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  1. tried tapering Pristiq, too tough, looking to try tapering Wellbutrin next Hello all! It has been so helpful to read through this wonderful community, and it’s giving me more hope than I’ve had in a long time. When I was a troubled teen, my parents put me on Prozac, said it made me too angry, and started switching it up and I was on a cocktail before graduation. Been on one ever since, I can’t even remember the chronology of what was taken when, though perhaps I should sit down and try to figure it out. This year, I tapered down Buspar and successfully got off of it. Anxiety went up a bit, but I took more Gabapentin and was fine. Recently, partly due to Kaiser not being able to fill it, I tried tapering down on Pristiq. Since I’m on the lowest possible dose, and it’s time release, I’m having a rough time figuring this out. I read that the maker recommends taking it every other day, then less, but that seems like a real ping-pong for the ole brain. Cutting it to lower the dose was a terrible plan, I spiked in anxiety then crashed for the rest of the day. Since I felt so terrible with lowered Pristiq, it made me wonder if that’s working and I should leave it alone for now. I’ve been on Wellbutrin for longer, so maybe that’s a good one to let go of. I was considering switching to the non-time-release version, but remembered that made me feel suicidal in the past, which got better when I switched back to the same dose of Wellbutrin SR. I’ve also had trouble finding doctors who can/will help. Everyone has told me that since I’ve been on meds since I was young, I’m stuck. Or that it would require more therapy than my insurance company/provider Kaiser is able to provide. For years now, every time I ask about lowering a dose or being on less meds, I walk out of there having gotten a hard sell to increase or add another one. It’s maddening! Finally tapered down on the Buspar on my own, since I couldn’t find anyone to help. With lots of coping skills and self-soothing, it was all right. The problem for me now is this time release mess and being on the lowest doses! I’ll keep diving into what other people have done and see what options might work. Hoping that one day I can find a doctor willing to help me lower, not increase, the meds. I had a family member of kidney failure caused by a mental health med, so being on these for the rest of my life (and potentially shortening it in the process) sounds like a bad plan. Still, figuring this all out is tough! Grateful to find this resource, and learn ways to safely decrease with the goal of getting off some or all meds. Thank you all, and I hope you’re all doing well!
  2. I started taking 20mg of Latuda near the end of May 2022 for treatment-resistant depression and anxiety. I started taking the drug as recommended, with at least 350 calories of food, until sometime in July where I got annoyed with feeling exhausted after dinner and started taking it right before bed without food. I did not realize that this meant I probably only absorbed 50-75% of those doses. By early to mid August, I began experiencing withdrawal symptoms (unbeknownst to me) including severe anxiety, racing thoughts, SI, fast heart beat, and a lack of appetite. I spoke to my psych about what was happening but she could not determine whether my symptoms were from the drug itself or a withdrawal but later suggested that I "taper" off of the medication. I started taking 10mg of Latuda, with food, from September 19th to September 26th and then went cold turkey. Since I have stopped the Latuda, my anxiety is seemingly getting worse, I have bouts of insomnia, I still have no appetite, my heart rate is regularly raised, and have had some GI concerns as well. I am 2 1/2 weeks off of Latuda and wondering if I should re-instate and, if so, at what dose? Have I passed the point of no return? My psych does not believe that what I am experiencing is withdrawal but rather a return of symptoms and wants me to try another anti-psychotic. I have an appointment with a different psych on Tuesday to discuss. I have been out of work on FMLA to handle the anxiety from this and terrified that I am months away from being anywhere close to who I was before this all started.
  3. Hi all, i'll try to describe my problems and my situation and maybe I can get some advice? I'm 28 y/o, have had depression, generalized anxiety, social anxiety, intrusive thoughts, racing thoughts 24/7 (my mind is never silent) attention problems, and executive dysfunction notably since at least 16-18 years old, and i've had OCD like features since I was like 7 as far as I can remember, particularly strong since at least 16 years old. Refused to try any medication up until 2018. Had a scary first bout of what was arguably psychotic thinking in 2016. Here's a brief history: March-ish 2018: Took Wellbutrin about a handful of times, can't remember doseMarch-ish 2018: Took Seroquel a handful of times, can't remember doseMarch-ish 2018- November 2019: Took Sertraline, went from 25 mg to 125 mgs. Foolishly cold turkeyed February 2021: Took Buspar a handful of times, can't remember dose February 2021: Took Luvox maybe like 6 times, nearly killed me and devastated me for months beyond belief March-June 2021: Reinstated Sertraline in an attempt to stop the horrible effects of Luvox (tapered over 2 weeks I think, i'm a little surprised at how my memory seems a bit shot atm) I cold turkeyed Sertraline foolishly out of ignorance and due to life circumstances, and I think I remember not taking it as prescribed daily all too well in the first place. Over the last 2.5 years since then, I have noticeably declined and I believe it is likely protracted withdrawal. I now suffer from everything I mentioned previously but it's all generally worse than a few years ago. Since mid 2020 I have really gone down hill and now suffer from the following daily/regularly: - A considerably more panicked and anxious base level of consciousness - Constant racing thoughts, my mind is never clear/scary intrusive thoughts - Recurrent terrifying "depression attacks/bouts" where i feel depression/anxiety that is so intense in their particular windows that they feel like panic attacks but more "depression-like" if that makes sense. - Body temperature disturbances where I feel regular hot flashes/heat sensations running down my body - The Luvox I tried last year gave me the worst panic and depression of my life, I felt like I was in a 2 - 3 month prolonged panic attack and I got burning skin sensations that felt like being burned alive that thankfully have dissipated now but lasted from about February to July 2021. - Chronic fatigue and a constant feeling that someone is pulling me down from my back, making me want to just lay down on a bed. When I feel the fatigue + hot flashes + depression attacks + some confusion at the same time it feels like i'm in hell. - Severe executive dysfunction coupled with OCD, makes it so I feel like i'm paralyzed and at the same time I feel like the only thing i can keep doing and keep my attention on is watching youtube. I'm a school teacher and the school year just ended, I could never get anything done because of my executive dysfunction and it is an absolute miracle that I lasted the whole year. I do feel though that when i'm totally into what i'm doing at school there are times where I, dare i say, feel "normal" and "fine," with the exception of lingering social anxiety and severe executive dysfunction that is always there." Now that vacation has started it, i've gotten worse, same thing happened every school weekend. I go crazy when just at home. I'm currently trying to fight through my executive dysfunction in order to set up a new PCP and finally make a doctor's appointment to see if I can get a "full work up," whatever that means, in order to gauge my health and rule out auto immune diseases or other things. It's a miracle I can even hold my attention long enough to write this atm, what tips can you give me in regards to things I can do to naturally heal, things I can ask my doctor, tests that I should request my doctor, etc? Honestly a few weeks ago I kept daydreaming about trying stimulants (bare in mind that I am very skeptical towards psychiatry now) because of how bad my executive dysfunction is but now I feel more mentally damaged in general now and I have no idea what to do.
