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Hi all, I have come to this website fairly late (I hope) in my journey with psych meds. I no longer take anything, but 9 weeks from my last dose of Fluoxetine I am still suffering bad waves/windows. Until May of this year, I was still suffering badly with waves/windows from Diazepam withdrawal, which began properly in June 2022. I have been off work pretty much since then. Things got a good bit better between May and August, more like a higher baseline of anxiety/vulnerability to stress, rather than the waves/windows pattern. During this time, I was doing Neurofeedback and the ketogenic diet (thanks to Dr Chris Palmer's excellent book). I was able to do a speech at a family gathering, which feels unthinkable now. In June, I started tapering from Fluoxetine, 20mg (my history with which you can see in my signature), using the liquid solution, reducing by 2mg every 3 weeks. I now realise that was too fast. In mid-August I started getting waves again. I had not done nearly as much reading into SSRI withdrawals as I had with benzos, so I assumed it was the Diazepam waves coming back (which Ashton says can happen), but then at the end of August I got one of my worst waves ever for about 4 days: suicidal depression, 0hr sleep (even during worst of benzo withdrawal I could get 2-3 hours a night), tremors, agitation. At the time, I believed that was because I was given a different brand of the liquid solution - I thought maybe more of the active ingredient was getting into my system somehow, causing serotonin syndrome (because of the tremors). But now having read about the dangers of linear tapering I am guessing that it was withdrawal from Fluoxetine, and my cliff edge was around 10mg, made worse as I was/am not yet fully recovered from the Diazepam withdrawal. However, at that stage I decided to just to jump from 10mg, partly influenced by doctors who said that would be fine. I have now read about the need to do hyperbolic tapering, but I am where I am - 9 weeks off and I do not really wish to reinstate. I am having waves/windows every 3 days, which is very different from Diazepam - that was more like 3 week waves, 1 week windows - but they do seem to be just as severe, particularly the depression. I realise that I am perhaps lucky that I was on Fluoxetine rather than another SSRI (I am well over a year out from stopping Mirtazapine, so I don't think that is likely to be playing a role still). I am interested to hear any indications/opinions from folks on here as to how long it may be before the waves disappear and I return to my previous level of function. I am encouraged by the fact that although they are regular/severe, the waves do seem to have identifiable triggers rather than totally random. This is embarrassing, but I have found that one definite trigger is orgasm/ejaculation. In that process, there is a huge release of dopamine, followed by a decrease but also an increase of a hormone called prolactin which at a high enough level can cause psychosis. I am thinking my dopamine levels/receptors are just too low, because dopamine restrains prolactin production. You may ask, why not abstain? But another clear symptom of my withdrawal is uncontrollable nocturnal emissions, which I didn't even have in my teenage years - roughly once a week, followed by a 3-day wave. I did not have obvious sexual dysfunction while on Fluoxetine, but I am thinking that this symptom is some kind of rebound hypersexuality. Finally, the other clear triggers for symptoms are sweet foods and stress. Thanks for reading - I wish you all continued, and quick, healing.

HISTORY: *1998-2010: Buspar, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Paxil, etc. *2018: started sertraline/Zoloft *2019: Went to ketamine clinic seeking ketamine, but was dx with bipolar II instead. Started Vraylar, Topomax, and Ropinirole. Continued sertraline. *January 2020: Got pregnant. Was advised by psychiatrist to cold turkey Vraylar, Topomax, and Ropinirole and quickly taper sertraline. Began my sertraline taper but was having such intense w/d symptoms from the Vraylar, etc., I was a mess and I cold-turkeyed the sertraline, too. *March 2020: Psychiatric hospitalization. Miscarried in hospital. Hospital docs determined bipolar II dx was a mistake. Started ECT but quit when pandemic started. Started escitalopram/Lexapro 20mg, and aripiprazole/Abilify 5mg as an adjunct. *2021: Started bupropion/Wellbutrin 300mg to help with daytime sleepiness and fatigue. Continued escitalopram and aripiprazole. Increased bupropion to 450mg, then decreased back to 300mg for seizure safety for Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation therapy. *Early 2022: Replaced escitalopram with venlafaxine/Effexor 150mg (cross-tapered over a few weeks). *Summer 2022: Dx with sleep disorder (alpha wave intrusion). Started trazodone 50mg as a sleep aid. *November 2022: Started phasing out aripiprazole by going down to 2mg from 5mg (p-doc's idea). Had symptoms, went back up to 5mg for the holidays. *January 2023: Began tapering aripiprazole again, this time decreasing to 4mg for three weeks. ********************************************** As you can see, I am on a big, hot, tangled mess of psychotropic drugs. Since my diagnosis in summer 2022 with a sleep disorder, and treatment, I am doing better than ever (no depression symptoms for several months). And I'm on way too many drugs. My psychiatrist has agreed with me that it's appropriate to phase out at least one. We're starting with the Abilify/aripiprazole. P-doc wants to go fast; I want to go slow. I checked the drug interaction website that is recommended here. It seems the Wellbutrin/bupropion has major interactions with everything else, so I believe that should go next. I would like one day to get down to nothing except trazodone, since it is treating my sleep problem. Questions: How do you handle disagreements with your psychiatrist? I need to keep her on my side enough that she keeps prescribing my medication. Bonus if she will prescribe the smaller pills that make it easy to taper. What if I want to go slower than she wants to? What if she does not agree that I should get off a particular med? My goal is to keep feeling good through the tapers. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide, Tezz

I was prescribed Lexapro 10 years ago following the death of my daughter. I was started on 10 mg, eventually increased to 20mg due to anxiety issues. 3 months ago I decided that I wanted to stop taking this medication. I felt blunted most of the time, and wanted to see how I would do off of it. This was discussed with my family practitioner. We halved the dosage for a month and then halved it again for another month. At that point I was down to 5mg daily and doing ok. I then went to 5mg every other day x 2 weeks, and then stopped. I have been experiencing brain zaps and parasthesia daily. Its extremely uncomfortable and has made me withdraw from social activities. I force myself through the work day, then come home and get into bed. Last week I spoke to a Psychiatric NP and asked about Prozac as an adjunct to help with these symptoms. This is day 4 on Prozac 10mg which has helped maybe 20% with the head zaps. I'd appreciate input. This is miserable.

Hi all! If you’re reading this, I’m sorry you’re here. Truly. I added a signature but a quick rundown on me- after I had my last baby in December 2020 I was diagnosed w postpartum hypertension. I was terrified I’d have a heart attack or stroke, so the doctor gave me a script for Lorazepam. I had no history of anxiety or depression. I fell dependent in 20 days and the doc dropped me as a patient. 2021 and benzo withdrawal were my darkest days. I jumped from .0625mg November 2021. That was followed by 2 months of depression and 4 more months of windows and waves, then I was ok. I tapered off Prozac last year. Everyone told me to CT and I knew better, but still tapered a bit quick. 20mg in 5.5 months. Everything was fine once I jumped, but then one day last month (coincidentally 3 months post-jump) I had caffeinated coffee on accident (only drink decaf now) and a beer. I’ve been able to handle alcohol ok. But to go from 10-30mg caffeine to 300+ was a nightmare. I got dropkicked into acute with panic, dread, doom, all the worst mental symptoms. It passed in a few days. I’m still curious if the wave was caffeine induced or just the delayed effects of discontinuing Prozac. The last month has been windows and waves with less intense waves and less glorious windows. I just hit 4 months off Prozac. I’m in a wave right now but it’s manageable. The symptoms are more physical right now than mental which is always easier for me- heart palps, muscle tension, chest tightness, worsened tinnitus, stuff like that. I know this will all be behind me some day so I try to just ride the waves!

