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Hi everyone. I created an account specifically to say what has helped me throughout this journey of recovery. I have no idea if I’m currently in a window (likely) or actually healed. I’ve had a terrible, hellish withdrawal of Trintellix, since December 20th I’ve had extreme panic attacks, suicidal thoughts, insomnia, extreme agitation etc. And then, I’ve found a few things that helped me. What was really the most helpful thing was hypnotherapy. The first session didn’t help much as it was just an introduction to it, but the second session transformed me. It put me in a state of deep relaxation, and helped me sleep again. I would advice everyone to try it, despite the cost. The other thing that helped me tremendously was this medicine called Euphytose in France, it’s a mix of Passiflora, Valerian root, hawthorn, and ballotte (translation?). It had the same effects than benzos without the obvious terrifying risks of these. Again I’m not sure I’m completely healed or in a long window, but I these things truly helped, I believe. I’ve read this forum a lot and wanted to help the folks on here, in any way that I could, even if what I’m saying is maybe nothing new for some people. Bless you all, and hang in there, healing is coming.

Hello everyone, I am hoping to get some feedback from someone and possibly some hope. I am attaching my medication history: Celexa 20mg January 2014- June 2019 Tried to stop cold turkey for a few days in February 2015, resumed normal dose Zoloft 38.5mg June 2019-August 2021 Weaned to 25 mg Started Wellbutrin 150mg November 2021 Stopped Wellbutrin cold turkey February 2022 Started Trintellix March 2022 Stopped taking Zoloft after decreasing to about 8mg in June 2022 Discontinued Trintellix July 2022 after having crippling panic attacks Restarted 12mg of Zoloft July 2022 (panic subsides for a few weeks, then BOOM, right back) Increased to 18.5mg of Zoloft August 2022, followed same pattern as above. Panic attacks gone for a few weeks and now back full force I have been having horrible, crippling panic attacks for the last few months. I have NEVER had anxiety! I wanted to stop taking Zoloft because of the sexual side effects and I am not even sure I actually needed to be on antidepressants in the first place. I blindly, and ignorantly, agreed to take Zoloft initially because someone said it would help me sleep through a difficult period in my life. 9 years later and here we are. I feel so alone. My doctor thinks I am crazy if I mention post acute withdrawal and wants to put me on more meds. He even offered me benzos knowing that I am in long term substance abuse recovery. Does anyone out there have any experience with developing panic attacks after trying to decrease/stop ssri's? I am desperate.

Hey folks, I've been struggling with meds for a while now, history below: this first started with substance "abuse" (anytime i mention this, I wouldn't classify it as abuse, in the sense of how frequent I used), serotonorgic class, max 2 times a month for a few months, choice was made to "self medicate" ( i was doing pretty bad, but somehow still bearable) surprisingly this got me out off the loop of negative thoughts, was quite surprised to see this part of the world, but soon enough realized I am VERY senzitive to such things Start of 2021: first "treatment", risperidone, depakene, sertraline, took them around 3 months when I felt better than I cold turkey-ed for the substance abuse again. Mid 2021: SA lasted for a while, a few months later used a different thing (dopamine agonist), twice, which in a month made me go into psychosis doc appointment again, risperidone, sertraline 100mg, buspirone, combo didn't work (thought I was going insane) different appointment again, olanzapine, lorazepam, sertraline (great combo, back to "normal in a few days) Autumn 2021: after a few months, stopped taking the meds, but occasionally taking sertraline as I remembered, till i dropped them around in the spring of 2022, few months pass summer 2022 Feel bad, dissociated, no mood for things, no motivation doc appointment, paroxetine, got me back to stable but the sexual side effects were horrible, after 5 months Winter 2022 stopped as doctor advised (because was feeling well except the side effects), back pain, hard to breathe, heart aches, eye pain all due to withdrawal + dissociation, social isolation, not feeling like talking couldn't make it, doc appointment again spring 2023, sertraline 25mg, fixed me couldn't stand the sexual side effects, cold turkeyd again, after a few weeks, anxiety that started to increase periodically, until one night when I started seeing traces and visual stuff, felt like being high but very weird, anxiety was horrible, that was not how I ever felt before starting any of these Got scared ^ continued with the sertraline until April 2023 doctor appointement, wanted something different, got tianepetine and trazadone first month was good (probably due to stopping sertraline soon enough or because of the trazadone), couldn't take trazadone anymore as it was too sedating after 1-2 months started feeling bad again but I didn't let it get to worse June 2023 (here I stopped quitting meds, and realized it's serious) another appointment at different doc, tried mirtazapine, horrible. tried 10mg vortioxetine, weird side effects at first, weird dizziness and mental sensations, but kept going, stabilized after a month felt ok, but anxiety was killing, August 2023 decreased at 5mg and tried to use some gabapentine for anxiety, not the greatest but I'm stable and sex drive is decent Present: 5mg vortioxetine, 300mg gabapentine at night I'm just so confused, because the first time I quit the meds, it took around 3 months for me to get into widthdrawal (progressively got worse, until I couldn't stand it). But the fact that it took that long to feel bad, was just making me wonder, maybe that's just how I am? Paradoxically I'm not having any negative thoughts compared to the past, I'm very happy with my life (except all those meds messing me up with side effects). I am tempted to start a slow taper, but the calculations to make solutions seem pretty hard. I'm hoping you can give me some friendly advice about, withdrawal vs that's just who I am...

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

Hello, I am new here, I discovered this website through being part of the Trintellix subgroup on reddit. I recently tapered off Trintellix and have now discontinued for a total of 7 days. I was on the 20mg dosage for 6 years. I wasn't able to taper off with a doctor as family doctors are difficult to find right now in Toronto, Canada. I had an appointment with a walk in doctor who suggested that I taper off 5mg every couple of weeks and that is what I did. I started tapering off Nov 25th. Tapering down 5mg every couple weeks was not too bad. My main side effects were headaches, and fatigue. The main withdrawal symptoms have hit me in the last 7 days when I completely discontinued use. I'm feeling highly irritable, have snapped at a couple people this week :(, sad, feelings of hopelessness, and mood swings. I cant tell if I had tapered too quickly or if these are normal feelings and I should continue to ride the withdrawal symptoms out. Thank you for listening! Any guidance would be appreciated!

