1 month my withdrawal symptoms began. I noticed that I was very emotionally unstable, meaning everyday worries/problems become huge anxiety triggers. This was even more worrying to me as I started to think that my inital 'anxiety' problem was starting to come back and it wasn't really the effects of Mirtazapine (I was wrong). As stated, my symptoms started at the 5th week of complete withdrawal from Mirt and lasted almost 7 months. Yes 7 months! Thats longer than I was even on the medication. They were as follows: - Severe waves of anxiety (some lasting up to 3 weeks) - Weird OCD style thoughts, totally alien and not what I'd usually be thinking about - Frequent migraines from exercising - Weird joint pains (between fingers, also in my thorax) - Rectal pain (this was very weird also, and would happen at random times) - Random nose bleeds (worse during full dose but also happening during withdrawal) There were more symptoms but I can't remember them all at this time, the anxiety however was the most problematic and painful. I kept a mood diary which allowed me to rate the severity of my anxiety and track any patterns. I also had psychotherapy privately which cost me alot, and actually wasn't useful to me due to the fact the professional was treating me for 'generalised anxiety disorder' rather than 'anti depressant withdrawal'. I cut this off during my taper which helped. I noticed that I was experiencing the typical 'waves, windows' scenario. Throughout the withdrawal process I experienced waves of anxiety approximately 5 weeks after each dose drop. This, to my knowledge, was my brain trying to re-adjust to not being medicated anymore. One thing I need to mention here is that - do not assume you are permanently screwed. I fell into this trap many times, breaking down into tears thinking "Is this how I'm gonna be forever?". This thought should be avoided, infact forcing positive thoughts to stop yourself catastrophising like this will help you get better. Recovery As it is for most, my recovery was very non-linear. I went through periods of little to no symptoms, then i could wake up with chronic anxiety and a whole host of physical symptoms to go with it. I almost gave up on my medication sobriety many times, including visits to the doctors only to be told i should re-instate. Thankfully I never re-instated once, I fully understand those of you who have re-instated though as withdrawal symptoms can be horrific and any form of relief is needed sometimes. The one thing that kept me going was the fact that I was experiencing windows of no symptoms at all, this could range from 1 hour to 2 weeks of no symptoms. I remember the moments where I was coming to the end of a window and was about to fall into another wave, this was probably the worst part of all this. The fact that I was fully aware that my window was over and i was now about to deal with a period of chronic mental and physical pain for an unconfirmed amount of time. The eureka moment for me happened at about the 7th month of withdrawal, I was still experiencing anxiety spikes but they were literally lasting only one day, followed by many weeks of calmness. I remember thinking "Wow, I totally forgot I was withdrawing from medication, its been weeks since i felt bad!". I strongly believe a point of recovery is reached when you actually forget that you have been unwell, I guess the science behind this is that new pathways have been created in the brain. Over-writing the anxious pathways our brain has trained itself to regularly follow throughout this process. Thoughts to take-away + Tips Its now been 1 year since I experienced any anxiety symptoms, I don't even get the "Am I going to have a panic attack in this situation" anymore. That's a huge leap for me as I knew when that happened, I was about to go back into the anxious loop. At times, my symptoms were so strong I was thinking about throwing it all away and just handing myself over to be hospitalised. Somehow I managed to soldier on and keep fighting.. I really feel that I am back to my normal self which I remind myself of everyday. I actually think this whole process has made me stronger mentally as I know that there isn't much worse than what I went through. Tips - Recovery is non-linear - don't set yourself a date to get better, it will happen naturally - Negative thoughts actually slowed down my recovery, consciously forcing positive thoughts reminded my brain that it was still 'normal' and not 'permanently damaged' helped alot - Positive self talk & speaking out loud to yourself allows your concerns to be aired if you are worried about what people will think - Don't read any worst case scenarios online! These will make you feel worse and actually trigger the mental symptoms - Take it as slow as you possibly can. Withdraw slowly, don't kick yourself because you still feel sh^t 6 months/2 years later. Your full recovery date is set for you, nobody else - Exercise, diet and sleep are of huge priority as they will give your brain/body what it needs to return back to it's healthy state - Track your progress and remind yourself of your 'windows'. they will become longer over time Please be aware I'm not a medical professional so any advice should only be followed through the advice of a medical professional. I'm sending positive vibes to anyone reading this who are going through recovery, KEEP GOING!