  4. 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
  5. I have had an adverse reaction to trazadone and Buspar while I was withdrawing from diazpam and it ended up with adverse reaction and neurotoxicity I've had a test that shows the neurons death/ loss. If there's anyone here with severe brain damage that's left disabled you can try to contact me.
  6. ADMIN NOTE moved initial posts from Mission of Surviving Antidepressants Hello. What do you exactly mean "if the symptoms are from and adverse or paradoxical reaction to medication, the medication has to be gradually withdrawn for recovery."? Is three to four months of gradual withdrawel enough? Thats what I did.
  7. I'm planning ahead to starting to taper in the next few months but I'm not sure which med is the best to taper first. Neither drug causes me significant side effects so far as I know and I've been on both of them for over 10 yrs. I am off of Straterra as of this last February (accidental cold turkey stop and had 3 months of hell, but survived it.) Buspar I am very sensitive to - even a generic brand change is enough to give me symptoms as if I've stopped it completely. I'd appreciate any suggestions about which to do first.
  8. Introduction topic: ☼-mranxious-3-months-off-effexor-xr-6-years-on Heyyyyyy 😊 I am alive !!!!!! Out there living a life that I am proud of and comfortable with. Pheww I am one of the blessed ones to have breached the other side and lived to talk about and YOU WILL TOO !! That was one hell of a ride. One that is FAR FAR FAR in the rearview mirror 🙃 If you have read my story, you will know that I went through literally the most traumatic event in my life and that was "Effexor Withdrawal". From start to finish I was unsure I would make it through this time, but here I am and let me tell you "Its a process". This will not happen overnight...BUT if you make the right moves, eat healthy and take your vitamins, time will heal, only time BUT everything you do in the mean time will make the difference in the end. Here is what I did : -Increased Omega 3:6:9 daily -Lots of purified water -Maximize sleep if you can and set a goof environment to be able to sleep(No sleeping drugs) -eliminated processed foods and to a whole food plant based lifestyle(THE BIGGEST GAME CHANGER for me and healer I believe* -Cut out all toxic people -light walks/bikes/swims daily(Key word "light". -meditation- daily(Prayer as well daily) -Church -daily mantras "I will heal" "I will get better" "I am getting better" -Reading books, occupying my time -Multivitamin and mineral support tablet I went from being a very anxious person once off Effexor for months and months of withdrawal , to now years later, a fully functional human being again 😎 I fully believe that in order to fully heal, you need to be fully off any pharmatheuticals (Per doctors orders of course, my disclosure) ughh 😋 Oh yes and find a good doctor that will listen to you and meet your needs "YOUR NEEDS". I have found a wonderful doctor and he is all about my plant life and healing and he is all about me living my best life drug free. Whatever you are going through right now, just know it gets so much better. It can takes months to years to recover. Realize this is your journey and a special one. Myself personally believes that god has transformed my old life into my new life and I can't be ever more thankful and grateful. One hell of a adventure but "hey" I love who I am more now and have grown exponentially since this ordeal. I have days where I cry happy tears over the smallest things, butterfly on a flower, old person smiling, to the breeze blowing off the lake , to the food on my plate. I never appreciated it before Effexor and I took it for granted, now it just happens and i love it 😊 I guess it all depends how you look at it, but when things get grim and they will, come back here, read my story and just know you are all in good hands😊 The effort you put out now in the throws of this awful withdrawal, will eventually become the reward you see in your future !!!!! YOU ARE GOING TO RECOVER MY FRIENDS, ALL OF YOU !!!! STAY CALM AND SOLDIER ON, stay safe and always consult your doctor before making any moves and if they don't listen to you : FIND A NEW ONE !!!! But always stay in close touch with them please 😎 This website has been a game changer and so are all the admins* Beautiful hard working volunteers 🧡💛💚💜💖 *Taper, taper, taper your mediction , this is most important, don't rush a taper just because you start feeling good. It will catch up to you, stay the course 😎 or possibly suffer grave setbacks * *Feel free to message me* MR. A
  9. Hello everyone! I'm writing this because I told myself I also wanted to be of help for those struggling one I made out of the mess psych drigs withdrawal is. While I still struggle with anxiety and some ocd, therapy is currently my only prescription haha along with a few other natural supplements like cbd, magnesium chloride spray, pregnenolone, and a few others. My main objective with this is not to say mental illness is not real and that the meds don't work, because they do sometimes and when we decide to come off them is not like our traumas and mental struggles will disappear. But I hope to say with this that it is possible to overcome ssri withdrawal and start a drug free life along with different coping strategies and a good support system. I was put on sertraline 25 mg along with buspar 10 mgwhen I was 15. I was never very consistent with it, but would experience the effects every time I'd try to come off it. I kept going on and off until 21 when I went cold turkey and my life was almost paralzyed from the withdrawals, I was then put on sertraline 50 mg and aripiprazole. The sertraline game me horrible side effects at first and most of the time i was on it. I believe it was giving me mild serotonin syndrome. I then tried to come off and again withdrawals so I was put on prozac and buspar. Stayed on it until 25. I decided to come off, but did a very small tapper compared to what is needed. The withdrawals were manageable at first, but then they came full force. I was throwing up, head spinning, brain zaps, you name it. I thought it'd never end. that's when I found this group and a few other people hwo have through the same on intagram. The success stories in here gave me so much hope, and that's why I wanted to create mine. Yes, it was horrible. The worse was aroound 6 months, then took 18 months to feel almost close to normal, and now its almost two years, and my nervous system is no where near where it was when I came off the drugs. I'm able to drive, exercise, run, wake up with energy in the morning, go to the store without feeling like my world is spinning, and so much more. For me prayer, supporting my body, and believing I was going to be ok, were huge in my recovery. DUring my worst times where I'd feel hopeless prayer became my strenght and usually something would come that reminded i'd be ok. i also found the work of Dr. Ray peat on serotonin. OS when we come off these drugs our serotonin receptors are all over the place and we actually need to lower them most time. This why I decided to go bakc to the doctors and asked ot be presribed Vistaril, hydroxizine, which is a non addictive, take as needed anciety med. Its simply a potent antihistamine, so there is no withdrawals from it. It realy was of huge help at my very worst to bring some stabiity from the nausea, dizinness and racing heart. I really recommend anyone going through withdrawal to try this if they feel like they can;t simply handle it before going back on the ssri's. I no longer really take it as I now take cbd, but it is usually considered a safe drug free of withdrawals if given at small doses as is simply once again, a potent antihistamine. Apart from that, I worked on bettering my thyroid, nutritional level, and make sure to stay hydrated with mineral water and coconut water to help my nervous system. I also impletened a lot of grounding which is supper healing for the nervous system. AT my worst, I'd simply wake up early in the morning to sit on the grass and take in some sun while sipping