ADMIN NOTE Please read this entire topic for tips about tapering vortioxetine. There are many reports on the Web about withdrawal symptoms from vortioxetine, despite their being overlooked by drug companies. Vortioxetine appears to have a withdrawal syndrome similar to almost all the antidepressants and should be tapered slowly to avoid severe or prolonged withdrawal symptoms. See Why taper by 10% of my dosage? According to https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/vortioxetine#section=Top According to https://www.drugs.com/pro/brintellix.html , Brintellix is available as 5mg 10mg 15mg 20mg film-coated tablets. It has a very long half-life, somewhere around 66 hours. There is no ingredient in or coating on the tablet to make it extended-release, that would be unnecessary. (In May 2016, Takeda changed the name of this drug from Brintellix to Trintellix in the US to avoid confusion with another drug.) More biochemical detail about vortioxetine at DrugBank. Vortioxetine is metabolized in the liver by several liver enzymes; however, enzyme cyp 2D6 is very important in its metabolization. Taking vortioxetine with other drugs that are metabolized in the liver, as many psychiatric drugs are, can lead to drug-drug interactions, particularly if the other drugs utilize cyp 2D6. From https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/vortioxetine#section=Drug-and-Medication-Information Check for drug-drug interactions. Reduce by splitting tablets Depending on your daily dosage, you may be able to taper by dry-cutting tablets. For example, if you are taking 20mg per day, you may request that your prescription be filled with a combination of 10mg and 5mg tablets with the intention of splitting one 5mg tablet into fourths (1.25mg per quarter tablet). This will enable you to reduce from 20mg to 18.75mg, 17.50mg, 16.25mg, 15mg, 13.75mg, 12.5mg, 10mg -- all reductions within the 10% guideline. (Your doctor will have to specify the reason, such as "take x mg in the a.m. and x mg in the p.m.", for most insurance to cover this type of prescription). At 10mg, you will want to get your prescription filled with two 5mg tablets. At this point, to maintain a reduction rate of 10%, you will need to either 1) use a digital scale to weight tablet fragments of 1mg active ingredient (mgai) or less; OR 2) convert one 5mg tablet into a liquid to measure with an oral syringe. (See below.) Use a digital scale to measure doses If you are very sensitive to dosage reductions, you may wish to weigh tablet fragments, see Using a digital scale to measure doses Taper with vortioxetine liquid Measuring a drug for tapering by 10% at a time is easier using a liquid formulation. Since vortioxetine is available in fairly low dosages, you can take part of your daily dosage as a 5mg, 10mg, or 15mg tablet and add the rest as a liquid until your dosage is less than 5mg, where you would take your entire dose as a liquid. Taking part as a tablet and part as a liquid makes it easier to switch from a tablet to a liquid. Vortioxetine liquid may be available by prescription in some countries (other than the U.S). Check with your pharmacist. Make your own vortioxetine liquid The active ingredient in the tablets, vortioxetine, is slightly soluble in water. This means you or a compounding pharmacy can make a liquid suspension from vortioxetine, see How to make a liquid from tablets or capsules A liquid will be a suspension, not a consistent or "homeogenous" solution. Vortioxetine is highly soluble in ethanol and a substance called DMSO, as are many psycho-neuro-active prescription medications. Ethanol is readily available in vodka. You can get oral or medical grade DMSO from many sources. If you have questions about this, feel free to post them in this topic. Have a compounding pharmacy make custom capsule dosages or a liquid or for tapering Compounding pharmacies can make capsules of the drug in any dosage or a liquid from the tablets. You will need a prescription written for the custom compound. The only drawback is this can be expensive. I have a friend on vortioxetine (Brintellix) so I was wondering, does anyone have any info on how tapering this drug might look like? Thanks in advance.

I am dismayed when I look back at the past ten years. I was diagnosed with depression and generalized anxiety disorder and headed off to college with Lexapro. Ten years of therapy, several diagnoses, seventeen medications, and one intensive outpatient program later, I still feel flat inside. My therapist has been encouraging me to reconsider my medication usage - we both share the feeling that I am overmedicated and disregulated. The medications I am currently on - Wellbutrin, Lithium, Trintellix, Caplyta, Topimarate, dosages in signature - have not nudged me in one direction or another - and I strongly desire a change. There are several reasons that drove me to Surviving ADs: Accidentally overdosing on Lithium during the summer Side effects: fine tremor in hands, difficulty getting erections, very low sex drive, constant battle against dehydration, discomfort with heat It's not sustainable for me to pay over $800/month on meds until my deductible is met My psychiatrist is leaving his practice and I need to find someone else for medication management I feel like there must be more to life than the slog the past ten years have been I don't particularly mind taking 10 pills a day, getting labs done every couple of months, or having to take Tadalafil every time I want to have sex, but it has to be worth it. Taking stock of my life right now, I don't think it's worth it. I've given it a good college try, and now I'd like to get off the ride. I'd like to plan tapering off my medications (10% at a time, of course!) while staying in talk therapy, and finding a new healthcare provider. As it goes, I'm not sure how to approach a few pieces of this: I don't really have a great relationship with a doctor at the moment - would it seem adequate to find a new doctor as a prescriber? Once again, my psychiatrist is leaving the practice, so I do need a prescriber as I taper off. How does the taper conversation go with a prescriber? How does a person taper off five medications? Is there an order of operations to follow? I'm at a point in my life where I can't even remember beyond foggy details how I felt before I was taking antidepressants. Would should I expect for returning to the unmedicated LaurenceAloof?

Hi! New here. This is my second time attempting to go off Trintellix (5 mg, comparatively a baby dose) with very bad withdrawal. I tried tapering around this time last year with medical supervision (2.5 mg), but after a few weeks I felt the emotional destabilization and mental fogginess wasn't worth it. Now I suspect we just did it too fast. Two weeks ago, July 8, I ran out of medication due to a miscommunication with my doctor, and though I have an appointment on the 25th, the office has ghosted me in regard to getting a temporary refill. Bit of a mess. The last two weeks have been the most emotionally chaotic in recent memory. I began to feel sensitive in a way that was out of character about 3 days into quitting, which consisted of spontaneous crying bouts and exhaustion. From previous experience I clocked it as withdrawal and started recording my symptoms early on. Learned weed and alcohol exacerbated my withdrawal the hard way (I smoked on the 16th, drank on the 18th, in each case the day after was nightmarish. Sober now. Fool me twice, haha). Withdrawal includes (*for ones that are most consistent daily, though all repeat): - brain zaps (3-4 times in total, once today) - mental confusion - lack of physical coordination - feeling "high" (experienced this again today) though sober - headaches - this one's specific: it feels like someone is very gently pulling the hair on the back of my head, around where my lambdoid suture probably is. Weirdly tingly. Kinda interesting - forgetfulness* - inability to focus* - loss of appetite* - insomnia* - irritability (I am rarely angry or impatient, this past week I get incredibly annoyed at minor inconveniences)* - mania-like episodes that cycle within hours (excitement, terror, depression) - lack of motivation* - feelings of dread and terror* - exhaustion* - dizziness* - vertigo - tinnitus - trembling* - feelings of self-consciousness and insecurity, primarily from acting flighty and odd and re-living those awkward social encounters* - a constant sense of anxiety and vulnerability* Some days are very bad, some are manageable. Mostly I just feel raw. I live alone. I take no supplements. I am ADHD. Does anyone have any advice/experience with going off Trintellix? If so, what did your withdrawal and timeline look like? It doesn't seem to be a medication known for bad withdrawals, though maybe I am not looking in the right places. I have a few good friends I have leaned on during this time and have been rather obsessively playing the guitar, which works pretty well for the anxiety. If anyone has any good vitamin or supplement recommendations, especially, I'm all ears. I am probably going to go back on Trintellix after the 25th, or whenever I get a refill. Despite the foul withdrawal I am kind of conflicted, because I really do not want to be on the med. When the withdrawal symptoms back off I feel more "like" myself and my positive emotions have more clarity, including, unfortunately, the unpleasant ones. Maybe that's wishful thinking though. I'll confer with my physician on what's the right move, possibly going back on and tapering etc. I've been consistently on SSRIs for 5 years, but do not recall significant withdrawals with other meds, likely due to swapping to a different one immediately. I am 21 now and suspect being on SSRIs during those developmental years might be part of why I'm having such an adverse reaction. Thanks for reading. I found this forum last week and reading different posts made me normal at a time I assumed I had gone a bit batty.

