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I have tried three times now to taper off Abilify. My last try I had gotten down to .25mg daily and then I had insomnia for three nights and then went into psychosis. I had to be hospitalized. At the hospital they raised my dose to a very high amount, 10mg in morning and then 15mg. night. This caused akathisia, but got me out of psychosis. I am now back down to 5mg of Abilify. (Under supervision of my psychiatrist) My akathisia is much better, but I think I still have it. I do not know what to do at this point... I really wanted to be medication free, but that is not possible unless I exercised more and took other supplements consistently. So I could try again, to taper off completely,(and risk being hospitalized again) or I could stay at a maintenance dose of maybe 2mg daily. What do you guys think? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hello. I want to do a simple introduction one day, but I have an urgent question about tapering off of Effexor extended-release. As you can see on my signature, I’m currently taking bupropion 300mg, 20mg fluoxetine and a little amount of Effexor (if my scale is correct, somewhere between 20-30mg). My question is: should I still do a slow taper of Effexor now when I have been on bupropion and fluoxetine for 2+ months? I haven’t had any notable withdrawal symptoms so far. However, I’m really worried about them kicking in months after stopping Effexor. On the other hand, I’m worried about my brain getting used to the current combo of the three meds. Thus I want to be off of Effexor ASAP. Edit: I’m regularly seeing a psychiatrist. She instructed me to drop 37,5 mg altogether, without tapering.

Hello I have recently (4 days ago) gone from 10mg tablet form to 8mg (4 drops) of liquid drops. I have had a sudden onset of various physical symptoms. Tingling hands and arms. Nausea. Loss of appetite. Insomnia. Muscle twitching. Can’t relax. Feel spacey. also very emotional and teary and just so not feel like myself at all. I am just looking for some help or advice. Could this be the change in formula causing these symptoms?

Hi there! I was recommended to this site by a few people because I have recently come off Prozac after being on them since I was 17 (I’m 33 now). I was advised by my psychiatrist to take about 6 weeks or so in between dose changes. I started at 60 mg and went down to 40 for 6 weeks, followed by 20 for a few weeks. I took it upon myself (maybe not the best idea) to go from 20 down to 10 mg for a week or so and finally stop. My last dose was June 21. Since then I have gained almost 15 pounds and am having mild/moderate side effects. One of the most difficult being the constant leg movements when I’m laying in bed, it’s becoming unbearable. My mood is erratic with lots of spontaneous crying and lashing out at my husband, and I definitely feel on edge at all times. I’m at the point where I don’t know what to do or even how long to expect these unpleasant side effects to last. Any advice would be so helpful! Thank you in advance!!

Hi, long story but I’ll cut it short. I banged my head accidentally 6 months ago & have spent alot of time alone & bedridden with a brain injury. I’ve had psychotic episodes since then & was diagnosed with either bi-polar or border line personality disorder. i was out on Olanzapine (zyprexa) 2.5mg at first then 5mg & now 7.5mg, I have been on zyprexa for a total of 24 days as of the 20th of July 2022. My anxiety is off the charts - I need to taper off Olanzapine & try Seroquel. Help! How much do I taper each week of the zyprexa & do I take the seroquel while I’m tapering the zyprexa? Thank you for your help bess

I am 71 year old female. I've been on ADs since I was 40. They seemed to help me with social phobia and depression. For the last 8 years or so I have been on Effexor. I have been tapering off. The main reason for doing so is that I have read so many bad stories about SNRI discontinuation syndrome. I decided I wanted to do the taper when I could control it rather than go into withdrawals in an emergency situation. I was on 75 mg. Tapered down to 37.5 for 4weeks without any side effects. Today it is over 24 hours since I stopped taking Effexor and to date no ill effects. I am doing the Prozac bridge. I started 5 mg Prozac a few days ago and am now taking 10mg. I have been on fluoxetine before and may stay on 10 mg. I didn't find any difficulties when I stopped fluoxetine a number of years ago so am not worried about using it as a bridge to help me get off Effexor. Jus wondering if it is possible to come off SNRIs without withdrawals. I have been so dreading the experience and so far it s not bad.