This article is from January of 2023 https://theconversation.com/antipsychotic-withdrawal-an-unrecognised-and-misdiagnosed-problem-196989#

I have a lot of dental work that I need done. My molars are rotting and need to be pulled due to a 2 year spat of binging and purging (I stopped months ago....but no matter, the damage has been done). However, I am NOT in a good place right now for this. My body is still trying to adjust to 2 withdrawals. How do I deal with the pain that is to come?? I am freaking out right now and would love a friendly voice or two :(

Hi - Been on Abilify 10mg and Artane 2mg for 3 plus years now. My taper of Abilify 10mg started in February this year and took 9,8,7 and 6mg within 6 weeks. Then Took 5mg and 4mg for a month each and took 3mg for 2 weeks before stopping Artane 2mg due to eye related issues. Thats when I got some leg tremors, panicked and switched to Abilify 2mg, which was a mistake. This caused wd symptoms like dry eyes, dry mouth, insomnia, heart palpitations, tremors and anxiety which are slowly subsiding. Now I am on Abilify 2mg for close to 2 months now and waiting to get oral medication to taper at 10% of last dose every month. My question is with the oral meds, one drop equals .05ml. So how do you measure such small amounts as we progress further? Also is a detoxing diet taken occasionally a good idea?

I have been on antidepressants since 2005(Started post partum). while the drugs didn't help me much my doc switched me to different drugs due to the terrible side effects i had. Finally i settled down with Fluoxetine around 2012. Around 2016-17 I started suffering with oversleeping and fatigue. My doc added Abilify and modafinil which helped me for few years and then stopped working. I understood these drugs did so much damage to my brain and body and wanted to get off of them. my doc said I can taper off quickly(2-3 weeks) from these meds and I got of them as he mentioned in 2019 Jan and had severe issues with in 2 -3 months. when I reached out to my doc he mentioned I am having relapse and I have to start meds again. I started them with so much pain. I researched on how to taper of these drugs and start to do half dose of Abilify in Jan 2022.(continued Fluoxetine, Modafinil). After 4-5 months I started 1/4th dose of Abilify. after another 4-5 months 1/8th. and now i am taking a teeny tiny bit of Abilify every 2 weeks. While I dont have any bad depressed days I am suffering with oversleeping, too much fatigue and lack of interest in anything. i have to push myself to do my daily chores. When I reached out to my doc he wants to put me on another new med. I am still with him since I need refills on my meds. At this point i don't want to add more medication but looking for any help with oversleeping and fatigue and to figure out if its caused by abilify withdrawal. is there any other way I can improve my mental health without adding my medication. Thanks in advance.

Hey all, I was diagnosed with schizophrenia back in early 2018 and have gone through a few psyche drugs. Namely 3mg Risperidone and Depakote (the mg is escaping me).. i went through a few hospitalizations going down completely off the Depakote.. then switching completely to Abilify.. starting off at around 10mg i believe.. Now I'm bumped up to 30mg. I live a pretty boring life at home mostly... and because of this have always desired to get off of meds but have been very cautious about doing so and wanted to do so in a way that is healthy... I was curious for those taking abilify: Is it abnormal to be on a single dose (it's the only drug I'm on really..) of 30mg abilify? I believe it is and am starting to think that maybe it's not a good thing.. which makes me even more motivated to taper off .. at least to a healthier dose of it. If it is why would any doctor want to put me on 30? - Eli

Here are a few resources for those who are on antipsychotics and are in the process of tapering or have already come off of them. I am noticing more resources for this class of drugs popping up over the last couple of years 😉✌️😺😺 https://psychscenehub.com/psychinsights/antipsychotic-withdrawal-syndrome-tapering/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32259826/ https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/antipsychotics/coming-off-antipsychotics/ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853222000165 https://mentalhealthdaily.com/2015/06/12/post-acute-withdrawal-syndrome-causes-symptoms-treatment/ https://www.ucl.ac.uk/psychiatry/research/epidemiology-and-applied-clinical-research-department/research-antipsychotic https://www.madinamerica.com/withdrawal-protocols-antipsychotics/

