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Mod note: link to: Happy2Heal: Hope I'm doing this right (Introduction and update topic) I was just an 18yr old, a very confused, naive young woman, er no- more of a child, really- when I was given (by force) my first psych drug, stelazine, a major tranquilizer. that was the beginning of a long series- spanning almost 40 yrs!- of psych drugs and hospitalizations. All along the way, I was plastered with one diagnosis after another, or several heaped on at once. My physical health went downhill and I ended up a virtual shut-in, living my life all in my head, friendless, socially isolated to the extreme, my only contact with drs and therapists, leaving my house to go food shopping maybe twice a month. This wasn't living, and I knew it. But I didn't know how to change things. I didn't know what was wrong. I spent over two thirds of my life believing I was mentally ill and *needed* to be on those drugs. but at some point, it occurred to me that the drugs might actually be the problem, or at least, part of the problem. I knew I had to get off them. and I did. The process and the pain of that is reported on my thread, I don't care to go back over it, at least not now. I learned a lot along the way, but for now, I don't want to think about where I've been, I only want to think about where I am now, and the life I have before me. Here I am, now, one year off all drugs, of all kinds. I rarely even take a ibuprofen for a headache. I want to write my success story, but I'm not 100% ready yet However I do have to say that what I feel most of all, is a great deal of pride in having survived. I suffered all forms of abuse as a child, emotional, sexual, physical, verbal, went on to be a survivor of rape, of domestic abuse. I was abused within the mental health system. I've spent virtually all of my adult life in poverty, raising my daughter as a single mom on disability due to "mental illness". But today, I feel as if I've done more than just survive; I am thriving. I have friends. I have a very active social life. I volunteer and I feel like the work I do is making a difference, having an impact. while technically I am still 'poor' by income, I don't go without anything I need, with the possible exception of good dental care I have a good life. Is my withdrawal journey over? I'm not sure.While I took my last dose of lexapro over a year ago, I feel like I am still having some symptoms that must be related to the nearly 4 DECADES on psych meds. BUT you need to know, these symptoms are extremely mild. and after that long on so many different drugs, it stands to reason that there will be minor little tweaks that my brain will need to make, for some time to come. I'd like to say that all that has faded into the background of my life, but to be honest: I am more vigilant about them now, than at any time during active withdrawal- because I don't want to fall into a trap of thinking that any problems I may have mean that all those doctors were right, I'm permanently disabled by a mental illness and there's no hope for me. I am pretty sure that the only thing I suffer from is PTSD, and I don't see that as a mental illness so much as a natural reaction to extremely stressful, traumatic life events. so Today I feel Victorious. I've overcome a lot and need to soak in that feeling of doing a good job I don't often give myself credit for my achievements or feel like it's ok to feel good about them but today, I give myself permission to bask in this feeling. it feels like the right and honest thing to do. I guess I just have to be different, I don't want to call this a success story because that sounds to me like the end, when in fact it is not. It's not really a beginning, either, because the beginning of my new life dates back to when I first realized that the drugs were the problem. to me, this just feels like a victory over adversity- something to celebrate! so please, celebrate with me, and know that you are going to heal as well, those of you still going thru WD/recovery. it's worth it, believe me so very worth it!

