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Hey Folks I stopped taking effexor three weeks ago after tapering it down 150 > 112,5 > 75 > 37,5 > 25 > 12,5mg over about three months. I came to the conclusion to stop it with my psychiatric because i didn't felt any improvement after taking it over a couple of months and had to deal with some nasty side effects. He told me to change to Prozac and i started taking it when i reached the 75mg mark of effexor. Currently i am on 20mg Prozac. The first ~4 days after stopping effexor were completely okay with no signs of discontinuation problems. But after that i started to feel nauseaus almost every day since. There are days where the nausea is tolerable and disappears over the course of the day and then there are other days where i feel nauseaus the whole day. That said, i also feel more anxious over the day...almost like drifting into a panic attack that then won't happen. I am now at a point where i am no longer sure if those are signs of discontinuatuion or my brain/thoughts are makin me sick. It feels kinda surreal to think that 12,5mg would have such an extensive effect on my body after two weeks, but on the other hand there seem to be a lot of people having problems getting rid of this medication and are on discontinuation syndrome way longer then two weeks, even after stopping on lower doses.

It has been years since I took medications, I was 16 when I took them in 2009, and went through a few different brands. I have copied some of my introduction story to make things easier for me. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/5232-%E2%98%BC-hello-charliebrown-script-free/#entry67166 Starting with Fluoxetine 10mg for 1 month. Then Venlafaxine for 1 month at 75mg then, 3 months at 150mg. 1 month of Clonazepam 0.5mg as I was tapered off Venlafaxine and onto Sertraline 50mg. Then I took Sertraline 100mg for 4 months. Still experiencing panic attacks, agoraphobia and paranoia. I went to the hospital during a panic attack and was given Lorazepam 1mg for 1 week. This is when my psychiatrist added Risperidone on top of the Sertraline. Risperidone started at 0.25mg for 3 days, then 0.5mg for one week, raised to 1.0mg for one week. After two weeks I had a check-up I told the Dr. I wasn't feeling anything and I believe he may have misinterpreted that as "no effects" but when I said it I meant that I felt no emotions. My dose was raised to 1.5mg daily. After 3 days of 1.5mg I began experiencing Akathisia with no relief of anxiety. With no options in perceived sight I took all of the remaining Risperidone. Approx forty 0.5mg pills. My Parents caught me and called 911. At the hospital I was given charcoal and passed out, waking hours later. After being discharged I continued to take Sertraline as prescribed for 2 months. With no reduction in my anxiety and my emotions being basically non existant I decided to "take the good with the bad" and feel some kind of emotion. Over the next month and a half I slowly weaned myself off Sertraline. Popping open the capsule and throwing away 3-5 tiny XR beads a day. So that's my age, meds and taper strategy. How long it took to regain all my emotions and bodily functions is a hard one to answer. It took about 6 months before I felt much of anything. Then the bad emotions came back, sadness, anger. Slowly over the next two years I had many days that were blank and void of anything, days full of sadness, but also days where a light would shine and I would be happy. Feelings were coming back in waves and leaving again. I joined this website in late 2013 and at that point I had some emotional range, a libido but no sexual pleasure. So i guess it took about 3 years off medications to regain a good emotional range and my youthful lust. I'm finally writing this success story because in the past year the lack of sexual pleasure and anhedonia are not a problem for me anymore. The feelings slowly came back in waves, sometimes weak, but getting stronger and stronger. Now I feel great when I hug someone or see a friend smile. Sometimes the feelings can even be overwhelming. Like my heart is ready to burst. I don't know what else to add except, it's been almost 7 years since I took medications and I am a whole new person! Don't give up hope! Things are constantly changing, even if you don't notice. I didn't notice the change until it was right in my face!

Hi everyone! I took Cymbalta for about a month back in November 2022-December 2022. I had been on and off Lexapro for about 5 years, with a short stent of Prozac during 2021. I stopped cold turkey and had a few withdrawal symptoms lasting about a month. I was a tad more anxious after quitting antidepressants, but overall felt much better! Fast forward to May 27th, I had a panic attack that has left me feeling anxious ever since. I have gotten better over the past few weeks, but still anxious. My psychiatrist recommended trying Lexapro again at a higher dosage and prescribed Lorazepam to take PNR (for panic attacks). I’m hesitant to get back on an SSRI because I felt like I was handling life fairly well until the panic attack. I also have not had another panic attack since, so the Lorazepam has just been sitting in my nightstand. Anyone else struggling with withdrawal symptoms happening late or return of anxiety after feeling okay for a few months?

Link to intro thread Hey all! Been meaning to write this for a little while now but just haven't had the time. But I knew I was always going to write a 'success story' as those were the ones that kept me going!! I HAVE BEEN OFF MEDS FOR 2 YEARS & 3 MONTHS!! I'm 31, female, I was on SSRI's for a total of 5 years, mostly Fluox, then sertraline, then citalopram before my doctor removed me from meds cold turkey, he said I would have no ill effects from stopping this way either!! So I'm going to list my main withdrawal symptoms, what helped me through withdrawal and any other bits of info like when i felt the worst waves etc! Symptoms: -Daily crying -anxiety -panic -depression -dizziness -skin itching -tremors -muscle weakness -visual issues -heartburn -gut issues -heart palpitations -insomnia -suicidal -weight loss -cramp in legs -full body stabbing/zaps -backache -headaches -TMJ -brain fog -unsteady on feet -lethargy -muscle weakness -hair loss -joint pain Those are the ones I can remember off the top of my head, but there will definitely be more! I noticed my 'windows' were very sparse until I passed the 12 month mark and after that I'd eventually get more and more windows. Before the 12 month mark, my windows were only short and usually on evenings. I had the most severe withdrawal symptoms between months 6-11, which I've read lots of people suffer more at that stage too. I also in this withdrawal period took Cipro, and my symptoms worsened after taking that so I do believe I was 'floxed' too. The things that helped me get through a cold turkey withdrawal: (there aren't many!) -Reading the success stories on this website (constantly!) -Meditation daily -Baylissa's book -The Lovely Grind youtube videos -Drew Linsalata podcast (the anxious truth) -My partner! (most definitely the reason I'm still here and off those meds!) I have been blessed to have a supportive partner throughout this process who fully supported me and believed I would make it out of the other side. He is my absolute angel! Between my sheer grit and determination and his supportive words I have done it! The only issue I've had since stopping the SSRI's is that I'm now in early menopause. I'm only 31 so it is very unusual. The doctors can't work out why I'm in the early menopause, my ovaries 'look' fine so they think it's more to do with my brain producing the hormones and my pituitary gland. So I believe that the medication and my withdrawal has caused my hormones to completely deplete by altering something in my brain. I'm now on HRT and feeling much better since being on it. I was hoping I wouldn't have any long term effects from taking these meds but it seems I do sadly. For anyone reading this, IT CAN BE DONE! I'm now over 2 years CLEAN and I feel SO MUCH BETTER that I don't have to rely on those tablets and have the ongoing side effects from them! KEEP GOING!!! If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask and i'll respond as soon as I can! 🙂 Love Jade x