In mid May I went into the hospital after 5 days of not being able to sleep, eat or drink. I was taking black currant oil and fish oil supplements at the time but my problems didn't start until I added the multivatime Alive Max6 Potency. That's when my insomnia started along with my psychosis. I don't have any prior mental health issues or history of issues in my family. Whatever chemicals were in that supplement disturb my biology to the extreme. I was diagnosed as bipolar with mania although I explained that my issues started after taking the supplement. I was in the ward for 11 days or so, the first few days I wouldn't ear or drink. But once I found out I had to take medicine in order to get out is when I started to comply. Weeks passed and I couldn't tell just how drugged I really was. Six weeks into taking 1mg in the day and 2mg at night is when things shifted for the worse. All of the sudden I had insomnia, my thoughts were gone and my feelings as well.The side effects were so bad that I even contemplated suicide as I laid at night unable to think, unable to feel and unable to sleep. I felt dead just staring at the walls waiting for time to pass by. I quit risperidone cold turkey that day on July 8th. The next day on July 9th I went to the hospital to get help with the insomnia and to talk about how the medicine made me feel numb. Of course I had to Baker Act myself to receive treatment and I was scared to end up in the ward again. My tests came back Covid positive so I was put in ICU instead, which as bad as it sounds I find it a blessing that the test was positive. For if I had gone back to the ward surely they would have put me on more medicines. At the hospital I got seen by a psychiatrist through video chat who then changed my diagnosis to cannabis induced psychosis and changed my 3mg perscription of Risperdone to 5mg of Abilify. I took the pill only once at the hospital and was impressed that I had some thoughts come back. But upon further research I realized just how bad Abilify is as well. It's been 11 days since I quit cold turkey and my symptoms as of now are anhedonia, slow bowels, and at night when I sleep I can't tell that Im sleeping unless I have a dream. I don't know if it's some type of insomnia but I take 5mg Melatonin at night I feel my body relaxed but my mind is awake. I lay with my eyes closed but can't tell that I am sleeping or that I've slept unless I dream of something. What I have is minimal compared to the many threads I've read on this page. I'm patiently waiting for my emotions to come back and I know it's a matter of time. These pills were slowing everything down inside my body and Im glad I came to my senses and said enough is enough. Thanks to the creator of this website and to the many people that have posted their stories. It gives hope that with time and a good diet healing and recovery is possible. My only question is how do you pass time with anhedonia?

2013 - 50mg Zoloft 2016 - increase to 150mg Zoloft 2016 - Lamictal in addition to Zoloft 2018 - Serequel in addition to Zoloft 2019 - 5mg Abilify in addition to Zoloft 2022 - tapered off Zoloft decrease of 25mg per week over 6 weeks and then tapered off Abilify 5mg over 2 weeks. It has been 4 weeks since my last dose of Zoloft and 2 weeks since last dose of Abilify. I had no withdrawal symptoms until 4 days ago. For the last 4 days, I have had severe anxiety that is constant and will not go away. The anxiety has contributed to difficulty sleeping as well. I tapered under the supervision and guidance of my doctor. Is this anxiety a withdrawal symptom? Is this a relapse? Should I reinstate? Reinstate at a low dose? 25mg or 50mg reinstate? Is there any hope for not reinstating? I don't know what to do...I'm so scared...I had no idea coming off the meds was going to be this hard. Please help!

I'd love some feedback and suggestions. Exactly three and a half years ago I weaned off of Lamictal, Zoloft and Abilify, under my psychiatrist's supervision. He had me wean each medication for about two weeks each, which in retrospect is probably much too quickly. I was on that cocktail for maybe three years. I was on one or more psychotropics for a total of five years. Less than two weeks after taking the final pill, I developed insomnia. This has gone on for three and a half years. I have seen five sleep MDs, tried nine sleep medications, sleep restriction, hypnotherapy, every known and unknown supplement for sleep, every cannabis combo, CBD and combo, etc . And still have insomnia. I am being treated for low testosterone by my endocrinologist in case this is hormonal. I get my blood back in 10 days after being on testosterone for a little more than three months. About one month after the weaning, I asked my psychiatrist if he thought the insomnia was from withdrawals. He said yes. A couple of weeks later when I brought it back up, he denied it was caused by withdrawals. There are so many stories about people having insomnia (as well as other terrible effects) after getting off of psychotropic medications. But three and a half years later? Anyone have a similar story? Know where I can get help/answers? If it is caused by damage from the medications, how to I repair my brain? Are there doctors who can help?

