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  1. Hey everyone, I said that once I was healed and felt back to normal again I would write a success story and I do believe that today is finally the day for it! It was a very long journey for me personally, but I know that others have been going through it for even longer. So for those of you that are still in the thick of it, I will tell you this! Keep on going and going and going!! Never ever give up! I truly do believe that everyone heals no matter how long it takes!! For some it is shorter than others, but it's coming for all of us! You can read my intro topic and see that I really didn't find this site until I was almost 8 months in deep. I was one of those who CT quit everything because nothing was working for me and I got tired of trying different things to feel better. I was extremely fortunate to meet a wonderful lady who had survived the process and she reached out to me. She was able to encourage me daily to keep going and helped me to get through the very worst of days! I was so lucky because most people do not have that support system, but it was a life saver. Some things that I learned while going through this process: 1. Stay as positive as you possibly can! I know it's hard, believe me. There were so many days I just wanted to get in a funk and stay there, but I knew how dangerous that was. If you let yourself always see the bad in things, then eventually that is all you will see! Take what is happening to you and turn it around. Find something positive in your day. When I was having the worst of symptoms, instead of feeling bad about it and moping about it, I would turn it around and tell myself that I was having a good strong day of healing! The harder the symptoms, the more healing that was taking place. I made it a positive thing!! 2. Acceptance!!! I know this one is hard!! It was for me and took me a very very long time to learn it, but once I did it made a world of difference for me. The symptoms no longer had the power over me that they once had. Yeah they were still there, but I would just acknowledge them and then move on. There was nothing I could do about them, so I just let them happen. Besides it just meant that I was doing some more healing. The sooner you can learn how to accept the process the easier the process becomes. 3. Time!!! Unfortunately in my experience I found that there are no shortcuts in this process. There is no magic pill or drug that I could take that was gonna heal me any faster. I had to be patient and wait for my brain and CNS to heal! There was no way to speed up the process or make it any easier. I just had to get through it! That was it. Time time and more time!! Each day you go through is one day closer to your ultimate healing so don't give up!! 4. Distract!!! Find something anything that you can use to distract yourself and make the time go by. For me it was long walks, paint by numbers, etchings, diamond dots, models, board games with my children!! Just anything to pass the time! The more I was able to distract myself, the more healing that was taking place without me worrying about it! When you sit around all day and don't engage your mind, it has nothing to do but ruminate on what you are thinking or experiencing. Distract!! 5. Keep track of the good days! I experienced the normal waves and windows pattern that is normal for a lot of people. I would keep a journal daily where I would write down what I was thinking, how things were going. And for me most importantly, when I was feeling good in a window, I would write about it in the journal. I would write notes to myself reminding myself that I could feel good again and that I would feel good again. That way on the hard days I could go back and see what I had written to myself to know that I was gonna be ok. And that's honestly about it! That's what worked for me! Just remember that what you are going through is temporary!! This is not the rest of your life. One day you will be healed and able to move forward with life and enjoy the days. This whole process has made me such a strong and more resilient person. Little things in life no longer really bother me and I have found I have so much more patience and understanding than I ever did before. As much as this whole thing sucked, it has made me a better person!! Just remember to keep going and going for as long as this takes!! You've got this and you know it! I will be sticking around the forums to help others. I always told myself once I made it through this I was gonna pay it forward and help others as well. Don't hesitate to reach out if needed! Ken
  2. Moved back to Arizona in November 2023 and none of the corporate doctors will give me a prescription for tramadol. I have fibromyalgia probably arising from Ehlers Danlos, IBS, Raynaud's, Sjögren's, osteopenia, and inflammatory arthritis in my feet. I can do the taper but then I have no pain management at all. Does anyone here know anything about low dose naltrexone for pain and inflammation? I want to start the naltrexone titration before I am completely off the tramadol in the hopes of having some pain control.
  3. I'm rating my symptoms and trying to decide when to make a reduction. I switched from Wellbutrin extended release to immediate release, same dose, and had quite a few increased symptoms for a few weeks (suicidality, headaches, sleep disturbance, low mood). Now I'm wondering how I decide I'm stable enough to try a small, like 3% cut. I'm only a little suicidal, no headaches, still sleep disturbance and low mood. But, I wasn't all that stable when I started, so... I may never get to a more stable place... When is stable enough? HA
  4. Hello all, I’m glad I found this site, and knowing there is people like me. I’ve been looking on this site to read and gather as much information as I can. Let me start from the beginning. I’m typing this with intense brain fog. In junior high school I was diagnosed with ADD, depression and social anxiety, was put on the drug merry go round. I honestly don’t remember the dates of being on these dugs or the dosage. I do remember being on Lexapro, Paxil, Zoloft, Remeron, Tarzodone, Strattera. I’m not sure when I stopped these drugs with help from the psychiatrist. The next part my memory is better. In 2007 I was having bad anxiety from my job and my up to date drugs then was Klonpin .5 mg tablet 2x a day, Celexa hbr 20 mg tablet 1x in the evening, Concerta 36 mg tablet 1x in the morning. I wasn’t my real self on those drugs. In 2014 I had a back injury, I needed to work without being in so much pain. I think around 2015 I was put on Flexeril 10mg tablet up to 3x a day, Hydrocodone-acetaminophen 5mg-300mg tablet every six hours, Tramadol 50 mg tablet 3x a day, Mobic 7.5 mg tablet 1x a day, Prednisone 20mg tablet 1x a day. All while still taking Celexa, Concerta, and Klonpin. I was a walking zombie. I couldn’t function, simple tasks for me became the most complex to do. I know I wasn’t functioning at “normal” level, but I didn’t know what else to do with being in so much back pain. In 2016 the pain from my back was going into my feet, I was put on Gapapentin 600mg tablet 3x a day. At this time, I was put on more Klonpin cause I reached a tolerance, 1mg tablet 3x a day. During this time I had a surgery scheduled for my back, I told this to my gp, and he literally cut me off from Klonpin. Dr said tapper 2 weeks off Klonpin and your fine, but I knew better. My dad is a drug and alcohol counselor, and brought home papers on Dr. Ashton for benzodiazepines withdrawal. I knew it was going to be tough. This part is a bit hazy to me, I do remember Tapering off of K for months, maybe 4 to 6 months. I forget the exact dosage I did. That was a nightmare, I’m glad I didn’t do it in 2 weeks. I had the brain zaps, hot, rage, restlessness, feeling like jumping out of skin, depression. Definitely, one of the most difficult things I have gone through in my life. The lack of sleep I feel like was the worst part of it all. I decided not go through with the back surgery. For whatever reason I starting to taper off the other drugs. I tapered one at time with a good amount of space before I started my next taper. I forget the dates, but I tapered off of Tramadol, Flexeril, Gabapentin, and Hydrocodone. It was not easy but I did it. I would just go to my room blackout the window and stay there. I was also put on medical marijuana around this time. In 2019 is when I feel like I was coming out of the withdrawals. The only way to describe me before and after the drugs is night and day. I could process information, think clearly. I could feel emotions to a point. I felt really good. I was still on Celexa hbr 20mg 1x in the evening and Concerta 36mg 1x in the morning. At the end of April in 2022 I went on medical leave from my work because of my back, it hurt to stand. So 13 days ago I saw my gp told him I was feeling sedated from the Celexa, he said to take it in the morning. I tried that, and couldn’t sleep, so decided to take it at night to sleep. Last Thursday, I picked up my rx for Celexa. I told the pharmacist the same thing, he said take it in the morning, and let your body get used to it. I did as he said, and I took Celexa 20 hbr 20mg at 7am. I noticed a change and how I was feeling. At exactly 4pm this intense drowsy, dizzy, brain fog hit me. Also, noticed my breathing at this time is slow and shallow. 4pm is when I would normally take Celexa. This intense drowsy, dizzy feeling was only happening at 4pm. I wanted this to go away, so two days ago I decided to take my Celexa at the normal time 4pm. Today at 7am I started feeling that intense drowsy, dizzy, hot, almost feeling shaky, brain fog. It is so difficult to do simple things. I’m having back surgery next month, don’t want to be in this condition when that happens if possible. What do I do? Need help? I’m going to a cvs minute clinic soon, so they can check me out, but I don’t think they will be much help. Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. Every single one of you guys on here are amazing, don’t ever forget that! If people really knew the struggle we go through, I think they would have more respect for us. Much Love to you all!