Hello All… Over the years I’ve been plied with most SSRIs there are, in an attempt to combat depersonalisation / derealisation disorder. About three years ago I was put on Vortioxetine (aka Brintellix). It did help with the DPDR but I’m just fed up of feeling nothing at all now and having no enthusiasm for anything. I decide to start reducing my dose about two weeks ago and so far the experience has been horrendous. So far side withdrawn effects are - Strong head zapping / weird head sensations. Strong feelings of panic - agoraphobiac type symptoms. Short temper - generally being unpleasant to people around me. Constant feeling of tensions - especially in the mornings. Relentless tiredness. Mental confusion. Very low mood What’s worrying me is that this is just dropping to 5mg. Withdrawal got so bad yesterday I nearly abandoned the idea of getting off them. Would love to hear from anyone with experience of coming off this one. Best wishes to all….

Hello, I am a 26 year old Canadian student currently on exchange in Australia. I started tapering down from my prescribed dose of 10mg to 5mg approximately 2.5 weeks ago. I also currently take 20mg of Vyvanse daily for ADHD. I have been taking trintellix for 2-3 years (not quite sure exactly how long). I started taking antidepressants in 2016. I originally was prescribed 10mg of escitalopram and made the switch over to trintellix at some time around 2019. In 2016, I was feeling very overwhelmed with school etc. At the time, I hadn't been diagnosed with ADHD. I started taking Vyvanse around 2018. I had thought of tapering off trintellix for a while but it never quite seemed like the right time. My undergraduate degree has dragged on from 2015-present and I'm set to graduate at the end of 2023. My lifestyle has been pretty healthy recently. I've been exercising regularly, eating well, not drinking alcohol. It seemed to me like a good time to try tapering down. I wanted to taper because I don't want to be on antidepressants all of my life. I also heard that it can be more difficult to work through psychotherapy etc. while on antidepressants. I've definitely been feeling symptoms of tapering / withdrawal. It takes a lot longer to get out of bed in the morning... something that I hadn't struggled with in a while (vyvanse does help me get out of bed). I've been feeling depressed. I've been more irritable. I'm having difficulty concentrating on my school work. My anxiety has been worse. I've been having odd + vivid dreams. The weather has just started to change into winter as well (cold and rainy Melbourne). I'm at a point now where I'm not sure whether or not to reinstate to my prescribed dose or just wait it out. My psychiatrist from back home mentioned to me that if I ever wanted to taper down off of trintillex, I could cut my pills in half. However, I made the decision to do this on my own without any doctor supervision. I'm not sure if now, when I'm halfway around the world, with no support network, is the best time for me to make this change in my life. Perhaps it might be better to do this when I'm back home and finished my degree. My primary questions for you all are: 1) What are the risks of going back up to 10mg now and tapering down at a later date? If I were to start this again, I would most likely take a more conservative (ie. 10%) tapering schedule. 2) Is it best for my brain to just wait it out on 5mg? Has anyone had experience with 10mg - 5mg Trintellix? Could I balance out soon and adjust to 5mg? If I stay on 5mg longer, will it be more difficult and/or more harmful for me to go up to 10mg? 3) I really want to avoid any longterm harmful outcomes. I want to do what's best for my brain. Thank you!