Until I was 30 years old I had never put an antidepressant in my mouth. I had a normal life. I studied, graduated, dated, got married, etc., etc. Since I was a child, I've always been a little anxious/worried. When I was young, I had some difficulty sleeping. I also had gastritis due to anxiety, but nothing more than that. I never resorted to medication, even though I faced many traumas (my father's death, problems with my mother that made me move in with my grandmother, etc.). However, I started taking Lexapro 20 mg from 2010 until 2017 to treat classic depression caused by a disease that no one discovered and that made me feel a lot of pain. In 2017, after many bad episodes, notably my son's diagnosis with a serious illness, Lexapro was no longer effective. I started to feel scared, depressed, with back pain and anxious. I was afraid that my eldest son would also be diagnosed with the same disease. Now I question whether the exacerbation of these symptoms was not a result of Lexapro itself. WE WILL NEVER KNOW. The fact is that the doctor - in 2017 - switched to CYMBALTA 60 mg and I reacted VERY WELL. I even got through traumatic episodes, like the sudden death of my grandmother - which for me was everything in life, as she was the one who raised me - and everything went very well. The only annoying effect was dizziness when standing up. I actually fainted a few times because of it. In one of them I even had to get stitches in my head. Anyway, everything was going very well until the episode occurred in May/2023, in which I was fired by my friend, who suggested that I had committed a crime in 2016. After what happened, I became very depressed, I didn't want to get out of bed, a feeling of injustice, difficulty waking up, etc., but I was still able to do normal activities. Early July 2023 - when I was much better and didn't feel any of the symptoms I'm experiencing now - I went back to the doctor, who decided, don't ask me why, to increase the DUAL to 90mg. About 2 weeks after starting the new dose, the monster that now plagues my life began to be born. After seeing a news story saying that a certain person had been convicted for an event that had occurred 6 years ago even though he was innocent, I began to feel afraid that the suggestion made by the monster who fired me could come true, despite there being no factual-logical support. for that. From then on, I believe that due to the increase in medication, I began to feel anguish I had never experienced before - and which I later discovered was not that bad as I would feel much worse. But, as it was something new for me, I was very scared and, after contacting the doctor, I was prescribed Pristiq 50 + 0.25 Rexulti. I argued that I didn't want to take two medications. Because of this, she told me to just take pristiq. After about a week, I felt much better and thought everything was over. A few days later, however, the symptoms of anxiety/distress and intrusive thoughts returned. Therefore, we switched to 100 mg of pristiq associated, at my suggestion, with cannabis extract. However, the medication (Green Care 79.14 mg/ml) caused me 2 panic attacks. I was traumatized by these two events and permanently stopped taking THC. For the first time in over a decade, I had to take a Xanax to calm down. However, without any change of medication, the anxiety began to return very strongly, to the point of almost preventing normal activities from being carried out. Even so, it was possible to tolerate the symptoms with GREAT DISCOMFORT. Upon returning to the doctor's office, I reported the worsening of symptoms and the Pristiq dose was increased to 150 mg, this time associated with half a Rexulti tablet (0.25). As I was very fragile and wanted to improve, I accepted the association with the antipsychotic. About 1 week later, my symptoms improved and I thought that, this time, things would go well. After 1 or 2 weeks I felt good - although a little accelerated. However, at the end of November/2023 I started to feel very anxious, accelerated and distressed, which caused a terrible cycle of thoughts. They were very uncomfortable symptoms that were slowly destroying me. I even had a kind of panic attack, but I resisted without taking Xanax. I was anxious for almost the entire day, but I refused to speak up for fear of more problems. Mysteriously, all these symptoms diminished greatly during the night, so that, as far as possible, it was possible to sleep well, despite being very distressed during the morning and afternoon. Well, after this episode I went back to the office. Seeing my condition, the doctor decided to replace the 150 mg of Pristiq with 20 mg of Lexapro with the removal of 0.25 mg of Rexulti. In the first week after withdrawing from Pristiq, it felt like something bad had come out of me. From 11/21 until 11/28 the symptoms decreased until they almost disappeared. I was quite happy. I thought I had discovered what caused all this and that there would be a happy ending soon. But there was no time to celebrate. On 11/29/23, 8 days after withdrawing from Pristiq and starting Lexapro, the anguish returned in a brutal and overwhelming way. So great and intense that the desire to kill oneself appeared as the only option to end the suffering. I had never felt this before. Therefore, it is obvious that the medication was to blame. From 11/29 onwards, my real downfall began. Despite the ups and downs, before that, I was able to go for my daily run, work and have leisure time. From then on, no more. After 11/29 I have certainly been facing the worst phase of my life. If I weren't working remotely, I would have to take time away from activities. From that date on, I completely abandoned the faith that had helped me so much in the past and my life became a distressing struggle for survival. From being a fervent Catholic with a daily rosary, I no longer had the strength to continue. It was my wedding anniversary and I couldn't go out to dinner with my wife, just to give an example. I was completely dysfunctional. Many times I couldn't even take my children to school or go to the supermarket. He was in a daily hell that seemed to have no end other than taking his own life. The days that followed were terrible. During this period, I was forced to take xanax every day (I only took it once a day, but if I could, I would take it every 3 hours), such was the anguish. I had never felt anything close to that. Not even Doistoevksi, or perhaps only he, could faithfully describe the overwhelming feelings that invaded my soul. On December 7th, due to my terrible condition, the doctor suggested that I take ketamine sessions and add 0.5 of Rexulti to the 20mg of Lexapro. From then on I had ups and downs. After the first two ketamine sessions I thought I was cured and that everything was over. I was wrong. After a few days of improvement, I began to worsen dramatically with terrible anxiety and panic, as well as intrusive thoughts. On 1/8/24, in a new consultation, the doctor decided to maintain Lexapro 20 mg and maintain 0.5 of Rexulti. That same day, I went on vacation with my family and had the worst vacation of my life. Catastrophic thoughts accompanied me at all times. I was already waking up with a LOT of fear and panic. I spent the whole day like this, with the same thought circulating and plaguing my mind. I went to the beach with atrocious difficulty. Every 5 minutes, throughout the day and afternoon, I had to relive what happened to tell myself that there was no reason to worry, that it was just the thought of a crazy person, etc., etc., all of this surrounded by a lot of fear, anguish and panic. At night, there was a little relief and, I don't know how, I was able to sleep well. But I woke up the next day in absolute panic. It was a nightmare. Upon returning from vacation, on January 22, 2024, in complete despair, I went to another doctor. He said that I had symptoms similar to those of OCD and ordered me to keep the Lexapro, remove the 0.5 of Rexulti and take Luvox 50mg for 3 days, then switch to 100. In the first three days I noticed that the intrusive thoughts decreased. Given this, he asked to maintain the 50mg, in addition to the 20mg of Lexapro. From the fourth day onwards, however, despite the thoughts having reduced, the anguish/panic increased a lot again and came in a BRUTAL and OVERWHELMING way. I had terrible episodes for about 10 days, where I really wanted to kill myself to end the pain. I woke up with a feeling so bad I couldn't describe it. I even fainted on two occasions. I couldn't carry out everyday activities, like going to the supermarket or taking my children to play soccer. I had never felt anything like this. Doctor gave Buspirone but it was like water. Therefore, he told me to take Xanax 3x a day, in addition to the other medications. Afraid of the effects of benzos, he took xanax only when the anguish was unbearable and tried to live in anguish at all times, without respite. Then, in desperation, I asked the doctor to remove the Lexapro - because I thought it was causing the symptoms. On 02/02/2024, he ordered 5 days of Lexapro 10mg and then withdrawn, he kept 50mg of Luvox and started Elavil 25 (should go to 75 mg in 5 days) and Lithium 600 (2x of 300). The day after taking 25 mg of Amytril, on February 3, 2024, I felt better. I was very happy because I didn't wake up in a panic and I didn't feel like throwing myself out the window, something that had been with me in the last few months. But my general condition continued to be poor. From then on, very slowly, I gradually improved. It wasn't great, but I stopped wanting to die. Given the improvement, the doctor asked to keep Elavil at 25 mg. I suggested that he reduce/remove Luvox but was ignored. I thought it might have effects from completely withdrawing from Lexapro but it didn't get any worse. At an appointment on 2/22/2024 with another doctor, I was in a simply reasonable state. Still very traumatized by everything I suffered and went through, but without that anguish and panic that paralyzed me and left me wanting to die (and sometimes to kill myself, which scared me a lot). As for the thoughts that I would be reported, etc., they came many times a day, but without panic or anguish. But it was much better than my previous state. I was very happy with your new doctor's line of thinking - who also understood that most of the terrible symptoms I suffered stemmed - not from my condition - but from the medications. I reminded the doctor that I was flooded with a sea of serotonin and norepinephrine (I was prescribed an incredible 150 mg of Pristiq + 0.25 of Rexulti, then 20 mg of Lexapro + 0.5 of Rexulti, and finally 20 mg of Lexapro, + 50 mg of Luvox). One of the doctors even commented that we could increase Lexapro to 40 mg!!!! My perception is that what made me improve was Lithium. After 2 weeks of taking the mineral, I had a good improvement considering my previous condition. The effect of 25 mg Elavil was also impressive, as I took it at night and, the next morning, I didn't wake up in despair. As for Luvox, I honestly think it does me more harm than good. I remind friends who read me that I am one of the many cases in which the patient presents a small complaint and is devastated a few months later by the medications. If the medication starts to cause unwanted effects, the standard medical approach is to always increase the dose, and never take out the medication. It's insane. The new doctor ordered dozens of tests, including genetic ones, and authorized the reduction of Luxox to 25 mg. I've been on the new dose for 15 days and I'm still doing it - not very well - but simply stable. He also said that our target is to remove everything ( AMEN). He also said - unlike the previous doctor - that I don't have OCD, just a persistent intrusive thought. I remember never feeling anything like that. I never had thoughts that tormented me day and night. I remember never feeling anything like that. I never had thoughts that tormented me day and night. This is yet another indication that this all happened due to the different drugs I was put on. The thoughts that I could be accused of something - despite having done nothing - appear all the time, but without the panic like before. Today, 8/3/24, I am taking low doses of three medications: 25 mg of Elavil 25 mg of Luvox 600 mg of Lithium, The first withdrawal occurred. 15 days ago I reduced Luvox from 50 to 25. Because of all this, here I am, looking for everyone's help to, little by little and very carefully - after all, I am very traumatized by what I went through and felt - remove these medications from my life and get out of this nightmare I have been going through. Thanks and sorry for the bad english.