  5. Hello everyone, apologies if this is a little all over the place, I'm incredibly overwhelmed by this website and its wealth of information and resources, of which I think I will likely owe my life to when I finally see the other side of this nightmare. I'm currently in the process of doing a Tramadol slow taper, it's terrifying and isolating, compounded by the seeming lack of knowledge from healthcare professionals about the unique chemical profile of Tramadol and the anomalous withdrawal process it entails. As a result I have, thus far, been embarking on this tumultuous journey alone, with no clinical oversight to keep me grounded. I'm re-assessing that evaluation although fear of mismanagement and retribution holds me back from seeking out clinical support. I had a terrible experience a few years prior wherein I entrusted the expertise and knowledge of the medical professionals to keep me safe. I was taken off a large dose of Tramadol SR 200mg cold turkey and the anhedonia that followed was a completely untenable situation, so I went back to getting high, feeling like I was trapped inside the consequences of my youthful recklessness forever, at least going back made reality feel ok to reside within again. For the past year I have been doing a slow taper, although reading over this site I have come to realize that my "slow taper" maybe wasn't very slow at all. I started at 100mg SR and came down 25mg at a time, going through "mild" but doable withdrawal, stabilizing, feeling my brain heal a little bit, then coming down again every few months. Now I'm at 20mg IR. The plan was to do 2mg reductions every 5 days, but I'm not sure what to do. I want this over with, I want to be free, but I also don't want to damage my brain in the process. I'm finding it hard trying to strike a balance between not wasting my life away "going slow" and not going so fast I do more damage than good in the process. My executive function is clearly disrupted as I go through this and there's no way I can hold down a job or really live my life at all whilst it's ongoing, so I'm afraid I just don't have the time to do 10% reductions until it's done, that will probably put me a year or more out, and as my twenties begin to slip away I just can't afford to loose any more time. I'm afraid going too slow will do more damage in terms of my ability to reintegrate back into society functionally. I don't know, I've become very time-conscious as my brains begun to heal and now I have aging anxiety. I want to do great things with my life, the longer I'm tied up with this **** the harder that's going to get. I'm just trying to listen to my body and do what feels right, but the constant mild withdrawal > stabilization yo-yo makes me scared i'm ******* up my nervous system in the process. I can't believe I was taking such a massive dose of Tramadol to begin with (up to 1000mg at my worst, though I usually sat around 600mg for most of the time) like have I just ***** my brain forever? The fact that freaks me out now when clearly it didn't before tells me my ability to grasp consequences is clearly returning, and hence my executive function is healing, but has anyone ever fully healed from such a massive sustained dose of Tramadol before? It's hard to find stories out there, because it's not a particularly popular drug of choice. I don't feel fully understood by the opiate addicts because it's both an opiate and SNRI?, and I don't feel fully understood by the antidepressant takers because there is also the component that I was using this drug to get high and hence was taking massive doses of it. The thought I've done irreversible damage and will never get back to "baseline me" is the thought that keeps me up at night, but I also know that that's a very common fear for people going through this to have, and I have observed lots of healing already, so obviously my brain is doing its thing and proving it's possible. I'm just so scared of doing this wrong, there's so much at stake. Does anyone have any guidance for me?
  6. Hello, Part 1, Intro. I would like to start by sincerly thanking websites such as Survivingantidepressants for essentially helping me to understand my plight more accurately. I have found the success story sections to be particularly helpful, and have turned to these wonderful stories to help raise my spirits in times of utter hopelesssness. After lurking around on these websites, often too incapacitated to do much in the way of meaninful writing, I decided that it might be helpful to someone out there if I shared a little bit about myself. This is going to be a long post, and I understand that some folks going through the ringer will not be able to read this post in its entirety due to eye issues, or just information processing issues. I've been there, I couldn't read for probably a year in total. Nevertheless, I hope that you can eventually read this and garner some useful information, or at least some knowledge that you are not alone out there going through this unjust, cruel, and totally unecessary hell that we've been subjected and in my opinion, decived into undertaking. 2 Background. To give a brief background, in January of 2013 I was prescribed 50mg of pristiq, had a bad reaction to it, then switched to effexor 75mg for ~2 months, and then after requesting a medication that doesn't give me sexual dysfunction, prescribed 30mg of cymbalta. All said, I spent about 6 months on medication and I must say that it definitely relieved my moderate depression and my above average anxiety. Simultaneously, I was taking ~10-15 mg of adderall nearly daily for over 7 years to relieve "ADHD". Unfortunately, after going on cymbalta, I had a severe manic and borderline psycotic reaction to all of this stimulating medication, and proceeded to spend a tremendous amount of money over a short period of time because I became convinced that the economy was going to crash and that I needed to prepare NOW. At the time, I had a sneaking suspicion that something was wrong, but I always trusted my brain's intuition, and my ideas just seemed "right". So I basically bought 400 pounds of non-perishable food, and nearly 4 grand worth of prep supplies and equipment. Seeing that I was employed as a graduate student, earning my PhD, my funding was very small, so this basically bankrupted me and I had to borrow money from my family just to stay out of debt. I also opted for a very invasive, and not entirely necessary shoulder survery to correct a torn labrum that had been annoying me for years. I went ahead and had the proceedur finished, and was excited at the prospect of having a fully functional shoulder again. As it turns out, my intentions were pure, but life had other plans for me (if you'll read on and bear with me). At the end of my 6 month stint on this medication, I started to have severe memory issues. I would be trying to explain something to someone, and all of a sudden I would hit a "road block" and couldn't figure out the correct word to say. Obviously, as a PhD student, this would not do, so I told my doctor I wanted off of this stuff and I wanted my old brain back. Well, I tapered from 30mg to 10mg somewhat quickly (as I have now learned), over about 1 month and from there, based on my doctors advice, I "bit the bullet" as he said, and went from 10mg to 0mg. What proceeded to happen was that I went through very similar symptoms over a 1 week period as people often describe for benzodiazapine withdrawal. Indeed, I had been prescribed clonopin for 5 years, and withdrew from thsi medication back in 2012, and for 3 whole months I was basically bedridden and completely incapactated before being able to function in the world again. At that time, I swore I would NEVER EVER take a benzo again for the rest of my life. Unfortuantely, I was unaware of the fact that SSRI/SNRI's could produce similar symptoms. I was even moreso unaware of the fact that SSRI's could produce symtpoms that were even worse and even more debilitating. To make a long and disappointing story short, I went on an epic vacation just 30 days after I quit taking the medication. I had planned this trip very meticulously during my medication induced mania, and spent a tremendous amount of money on this trip - it was essentially meant to be the trip of a lifetime. Instead, it became one of the more awful experiences of my life. Try navigating 5 countries and managing