Hello guys, I already shared my story in another forum and now I thought of sharing it also in this community. My story starts about 3,5 years ago, there I was 22 years old, I broke up with my first big love and this kinda left me desperate. I tried compensating it with a lot of work, working out in the gym and partying. I was always looking for a distraction, something that made me feel good and I always played the nice and happy guy in front of the others. Somehow it worked, I liked my life back then, I loved my job (i worked in a spa center as a sauna coach), it really fulfilled me. At the same time I attended courses to become a personal trainer. But a year later (may 2017) my facade started to crumble, I had no energy and anxiety and panic attacks started to evolve. Desperate as I was, i went to the doctor and after insisting on a blood test (which was fine) he prescribed me Venlafaxin 75mg, also known as effexor, telling me it would help to get my energy back. And there the whole nightmare was about to start. Sleeping got way worse ( it took me a long time to fall asleep and in the morning i could not get out of the bed, fatigued as i was), but the worst symptom was the derealization and depersonalization. At this time I didn’t know that it came from the drugs. The doctor told me the dose was to low and he wanted to prescribe me 150mg. But I refused. At this time I had already changed job. When I came home from the job I was so tired I fell asleep for 2 hours, wacking up all dizzy. On September 17 i decided to taper off these drugs, because I didn’t feel confident at all. My doctor didn’t tell me anything about the withdrawal symptoms, he only gave me the smallest available dose of 37,5mg. I started taking them and strangely at the Beginning I felt better, I had more energy and had some better days. 1 month later, even though I didn’t feel that good, I decided to take the next step and to taper off 5 mg every week. At this time I didn’t know the steps were too big. On December 17 I reached 0mg and was looking forward to get back to normal life and by new year I felt mostly normal. But then slowly the withdrawal symptoms started to kick in. Somehow I just tried to survive day by day. Then in May 18 I decided to quit my job and to relax. I had some better and some bad days. On July 18 although I was not in the best conditions, me and my Brother decided to go on a journey, we travelled around Asia for 2 months. I hoped this journey can heal me somehow. Although it was a great experience unfortunately I was not able to get back to normal. Back home I started working for some hours, started working out and playing Icehockey. Then in May 19 I decided to get a full time job and to make the best out of my life. So I got this full time job in an office, started to get more ambitious in the gym (I changed body exercises mostly without weights) and in summer i was hiking 1x week. I tried to ignore my symptoms and just did what I liked. More or less the daily procedure of the symptoms were the same, so somehow I got used to it. Powering me out in the gym or in the mountains made me feel happy and alleviated the symptoms. But than again in September anxiety started to come back and I got some terrible headache, luckily I had 2 weeks of vacation and travelled with my friends to Asia. I was worried about me and how I could handle the vacation with my new arisen symptoms, but the end I had some really great days mostly without any symptoms. Back home the hole situation started to get worse, anxiety and headaches almost every day, I was devastated. I was not sure if the symptoms came from the withdrawal or if I got back into burnout, or overtraining. The symptoms I felt this time were different than the whole summer. Further my sleep got worse and I had some periods of stomachache. I mean I really did a lot of sports throughout the summer, but I did all those things to become more aware of my body. By now I am meditating everyday for almost a year, I added 5x/ week yoga in summer in the morning before i got to work and I worked out 3x/ week, plus I went hiking with my friends once a week. I know it seems a lot and maybe I exceeded my limits. The thing is when im feeling down I push myself and try to motivate myself, I tried to show myself and the world that nothing can bring me down. Right now I feel a little lost, I don’t know if I should give up the sport for maybe some weeks and se how it goes. All I know is that sports is my life and I would get mad if I have to quit. I already try to do less, right know I am so cowed and I am not able to make decisions. What do you think? Thanks for reading this Best regards