Hi , looking for some help with my situation. I started 10mg amitriptyline in May 2022 for a nerve pain problem at the back of my head. It worked for the pain I was experiencing but I wasn’t reacting well to the medication so came off cold turkey after 3 weeks. I then experienced what I was consider normal withdrawals for around 3 weeks eg palpitations, anxiety , flu like symptoms. However, in between this at the 2 week mark I had a stressful situation which set off a numbness in my head and for 2 months after this never went away and developed various brain sensations 24/7 that are honestly torture. To describe it as a headache would be downplaying it. It feels more deep embedded within my brain ... the doctors obviously just think I'm being a hypochondriac. During this time I have spiralled into depression and am a shell of who I once was as a consequence of the physical symptoms. Bit of background - prior to this would consider myself very stable with no mental health issues and have never felt anxiety or depression in my life. Also not on any other medication or take any supplements and live a pretty active/ healthy lifestyle. I am confident that the brain numbness , pressure , weird sensations are as a consequence of the amitriptyline with it coinciding with the withdrawal.. obviously the stressful event did not help. Is this possible or I have I just coincidentally developed some form of chronic illness within my head. Really hopeful that it is not the latter. 2 weeks ago I was really desperate so under the guidance of my doctor went back on amitriptyline. It has not changed anything at all and so now I want to know if I should come off and let my brain heal and what would be the best way to do this. Does anyone have any suggestions for me. Given that the amitriptyline has not worked should I come off (again) and what would be the best way to do this. Any suggestions on dealing with the horrible brain sensations welcome and if anyone has experienced this and healed would be really appreciated. Thanks a lot in advance- appreciate the help on here.