Hi everyone I’m new here. Would just like don’t advice about Abilify 10mg and Mirtazapine 30mg. I have been on this combo for a month and I had a psychotic episode 6 months ago. I was wondering when would be a good time to start tapering off them especially the Mirtazapine as I am not particularly depressed. Will crushing these meds and weighing them at 10% decreases per month be adequate when I go to do it? Thanks HopefulSam

Hi all, 🙂 I found this website from a Mikhaila Peterson podcast episode. I took the drug Abilify as I was going through a rough patch in my life. I didn't know that it was a neurotoxin, a poison instead of a healing substance. I took it for a few months and then began tapering. This tapering period was 1 year approximately. I am today in perfect health, and grateful to God for it. I was also lucky to go through zero withdrawal. But the period I was ingesting the drug was hell. Restlessness, sleeping for 14 hours everyday, no enjoyment in things I found joy in before( anhedonia?), loss of my ability to compose music, low physical strength. I got almost nothing productive done. When I searched online, for how to stop this neurotoxin, at first all I found was countless horror stories about how hard it was to come off this drug. But then I found the likes of Altostrata and all the others I am sure the people here are familiar with. I once again had hope. I recommend those who read this to obviously take the tapering methods, from the likes of Altostrata and others who have done such a good job. I personally did the 10% reduction of the last dose, held it for three weeks, and kept repeating this almost till the end. While I reached the final stages and the doses where extremely small ( I used to make a water suspension of the drug, and used syringes to ingest it in my mouth), I did get braver and started making bigger reductions. But I recommend all to follow the best practice of tapering, as I said, written by the likes of Altostrata. I could write a lot about this whole episode of my life. For those who do read this, do take this away from here- it is possible. Never lose hope. Never give up. These drugs where meant for only the severely mentally ill among us, not for those going through a rough patch in their lives. But these drugs are overprescribed, by good intentioned, but severely incompetent psychiatrists, a majority of whom not surprisingly, themselves choose to visit a psychologist rather than take these drugs. Do they believe themselves to be superior to us? Forgive. Forgive them for yourself. And wish them well from the bottom of your heart. All the horrors I went through, at times believing that I will remain a man, who will never regain the strength of his mind, have I believe accelerated my development in some deep way. There is now in me an urgency to do good in this world, to make the world a better place. Should I not be grateful for this? “If we prescribed relational support, walks, exercise, animal contact, rest, nutrition, insightful films/literature, basic financial support, community activity, rather than only psych-drugs, I venture our nation's woeful mental health outcomes would at last significantly improve.” -Dr James Davies PhD

Its been almost a month since i stopped meds. I experienced light headedness and nausea today for no reason that could be apparent. Is it possible that this could be the beginning of my withdrawal symptoms?

Been on/off SSRIs and even a couple antipsychotics for several years. Always had some mild anxiety but major issue and reason for prescription(s) was OCD. None of the meds ever had a huge effectiveness for OCD, but within the last year or so discovered Dr. Michael Greenberg's rumination-focused ERP therapy for OCD and have learned to manage OCD using this therapy (highly recommend for others!). Have been on paxil for over a year and recently tried to taper off. Started at 40mg and went down 10mg per month, although when I got to 10mg I only stayed on for a couple weeks before stopping. Had no idea this med was notorious for withdrawals or what a problem this med is, or wouldn't have even started it. Started having very mild anxiety issues when I was sleeping while I was tapering off, but was able to go back to sleep. Kept getting worse while tapering and still while I was completely off. Symptoms peaked around week 6-7 and was having full blown panic attacks at night and eventually just all day, weird pain in the forehead like a sinus headache but from panic/stress. Had bad hand tremors, dizziness, nausea and had to miss work but eventually just went back on paxil. This time 10mg in the am and 10mg at night according to doc's orders. Now on 30mg paxil. Been back on paxil for about two weeks. Noticed immediately it helped although still have heightened anxiety and twinges of pain like a sinus headache. Feels like no one really knows how long withdrawals from paxil last; have heard 2-3 weeks, 4 months, a year, etc. Don't think its relapsing because never had panic attacks and never had problems like this getting off or switching meds. Really need to get off this med, especially because it makes me so tired which is a big reason I wanted to come off now that I have the OCD under control. Hoping to get stable again and then start tapering slowly, possibly with the liquid form so I taper in smaller increments.