Hello all, I am fairly new this forum. Im a 35 yo female living in Singapore, currently Im facing challenges on tapering off Lexapro. back story : I was prescribed a mixture of medicines in October 2017 for GAD. Back then I have never think of anything wrong with it as I trusted my psychiatrist (BIG horrible mistake). My mixture is listed below : amytriphiline 7 mg frixitas (alprazolam) 0.25 mg lexapro (cipralex) 10 mg I took it as prescribe without even knowing the dangers of coming off these devils. in April 2020, I was ready to be off this medicine because Im planning to get pregnant, I told my psychiatrist and She said I can just stop it CT. The next day I was feeling angry and easily agitated, and I feel so weak. I didnt even know that these all are withdrawal symptoms.. In early June 2020, I started to get really depressed and suicidal, and my anxiety skyrocketed. I cannot sleep anymore, I lost my appetite and I kept losing weight. I feel like dying, It was extremely horrible and I wouldnt even want to wish it on my worst enemy. I called 5 psychiatrists (the wellknown ones) and describef my symptoms, ALL of them said I was in relapse. They confidently told me it was not withdrawals. I trusted them and went back to my original psychiatrist and reinstate the whole thing. But only for 10 days I weaned off the amytripiline and alprazolam. I waited and listen to my body, I was unwell and I have this weird headache that is constantly bothering me. It was tightening my scalp. August 19, 2020 - I have commited myself to wean off the Lexapro. I was on 10 mg and my psychiatrist told me to taper off as below : 1 month : 10 mg to 7.5 mg 1 month : 7.5 mg to 5 mg 1 month : 5 mg to 2.5 mg 2.5 mg to 0 I googled and got alot of informations thus I found this site. so August 19, I cut 25% to 7,5 mg. So far I have experienced : -constant headache -sensitive to light -irritability -vertigo (this is the worst so far) -nausea -dizzyness Some days are okay but these 2 days when the vertigo hit I am practically bedbound. I read the 10% very slow taper method. But I am sad because it will take sooooo long to get rid of this poison as my time is ticking and I really want to have a baby. I am sad right now and I regretted the day I went to the psychiatrist and took their advice.. how could they do this to us.. My life is deteriorating now as I am feeling very down and confused. I dont want to struggle with these for many years as I grow older the chances of having a baby will be lessened.. please help me....

Hello... I was prescribed with 10mg of olanzapine for Paranoid Schizophrenia. I taked it for 7 mos. I talked to my psychiatrist about the negative effects and decided to decrease to 5mg. I'm currently taking it for 4 months and decided on my own to taper down. I cut the 5mg pill into 4. Hahahahahaha. Then taked the 3 pieces. I'm experiencing withdrawal symptoms.

Hi, On 8/24/2020, I dropped from 60mg to 30mg of duloxetine. I've been on the drug since 7/2016. The side-effects are sometimes difficult, but mostly mild or moderate. I'm contemplating going back up to 50mg to minimize symptoms, but I'd like to give a few more days before making this decision. It will be two weeks on 9/7/20. My Dr. recommended I go on a low dose of Lexapro to help wean off duloxetine, but my goal is to be medication free. In 2015, I did get off this drug by using a compounding pharmacy, but got back on six months later due to uncontrollable anxiety. I was prescribed many medications, but nothing worked so I went back to Duloxetine. At the time, I attributed the symptoms to losing my father a few months before. Once or twice a quarter, I take a .25 mg of Ativan for breakthrough anxiety. I'm considering the counting beads approach, but I'm overwhelmed by the process. I'm not on any other medications. Healthy, with a non-processed whole foods plants only diet and run 5x a week, and try to walk the other two. I have a great CBT therapist that I've seen on and off for years and presently check in every two weeks. 5 feet 3 inches, 101 pounds, mid-40s, and in a stable relationship for the last 2.5 years. Simple tracker app is used to keep track of symptoms and other factors to get a better insight into the weaning process. Your wisdom is appreciated.

Hi all, I am writing from the BBC. The Victoria Derbyshire show in the UK are producing a short film about anti-depressant withdrawals and are looking to speak to individuals who have used local street drug dependency services for support throughout this process. If you are someone who has used the support services of street drug charities in the UK for antidepressant withdrawal and are interested in taking part, please do reach out to me via the personal messaging system . We appreciate the very sensitive nature of this difficult experience and anything spoken about will remain confidential unless otherwise agreed. Many thanks.