I've successfully tapered off other medications in the past, but am really struggling with this one. I was on 25 mg Amitriptyline since 2015. Last year, I tried tapering off and ended up back on, but gratefully, only at 12.5. I was originally put on this to help with IBS-C pain and found it helped my migraines as well. I'm 64 and am seeing cognitive issues and complete constipation, both of which are well-documented as side effects and why seniors should not be on this drug. So I really want to see how I do off it. Last week, I went down to 10 mg (I have those pills as well). But I'm really feeling withdrawal effects. The problem is that I'm not sure Amitriptyline HCL is stable in water. Here's what I read: http://www.pharminfotech.co.nz/manual/Formulation/mixtures/amitriptyline.html Indeed, as the article states, the liquid was really bitter and had a weird localized effect when I tried to taper this way last year. And I can't cut the pills down to make small enough doses because the pill is already tiny. The best I can do is cut the 10 mg into four (2.5 mg), but from what I'm reading, that is too big of a jump. My doctor is useless about these things. He says the drug can't cause these problems because of the low dose and that I can just stop taking it at this point because the dose is so low I won't have withdrawal. I'd appreciate any suggestions on what I can do to taper under these circumstances. Thanks, Susan

Hello, Im a 38 years old Woman, im registrated new to this board. Im a quiet reader since 2 Years. I thought its time to share my story and finding some new answers. I took Amitriptyline 20 mg fo 2 Years because of my Vulvodynia, but it didn't help. In this 2 Years i never had any side effects. In December 2019 i suffered from a bad sinus Infection and forgot to take my AMI. I remember waking up 2 nights later with a bone dry mouth followed by bone dry eyes a week ago. Then i started to wean off in a really unsteady way because my state of mind was so confused. About a month i tortured my body with diffrent dosages from really high to zero. I had the most horrible time in my life with suicidal ideations depression, heartracing, nausea, loss of appetite and brain zaps. In January a Psychiatist told me to wean off slowly, what i did. I took me 2 Years come off and quit in January this Year. My Dryness never improved. I had windows and Waves through the whole weaning Process but not as bad as now. After 2 Weeks when i hit Zero, i started to have the worst reflux and stomach pains ever, was suicidal again and felt like that 3 Months, until it faded away. From May to July i felt pretty good besides the Dryness in my Eyes and Mouth. In August i started to have new Symptoms: Extreme Fatigue, Muscle Weakness, Depression, Anxiety, Heartracing in the mornings,OCD. Its so worse that i cant work. Im really concerned if this all is still withdrawal and my Dry Mouth and Eyes never improved. Im starting to believe i have Sjogrens Syndrome. Does Anybody had similar Symptoms. Im really desperate. Doctors in Germany are really no help, cause they dont believe in a long lasting withdrawal. Thanks for everyone who is reading this.

Hi, I've joined this group because I'm seeking support for withdrawal from low dose amitriptyline for pain. Since my final drop from 2 mg to 0 mg on June 21, I am experiencing air hunger (shortness of breath or dyspnea), even after 5 weeks. To make a long story short, I've been dealing with gastritis (stomach pain/inflammation) since 2017, but had a very unexpected flare-up with no (at the time) identifiable trigger starting in December 2021, and was subsequently diagnosed with "functional dyspepsia" and put on amitriptyline 10mg (in the form of 2mg drops) for nerve pain. I felt like a zombie on 10mg, so after only 4 nights dropped to 6mg, which was more tolerable. After about 2 weeks, I was finally able to identify the hormonal contraception pill as the cause of my stomach pain, so I stopped taking it, which made the amitriptyline redundant. After my stomach was feeling a bit better, I dropped to amitriptyline 4 mg in March, and then to 2mg in early May. My final 2 mg dose was on June 20, and on June 22 I started experiencing shortness of breath which neither improves nor worsens with exercise, and is somewhat alleviated by yawning. With every 2mg drop I experienced several days to 1 week of headaches, insomnia, agitation, anxiety and digestive issues (ongoing struggles with gastritis as well as weaning off the stomach acid reducing drug, omeprazole, make it impossible to say if any of my current digestive issues are connected to amitriptyline withdrawal). It is only since I went to 0 mg that I am experiencing this shortness of breath, and it doesn't seem to be going away even after 5 weeks. I also had my 2nd Pfizer covid vaccination on June 13th, but I have none of the other symptoms such as elevated heart rate, etc, that are connected to the possible vaccine side effects of peri- or myocarditis. I often have summer allergic asthma, but my inhalers don't seem to resolve this, and it is not accompanied by the usual wheezing. I have seen my GP, and she says my lung and heart sounds are good, and the EKG and lung function test were normal. My GP didn't really think that it's withdrawal. Neither did my therapist/psychiatrist, but I am also no stranger to unhelpful doctors who don't listen to their patients. When I originally started my gastritis journey in 2017, a mean doctor bullied me into taking sertraline (which I was then on for 2+ years) because he refused to believe that my lack of appetite was physiological, not depression. I was desperate after being unable to eat for 3 weeks, so I did what he said, but it never sat right with me, and then I was afraid to stop taking sertraline for a very long time. I have done quite a bit of searching and reading about air hunger and how it connects to amitriptyline withdrawal. I have found a few others on Facebook who have experienced this, but I've not been able to find any real information about it, and it isn't listed as a possible withdrawal symptom in the literature I've read. I also am unable to discern if this is hyperventilation or not, as I don't feel like I am breathing more than I should, but yawning does seem to relieve it somewhat. I would really like to hear from others who have experienced this, and understand if there is a timeline that can give me hope. Does anyone understand the physiological mechanisms of why this might be happening? I feel that the better I can scientifically understand what is going on in my body, the better I'm able to cope. Some days are indeed slightly better than others, but it isn't linear, and I am extremely discouraged and feeling hopeless.