Hi everyone, I never thought I would find myself here but well here I am. Everything started in January. I started having panic attacks and was placed on Lexapro by my pcp. I took it one time and had such a bad reaction I went to the ER with chest pain, dizziness and rapid heart rate. This was on 10mg!! I took it again the following day and got horrible sick and never took it again. I started seeing an Aprn psychiatrist and she then prescribed me Paxil 5mg… wow it was an awful drug!! I started experiencing withdrawal symptoms every morning until I could take my next dose. Then on January 18 I woke up with urinary urgency and frequency. My bladder burned and I had never experienced it before. I thought maybe a UTI but all tests were negative. I met with my psychiatrist and told her my symptoms and she told me is couldn’t be Paxil as she had never heard about that. She then told me to stop taking it and to start on Prozac 10mg. I started Prozac on January 30 and my bladder issues remained. I saw so many doctors and had so many tests everything came back fine. On March 14 my psychiatrist told me to just stop taking Prozac as I also had Sever depression. She said since Prozac had a long half life I didn’t need to tapper and could just stop it… I did just that. the rest of March was fine… I still had my bladder issues but at least I wasn’t depressed. Then the beginning of April I felt something totally new. I had the feeling of urinary urgency but from my urethra not my bladder. It was like the grime was stuck and I still had to go. Then a few days later the pressure also felt like slight arousal and I got worried. I started looking online and saw PGAD and flipped out. I have sever OCD as well so I latched onto that. Days went by and some days were better than others. But some days were awful. I would wake up in the middle of the night having an orgasm… not to much of a big deal I had that happen a few times in my life. But then a few days later it happened again. This was not normal. I would wake up with intense anxiety and started having brain zaps. I felt like I damaged my CNS. To this day the feelings are still there though they seem to change every day. some says I will have a burning in my genitals, other days I will feel normal, then the next morning urethra pressure that feels like arousal. On days like today it feels like a pressure down there and so hard to explain. I don’t know what is going on and am worried I will have this forever. I am also experiencing feelings of intense anxiety during some days and times I can’t sit still. Days like today I am so depressed… I am in therapy twice a week for my OCD and my therapist is working with me during ERP therapy about radical acceptance. I am so worried I will not heal from this. I come home from work and lay in bed. My husband and I are not having intimate relations because of mu arousal feeling… thank god he is very underpaid loving. These antidepressants ruined me and I worry I will never be who I was.

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.

Hello everybody, first of all I wanted to say thank you to everyone on here. I wouldn’t have even known I was in withdrawals if it wasn’t for this site. This is my third and final (fingers crossed) attempt at kicking AD for good. It’s about to be 4 months since my last pill. A great deal of my symptoms have either completely gone away or have lessened in severity. I’ve been writing down every single symptom I’ve felt and when they’ve disappeared. I would be more than glad to share them on here if it would help someone but I also don’t want to trigger anybody. The first 2 times I tried tapering off I was always immediately put back on something because doctors said it was the anxiety coming back. Believing them, I would just start right back up where I had left off. This past November my doctor switched me over from 20 mg of Escitaloproam to 20 mg of Fluoxetine. So once I switched over I did 1 week of 20 mg of Fluoxetine, the next week I did 10 mg of Fluoxetine, the next week I took 10 mg of Fluoxetine one day and skipped the next day, then the next week I took nothing. Looking back I did start having very mild symptoms after a few days but I kind of just brushed them off. The symptoms hit me REALLY hard a month later. Everything from my heart racing causing me to wake up in the middle of the night, short fuse, intense anger, incredibly vivid dreams/nightmares, and other things. Almost 4 months out I can honestly say I feel better but I definitely don’t feel healed yet. I’ve felt very discouraged these past 2 weeks but I’m not sure why. The symptoms haven’t gotten worse or anything but the discouragement is just there. I read about the windows and waves and can definitely relate but reading about intense waves returning at 3, 6, 9, and 11 months definitely did not help with the discouragement. My doctor does not believe in withdrawals and told me I shouldn’t have any sort of side effects after a month of stopping medication. When I showed her my long list of symptoms she just waved her hand and told me that although I didn’t have to agree with her it was just anxiety returning. Needless to say I no longer have a doctor I go to. Today I am here just looking for encouragement. Even though I have my husband, my parents, and my friends cheering me on, feeling the symptoms definitely makes me feel alone sometimes.

Hi all, I have been on/ off fluoxetine, approaching around 4 years now, having started taking it in around March 2017 when I was 18. I started taking it as I was experiencing high levels of anxiety from all of the stress in both my personal and professional life (I was doing A-Levels at the time). When I first started taking it, it was incredible and calmed my anxiety, unbelievably, within a week and so I kept taking it even though it was only meant to help get me through that time. In January 2019 I decided to no longer take it and went cold turkey - withdrawal was not too bad, a few left arm aches but nothing really other than that. In September 2019, I was back on it - I was starting my second year of uni and the pressure was really bad. In October of 2020, the fluoxetine stopped working and so I was recommended to discontinue the fluoxetine for one week and then start 25mg sertraline, then increasing to 50mg after one week. Sertraline was the worst medication I've ever taken; my heart was racing almost everyday, intense anxiety, chest pain and more. I only took it for 4 weeks, I physically and mentally couldn't take any more. So, I then came off the sertraline and the fluoxetine was reinstated at 20mg for 2 weeks in January of 2021, and then increased to 40mg to try to help my anxiety. The 40mg was even worse than the sertraline and so since late January 2021, I've been taking 20mg fluoxetine. Now though, after sex or a similar stressor, I'm full of anxiety for around 2 weeks before it starts to decline. The 20mg fluoxetine has always kept me emotionally numb though, and I'd like to come off it; it was only meant to be a temporary fix but has now been used for too long. I'd rather do it sooner than later, when my body becomes even more dependant on it reduce the anxiety. Is it a wise idea to start tapering it now, possibly to just 10mg, so soon after reducing from 40mg to 20mg? Thank you in advance for your help!

Hi I recently reinstated 25 mg citalopram ( May 2023) after having reduced from 25mg-20mg Dec 2022-May 2022. I started to feel nauseous, couldn’t focus , brain fog . During my reinstatement I was diagnosed with h pylori and am now in triple therapy for that. I am fairly convinced the increase in citalopram also contributed to my stomach symptoms. I am still finding the extra quarter tablet upsets my stomach . Could I reduce down to 22.5 mg at this stage ? I have that dose available from the local compounding pharmacy? Antibiotics finish tomorrow so I could see how my stomach is then , I also find I can’t cry . Very disconcerting. Also feel a bit over medicated so to speak . history : fluoxetine Dec 2001-March 2002 citalopram 20mg March 2002-Sept 2015 citalopram 30 mg Sept 2015-June 2022 citalopram 25 mg June 2022-Dec 2022 citalopram 20mg Dec 2022-May 2023 citalopram 25mg May 2023-present