Hello! New to this site. I've found comfort in reading success stories on here and am looking for encouragement and support as I continue in my withdrawal healing journey. I was on Fluoxetine 20mg for about 4 years, on and off a couple of times. I did a 5-month linear taper 10% reduction every 2 weeks and jumped off in early January 2023. Six weeks later the withdrawals hit and since it's been a rollercoaster. I'm at Month 5.5. Thankfully, I haven't gotten many physical WDs but the psychological ones have turned my world upside down: despair, depression, terror, panic, anxiety, intrusive, looping thoughts, anhedonia, mood swings, zero motivation. I do have windows, which for the past month seem to be around 3-5 days, and waves, 3-6 days. I also take supplements: magnesium glycinate, probiotics, omega 3, vitamin d, b but have been on them since I started having some health issues in 2010 (chronic fatigue, muscles weakness, exercise intolerance, brain fog). I didn't start taking them because of withdrawal. I've been tasking htp5 for several months and am tapering that to try a difference amino acid supplement. Thanks for reading, Tessa

Hello there, I am new to this forum and am seeking any guidance you can give me as I am in despair and feel horrible. I had been on SSRI’s for over 25 years and have always wanted to get off them but never could. Always tapered too fast and ended up feeling horribly sick so I would start back up. It was just easier staying on them. Several years ago, I realized that my mood had become really flat and I had trouble getting excited about anything. I wasn’t necessarily sad or depressed about anything but I felt that there was more to life and believed it had to do with the Prozac. So, I made the decision to taper differently this time – very slowly over the course of a few years. Unfortunately, I tapered completely wrong. Just because I was going more slowly did not mean that I was doing it right. How I wish I had found this website sooner. I began skipping doses and taking 20mg every other day. Maintained that for about a year. Then began taking it only a few days per week and maintained that. Then dropped down to 2 days per week. Then instead of taking 20 mg, I began taking 10 mg 2 days per week. All this time, I was having intermittent withdrawals, but did not recognize the symptoms for what they were. I ended up in the ER twice with chest pressure that was diagnosed as acid reflux but it was withdrawals. I had bouts of severe muscle pain/burning in my shoulders and neck that would last for about a week and then go away and then resurface down the road. My doctor suggested I had Fibromyalgia and prescribed Cymbalta which I refused to take. I never believed that I had Fibro but I still hadn’t connected the dots that my symptoms were withdrawals from tapering so poorly. When I got down to 10mg twice a week, my doctor told me since I was on such a low dose, to just stop it. So, I stopped the Prozac in March 2019 and began taking amino acids – Tryptophan 1000 mg, DLPA 1000 mg and GABA 125 mg (upon the advice of a holistic doctor). Since then, I have ranged from feeling ok to pretty good. In fact the week before the horrendous withdrawals began on July 24th, I thought I was getting close to my “normal” self again. My husband and I were even planning on doing an embryo transfer later this year in the hopes of having our first child. The holistic doctor advised me that amino acids were safe to take while pregnant, however, I recently came across articles that say otherwise. Unfortunately, I played with fire and wanted to see what would happen if I stopped taking the DLPA. So, I stopped the DLPA, for 3 days. On the 3rd day, all heck broke loose and I became extremely dizzy and off balance for most of the day. The very next day, I resumed the DLPA hoping it would alleviate my symptoms but they continued and evolved into other ones as well. Initially, I thought that the symptoms were withdrawals from DLPA but now I believe they are protracted withdrawal from the Prozac. I think the aminos were keeping the lid on the Prozac withdrawals and then once I lifted that lid off, everything boiled over. After a week of terrible withdrawals and calling in sick for 2 days, I couldn't take it anymore and decided to reinstate the Prozac. I came across the SA website and the recommendation to reinstate a very small amount. I only had 10mg and 20 mg pills left so I made liquid Prozac out of the 10mg and reinstated at 1.25 mg. Although, I did not have any negative effects from 1.25 mg, the next day I was scared that I reinstated too high and only took .5 mg. That is where I have been at for 9 days now. I am pushing myself to work each day and it is so very difficult with my symptoms: feeling sick/hungover, chest pressure, difficulty breathing, fatigue, insomnia, neck/shoulder tension, sometimes a burning sensation in my neck/shoulders, too. Over the past 9 days, I would say that I am better than I was before the reinstatement but I am still miserable. There have been a couple of times when I have experienced a wired feeling, too. I did go and see my new PCP and it did not go well. Of course, she told me that there is no way I could be in withdrawals if I quit Prozac in March and that she believes I have underlying depression and anxiety in which she suggested I take Effexor. I told her I would never take that. I am looking for guidance as to whether it is time for me to increase or hold at .5 mg longer. I apologize in advance if this was too long winded and does not make much sense.

I was referred here by a psychiatrist I've been corresponding with. He told me you all were spot on in your knowledge about withdrawal and tapering but warned that you typically deny the existence of mental illness. Anyway, I've spent a few days learning it up, reading through stuff. My story: diagnosed bipolar in 2005 and don't really dispute said diagnosis. Doc put me on Paxil in 2016 for anxiety. Shortly after I became unstable in mood. Caught on that it was the Paxil in 2019 so I cold turkeyed. It was an ascent into madness, to say the least. I tried again late last year with the usual fast taper schedule offered by the wonderful field of psychiatry. I can't get from 20mg to 10mg. I'd say probably the worst symptom is the mania/mixed states/panic/terror combination I get plunged into. I was musing about this with the psych who referred me: I'm trying to get off Paxil to improve my moods, yet the Paxil withdrawal messes my moods up worse than being on Paxil. Reading through people's experiences and it doesn't even seem like it's possible to taper paroxetine. I'd very much like to have words with the doc who put me on it. Anyway, that's me. Thanks for reading.