7 years on and off abilify, severe blow outs when cold turkey and 6 month wean off. First experience before i was ever drugged was seeing my dads eyes turn completely black like a possession right in front of me, then he passed out, in which he admits he passed out and felt weakened afterwards. I was in many delusional thoughts for weeks up until that point, but it was all intrusive thoughts. 5 years after that which was my last experience after weaning off the thoughts led me to take my dog on a what ended up being a 10 hour walk that turned supernatural, in which i rapped about how tormenting my life was on the spot during the walk for must have been over an hour, it flowed out of me some ryhming, some not, but it was intense. I had prayed that my dog could have golden feet for the long walk and off i went because i believed the night was going to go on forever. I get hit with many delusions and everytime i think the thoughts are God. I want to change that and not fall for the same lies, it's the devil. Never heard a single voice though. Experienced in a number of states God showing how much He loves me through music lyrics song after song, but might just have been lies of the devil again, not that God doesn't actually love me however. But the music leads me to dangerouse times, then hospital to be drugged. Been on abilify again for the past 2 years because I've been scared of this stuff happening again. But once again i want to go off and cold turkey because the normalacy life is killing me with no connection to God at all, not that all those states were God, but it has potential to meet God. One time i walked another long distance by myself where i ended up walking through a couple cities in which i was passing by a building under construction. And i thought to myself, what is that weird lighting in that building, so i snuck under the fence and it was told to me via thoughts that only a child like mind could find it's way into the building but it was all locked down, except one spot that had a stud wall that was staples with plastic. I peeled it back and went in terrified because the building looked so creepy, as i lay on the floor in front of an industrial heater that was in the building warming up due to that it was a mild winter night and i had already tried freezing myself to death, which as soon as my feet started to hurt i cancelled that idea. But yes, on the ground in front of the heater i had another thought telling me that i was the antichrist going to be bound to this dungeon for 1000 years and i believed it was true for a time because i thought i had no idea where i was anymore and this time too i believed the night would go on for these 1000 years. But eventually i stopped believing that i was the antichrist and instead that i was a child of God. I went on to explore the building all night and began to try and build thanos glove for my apparent evil dad who i thought was thanos during this time for a while due to past experiences. One time i sang all night to him in a cabin about how evil he was for casting me into hospital so easily. Where i was drugged and came out an anxious wreck and shell of a man. Fast forward to now and i manage to goto my shorts cleaning job and try to do some exercise and play some video games, walk the dog, watch and play hockey, but its so tedious its tormenting to not be connected to my emotions anymore. Also in that cabin i had some earphones i was listening to music to get inspiration of songs to sing to my dad, when he grabbed the earphones and tried to get me to stop. I sad let go of my earphones, and we had what seemed like a spiritual battle has he finally let go but it was slowely like he was in pain being forced to let go by God or something, because he didnt want to let go, but it was forced to in Jesus name apparently. But it was back and forth until he finally let go, then he hugged me and it felt so snakey at the time. Anyways back to the building i spent all night in the building doing various thing and explored the building terrified at first, vut then i knew the building like the back of my hand even on the roof level, which there was a door that had a sign on it do not prop open, so i listened luckily didnt get locked on the roof in winter. But yes people started coming in after morning came and started doing the strangest work and i was asking them questions about life. When they were not satisfying me i went off to a room by myself thinking and talking with my thoughts that i thought were God and a supervisor game in and said where is your work hat and clothes or something to that effect, and i replied, i don't work here. So he led me down the staircase which i knew and when i got to the main floor, everything was entirely different. Completely different. I ended up in the hospital eventually via police that time, actually, they might have taken me home i cannot remember that bit, but eventually i ended up in hospital.. never been arrested as a criminal however, but a few police incidents like this. Again, anyways.. i want to turn to Jesus and face my demons yet again, but i do not want to fall into the trap of believing my thoughts are direct God communication, thoughts of the intrusive dangerous sort. That is the devil.

Hello to all! I was tapered, over a period of two months w/doctor's help, off of venlafaxine xr, buspirone, trazadone, and abilify. I had taken venlafaxine xr and abilify for 7 years and the other two for 14 years. Prior to the venlafaxine and abilify, I was on lexapro for 7 years. Considering the multiple meds and number of years of having taken them, I believe that my doctor tapered me down much too quickly. What is a real kicker is that when I contacted her to tell her I was having terrible symptoms, she diagnosed me over the phone with allergies and told me to go see my GP for further help. I did that, and he said they were all withdrawal symptoms. He assured me that time will heal me. He advised me to drink a lot of water, get exercise, and a lot of sleep. It's been over 5 months now, and I'm still symptomatic although they have reduced in minute degrees of intensity. I go from always being sick to feeling sicker and then back to being sick. My symptoms include burning, stinging, tingling skin on my arms; hot flashes (did those years ago with menopause); insomnia; lack of energy and motivation; icy-cold feeling hands, lower legs, and feet; brain-freeze feeling in the right backside of my head; and sensations of being stabbed throughout my body. The skin sensations are constant. The only thing I take now is fish oil--nothing else. When I first went off the drugs I also had terrible, intense, insatiable itching. The more I scratched, the more I itched. That has subsided, thank goodness. Has anyone experienced any similar symptoms? If so, did they eventually disappear? Did you ever experience a window? So far, I don't think I've had one. I would appreciate any help.