Introduction Hi everyone. I have been lurking here since last year but decided to start my thread as my waves are getting more frequent. I am trying to stabilize at 20mg of generic Prozac (fluoxetine) daily, and have been taking it for 6 months. I thought stabilization was finally happening in January this year but waves are now weekly. I am here to see if anyone can shed light on why my horrible waves are more frequent now. I've read “The windows and waves pattern of recovery” (http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/82-the-windows-and-waves-pattern-of-recovery/). Maybe I'm missing something? I'm not feeling very bright since WD hit me! Wave and window frequency Stabilization seemed to work right away and my intense waves were about every 14 to 21 days (3 to 4 weeks). Last month and this month, waves have increased frequency to about every week and last 2 to 5 days, with a window inbetween. Currently working on a graph based on my daily notes to visualize my stabilization journey. WD waves This is how I recall them now but I will update this description when I consult my notes next during a window. A headache and dizziness accompany a vice-like tightness around my head. I then get intensely irritable, depressed, and quite sleepy. I then get akathisia, mostly in the legs. I have tried pushing through it but I find it very hard to concentrate on anything and I just can’t bring myself to talk or interact with anyone. Any conversation or touch terrifies me and I just have to dismiss myself and apologize to whoever is around me at the time and hope they don’t take my sudden departure personally. I then go to sleep. When I wake, I feel better but the wave is still there. I tend to get better over the next day or two, only for the cycle to repeat as mentioned above. Aside from sleeping the only relief I get, for but a moment, is when my rescue cat comes home and deigns to grace me with her presence on the bed next to me or in my chair. This WD has meant that I can no longer keep many commitments, I can only work on a casual basis (i.e. I put in a few hours a day in a window), and my relationships have become skeletal. My life is slowly falling apart and I am now dependent on my partner. She is understanding of my withdrawal, having been on SSRIs herself but luckily avoided a protracted WD. Sadly though, I just feel so guilty and frustrated at how I am now a slave to this window and wave cycle, and largely a useless partner. Windows (something positive) I am myself: productive, fairly positive, happy, thoughtful of others, and able to tackle my anxiety properly. I still live in fear of waves but I am learning to try not to ruminate on them. I feel a willingness to connect with people. I am starting to put too much pressure on myself to do everything during a window and that is leading to problems. To be fair to myself though, my waves are iatrogenic and I must forgive myself for feeling wretched, even during a window, because SSRI withdrawal is the worst thing I’ve ever experienced and it has ruined my life. Why are my waves more frequent? I will share some of my hypotheses below regarding why my waves are more frequent. If anyone has any thoughts please let me know, I’d love to hear them. I’ve learned so much from SA already. As mentioned in my signature I am working on compiling all the daily data I have into a graph so I can get a better picture of my stabilization journey (and what proceeded it). I don’t know when that will happen as my windows are now spent doing all the things I put off in my waves and just improving my loosening grip on the good things in life. I know though that I have to finish this data processing as soon as I can in case the waves merge into one big, long one. 1. My SSRI history during the last two years is peppered with ignorant tapering attempts, maybe it is catching up with me? 2. The optimist inside me is hoping that the frequency is increasing because it could be a pattern that occurs prior to a period of flatter frequencies (perhaps the ebbs and flows of homeostasis). I am perhaps just fantasizing but I imagine that if the frequency increases so much, like in a radio wave, the peaks and troughs (waves and windows) will be indistinguishable, which could be what homeostasis looks like. I am laughing at this hypothesis as I can see I am desperate for some good news XD 3. Maybe my reinstatement/stabilization dose was a little too low (considering I was on 40mg daily for the longest time) and I am catching up with the WD that it would have caused in recent months. If this is the case, I can’t see any benefit in updosing now anyway. Sure, it could always get worse but I think it would definitely get worse if I start guessing at an updose level. I could be wrong. 4. Some of my family wish to visit me later this month for a few days. I haven’t seen them in years. They planned it during one of my windows in December and I felt positive about it all. I also felt optimistic that given about 6 months of trying to stabilize, my waves would be a thing of the past, or a rarer occasion. I tried to get them to postpone but they can’t change their plans without losing all their money. I don’t want them to stop their holiday for me but as the reason for travelling is to see me, I have warned them that I may be in bed, only able to talk to them for a few minutes. I hope I have a window when they are here but I think I’ve had a huge amount of stress about the visit because I just don’t need the guilt I will undoubtedly feel when I am only able to see them for a few minutes. In other words, perhaps stressors and other factors in my life are making waves more frequent. My expectations for stabilization and my tapering plan I didn’t expect stabilization to take this long but after reading “After reinstating or updosing how long to stabilize” (http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/4244-after-reinstating-or-updosing-how-long-to-stabilize/?hl=%2Bhow+%2Blong+%2Bstabilize) I realize it could take a long time, maybe years based on how much damage my ignorant tapering did in the past. When I stabilize (I suppose I have to believe that I will) I plan to do an SA taper, spanning years, with water titration (I have done a few trial runs of it and it’s very easy to get accurate doses this way). I have the syringes ready but it could be a long time before I get to use them! My current plan is to keep plodding along at 20mg until I can get a more stable window and wave frequency. I don’t expect my waves to disappear completely but this increase in frequency means I am questioning things and hope that someone out there may have an idea about what’s happening and what I may expect to happen for the next 6 months. Lifestyle As for my lifestyle, I am healthy, eat well, and exercise most days. I take some supplements but I don’t think they’ve made much of a difference either way. I will list them later when I can manage it but they include B12, magnesium, and fish oil. Sadly, during waves I mostly lie in bed as it provides me some relief. One of the side effects from fluoxetine is sleepiness and lethargy, which I've always had, so that contributes to me lying about a lot. It took so much out of me to write this but I am glad I did it now! Good luck to you all and I wish you the best, regardless of what stage of withdrawal and recovery you are. Kittygiggles

As a 60 yo woman I took a hard look at my past life of various antidepressants since 1981 inevitably winding up with a 40 year RX drug habit, over weight and in pain. I'm active and eat health following an anti inflammatory diet w/ very little dairy or gluten and was just stuck physically. June 6th 2023 I made the decision to do a hard reset and stop My high dose Paxil and Deseryl and Xanax, not taper. As you'd expect the following week was of your typical physical drug withdrawal response, insomnia, loss of appetite, diaphorsis etc. What I didn't expect was that in the second week I started to feel an undeniable amount of strength returning, muscle coordination improvement and lack of pain. A high akin to a mushroom trip with heightened senses of pleasure, euphoria and an overwhelming sense of calm. I feel awake for the first time in decades. No unwanted thoughts or emotions, I have 40 years of coping skills and cognitive behavioral therapy in my arsenal. My gut health was the first to return to normal - there was No more bloating , constipation or abdominal pain. The chronic pain I'd been suffering with limiting my ADLs was GONE! And remains that way. I now have the flexibility of my teenage self and am back to practicing yoga on the floor with relatives ease. It's almost as if every cell in my being is undergoing a rebirth and is new again. The only side effect I have found unpleasant is scattered facial numbness which I'm hoping will ease its way back to normal as well. The 'electrical shocks' were an interesting side effect , it feels as though the nerves in my body are awaking again for the first time and I feel great. It's only been 20 days and I feel newborn and loving it... Finding this site has been a relief. There is No Support available for Antidepressant Withdrawl. It is not even discussed in the Healthcare industry. To entertain this thought process is considered non complainant , a 'behavioral' abnormality. I am in control of my mind, my body and my senses for the first time in my life ❤️

So my history is that I started taking anti-depressants for anxiety and mild to moderate depression. Ive always suffered with social anxiety, in particular eating in front of people that I perceived to be 'important' people but they were strangers. If I knew I was going into a situation where I would be expected to eat in front of strangers then I always had an extra pill prescribed by my GP. Propranolol was the drug of choice to be used as a PRN drug on top of my SSRI tablet. I used to take venlafaxine but this was changed a few year ago to Fluoxotene and has recently been added to by my GP and so I now take Mirtazapine in the evening. So as you can see I am not looking to withdraw at the moment but having watched the Panorama programme which has given me food-for-thought. I will come here again when the time is right to look at withdrawal! I will also use this and other sites to gather support and information.... Oh and I am 57. Been on anti depressants for over 30 years and I live in Wiltshire, UK

Hi folks, please find an introduction to my psychiatric history. I desperately need of any support or advice. I started anti-depressant in 1994. This was changed to Prozac 1996, followed by Venaflaxine in 1999. My prayers were seemingly answered in 2000, when I was changed to Sertraline in 2000. Doze was quickly increased to 150mg two months in. I stayed on same drug and doze for 23 years! In 2022, I suffered mental health crisis due to overwork. I was quickly informed that Sertraline was no longer working but couldn't go off it due to duration of treatment. My then psych added Quitiapine as adjunct and Pregabalin. In Feb, my new psych decided to change Sertraline to Duloxatine. She tapered over 5 days! On 6th day I broke down and was put back on Sertraline. Three months ago I was taken off Sertraline again, cross-tapered with Duloxetine over three weeks. One week in started with unbelievable intense symptoms - anxiety attacks, problems with motor-skills and walking gait, freezing cold and diarrhoea. Psych then stopped Duloxetine after 6 weeks as psych doesn't think it was working. One week taper and then put on Escotalipram. By now I was bed bound and on Diazepam 7mg daily. Couldn't tolerate Escotalipram so taken off after two weeks. No taper, started Agnomelatine. Three days in. Couldn't stop being sick and quit. Constantly now have terrible side affects anxiety attacks, stomach pains, sweats, constantly feeling cold. Psych states nothing to do with withdrawal and wants me to go back on sertraline. Lost all hope now. Know this is the withdrawal effects but no professional. If anyone has any advice or similar stories I would massively appreciate it.