Hello, and thank you a million times for the site, I am gutted to be here. I'm so sorry I didn't fill in my history, I thought it went in the signature and didn't want to do it twice, I'm in something of a rush and feeling utterly terrible. I realized I should have but don't seem to be able to go back and fill it in. Apologies for any inconvenience. One of a thousand stupid decisions I seem to make all the time on these meds. So I'm hoping for some advice about switching. I've been on Mirtazapine for approximately 8 years and I'm reaching the point where the Gemini scales won't be accurate so I'm looking to switch. However, I switched to Prozac a couple of years ago and had a terrible time. I was manic, couldn't sleep or eat, and so went back. At the time I thought it didn't agree with me but I now realize it may have been withdrawal from the mirt that was causing the problems. I'm really sensitive, which is why I've had to change pills in the past after reactions like skin rashes so I'm worried about trying something new. I'm hoping you guys might have an idea of what I could switch to that's soluble and hopefully, easier to get off than Mirt. Also, over the 2 or 3 months I'm starting to feel depression creeping in, which I haven't had before as a withdrawal symptom, so I don't know if it's withdrawal or relapse. I can't take anything else for the depression as it'll interact so I'm thinking of going back up to 7.5 and staying there but the thought of staying on this medication makes me feel suicidal. This is complicated by the fact that I stopped drinking completely 3 weeks ago which can apparently cause depression although the depression starting earlier but it could be exacerbating it. I realize there's a chance, a good chance, that, having been on these meds for so long, and having swapped about along with being so sensitive, I might well have to stay on them forever. I'm trying to come to terms with this, but I don't want to give up giving up too easy. Many thanks again for the site, I wish I'd found you earlier, and for any advice you can offer.

I’m a 63 year old woman and my first antidepressant use was in 1997. I saw antidepressants as mood cosmetics: an adjustment to my anxious, sometimes irritable and depressive personality that would help me get ahead and live more boldly. I didn’t stay on for long and I quit cold turkey. I broke up with my boyfriend and fell into a deep depression, which I attributed to the breakup. 2003, I found myself in a challenging job as I started having premenopausal irritability. My gynecologist put me back on Prozac, but at some point (2006?), my gp switched me to lexapro. I stayed on it until 2015. (I had post nasal drip with fluoxetine, which led (I think) to numerous sinus infections; that’s why I asked to switch) 2015, I realized I’d missed many doses and I felt fine, so I just stopped, but started having zaps, emotional lability, anxiety etc. I kept wanting to get through it, thinking the symptoms would abate sooner or later. After many months like this, I complained to my gp about hot flashes—not recognizing them as a withdrawal symptom. When she suggested lexapro as an off-label solution to that problem, it felt like a message from god and I resumed lexapro. 2021, I honestly felt there’d be no easier time in my life to taper. Never mind the pandemic, I thought my life was great, which presently seems blunted and delusional. 11/30, I started reducing my doses, and proceeded carefully for 254 days, listening to my body and making reductions after zaps stopped and I felt stable at the lower dose. My last dose in 8/2022. Tardive withdrawal symptoms started in September or October. They seem episodic but mostly, they’re present; I’ve had just a few multi-day breaks from symptoms. Writing this in mid-February 2023 and wondering if I’ll ever feel better. Dealing with loneliness, aging/dying parents and money issues are added, unavoidable stressors. of the four doctors who’ve prescribed ssris for me, one was a gynecologist. The others were GPs! Very grateful to friends who are willing to listen. what helps: —I used to take my Ssri with a fistful of supplements and I found it easy to lose the habit of taking supplements when I stopped the drugs. Now I’m careful to take supplements and they seem to help, but I’m not qualified to advise. (Everything I take: Fish oil, magnesium, b6, b12, calcium citrate, C, D3) —I take valerian to help with sleep. I like solaray because it has standardized active ingredient. Topical melatonin, also for sleep; sometimes kava tea for daytime calm —seldom drinking any alcohol —switching from black tea to green and limiting it to two cups in the morning —seldom watching any news at present —asking myself “what is the best way to take care of myself right now?”—especially when I’m symptomatic —I pick up a lot of good tips from YouTube channel “therapy in a nutshell”… not specific to drug discontinuation but useful techniques for staying calm I’m here to learn as well as to support and I welcome comments to improve my approach to recovery may we all be well, Mary

Hey, my name's Leland. Last May, 2020, I started having Panic Attacks due to life stress, COVID fears, and unhealthy lifestyle habits. After a week of bad anxiety, DP/DR, I was prescribed 10 MG Prozac. The first week was managable, so I increased to 20 MG. Did all kinds of research on the drug to assuage my fears, but my side effects were pretty minimal. Panic attacks continued once a week or so, but began to slowly weaken. After one bad day in late July 2020, my doctor and I increased my dose to 30 MG. After a few weeks of this I felt pretty calm again. For the next few months, my anxiety was hit or miss, but I stopped having panic attacks, and I learned to live with the anxiety that would creep up, so largely that went away as well. I felt pretty detached and foggy with the medicine, but very calm, so it was worth it. This spring, I had gone 7 or so months without a panic attack, so I decided to taper off. My doctor recommended dropping 10 MG every 2-4 weeks, so I chose 4 weeks. Went from 30 to 20, then to 10 on May 8. On June 1 I took my last 10 MG pill. Immediately I felt withdrawal symptoms. Brain zaps, fatigue, body and head aches, and a feeling like I was underwater. Did some research on my own and found this site! Decided after 5 week of symptoms to talk to my doctor about reinstating and tapering again, from 5 MG. Before I received the liquid medicine, I went on a vacation with family and drank, a lot. Came back to California having new and severe anxiety attacks (not panic attacks, since I gained the skills to stop them from becoming panic). New feelings of DP/DR came from the anxiety. Took my first reinstated dose of 3 MG on July 30. The next week was full of dizziness, anxiety, DP/DR, aches. Came to an understanding with my Psychiatrist that binge drinking while having Withdrawal Symptoms led to my anxiety outburst. Increased to 5 MG liquid on August 7. Since then, my anxiety has lessened some, but I still have daily feelings of feeling underwater, occasional anxiety outbursts, and fatigue. Have cut my drinking by 85%, now only 2 beers per week. Sleeping well, eating well and exercising, walking to lessen my anxiety. Ultimately, I'm staying on 5 MG liquid for several more weeks before doing the 10% taper. Withdrawal symptoms *seem* better, definitely no more brain zaps. But it's hard to tell with all my new anxiety symptoms. I want to calm my anxiety holistically, instead of increasing my prozac back up to 10 or 20 MGs. The medicine really worked for me, but I want to be able to remove it from my life eventually as well. Will continue to take care of myself everyday, and hope both the medicine and anxiety symptoms even themselves out over time. Excited to have found this site!