MOD NOTE : RealMe's Introduction thread is here ------------------------------------ Because of what I learned here and with the support I found here, I have been completely free of anti-depressants. I have not taken any mood altering chemicals in over two years, so I finally feel competent to write my success story. When I got here I was so confused, I'm not even sure what I was taking. I reported my symptoms to the psychiatrist, primary care doctor and therapist, and all were in total agreement that I "needed medication." Even in my confused mental state, I finally realized that nothing they recommended was doing anything but making me worse. When I tried to get support to withdraw from psychiatric medications, I was told I was having a resurgence of my "depression." No one in the medical field that I came in contact with would support me in my desire to get off meds, and no one would acknowledge the phenomenon of "withdrawal syndrome" from anti-depressants. To this day, I have a very skeptical attitude toward all doctors and feel that, regardless of how well-meaning they might be, they are nevertheless medicating people into senselessness. My mantra is to "never snivel or weep in front of anyone with a prescription pad." When I was 19, I went to the clergy for help with nervousness and low self esteem. From there I was referred to a psychiatrist who gave me Valium. That was the beginning of the end for me. Now I had an addiction to sedatives along with increasing nervousness and lower self esteem. Later I was given Tofranil, Elavil, Desyrel, Prozac, Wellbutrin, Abilify (a real killer in my experience) and some others. I gained a ton of weight and lost my ability to feel normal feelings at all. I remember being at my father's funeral and thinking something must be wrong because I didn't cry. Not only did I not cry, I couldn't feel anything. And I loved my father. Over the years, I tried on my own many times unsuccessfully to detox from these prescribed medications. By the time I arrived at this web site, I was trying to withdraw from Abilify, Wellbutrin and Prozac. I learned about slow and steady until I had decreased my dosage of Prozac to liquid from a dropper. It was extremely difficult to get my doctor to prescribe the liquid form for my detox because he was still insisting that I could not do without a full dose! He insisted that I see a therapist and agree to go back on medication if I "got worse." I don't think about that process very much. I went to the therapist and told him whatever I thought would convince him that I was fine without medication. Then I would report my true and actual symptoms to the people on this forum and took their suggestions. Thinking of "puppies and kittens" as a coping strategy makes me smile to this day. What I do think about often is that I have been drug free for a long time. I feel happy, sad, anxious, calm, confident, worried, fearful, full of faith. In other words, I am leading a normal life with a full range of emotions that are appropriate to either what life throws at me or what life offers to me. At first, I feared that I was too old to change after years of being in psychiatry land, but I wasn't. I believed what I discovered here, and I am extremely grateful to have survived anti-depressant withdrawal.

Hello all, I'm new. And I'm scared. You have all been a tremendous source of strength. I'm trying to figure out how to fix my signature so sorry if I'm putting it all out here. I have been on 150mg amitriptyline for 6 years and tapered off of it in 8 months. During that time, I didn't realize I was going through withdrawal symptoms. Now, I realize I had, and three days after I went off, the severe depression/anxiety set in. I was reinstated at 25 mg by psychiatrist's orders for a week, and then another 25 mg this week. I realize I had broken a cardinal rule of antidepressant withdrawal, which is not to reinstate at a high dose. But I was told to do this, which of course makes it par for the course. On 25 mg, I began to feel better for 3 days, and then the depression/anxiety began to creep in again towards the end of the week. Then, I reinstated at 50 the next week per psychiatrist orders, and I'm now stable but with worsening insomnia and floating lights in darkness, a sign of withdrawal. I have made a big mistake, of course. I'm so fearful about the week ahead. Does anyone have any advice for me? I'm so scared about my future, especially because of what I've just done. If you were me, what would you do? Thank you all so much. You are my only source of information right now as I find a new psychiatrist.

So let me introduce myself. I’m a male of 19 years old from Argentina. I discovered this forum through the Reddit’s Talk Therapy forum and I’ve been seeing some Peter Breegman videos that have very good explanations about the psychiatric drugs so I decided to do something about my situation. I was having a lot of severe symptoms of OCD and anxiety and I’m now diagnosed with depression and anxiety. The thing is that before being diagnosed psychologically I went to a neurologist because of my pediatrician because I was having so heavy headaches. The neurologist gave me these 2 meds thinking it was Post-COVID headache and it wasn’t. The doses changes are described in my signature section and as you can see I’m not taking any meds but while I was taking them my symptoms nor my headaches diminished and I was feeling like a zombie. Now that I’m off the meds I’m not like a zombie but I feel like my mind doesn’t function like before. I feel like my mind is less sharp and is like sticky. I’m still depressed having headaches and I think I’m still expieriencing withdrawal symptoms. Can you help me to fully detox my brain of these meds? Because I had no idea that it was bad to taper with that dose changes like you can see in my signature. Now I’m not taking them but I don’t know if I have to start taking them again, how to do it, etc. I wanna start therapy because I really need it but I think I can’t in this situation where my brain doesn’t function normally. Please help me if you can! Thanks for reading!