on coconut water and listening to worship music. That was very healing for me. But I really encourage anyone here to check out the Walsh protocol and perhaps work with Walsh practiciner as they're expect in treating mental illness naturlaly and healing the many hormonal imbalances and nutritional deficiencies behind long lasting withdrawal symptoms. Please also research mind syndrome and german new medicine so you can learn more how your brain has the ability to keep creating symptoms even after the withdrawl is over and also to learn how the body has immense healing abilities and if taken care of and supported it is very well capable of healing from psych drugs withdrawals. To anyone reading this going through the worse right now, please hang in there, it gets better, it truly does! But makes ure you're getting enough rest, being gentel with yourself, and supporting your body with sunshine, minerals, and plenty of grounding if you also wish. I truly think constant grounding was huge in shortening the duration of my nervous system breakdown. Also find your grounding stone, by that I mean that something that gives you a little hope when it all seems lost. I remember when I was barely even levaing my room, I had a lttile picture with a Bible verse letting me know God was in control. I'd look at it everytime i;d feel panic and repeat myself the words in it. I also hope with this post inspires some to find their support in The Faithful father we have in heaven. As you go through this, I promise you, that you're not alone. I remember reading another srri success story on instagram and how at her worst moment she pleaded with God and a humming bird suddenly appeared on her window. She also beautifully stated how most times when she'd feel low the humming bird would suddenly appear. For me it was an orange butterfly and owl. Many times when life just felt hopeless i'd go to my backyard and boom an orange butterfly would come to my greeting. other times, an owl would literally appear out of nowhere, and my mom also oftentimes saw it, so I wasn;t hallucinating form the withdrawls haha! But I hope this encourgaes you and reminds you that this universe is huge and there is a purpose and a reaosn why you're here. You're loved and cared for, trust that. With a little faith and time you'll be an even stronger and better version than you were before all of this. Oh! I also found @cherellethinks page on instagram very helpful. HSe had her own journeyw ith anxiety, a truly life changing one and also took psych drugs. SHe does one on one coaching and can be of huge help for many in here! @brookesiem is also extremely knowledgeable and has her own encouragng story! SHe also answers dm's and helps answers questions you might have, Last one is @livingrootswellness. Theresa is awsome and also usually answers questions about her withdrawal story. SHe also has an eft tapping group and offers incredible information on improbving withdrawals symptoms! Hang in there my friends! This is truly horrible what you;re experiencing. But with some faith and dedication from our part it gets better! Also, I;m sorry for the many errors. I'll come back soon to fix it. I'm very sleepy but felt liek it was alreay time I wrote my story to hopefully help someone out there. I;m not anit psych drugs by any means, I knwo there were likely of help for me at a time, but I do find there are many alternatives to try before putting somoen on a drug cocktail. ALso, i feel like there is no medical training or experience when it comes to tappering patienst of these drugs. Hopefully, with time this chnages.
  10. Hi.. About year ago October 2020 I joined uni I had a lot of stress and chronic diarrhea for months with severe physical symptoms which did not go with physiological med... I went to a doctor in may 2021 ,he gave me cipralex 10mg.. And I was supposed to take it for a months as he said.. He gave me buspar too, the first day I took cipralex I feel like iam not normal but I thought itis a fatigue or just we can stay up in the morning not in the mood.. Until one of my friends said why you are like that?? I was laughing at everything.. I thought it was something like cocaiine! I cannot even describe the feeling.. I continued until the third day then I closed it on the fourth.. This day I got a bad headache then I had uterus bleeding for about 20 days.. I went to a phaychologiat and I had sessions I thought that my sudden confident was from the sessions but after some months I recognised that I cannot feel I cannot even concentrate or feel iam very numbed.. I went to another psychologist this months she said work ve emotional numbness and adhd.. And she wants to give me stimulants.. I need your help I cannot think anymore.. And if I told anyone that this symptoms are from med they do not believe me cause the med need month to work iam now 21 sep 2021 and I cannot feel anymore or just focus u feel like iam not real or iam dreaming just a bad feeling... Sorry for any mistake iam not English
  11. Hi Everyone, I’ve been on Bupropion 300xl since beginning of 2019 so almost 5 years. I also was taking Trazodone 50mg nightly for sleep and dropped to 25mg for a month or so then discontinuing it around June 2023. I also discontinued Losartan a blood pressure med around the same time. The doctor said my blood pressure was doing great and I could come off if, I wanted to. Around July 2023, I started to experience anxiety creeping in slowly due to a trigger thought from my past. I let it manifest and get bigger and bigger day by day until I went in full panic mode. It got so bad I went to VA hospital where I get care and they gave me Hydroxyzine for anxiety and panic attacks. I took it but it really didn’t help the anxiety was too strong at this point. I wasn’t sleeping very good. Had a couple more panic attacks. I then went back to the VA and saw mental health provider who told the Bupropion was causing the anxiety. He dropped me from 300xl to 150mg (75 ir X 2 a day).and started buspar 5mg morning and 5mg night. This was 21 Sep 23. I take the bupropion at 6am and 2pm. I also had a blood panel, thyroid test, and ekg to rule those out for the anxiety. All came back normal. I also started therapy. I stopped taking the buspar after a week. Didn’t really feel it was doing anything and made me feel weird. The anxiety has been debilitating at times it seems to be getting better slowly day by day. I’ve never had it this extreme in my 47 years. I’m retired from the Navy after 20 years and have had some stressful situations but this has really got me. I went back and saw mental health twice saying this a rough ride not being able to sleep a full night and the anxiety. They gave me rameron 30mg to take at night. I took it one time and then didn’t take it again. Didn’t want to get started on something else and the side effects of weight gain not worth it to me. Also tried Trazodone again 100mg just to see if I could get some relief made me too groggy and didn’t really help same with Hydroxyzine 25mg. I just feel off, tired, irritable, frustrated, depression and anxiety comes and goes. Sometimes I have passing suicidal thoughts but would never act on them and I share this with my wife just so she knows what’s going through my head. They definitely scare me. Definitely affects your quality of life. I guess I just deal with it now. It’s no where near like before or at panic level. Oh and they want to put me on Prozac now. I haven’t touched it yet. I mentioned my sister is on it with good results so they feel that would be a good fit. I think I was dropped too fast on the bupropion and I’m feeling the withdrawal. It’s been five weeks now and just wanted to see what everyone’s input on this is. I want to try and be done with these meds and go natural. I don’t want to introduce more stuff that I’ll have to come off of. The biggest thing I’m dealing with is anxiety and poor sleep. I’ve looked at the taper schedule and guess I’m beyond the taper from 300xl spot. What are your recommendations at this point? I think it was odd I was dropped to 75ir x 2 a day. Any recommendations to ease the burden? Many Thanks!