ADMIN NOTE If you are looking for information about switching or "bridging" to Prozac to go off your antidepressant, read this ENTIRE topic: https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/19373-the-prozac-switch-or-bridging-with-prozac/ Prozac was the first popular SSRI, released in 1987, and was a substantial source of profit for Eli Lilly for many years. It became available in a generic form in 2001 (Lilly's fortunes subsequently plummeted). It comes in 10mg, 20mg, and 40mg capsules, as well as a liquid (usually 20Mg/5Ml), which is very helpful for tapering off. After a single oral 40 mg dose, peak plasma concentrations occur after 6 to 8 hours. In Australia and parts of Asia, brand-name Prozac is available in 20mg flavored dispersible tablets, instructions for which advise that they may be dissolved in water. The tablets are scored, indicating they may be split. (In the UK, similar fluoxetine dispersible tablets are called Olena.) Prozac also comes in a 90mg weekly capsule, containing coated pellets for delayed release adding 2 hours for peak plasma concentrations (very rarely prescribed). Prozac has the longest half-life of any SSRI. After you take it for a few days, half-life is about 16 days. Fluoxetine itself has a half-life of 2-4 days, but as it is processed, your body creates an active antidepressant metabolite, norfluoxetine, which has a half-life of 7-15 days. So Prozac keeps on extending its half-life as it is metabolized. According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluoxetine , fluoxetine and norfluoxetine inhibit each other's metabolism, extending the half-life of the drug. Because the half-lives are so long, the full effect of Prozac on the brain may not be felt for several weeks. fluoxetine (1-6 days) ---> norfluoxetine (up to 16 days) ---> other metabolites Prozac is mainly metabolized by the liver enzymes identified by cytochrome P450 CYP2D6 and CYP2C9/2C19, and inhibits its own metabolism via cyp 2D6 and cyp 2c19, which means lower doses get metabolized faster. (Prozac and its metabolites are also mild to moderate inhibitors of CYP1A2, CYP2B6, CYP2C9, and CYP3A4.) Is Prozac "self-tapering"? Because of its very long half-life, Prozac has the reputation of being "self-tapering," meaning it requires only a short taper. However, some people do suffer withdrawal from Prozac, just as severe as other SSRIs. Because of the long half-life, withdrawal symptoms simply take longer to appear. We suggest starting out with a slow taper of 10% per month for a couple of months; if no withdrawal symptoms appear, rate of taper may be increased -- but slow down if withdrawal symptoms arise. Reduce by 10% per month to start The 10% rule holds for Prozac, just like other psychiatric drugs: Reduce by 10% per month, calculated on the last dosage. (The amount of the reduction gets progressively smaller.) See Why taper by 10% of my dosage? Using fluoxetine liquid to taper Using a liquid can be a very precise way to taper, by far the easiest way to titrate by very small amounts. Fluoxetine liquid comes in a concentation of 20mg fluoxetine in 5mL of liquid, meaning there is 4mg of fluoxetine in 1mL. If you are taking 10mg Prozac now, the liquid equivalent would 2.5mL. If you want to take 9mg of Prozac, you would take 2.25mL of the liquid. Always check the concentration of the liquid you get as it can vary among manufacturers, and adjust your calculations accordingly. If your fluoxetine liquid contains 20mg fluoxetine in 5mL of liquid: 1 mL= 4mg 0.5mL = 2mg 0.25mL = 1mg 0.2ml = 0.8mg You will need an oral syringe to measure out your dose of the liquid. To use the oral syringe, you need a special cap to put on the bottle of liquid Prozac. The cap should have a hole in it, the tip of the oral syringe fits into this. Read this about oral syringes. If your pharmacist doesn't have a cap, ask for a smaller medicine bottle with this type of cap. Pour some of your liquid Prozac into it and draw your dosage from the smaller bottle. Here's an illustration of how to draw the medication from the bottle http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/235-tapering-techniques/page__view__findpost__p__2284 Also see http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/235-tapering-techniques/page__view__findpost__p__21391 See more detail about how to measure and taper Prozac-brand liquid here http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/759-tips-for-tapering-off-prozac-fluoxetine/page__view__findpost__p__41090 It may be more convenient for you to take part of your dose in tablet or capsule form and part in liquid form for a while, tapering from the liquid part. Or, you may wish to gradually transition from taking your dose in a solid form to liquid form. See "Using a combination of tablets or capsules and liquid" below for how to make the change from taking your daily dose in all-solid form to all-liquid form. Making your own fluoxetine liquid how-to-make-a-liquid-from-tablets-or-capsules Fluoxetine is one of the few psychiatric medications with a long history of do-it-yourself dilution in water or juice. Mixed in cranberry juice, it's been called "Cranzac." My own personal preference would be to dilute it with water, to avoid any degradation that might be caused by sugar or acid in the juice. Also, it will be easier to see how well the fluoxetine is dissolved in water. (There may be particles swirling around, that's the filler in the capsule that doesn't dissolve.) Your fluoxetine liquid may be a little bitter -- just swallow it quickly. You might want to chase it with a little fruit juice. There are instructions for DIY Prozac solution here: http://depression.about.com/cs/sideeffects/ht/cranzac.htm (A psychiatrist posts about it here.) For very gradual tapering, for example, you can dissolve a 10mg capsule or orally dispersible tablet in 10mL of water to make a solution with 1mg Prozac in 1mL of water. To take 1mg Prozac, use an oral syringe to take out 1mL. Refrigerated, it's supposed to be stable for 14 days. From a pharmaceutical technician manual Using a combination of tablets or capsules and liquid Rather than switch directly to an all-liquid dose, you may wish to take part of your dose in liquid and part in lower-dose tablets or capsules, gradually converting to all liquid as you get to lower dosages. This can be very convenient and reduce any problems switching from one form of the drug to another. For example, if you are taking more than 10mg fluoxetine per day, you could get your prescription filled in 10mg tablets or capsules and take part of your daily dosage as a capsule or tablet and the rest in liquid. If you are taking 10mg fluoxetine tablet or capsule, for the transition, you might alternate days where you take 10mg in capsule form and 10mg in liquid form, gradually taking more days in liquid form. (Do not skip any doses.) If your doctor prescribes liquid and tablets or capsules at the same time, most likely, he or she will have to indicate "divided doses" in the prescriptions to get the drugs covered by insurance. Dividing contents of capsules into empty gelatin capsules One way of tapering is to split up the powder in a capsule into smaller dosages. Go to a health food store and get empty gelatin capsules, the biggest they've got. When you open up a Prozac capsule, you can carefully pour a fraction of the powder into empty gelatin capsules. You won't have 5mg per capsule exactly, because it's difficult to eyeball the amounts. If you want to be more precise, carefully pour the powder onto a piece of black paper and divide it into quarters with a knife, then scoop each 1/4 into an empty gelatin capsule. See more about this technique at http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/235-tapering-techniques/page__p__3033#entry3033 If you are very sensitive to variations in dosage, this method will not be precise enough for you to control your taper. Divide up capsule contents with an electronic scale If you want to be even more precise, weigh the powder in a capsule with an electronic scale, divide it up, and put it into empty gelatin capsules. The powder is very fluffy, though -- make sure it doesn't blow off the scale. See Using a digital scale to measure doses Have a compounding pharmacy make up capsules of smaller dosages With a prescription, a compounding pharmacy will accurately weigh the doses and put them into capsules for you. See http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/235-tapering-techniques/page__p__3001#entry3001