DESPERATE: How a normal person lie for antidepressants and was ruined tl;dr: A burned-out normal person thought antidepressants could be performance enhancer so she lied to doc that she was depressed. She was treated as GAD and MDD because she had side effects and reached a point that with drugs she couldn't function. She was eventually honest with her doctor and is in the process of withdrawing. She felt very bad, anxious and sleepless because of the withdrawal symptoms, and deeply desperate and regretful. She has realized that she has made terrible mistakes and is guilty. She needs hope/support/encouragement that taking time she will be back to normal. From 2020 to 2021/05 I was a workaholic and didn't have a schedule at all. I just woke up and drank coffee, forced myself to work, and sleep at the point I could not work anymore, ate at the point I felt hungry. So going to bed in the morning and having lunch at 3 am was normal for me at that year. I feel so regretful, I thought I was young and healthy, so I should work as hard as I could regardless of my health. So after a year self burning, I was completely retarded. I couldn't sleep anymore. My heart was pounding when I tried to sleep, and it took me hours to fall asleep. However, besides the sleep problem, I was functioning normally. I still finished work and hung out with my friends. Just my sleep was completely ruined, which is not surprising given a year's messed up. However, even at that point, I was still thinking about performance enhancements. If I was a little bit reasonable, I should pick an antidepressant that helps with sleep, a calmer one. But I was so crazy, I picked venlafaxine which is known for activating and notorious for increasing heart rate and worsening sleep. I don't know what was wrong with me at that point, maybe I was confused by the devil, I neglected all of the venlafaxine's side effects. I must have read about its side effects somewhere but my mind refused to accept or believe it. So I went to a walk-in clinic, and lie to the doctor that I had venlafaxine before, and I had a generalized anxiety disorder. The doctor believed me and started treating me as GAD. As I said, venlafaxine has notorious side effects that will make heart racing and worsen sleep. I didn't realize that, and the doctor ironically didn't realize that either. After taking venlafaxine, I had more and more frequent heart racing and worse sleep. The doctor thought it was my GAD got worse, and he increased the dosage of A and benzo for sleep, which only made things worse. Eventually he gave me rexulti, the antipsychotic. Ironically my racing heart recovered after having rexulti. I was so happy, I thought I was cured. So I went back to work. However my sleep was so bad that I always felt tired. So I saw a psychiatrist, and told her about the sleep problem and of course the lie about having GAD. She prescripted me mirtazapine 30mg before bedtime. I stopped mirtazapine in November because it made me gain 30 lbs. So from August to December(November) I was on 225mg of venlafaxine and 30mg of mirtazapine. I was so fatigued everyday but forced myself to work because I wanted to achieve something. It was so dark during these months. My neurosystem and brain have already been messed up by so many drugs, but I believed I was fine and cured and stable, and of course, I was not. My only mental support was a promise with my friend that after December we would go on a trip, a long relaxing trip. Every time I felt burned out I told myself, hold onto it; there is a trip waiting for you. And devastating thing happened: My friend went back to her home country in December and January. I didn't realize it until my work was done. I suddenly realized that the trip was gone. I lost the only hope and good thing which kept me going and not falling apart for months. My mental health was totally destroyed at that point. I shouldn't be so desperate and burned out, but after months of abusive use of drugs my brain and neuro system were completely messed up. I would say, if I didn't take these antidepressants for months I wouldn't have that mental meltdown in December. I was sent to the emergency in December. There they gave me more benzos, and the psychiatrist increased my venlafaxine from 225mg to 300mg. He also gave me another antidepressant bupropion. bupropion was another super activating drug, and wasn't helping my mental health at all. My mental health issue got better after spending time with my other friends, and bupropion caused a lot of panic attacks, sleep problems and racing hearts. How do I know they are directly caused by bupropion? because these symptoms went away after I cold turkeyed bupropion. That was a point when I realized psychiatrists are not so reliable: The psychiatrist who gave me bupropion insisted that my anxiety, panic attacks , racing heart and worsen sleep were caused by my worsen GAD, because according to their "guildline", bupropion is supposed to help with anxiety. However this time I know for sure bupropion was causing these problems because they went away after I stopped bupropion for a short amount of days. Also my sleep got worse and worse in 2022. I could only slept for a few hours, and the sleep was bad, it didn't recharge me. I was just a dead body walking. Yea I was working **** hard and that was just by my strong spirit. I was so tired these days and it was abnormal tiredness, more like restlessness. I was so so so tired, but I couldn't nap. My heart was pounding so loudly whenever I tried to nap. And of course my heart was pounding at bedtime, and my doctor just gave me more benzo, what a shame! Remind you that by May 2022 I have been taking venlafaxine for a year on a high dosage, and venlafaxine is a strong activator and is notorious for raising heart beat and causing anxiety even for really depressed ppl. I, a healthy person, have been on it for a year, and by May 2022 I have almost reached my limit. Finally my family doctor suspected that venlafaxine is not suitable for me. So he switched me to escitalopram. So in June, July and August I was taking escitalopram. My sleep was still bad, and I became even more tired during the day. And I had brain fog all the time, ironically I was still taking driving lessons. It's so dangerous for me to drive and I know it. I failed tests for other reasons, and now I realize they might be a warning from god. Test center ppl didn't know I was dangerous driving, but they still failed me. This must be a sign from god, warning me that I am on the wrong path. Brain fog, fatigue, bad sleep, my family doctor thought it was my depression that went worse. So he increased the dosage of D to 20mg(the max) and rexulti to 3mg. By the end of July, my work became intense. I was fatigued and foggy, but I have to work. I worked **** hard again under tons of pressure, with a foggy brain and fatigue. That week was so bad that I had really bad headache. I guess I was really on the edge of falling apart by then. The week after that I had the worst panic attack and sleeplessness. I lost my sleep completely, I became so fatigued that I couldn't function in the day. If in July the fatigue and fog were something I could still live with, by the end of August that became something that I couldn't live with because I couldn't function at all. went to the emergency again, and they gave me Seroquel, another antipsychotic. This is the med that kept me sleeping all day in September. But no one told me that. I figured it out after I stopped it. Oh I wasn't working since August because I cannot. And brain fog is making me crazy. I didn't have the fog when I was on venlafaxine, so I switched back to venlafaxine. The fog went away, but my racing heart and bad sleep came back. When I was standing , my heart rate was 120. So my family doctor switched me to trintellix, the one I.am taking and tapering right now. After switching to trintellix my heart rate became normal again. But still I was so fatigue and sometimes foggy. I wasn't able to sit still and watch a movie even. I began to realize something was wrong. For the first time, I was honest to my doctor and everyone around me. I told them at the beginning there was nothing wrong with me, I lied for antidepressants just for enhancing performance. My doctor cold turkeryed rexulti and Seroquel six weeks ago and I am still suffering from its withdrawal symptoms: bad sleep, anxiety, brain fog. This week my doctor asked me to taper trintellix. I have been taking 5 mg for three days and could feel the anxiety is worsen, so is my sleep. But at this point I really don't care about my feeling anymore. I just want these poison to get out of body ASAP and give my body time to recover back to normal. I was so regretful that I lied, I was stupid and greedy. I am in desperate everyday that there has been permanent damage to my brain and I will never become a normal person again. PLEASE give me some support/encouragement/hope that I will be back to normal. PLEASE feel free to blame me for being so stupid. I feel lonely, helpless and desperate.

Hello, I'm in my early 60's and new to the group. I have decided to taper my 3 psyche meds. I'm currently on 0.50 Vraylar which I've been tapering for 17 months at 10-15% per month. This was before I knew about this website. Everything was going fine until I had withdrawals at 0.30 and started to experience headaches, vivid dreams, extreme insomnia and tingling in legs. I then pushed up to 0.50 and currently holding. After the fact, I may have gone too fast as I've been on these meds a little over 5 years. Since reading about tapering on this website, I realized I should have tapered the trintellix first as well as the problems that trazodone may pose. I'm also on 10 mg Trintellix and 100 mg Trazodone for the past 5 years which I haven't touched yet. Would appreciate any thoughts and advice. Thank you!