  12. I was on Valafexine for 10 years. I was at 2 75s a day. I tappered off myself for a year. When i got to the point where i was off of it my withdraw started gradually with dizziness and irritability then it progressed to feeling tired all the time and bad anxiety for a week then it went to sweating, shaking, panic, free fall feeling insomnia. I ended up in the doctors office and back on 2 25s a day to stabilize me. After three days i went up to 100 mg a day for 5 days, then they put me on 37.5 and i was on that for 6 days and ended up in the hospital for serotonin syndrome. The psychiatrist took me off of valafexine and put me on heavy sleeping pills, and buspar. I stopped the buspar after 4 days because it was to much for me. Im on day 4 of no valafexine. I started the dizziness yesterday. I just want to know if anyone has a similar story and if the withdraw is as bad the second time around? Has anyone been put back on and tappered back off with a better and shorter withdraw time?
  13. Hi there- I'm looking for some kind of reasoning as I go about this new journey while I hope it's a quick one! I was on Lexapro in 2015 for 6 months prior to becoming pregnant. Weened off successfully. Got back on Lexapro (don't remember the dosage but probably 5/10mg) after my first child in October 2017. I was on Lexapro until my second pregnancy where I started Zoloft (as i was told it was safer for pregnancy) in January 2019. I got back on Lexapro October 2020 and was on until January 2023 after a successful taper (I tapered from 20mg). Through this time I don't recall having any issues or side effects. Here's where it gets tricky..... July 28th 2023 I was put back on Lexapro.... but through a miscommunication with my doctor I started right back on 20MG's. This completely messed me up... I felt like I was high on a drug, what I believe to be derealization or depersonalization (not confirmed) and tapered off due to the adverse effects over 5 weeks. I still felt the negative (mostly mental) effects from the Lexapro but with a HUGE increase in anxiety. I was put in a small dose of 5mgx2 of Buspar September 22nd and got off of it 2 weeks later due to adverse effects, it seemed I was sensetive to the meds. After a convo with my psyc I really wanted to give Lexapro a try again since I know it had worked for me for MANY years prior. I got back on them September 29th and again quickly experienced adverse mental reactions to the medicine and was taken off 2 weeks later. It's only been 5 days of being off the Lexapro completel but I can't help but to think I've done some permanent damage to myself with all this up and down the past year. I'm struggling with PTSD from the 20mg onset as it caused severe distress and I ended up with Seratonin Syndrome. Is there hope that i'll feel better soon?
  14. I recently got pregnant and went from 10mg paxil to 5mg in one week and then completely stopped. I then had a miscarriage (about 2 months ago) and am having severe withdrawal symptoms. Would it be safe to go back on a low dose of paxil and try to taper off properly, or is it too late? I am miserable! Thanks in advance. Update as of March 29, 2017: Link to post below
  15. So may of 2022 I started my SSRI journey I had bad anxiety and my doctor recommended I take Zoloft. I listened and started with a low dose I completely forget what dose I took but I know I had a terrible reaction to it I lasted like 2 months and then got switched to lexapro. Once I was in lexapro I went from 2.5mg to 10mg wayyyy to fast my psychiatrist was terrible and I got so so many side effects from 10mg so she had me taper off within a month from 10mg-0mg and I had every side effect in the book, you name it I had it. (Brain Zaps were the worst). She then switched me to buspar 5mg 3 times a day and man I could only last 9 days on it. It gave such bad intrusive thoughts it was scary. So I decided to get back on lexapro in January of 2023 and go super slow like start with 2.5 mg and I knew I was sensitive because 2.5 gave me side effects so I started slowly upping my dose and the intrusive thoughts got worse, blurry vision, urge to cry daily, dizzy, and after about 5 months in it I became numb. Nothing would give me anxiety but also nothing would give me excitement. So I started tapering very very slow I went from 5mg to 2.5mg to 1.25mg and then 1.25mg every other day and it was definitely a better taper from last time because I got no brain zaps so far. So currently I’m almost 4 weeks in off of lexapro and man this is hard. I’ve technically been on meds for 1 year just not consistently so I do understand that it will take awhile to heal but man these side effects are weird. I don’t feel happy but I don’t feel sad it is such a weird feeling. I have days where I feel amazing like back to normal and then the next day sucks. Just feels like my motivation is low right now and excitement, I thought that would come back after almost 4 weeks off the pill. Another big thing is the insomnia it is so hard to stay asleep at night. It’s like I have an urge to cry but can’t. just wanted to know if these side effects are common with someone who’s been on ssris for a year
  16. Hello all. I have been taking buspirone 7.5 once a day for about a year. Recently, i've been dealing with some intense obsessive/intrusive thoughts, and i started up an online psychiatric/talk therapy subscription to Brightside. In my first meeting with my provider, she took my medication history and asked about my symptoms and then prescribed me Fluvoxemine 50mg. She also told me to discontinue the buspirone, as those should not be taken together. My life has been hell ever since. (this was exactly two weeks ago). I thought i was just having severe side effects from the initial start of Fluvoxemine - which have been loss of appetite, stomach queasyness, intense never-before-experienced anxiety and edginess, insomnia, suicidal ideations, and have lost about 15 pounds. I have been taking .25mg of xanax to ease the anxiety, but that seems to be helping less and less. Having done some research here, it appears that stopping buspirone cold turkey was something that my provider should have not have recommended. I have message her in the app several times and have heard nothing back from her. I reached out to my friend who is a psych nurse practitioner who suggested that I do a quick taper off of Fluvoxemine (since i've only been on it for 2 weeks). I have already taken just half the dose of fluvoxemine yesterday and will take another half dose tonight. My question is - should I start back on Buspirone once I'm completely off of Fluvoxemine (in two days)? What happens when people go cold turkey off of a med and then after a couple of weeks, restart that med to ease withdrawl symptoms? I'm really in over my head here. I'll be looking for a new provider pronto but could be weeks until i can get a consultation. Thanks everyone - I'm thankful for this community.