Hi! I will keep this post pretty plain for now, as my WD symptoms (the pains, mainly) make it hard to even use a computer for long. I will also try to make a short "signature" version of my history later today. When I was signing up, I was asked to provide a history of my case. I'm gonna paste it below. So, here goes. ---------------------------------------- All of the following changes/switches were done in 1-2 weeks each (except where otherwise noted). I.e., very quickly (which is bad). - Started Amisulpride 600mg and Escitalopram 30mg in 2014 for OCD. - In 2017 Amisulpride dose became 500mg. A few months after that, I developed tardive dystonia (cervical). - In 2018 autumn switched from Amisulpride to Abilify (about 15mg), to combat the dystonia. Indeed the movements stopped, but I was very sleepy (was taking lots of baclofen too). So I moved back to Amisulpride 500mg. - In 2019 february made another attempt at switching to Abilify (22.5mg). It was successful. But since then, I gradually developed disabling joint pain. - In 2019 (around July) reduced Abilify to 15mg, and nothing much changed. - In 2019 September switched from Escitalopram to Paroxetine (40mg) to combat the joint pain. Got a slight improvement in joint pain. Since the first day of Paroxetine, I began having eye problems. - About 3-4 weeks later I reduced Paroxetine to 20mg and Abilify to 7.5mg. Nothing much changed. - About a week later, I reduced Paroxetine to 15mg and Abilify to 3.75mg. Finally the joint pain was almost gone. - Soon, the joint pain reappeared so I started taking 4x3.75mg Abilify and since then, my joint pain is quite minor. - About 3-4 weeks later I switched (Cold Turkey) back from Paroxetine to Escitalopram (7.5mg) to combat the eye problems. That did not help, and I started getting disabling muscle cramps (in quadriceps). Then I found the "paroxetine withdrawal support" FB group. - About 4 days later, I switched (Cold Turkey) back from Escitalopram to Paroxetine (15mg), because of the cramps and because of what I learned from the FB group. - That didn't reduce the cramps. So I increased Paroxetine back to 20mg, which did help somewhat. - 1-2 weeks later, we're at the present moment (24 Dec 2019). ---------------------------------------- I'll be happy to communicate with you guys in order to help one another in this journey! In Facebook I'm actually afraid to help other people, because Facebook is too addictive with the "likes" and "loves" etc. Especially for lonely people like me. I hope this forum will be different in this regard!

Hello...I'm new to this website and I'm still not sure how this works. I'm looking for some hope I guess that's what you'd call it. I have been on meds for 15 years. Only an SSRI until probably 3 years ago. I was on Celexa 40mg, Abilify 10mg and Wellbutrin XL. I was so over medicated I felt numb and I couldn't function. I didn't know what was wrong with me & then I thought maybe it's to much medicine. I lost my health insurance on 12-01-16 so I couldn't afford all these meds so I stopped taking the Celexa & Abilify on that day. I'm still on Wellbutrin. The reason I stayed on it was I heard it would cause seizures if I cold turkey off it. I did not know I shouldn't of done that with the other 2. It will be 5 months on May 1st that I stopped other 2 meds. The only reason I went on medicine was because I lost my grandmother and I was stressed. My friend suggested I see a Dr so I did. Stupid mistake! I didn't even know Abilify was an antipsychotic until I googled it looking for answers about what was going on with me after stopping meds. I came across discontinue syndrome and then this website. Most psychical symptoms are gone and insomnia has gotten a tiny bit better but the anxiety and I guess it's depression is awful!! I don't have insurance so I can't afford to go back on the meds & go back to not functioning. I'm just wondering if I'm going to make it through this? I'm really worried. God Bless!