Hi everybody I'm Soren from Denmark, 50 years old, and just started tapering 18 years of Mirtazapine-use. Earlier I have tried to withdraw from mirtazapine three times and every time by doctors instructions (50% two weeks, 50% of the remaining dose two weeks, then stop), and the last time I nearly hurt my beloved cat in rage. It was the most frightening out of control experience and periode in my life. I'm not long into my taper (down to 20 mg from 30 mg) and my taper it is going well at the moment (5% every three weeks). As almost universally experienced by other mirtazapine 'withdrawalees' I suffer day 4 or 5 after a reduction, but come day 8 and I am stabilized and on day 10 I feel a little better than before the reduction. I will write more about my experience with both citalopram, brintellix (trintellix), and mirtazapine later but for know I just want to say thank you. You see I have for over 6 months been browsing survivingantidepressants and even though I can feel the heartbroken, desperate loneliness in peoples struggles, I feel that you are a little more non-lonely when when you are visible for each other. More importantly I will no longer just be a browsing antidepressant surviver. If I (and everybody else who are anonymously browsing) continue to free ride on sites like surviving antidepressants the real magnitude of the antidepressant problem will never be known and the work you do never be recognized (enough). I have seen somewhere (maybe a YouTube video) that survivingantidepressants.org has over 14.000 members. My guess is for every site-member in the withdrawal community (on FB-groups, twitter, RxISK, innercompass etc) there are +1000 more browsing non members out there. So here you have one more grateful member so you hugely important work can become a little more visible. Soren from Denmark

Hello and nice to meet everyone. I have been reading as much as I can the past two days and feel like it is time to introduce myself. THANK YOU for everything you all have contributed, this site is a game changer. So many questions answered and a new journey begins. You can see my drug history and four month taper in my signature over the spring/summer (my psychiatrist at the time recommended two weeks, go figure). I had planned on a few crappy months going into this. Oh if I had only found this site first... Withdrawal didn’t kick in for at least two weeks, and slowly at first. I spent all of September and October dodging and weaving through good days and bad days, which I observed simply as “anxiety” (my original diagnosis) but with unusual physical symptoms. I journaled and kept calendar entries, mostly to record when I had to resort to Ativan (usually 0.5mg, occasionally 1mg). Other than for flight anxiety (two trips), I can count 17 times I took it over those two months, and only as a last resort. I had two sudden midnight “surges” (after feeling great) with shivers, out of control heart rate, even some diarrhea, which would last hours. I was convinced it was Serotonin Syndrome. The second one took me to urgent care the next morning for a heart checkup. A few days later a new psychiatrist then put me on Propranolol (beta blocker) as my primary concern was my heart. Propranolol immediately helped me observe and evaluate the “anxiety” I was experiencing which helped a lot. The new psychiatrist also had me stop 5-HTP after only a few weeks which was probably smart. I speak to him again this Friday, not sure what to share/ask given what I am learning here. I am now clear on the fact that I am riding waves of withdrawal symptoms, anxiety responds to the unusual feelings and emotions created by the withdrawal and adds its own icing to the cake, but I am focused on observing and not reacting, and doing my best to “ride it out”. The most unusual part of this “pattern” has been the timing of it all - usually kicking into high gear in the evenings after dark (earlier and earlier in my part of the world). I am nervous about traveling this weekend (short flight) but also realize I need to try and have as “normal” a life as I can stand under these conditions. My wife is awesome, understanding and super supportive. At 12 weeks in, I am not sure reinstatement is an option for me, even though I still have 5mg Trintellix in my drawer, and could try taking microdoses. Leaning toward a no, but I realize I may have run out of time to make that decision? I have read almost all the “required reading” but would still appreciate an opinion on that one. Also considering stopping my multivitamin, turmeric and mulberry leaf extract and taking only my “Super Omega-3 Plus” (Fish Oil) and picking up magnesium pills. I just started the Probiotic so I could drop it too, but not feeling like it would impact all of this either way? I am intrigued by the Reishi 415 blend to get some non-psychedelic mushroom love. Lastly my wife and I are thinking about therapeutic float tanks (she would love to do it again) and I have begun using our hot tub as part of my daily routine, along with many failed attempts at meditating. Anxiety was never something I handled well to begin with, and I realize now I must absolutely be on my game to dance this intricate dance. I will post any new thoughts, findings and curiosities on this thread as appropriate. I appreciate everyone’s support! PS- I opted to not use the appropriate abbreviations as I wanted to easily share this summary with family

Hi, sorry in advance, I am a non-native English speaker. In Sep. 2021 I was “diagnosed” with burnout syndrome, after working way too much over years, basically day and night as a vet surgeon. I was resting and things were slightly improving until dec. 21, I felt really fatigued and weak, but never low mood or depressed. Sleep was always good. In Jan. 22, I was prescribed first time in my life with an AD, Brintellix 5 mg (med history in my signature). In March 22 I was stopped from 10 mg Brintellix because of many physical symptoms and ended in hospital with weakness, muscle pains, couldn’t barely walk. What I didn’t know then, I was probably suffering from wd symptoms. 1. April I was set back on 5 mg, raised to 20 mg till 17. May. Suffered from severe physical smyptoms couldn’t barely walk, ataxia, muscle weakness, nausea, dizziness, vertigo & fatigue. Then the doc made me reduce again in Jul. to 10 mg, the symptoms were stabilizing after two weeks, but the doc gave me Wellbutrin 150 mg, stopped after 3 days, this was hell!! Read afterwards Wellbutrin is “doubling” the dose from Brintellix! 24. Aug I reduced to 5 mg, symptoms were stabilizing after 10 days but doc made me stop in a few days with 5 – 0 mg. Since 14. Sep. no meds at all, after 2 days all hell broke loose: itch on the whole body (never had before), flu like symptoms (never had before), neuropathic pains, muscle pains, stomach ache (never had before), weakness, headaches, light sensitivity, dizziness, fatigue and so on. And yesterday I stumbled on this forum. I am speechless, angry, and sad, this is crazy, nobody ever told me to taper off slowly, this is insane. And it says in the booklet from Brintellix you can stop immediately! I’ve spent hours reading in your topics and your work is very much appreciated, wow! So now I think I am suffering from wd symptoms. Should I go back now on a low dose brintellix to stabilize? And then taper off slowly? How much should I take? 0.5 mg or more? I am so desperate. Right now, I am taking Vit. C 500 mg and Omega 3 fish oil since yesterday, and that’s it. Thanks for your advice in advance Much love Flo75

About 15 years ago I was diagnosed with ADHD and OCD. I started seeing a physiatrist that put me on the combination of Straterra and Vyvance for ADHD, Trileptal and Trintellix for depression/mood stabilizer and Prozac for OCD. I have been on this mix of medication for more then 5 years. I think I am not ready to start weening myself off this medication, because I am in a very good place mentally. The last time I tried to stop Prozac I went from 50 mg to 0 over 5 weeks, but I think that it was way too fast and I had to go back to my previous doze. Looking back, I should have questioned all this medication when my doctors was prescribing it, but now I feel stuck and not sure where to begin. Hoping someone here has some suggestions.