  17. I am of buspar for 6 months now , it is hell on earth I have severe brain fog and numbness and i only took this med for a month Will it continues for a very long time like the people here suffering for many years!!
  18. I was on Viibryd for 4 years, I recently completely tapered off in February of 2023. After reading experiences I feel that my doctor DEFINITELY had me taper too quickly. He gave me a tapering schedule to get off of it in 1 month. It was one week at one dosage and then the next week I would go down to the next lowest dosage. Since getting off I have been in a continuous emotional spiral of angry outbursts over the smallest things, obsessive thoughts, debilitating anxiety, inability to handle stressors I previously could and an overall depressive mood. I am at the end of my rope, and I’m contemplating going back on a low dosage to help me cope. My dr. Has me on a 10mg twice daily dose of buspar, and I’m on Vyvanse for adult adhd that was diagnosed 5 years ago. The only thing that has helped me through this is cannabis and therapy. The buspar does little to help with my anxious state. Sometimes I don’t even understand the spiral that is happening in my mind until I’ve come down from it. I don’t want to go back on the antidepressant but I almost feel like I have no choice due to the current stressors in my life owning a business, having a toddler, marriage and teenager who has suffered from mental Illness. I need to know there is a light at the of the end of this dark tunnel, and that it’s not all in my head.
  19. Moderator Note: link to Moonpie's benzo thread - Moonpie: Need help Ativan weight tapering My name is Moonpie. I feel so blessed to have found this site. I was put on Ativan and BuSpar and Lexapro, one at a time for a medication thyroid mess up. For eight months my thyroid was going crazy in my anxiety was off the charts. It normalized in March and I am trying to take her off the Ativan. I'm extremely sensitive to it. I just realized I have been doing a 5 per cent reduction instead of 10 and I have still had withdrawl symptoms! I am using a file and a jeweler scale. My taper started at .069 in weight and I am down to .035 in all three doses. But I think I took a little too much off last time and for the past week I've had panic anxiety nausea and depression. I am holding this reduction on the third dose for 3 weeks now as strong symptoms started the end of last week and continue. I had labs done to see if it was thyroid and am waiting on results. My 1st question is, should I be tapering on only one dose until it goes to zero instead of doing 1 every two weeks. Because if I continue this way I will go off of all of them at the same time. I appreciate any help. Have really been discouraged and frightened With this past symptoms
  20. tntd-severe-anxiety-with-agoraphobia-in-cold-turkey-withdrawal-dr-increased-benzo Hi to everyone and thank you for accepting me into this group. I was planning on tapering from my Wellbutrin after I had been stable on it for a couple of months. I have only been taking it since January but had been experiencing what I thought were just increased anxiety and agitation from it. I was inpatient at the time and the doctors told me that those weren't side effects and it was just my own anxiety. I have a long history of panic disorder which was under control until my husband and I decided to move to another city due to a job change. After I left the hospital it took a month to be able to get in to see a psychiatrist. Unfortunately she had a very strong accent and though I think accents are neat I have had trouble understanding people with accents since I had surgery to correct a badly deviated septum. So I had to wait another month to see a different psychiatrist. I was having a horrible time on the Bupropione the whole time but I was able to get some help from a mental health urgent care clinic.They increased my Buspirone from 30 mg to 50 mg which really helped with the anxiety I was experiencing from the Buproprion, I finally got in to see a new psychiatrist and the first thing she wanted to do was take me off the clonazepam. She wanted to cut my dose in half but I only cut it by a quarter. About five days later I was in full blown withdrawal and she wouldn't believe me. She said if I was in withdrawal I would be in the hospital. I have been going to a group and one of the facilitators told me I should go back to the mental health urgent care which I did the next day and they referred me to an addictionologist. He has been wonderful. He confirmed that I was indeed in withdrawal. I was pretty much through it by that time but at least he understood. It had been about three weeks since I had tapered down on the clonazepam and he recognized that the bupropirone was causing me problems so he told me to drop it to half. After my recent experience I chose to drop it by .25 again. I went straight into severe withdrawal and he reinstated the medication after only two days of a reduction. At this point I would wake up every morning with severe trembling and anxiety so I switched my night time clonazepam to the morning and that caused those symptoms to remit. I was feeling really good and enjoying my days. Getting out into the sunlight, walking my dog, mowing the lawn. It was great. Anyway I learned about a device called Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (CES) that is supposed to help you with anxiety and depression and since I want to get off my medications I discussed it with my psychiatrist. He thought it would work so he gave me a prescription for it. I started using it 15 days ago. The first two days were great. I woke up with no anxiety and I felt even better than ever. Then I started having increased anxiety on the third day. One of the things that the CES device can do is increase the effectivness of your medications, and their side effects. About a week into my use of the device the side effects from the Buproprion became intolerable. It turned out that the clonazepam had been disguising akathisia and the CES brought it out. Of course this happened over Memorial Day Weekend so I was left to my own devices and the wonderful counsel of my concerned husband. We decided to drop my Buproprian to 75 mg IR to see if that would help. Unfortunately it did not. I didn't seem to have any withdrawal symptoms either though. On Tuesday we went in to see my Dr and he recommended a beta blocker for the side effect. It worked wonderfully. Unfortunately it also caused me to become depressed. The Dr recommended that I go off the medication completely at this point. So starting the next day on June 1 I went cold turkey. The withdrawal symptoms started immediately. I have had crying spells and unending anxiety. I have continued to use the CES as it is reputed to help with withdrawal symptoms and to help prevent relapsing into depression. It seems to help but not as much as I would like it too. I know that my brain has to remodel itself and it will take time even with the help of the CES device. I have also been using L-theanine which helps a little. I am really trying to find some way to reduce the anxiety as it has turned me into a severe agoraphobic. I hide in my basement so I don't even have to look outside because that is anxiety producing in itself. The only way I have been keeping sane is to keep my brain occupied by surfing the net. I have also been reading The Mood Cure trying to find something that will help with the anxiety. I do have extra clonazepam that the Dr gave me and I have Baclofen but I don't want to have any more addictions than I already do. Once I get off the Buproprion I am planning a liquid taper of the clonazepam. I really feel like I am in between a rock and a hard place because if I reinstate the Buproprion at all then I have the akathisia to deal with and the medication for it makes me depressed. I would really love any input that anyone has for me. I have been thiking of trying some of the following for the anxiety. Lemon Balm Valerian Root Inositol Niacinamide (the Niacin makes me itchy from the histamine release) L-glycine Taurine Ashwaghanda I even read that someone coming off of Buprorpion had some success with L-phenalalanine but I have anxiety issues so I don't know if that would be counter productive or helpful becasue going off of the Buproprion is what is causing this. I'm also afraid of long term consequences to the cold turkey but I don't know what else I could have done. I would really appreciate any comments or suggestions. Thank you, and thank you for this wonderful group.