I have been on quetiapine 200mg, citalopram 40mg and Abilify 5mg daily. I have been functioning well on this combination. My psychiatrist advised me to stop Abilify when I was ready as he said taking two antipsychotics is not recommenced. I noticed a slight tremor in my hands about three months ago and thought that this might be the time to stop Abilify. I stopped 11 weeks ago. I cut to 2.5mg for three weeks with no ill effects, then stopped altogether 8 weeks ago. Generally, I haven’t been too bad, just feeling some tiredness and confusion, but sleeping ok and not feeling anxiety. However, in the last 10 days I seem to have taken a turn for the worse, which started with feelings of anxiety. To compensate, I raised the quetiapine to 250mg. I am in Spain at the moment (until 11th April) and my psychiatrist is in London so I made that decision myself. The anxiety has receded but in the last 24 hours i felt some disassociation and suicidal thoughts - feeling very ill. A local doctor here gave me some Clonazepam to take but I don’t want to take it regularly as the last thing I want is to be hooked on benzodiazepines. i realize that I have stopped pretty suddenly, so I need to think about continuing as I am vs going back on and tapering more slowly. I would love to hear other people’s thoughts and experiences - this is a pretty lonely road! many thanks, rich

Hello! I am in a hell of withdrawal. I have been on many different SSRI’s in the past and they all worked but had intolerable side effects. About a year ago I started sertraline, and when it didn’t work my psych put me on Abilify and lamotrigine. The Abilify seemed to help a bit but gave me crazy anxiety and tardive skenesis. The lamotrigine has never seemed to do anything. Since last March I have been trying to taper. I’ve had two terrible experiences when my doc told me to stop the S and A cold turkey. I’m back on low doses of both. Currently I take 12.5mg sertraline, 2mg Abilify, 200 mg lamotrigine and would like to get off all of them, if possible. I have terrible anxiety and crying spells that I’ve had since starting the sertraline and Abilify. Im wondering which drug I should try to taper first?? Thanks for your help!

MOD NOTE : RealMe's Introduction thread is here ------------------------------------ Because of what I learned here and with the support I found here, I have been completely free of anti-depressants. I have not taken any mood altering chemicals in over two years, so I finally feel competent to write my success story. When I got here I was so confused, I'm not even sure what I was taking. I reported my symptoms to the psychiatrist, primary care doctor and therapist, and all were in total agreement that I "needed medication." Even in my confused mental state, I finally realized that nothing they recommended was doing anything but making me worse. When I tried to get support to withdraw from psychiatric medications, I was told I was having a resurgence of my "depression." No one in the medical field that I came in contact with would support me in my desire to get off meds, and no one would acknowledge the phenomenon of "withdrawal syndrome" from anti-depressants. To this day, I have a very skeptical attitude toward all doctors and feel that, regardless of how well-meaning they might be, they are nevertheless medicating people into senselessness. My mantra is to "never snivel or weep in front of anyone with a prescription pad." When I was 19, I went to the clergy for help with nervousness and low self esteem. From there I was referred to a psychiatrist who gave me Valium. That was the beginning of the end for me. Now I had an addiction to sedatives along with increasing nervousness and lower self esteem. Later I was given Tofranil, Elavil, Desyrel, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Abilify (a real killer in my experience) and some others. I gained a ton of weight and lost my ability to feel normal feelings at all. I remember being at my father's funeral and thinking something must be wrong because I didn't cry. Not only did I not cry, I couldn't feel anything. And I loved my father. Over the years, I tried on my own many times unsuccessfully to detox from these prescribed medications. By the time I arrived at this web site, I was trying to withdraw from Abilify, Wellbutrin and Prozac. I learned about slow and steady until I had decreased my dosage of Prozac to liquid from a dropper. It was extremely difficult to get my doctor to prescribe the liquid form for my detox because he was still insisting that I could not do without a full dose! He insisted that I see a therapist and agree to go back on medication if I "got worse." I don't think about that process very much. I went to the therapist and told him whatever I thought would convince him that I was fine without medication. Then I would report my true and actual symptoms to the people on this forum and took their suggestions. Thinking of "puppies and kittens" as a coping strategy makes me smile to this day. What I do think about often is that I have been drug free for a long time. I feel happy, sad, anxious, calm, confident, worried, fearful, full of faith. In other words, I am leading a normal life with a full range of emotions that are appropriate to either what life throws at me or what life offers to me. At first, I feared that I was too old to change after years of being in psychiatry land, but I wasn't. I believed what I discovered here, and I am extremely grateful to have survived anti-depressant withdrawal.