I have been reading posts about magnesium on the forum , and I decided to try magnesium glycinate. 2 weeks ago I tapered from 65 mg. Ellavil to 63 mg. I went slow to test the waters. My w/d symptoms have been some insomnia and feeling a bit hyper. So far, it's manageable with exersize and magnesium for sleep. After 30 days ,I intend to go down to 60 mg.which would be a 5 percent taper and see how that goes. I wanted to see if anyone knows about mag. Threonate which I hear is the only one that goes thru the blood. /brain barrier. Would that be beneficial for w/d symptoms or too much for the brain to handle?

Hi, I am currently have what I think may be extended discontinuation syndrome. I also have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis autoimmune disease, and my hormones are out of whack, partly because of a doctor who put me on bio identical hormones and now my levels which were too low are now too high. I attached my long medication/health history. I had to edit out a lot to get it to join and to fit in my profile. My question is how much of this is withdrawal from the Pristiq, Pamelor, and Elavil, and all the other meds I started and stopped I the past 2 years, how much is autoimmune, and how much is from the lorazepam? I am starting to work with a functional medicine doctor for the autoimmune issues, but he has no familiarity with antidepressant withdrawal. I know from reading this site to be careful with supplements and don’t do any detox. I have tolerable days and then days where I am in such a brain fog I can’t do much. I miss my old sharp mind. And my headache is maddening, and gastritis is awful. I know I need to start tapering my Ativan, but I don’t know when to start that. Going to ask on benzobuddies as well. I’ll also have to taper my progesterone. I wonder if I should see a neurologist, but my guess is that it would be another doctor not being able to tell me anything. My psychiatrist wanted me to try Lamictal 25, but I couldn’t bring myself to try another med. He also recommended TMS for me, but it is not available where I live. If anyone has any feedback and hope for healing I would appreciate it. Here are my current symptoms: A constant throbbing lightheaded headache. It often feels like my brain is on fire. I close my eyes and I see shapes moving and rotating. Started after I stopped Pristiq. At first it woke me at 3am, now it is constant. Worse after stopping Elavil. Brain fog, pretty severe cognitive and memory issues. Very hard to concentrate. Difficult to read, organize my thoughts. Hypersensitive to sound, light, smell, medications and food. Twitching/tremor at the base of my skull/neck. Fatigue. Gastritis. Pain in stomach making it difficult to eat. Weight loss since June 2021 and now have a BMI around 17. Started with loss of appetite with Pristiq withdrawal, got painful in August when I started Pamelor and worse with the Elavil Poor sleep. Choppy sleep and wake several times during the night. I Wake often at 3:30 am and can’t fall back asleep. Don’t feel refreshed when I wake up. Very thirsty and dehydrated. Pee often. Anxiety. Mainly health anxiety and what is going on with me and thinking I’ll never get better. Lack of interest in doing thing I used to like to do. Detachment from reality. Other health concerns: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis - autoimmune disease Bulging disc and arthritis in neck. Pinched nerve in low back that causes numbness in my feet. PGAD - not flaring right now Hormone imbalance. Was put on bio identical hormone replacement in April 2012. Now am on DHEA 10 mg and Progesterone 150. Recent saliva testing shows Progesterone way too high. High cortisol levels. Psych Med List.pages

Hello, I have been on 50mg of Elavil daily for seven years for Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome. I had tried backing off slowly numerous times and never was able to. Recently, I forgot to take elavil two nights in a row and didn't really have any side effects, so I thought what the hell, I'll just try quitting it. Went thru a pretty rough withdrawal in the next 2-3 weeks. Almost got back on it but stuck it out. Symptoms were body aches, sweating, BAD chills, restlessness, fever, Weird thing is while I was on Elavil, I had Tachycardia with a high resting heart rate usually in high 90's. My pulse would stay in the 100s most of the day. As it got out of my system, my pulse started dropping. For awhile, it was normal with a resting heart rate in the 70s. Now, I am about 1.5 months off of Elavil and I still have chills and now my resting heart rate is in the high 40s (I am no athlete lol). Bloodwork is all great, I am seeing a cardiologist for more tests but he seems very uninterested in listening. I had a bunch of heart tests done within past couple of years while on Elavil due to the Tachycardia and they couldnt find any issues so I don't feel like there are any issues there but I'm no DR. I don't know if this is some kind of long-term withdrawal symptom or something unrelated. Just seeing if anyone out there could relate?

Hi everyone, my name is Chris and I I have been on 40 mg Amitriptyline for 5.5 years for IBS. Started my taper 10 days ago. I am on 4 x 10 mg tablets and my first reduction is quarter of a tab so, 2.5%. I felt normal last week but this week I have headaches, body aches and am SO tired. Not normal for me at all. Is this to be expected? I won't make another reduction until these feelings pass.