an expliciting budget just 30 days after coming off SNRIs and having awful symptoms. It was just really hellish, but by the halway point I was hoping that my symptoms would abate within 60 days and I would be able to resume normal functioning at the unviersity. I was hoping to put all of this behind me. Upon returning, I discovered to my horror that I was not much improved after 2 months. My symptoms included, but are not limited to: severe memory loss, burning sensations, problems with my eyes (blurry vision, floaters, etc), difficulty concentrating, difficulty thinking, hot flashes, vertigo, and depersonalization/derealization, fatigue, etc. You guys and gals know the deal, it was GRIM, GRIM, GRIM. Looking back however, I actually had it pretty good. 3. From bad to worse This is where the story goes from bad to worse. As a PhD student, I had worked exremely hard to make a good career for myself once I graduated. One way of doing this way to teach a college level class. So upon returning from my trip, I was meant to teach a laboratory class in an advanced course in Biological Sciences in the summer for 1 month. I was so severely depersonalized/derealized, and with all the other symptoms I listed above, that I could barely remember any of my students names, and I certainly couldn't remember any of the subject matter that I was supposed to be an expert in and deticated the last 6 years of my life to memorizing. Ouch. Nevertheless, I pressed on because the course had to be taught. So I did, and the student's didn't seem to mind, although I was acutely aware of the fact that I had lost a tremendous amount of intelectual ability and could no longer "speak off the cuff" and go on intelectual tangents. I recall one student asking me about a relatively simple mathematical formula, and my inability to easily answer this question that drove me to the point of calling my ex-psyciatrist back and demanding a meeting. In this meeting, he indicated that a quick fix for my problems would be a prescription of prozac which has a long half-life, and reinstating this medciation for about a month or two, and then going off of it again. I thought "well, this better work" and went ahead and tried. As I had mentioned earlier, I had shoulder surgery, and as a consequence I needed to take some pain meds to help me through the immensly painful physical therapy sessions. So I was prescribed tramadol, which is an SNRI (UH OH!). One day I will never forget, I took this tramadol, about 1 week after being on prozac, and I had an adverse reaction to this combination that has haunted me for about 1.5 years now. My entire body went numb, particularly my sensory neurons, and I felt like an strange tickling and itching sensation over all of my skin. I never took tramadol again, but as I continued to take prozac over the next couple of weeks, I began to have an odd sensation over all of my skin: it felt as if I had wet paper bags over my entire body, and my face was becoming anesthetized. I returned to the doctor, and told him about this a couple of times and he basically told me "how could that possibly happen, you're probably just anxious". At the 1 month mark, things were not improving, and all of the original cymbalta withdrawal symptoms were still there. Instead of taking me off the medication, like any reasonable human being would have done, this doctor UPPED my dose to 20mg (from 10mg) after I told him about these adverse effects. After just 2-3 days of this, I started having insomia, and I said "**** it" and tapered off quickly in a 4 day period. It was around September 1st, 2013 when I had my last SSRI/SNRI. I should note here that I was miraculously able to finish teaching the course in anatomy and physiology with decent reviews - the prozac did help in the sense that it produced a mild mania again, which allowed me to sort of interact with the students better. What also helped me was the fact that it was around this time that I got together with my then girlfriend who saw me through the worst of the issues, so I was not completely alone thorugh this hell. It was really this wonderfully patient and kind woman who, amongst others, I attribute to saving my degree and possibly my life. 4. Recovery begins Afer coming to the realization that reinstatement was not an option for my body, I had to deal with the fact that my reinstatment attempt was not only a failure, but it made my symptoms like 40% worse. Now I also had tingling and numbness in all of my limbs, profound sinous headaches, and trigeminal nerve problems, and more serious eye problems than before. I was seeing a psyciatrist through all of this, because I was still taking adderall and had developed quite a habit for this pill (later on, I did successfully quit), which was the only way I was going to write my dissertation and complete my degree. This doctor told me that many of these symptoms may disappear after 3 months, so I waited patiently and tried my best to be physcially active and write my dissertation. Unfortunatley, releif came VERY slowly, and it wasn't until the 6 month point that I began to feel substantially better (Feburary-March 2014). At this point, with the help of my wonderful girlfriend, and a moderate dose of adderall, I began to be able to write my dissertation, and in the next ~2 months I wrote a massive chunk of this work. The symptoms sort of started to melt away, and I began to be able to read and function again - although I was still severely damaged and had not recovered. In anticipation of the fact that this might take a very long time, I scheduled my PhD defense for Summer of 2014, so that I could be at my very best. I also began applying for jobs, and succeeded in securing an interview. One unfortunate event that I should mention is that I reinjured my shoulder, so that now it was worse than it was before I got surgery in the first place. I attribute my reinjury of the shoulder to the SSRI withdrawals, and the adderall - the level of fatigue and the lack of awareness of my body due to sensory nerve damage (or what ever the heck it is - I'm still not entirely sure I understand what precise physiological mechanism is responsible for all of the symptoms I experienced) caused me to just not work on my shoulder exercises like I should have, and to play with it the wrong ways while in bed one morning. 5. Hypersensitivity This is a very important part of my story because it explains my great downfall and what happened next most precisely. Basically, as I've read on this website, and others (particularly paxilprogress.com, which was my very favorite and brings me great disappointment to see it taken offline), many people experience an inexplicable hypersensitivity to various substances when going through an adverse reaction or an ssri withdrawal. I too had this experience, most profoundly after my issues with prozac and tramadol. For example, I would drink 1 beer and be totally incapacitated and brain dead for 3 days, and if I got drunk, I would be seriously messed up for no less than 14 days. This was also true for niccotine, or any central nervous sytem agent - and it severely limited what I could do and how I could enjoy my life. Thankfully, I was still able to escape my horrible existance by watching movies and playing videogames. Indeed, videogames very effectively passed time for me in the early stages of withdrawal. Anyways, I also noticed this in regards to other medication - I took one, ONE .5 mg clonopin pill to help releive the "rebound anxiety", if you can really call it that, during my recovery process in the spring of 2014, and it completely incapacitated me for like 2 weeks. I then took a valarin root to try to see if that might help calm my nerves, and another 2 weeks of my life were gone. It's very scary to realize that small doses of commonly taken medication can completely incapacitate oneself, and I seriously had no answer for any of this other than to very cautiously avoid any and all substances if it could be helped. I should have taken this as a warning for things to come, but unfortunately I did not. One night, with my girlfirend, I had ingested a marijuana brownie in an attempt to have a good time and to escape from my unimaginable horror of losing my intellectual ability, my career, and everythign that was important to me (especially losing my emotions, the anhedonia was SEVERE and pathlogoically bad - instead of feeling emotions, I would just feel a vague burning sensation in the frontal part of my brain). This pot brownie was suprisingly effective and I had a good night with her and her friends. The only reason I mention this is because that pot browning made me believe that I could handle a small dose of marijuana without any ill effect - maybe I could find a way to medicinally deal with the agony of my condition. 