Recently my psychiatrist upped Abilify to the max dose 30mg. I am also taking Celexa 40 mg. Have been taking psychiatric drugs for 10 years now. Have tried to withdrawal by myself in the past and schizoaffective symptoms come back worse. Now I am scared of taking the drugs because my tongue keeps moving back and forth in my mouth, and I am afraid of making it worse. Can I just stop the medications and when I start experiencing withdrawal symptoms, just take a smallest dose possible to alleviate the withdrawal symptoms, as I wean off them? I have a family history with lots of schizophrenia, and it seemed to help with somewhat, and people said I seem better on them. But now want to try to go off and try alternative therapies/natural diets.

Hello, my name is Sturm! I am from Austria and am looking for someone to read over my story about getting off of Effexor, since, quite frankly, I am terrified that it will last a few weeks more, or that I could get addicted to benzos (see more about that later) in the process (as the worst side effect I have atm is very bad insomnia). I hope I am posting this in the correct place. So, this is a bit of a long story. I have been taken Venlafaxine / Effexor for around 7 months (since January 2022). Around two months ago I decided to taper it (I was at 150mg). We tapered to 75mg. I don’t recall any psychological side effects from this, but I did notice muscle pain (especially from my left leg). I stayed on this for around two weeks, when I tapered again to 37,5mg. I stayed at this dosage for two weeks, and didn’t notice any psychological change besides muscle pain. I was then told I could get off Effexor, or I could take it every other day. I took it every day for a week. By this time, I noticed brain fog, but nothing extremely strong. At this point, after a week of this, I asked the psychiatrist about a prozac bridge, knowing the withdrawal effects would undoubtedly be terrible. The next day (Friday 21.07.2022) I was off Effexor and took 10mg prozac. At this point, I had a decent amount of nausea and akathisia, a reduced appetite, as well as chills, but never experienced brain zaps. The 5th day had the worst nausea. By day 7, the nausea was seemingly gone, and I thought the withdrawal was over, so I stopped taking prozac a few days later (31.07). The next few days were pretty recent, little to no nausea. By August 5th, (roughly two weeks since being off of the Effexor), I had some mild nausea, chills were back, and worst of all, I started having really bad insomnia. Despite bot having taken any prozac in 8 days, I took it again on August 7th, thinking the insomnia happened due to stopping prozac and being off of it long enough for its half life to expire, therefore allowing more of Effexor’s withdrawal effects to occur (since prozac normally suppresses most of the nasty ones). This, however, doesn’t seem to be the case, as of today, August 10th (day 19), I still am having sleep problems. I am also concerned that I could have become dependent on prozac for taking it for around 14 days. Could dependence on prozac be attained that early, or does it normally take around a month to occur? It has been nearly three weeks since I am off of Effexor. When should I expect the rest of the withdrawal to end? When should my insomnia end (before yesterday and the day before (I was proscribed lorazepam, I hadn’t gotten any sleep in three days due to the insomnia). I was proscribed lorazepam 2,5mg to help me sleep at night. Is this safe to take, or will I get addicted? The psychiatrist and nurses at the hospital where I was given this prescription said it shouldn’t be an issue unless I take this dosage for months. Do I believe them?

Hi, I am a 27 year old male in India working as an engineer in a telecom company. At start of the year I had a brief psychotic breakdown from work related stress and consulted a psychiatrist. I was on olanzapine aripiprazole and fluoxetine. After a couple of months on the meds I started to notice that I was getting significantly worse and could not do my job properly, my mind became clouded and I was unable to think and slow to react. I started drooling in my sleep and hairloss began. In panic I decided to stop all medication cold turkey. The immediate withdrawal symptom was that I began to sleep 12-14 hours a day and getting off bed seemed next to impossible. Then slowly the tragedy began to unfold after a month or so. I started feeling so weak that I could hardly ever get off bed and go to office. Hunger vanished and I hardly managed two meals a day. Then I found out that music became unappealing so did movies and everything else including exercise that used to provide me relief from stress. I lost all interest in the opposite sex, cannot even masturbate to porn anymore.Orgasms are not pleasurable and sensitivity in my genitals is close to null. I am now basically an asexual being with nothing that gives me pleasure. Suffered severe weight loss. I feel trapped inside unable to react to the outside world. I have spent the last month searching for various means of suicide on the internet as I have nothing to look forward to in life. If you can't enjoy anything and always lie in bed life is not worth living. Also there's no chance of me being in a relationship or getting married. I can no longer hang out with friends, considering how different I have become from them, and can't enjoy anything. PSSD has made me more anxious than ever, with libido crashing to zero.