Hello everyone, this is my first time ever really posting on a forum. I was prescribed elavil bout a year ago, for pain. I was never depressed or anxious until coming off of this medication. The hard part for me is that I do not see a lot of people post their experiences with this medication. At the high end I was taking 75mg then went to 50 then to 25 all of this went fine. Then when I started taking 12.5 and less things got very bad very fast. I was having panic attacks, crying spells, all the flu like symptoms and extreme vertigo. I have been off this drug for 7 weeks and it was hell at first but slowly getting better. But still to this day I am getting anxiety and depression spells almost daily.(although its not as bad and it doesn't tend to last very long.) I am at my wits end with this and was wondering if i should just give up and start taking it again or keep pushing though it.

I developed laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) as part of a post surgery complication from transoral robotic surgery for sleep apnea. The pepsin (digestive enzyme) from the reflux was digesting my throat and causing me a horrible burning sensation so i was prescribed Amitriptyline to alleviate the pain. Meanwhile, i discovered Melatolin and i decided immediately to stop taking 10mg Amitriptyline after 11days of use. its been 13days now since the stoppage and i have not been able to sleep one bit. I started using 3mg of Melatolin yesterday and having discovered safer treatments for my LPR, i really do not intend to use Amitriptyline anymore for the throat pain but i am now left with this unbearable insomnia. Has anyone ever experienced this with suddenly stopping Amitriptyline? if so, i would appreciate any useful advise to overcome my insomnia predicament. Thank you Kind regards

I have had several journeys off of meds . Lexapro/ celexa took me 3 attempts with a succesful tapering off of 6 months and then being off the med for a couple of years after. I never was the same I felt but I did make progress living without meds. Sadly in 2018 I was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor . Radiation treatment left me with 90 % hearing loss in one ear and then tinnitus( ringing in my ear) that was maddening . Catapulted me into panic attacks that were debilitating. It was horrible. Loving with single sided deafness/ tinnitus. I dont know which is worse ..... anyhow the only remedy to help me was an anti depressant and the tryciclic one was chosen because the other ssris have tinnitus as a side effect so that was out . 🙄 I started on 25 mg of Elavil with a 1/2 of 0.5 xanax when needed for severe ringing . Felt so defeated having to go back on meds . I was living this past year settling into my med regimen and then I felt that I would like to try lessening my elavil to 10 mg . Everythi g was going well and then I hit a wall. So upset. In my heart of hearts I I want tombe off all meds . And I need hope . Someone to help support me to regaining my life without meds and living with my dissability without them . Or If at best the minimum amount that will enable me to feel like im living and not dying . The withdrawal is making my life impossible.

Hi - My 10 yo daughter had acute stomach pain for several months (4/13 start). The GI put her on 25mg Elavil daily (7/29). She took it for 2+ months, but ultimately, it was surgery (9/23) that relieved the pain - they found and clipped an adhesion that was pinning her colon to her abdomen, and removed a normal looking appendix. The doctors won't speculate on which or what caused the pain to start or stop, however. She stopped Elavil 5 days before surgery (9/17) and had a very hard weekend, I didn't realize there would be a withdrawal effect, but her heart was racing (initial EKG was bradycardic and by the end, she was at the very high end of normal) and we were a bit panicked about the drug, and knew surgery was a few days away. As noted, surgery was successful, and she spent a couple easy weeks healing from the laparoscopy. All was great until 10/17: four weeks after stopping Elavil she got some acid and nausea. It is now 12/6 and she has constant heartburn and reflux. She has trouble sleeping, she's nauseous when hungry, refluxing after she eats. GI wants to... try another SSRI! Is it possible she is suffering form something related to the Elavil? Has anyone seen something like this? Many thanks!

Hello everyone! I am new here and so grateful for this forum! I have an updose taper question: I tapered 10% monthly since 2 years of Elavil 25mg down to 1mg without major problems. Last 10% cut below 1mg triggered the worst setback of my taper so far with 0-3 hours sleep per night and it has been going relentlessly for 3 months now. Here is my question: for a couple of days, I doubled the dose from 1mg to 2mg to seek relief. Now that I see that the up-dosing did not improve anything, my question is: from which dose do I taper now and when do I start the tapering again when insomnia is so terrible at the moment?

I took 10 mg of amitriptiline three times.aftet experienxing side effects I stopped the drug. After a month I am still experiencing muscle twitches and tingling. The doctors think I am crazy and the drug is not the cause. They have proscribed steroids but I am scared to take them thinking these effects might worsen. Help!

Hello, I am a 73 yo in good health but trying to taper Remeron after about 20+ years on 30 mg. It has only been 1 1/2 mos., but now I am off the Remeron and on 20 mg. Elavil which works well for sleep. When I try to go to drop the Elavil to 10 mg, I get poor sleep. I also have major GI symptoms: is it the Elavil, or is it late symptoms of Remeron withdrawal? Thank you.