Greetings I am a 49 year old male. I was prescribed Paxil 20mg 15 years ago. I was having panic attacks and originally prescribed Zoloft. I reacted badly to that med and immediately took my self off of it. Wasnt on it more than 3 days. Still suffering from gripping anxiety my PCP suggested I try another med in this class as everyone reacts differently to them. Initially I resisted but wanted relief. So I relented and took the sample starter pack of Paxil. Within 2 weeks I was feeling better. There was no question it had an affect. I had mild sexual side effects mainly muted orgasms. In the big picture it was a small price to pay for not living in constant fight or flight mode. I have tried numerous times to get off of this drug. Always failing. Being told that my symptoms where a return of what led me to go on the medication to begin with. I could get down to 10 mg but never any lower before experiencing significant discomfort. I would go into crises and return to my original dosage. I saw a psychiatrist and he prescribed prozac to substitute for the longer half life. That was a huge mistake. This summer I began a new quest feeling more determined than ever to rid myself of this poison. I got down to 10 mg and stayed there for months. I was stable. Using a pill cutter I got down to 5 mg and felt relatively stable. I convinced my PCP to prescribe Paxil in liquid form. This suspension was 10 mg per 5 ml. I started taking 2.5ml/ equivalent of 5 mg. I seemed ok. So I went down to 2 ml and seemed ok. Very little side effects. I was feeling strong so I did the very stupid thing and accelerated my taper. I went down to 1.5 ml. then 2 weeks later went down to 1.2 ml. All hell broke loose. Panic attacks. Flu symptoms. Anxiety. Crying. Anger. pain. Hypochondria. I researched supplements and tried Omega 3's, B Complex, vitamin D. researched tryptophan and 5-HTP but thought better than to try this. It seemingly came in waves. Everytime I hit a window I thought it was over and I was stabalizing just to hit an intense wave again. mornings seem better with waves in the afternoon. Im afraid I damaged my nervous system. Im struggling with what I should do next. I have become fearful I will always have these symptoms. Not sure if I should up my dose or stand pat and give myself more time to stabilize. I recently have had windows where I feel fantastic. Like my old self. Only to hit an intense wave of misery. Its brutal. I do not trust doctors. They are clueless. I have been told to skip doses etc....its unreal the disservice so many people have suffered at the hands of this poison. "Its not addictive" you might feel uncomfortable for a week or two. My god I want to shove this down their throats and let them feel it. Should I up my dose? Stand pat and stabilize? I have been on 1.2 ml for 4 weeks and still feeling symptoms. Maybe just a slight bit of improvement. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there, I have been through polydrug hell, suffered insomnia after medical shock then given host of sleep meds but believe they caused paradoxical breathing or possibly withdrawals maybe from mix, was given zolpiclone and Xanax and no in breath when going into deeper sleep and would wake constantly? Has anyone experienced this? Continued and given mirtrazapine at morning time! Then amitriptyline which caused urinary retention stopped both, no sleep still so kept on Xanax and zopiclone, then stopped and the same scenario no in breath? If anyone knows what this is? I was then given Xanax to keep me asleep, never more than 1mg ar night only, would you have withdrawals from that if just at night? Panic attacks as no sleep only an hour or so, myoclonus, can’t sleep during day time jerks hypnic. Then started sertraline and hyperacusis started and Xanax still. Then went to psych hospital as wasn’t sure what was happening? Was treated horrifically told agitated depression, never had depression in life, we thing misdiagnosed badly, by power tripping psych as I challenged that. Given Effexor, then clonazapam at night 1mg kept pushing Effexor up, no benefit. I was so worried as they were leaving me on clonazapam, I was only taking at night, day was cut cold Turkey as I was too sleepy. No weaning. Then told take more at night! But got trazadone added 100mg and cut clonazapam to .5 from 1mg, hyperacusis back as had gone but worse than when went in! Effexor pushed up more, phergen added night and clonazapam cut to .25mg from .5mg, Effexor up at 150mg, hyperacusis unbelievable now! Odd as if was depression should the Effexor now get rid of hyperacusis? No benefit. Then told take more, 187 and I couldn’t sleep at all. Myoclonus so bad. Was left even though had bruising everywhere ignored amongst so many other symptoms panic attacks so bad, let out as insurance up, left in lurch, cut to 150 Effexor then 112 and hyperacusis worsening. Got public psych but she said thinks misdiagnosed but no disgnosis and said cut Effexor to 75 and hyperacusis was too much to bear I had to go back to 112.5 mg. What is going on, I’ve never dealt with drugs like this before and don’t know what’s going on and very bad care here, told hyperacusis ENT thing but ruled out but ignored. Hypnic jerks, sleep not great at all, panic so bad in morning feel in total trauma ptsd all time freeze mode. Treated so badly. No info given on anything when in hospital just ignored and wouldn’t wean me off clonazapam yet told me Im on addictive meds now for life! Can anyone help me on hyperacusis and what’s going on breathing at night and hypnic jerks. Breathing is separate than jerks, no in breath in deeper sleep stage. I am at wits end and no life. Left without help. Clonazapam Now out of stock. I’m on it still what left .25mg trazadone and melatonin now might, wake up in horrors. Is it possibly to have withdrawals daily? If low dose? I’m so confused. Pharmacist said possible, my nervous system in total disarray. The 112 to 75 was too much. Too fast just cut fast. Any help on how to cut as tried opening beads out but even that hyperacusis was getting worse? Please help me make sense of this all? Thank you. Is it trauma PTSD, withdrawals, as I am worse now than ever, do get some sleep which is good thing. But wake in horrors. All day panic attacks constantly no let up unless lying down. BP all over place. Get so weak. Have thyroid condition and period issues, fibroid and lot of blood loss monthly. Skin is so dry. Diarrhea all time, gastro issues, reflux. In such panic I just need some advice what May be going on? Thanks so much