Sorry that this is really long and rambley. I have a lot to unpack... Hello, I am a 17-year-old male teenager and I've been on antidepressants since I was 12. I remember when me and my class went on a few days long school trip at the end of my last year of elementary school and I felt sad the entire time. Back then even I wasn't really sure where it came from, but I attributed my feelings to homesickness, as I had never been on that kind of trip before. But even when I came back home, that sadness didn't disappear. That was probably when I first noticed that something was "wrong". The sadness and sense that something was horribly wrong would persist for my entire summer break. But I ignored all of it and insisted to myself that everything would be back to normal once I started middle school. These feelings of melancholy weren't abnormal for me during long summer breaks, and it would all disappear once school started again. Surely once school started , I would become happy again right? Wrong. The first day of school I was filled with a bunch of overwhelming emotions I couldn't process. The second day my mind burst and I was left sobbing in the shower. The next few months would be an excruciating hell filled with frequent crying spells, anhedonia, and just general awfulness. My feelings were completely out of control. Sometimes I would feel happy, sometimes I would feel absolutely miserable. The whole time I was agonizing over what could've possibly been causing all this. I told my doctor that I thought my feelings were due to puberty. He dismissed it. He suggested it was due to the singulaire I've been taking, but that ended up not being the case either (I guess it could be, but why would it start being a problem now when I've been taking singulaire my whole life? I abandoned this train of thought long ago) My depression continued even after I stopped taking singulair. The uncertainty over what caused my depression just made it worse. And just when I thought it couldn't possibly get any worse, it all culminated into one random really bad day, when all of a sudden I lost my sense of self and my sense of reality. I was in the school nurse's office awakwardly explaining to the lady what was going on in my mind (or lack thereof) like an idiot. Then I was face up on a bed in that office emptily wondering if I had gone mad. Then I was at home in bed. All that time wondering, "How did I get here?" Nothing felt real. My sense of "self" returned, only to allow me to experience the most tortorous time in my life. I was panicking and crying like crazy for days, all over delusions of solipsism and the feeling that I was secretly living in a TV show my whole life without me knowing until recently. My vision was filled with static. I looked online, it was called visual snow. Everything looked far away, sounded far away, felt far away. Living with these symptoms for years have caused me to grow used to it, but back then I couldn't handle it. I was so done with everything, I just wanted to give up. I remember one day my mom asked me if I wanted to go to a buddhist temple to pray. It was so out of nowhere and I would've normally declined. But I had nothing better to do, everything was pointless, so I went anyway. I started taking antidepressants when I would've refused to before. I remember taking my first pill of lexapro, immediately feeling sleepy, then passing out and having the most vivid lucid dream I've ever had and probably will ever have. Then after a day, I would feel absolute euphoria for the next few weeks. It was so surprising! But then that euphoria would disappear to be replaced by mundane nothingness. I complained at first, but eventually I would grow to accept that feeling nothing was better than feeling miserable. Still, I never figured out where that initial burst of happiness came from. My best bet was divine intervention, that by praying in front of a Buddhist statue had obtained me a blessing from some higher being. It was ridiculous, but I had nothing else. All these years later and I haven't figured out what caused my depression either. Was it the emotional gut punch from the sudden realization that life wasn't all sunshine and rainbows like naive little kid me thought? Was it the intense pressure of entering adolescence and starting middle school? Was it due to puberty, like what I initially thought, all those years ago? The last one was unlikely. I think about it a lot, what could've possibly caused all this?Oftentimes I've been satisfied with my rationalizations. But ultimately, I still don't know. Fast forward to October of 2023 and I've made the decision to taper (again). I told my psychiatrist that I wanted to go off slowly, much more slowly than last time. But I made one crucial mistake. I forgot to request liquid medication. I wanted to wait until my next appointment to get my liquids before I begin tapering, but my mom forced me to decrease by 10mg monthly with the physical pills. By the time my next appointment rolled around, my 80mg of Prozac had decreased to 60mg. I finally got my liquid medication, but ultimately decided to pause tapering to exhaust all of the physical pills from my previous prescription before continuing a 10% taper with the liquid. Everything was fine, at least at first. This January, I read a visual novel Umineko: When They Cry. It was absolutely life-changing, hands-down the best fiction ever. One character in particular really resonated with me, with their struggles with gender dysphoria. I am nonbinary, but I haven't had any desire to change my body in any way or become more feminine. I found it strange how attached I've grown to this character, but I figured it was just that Umineko magic. But the more I obsessed and cried and the more that my feelings became disconnected from what I thought was the "source", the more that I, once again, felt that something was horribly wrong. It began in February, two months after my previous dose reducing, and it's continued until now. My mood is out of control. Feelings of depression come and go. I want to believe it's all withdrawal. But what scares me is that it feels exactly like my initial depression five years ago. I would be comfortable dismissing it all as due to withdrawal if it all came out of nowhere. But that's the thing, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it feels like there's something weird happening in my brain, weird emotions, but with no thoughts. But other times I spiral and there are thoughts attached to those emotions. Thoughts about how I hate my body, my body hair, my fat, how I wish I had boobs. Just intense gender dysphoria out of nowhere! I've questioned if I'm a trans girl before but never so desperately. I can't describe it all that well unless I'm experiencing it in the moment. I'll probably come back here again to post while I'm spiraling. When I'm in a calmer state, like now, it makes me feel really stupid, like I'm worrying over nothing. But I know it does happen, and it'll most likely happen again sometime in the near future. But why? Could gender dysphoria be a symptom of withdrawal? I don't think that's how that works, right? Could I have been repressing it for a long time? But how? I think back to all those years ago, when I told my doctor about my symptoms, said that I thought it was due to puberty, only for him to dismiss my conjecture. Could 12-year-old me back then have been right all along? What if the hormones from puberty gave me dysphoria, which I couldn't process or express at the time because I had no idea about what being trans is, then antidepressants caused me to bury and repress that dysphoria, only for it to resurface and relapse once I'm slowly getting off them? Is this theory too crazy to be true? Am I too desperate too make things make sense? I'm not sure how "connected" this dysphoria is to my actual emotions, so maybe I'm just deceiving myself. I don't know, I keep switching back and forth between withdrawal and relapse. It's so confusing. I feel like an idiot now because I'm in a calm state. But once I spiral the uncertainty becomes unbearable, so I really need to figure this out.