6. True hell: Boy was I wrong. One night I shall never forget, my friend and college invited me to a party where people were smoking some pot in a casual way. I was just coming down from a daily dose of adderall, so I was a bit anxious and thought I would now have an opportunity to relax and enjoy myself with these folks and have a nice weekend. I smoked the pot, and what happened next was that I went from euphoria stright to utter terror. It's still very difficult for me to write this, and I'm having some emotional issues with articulating what happened, but I basically had a terror (panic) attack for like 12 straight hours, and proceeded not to sleep for the next 2 months. Yes, you read that correctly, I did not sleep for 2 months. The hell of SNRI withdrawals and an adverse reaction PALED in comparison to what I experienced when I smoked pot. ALL of the original symtpoms came back in full force, simultaneously. I went from being partially recovered to fully incapacitated again, and this time I had the awful experience of constant panic attacks that could be set off from any little thing, and PROFOUND bodily anesthesia, in addition to profound derealization and depersonalization. I had esentially lost all progress I had made over the previous 10 months, and became WORSE than I was before any of this started. As I am still recovering from this experience, I can say with some confidence that what happened was that I overdosed on marijuana. The weed in California is NOT the weed I remember back in NY - it's VERY strong and one can overdose on just a couple of hits. I personally took 4 hits I think. I know this is not a forum for drugs, but I must be explicit in my story and explian this because I do not EVER want ANYONE to go through what I went through. Please, if you're on the fence about doing drugs to help edicinally allieviate your SSRI withdrawal symptoms, do not do it. Please, I beg of you, with all of my heart, please do not risk it. 7. Partial Recovery I'm not going to go into all the fallout from my terrible mistake of overdosing on that pot, perhaps I will once it's all over. I should just say that I just BARELY clung onto reality well enough to finish. I thank God every day that I lived alone, and that I was in contact with a very understanding Aunt who had gone through similarly difficult situations. She basically saved both my career and probably my life in the 6 months or so that I endured absolutel hell as a result of smoking that stuff. At this time, I also started attending 12 step meetings of AA, and these kind and amazing people helped me out so very much. I will forever be grateful to these wondeful people for their kindness during this time - these meetings esentially kept me out of the psych ward and off of medication. I want to point out and focus on the positive: I successfully completed my Phd in Biological sciences from a prestigous institution, and defended my PhD in front of the entire department and no one suspected a thing. I also stayed with some friends after I lost the lease in my appartment due to graduation, and then found an appartment in the state of California nearby my old university that I was able to hang out in until I was well enough to make the drive across the country back to my father's house in Pensilvania. I survived, barely. Just barely. *In the very unlikely, by theoretically possible chance that someone else in this wide world is experiencing something similar to that which I have just described, I would like to describe my timeline of recovery. First 3 months, absolute hell - but by the end of the 3rd month, I was able to be somewhat peaceful and calm from time to time. At the end of 6 months I was still having panic attacks from time to time, but I was getting pretty good sleep 75% of the time time and I was able to enjoy myself sometimes. At the end of 9 months is when the panic attacks stopped, and I just had bad migranes most of the time. This is when I began to be able to read and write fairly well, and enjoy life even more from time to time. I'm currently at 11 months, and still feeling pretty bad, but I'm much much better and get good sleep nearly every single night. *If someone else is also trying to quit a stimulant while going through SSRI withdrawal hell like I did, I can outline my timeline for recovery if it might help you. By the 3 month mark, I had all of my phiscal stamia back, and just lacked motivation. By the 6-7 month mark, I have begun to recover intellectual motivation, but I'm still beset by migraine headaches most of the time. I tapered from 10mg to 2.5mg and then off completely over a 6-7 week period. 8. Closing statements Now, I'm currently on the mend. I quit taking adderall immediately after completing my degree, and have been off that toxic and dangerous drug for about 7 months to date. I am also 20 months free from SSRIS, and certainly will never go back that route again for the rest of my life. I'm not employed, and really am not employable at all. I will probably have to find a job at some point, but I'll most likely not be able to go back into academia until my brain fully recovers. I don't know when that will be. For now, I'm grateful to A) be alive, and be able to enjoy some things again. I'm grateful for the fact that I have my health coming back, that I'm able to write somewhat articulately again, and that most of my symptoms are slowly improving. I apologize for this massive essay - I know first hand how difficult it is to focus on things like this when you're going through withdrawal, but I just felt inspired this evening enough to write this post. I hope that this helped someone in some way, and please let me know if you have any questions. There is A LOT that I've left out from my story, especially in regards to the hell I experienced after smoking the marijuana. I learned a tremendous amount about life that I really never wanted to learn, and I've learned a great deal about recovering from ssris, what works, and what doesn't. there's a lot that I don't really know yet, and I could use some advice from the community on a few things. 1) how the heck does one make money and support themselves through this? I'm not entirely sure how to proceed from here. I've attempted to figure out if there's another medical condition that I'm experiencing that is unrelated to ssri withdrawals - got an MRI (totally normal, from what the doctors at the ER said). One doctor said it's possibly a neuropathy, or a metabolic disorder - but nothing concrete. I'm scheduled to go see another doctor in an attempt to get an actual diagnosis so that I could possibly apply for disability, but I'm not too sure what to do. I'm not so sure if going back to western medicine is a great idea, but I did get a lot of releif from knowing that there's nothing highly abnormal with my MRI, so I figure it might be good to rule out common disorders that can cause the symtpoms I'm still experiencing. If there's one thing I've learned from all of this it's that the worst thing I can do to help myself is to introduce new chemicals in my body in order to fix the problem. I've read countless recovery stories on this website and on paxilprogress, and I've been able to determine that if what I'm going through is SSRI withdrawal/adverse reaction, the only real cure for all of this is: time. From what I've read, it takes between 6 months and 5 years for people to recover completely. That's a long time, and I'm not sure how to survive for that long. I've just barely made it through 2 years. Just BARELY. I've thought about taking my life so many countless numbers of times over the past 2 years, but never did it - I don't think I will either. I just think about it, because the pain is so severe and unending. Although things have improved a LOT, and I mean A LOT from last may when I smoked that pot, I'm still far from recovered. I have hope that I'll recover in the future, but I think this process will take a long time. Thank you for reading.