Hello Everyone, I'm so grateful for communities like this community. To know I'm not alone. There's so much I want to say though I also want to post an introduction today and my concentration is limited so I'll try to keep it brief. I apologize if it turns out to be a bit long. My first experience of psychotropics was in 1994 when I had moved to a new area, was laid off, and struggling. My PCP was a willing participant and prescribed various medications - Zoloft, Paxil, whatever was available at that time. Nothing seemed to do what I hoped it would do and I didn't go any further. I wish I could say that that was the end of the story. Several years later in 1997, I moved to a new area with a woman I had been seeing. Our relationship was not a healthy relationship and I was under a lot of stress at work, wasn't sleeping well, was having a bit of a nervous breakdown. I decided to make an appt with a psychiatri1st. By that time, I was convinced that medication was an answer to my dilemma. I believed the current narrative of emotional distress, depression and anxiety, neurotransmitters, and the need for medication to make up for what was missing. The first psychiatrist wanted to just put me on Klonopin, said it would do the trick. I knew a bit about benzos and thought this recommendation wasn't helpful. It didn't fit with my understanding of serotonin deficiency. I went to see a different psychiatrist who put me on Effexor, titrating up to 300 mg. He prescribed Xanax initially to help with sleep and anxiety during the day. I was willing to use benzos as a temporary measure. That made more sense to me. I look back with regret and anger that other options weren't offered for what really were normal existential challenges of work and relationship, something I wasn't equipped to handle at the time. Fast forward to the present. I've been on medication since. And I've had a lot of trouble finding a medication that doesn't have significant side effects. I've felt despair. I've been told numerous times that I would need to be on medication for the rest of my life. And yet changing medications is a nightmare. The side effects are a nightmare. I recently read a book called Pathological that prompted a deeper reflection and research on medication in general. That the medication may be my problem. I had already started titrating down on my current cocktail. I experience akathesia on Zoloft, the reason the Remeron was added. It's a bit of a shock that my psychiatrist seemed uninformed. He wasn't aware of akathesia as a potential longer term side effect beyond 1-2 weeks. If patients experience this, it passes, he said. He offered no explanation for why it was passing for me. I've wanted to titrate off the Zoloft for this reason though I haven't known what next. I've felt hopeless. This process is so tiring and disruptive. My psychiatrist is a good man though he doesn't have really good ideas about what to do. Just throw more things against the wall and see what happens as if this were a simple process. I started to believe that maybe I have Bipolar II and misinterpreted the akathesia as hypomania. I was on track to titrate down on my cocktail and look at mood stabilizers, something my psychiatrist was willing to try, when I came across the book Pathological. It changed my view in many ways. My dilemma now is best to proceed. I'm learning just how naive I am about psychotropics and titrating off them. In my efforts in the past, I've followed a more traditional titrating schedule and crashed and burned only to think I'd relapsed and needed that medication. I thought I was doing it more thoughtfully this time which in some ways I am compared to the past though I'm still moving fast. I seemed okay with Zoloft 25 mg and Remeron 15 mg. I went down to 12.5 mg Zoloft and the withdrawal side effects were too much to manage. I'm using liquid Zoloft and quickly went up to an intermediate dose of 17 mg which seemed to be okay. I thought at 17 mg I could go down a third at a time from 25 mg. Because the sedating effects of the Remeron were kicking in on lower Zoloft, I went down on my Remeron to 7.5 mg. It's been 2.5 weeks since that change. It's been hard. The biggest issue is that often I'm unable to think, concentrate. Brain dead. When it happens I'm dead in the water. I can't really do anything. I'm awake though my brain isn't functioning. I can think a bit though my brain quickly locks up, shuts down, goes dead and it's worse as the day progresses. It's a huge issue, making work harder, diminishing my quality of life. I like to read and my ability to read and enjoy it is absent. After reading an article by Adele Framer yesterday, I realized that my plan to not overreact, to name withdrawal for what it is, and just live through the awfulness may not be the best plan. That things may get worse and that there may be a better way. That I need to slow down. Expect that this is going to take much longer than I expected. In that spirit because I'm really struggling with withdrawal and it's having a big impact on my life, I thought that maybe I needed to go back up a bit on the Remeron since it seemed that things really got worse when I went down on it (though I could be experiencing some continued withdrawal from the Zoloft). I went from 7.5 to 11.25 mg Remeron last night. I woke this morning, feeling like I wanted to cry and cry and cry. Maybe this increase is too much. The article talked about kindling and sensitization and I wondered if this isn't why even small dose changes cause problems. My psychiatrist unfortunately is willing to be present as I titrate though his knowledge in this area is limited. My initial question is, Where to go from here with the Zoloft and Remeron to continue the titration? I know I have a lot to learn and am wanting/needing to learn. Also one burning question is, Is this issue with an inability to think, concentrate, and focus, this feeling that my brain shut downs so completely and I can't function, common and is there anything I can do to address this? If you've made it this far, thank you for listening and for any input you can offer. Best, st11

Hello Everyone, I am new to this forum and I am excited there is a support network for individuals who are coming off anti-depressants. My story might be a little different. 6 years ago I was put on Fluoxetine for the treatment of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Previously, I tried all the various medications, augmentations and different classes with little success. So, my doctor and I decided to try fluoxetine along with Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. While the CBT worked, I found fluoxetine to have little or no effect at all when taking 20mg. My doctor upped the dose to 40mg and I still didn't feel much of a different. Regardless, I was going through a stressful time in my life (i left a career overseas and entered a Ph.D program) and decided to stick with the treatment. 6 years later, I left the program in good standing (ABD status) and I am proud of my accomplishments. Now, I am looking for employment and excited for new opportunities. However, my family physician recently left the practice and we got a new family physician. I told him my situation and my symptoms that never seemed to get resolved over the pat 20 years of various treatments. He decided to do a few diagnostic tests and confirmed that I likely have ADHD, as opposed to OCD, based on the symptoms before treatment and after treatment (ones that never got resolved). Thus, I started my journey of treating ADHD with my new doctor. I was told, however, that Fluoxetine interacts with many different medications and that I should discontinue by tapering. It's been two weeks since my last dose of fluoxetine, and some withdrawals are beginning to surface. However, I remain optimistic as I use CBT techniques, monitor my blood pressure twice a day, get regular exercise, and practice mindfulness breathing techniques to help deal with the fight or flight response that may be temporarily more frequent. I also have regular appointments with my family physician to check in and see how I am doing. I say this is a unique scenario because I am now taking ADHD medications which I suspect are likely helping to an extent with the withdrawals. I am not advocating for the use of any of these meds but I wanted to bring them up as they worked for me almost instantly, which was a real eye-opener. However, the problem is that i need to distinguish between symptoms that are caused by one new medication and the symptoms caused by discontinuing fluoxetine. I'd say today I am starting to feel the fluoxetine withdrawal as i've gone through SSRI withdrawals before and some of the symptoms are similar (my brain feels like it's floating). I am here for support regarding fluoxetine discontinuation and look forward to reading posts and interacting with others. Over the past twenty years, I've discontinued many different SSRIs/SNRIs, so I have a lot of experience - mind you, we are all different and react differently. In addition, a couple of years ago my doctor and I decided to taper me off a benzodiazepine extremely slowly (over a course of 8 months). I'd say that was far more challenging for me than tappering off SSRI's. I am glad I am benzo free now! I believe in the neuroplasticity of the brain in that it has the ability to heal and achieve a new homeostasis. I am hoping discontinuing fluoxetine will continue to re-affirm my beliefs. Nice to meet everyone!