Hi all, First off I am grateful for this forum, thank you for letting me join. My journey began with trying to address some confusing health issues that put an end to a career that I dearly loved. Anxiety and overwhelm with my situation took over and it was recommended by my therapist that I try an antidepressant. Since my father took escitalopram without issue (going on or off) I decided to try it. My mother and I are sensitive to medication and I was very, very resistant to going on an antidepressant. My GP prescribed 10 mg of escitalopram and hydroxzine for sleep. At this point I had been taking 50 mg of Trazodone for sleep. The first weekend of taking those meds changed everything. After the first dose I woke up dizzy and disoriented, nearly falling out of bed. The derealization and confusion from that was incredible. The panic and anxiety intense. After that weekend I stopped the hydroxyzine I asked to step down to 5 mg and did that for a month, eventually going to 7.5 because I was told that my body would adjust (under my doctors direction by alternate taking 5 and 10 mg every other to reach 7.5mg). By the fourth month at 10 mg I was having severe waves of body agitation followed by waves of peaceful calm, extreme eye strain, evening concussive headaches, sweating, fluctuating eye sight, trembling, contstipation, and derealization. The waves of body agitation were the worse but at least at that time I could lay down, ride it out and have moments of peaceful calm. I was told by my psychiatrist that most of my symptoms couldn’t be from the meds and had more with my aversion to taking it. After seeing several specialist and testing it was determined that I have acquired spontaneous nystagmus and an inner ear caused balance. Based off of my timeline of symptoms the balance issue thought to be most likely caused by long covid. At four months on escitalopram I tapered down over 2 weeks from 10 to 5 to 0 mg. Reviewing information on this site I realize now that may have been too fast. However, a lot of my symptoms did improve until I started vestibular therapy where they suggested that an ssri has sometimes been found to be beneficial. So, after 1 month of being off of escitalopram I started fluoxetine at 10 mg. Trembling started again with more headaches and brain fog. After two months of fluoxetine I’d had enough and was told that I could go off it cold turkey because it was “self tapering”. I have been off of fluoxetine for a month and was told that it would be out of my system at that point. Still I’m left with feet tingling, headaches and a constant feeling of derealization with brain fog, headaches, concentration issues and unsteadiness. Now true to form my physiatrist wants to try other things like Viibryd, Lamictal or Gabapentin. I can’t see getting hooked on benzo’s or going back on another psych med unless it’s going to be able to address my other issues. Of course nobody except my audiologist wants to go down the long covid route. Looking at past immediate AD reaction post it appears to me that I may in fact have had an adverse reaction to escitalopram and may have deregulated my nervous system further starting fluoxetine? Admittedly I am anxiety ridden over my situation regarding my nystagmus, inner ear balance (long Covid) issues but the brain fog derealization is the worst of it. I feel I may have made things worse by switching around with the meds, the way I took them and went off of them. I am being told that I wasn’t on the meds long enough or at a high enough dose to cause lingering withdrawal symptoms. I’m now basically bed ridden, unable to work or drive. I have looked through the supplements recommendations and started fish oil. I have taken vitamin C and D and a probiotic for ever. Thanks for being here and any insight that you can give me

I have been on 20 mg of Lexapro for about 20 years for Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I have had breakthrough anxiety several times during the period and recently it seems to have quit working. My doctor did a genetic test which showed that I was not a good match for Lexapro do to being an ultra rapid metabolizer of the drug. Two weeks ago he did a direct switch from the 20 mg of Lexapro to 40 mg of Prozac. Since the switch I have been getting progressively worst having extreme anxiety, feeling sick, and having trouble with concentration. Really unsure of what to do as the symptoms are pretty severe. Any suggestions on what to do to help with the symptoms, should I reinstate the Lexapro or continue going forward with Prozac. Thanks in advance

I'm sorry if this winds up being kind of nebulous or rambled, but that's kind of how things are/feel right now. I might be in the minority here but i'm actually sort of thankful for Prozac. My OCD tendencies and anxiety were eating up a huge chunk of my life, and after starting Prozac, the tapping, counting and constant checking and rechecking stopped. I started out on 20 a little over two years ago, moved up to 30 after six or so months, then stayed at 40 until about two months ago. I'd been taking .5 mg of Ativan every few days for some sudden, terrible anxiety following an extreme panic attack. I was on it every few days two months and stopped fairly abruptly not wanting to be on it for any long period of time. Now, my Psych and I still aren't sure if it was some kind of prozac poopout or ativan withdrawal but i went through two weeks of some pretty unpleasant symptoms. Jittery to the point that i couldn't sit and do anything, no more than 4 hours of extremely uncomfortable sleep a night, zero appetite, anxiety and general lack of ability to enjoy much of anything. To elaborate a bit, i could only manage boost/ensure type meal replacements and paced *constantly* up until the point it was 2am or so, and time for my few hours of sleep. By the time i got in to see my psych i had been dealing with it for a week and she said given the low and infrequent dosage of my ativan she didn't want to reinstate , so she upped my prozac to 60mg and we decided i'd bear with what we thought might be ativan withdrawal and see if it lessened in the coming weeks . Over the next two weeks after she upped my Prozac the symptoms went away gradually and i I found some semblance of feeling semi normal, if still kind of fatigued. Seeing as how it seemed that I had "gotten lucky" by getting off Ativan before i was on it for too long and the symptoms of withdrawal were hell level severe and super long lasting, i decided it was time to get off Prozac. I still had a bunch of 40mgs leftover and just switched to taking those. This was about two weeks ago and about 4 days after doing so i started to experience some pretty hefty fatigue, mild anxiety and decreased appetite. Unlike my last withdrawal (or whatever it was) i can sleep a full 8 hours, can sit and watch stuff, enjoy things to a degree and even force myself up to the gym. I wake up after sleep feeling pretty exhausted, but i'm able to eat and don't feel the overwhelming urge to pace. My psych is one of the ones who said it would be fine for me to taper down over the course of a month or so, but at the same time she's very accommodating if I ask to go slower with stuff, so i wont have a problem getting liquid. I guess right now my plan is to bear with this 20mg drop since its already been almost two weeks, and then try liquid and dropping 10% a month. I guess i'm here for a bit of support and maybe reassurance that even if things are protracted it will eventually end, and i will have good windows throughout the experience. Another thing i guess i'm here for is to see if anyone thinks its wise for me to reinstate back to 60 and taper at 10% from that point. The symptoms i have now aren't unbearable, but they for sure aren't a good time. Side note: I'm also on TRT because tests showed that my body wasn't making enough of it naturally. I get pretty frequent blood work for it and both my estrogen and testosterone levels are in the green as of yesterdays blood work.

I started Citalopram 20mg in January 2008 for anxiety and depression. It didnt work well so doctor updosed me to 40mg. After a month of sides i went back to 20mg. She changed me to different generics. I didnt have withdrawal or side effects on the different generics. In October 2010 a new doctor switched me to 20mg Paxil generic. In November 2011 I went onto original paxil 20mg, i had a panic attack in my sleep, but the next day i was fone. I felt really happy and everything was good. April 2012 I decided to go off paxil. I halved the dose to 10mg for 3 weeks, the next 3 weeks I skipped alternative days untill I stopped completely mid May 2012. I had the usual withdrawal symptoms, then I felt good. In July 2012 I had a breakdown. I got new symptoms and went to see the doctor. He advised I go on prozac. I started on 20mg for 4 days. I stopped on the 4th day because of start-up effects like anxiety and sedation. Doctor said ok fine, lets put you on a small dose of Cymbalta 30mg. 1st day the same as Prozac, second day all hell broke loose. Had a severe adverse reaction to the cymbalta. I had dearelization, head felt funny as if no blood was flowing to my brain, nlood pressure was low I felt like death. I found another site and they advised i go back on paxil and get stable. A week after the cymbalta incident i went back on paxil but started out on 5mg. I took it for 18 days and then stopped as it didnt work and made me confused and sedated. Now, 3 months med free I am suffering badly. My anxiety, dizziness and head symptoms are a bit better but now i am really suffering from extremely severe derealization and depersonalization. I mean extreme 24/7 and I am so so scared I messed up too badly to recover I dont think im going to recover. I am 23 years old btw. I have brain fog, dizziness, extreme fatiugue, DP/DR, apathy, anhedonia, tremors. I have lost all hope....

