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Hi, Unfortunately i think I have kindled. A few months ago I got down to 10g very quickly from 20mg P I have been on it for 25 years) and my old Gp told me to miss every other day which I did for about a week but felt unwell and went back on. 7 weeks ago I ended up in hospital for another reason and decided to up to 20mg 3 weeks ago when I was in hospital again (all before I joined this group). I now have been crippled by extreme symptoms especially over night that include a few hours of dosing then woken up with tingling down my back arms, head pain, thumping heart and nausea and the I dose again and it wakes me up again. I don’t really sleep and first thing in the morning I have nausea and debilitating anxiety that turns me into crying mess only being helped by an anti anxiety drug in the morning (which frightens me) It hasn’t helped with the nighttime symptoms. I dread going to bed I feel I am being tortured and do not know where to turn. Do I keep with the 20mg to stabilise and hope things settle. My new GP wanted me to taper right off over two weeks and add another one as I do it but I said no. My poor husband is trying to help me but ends up in tears seeing how I am suffering. Please can someone tell me it will get better. Knoingwhat know now I tapered down to 10mg to quickly, missed doses and instated far to high.Thank you

Hi all, I’m an almost 39 year old woman from the Netherlands. Going through withdrawl right now. Need support, thanks in advance!!! 2007 Started Paroxetine in end 2007 due to an anxiety disorder and emetophobia. Starting was hellish, also because high dose of metocolopramide combined with extreme loss of weight (46kg with 1,78m). Used 10mg for a year. Tapered in 3 months after one year, no acute withdrawl. 2009 Summer 2009 anxiety came back (don’t know if that was relapse due to stopping or new triggers for anxiety). Started again on 10mg. Was a rough start. Not many negative side effects during years of use. Used it from 2009 ‘till summer 2021. Had 2 separate years when I increased to 20mg. Going up and coming down to 10mg without any problems. Sometimes when I forgot a dose for two days (happened 2 times), noticed mild brainzaps. Gone within a days. In those years I experienced 4 to max 8 severe panic attacks per year. Used 20mg Oxazepam (Seresta) for those panic attacks. 2021 June 2021 wanted to come of Paroxetine due to sexual disorder and stabile life and mind (and negative info in the news about permanent damage). Tapered from 10mg to 4,5mg in four weeks, no problems. Wanted to taper from 4,5mg to 1,5mg in four weeks. Got withdrawl at 2,8mg, so stabilized at 3mg. Withdrawl ended in 7 days. Stabilized at 3mg since, without relapse. Noticed that I got more emotional, but guess that’s a normal thing in life. Had lots of therapy in 2022 for cluster C personality disorder. But managed with 3mg. Therapy ended sept ‘22. 2023 Plan was to taper from 3mg to 1mg in 6 months. And would taper final mg next year. January 26th started tapering. In four weeks from 3mg to 2,5mg. Sometimes excessive dreaming, sometimes a crying spell. Withdrawl? Don’t know. But could handle that. Next four weeks wanted to go from 2,5-2,0mg. When I got to 2,2mg after 2-3 weeks, started noticing two brainzaps. Started stabilizing on 2,2mg immediately. Stabilized on 2,2mg for 14 days, but withdrawl symptoms got worse. Ended up at the GP in the middle of the night. Anxiety, crying, depressed. Decided to go back up to 2,5mg cause didn’t have symptoms at that dosage. In the following 10-11 days (‘till today, 6th of april) I had several okay days. Brighter mind, less symptoms, still problems with waking up often during sleep and some physical symptoms. But also had a few days with many symptoms and complete hell: anxiety, wobbly head, depressed, crying a lot, dispair, hot flashes, shivers, trembling. GP —> rather 3 okay days —> 1 hell day —> 2 okay days —> 1 hell day —> 4 okay days —> today is hell again. And I’m so so scared. Desperate. Begged to get hospitalized for support and safe enviroment. But that’s only possible if you’re suidical. I’m not, although I wish I would these days… So many questions now. GP wants to help, but hasn’t got the right knowledge. So: A) it is normal to have okay and bad days in stabilisation fase? I tought it would be a slow line going up, didn’t expect those bad days. Certainly not after 10 days stabilisation. So scared of further deterioration next days… b) what is an average time to be stable again? C) is it possible to have an adverse reaction to stabilising on 0,3mg more then the 2,2mg in the two stabilisationweeks prior? D) what and when could be signs that I have to go back to 3,0mg from end of january (that was my last baseline 8 weeks ago already)? Did some online research last few weeks and now realise I went way to fast. Already thought is was a slow taper… Wish I had this info before… Some reactions would be awesome, really appreciate that!!!