Hello, I am have only just joined the forum, my medication history is in my signature. This website is amazing, I've found it incredibly helpful and also really validating to read about other people's experiences. It find it hard to explain to people without direct experience what it is like to withdraw from SSRIs. I've had several friends tell me that I shouldn't stop my SSRI (Sertraline) because they assumed the withdrawal effects are the depression returning. I was quite stupid because I got down to 50mg after a year of reducing the dose and then got really fed up of the side effects and just stopped completely. Since then I've been reading about tapering, and realised that I shouldn't have stopped so abruptly. I've also realised that my doctor gave me the standard bad advice to reduce the dose by alternating from day to day. Now I think that might be why I've had such bad side effects during the last year. However I hate the idea of restarting the Sertraline so I'm trying to find other ways to help myself. One thing I'm trying is herbal medicine. There is a good herbal medicine clinic near where I live and the herbalist has prescribed me a medicine that contains some St John's Wort. I've only been taking the medicine for 2 days, so it's a bit early to tell whether it will help. I was wondering has anyone else used St John's Wort to help with withdrawal symptoms after they have stopped taking a prescribed SSRI? (**Safety note - it's dangerous to take St John's Wort at the same time as an SSRI**). I'm also looking for information that explains what is happening in the brain when stopping SSRIs. I feel it would really help me to understand this. I'm a university lecturer and I've been trying to find information, but everything I've found so far just gives a very conventional/inaccurate description of withdrawals, and also doesn't explain what happens in the brain after stopping an SSRI. Are my neuro-receptors actually damaged? Does my brain need to heal from the SSRI? If anyone has any suggestions I'd be very grateful.

Hello, I am 21 yrs old, Female from Chile, and I am diagnosed with OCD. Last year I had a mental health crisis and I was put on medication for the first time, in June I started taking fluoxetine, and since that moment I started feeling like things ¨didnt feel the same¨, maybe also my ocd contributed to it. But since that moment, I started trying to find a solution for this issue, you can imagine how much I´ve spent scrolling on reddit just to find people with the same. It is hard to put it in words what is off , but I´ll try to explain my issues the best I can, and I really hope if you could share your similar experiences. Since taking the ssri, it was like my perception of the environment wasnt the same. I became obsessed with how my perception and things feel. With time I started feeling like seeing drawings didnt feel the same, also the sensations of things like a cold day, rain, etc . Also I had this sensation of a constant discomfort. For example it was so hard to feel visual stimuli in my retina, colours, lights, etc didnt feel the same, I felt like it was hard to feel visual pleasure in my eyes. Also being in places like the mall, outside on the street didnt feel the same, for example I remember that I used to feel very stimulated. Something felt off in my perception while taking the medicine, maybe you can relate. The important thing that is currently going on right now is that Like five weeks ago I stopped cold turkey, because I thought that it could be anhedonia caused by the medication. I went from 10mg to zero.And as weeks went by I felt good, but a week ago I started feeling too bad, I felt nervous and all that stuff, I also had a lot of nightmares. It probably its because the drug finally left my body, and I entered withdrawal, I should have tapered instead. And also I felt like my old perception (from before the medication)came back in an enhanced way, but I am not liking it because it is very overwhelming and I am feeling very scared right now, but I've felt more connected to my environment and the people around me, I missed the emotional connection, but cognitively I am not feeling as productive as how I was with medication. Five days ago I also started taking the medicine again in order to get the perception from the medication back. I went to the mall and I can swear it feels like another experience to be in there.Also I need to be productive for university. It's like both perceptions have their pros and cons. I still have no effect yet from the medication and it probably is because it needs time to get back to it's old levels in my blood. I haven't talked about this with my provider yet and also I left my therapist because it wasn't helping me and both of them never took me seriously when I was talking that maybe the medication is bothering me, and also when I told them about the perception issue they didn't take me seriously. They'll never blame the medication. I mean if it is not the medication, then how is there so much people on the internet having these side effects? What do you guys think about all of this? Have you had issues with perception and medication before? I'd be very thankful if you could share your experiences with me, because I don't want to feel alone in this. I'll be updating once I start feeling better. Thank you and in advance and thanks for reading.💙

Disclaimer :This is my first post on SA & I'm not english native i'm from France. So please be kind regarding my english First of all, I would like to express my deep gratitude to all women & men who are serving as admins for this excellent website. It is a gem, an awesome resource for lost souls like i used to call myself. Many of you became like friends of mine thru this past awful year. So thank you ! My story began one day of June 2018 at the restaurant. I was enjoying my diner and suddenly I was hit by a severe panic attack. I did not know about it back then. Anyways, It was like shortness of breathe, vertigo, needles in hands and severe palpitations. I thought it was my last day ! I was rushed to home since my wife believed i was only panicking out of nothing. I'm hypochondriac & very anxious about everything. But heh, I was never hit by a panic attack before. Long story short, I since started suffering from shortness of breathe. They are just awful. I visited my GP and gave me Alprazolam (Xanax). Honestly it saved me. I just start to function again and i was able to travel that summer of 2018. After 2 weeks, my GP advised me to stop it. I did. Everything was then fine until mid-sept 2018. And bammmm again I was hit by another panic attack at the dentist. And since that day, I felt fragile I could not drive, I could not do anything. I was just waiting for the next panic wave. I could not think about anything. Just scared to go outside. The GP advised a psychologist. And I started a therapy by November 2018. Honestly It did not work. My panic attacks were so severe and especially out of nowhere which scared me more. A vicious circle. I was really pissed off because I have a great job (i'm running a software company), great hobbies (i'm studying maths & quantum physics) and great family. So why the heck i'm getting those panic attacks ??? By Feb 2019, my GP concluded that my mental is so tough and I need something. He then put me on Fluoxetine 20 mg. After few weeks (of nausea), it worked. I was functioning again. My life was back to normal. No more nothing. Where are my panic attacks ? they are gone I felt great. By Oct 2019, the GP advised to start reducing the 20mg dose. So i start taking 10mg everyday for 2 weeks, then 10mg every day .. then every 2 days ... In fact, I was tapering very very fast. Because I never knew about tapering and GP never talked about the post-withdrawal thing. Dec 2019, I was driving .. and suddenly for the first time I felt not good. Like an anxiety slapping me :). Woow I was surprised. Then by Feb 2020, I start having stomach pain, then nausea then mild anxiety ... it was like this until I stopped taking the last 5 mg by july 2020. Then the big ride began. I was like going crazy. I start to feel dizzy some days, then panic attacks then like i'm going to faint some other days ... And seriously it goes like that for weeks and weeks. Until I found this site by Oct 2020. And then I was relieved to read that i was not alone. I was in fact into waves. I rarely had a window. Every day since Feb 2020 I was in bad shape. I cant even count how many times I felt like i'm going to faint or how many times I jumped from the bed because of palpitations, ectopics, heart skipping the beat. I cant even tell you how many hours i spent behind this website to learn & find solutions ... Mostly they did not work. I had to go through this post acute withdrawal or what ever hell you call it. Basically I was plagued by all kind of stuff during this year and those symptoms come and go in a different pace and frequency. Today is my 1 year mark (last dose 17 July 2020), and I can tell you i'm feeling great again. I can drink some beers without feeling like i'm dying. I can run, I can eat every thing without feeling palpitations and bowel issues .. So today, I'm feeling 98% AWESOME No more fatigue, no more jelly legs, no more itching or needles in legs arms. I have resumed reading my physics books (except some blurry vision) and my mind is now clear. I can think again & have meetings with my customers without running away pretending that my home bell is ringing ( you guys know of course it is not the bell but panic attack) So you guys there .. believe me you will heal. Just hang on there. Do believe in your body resilience. It will go with time. Trust me, this whole year was a nightware. But at 10 months mark I was start feeling a little ok (except some ectopics heartbeats. My GP said it is stress. But I know it is my mind & body fighting what's left from that poison called fluoxetine) Feel free to ask me question, i'll be happy to motivate & help ! May the Universe Bless You