  7. Hello, this is my first post on this site. Please forgive any errors I may make. I have been taking Lexapro 5 mg for approximately 10 years and Tramadol for roughly 2 years for Osteoarthritis and Anxiety/Mild Depression. At the beginning of October I began tapering Tramadol from 200 mg a day (4 tablets) to 150mg a day (3 tablets). I cut 1/4 of a pill a week for three weeks and after my last cut on 10/19 from 3.25 tablets to 3.0 tablets I began to have what I believe to be terrible serotonin withdrawal symptoms. For the past three weeks I have been experiencing intense anxiety/panic attacks, nausea and an extreme lack of appetite. The nausea has subsided quite a bit but the lack or appetite is very persistent and I have lost about 7 or 8 lbs. I am already underweight so this scares me. A few symptoms other symptoms that have waned a bit are burning skin (paresthesia?), leg muscle weakness, excessive urination and sweating. I have also had some mild flu like symptoms e.g. body aches but nothing requiring even a Tylenol or Advil. I had very mild symptoms until I made the 4th cut from 3.25 to 3.0 and I don't understand if it just put my nervous system over the edge or what may be happening. This most recent cut was made 10/19 and I am wondering how much longer I can expect these symptoms to persist? I am very motivated to discontinue the Tramadol but I wonder if I should hold steady at 150mg until the symptoms resolve? I am very afraid of everything that is happening to me and I feel very out of control. Any advice would be appreciated.
  8. First, excuse me for my English, I speak just French. I’m new on this group and would share my story. My story with shrink medications: It’s the most important rules, the golden rules if you want quit all this crap with minimal damage: stay on the original molecule and taper SLOWLY. I’m destroyed now because I have follow my Dr in this process: 1. Ten years on Tramadol and two years on Klonopin due to neurologic pain after a failed surgery. 2. Almost CT withdrawal of the two molecules , at this time I don’t know a clue about Ashton Manual and withdrawal, I trust my doc 3. Results: depression, anxiety, seizures, ...DR ad Olanzapine and Cymbalta (first time in my life that I take antipsychotic and AD) 4. Results: suicidal ideation, I inform my doc, he up the dosage of the AD! 5. Result: Suicide attempt two weeks later, cardiac and respiratory arrest , 2 weeks in intensive care at hospital 6. They give me Effexor, Pregabalin high dose (Lyrica ), Fentanyl, massive dose of benzos 7.Result: serotoninergic symptômes, they stop CT the fentanyl and Tramadol but ad Trazodone and sleeping pills 8. Results: psychosis, seizures, panic attacks, bowel obstruction and direct to ER! 9.Result: they cut CT the Effexor, Pregabalin, Trazodone and start with anSSRI (fluvoxamine), sleeping pills, Propranolol for tremors and heart rate, and start to cut the benzos but at a rythm of 25% each week. 10. Result: panic attacks, sweating, tremors, insomnia, suicidal tough, akhitisia, enable to eat (lost 30kg in 6 months), depersonalization, weak as hell! 11. Result: 10 weeks in detox clinic...they continue to cut the benzos but 50% each week!!! I talk with the Addicto in charge about Ashton and Breggin, about FB group... Never hearing this!!! 12. Result: back to home with SSRI but nothing else, BUT PAWS off hell: insomnia, dizziness, POTS, PSSD, PTSD, DEPRESSION, CNS AND GI SYSTEM DESTROYED, Anhedonia,SEIZURES, PANIC ATTACKS, ... 13. Result: my Dr stop the SSRI CT and reinstate pregabalin and another SSRI. 14.Result: more anxiety and insomnia. Dr CT the pregabalin: hell 15.Result, I change of Dr and search for a treatment with plant medicine Iboga, change my diet due to benzos belly and all damages due to AD and tapering the SSRI. 16. Go in a clinic for treatment with plant medicine Iboga / Ibogaine. Overnight no more PAWS, insomnia, pain, anxiety, ... was a life saver! Iboga reset all neurotransmitters, like if I was a baby born. 17. Return to home with no PAWS, no medication , but weak, tired and depression (My mistake is that I tapering to fast the Last SSRI, at this time I just want do die but my instinct say to me to microdosing with plant medecine Iboga or psilocybin...but was to down to follow my instinct) 18. Back to the shrink who give me SSRI ( insomnia, anxiety returns, give me Mirtazapine, but adverse effects, ad pregabalin and CT after 3 months, back on benzos too and ad Quétiapine into the cocktail...) I have two lovely kids and a wonderful wife, but I have lost everything: my job, my health, my family... because I’m just able too stay on the couch with horrible symptoms, kindling effect, and pain all day long, sometimes I can eat but the GI system is so painful and destroyed that I can’t assimile nutrients correctly. When I can sleep 2-3 hours it’s a very good night for me, but usually with a lot of nightmares and sweating... Today I have received by mail the decision of health services of my country: I’m considered as 100% invalid. IN CONCLUSION: FOR THE PEOPLE WHO WANT STOP SHRINK DRUGS: 1. SLOW TAPERING DON’T GO CT 2. STAY ONLY ON YOUR ORIGINAL MOLECULE 3. DON’T STOP MULTIPLE MOLECULE IN SAME TIME 4. DON’T FOLLOW IN ANY CASE THE DR ADVISE ABOUT TAPERING OR DIAGNOSIS DURING WITHDRAWAL 5.DON’T AD NEW DRUGS IN THE COURSE, NEVER! ONLY TIME, HEALTHY DIET, EXERCISE, SOME VITAMINS ARE THE KEY 6.GO **** YOURSELF ALL BIG PHARMA AND DOCTORS WHO WORK FOR THIS. MY SON, MY DAUGHTERS AND MY WIFE HAVE NOW A VEGETABLE IN PLACE OF A FATHER. THANK YOU VERY MUCH MOTHER****ERS! HOPE THERE IS A DIVINE JUSTICE AFTER... Good luck for everyone 🤞🤞🤞hope you will be better than me. ❤️❤️❤️
  9. Hi, I just recently found this website and I am hoping to gain support and insight into healing. My journey with medication withdrawal began 2 years ago when out of the blue after getting my prescription for Mirtazapine refilled I began to get extremely sick. At the time I was taking 15 mg of Mirtazapine (had taken this for 20 years) and I was also taking 50 mg of Tramadol twice daily. (Taken for 10 years) For those who don’t know, Tramadol is a synthetic opioid medication that also has SSRI attributes, which at the time I did not realize. For years I felt great on these medication. I have suffered from anxiety my whole life and when I started taking these medications together I felt “normal” for the first time in my life. I was happy and anxiety felt like a thing of the past. So when I went to get my Mirtazapine refilled and began to get sick I couldn’t figure out why. The pharmacist had to have made a mistake. I made several Dr. appointments and kept telling the Dr. I thought I had serotonin syndrome. I was told this condition was so rare that couldn’t be it. So back to the pharmacist I went. I soon discovered that the manufacturer of the Mirtazapine was bought out by another company and that because the medication was generic there can be different fillers and variables. All I new was I was extremely sick, having massive anxiety, rapid heartbeat, and sleeping only 1-3 hours a night. My doctor was retiring so I had to find a new doctor, which was fine because my symptoms were completely being dismissed. Right around this time was when the opioid crisis hit and my new doctor told me she no longer wanted me on Tramadol. I don’t blame her as I told her the only reason I took it was for my anxiety. I began to cut back like I was told to, by breaking my pill in half. You know the story! Well needless to say I became so overwhelmed with depression I became suicidal and was having massive panic attacks. So the doctor put me on 25 mg of Sertraline to help with the depression and Tramadol withdrawal. I was able to somehow stabilize, but still felt sick most of the time. My doctor also wanted me to go off of Mirtazapine