Hi I'm new to the forum. I am having awful trouble coming off Amitriptyline. My doctor is absolutely useless and no help at all. I am currently on 25mg of Amitriptyline. I have been on it for 2.5 years. For irritable bowel syndrome. I have put on a stone in weight, I feel so fat and unhealthy. I have tried 4 times to slowly come off Amitriptyline. But I have really bad side effects when lowering the dosage, even when I go from 25mg down to 20mg I get side effects, I can't sleep and get really anxious that's from just a 5mg drop. I really need help coming off them, because I can't stand being on them any longer. I want to come off them really slowly this time, but I don't know how to start. Can anyone please help. Thanks

Hello All, Thank you in advance for your help and support. I’ve had the worst year of my life and am praying to God that I can heal from this nightmare. In March 2017, I experienced my first panic attack regarding a physical injury, which brought on anxiety and insomnia. I tried for six weeks to not take medication, but eventually caved in and began Celexa and Trazodone. I had bad side effects from both and was switched to Lexapro. The Lexapro was very activating and I could not sleep at all. I was weaned off the Lexapro and Trazodone in July 2017. Ativan was added to help with sleep. In August, I tried Seroquel and Remeron, but also had bad side effects. In September 2017, I was switched to Elavil and then Nortriptyline per the results of genetic testing. At this time, I was diagnosed as having a single, current episode of MDD. The Nortriptyline seemed to helped a little, but gave me Tachycardia. I decided in January 2018, that I was going to taper down as none of these drugs gave me real relief and only added to my anxiety. I got down to 20 mg of Nortriptyline and .5mg of Ativan. I unfortunately decided to try TMS therapy, but gave up after 25 sessions - too much to bear. To make matters worse, I was switched to Doxepin and then back to Elavil. I have had ENOUGH of conventional medicine. It has taken a horrible toll on my body and mind. I was in good health before this happened and now I am in a lot of physical pain. As of April 2018, I am down to 12.5mg of Elavil and .5-1mg of Ativan (both at night). I try not to take the Ativan during the day. I want to get off the Elavil and am contemplating a cross taper to Valium to get off of the Benzo. I plan to do that very slowly. I’ve only been on the Elavil for a few weeks. All in all, this has been too much for a human to go through. It has greatly impacted my marriage, family and most likely cost me my job of 20 years as I am on long term disability. I am working not change my diet, exercise, meditate, supplementation and detoxify my body. I also found out I am heterozygous for the MTHFR mutation. I just want to know that it is absolutely possible to heal. All I want is to be able to sleep again naturally, organically. My mother warned me not to take these medications, but I did not listen. She was on the highest dosages of Lexapro and Wellbutrin and got off of them cold turkey and is totally healed. She also got a divorce and is happier than she has ever been. I guess that helps. I welcome any advice about tapering and would love to hear success stories. Thank you!

Tapering elavil

Hello. I'm a 29 year old male. I took 12.5 mg of amitriptyline for six weeks last August for insomnia before having a serious bad reaction to it. I spent the next three months getting it out my system and felt seriously poisoned and generally comatose. I have chronic fatigue syndrome and I was housebound with it but the amitriptyline has left me almost completely bedridden. I feel I've been through the acute stage of withdrawal but the post acute stage seems to be 100 times worse. I've been hit with crushing depression and feel like I cant bear to live another day and just a general feeling of going insane. I've never even expirienced any kind of depression before just insomnia and anxiety. I've lost all my vitality and interest in everything and feel there is no point in being alive but its not me and doesn't feel like an emotion it feels like permanent brain damage. I've been getting slowly weaker since I took the drug and can't even get any kind of panic reaction anymore. It feels like the spark plug in my brain has died and it's absolute hell. My diet has been excellent, eating lots of avocados, walnuts and vegetables and I'm taking all kinds of supplements but nothing is working. I feel like my brain is dying and I'm losing the ability to read and process information and my motivation is completely gone. I can barely eat and lost alot of weight. I'm somehow managing to survive on complete instinct and fighting the urge to kill myself all day. The psychological symptoms started about 2 months ago and started as anhedonia which then progressed into this feeling of complete doom which has got stronger and stronger and now feel completely suicidal. I can't believe what has happened to me. I can't take any other med as I have severe chemical sensitivity and and it will finish me off for sure. Any advice would be much appreciated. I don't want to die really I just want this feeling in my head to go away and just hanging in there praying it goes.

I started tapering from Prozac, 40 mg and Elavil 40 mg in Oct. 2015. I did not know if I could do it. One of my motivations was 3 years of chronic pelvic pain which started while I was on medication. Then all through 2016 I got sick. I spent 2016 in bed, mostly too tired to do very much and the withdrawal from the drugs was one of mostly forgetting to take the medications as I felt sick and had pains and distress, malaise, flu like symptoms In Nov. 2015 I got very dizzy. In Jan. 2016 I noticed that I had electric zaps up and down my spine and inner trembling. I became so weak in August of 2016, I could barely do anything. It felt like I had infections but I never had fever. By Dec. 2016 I had severe pelvic and groin pain. I could barely sit in Jan and Feb 2017. During all this time I felt ill, but not depressed. Today, I started to feel clinical depression coming on. I have seen a neurologist who discounted my symptoms of neuropathy. I notice that anything can trip the inner trembling and inner electric zap feelings on. In the past and recently there were no explanations of gynecological pain (all tests normal) or abdominal pain ( had 2 colonoscopies). I could put up with all the symptoms - but now 17 months after I started - I am really depressed. My nervous system seems to be hyper and reacts to everything with very subtle neuropathic symptoms which the neurologist discounted. I thought about reinstating prozac but I am scared. I was on antidepressants for 20 years and could not discontinue any of them before. This is the first time I made it - but I think I have peripheral neuropathy and I may not be able to reinstate to any antidepressants. I am still seeing my psych doc thinking that I should go back. But would it be safe?