Hi everyone I'm 22 years old now. I suffered from bulimia, depression and generalized anxiety since the age of 17 and my family got me help when I was 18 after I failed my medical school exams due to my condition. I was put on several medications ( Alprazolam, Valproate, Lamotrigine, Fluoxetine) during the course of treatment. I come from a lower economic class country where psychiatric treatment is still considered a taboo and people hide it from others, the facilities available are not the best but its a work in progress. Most of the drugs I had to take, they helped me immensely and I had not much trouble tapering valproate, lamotrigine and alprazolam within a year since start of treatment. They helped me get through the second-sit of exams and after I passed I quit the first two within 2 weeks using ( 50-25-0%). Since I am in medical school I was well aware of addictive potential of benzodiazepine's, so I decided to taper alprazolam as well even though it helped my anxiety symptoms. I had panic attacks and palpitations again but I started working myself through therapy and regular exercise and sleep to ease my symptoms. For a regular person these things are a luxury of time, but if you suffer from a mental health problem you must consider a good sleep and exercise a necessity for the rest of your life and fit in other parts of your life with it, not the other way around. Around 19, I was only taking fluoxetine (20 mg ) and my symptoms got worse, as I often tried to taper it on my own ( I wanted to be off drugs asap). The doctors upped my dose instead of my concern of getting them off, and told me to take valproate, which I could take if I felt my symptoms weren't manageable as I told him I don't want to be back on meds. For four months I was on 40 mg dosage of fluoxetine and some days were quite bad and 2 years back I would've seen the doctor and he would have most likely upped my dosage again but this time I decided to be patient with myself on bad days, accepting them as part of recovery because on the good days, I didn't need any aid and slowly the ratio of good to bad days was improving. I found this blog and I started the brass monkey taper schedule with 4 weeks hold for fluoxetine, and I was done in 6 months. I had some side effects but with this method they were too mild to be cause a nuisance. I had dizziness, insomnia and weight gain (around 10 kgs) during the process. I am now drug-free for almost a year, and its lifestyle changes (diet, exercise, rest, filling my bucket before I pour from it to others, adequate rest ) that keep me going fresh and happy. I had failed attempts at tapering fluoxetine and every time I tried my symptoms became unbearable till I found this forum. I am incredibly grateful to this community and the stories that gave me strength to continue on my journey. To everyone reading this, be patient with yourself and don't compare your journey to others. Listen to your heart when it tells you NO, trust yourself to get through it and you will only see your strength in the hindsight. Love and Prayers.xx

Hello everyone and thank you for this amazing forum - it has given me a lot of information in these few days while preparing the life-changing events. I’ve been mentally ill basically my whole life. I have a trauma background and at very young age I started to dissociate. At the age of 13 I got diagnosed with severe psychotic depression and got hospitalized for the first time. My diagnoses have evolved and changed throughout the years and nowadays my main issues are unspecified dissociative disorder, PTSD, OCD and anxiety disorder. I have not been depressed or psychotic for years. I’m 27 now, almost 28. My medication has always been the same. We found a great combinaton right away. It was 2008 or 2009 when I started with fluexetine which was soon paired with extended release quetiapine. My dose is Seronil 40mg in the mornings and Seroquel XR 400mg in the evenings. I take Opamox 12.5mg ever now and then when I’m dealing with intense anxiety. Never longer than a week. Fluexetine (Seronil) has stabilizing effect on me, I have nothing bad to say about it. I don’t remember having problems with starting the meds and if I ever forgot to take them, I only felt slightly restless but always took the meds normally next morning. I’m planning to get rid of them eventually but since they are also good for OCD, I will keep them with me a bit longer. Quetiapine (Seroquel XR)… oh boy. Well, I have to admit it did my life A LOT easier back in teenage years when I was really depressed and suicidal. It practically saved my life. The relief didn’t come without horrible symptoms, tho. I remember being really tired for weeks after starting and only slept at home. The most noticeable effect of quetiapine is fatigue and really helps me sleep, but it also limits my life alot. I can’t stay up late because I need to make sure to take them at 10pm at latest or else the effect continues to the next day and makes me feel hangovery. I also absolutely hate the munchies it gives me after few hours and I eat too much, which has led to obesity. Overall quetiapine has way more downsides than benefits and I don’t need it anymore since I don’t suffer from conditions it was originally prescribed for. I have been thinking getting off meds for few years but now I’m finally in a situation to actually do so. My life is pretty stable, I have weekly therapy and I have learned to handle myself very well over these 15 years. I don’t use alcohol or drugs. I consume caffeine on daily basis as coffee, tea or energy drinks. Mostly coffee, I love it. I exercise regularly at the gym or going for long walks. I visited the doctor and he approved. The plan was to reduce Seroquel XR from 400mg to 200mg and it felt okay to me, but I thank myself for questioning everything and opened Google after. That way I found this forum and your experiences, decided to make an account and join the crew! I found information no one has ever told me before and honestly I’m scared now. I grew up with SSRI and antipsychotic drugs and I have no idea how much they have permanently altered my brain. I know it’s possible to fully recover, you guys have proven that to me, but it shocks me how lightly this topic is discussed by the healthcare professionals. So, next day I called back to my doctor and asked his permission to start tapering from 350mg (50mg is the smallest amount available here) and he agreed, tho he said there is no reason to drop it only 50mg at a time, I have Opamox for withdrawal. I disagree. The withdrawal could be anything and I don’t want to risk my health more than I already have. I want to see that day where I’m 100% clean from meds and living my best life. TLDR; I’m 27 years old and having mental disorders but they do not need medical help anymore (expect my OCD). I have been on quetiapine and fluexetine for 14 years and decided to get off quetiapine first. Starting tapering Seroquel XR 400mg with 50mg, so I’m taking 350mg for two weeks, possibly longer. I’m afraid of withdrawal but aware and motivated. I’m sober, I exercise regularly but I drink coffee daily. Tonight is the first lower dose, 350mg. It’s about 10am here now where I live and I’m taking the pills around 7-9pm. I hope I get some sleep at night.

Hello. I'm glad I've found this community. I've been lurking and reading a lot of threads and while I'm pretty freaked out right now, I know I need to learn to manage without these medications. I would love some advice not from the medical-industrial complex. I'm 22, Autistic, and have been dealing with anxiety, depression, emetophobia, and agoraphobia. mod note: emotophobia, definition Wikipedia I've taken SSRIs 2 previous times, the first being Lexapro from 2015-2017 at 14 years old. I had trouble taking Lexapro consistently at times and experienced many instances of short-term withdrawal and reinstatement. Now I know that could have harmed me in the long run. I have emetophobia so when I started having gut issues in late 2017/early 2018 it lead to a massive anxiety/health spiral that lead me to get onto Prozac in 2019 until November 2021. My parents also have gut issues so I feel it may not be entirely "relapse". Though the timing is suspicious because, in March of 2022, I started having gut issues again. Other than these possible long-term reactions, I had no issues getting off the medications and only mild side effects while on them with short-term onboarding side effects. Having been through this health spiral once before, I tried my best to keep my anxiety in check and see the right doctors to get it under control, but it ended up worse than ever, culminating in gastroparesis, suspected to be caused by a viral infection. I found a new GI doctor who put me on Reglan and Pantoprazole (a PPI). I had short-term onboarding side effects from the Reglan of dizziness, and mild nausea for a couple of hours on the first day. I haven't had a period the entire time I've been on it despite gaining my lost weight back (my period stopped initially because of weight loss). During this time of gut healing, I tapered from 4 doses of Reglan a day to 2. I was recommended to get back on psych meds to control my anxiety and despite my concerns from researching Reglan and the possible interaction, both my GI doctor and psychiatrist said it would be fine. I started Prozac again on March 31st, 2023. I anticipated some side effects first getting on it, so I tried to power through the anxiety/mania, insomnia, and tooth pain from jaw clenching. Definitely stronger and has some new side effects than last time. But about a week later, I started sweating excessively from my palms and feet, and got chills with no fever. To be fully transparent, I'm discounting some other symptoms (diarrhea and nausea) because I may have also gotten a virus around the same time, as my family had those symptoms but not the chills and sweating. I feel that my SSRI-related symptoms started to get worse before I got the virus. I called my psych and he said to stop immediately and referenced serotonin syndrome and possible interaction with Reglan (I know). Which leads me to where I am now. 9 days off of Prozac, still on Reglan and Pantoprzole. The insomnia and sweating seemed to have gone away, the tooth pain has largely evaporated. I'm still experiencing anxiety spikes in the afternoon/evening that doesn't feel fully natural. Yesterday I had a much stronger one and this morning I feel very cold. I'm concerned about a "But I only took it for a week" withdrawal but I know serotonin toxicity is probably more reason to CT. After doing more research into Reglan, I'm even more concerned to be on it now (for 5 MONTHS) but I feel that tapering before giving the Prozac more time to get out of my system could be more harm than good. I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place, giving time for the Prozac to clear but having a ticking clock until the Reglan starts giving me side effects and a higher chance of withdrawal effects. Imagine my surprise and horror when I came to the realization that all 3 of the medications I was taking are dependency-forming and outright harmful. I guess my question is: I'm seeing my GI Dr soon, and the gastroparesis seems to have improved. Do you think it's a good idea to try to taper off the Reglan? Should I wait to wash the Prozac out or what about the risk of Reglan side effects, or withdrawal?