because I had been on it for so long. So again I tried cutting the pills in half and again I became massively depressed and suicidal. So after doing research on my own I realized that I was going to have to have the Mirtazapine compounded. So I began a 10 percent taper per month but did not realize it was 10 percent of each last amount. So I just keep cutting 10 percent. I took me about 10 months to taper from the Mirtazapine and I completed it in June of 2020. At the same time I was slowly cutting back on the Sertraline. (I was at 50 mg) in April of this year I began working with a holistic psychiatrist. I couldn’t take it anymore. My body felt like it had aged 20 years. I was exhausted all the time, depressed and anxious, still not sleeping, and just not believing I would ever feel better. I was put a supplement regiment of liquid vitamin and minerals, liposomal glutathione, fish oil, and SeroPlus. I cut gluten and dairy from my diet and eliminated as much sugar as I could After about 6-8 weeks of supplements I was able to regain some of my strength and confidence and began to cut back relatively quickly on the Sertraline. My last dose was August 8th. I felt great for about three weeks and thought I was in the clear and then out of the blue I was hit again with withdrawal. I tried to reinstate a small dose of Sertraline but it didn’t work and so I’ve decided to try to toughen it out. Through this process I have been using energy medicine techniques that have helped a great deal and I have also started meditating twice a day. Ian also working with a therapist. I have feeling of withdrawal that included my skin feeling hot and prickly, headaches, brain fog, brain zaps, and anxiety. I don’t have these symptoms everyday, they seem to come and go. I get very scared reading other peoples stories and hearing how these symptoms can last for years. I am clinging to any hope of healing, and think part of the problem is I want healing right now and I finally realized it isn’t going to happen that way. Is it really possible to heal from anxiety with out meds? How much of my anxiety is life circumstances and how much is withdrawal? Will I ever feel joy again? These are the questions that run through my mind. Any words of encouragement and advice would be greatly appreciated.
  10. The story is long and I apologize in advance for the length but I believe it is important to tell the whole story. In 2009 I broke my hand in 4 places and since then I have had pain in my wrist. In 2012 after I had my last child my doctor gave me Tramadol for the pain 3 times a day (50mg). It did help and I noticed I was sleeping better, had energy during the day, pain was gone, and mood was great. I have always been a somewhat bored and depressed person so it was great to rather enjoy things that previously I would have found boring. Well, I wound up needing more medicine to continue to feel just normal. At the most it was 8 pills a day so 400 mg. Then in 2014 I started getting dizzy alot. I thought it was the amount I was taking and immediately went down to 1 pill a day and eventually like 1/4th of that pill for about 8 months. Then when the dizziness resolved I went back up to 1 whole pill again. Then I started building tolerance once again so I was up to 2 pills a day. Eventually it got up to 5 pills a day again and it stopped working very well for actual pain. I was always tired but never bored or depressed. And then the dizziness came back again in the beginning of 2017. Also, my doctor gave me hydrocodone for pain at that time too. I reduced my Tramadol to 2 a day and a hydrocodone after work when pain was the worst. Dizziness persisted and got worse in Sept 2017. I stopped taking the Tramadol completely at that point and stayed with the hydrocodone which I also seemed to have grown an intolerance to somewhat. I was taking half a one instead of a whole one and that was having the same effect as a whole one at that point. My mood was still okay but I was not able to handle as much stress wise. I had more anxiety and started having small panic attacks while driving. I never had anxiety prior to taking Tramadol...ever. Well, in March, my mood was decreasing, fatigue was bad (I had to take a 3 hr nap every day after work), dizziness was pretty bad. So I decided to take a half a Tramadol and it seemed fine. I had been taking 1/2 to 3/4 a pill for 12 days until I had a bad reaction to it. Complete panic, heart rate at 130, BP was 141/100, diarrhea, flushing, extreme dizziness, low grade sudden fever. I actually called 911 because I was driving and they took me to the hospital. I have had a full heart work up and there is no heart issues at all except SVT that I have had since I was 17 and has been well controlled without medication for a long time. I did not make a connection at the time and the hospital released me and told me to continue my regular medicine. So I took another half a tramadol and same reaction...high heart rate and bp, diarrhea, dizziness, low grade fever. So, I decided to wait on taking Tramadol again. I did take 1/4th of hydrocodone twice a day for the next 2 days until that seemed to turn on me. I had high bp, heart rate high, diarrhea, no appetite, agitation (could not sit still), low grade fever. Stopped taking that and waited another 3 days. Then tried to take a miniscule piece of Tramadol (I would say maybe 5mg) and that is when it was the worst. High BP, high heart rate (that lasted for days afterwards), diarrhea, tremors, twitching, burning in my legs, low fever, flushing, tingling all over body, dizzy, felt sick. It felt like Seratonin Syndrome. I was not able to really function at all until the next day. So, now it has been 46 days since then and I am a complete mess. I have not taken anything since then. My mood was actually okay after the incident for about 2 days and started to slowly decline since then almost like the SNRI was still working for a couple days. I have had lots of symptoms since then, burning in arms and legs, tingling and numbness in arms and legs, lots of depression, derealisation, depersonalisation, tons of food and smell sensitivities, lost a ton of weight (prob 20 pounds), anxiety through the roof sometimes, insomnia, crying spells often, and constipation. Have not been able to work because of weakness from weight loss amd anxiety. Worst part is that I did not know it was an SNRI or that it had antihistamine properties. I was not aware that it had to be tapered slowly when I stopped taking it. So, here ate my questions: 1. Does anyone have a similiar experience with just Tramadol? 2. Does anyone know why my body would reject this medicine and the hydrocodone aftet so long? 3. Should I reinstate the Tramadol at a super small dose after 46 days? (Depression is getting worse) 4. Could the reaction have been Seratonin Syndrome? 5. Could the reaction have been a change in the way my body metabolised the drugs? 6. Could the drug have built up in my body and been too much? I should mention since January I had been eating low carb, high protein instead of constant carbs. Now I seem to react to salicylates and various foods. My diet has been limited but growing every day as I cannot starve and force myself to try things every day. Still seems that I dod not react to proteins so I am still eating high protein, low carb at the moment because I have no choice. Any opinions would be helpful. Thank you