Dear all, I have done all the research possible and contact all persons in the Netherlands who could help me find the answers for coping with this rollercoaster ride of tapering my last 2,5 mg of paroxetine (paxil). I managed to get in touch with a researcher in the area of tapering and withdrawal effects of anti-depressants. He was really helpful with my questions about tapering of and was so kind to share his latest upcoming publication about withdrawal effects and the importance of good guidance from our doctors. I found this article very inspirational and heart warming to know we are not alone in this battle of coming of our medications. I wanted to share this with you, thought it could be helpfull for others as well. Here is the link to the manuscript. It is still under review but already publiced at https://iipdw.org/user-knowledge-psychotropic-drug-withdrawal/ greetings Julia

Hi, everybody. My name is David. I just discovered these forums a couple days ago as I was searching the internet for answers and hope. I'm in pretty bad shape right now, even as I am typing these first lines I am starting to cry. I feel better about asking other people who have been through the same issues as me, as opposed to a psychiatrist that just wants to put me on medication. Warning: this is going to be a long post, I apologize and thank you in advance for reading. LONG-TERM MEDS HISTORY: I am now 30 years old, and have been on Anti-Depressant medication for 20 years. I was diagnosed with pretty severe OCD/Anxiety around age 10 or 11, and immediately started on Anti-Depressant medication. (It was warranted, I was in such despair and largely unable to function even in everyday activities like school and doing normal kid things, and was never going to be able to get through any kind of Behavioral Therapy at that point in my life). SO we started with Zoloft (Sertraline), and it made a HUGE difference pretty immediately. I was able to be much more of a "normal" kid, though I did have setbacks here and there. After the better part of a decade, when the Zoloft seemed to not be working as well anymore, we switched to Cymbalta (Duloxetine), which I have been on for approximately the last decade. Which brings me to... SHORT-TERM MEDS HISTORY: Sometime in 2017 (I think), I decided I finally wanted to try going without my medication. I began a tapering with my prescribing psychiatrist that lasted 6+ months UNTIL the beginning of 2018 when I dropped COMPLETELY off of the medication. The tapering process was 90mg down to 60mg, then down to 30mg, then eventually down to nothing. I had NO physical withdrawal symptoms when I did this, and I remained off of the Medication for maybe around 3 months. The only REAL reason I decided to go back on the medication after those 3 months was because I had been feeling much more down/sad since being off of them, BUT I was unsure how much of that was normal (my 4-year first-love relationship finally died at the end of 2017) and how much of that was possibly a side-effect of being without the medication. SO, by April of 2018 I had decided to go back on Cymbalta, and I pretty quickly went all the way back up to 90mg. The plan was to be on it for a little while longer to give myself time to heal from the loss of this relationship. By the end of Oct. 2018 I had made it back down to 30mg, where I would stay for the next 5-6 months. (I think I tried dropping off the medication once during this period but went back on pretty quickly because I started feeling some physical withdrawal symptoms that I hadn't before. At this point, my memory is kinda blending it all together.) I tried dropping off again this April and felt the withdrawal effects worse than I did the previous time. So once again, I went right back on it. THEN I started seeing a different Dr (a nurse practitioner) who has experience helping people wean off of meds. Following her suggestions, THIS TIME I weaned from 30mg down to 20mg daily for 2 weeks, then started taking the 20mg ever other day for 2 weeks, then down to half of the 20mg pill every other day for 2 weeks (opening capsule and pouring out approximately half of the beads), and then finally taking half a 20mg pill every 4 days for a couple weeks. Doing it THIS way prevented the physical withdrawal symptoms I had experienced the couple times before. BUT now it's the emotional despair that I am worried about... WHERE I AM NOW: I have now been completely off of the medication since July 2nd. If I can just get through this depression and sadness, I just KNOW that I will be able to handle the issues that originally plagued me 20 years ago. I have lived through it all, and with the experience and memories and knowledge that I have now, I should be able to cope with it much better. I am just worried that it's the worst timing ever. Here we are, over a year and a half since my relationship was fully dead, and I am struggling with it worse than I have at any point since its death. I have only recently decided I need to do whatever I can to get past it because it is CERTAINLY not coming back (talked with her a few days ago). BUT what is now troubling me, is that I'm not sure if my current depression is due to the loss of the relationship OR if it's due to me being completely off of medication now and my brain having to re-wire itself and recover. OR if it's a really bad combination of both. I've never been through heartbreak like this before, but it seems to be getting progressively worse, where in normal circumstances it should be getting progressively better as time wears on. How can I tell the difference between true, natural depression and depression that's an effect of withdrawal? I assumed (maybe naively) that if I didn't have any physical withdrawal symptoms then I probably wouldn't have any emotional symptoms either. Just looking for some thoughts/insight from people with similar experiences. I am scared that I will have to remain on Anti-Depressants for the rest of my life, and who knows how THAT might even damage my health. I have been researching alternate, more natural forms of therapy for someone like me with Serotonin issues, the use of things like magnesium supplementation and whatnot. MY MAIN CONCERN IS BEING ABLE TO BE HAPPIER AGAIN, and I'm just hoping I can do that without Anti-Depressants. (I'm also dealing with other smaller physical issues like PE, which began as soon as I started weaning and gradually got worse the less amount of meds I took. But again, at this point, the more important thing to me is my mental health and mood. I don't want to feel heartbroken and hurt anymore.) Thanks for reading. I appreciate your time. David