Hi I’m new to this site and hoping for a reply? My depression and anxiety has got so severe I’m looking to reinstate fluoxetine. Can someone advise me on how much for how long? I was hoping to make the liquid as can only get 20 mg capsule in the uk. Praying this will work I’ve not slept in 8 months without some kind of adrenaline surge panic attack as soon as I dose off. I’m in a very dark place I can’t cope with it anymore my family are keeping me going but every day is torture. Please can someone help? many thanks

Hi everyone, I am hoping to help others and find support as I struggle through prolonged effexor withdrawal. Looking back, I can see so clearly how the nightmare roller coaster ride with medications happened to me. While living in the middle of it, however, it took me a long time to connect the dots and jump off that crazy ride!. And unfortunately, I am paying big time with my health. I am a 34 year old previously very healthy woman. It all started in 2006 with xanax and ambien. I was about 3 weeks away from finals week in professional school when my dad passed away. Dealing with the grief from that and the pressure to continue performing well and passing all my finals in professional school led to bad anxiety and insomnia. I saw a doctor at the health clinic on campus and was given xanax and ambien. At the time, I thought these medications were great! Finally I was sleeping and felt calm. I ended up using them off and on throughout the remainder of school until I graduated in 2007. A few months went by, and then I entered the work force in my new career. This, too, was a very stressful time and I developed insomnia again. I saw a doctor and mentioned the medications that had helped in the past, and with no hesitation was given a presciption for xanax and ambien. I continued to take these medications off and on, and over time needed to increase the doses. I started developing rebound anxiety and insomnia, which got really bad in 2011. At the time, I didn't realize what was happening- I thought I just wasn't coping with life well, and couldn't understand why. I went back to my general practitioner, and she said I had a severe anxiety problem and needed an SSRI. I was desperate to feel normal again and trusted my doctor completely, and readily accepted her prescription for Zoloft (after she assured me the medication was perfectly safe). I picked up the medication, and after reading the side effect list, became very concerned and called my doctor. She said "you shouldn't read that list, now you are sure to develop every side effect on it, because most of those are in peoples heads"). I felt reassured by this and started the medication. Well, I had pretty much every side effect on the list. I won't bother to describe them, we've all been there. I told my doctor what was happening, she said to stick it out. Well, after 2 weeks of pure hell, I stopped the medication. Believe it or not, I then went through withdrawal from that 2 weeks of Zoloft. I developed paresthesia, among many other things, and went to my doctor. She said paresthesia is caused by anxiety, and that this proves I need daily anxiety medication. Of course I believed her, I was so vulvernable and physically sick at the time. She proceeded to put me on and off lexapro, mirtazapine, clonazepam, lorazepam, among others. Every time I started a new med the paresthesia went away within a day or two, but the medication side effects would be unbearable. This is when it started to dawn on me that the paresthesia wasn't anxiety, but was drug withdrawal, as I was recognizing a pattern. My doctor said it wasn't possible, drug withdrawal from these types of meds doesn't exist. I argued that I knew in my heart the paresthesia wasn't caused by anxiety, and that if it's not drug related, it must be an illness of some time. She sent me off to a neurologist which led to about $8000 in tests (blood tests, MRI, ultrasound for the constant nausea, etc etc). All came back normal, at which point the neurologist stated, see- it's anxiety and has been the whole time. I felt very disheartened, accepted my diagnosis, and took her prescription for effexor. I told her that every single medication made me terribly sick, and that I believed the meds and withdrawal from them are what had given me so many problems, and that I was very concerned about taking effexor. She assured me the meds had caused no harm, and that effexor is a wonderful medication, and very safe. She said if I didn't like it, we would stop it, no problem. Silly me started swollowing the pills like a good little sheep. Well, within 2 days the paresthesia was gone. I took the medication for about 2 months and told the neurologist I wanted to discontinue it, as it was causing side effects, and my reason for taking it (paresthesia) had resolved. She told me to take one capsule every other day for a week then discontinue it. I followed her instructions and the withdrawal was out of this world. I had never been so sick in my entire life. After doing some research on line, I stumbled across a web site (probably this one) which explained how to taper effexor slowly. I quickly re-started the medication, and after a week or so, began to slowly wean myself off over 2 months. I had only ever been on the lowest dose of 37.5 mg and thought this would be sufficient. Well, I still experienced withdrawal- slightly more tolerable, but still hellish, and also developed paresthesia again. After about 2 months of dealing with this, I decided to re-instate and taper again over an even longer period. So, I started my third and final taper from effexor in October 2013, and finished in March 2014. Even after such a low dose, and a fairly lengthy taper, I suffered withdrawal. It lasted about 3 months, then I had a period of ~2 months where I was mostly normal, then I got slammed again with severe protracted withdrawal in August/September 2014. So, I have been taking it one day at a time (sometimes one hour at a time), and praying that this all eventually goes away. The most troublesome thing occurring for me right now, is that I feel as though I have fibromyalgia. I wake up each morning with pain at the base of my skull, and basically all over my body. My eyes are constantly burning and painful. My feet cramp up randomly. I also have severe digestive issues.These have been relentless for about 3 months now. These are things I had never experienced before my roller coaster med ride. I am very worried that these things are permanent. From what I have read, fibromyalgia never goes away. I just don't know if I have real fibromyalgia, or withdrawal-induced fibromyalgia. I am scared that I will have to live the rest of my life in pain and with bad tummy troubles. I am currently seeing a GI doctor and will have endoscopy soon (probably another big waste of money, will probably come back normal just like every other test). I just don't know what else to do. I take no meds, eat very healthy, and force myself to exercise almost daily. The weird thing is, when it comes to the pain- the more sleep I get, the worse I feel. Makes no sense to me! Anyhow, that is my story. I wish I had stopped after my first bad reaction to a drug, I would probably be recovered by now. If I had only known then what I know now! Sorry for the lengthy message. Any input or suggestions is much appreciated. Even if someone can just let me know the pain and stomach issues eventually went away for them, that would give me some hope. Thanks all, I appreciate you for taking the time to read this, more than you'll ever know!