Hi everyone, I want to introduce myself. This forum helped me start tapering off of paxil a year ago and I never officially joined until now. Now that I am close to the finish mark, things have gotten harder. It is a long story, so I post a summary first and then a longer version. What I am looking for: sympathy, tips on dealing with current WD symptoms, advice, etc. My history (summary): May 2017-April 2018: 30 mg paxil April-September 2018: 15 mg paxil Sept-Nov 2018: 20 mg paxil November 2019: switch to 20mg paroxetine (bad reaction to change) December 2019-July 2021: 20mg Paxil again June 2021-August 2021: slow transition from 20mg brand paxil to 20mg paroxetine. Went well this time.(motivation was price of drug) July 2021: discussed with doc that parox has made me feel stupid/less sharp. I have always been considered a smart individual, and my work is very intellectual. He said parox does indeed cause cognitive decline over extended use period. So I started tapering off 20mg paroxetine at approx. -10% a month. Had to combine with suspension which is only sold as brand Paxil. (Doc supported this plan). July 2021: doc suggested cannabis for insomnia and that has been wonderful. This was because I often found myself needing 0.25mg alprazolam to sleep and he said cannabis was better. May 2022: reached 10mg paroxetine (from 20mg July 2021). No bad feelings other than noticing increased overall anxiety. Convinced myself I do want to take meds but not paroxetine. July 2022: Doc suggested change to 10 mg Trintellix. Suggested plan was: week 1: 10mg parox and 5mg trintellix; week 2: 10 mg parox and 10mg trintellix; week 3: 5 mg parox and 10mg trintellix (I disobeyed and went to 7.5mg instead and felt fine); week 4: 2.5mg parox and 10mg trintellix (I disobeyed and went to 5mg of paroxetine and all hell broke loose). Three days into the change from 7.5->5mg paroxetine I started feeling terrible withdrawal. August 2022: currently taking 10mg trintellix in the morning and 5 mg paroxetine in the evening and afraid to reduce further. Have been needing 0.25 mg alprazolam to sleep because I am afraid of using prescribed cannabis, which is what I normally use for sleeping. August 2022: 10mg trintellix and 5 mg paroxetine. Alprazolam 0.25mg or cannabis for sleep. Having WD from parox in spite of trintellix. Since 3rd day of going 7.5mg->5mg of parox I have felt crippling headache that did not subside even with 600 mg ibuprofen. This came along with a very stiff neck seemingly out of the blue. I decided it must've been my yoga headstand. But I also felt a bit off - weird racing thoughts, did not feel like myself. Had to take alprazolam 0.25 mg to sleep. The next day I felt extremely nauseous and dizzy along with the stiff neck, ocular pain, and a paradoxical feeling of both light and heavy head, if that makes sense. These symptoms persisted into the next day, which is where I am now. What I've been trying from reading here: took 2x 120mg magnesium capsules this morning and 2xvegan omega3 capsules. I felt some relief from ocular and neck pain. Also have been using heat pads and sniffing my lavender/eucalyptus oil blend for relief. Tums helped with nausea yesterday. Any tips are welcome. Thank you PS: I also take between 5-20mg of dextroamphetamine for adhd daily. This started late in life on July 2020 and has proved essential to my surviving in capitalism as a late diagnosed woman with adhd. Long version: Prescribed brand Paxil for generalyzed anxiety disorder: 10 mg for a week, 20mg second week, 30 mg third week. Adjusted well and main side effects were: constipation, weight gain, increased motion sickness. These seemed worth it compared to my anxiety. Took that from may 2017 to around march 2019, when, aided by prescribing doctor, decided to try to stop gradually. He recommended reduce in half (15 mg) in one go and report back. I did and stayed there for about 5 weeks. I felt physical symptoms such as diarrhea, ocular pain, headaches, general photophobia. Doc said these were normal and would subside and indeed they did after about 5 weeks. At that point doc said to cut in half again (7.5 mg). After a couple of days I felt all the previous symptoms in huge intensity but also despair, dread, bouts of crying, and generally a feeling of losing myself. Doc told me to up it back to 15 mg and stay there, which I did. A few months later I was having trouble sleeping and drinking myself to sleep so I asked for advice and he upped the dose to 20mg, where I stayed until July 2021. In November 2020 I tried switching from paxil to paroxetine and had huge withdrawal symptoms (same dose). Switched back to paxil. July 2021, switched gradually from paxil to paroxetine because it is cheaper. That worked fine. I also then started tapering off from 20mg to 10mg (achieved May 2022, no withdrawal). July 2022, doc suggests transition to trintellix with following plan: week In July 2020 I started seeing a new psychiatrist and long story short he said paroxetine was notoriously difficult to get off of and that we could switch to trintellix if I wanted to continue medication or use fluoxetine as a bridge. In July 2021, aided by websites like this one, I told him I would start a slow tappering off to help me decide and he supported did. I did about -10% a month, including paxil suspension Last week July 2022: started 5 mg Trintellix. A week later 10 mg Trintellix. A week later went from 10 to 7.5 mg of paroxetine. Felt ok. A week later went from 7.5 to 5 mg of paroxetine. On the third day felt crippling headache that did not subside even with 600 mg ibuprofen. This came along with a very stiff neck seemingly out of the blue. I decided it must've been my yoga headstand. But I also felt a bit off - weird racing thoughts, did not feel like myself. Had to take alprazolam 0.25 mg to sleep. The next day I felt extremely nauseous and dizzy along with the stiff neck, ocular pain, and a paradoxical feeling of both light and heavy head, if that makes sense. These symptoms persisted into the next day, which is where I am now. Any advice/tips/stories/support is welcome. Thank you

Greetings. I have been taking Brintellix ( 10 Mg ) and Mirtazapeine ( 15Mg ) for about a year. After a slow start they started ( seeming ) to work well about 3-4 months in and the result ( after a serious episode of clinical depression / anxiety with frequent, planned suicidal ideation) was that I've been feeling clear headed, calm and able to focus on work and live a full life as a family man with a demanding career. During the depression I'd seriously considered that my career would not be possible and made plans ( when I wasn't thinking about ending my life ) to work in a less demanding occupation. So once bedded in, the medication, or possibly other factors like good diet, yoga and excercise, seems to have really helped. Overall I'd say I've been feeling less anxious than at any point in my adult life ( I'm now 50 ) and not experiencing any adverse side effects from the drugs, bar a slight reduction in my sex drive- but only slight. I sometimes also find that afetr I've taken the Mirtazapeine in the evening I can't stay up for long, for example if I've watching a movie. I have 2 concerns A ) I don't really like allopathic medications and was very resistant to taking anything. I have treated myself and my family successfully with natural medicines for my whole life, not even taking headache pills or antibiotics. This seemed like an emergency and my family were very keen for me to try prescribed medications. My feelings at the time were, well even if I live a few years less, that's probably better than suicide and the pain that would cause my family + friends. So I got on board with the 2 medications. B ) I'm concerned that at some point one or both of the drugs will " Crap Out " anyway and I'll hit a wall. I've had a lot of therapy since starting the medication and deepened my spiritual practice and feel that I've much better equipped to handle depression if it hits me again. I'm wondering if I can get some advice on which order to start tapering / withdrawing, and what I might expect from the process? I'm not taking any other medications, and I don't drink alcohol or take any recreational drugs. I'm sleeping well right now. I'm a naturally anxious / neurotic person and have lived with this all my life, so I have strategies for coping with those feelings / sensations if they creep back. After starting to experimentally taper - I tried dropping the mirtazapiene by 25% and then 50%- the anxiety has definitely ramped up in quite sudden waves and I'm sure I'm not approaching things in a sensible way- so am considering taking the dose back up to 75% of prescribed 15Mg ( so 3/4 of a 15 Mg pill ) and taking a more steady approach from advice on this website. I'm seeing that 10% taper in a month is more normal- but had tried 25% and 50% purely because I have a demanding life and making liquids etc seemed like another thing too many- but I'm seeing that it may be the only sensible way forward. Thanks in advance.