  21. Hello everyone. I wanted to jump on here and hopefully gain some perspective on my situation. I started Lexapro 10 mg in Oct. 2012 for situational depression. As that situation resolved, I questioned whether I still needed to be on it and began tapering in April 2014. I went down to 7.5 mg for about a month, then discovered I was pregnant. I really wanted to wean off Lexapro for the duration of the pregnancy. Sadly I miscarried at 10 weeks. I was still on 7.5 mg for a little while. Felt I processed the miscarriage as much as I could, then went down to 5 mg for awhile. I was doing okay anxiety-wise, I thought. Went down to 2.5 and discovered I was expecting again! I was overly anxious the whole time, given the outcome of my last pregnancy. I stayed at 2.5 for pretty much the whole pregnancy, went down slowly from 2.5 as time grew closer to delivery. I got down to less than 1 mg with liquid, and then stopped right after I delivered. I was wholly unprepared for what happened next. Three days postpartum, I had an anxious/depressive meltdown, thinking things like, "I shouldn't have had this baby" (even though he was very much wanted), I've ruined my family's life, how am I going to handle caring for two kids instead of one, etc. I was trying to nurse every 2-3 hours, while fighting through unrelenting panic attacks. I would even wake up from sleep in the midst of an attack. It got so that I didn't want to sleep even if someone offered to watch my son because I was so afraid of the panic attacks. Wild mood swings, couldn't stop crying, suicidal thoughts, feeling hopeless, helpless, the whole nine yards. I felt like I was losing my mind and went to the ER. They were pretty much useless, just telling me to go all the way back up to 10 mg of lexapro and everything would eventually be okay. The panic attacks continued. On my husband's birthday, I woke up in the worst panic attack I'd ever had. I knew I couldn't go back to the ER, and checked myself in to a psych ward because I seriously felt like i was going nuts. They were useless as well, only giving me Vistaril and 10 mg Lexapro. My husband busted through h*** to get me out of there less than 24 hours later. The anxiety from there continued. I felt severe DP/DR, and could barely make myself a sandwich to eat. Changing my clothes and showering was a huge accomlishment. Continuing to feel desperate to get back to myself, I did arguably the worst thing I think I could have done: I checked into an inpatient treatment program for perinatal mood disorders. There they proceeded to pump me full of Lexapro, letting me stay at 5 mg for just one night. It was quickly ramped to 10, then 15, then 20, which I was discharged on a mere two weeks later. I was given Klonopin and Benadryl as needed for sleep. I was also advised to take Risperdal, which I adamantly refused. This was about 10 weeks ago. I have since come under the care of a reproductive psychiatrist who has continued me on Lexapro 15 mg, Buspar 10 mg, Lamictal 25 mg, and Vistaril for sleep. She tried augmenting the Lex with Wellbutrin when she wasn't seeing a "quick enough" response. It made my anxiety worse, and gave me a very frightening moment where I was in the midst of a crying fit, and then suddenly felt like laughing for no reason, so I discontinued it. I'm yards better than I was. However, I am having some problems now that I wasn't before and am hoping to taper back off the Lexapro, because I'm thinking (wondering) that I didn't so much have a new episode of depression. Rather I have a theory that while pregnant, the difficulties of coming off Lexapro were masked by my pregnancy hormones, and after delivery, when those dropped, and my body wasn't getting any Lexapro at all, I crashed and burned. You should've seen the look on my pdoc's face when i told her this theory...I though she was going to have a heart attack. Since reinstating lexapro, I've had racing thoughts (sometimes I can't even figure out what I'm thinking about), headaches, vision problems, increased anxiety, difficulty with word finding, lack of concentration (can't even read an easy chapter book with my 9 year old daughter), difficulty focusing on conversations, weight gain, obsessive thinking, songs looping in my head, random movie scenes popping into my head, suicidal thoughts, intrusive thoughts, brain fog, easily triggered by frightening things, etc. I feel like now, somehow, lexapro is too activating for me. I've wondered if I've slipped into hypomania or something. Women can sometimes be misdiagnosed with postpartum depression, when they've really converted to bipolar disorder. those women are at greatest risk for psychosis. I have no family history of bipolar, though my sister was misdiagnosed with it a few years ago. She's way more on that spectrum than I ever have been. So here is my conundrum: I don't want to go back to where i was after I delivered. I CAN'T go back there. however, I feel that with each pill I swallow, I'm giving myself a chemical lobotomy. I can't afford to lose any stability trying to care for my children. I know I can't ask for medical advice here, but I just have two questions: 1. Is my theory about having a really bad reaction to complete withdrawal totally unfounded, or could this have some merit? 2. Should I even think about tapering off Lexapro right now, feeling that it's too activating for me? I've tried to tell my doctor this many times and she feels that if it's helping even a little, it's worth continuing. I feel as though I have to continue the Lamictal for now. Needless to say, these last several months have been extremely traumatizing for my whole family. I just want to do right by everyone, and remember to include myself in that mix. Thanks for reading.