  11. I have been taking Wellbutrin XL 150mg along with 50mg of Ultram/Tramdol for the past six years after surviving a ruptured cerebral aneurysm with no issues but had a recent supplement interaction that landed me in the ER. I was terrified to take anything after that interaction and my doctor indicated that I would have no problem quitting both medications cold turkey (Wellbutrin and Ultram). Note I mention the Tramadol because of the serotonin and norepinephrine affects. I also have a prescription for .25mg of Xanax but literally only used half a pill a few times a year. First week of withdrawal was ok...second week/third week was terrible. No appetite, extreme anxiety coupled with several panic attacks, extreme body aches, numbness/tingling sensations on right side, headaches, feeling out of body, basically every possible withdrawal symptom. I felt good the 25th day and thought I was moving past the worst issues. Then out of the blue I had the worst panic attack of my life. I thought I was dying for sure since my pulse was so high and half a tab of .25 Xanax did not lower my heart rate/pulse. My blood pressure increased again and I was taken to the ER via an ambulance. Shocking diagnosis...panic attack. I started taking my Wellbutrin XL 150mg again the day after the panic attack and the side effects have been a nightmare. I have been on the medication for the past four days. No appetite, nauseous, EAR RINGING, waves of panic with increased heart rate, headaches, tingling sensations thru body, and insomnia. The past two nights I have taken .25mg Xanax because my panic waves are more intense at night and have no relief. Talked with my doctor today and she said to continue with the Wellbutrin XL 150 since I had no problems in the past and up my Xanax to .50mg. This does not seem like a great idea based on the ringing in my ears and other issues. I have read thru several posts but am getting confused. Should I try to taper at this point or just stop again cold turkey since I made it three weeks? Along with the Wellbutrin XL 150 mg....I have a prescription filled for Wellbutrin IR 75mg and Wellbutrin SL 100mg since I pushed my doctor for a taper option. Note she did not seem confident in the tapering method. I have not taken any medicine today because I am scared. Any help would be most appreciated.
  12. Hi, I'm new here and have a little different story (I think). I was taking Tramadol for 3 years for RLS, Fibromyalgia& Neuropathy. Because of increasing physical dependence, I decided it was time to come off. I tapered over a 3 month period and have been off for about 5 months. Because of the SSRI properties in Tramadol, I'm still having ongoing post acute withdrawal symptoms of nausea, anxiety, sweating, etc. Does anyone have any experience with recovery from Tramadol????? Need help!
  13. Hi, I've been reading some threads on this forum to try and better understand what has happening to me for the past weeks and I decided to create my own topic so that maybe typing out my experiences and getting some feedback might help me. About two weeks ago I took some Zaldiar because I was experiencing some pain. At the time I was not aware of the anti-depressant properties of the Tramadol that Zaldiar contains. I took about 4-5 pills the first day with a couple of hours in between (one pill has 37,5mg Tramadol). The second day after waking up I still had pain and took about 5-6 pills, which I guess even for pain was excessive and a big mistake on my part. The day after that, I felt no pain and didn't take any more pills. The day itself went by fine, but near the end of the day (almost a day after taking the last one) I started feeling a bit twitchy and a couple hours later out of nowhere I got a panic attack and started feeling very bad physically as well: hot and cold streaks , not being able to sit still, racing thoughts, feeling like I cannot breath; like something is really wrong, ... this lasted for the whole night, pacing around and trying to calm myself and figure out what is happening. This is when I started doing research on Zaldiar and, reading others' experiences, I figured these issues had to do with the Tramadol usage. Though I still don't really understand how 2 days of, albeit somewhat excessively, taking those pills could have caused such an intense reaction. I guess I am just very sensitive to it? Anyway, the first 3-ish days were hellish and I just tried getting through them as best as I could with some exercise and distractions. The anxiety was somewheat manageable, though I still often felt very feverlike and could not eat anything and felt very weak. Though after the first day it was mostly just this depressed feeling that really weighed on me – especially the uncertainty of wheter it would actually go away. On the 4th day, however, I started feeling a lot better. I spent most of the day pretty alright, maybe a bit emotional but not in a depressed way. I was happy I was starting to feel emotions again. The couple days after that I pretty much just felt back like normal, like before the pills and I rejoiced, thinking it was all over. A couple days ago though, I got another anxious spell, though not as bad as before. But since then I have been getting moments where I feel really anxious again and the depression is back again too and although it's more manageable than before, it's been fairly consistent now and it's been here longer now than when it first started two weeks ago. And I understand that it comes in waves, but I feel like it should be getting shorted instead of worse and it's mostly this feeling that this is going to last that spurs on episodes of anxiety. And I just want to try and get through it while I keep working on my life (looking for a job, been unemployed for a while now), but it's so hard to get the motivation to do anything other than just distract me from feeling so bad by just watching relaxing tv shows all day. But I want to actually feel productive and happy again, not feel like I'm just trying to get through the day just not feeling bad or anxious. And I'm just really worried this might last for a long time I just want to feel normal again and know that these feelings will subside and I can feel joyful again. I also don't know how to feel about having such an adverse reaction to such short-term usage. Part of me thinks that maybe taking a small dose of it again could help me deal with this, but on the other hand I shouldn't be having withdrawal? So it could just be making it worse.. And though I feel like I've been rambling on enough already (sorry), I feel like I have to mention another relevant experience: back when I was about 12-13 (I am 25 now), I actually had a really similar experience, though without any drugs involved. One night when I was trying to fall asleep, I suddenly felt really anxious and hot and basically kind of the same like I felt two weeks ago when this all started, having a panic attack. Anyway, I did calm myself down that day and fell asleep and didn't really feel much of that kind of anxiety after that, but I did get the same kind of depressive feelings for a while. Though I don't know the exact timeline, I did end up feeling really depressed for a few weeks, with still being pretty depressed for months after. It did eventually get better to the point of enjoying life a good 6-8 months later? I guess I've felt "depressed" (read: very sad) at times since then, during bad periods of my life, but I've never really had this actual depression anymore up until now. Knowing that I've lived through it and these feelings go away somewhat helps being hopeful and that it might be easier this time, but part of me also thinks that maybe it means I'm really sensitive and that might actually make it harder? Anyway. I've probably been typing too much already. But I guess it did help typing it all out and although I guess it's hard to have any concrete feedback, I was hoping anyone that has been going through something similar or just anyone that has anything to say that may help me, either understanding my experiences or making these feelings better, could speak up? Either way, just thanks for reading everything if you've gotten this far!