I have depression and anxiety. My former prescribing ARNP started me on Latuda to augment sertraline (an off-label use) but I didn’t notice any effects. We then switched 150mg sertraline to 20mg trintillex from November-December and I felt good but I had eye twitching and found out it was expensive so I decided to try an ADHD medication as recommended by my prescribing ARNP. I lowered my trintillex (I think to 10mg) and started the ADHD med but I was anxious and nauseous on it so I stopped and went back up to 20mg trintillex. A few weeks after that, I started having severe symptoms (see below). I have a feeling that increasing the trintillex caused my current symptoms but Latuda is not covered by my insurance so I want to get off it as well. I know I need to titrate slowly but I don’t know which one to start with. I was working with an ARNP and we discussed starting sertraline and then decreasing trintillex but she dropped me after I asked started asking questions about and wanting to change the tapering schedule. She discouraged me from stopping the trintillex alone and said my depression would get worse. Since January 11th, I have been experiencing debilitating anxiety, crying uncontrollably (for the first two weeks), nausea, vomiting, racing heart, heat sensitivity, insomnia, stomach pain, suicidal ideation, obsessive thoughts, memory issues, cognitive issues, itching, agitation, feeling detached, irritability, waves of panic, self doubt, and constipation. My questions are as follows: Should I start decreasing the Latuda or the trintillex first? Do you think decreasing the Latuda could help my anxiety symptoms even though it didn’t seem to have a positive affect on me when I started taking it? Would it be unsafe for me to start decreasing trintillex without adding another SSRI? Would it be safe for me to start on sertraline before dropping the trintillex? To the best of my memory: 2006-2010: sertraline 2006-2007: risperidone 2010-2016: took fluoxetine and citalopram as mono therapy 2016: trial Effexor for a few months 2016-2020: escitalopram (polyrugged with Wellbutrin) 2016-2020: Wellbutrin, months on and months off May 21-Nov 21: tapered from escitalopram to sertraline 150mg August 21: trial of lamotragine (rash) August 21: started latuda (off label) at 20mg, then up to 40mg and 60mg but back down to 40mg November 21: two week taper from sertraline to trintillex 20mg, experienced eye twitching and itchiness (5mg trintillex for 5 days, day 6 decrease sertraline to 100mg, day 10 decrease sertraline to 50mg and increase trintillex to 10mg, day 14 stop sertraline, 10 days of 15mg trintillex and then up to 20mg trintillex) December 21: quick taper down on trintillex to I think 10mg and trialed dextro-amphetamine for a week, 10-40mg, anxious and nauseous (1/2 of 40mg pill in am, then 1/2 pill am and 1/2 pill pm, then 20mg am and no pm, then 20 mg am and 1/2 pm, then maybe 20 mg am and 20 mg pm) December 21: quick taper back up to 20mg trintillex, some lip and foot twitching January 22: lorazepam for a few days January 22: clonidine .1mg-.4mg per day, currently taking .1mg am and .1mg pm January 22-March 22: ashwagonda, L-theanine, and probiotics Current medications: Latuda 40mg Trintillex 20mg Clonidine .1mg am and .1mg pm Fish oil Vitamin D Levothyroxine .112mg

It's getting worse. Newest symptom is diarrhea, no appetite, and unable to eat. I ate some crackers last night after only boullion for a few days. Had severe stomach cramps and finally vomiting. Is this another Ad withdrawal symptom? I didn't taper properly. My insurance quit covering the drug. Med professional put me on buspar which made symptoms worse. Is this ever going to get better?

I've always been sad with my life since I had like 14 years old. I never found any joy in anything. So, in high school, my friends from then offered me weed and I accepted. And it was awesome. I could get high and enjoy life, at last. it was awesome. really miss that stage of my life, now that I think of it. things were good. Things changed, I went to study to another state, things didn't work out (cause I would smoke weed and party instead of studying) so I had to return to my home town. I started buying drugs from the deep web, psychedelics, and it brought me many good memories I wish I can relive some day. Anyways, a couple years worth of taking lots of drugs will do a number to you, no matter how "clean" they are and how "young" you might feel. One day, february 2018, I snapped. Man this really hurts to write. One day, I just felt sick of it all and hit several times my car door with my head, I did a number of holes in it. I realized I really did nothing to me rather than just make holes in my car, so I just drove off to the nearest bridge and told some friends and my dad through text I would jump. one of them went to pick me up and I had a long convo with my sister. I agreed on taking meds. My dad is a psychiatrist and started me with trintellix, brintellix, or Vortioxetine, first 10mg, later 15, finally 20mg. I took it for 6 months, then realized I couldn't get high off most drugs anymore. Not weed, not alcohol, not nicotine, not even a coffee. Not only that, my range of emotions became more tame, nothing as intense as it used to be. This sucks, I thought (and I still do), so I'll drop it. I tappered off 5mg each month, so it took 4 months for me to completely stop taking it. If you're read a bit of anything in this forum you'll realize the decrements are much smaller and the times between dosing less are bigger, like 6 months or so. I experienced pretty much every withdrawl symptom there is: blurry vision, INTENSE vertigo, slugishness; everytime I would turn around even just my head I would experience this very disturbing "shock" moment where I would feel like something missing off my head was taking a sense of itself missing. Very hard to describe, it was something more.... neuronal, shall we say, I think thats because the spinal chord needs serotonin for lots of things and when it suddenly stops its flow its something very ***** up for your body. Since there is no natural way that you can achieve that. Lots of things have happened in the meantime, none of them for the better. It did eventually even itself out, but then I started to become more and more erratic with my **** so i had to be put on meds again. I've left it all for 1 month now and I don't think it will ever go back to what it used to be, not even 50%. I do exercise, I eat healty, but I simply cannot feel good after going a hard workout, after a deep session of meditation, and a weed smoke break after a long day of busting my ass at the office. I can't believe I'm stuck with this ****, it's all my fault for always wanting more and more, never letting breaks between drug highs. Now I'm forever ***** and there is nothing I can do to remedy it. I haven't had sex in forever, but I fear an orgasm with someone will be capped just like every other feeling in my life.