Hello, I have taken many months to taper off what i consider this evil drug. I have been off it now for approx 2 weeks but i am still experiencing "Brain Zaps". I am very tired. have memory worries, very itchy, sore in corner of mouth and a lot of "aches and pains" and more. how long does it take to feel relief from it all? I have been on other anti depressants for about 40yrs and i am wondering if my body will be unable to function without them T

Unsure if I'm posting in the right place but this is somewhat of an introduction. 1.5 years ago I started on 20mg of Prozac for OCD. There was restlessness with starting but it went away. Gradually I tapered down to 10mg of Prozac which I was on for a full year. 2 months ago, I felt the sudden onset of a a very severely agitated feeling. It was very vague but I can pinpoint the exact moment I noticed it -- I was sitting, doing nothing remarkable, and unstressed. I had felt something like this before throughout my treatment but it was very very temporary and felt more like an agitated depression brought on by external circumstances. When this feeling started I could not pinpoint anything else as the cause. Things were good in all parts of my life. I had not messed with the dosage of Prozac at all for a year. Is it still possible that the Prozac is causing this long term agitation/akathisia that I still experience today? A month into the feeling I decided to taper off Prozac completely. I experienced very little withdrawal...just mild headaches and dizziness. The akathisia didn't get worse or better. But it is still quite bad. And the longer it continues the more hopeless I become and probably the more depressed as well because I can't see a life without this agitation anymore. Started on some Klonopin to treat the restlessness and help me sleep. Has anyone else experienced akathisia without a dose change? And also only being on a low dose?

Hello, I’m new to the site, and unfortunately have to be here. To start I was on Paxil from 2017 to 2021. I don’t even remember my dosages but came off easy over a couple week taper. 6 months later I was put on Zoloft for a “relapse” of my OCD and i was on for 2 months in July 2021. Was emergency tapered to prozac and was on 10mg of prozac for 2 years. I increased to 20mg once in July 2022 for a couple months but it didn’t help so back down to 10mg in September 2022. Stayed on 10mg until June 2021 after a panic attack and than I increased to 20mg for 2 weeks. Had a horrible reaction this time because of the panic attack and developed agoraphobia and had to go back down to 10mg for a week, and than was off completely. A month later I was feeling better, and got into therapy but still had panic attacks, and started getting full emotion back. For the next month I was having bad mood swings, heightened anxiety, still some agoraphobia but felt I was making improvements naturally exercising and going to therapy. 2.5 months since my last down I had a horrible crash. Almost out of nowhere I became very depressed, crying, SI, intense panic and fear, and overall sickness. This happened 2 weeks ago. A couple days later I reinstated prozac at 1mg via liquid and 5 days later up to 2mg. It’s been a week since I’ve been on 2mg and haven’t seen much improvement at all. I’m completely disabled, I can’t be alone, I can’t drive, I’m off work, and I don’t know what to do. I’m seeing a psychiatrist because my family is making me, and I’m scared to death that it’s gonna make me worse. I’ve been encouraged to go up to 5mg because I haven’t really felt worse being back on the Prozac, but I’m not seeing much improvement either other than maybe sleeping a bit better. I could use any advice I can get.

hello, my name is Emmanuel, and i live in france and i'm 44 years old. I started taking effewor 75 mg in 2005 until June 2008. following an anxious state after a separation. I stopped dead with the droid turkey in 2008 and after 2 weeks, I had no more symptoms. In September 2009, after having a new job in May, I decided to start again for the stimulating effects and because I could smoke more weed without getting high. the drug also calmed me for my impulsiveness and increased my concentration. From 2009 to 2018, the drug always had the same effect on me. Things got complicated suddenly: even taking my medication at the same time (8 am), same dose every day, I began to have withdrawal symptoms which appeared around 12 am. I was tired, I had no use of concentration, I slept a lot, I had brain zap, I did not understand what was happening to me. I thought like the doctors told me that I could take this all my life. I believed him. after a few months, seeing that it did not change, I wanted to try a switch by going to fluoxetine. I thought it was just the medicine that stopped working and that if I changed it would work again. I did a 1 month switc, and everything went perfectly but I had to go up to 25 mg of fluoxetine. I didn't want to increase more. 1 year ago, my father died before my eyes. I was shocked and had to switch to 30 mg of fluoxetine. but today I have extremely difficult side effects: headaches, fatigue, insomnia, involuntary movements (not all the time, but they are little jerks) in my hands and feet, difficulty not moving my legs when I'm sitting down, bad taste in my mouth and the feeling of being weaned again: in August I wanted to try cold turkey for a few days, "to see" For 10 days it went well and then I started having big panic attacks at work and the ordeal began: even when I resumed my normal dose, I didn't feel like before. On October 7, I broke a finger at work, I said to myself "you are going to switch to escitalopram" and as prozac has a very long half-life, I stopped dead again and started to increase escitalopram gradually to reach at 15mg. After 4 weeks I started having suicidal thoughts, I cried all the time, I thought my life was screwed up even though I have a good job, I have a beautiful wife who loves and supports me and financially, everything is fine. No explanation for his suicidal thoughts. After 6 weeks, I was exhausted, I was thinking about how I was going to end it. I have never had suicidal thoughts in my entire life, I have always been a joyful, empathetic person who loves life. So I went to see a psychiatrist (for the first time) and who told me that apart from sleep apnea, or that I'm bipolar, it's impossible that fluoxetine no longer had an effect on me and that if I had to increase effexor, it was because I was relapsing. out, when i stopped effexor, everything was going great in my life. He told me that for escitalopram, it was rare but that it "could happen, suicidal thoughts. work in mental health and I had already read an article on tardive dysphoria by el mallakh and Giovanni Fava, explaining the phenomenon of oppositional rolerance of the brain by desensitizing serotonergic receptors. I knew that psychiatrist was lying. for 8 weeks, I am again under fluoxetine 30 mg. I'm not bad, but I'm not well either, I don't have suicidal thoughts anymore. But I still have the side effects of prozac (headache, insomnia, electric shock, fatigue, my eyelids are half open, involuntary movements, restless legs). I searched for answers and found the surviving antidepressant site. I need your opinion: what do you think is happening to me? My body is used to its drugs and I go into resistance? is it possible that my body is rejecting anti depressants? I lose my vitality, my energy and my desire, I feel like I no longer feel anything. The stop haunts me. but when I read the testimonials, I am afraid of the paws. Do a gradual decrease? My body is already in tolerance and I already have withdrawal symptoms. I am already losing my concentration and my memory. I do not know what to do. I'm afraid of losing my wife, my family and my job if I quit. I think it will take at least a year. I want to stop in the hospital since I had suicidal thoughts 2 months ago. Yet I've never been like that, what's happening to me? I really need help. Thanks for reading me.