  22. 2008 Lexapro (no idea mg) I was 17 years old 2009 Sertraline (no idea mg) 2011 Pristique (no idea mg) 2011 Viibryd (no idea mg) 2011 – 2021 Fluoxetine (over the years 10mg - 40mg) 12/2/2020 Woke up with tingling and muscle weakness in extremities. (Never went away.) 2/16/2021 Woke up with sharp, traveling pain in my head, dizziness, vertigo, lightheaded, shaking hands and legs/weakness, nausea, muscle spasms, fatigue, sensitivity to light and sound, out of breath doing anything at all, ringing in my ears, obstructions in vision, white and black dots flashing in vision, want to lie down all the time, hot and cold sensations in arms and legs. (Never went away.) (Saw these specialists and had all of these tests within 2 years after symptoms began) Had two MRIs and CT scan – everything was normal Saw Rheumatologist – tested negative for any autoimmune diseases Blood work was normal Saw Ophthamologist about vision issues – everything was normal Met with Nuerologist and had EEG and EMG nerve testing – everything was normal Saw ENT and had VNG exam– everything normal. 6/2021 Saw holistic doctor and was told I may be having an allergic reaction of sorts to the Fluoxetine. I was at 40mg and I began tapering off with help from my GP. 6/26/2021 began 30mg 7/8/2021 began 20mg 7/19/2021 began 10mg 7/26/2021 completely off meds for the first time in 13 years. Within months, anxiety and depression got progressively worse, unbearable empathy, suicidal thoughts, intrusive and bone chilling fear, thinking I was dead, impending doom, hopelessness, while also experiencing the above physical symptoms. I had days where I could get out of bed, drive and even go jogging or to the gym. Other days I could barely dress myself due to the fatigue and weakness. My physical symptoms improved a lot over the first year of symptoms. Looking back, I was living a very normal life, physically speaking, but my emotional symptoms became increasingly unendurable. Thanatophobia and also the above emotional symptoms led me to take Buspirone (Buspar), prescribed by my GP. I began having brain zaps, extreme brain fog, difficulty completing sentences, memory issues, inability to stop crying, panic attacks, etc. I felt like my life was a simulation and that nothing was real. It was a low dosage and I discontinued cold turkey, advised by my GP. Since I was still experiencing a mild form of the physical symptoms, I believed that Fluoxetine wasn't the culprit, and I needed immediate relief from what was happening in my head, so my GP prescribed 20mg again. I can say now that this was the worst decision of my whole life. 3/13/2022 I took Fluoxetine 20mg for 3 days. After the 3rd capsule, I was barely conscious, my vision was black and I couldn't stand up, my legs shook so badly that I could barely walk from the bed to the bathroom. Dizziness and vertigo were unbearable...sometimes objects would move, other times the room moved, other times I was moving when I wasn't. I felt like my head wasn't connected to my body. My coordination was off and fine motor skills were difficult, like holding a fork or texting. My eyes couldn't follow and I felt like they were jerking side to side. Unbearable pressure at base of neck and forehead. Felt like my brain was hot. My boyfriend brought food to my bed for about a month. I believe that if I had continued taking 1 or 2 more capsules, I would be a vegetable. Since then I've seen 3 psychiatrists, asking if they have any experience with this sort of thing. All 3 had no answers and tried to push other medications on me. I took the GeneSight test and both Buspar and Fluoxetine showed as a “good match” for me. I've developed sensitivities to several medications, which exacerbate the symptoms that I feel and put me in bed for days, making me afraid to take anything other than Tylenol. I definitely turned to alcohol on a daily basis because the effects of drinking make me feel like I'm not crazy. When I drink, it's comforting to me to know that I have a reason to feel dizzy and foggy. I learned that tequila gives me enough energy to do basic daily physical things, like clean the house and take my dog to the park. On a good day, if I drink A LOT, I can even go out dancing. This in itself makes me feel like my symptoms are all in my head and make me feel like I've lost my mind. Not drinking every day to give me relief from my symptoms has been difficult. Other than the holistic doctor's suspicions, doctors have left me completely on my own. No one could help me or had any answers. It feels like death will be the only solution. Over the months, I gradually improved enough to drive short distances and take short walks. It has been 1 year since I took the 3 capsules and I have improved physically about 30% and emotionally 10%, on good days When the waves happen, I am in bed all day. The brain fog, dizziness and fatigue are what bother me the most and the brain zaps still wake me up occasionally. Sometimes I jolt awake thinking I am dead. I still feel as though my life is not real. I am seeing a talk therapist, doing intensive Nuerofeedback therapy, eating an anti-inflammatory and high omega 3 diet, cutting back on alcohol and caffeine, taking vitamins, exercising as much as I physically can, and clinging to hope. I owe my life to my boyfriend who has encouraged and cared for me over these 2 horrific years. Finding this forum has encouraged me so much. My story is different because why did these “withdrawal” symptoms begin while I was still on Fluoxetine? And why did taking it again make everything 100 times worse? Has anyone else experienced this?
  23. Hello, I'm here because I'm hoping to gain insight into whether or not some symptoms I've been experiencing could possibly be caused by buspirone withdrawal. I really don't think my symptoms are due to a recurrence of anxiety or depression because I feel good aside from these physical symptoms. I'm in better spirits and less stressed than I've been in a long time. I exercise regularly, eat reasonably well, sleep 7 hours per night, and enjoy several hobbies. For the past month, I've been experiencing: A constant mild tension headache throughout the entire day. Ibuprofen doesn't help. Worsening brain fog. I had already been experiencing brain fog for quite some time, possibly since before starting buspirone in June 2021. I noticed the brain fog had increased in severity in May 2022, and then even more over the past month. Increased sensitivity to light and sound. I've been wearing sunglasses indoors all day and earplugs most of the time. I don't remember what withdrawal symptoms I experienced during my tapering off aside from brain zaps, some bouts of confusion, and possibly increased anxiety. There was likely a short window of buspirone-free time (late July 2022 to early August 2022) when I did not suffer from light and sound sensitivity and headaches. However, my memory of the timeline is hazy. It's possible these symptoms started and then have been gradually increasing ever since I stopped buspirone. Has anyone else experienced this after stopping buspirone?