Two weeks of Zoloft and I'm in more pain than I thought was possible. Any advice and support very much needed. Hello. Im a 39 year old female from Norway and I am now two weeks of Zoloft after a 4 month tap off. I was on this medication for 20 years (yes it's crazy and scary) and before I decided to go off it I had started feeling pretty severe side effects and also from looking back I don't feel the medication ever really helped me. I was suicidal while on it years ago. Sorry for any typos since English is not my main language and also I am so sick right now I can barely hit the letters. Extreme nausea, diarea, dry mouth, very very sensitive to sound and light and I cry ALL the time. I swear I have never in my life, not even when losing loved ones, have I cryed this much. Im not a person that easily cries and at this point is starting to scare me and also having an affect on my family and friends. I don't know what to do and don't know how to get thru this. Its taking a toll on those around me to, they dont complain but I know it must be hard. I also learned a close friend have brain cancer and less than a year to live so I truly feel like I'm gonna lose my mind. I get these wawes of this intense fear that I can't really compare to anything else I've felt. Are these "normal" withdrawl symptoms? How long will they last? Is it dangerous in the way that it can be so straining on my heart I could have a heart attack? Any advice will be so very very welcomed. Thank's for taking the time to read. Bea

Hello, I am writing for my father who is 78 years old (living in Germany). One year ago he was in hospital for depressions and suicidal thoughts. He stayed for about 2 months. After coming home, he continued medications for another month before stopping them altogether (almost from one day to the next, without help from a doctor). So, he had taken for about 3 months (from the beginning of February until the beginning of May 2021): Milnacipran Mirtazapine Oxazepam Furthermore folic acid, Movicol (for digestion) and vitamin B12. He had many side effects: strong fatigue (was in bed almost all the time), total weakness (almost unable to walk), strong ataxia, total lack of will, no appetite (lost about 16 kg) and even personality changes. Today, about 10 months after stopping the medications, he still has after-effects: fatigue, weakness and ataxia. The ataxia continues all day and is really nasty. He says it comes from the back, but also concerns the limbs. When he walks, it is not stable, and there is dizziness. When he talks, he often stammers, and is tired and exhausted all the time. It has not improved in the last months, and several doctors weren’t able to help. Homeopathy has improved the general condition, but not the ataxia. The depressions are better now, however, he is not in a great mood. Before all that, he was a very healthy and robust person. He did many things in the house and garden, renovation, cycling etc. Health problems were rare and never lasted for a long time. Is it normal to have such symptoms even 10 months after stopping antidepressants? For me this seems to be a long time, as he had taken them for 3 months. What could we do? Thank you very much.

Hi ! I am not an English speaker. I was put on largactil (chlorpromazine) and Olanzapine in July for 1 month not knowing the damage it was doing. I stopped suddenly and broke down 2 weeks later because of 4 nights of total sleeplessness. I took Largactil in high doses (300mg per day) again and I decreased it in 4 months until I quit. Since I was not sleeping at all again, I was prescribed Seresta (oxazepam). Currently I take 35mg in the evening and 5mg in the morning. I sleep 5 or 6 hours with it. I had a huge trauma and I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep naturally, in addition to the withdrawal problem. In addition, I support Seresta very badly. Since taking it I feel drunk and cannot concentrate. It's worse than with Largactil, but the psychiatrist told me it was less harmful. I need help coping with weaning off Largactil and then lowering Seresta back to sleep despite the trauma. Thanks in advance

Hi, I used citalopram 30 mg for 23 years. Because of recurring apathic behavior, psychiatrist advised getting off Citalopram in steps of -5mg per 2 weeks. First 15 mg no problems, from 15-10 Mgs I became scared, panicking. Psychiatrist advised going back to 30 Mgs in a few steps. But that dindn’t help and within a few days to a week I experienced hell. Protracted withdrawal. Old dosage of citalopram 30 Mg didn’t help. Psychiatrist advised 30 mg of oxazepam, then 75 Mg after a few weeks and finally 105 Mg after a few more weeks. Psychiatric hospital for 6 weeks, Citalopram was stopped, Oxazepam was tapered back to 55 Mg. Still hell. Second psychiatric hospital for 6 weeks, Oxazepam was stopped and Clomipramine 150 mg was started. Still hell. After a few months of Clomipramine 150 Mg I came back from hell. Still a lot of symptoms, but I can manage now. Got my life back. Should I try to get off Clomipramine or keep using it for the rest of my life to stay out of hell?

I started Prozac in 1989 for depression--several life events and working rotating shifts caught up with me. Took off and on, then solidly after adoption of our first daughter in 1999...my doctor told me to when I went in for strep throat and at his inquiry, told him I was tired. Gradually became more tired and developed muscle pains..diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 2003. In 2006, became depressed (still functioning). 3/2006 Exchanged Prozac for Cymbalta. 3 months later had what the pdoc called "mania, hypomania or whatever." So not sleeping. Stopped Cymbalta, added oxazepam, had reactions to Seroquel and Abilify. Started Zyprexa. Became progressively more depressed and anxious...supposedly the downswing of mania. Added Lithium in Nov. 2006 and started to improve, added Wellbutrin for depression about 1/2007. Better, but still so tired. Added Adderall...it made me a little manic, so changed to alternating Adderall and Nuvigil (you can tell I had good insurance, huh). So at my height of polypharmacy was taking Zyprexa, Lithium, Wellbutrin, oxazepam, Adderall, and Nuvigil. Still working, mom to 2 girls and bitchy wife. Heard radio program about how hard it is to detect obstructive sleep apnea. (I strongly recommend you research this if you snore) My longest breathing pause in the sleep study was 90 seconds! Got CPAP machine...felt like a new person. With minimal ado, stopped oxazepam, Adderall and Nuvigil. Asked pdoc if I could try to wean off Zyprexa due to cost (new insurance) and how well I was feeling. Probably started in Sept., finished 12/29/12. Lots of symptoms with each dose reduction...pdoc said it doesn't have withdrawal symptoms, so started surfing, and here I am. My question: I restarted oxazepam 30 mg at bedtime on 12/10/12 (had to come through for Christmas, you know, despite the symptoms). Since I've been on the oxazepam such a short time, should I wean off it or the Wellbutrin next? I have minor anxiety in the evenings after the dose completely wears off. My other meds are lithium 600mg twice daily and Wellbutrin XL 300 mg. Thank you for such an amazing site! Meimeiquest