( mod note, mmt) Ewa's Introduction topic is here: Ewa;Cymbalta 60 mg coldturkey My name is Ewa, I’m 49 years young and I have recovered from the voyage to hell that was initiated by cold turkey from 20 years of antidepressants use. In the title SHE is my daughter (now 12 years old) my first and main reason to stay here, second is my husband Eric who was my caregiver and was there for me unwaveringly, third information about withdrawal from this website (was my first website I found when looking for answers) and others like it, success stories of people who came through victorious, and relentless search for truth. On February 2018 I cold turkey from 60mg of Cymbalta (December 2017 I turned 44 years old) almost instantly I was in altered state of consciousness (in medical community labeled as mania, I dislike their terminology but I will use it here in parenthesis) had out of body experiences and visions (not hallucinations) one of them was my mothers trauma I didn’t know about. I was in trans like state very euphoric, didn’t need much sleep, had diarrhea for about one month, metallic taste in my mouth, could not eat meat and other foods. I was functioning but in different way. Gradually I was coming down from euphoria, it took 8 months and one day it was clear to me that I was very much different in past months (I had that awareness during but was not afraid of it) also I started to feel internal vibration that I thought was anxiety (never had anxiety before in my life). In the end of August 2018 I went back on 60 mg Cymbalta plus 0.5 mg Ativan (first time in my life I was put on benzodiazepine), two weeks into being back on drugs I became suicidal. Every two months I was in hospital changed the antidepressant Ativan stayed the same 0.5 mg twice a day or as needed. My condition was worsening and in January 2019 I did ketamine which put me further down the hell. By this time my diagnosis changed from depression (my original sign 😉) to treatment resistant depression, all they have left for me was ECT, I had 8 sessions in total and after last one as I was walking out of hospital (for my last two sessions I was outpatient, for so called maintenance sessions) I heard just a whisper of my own soul “Ewa you have to find your own way out of here, if you stay,there will be no coming back”, by this time I was a shell of my former self, a mare shadow of a human being, that upon waking from last ECT had to guess what year it was, I was successful in this but the president of USA in 2019 was still Obama.As soon as I got home I went on internet and found this website, my search for my own way out of hell has begun. At that time I was on Zoloft and Ativan, I decided to cold turkey again (two months taper) and in May 2019 my drug free life has begun. The level of suffering has intensified greatly and stayed the same for two years. I did not have windows not even one. I had severe insomnia, slept 2 or 3 or 0 hours, anhedonia, depersonalization, déréalisation, intrusive thoughts, suicidal ideation and urges, memory loss, cognition loss, complete loss of appetite, my GI was twisting and burning, I forced myself to eat and it was two bites at the time, I didn’t shower for weeks only when I was on my period (I never lost my menstruations still have it now), all consuming terror was always there, didn’t brush my teeth (had to have 3 crowns last year), I had light sensitivity sunny days in summer where extra torture, sounds sensitivity (I love music but in that state was torture), my whole body was stiff like I was log of wood very hard wood. Adrenaline rushes like toxic waves through my body, Agoraphobia ( was mostly bad bound), apathy, confusion, crying it was more wailing like a caged animal I became. Inner trembling, lethargy, complete loss of libido, during my very short sleep I manage to have nightmares. Tinnitus was not severe and it went away after about one year. January 3 2020 I wrote this “All I want is to be able to be a mother and wife again ! I love Chloe and Eric so much” at that time I had all the symptoms I listed above. Also I have to add that during my altered state of consciousness (mania) April 2018 I had breast lift surgery(it was scheduled in 2017), day after walking up the stairs I heard myself saying “it is not normal to cut healthy body” , this procedure so accepted and even praised by our sick society is a band aid in form of self mutation to secure love and approval of others behind which is a very deep pain. I had infection and was put on very strong antibiotics, further destroying my got. (I have to go to my appointment now second part of my root canal treatment, I will continue later on today, I will submit this now because I don’t know how to save this and don’t want to loose it 😊) Thank you to my father Jan whom I love deeply, it was from his life journey and strength I drew inspiration to go on.

I have just read this advice about keeping a withdrawal programme Simple ie 3KIS. Not sure but there doesn't seem to be a support network like this in the UK? Only one I've come across is the Royal College of psychiatrists which is a in the form of a video). I've taken great comfort from all this advice as I makes me feel I can try and come off Prozac one more time.

Hi, I was on .5 Mg 1x day of Klonopin for 28 years, my GP updoses it to 3 x day....terrible pyridoxal reaction, Dr. added 10 Mg Prozac which helped the terrible reaction. Did a 2 year taper off Klonopin. 6 Months after being off I started a 5 - 6 month taper off the Prozac. Been off Klonopin 15 months; Off Prozac little over 4 months. Having terrible monophobia (which I kinda had over these last 28 years), huge terror, obsessive thoughts, ruminating thoughts, extreme anger / rage, insomnia. I called both my dr. and therapist crying today. Dr. wants me to re-instate the Prozac. Is this still benzo withdrawal or Prozac wd ??? I am SO scared of meds.....I wonder if this is me or meds ???

Hi All! Was previously on Lexapro from 2016-2022. Last dose Dec 1, 2022. Severe and debilitating anxiety and panic reared November 2023 and after about a month I asked my family doc if I could start Prozac. After 7 weeks, it is not doing anything, and the side effects (I assume they are) are really difficult to deal with. So I'd like to come off. I am not sure if I will try something else. I am having lots of issues functioning and the physical anxiety is extreme so i may still need help (besides therapy). (Palps, vomiting daily, adrenal surges, shaking limbs, loss of appetite, and on and on) I need advice on how to stop the Prozac. I was on 5mg, went down to 4mg for 10 days, now on 3mg. Since I was only on for 7 weeks and never got above 5mg, do I still need to do the 10% taper? I feel like then the taper will be longer than me being on it and I just want it out of my system. At what point do I just jump? I have liquid version.

Hi, I have been struggling with hearing sensitivity and eye issues ever since I made the mistake of listening to my neurologist and trying Effexor, and then upon recommendation of a psychiatrist, Prozac. Both were for short time periods. I am a little more than 4 months out of my last prozac dose. Ears/Hearing: hypersensitive to certain sounds - sudden sounds, sharp impact sounds, crinkling plastic wrappers etc. High pitched tinnitus that is generally not too instrusive and can be better or worse but always there. No hearing loss as of post-Effexor, pre-prozac. Eyes: “tight” feeling that is somewhat better than a few months ago but still not normal. I probably have some visual snow, and my night vision is worse because it’s like my eyes are amplifying light that’s not even there. Constantly bloodshot and dry eyes - taking restasis but opthamologist didn’t see any other eye issues. Balance: generally ok but occasional unsteadiness. Other: Mild constipation: gastroenterologist didn’t see anything wrong. Some TMJ pain and minor random muscle twitches. Occasional facial tremors that are better than a few months ago but not gone. Frequent trouble sleeping- falling asleep, getting enough sleep or deep sleep. Basically I believe that these drugs hypersensitized me. I sincerely hope that this hypersensitivity will decrease over time. I have seen some improvement vs say 2 months ago, but I have a long way to go. I have read on this site that it can take a long time for the nervous system to calm down. I believe that I am generally improved on magnitude of sensitivity vs say 2 months ago, but I am clearly not on a “some people take as much as a month to recover” timeframe.