I cold turkeyed off Lexapro 10mg in august of 2020. Big mistake. After a year of taking every supplement known to man I relapsed really bad. My relapse was triggered by chronic UTIs, numerous rounds of antibiotics, and hypothyroid. I relapsed into severe depression, anxiety and insomnia. It’s been six months now and docs have tried to reinstate me four times on the ADs including the one I cold turkeyed off of. I got really sick on all of them and quit within a week. Also on lorazepam daily for severe anxiety which I still take. Finally my psych put me on trintellix and was able to eat again and felt like maybe it could work. I did four weeks on five mg and started to sink again. Doc moved me up to 10 mg two days ago and I feel the worst anxiety Ive ever had. I’m losing hope. I think im permanently damaged from quitting cold turkey. I dont think I will ever be the same again and don’t want to live this way anymore. Im now on two drugs that are both very hard to quit and feel like Ive taken 10 steps backwards. I have no interest in anything. Im not myself and haven’t been since I quit the AD. My psych doc doesn’t call me back when im having a crisis. I’ve been to the ER for severe anxiety three times. I need help real bad.

Hi everyone. I am amazed and thankful for everyone's stories and hard work. Feel free to skip the too long backstory and scroll down to my questions and concerns. After decades of depression and much anxiety / panic attacks, and years of therapy, I decided to see what psychiatry could do for me. After a few tests, my psychiatrist diagnosed me with long term major depression and we decided to start Buproprion. I immediately felt motivated and more interested in life (but this faded over time). Over the next three years, I tried various brain drugs. Nothing really helped with the depression (although my psychiatrist believes it did). In 2021 June we decided to look more into ADHD, with comorbid depression. I am 65 years old and never formally diagnosed with ADHD in the past, but it is pretty obvious in me and the psychiatrist did diagnose it. She started me on Dexmethylphenidate ER 10mg / day. The lights went on immediately. I had energy, interest, I felt better than I had for a very long time. Based on this, we decided to taper the Trintellix. The psychiatrist instructed me to start by cutting from 10mg to 5mg / day beginning 2021 July 15. I began to have very strong anxiety and other symptoms. I didn't know what was happening to me; I thought it was situational. I did not connect it to possible WD symptoms. At our next appointment on 2021 August 19, I was instructed to reduce to 5mg on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays (I assume long half-life influenced this). Anxiety and other symptoms continued and got worse, and I began to suspect it might be WD. At the next psychiatrist appointment on 2021.09.30 I complained about the anxiety. I was told to keep on 5mg M/W/F and increase Buspirone to 30mg / day. My other WD symptoms continued, but anxiety improved somewhat. At the psychiatrist appointment on 2021.10.28 I was told to continue taper, reducing to 5mg on Monday and Friday for two weeks, then stop, and keep Buspirone the same. My symptoms increased and new ones appeared. I won't list them all, but they include many many PVCs, increased heart rate, hot flashes / chills, loss of exercise tolerance, fatigue, muscle pain, inner trembling, anxiety, brain fog, tinnitus, increased sadness, etc. etc. I wondered whether this might be related to flu vaccine and my first Shingrix vaccine, both on 12 October (and Covid booster on 5 November). Then I though I might be returning to hypothyroidism (incident in 2014). Yet I wasn't losing weight like last time. I started researching and found this wonderful website. I began to realize that all these symptoms could be related to withdrawing from Trintellix. I had thought "not me, I never had problems withdrawing from other brain drugs," but the other withdrawals had overlapped with me taking other brain drugs, so any WD effect was likely blunted. As of today, 2021 December 11, I continue to have symptoms. My windows / waves are day to day. For example, one day I wake up with PVCs happening every other heartbeat, the next day I have very few. Or I will feel dizzy and lightheaded, and the next day steady. I am in no way feeling like myself. Questions / concerns: Of course I came to this website too late, and I see that my taper was much too fast. I can handle my current symptoms and I can be patient with them for some time. Yet I see the problems others have reported here, and I wonder whether I should restart a low dose (maybe 2.5mg / day) and then taper properly. I also fear feeling better soon, then crashing in six months or later. My instincts (likely self-pride) say to just ride it out, but I don't want to make a huge mistake that I will regret later. I would be grateful for any thoughts, and thanks again for a wonderful resource for those of us who ate the antidepressant candy. Thank you!

Hi, Came across this website trying to find others who've gone through withdrawal and experienced skin issues during the process. I took 5mg Trintellix medication for the last two years which worked wonders for me. Though, due to financial circumstances and having a shingles outbreak, I had to stop taking the medication cold turkey. My Dr. did blood work and everything came out fine. Chalked my shingles outbreak due to excessive stress. Over the last month and half that I've stopped the medication I've gone through crying spells, anxiety, insomnia/interrupted sleeping cycle, eating binge (sweets), fatigue, muscle weakness.. Right now, I'm experiencing headaches that stop and switch to IBS symptoms then switch back to headaches, some fatigue, focusing issues (eye), skin breakouts (pimples, red spots, hives) on my arms and chest. Today, a new hive or spots came out on my right oblique. I'm scared that it might shingles again or just the continuing break out due to my withdrawal. Just wanted to know how those who've had skin breakouts managed this or let it just be.

Hi Guys, So here's my story. I was first depressed when I was 18 over a breakup that wasn't that long. i had always struggled with anxiety and depression and I was simply overcome with it over something as simple as a short high school relationship. Maybe it was growing up but long and short I was first prescribe Zoloft then Lexapro which made me go manic because as I found out years later I was unable to metabolize it properly. In any case, after trying different antipsychotics and other sleeping drugs, I ultimately found Trintellix , which I was first perscribed 5mg of in 2017. It's a new antidepressant. In any case, it changed my life, significantly lowered my anxiety and got me undepressed, until 2 years later when I was graduating college I was wickedly depressed again. So I upped it to the starting therapeudic dose of 10mg. After 2 more years of success i decided I was ready to get off of it, and so I tried it two weeks ago. I cut the dose from 10mg to 5mg and it was, to say the least, horrific. After a few days I felt like my head was going to pop for how bad it felt like it was being squeezed. I had massive headaches, I had sigificant mood swings and anxiety, and I was depressed again. And it was affecting my work so I decided I couldn't live like it and went back to my 10mg dose. Currently having to deal with the starting side effects all over again (constipation, loss of libido, bloating). Not sure where to really go from here. How can I know when to get off get and how to do it? Who else has been on this drug? What's next for me as I'm kinda lost now with who I am without this.