  14. I am a 65 year old recovering female alcoholic with history of amphetamines, hallucinogenics, cocaine and cannabis. I have not used any of these substances for 34 years. In recovery, I went into a full-blown four week unrelenting panic attack in 1985 three years sober, and was put on pamelor for the first time for depression and was given ativan PRN for panic disorder. When prozac came out, I was switched to that in 1988 and was on prozac for 8-9 years. I got off prozac and was put on the newer SNRIs off and on for the next ten years, the usual ones, as each new brand arrived on the market.I had a round with wellbutrin in 2004. By that time, I was diagnosed as bipolar, not depressed, and started on topomax and then lamictal, taking the topomax on and off. I was on this combo until 2012 . By this time my ativan was long gone and I was given klonopin BID for breakthrough bipolar symptoms. I developed tinnitus and severe dystonic style muscle spasms in my hands and feet. I had these spasms hit me full body twice and the pain was unreal. I went to Lahey clinic regarding this and was placed on baclofen 10mg BID. I was sick of all this and this last spring was able to get off everything for the first time. Don't ask me how I detoxed as I have no idea, just kept the klonopin for PRN and with that in place went for it. HOWEVER, I was diagnosed with bone on bone arthritis simultaneously with fibro and I was off and running again. I went back on lamictal and klonopin and the.When I reported back to the fibro doc he was upset and me titrate 50 mg a week one week at a time for a total of three weeks. This was in November and when it was all done I flipped into all the detox symptoms. That was when I looked online and found out what was happening. He reluctantly put me back on 50 mg for one week and then gave me 25 mg pills til I see him Jan 17. I was supposed to drop from the 50 mg to 25 mg lyrica two days ago but was really frightened read somewhere about splitting the pills for a slower titration. I did that and yesterday was my second day on 37.5 mg gram. I still am feeling horrible, shaking, anxiety, crying spells, feeling crazy, all the garbage along with horrible nightmares along with anger and agitated too. Unfortunately, I will not have enough of the 25 mg pills to do a 10% titration and I doubt this doc will write another prescription for the lyrica. I also have to deal with getting off the tramadol next and he is the doc for this one. I am sure he will be uncooperative with this also. My psych nurse is willing to prescribe neurontin if it will help. I am still on 100 mg lamictal and 0.5 klonopin every day. I am still taking baclofen when my body says it needs it. Any and all suggestions and support would be a welcome relief. My husband is no support and my mother keeps calling via facetime from Florida three times a day to "chat" and I have to rally up as she is elderly. Just to add to the mix this week, I also have a funeral on Saturday as my brother-in-law died (too young) and this is an already unpleasant situation because of family dysfunction. I apologize for the long post but want you to know me straight up and need as much help as you can offer. I'm sure I've left some out.. Regards, Ro
  15. To make this short and sweet, I got put on these drugs by my doctor that was treating me for Lyme Disease as a way to help me feel better through the symptoms and problems of Lyme disease. And of course I believe that this actually made all the problems MUCH worse. Cut to now, I'm ive been on: 1 mg of Klonopin a day, split into 2/0.5mg doses. 450 mgs of Lyrica a day, all at once before bed for sleep. 100 mgs of Tramadol a day, split into 2/50mg doses. 60 mgs of cymbalta a day taken all at once in the morning. Basically before doing my research into the proper speed to taper, I was trying to drop klonopin first and basically had it down to 1/4 of a 0.5mg tablet. But I was feeling terrible as you might imagine because I was tapered down to that from the full amount over just 8 weeks. I though it may have just been lyme disease and feeling bad, but nope...So basically I went back up to the 1mg total again for now as to not completely fall apart mentally and physically. It was making me a nervous anxious wreck, and drained me of all energy, willpower, physical stamina, or physical strength. So now I'm here asking how I should go about getting rid of these medications and in which order please. I want them all gone at some point, but I would just like to get moving on whichever one I SHOULD knock out first etc. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you. Jeremy
  16. Hello Friendly people! I just wanted to put this out there and ask for some advice on behalf of my lovely wife. Very quick history of her. SHe has suffered quite bad depression a lot of her earlier life. She lost both parents by age of 16, and fell into deep depression. By age 21 or so, she got herself together, got a job and started in a positive direction. After her first marriage breakup, she went on 20mg of Citalopram, around year 2000. I entered her life a little after this. We moved out to Australia 2004. I can't quite remember the situation, but she started getting depressed again, and went to a helpful doctor (ironically the same one that put me on Lexapro!!!) She put her dose upto 40mg. That seemed to help her. After the birth of our daughter, she has had chronic back pain. It's been 9 years now, and has slowly got worse and worse. After MRI scans showed inconclusive information, but various issues, she was put on 200mg of slow release Tramadol to help manage the pain. It does help her. She was also put upto 60mg of Citalopram! I beleive she was hitting "poop out" at 40mg, and was becoming more and more depressed more often. I understand the maximum dose is 40mg. She was advised to be tested for liver issues occassionally. So far, her blood tests have been fine. She suffers TERRIBLLY with side effects, night sweats, fatigue etc. I also understand that Tramadol also acts as an SSRI!!! So she is not only over the 40mg of Citalopram, but added 200mg Tramadol!!! I fear that this situation isn't ideal and really needs to be addressed. The GP's she has seen in the meantime give mixed messages about what to do. If she lowers the dose to 100mg of Tramadol, she finds her back pain ALMOST unbearable. She tried to lower her Citalopram to 50mg - by the 5th week she went into a VERY VERY deep depression, and immediately went back to 60mg, suffering with side effects. She was fine for a good 4 weeks. But 5th week hit her hard! I fear that her dose is far too high. Can she titrate to a different SSRI? Is this something that can be done quite safely? Can it be titrated to minimize side effects? I'm very upset at the GP that put her on both Tramadol and the high level of Citalopram - she but me on Lexapro - which I'm still struggling to get off. From a personal perspective, she is in a good place emotionally in her life, and recently discovered extra happiness through joining a church. She feels trapped on her current medication, but the dose cannot stay that way. She says she read something that said she can't swap SSRI's. SHe is a bit reluctant to delve into this herself. Even the pharmasist approached her and said that the combination she was taking, and the amount wasn't good for her heart or liver. Any advise? We are in Australia.
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