Hello All, I am a college student who has been on 400mg of Wellbutrin for 5 months and 10mg of Lexapro for a bit less than six weeks. I didn't want to be put on Lexapro. I had been experiencing mild anxiety but for the most part, I was doing really well. (Sleeping and eating better, more energy, basically what one hopes for when being put on antidepressants.) In late November, my doctor insisted that I needed to start Lexapro. I pushed back and he insisted further - basically almost threatened to drop me as a client unless I took this medication but never gave a clear reason as to why. This whole thing was so suspicious that I actually researched him to see if there was any connection he may have had to the pharma industry. (Couldn't find anything.) Now, 6 weeks later, I'm not doing well at all. My anxiety hasn't decreased at all and I've been experiencing headaches and extreme fatigue. I went from sleeping 7-8 hours a night to 11 hours a night in addition to an early evening nap. I feel like a zombie. Basically, I'm very convinced this is medicine is not for me. I told me doctor all of this in an email and he essentially refused to even consider me stopping the medicine. He said that if I wanted to even discuss the subject, I needed to come in for an early appointment (I would be charged extra $50). He refused to give me any details on how to taper off Lexapro. I really don't want to see him again. Therefore, I was hoping some of you may provide me with some advice on tapering off Lexapro. Beginning in early December I took 5mg for a week and then 10 mg since then. Therefore, I've only been on 10mg for a bit over a month. I feel like tapering off by 10% every 3 weeks is a bit too extreme for my case - seeing as I've only been on it for a bit. I was considering doing a week of 7.5mg, a week of 5mg, a week of 2.5mg and then nothing. If you tapered off lexapro after being on it short term I would love to hear your advice, experience, and side effects. Thank you very much! Also, I get my Wellbutrin from my PCP so no worries about losing that prescription.