  24. Hello I will give a brief summary of what has happened after taking most recent drugs. I am a 21 yr old college student, low-income and person of color who recently had to drop their studies (September) due to what I think is OCD and quit their job (November) due to never before experienced debilitating and frightening symptoms. These began after stopping Luvox 50 mg and Prozac 20 mg. I have never been warned or informed or properly tapered off any psychotropic drug by any psychiatrists I have seen including the one (due to insurance I can only speak with him once a month) who prescribed me the last four recent drugs. I was unfortunately very naive in my decisions surrounding these drugs. For clarity: I was being treated for "depression" and anxiety. Started at age 17. My signature is copied off records of prescription dates. For the most part I did not take pills regularly, I remember last year organizing my room and seeing that I had bottles full of pills I never took. A lot of prescriptions were what the psychiatrists called trial and error, so I was trying pills to see their effects which were miss which made me realize they were making me sick so I stopped. I unfortunately cannot remember which ones I did take consistently prior to this year (2021). Up until summer I was taking propranolol as needed for anxiety/stress (it had been I think ~1 yr more or less since I had taken any drug). During the summer I needed and wanted guidance to cope with anxiety/stress in the form of therapy. Through my insurance I emailed and left calls for many people but did not get responses and was getting discouraged. I was so desperate for relief that I was prescribed buspirone 10 mg, which did initially provide a calming relief. In the beginning of September 2021, I was overwhelmed with work and inability to properly cope with my internal problems which was taking a toll on my studies. *Here is where details become very blurry. I let the current psychiatrist know and he prescribed me Fluvoxamine 50 mg. The first two times I took it in the evening and found that it made me restless, it did not let me sleep. So I switched to taking it in the mornings and cut it in half; it still made me restless and I would be very sleepy during the day. I let the psychiatrist know and he told me to switch to Prozac 20 mg. I took it once it the morning before work and the restlessness was awful, I could not sleep at all. Note: I do remember taking advil pm and even buspirone alongside the fluvoxamine at the same time to abate the restlessness. I ceased all medications and after that and since then I have been experiencing things I have never experienced before. -acute short-term memory loss and other gaps in memory* -frightening confusion* -cognitive problems* -weird thinking and feelings I do not know the words to describe* -vision problems (after-image, visual snow/static, visual distortion, stars in vision)* -loss of personality and identity* -head ache/pain/pressure mostly* (this has been consistent, I remember waking up one day before work in October to a sharp pain only in the right side of my head, then afterwards feeling pressure localized around only the right side of my head/eye, and now a bit of the top of my head) -slipping in and out of consciousness when closing my eyes* -dpdr* -auditory problems (cannot focus on what I'm listening)* -feeling stuck in my head* -intrusive thoughts like never before* -hypnagogia -disorientation -delirium -coordination and balance problems -fear and dread -lack of motivation -bizzare dreams -heart/chest pain -dreadful anxiety for no reason -severe depression/anhedonia (I have never in my life experienced actual depression)* -crying so much There are more but I cannot remember right now. The ones with asterisks are the most concerning for me. Everything came on so suddenly and abruptly and unprecedentedly. I am so afraid that I am developing a more serious mental illness and that I will have to take more drugs which I do not want. I have no support system, my family is busy and other people I know are as well. The psychiatrist doesn't think the drugs did anything. With what strength I have, I was able to schedule a neurologist appointment and will be getting studies done. I feel that I am wasting their time. I think deep down I want this to be something physical that can be cured. Which I know is wishful and doesn't serve me good. I am trying my best to not let my fear get to me but I am constantly reminded of my decisions. I am beyond heartbroken, this is not who I am. I am a spirited and passionate person, I do not know what to do as I wait for answers.
  25. Hi everybody! I'm 23m, just turned! (Oct. 1st) I'm a student portrait photographer. It is finally time that I've decided to come to this website to gather information, learn to cope, and or help me get past this dreaded withdrawal. So let me tell you where it all began since it's already been 46 days drug free. Around late August, early September (the current year) I was having a severe migraine that left me with vertigo for a week and a half. I was currently out of work so I was desperate to find something that was going to work for me. Already pretty anxious considering that it was a new job I had just started I felt responsible for my absents. So I was desperate to solve it and find relief and I tried everything. I ended up going into the Urgent Care roughly three times before it finally went away. (I know this is a anti-depressant website, so I'm getting there.) One of the doctors there had prescribed me with Nortriptyline, I believe I was taking a 10mg dose for roughly a 4 days to a week. I don't remember the timeline well but I also wanted to try and see what I could do about my anxiety. (Mind you not knowing that the Notriptilyn was already an antidepressant. Remember I was desperate to find something that worked.) Fortunate for me they had a Urgent Care Mental Health center for quick access to psychiatric meds. So that's how I obtained Prozac. I tried Prozac at 20mg for a total of 3 days before I started noticing oncoming chest pain. It was pretty alarming but nothing that I felt was putting me in danger so I stopped the Prozac Cold Turkey thinking not much of it. Still continuing my dosage on Nortriptyline. So of course another return to the Urgent Mental Health Center, there to meet another doctor instead of the original that proscribe me the Prozac. The previous doctor told me that there was another medication I could try, that was Buspar or Buspirone. So I was prescribed from this new doctor the Buspar. I was instructed to take 10mg twice a day and I only took for two days before all hell broke loose. I wasn't prone to a lot of panic attacks before the medication, maybe a couple throughout the year but it wasn't necessarily something I couldn't bounce back from. I don't remember the exact night but somewhere around early September, I remember waking up in the middle of the night and running ramped with intrusive thoughts. Thoughts that I didn't feel like were my own, I heard voices that weren't mine and of course I freaked out. I rushed out of my bed scared not knowing what was happening, so I ran to my mom and she told me I was having panic. I was told to get into the shower and try and rummage it out. After the whole ordeal I told myself that I was done with all the medication. So I stopped Cold Turkey when I had my panic. It wasn't the following day but after I experienced another panic attack. I was on edge for the rest of the week. My life was a blur it felt like I wasn't living in it. But everyone says you have to keep trying the medication for it to reach full clinical effect. So I tried the Buspar, I tried it for another week. 10mg twice a day, but I just keep feeling worse and worse. More brainfog, intense derealization. It wasn't getting better. I started to get nightmares, very vivid weird dreams. I start getting uncomfortable going to bed. I was worried about what I might dream. Stayed up all night basically tossing and turning, it was truthfully a nightmare. I never experienced these things before so I knew it was the Buspirone. So my solution to sleeping? Back to the Mental Health Urgent Care center. Where I had a doctor prescribe me with mirtazapine. I took one dose of 7.5mg and I immediately crashed, the following morning I felt like I wasn't alive and I believe I experienced a brain-zap while working. Luckily I never had that sensation happen to me again which I'm fortunate about but it was still scary none the less. So I'm at a loss, of course I didn't know what to do next so I decided, "Hey lets try that mental health center again." I assume they thought I was trying to abuse drugs or that I was selling them off-brand because I had showed up numerous times or something but I ended up having one of the worst interactions there with one of the social workers. I couldn't speak to another doctor, instead I only talked to them through the phone in which they suggested that try the Prozac one more time to see if it would cause chest pain. Since when I started the Prozac I was already in a cocktail of drugs. In the midst of this I was already taping thinking it was a good idea. I cut the pill and dropped my dose from 20mg a day to 10mg a day. Starting from the 11th and finished my taper on the 14th, to zero. (I know I tapered to fast.) On the last day i took one final pill of Prozac from the doctors instructions and of course mild chest pain. Today on 10/30/22, I just started experiencing symptoms of hot and cold flashes through my body. I've been dealing with headaches, vertigo, light sensitivity, anxiety, my panic attacks have gotten better (and by better I mean they don't come as often) but the past three days have been awful. I've been in a crying spell ever since Friday and today I feel sick. I have insomnia and sometimes still weird dreams but not as vivid. I have had developed symptoms of Visual Snow Syndrome, where I experience closed eyes hallucinations, Palinopsia (after image), light sensitivity, floaters, and luckily nothing else but still a bothersome. I take 2.5mg of Melatonin to help me sleep. I was taking multi-vitamins but I stopped today because I thought it was contributing to my panic attacks for the past three days. It's been one month, two weeks and 4 days (46 days total) since I've been drug free. That's my story for now.
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