hello, so about 5 years ago i was taking bath salts(stupid, i know), a lot of bath salts, and i developed a symptom like bulging eyes which destroyed my life this symptom lasted for one month but already i developed an obsession with how my eyes looked to other people which is still present in my life so i got depressed and isolated still obsessing over my eyes so what to do next? with my mother persisting in going to get help i ended in a psychiatric hospital, after 5 minutes of describing the symptoms and telling the cause (bath salts) to the psy I've got my identity and the sentence, I've got BDD, body dysmorphic disorder and the sentence was 2 zoloft in the morning 1 solian(antipsychotic) in the evening we all know whats coming next, after months on this treatment I've got worse, another diagnose, bi-polar - 2 zoloft + 3 norset + 1 abylyfy + 1 solian and an extra 4 serestra and that went for 5 years which comes with psychotic episodes, attempted suicides, forced psy hospitals stays, violent behavior, unable to form thoughts and without emotions, drug use, drinking and in the process i lost my soul and after only two years I've started hearing voices, pretty scary, but i was afraid talking with my psy because of another diagnose which all know that they say is for life, schizophrenia. And after all the suffering caused by this treatment they wanted to give me more powerful dosages I'm not going in to the details, i don't want to remember, it's hard not trusting your doctor, thinking is the devil, which he is imo. It's pretty hard for me to get off this drugs because I'm being forced in to the treatment and watched every day, there are nurses which came every day to give me the meds because of my attempted suicides, so they give me a glass of water and watch me if i swallow the meds , pretty scary, i know. The doctor it's convinced that i need the treatment all my life because of my behavior. So how i came off without anyone knowing? One night (of many) without sleep i went on YouTube watching movies reviews and by divine luck I've come across a video about big pharma an psychiatric drugs which changed everything and going deep into the subject i discovered the truth, which at the time seemed fantastic and scary. I mean you think all the time that your doctor wants to help you and has years of studying this thing in school and there is the ''science'' to back all this, come on! it's a doctor, a psychiatrist, he must know things, no? and suddenly you see the other face of the coin and here comes the rage. It's hard for me to tamper because i don't have the drugs, they give me the drugs, so my only option it's going cold turkey, made them think that i swallowed the drugs, hiding them in my hand. So now I'm two weeks in cold turkey, trying to stay ''normal'' for family and doctors not to give away that you are in withdrawal, it's pretty hard. I'm going trough hell here and it's been only two weeks. I've been searching for information all this time, when I'm not in severe depression. I've found 5-htp which I'm on for 3 days now and it's good, placebo? i will take everything which will help me I've found meditation which make sense for me, but to try to concentrate on your breath for 5 minutes right now seems pretty hard, reading books on the subject helps me, I'm gonna do everything that i can to stay off the meds even if i need to die in the process.

Have been on Cipramil for abouit 3 years on a low dose of 10 milligrams i eventually became sick on this low dose with diarrhea ,nausea and panic attacks so i reduced to 5 millagrams for a couple of months things returned to normal then i got sick again on 5 Millagrams so i reduced to 2 millagrams things got better for 10 days , i went back on 2 millagrams and got sick again this was the same pattern that i experienced with another antidepressant at this time iam finding it hard to sleep and have been taking serapax because of the low dose the withdrawal is causing panic attacks that i cant bear and when i go back on 2 millagrams it makes me sick its almost like my body has reached an immunity to this drug like the previous time on another antidepressant which i changed to what iam taking now . i want to get off this stuff but iam trapped. Do i do another antidepressant and start the merry go around eventure and so on . i had blood test and test from intergrated doctors following there plans and narapaths BUT NTHING IS WORKING WHAT CAN I DO ??????

Struggling here ???? Sorry in advance for any mistakes, I'm from The Netherlands so english is not my first language. I don't want to go back to taking seroxat and I truely believe it is possible for me to get a grip on my anxiety and hypochondria without pills and with therapy. But I start doubting myself when my doctor says 'why stop in the first place?' And my friends are saying 'This is taking too long!' after three months! I understand it must be difficult for them to see me struggle but I'm not ready to give in. But it is getting harder and harder. But I'm glad I have found this site, it's always good to know you're not the only one.