My story appears to be similar to many folks here on this forum. Reading all of these accounts has helped me accept my symptoms as a result of Zoloft, which has at least given me some piece of mind. Before I explain my timeline and struggle with getting off Zoloft, I want to bring to the forum’s attention something my psychiatrist informed me of which I have found no evidence of elsewhere. Hopefully someone can verify this. My psychiatrist explained the following: The FDA allows for a 30% upward or downward margin of error on Zoloft pills. He explained that a 50mg Sertraline (Zoloft) may have up to 65mg or as low as 38.5mg. Another example, a 25mg Sertraline may have have as much as 32.5mg and as low as 17.5mg. Can anyone validate this? If this is true, it is unimaginable. My story: I started 50mg of Zoloft in 2012 for general anxiety, social stress and general dissatisfaction. My psychiatrist at the time said “It was about as harmful as taking an aspirin.” In 2013 we increased my dose to 75mg. My psychiatrist retired in 2015 and I continued at 75mg through my general doctor’s refills. In 2018, I felt I was in a good place and tried to go cold turkey. After a couple of weeks of torture, I returned to 75mg. After learning that I should taper, and also feeling I was in a good place, I decided to reduce my dose to 50mg in July of 2019. Two weeks of intense symptoms ensued but by the end of the second week things became more manageable. I wanted to reduce the symptoms and requested (it took some convincing of my new psychiatrist) a liquid form of Sertraline in August. I reduced to 45mg but felt like I was not getting a consistent dose (sticking to the glass) and it was difficult to swallow even when mixed with water. My psychiatrist recommended that I switch to a 25mg pill + a half and a quarter of another 25mg pill bringing me to 42.5mg in September. I stayed at 42.5mg for September and October and was distracted by a series of sinus infections (antibiotics and 2 rounds of prednisone). Thinking I was ill from the infections, I did not realize most of my symptoms were Zoloft related. All of my symptoms were rationalized but my general doctors. Dizziness, light headed, extreme head pressure, headaches, persistent neck pain, fogginess, loss of appetite, ear pops and pings, jittery, imbalance, loss of equilibrium, flu-like symptoms and tingles in hands...doctors all rationalized them as symptoms of sinus/ear infection and the steroids. This went on for almost 2 months, while somehow I was still functioning. Until I called my psychiatrist last week and he informed me that it might be because we switched to a smaller pill which may have 30% less than is listed on the bottle. He prescribed the 50mg for me and within 2 days I felt somewhat improved, but noticed some brain zaps and the continuation of symptoms. My psychiatrist said that 50mg may not be enough to counteract a withdrawal and that we may need to go up to 75mg to stabilize. This past Sunday (10/27) I upped my dosage to 75mg. I am feeling some improvement, but still not feeling right: light headed, light sensitivity, headaches, fogginess, inconsistent appetite, ear pops and pings, jittery, imbalance and tingles in hands... So I am back where I started, 75mg, and hopefully stabilizing soon. Lots of information here from fellow “survivors” but I am scared. Shouldn’t I feel totally better? Could a couple months of enduring withdrawal make stabilizing more difficult? And most importantly, is the 30% margin of error that my psychiatrist shared with me true?? If so, we need to change that! Thank you for your time.

Hello, I just wanted to thank you for having information in these forums to not only help me taper off my medications, but to also help me understand I am not alone in this endeavor. Unfortunately, like many of you, I ended up on these meds by doctors too quick to prescribe; and now I'm the one holding the ball. I'm currently on Lyrica 25mg twice a day (50mg total daily). Oxycontin 10mg 3x a day (30mg total daily). Clonazepam .25mg in am and .5mg in pm (total .75mg daily). My goal is to get off all of these. I am currently on a hold on tapering my oxycontin and would like to taper off the Lyrica because I believe it's making my tongue swell and I can hardly swallow. I've been on Lyrica for about the past 5 yrs and was originally taking 200mg daily. I weaned down to where I am now and have held here for about 2 yrs. I've read the post on tapering Lyrica. I am at the lowest capsule dose available for am and pm. I stopped tapering 2 yrs ago because I didn't know how to taper with opening casules. Of course, past doctors have told me that you can't get W/D's from Lyrica, but they have a mutual understanding with the big pharm companies/ or just ignorant. I finally have a great FNP who understands about withdrawls. I notice in tapering off Lyrica you mention going off 10% from last dose each month. I was just wondering what the best way for me to taper 10% when I'm taking Lyrica in 2 doses per day? Do taper 10% off the morning and 10% off the evening? Do I try to take one dose per day and taper from there? (although I don't know how my body would react trying to go to one dose when I feel W/D's within hours of not taking a dose) My prescriber had told me to open the capsule and pour a little out each day, but I'd like to be more consistent. Would it be beneficial to have her prescribe me the oral Lyrica from the pharmacy and then taper each the morning and evening? Sorry for so many questions, but I'm desperate, feeling like hell on earth from side effects and have no where to turn. Thank you so much for listening