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This was from the notes I kept on my Iphone about my progress. Lexapro/ escitalopram -Started taking in beginning of 2017 when got out of bad situation and was trying to get back into things it did help… for a while -Early 2020 Attempted to cut cold turkey was terrible, had brain shocks, severe depression, barely able to function. My doctor told me there would be no withdrawal. -2020 around September attempted 1 month taper from 20 mg to 0 mg according to old data that “doctors” go off of. After attempting this and having similar effects to quitting cold turkey I found a forum Survivingantidepressants.org, when I started reading I realized all these people went through the same **** I did. -August 2021 went to 20mg to 10 mg stabilized in October 2021, no major side effects besides energy levels -December 2021 went from 10 mg to 5 mg, stabilized in February, again mostly just energy levels affected. -May 2022 went from 5 mg to 2.5 mg, feel good and happy, want to cut down to less -June 2022 went from 2.5 mg to nibbling on less everyday. 6/14/22 attempting to stop taking it all together. First week my sleep sucked but my happiness level started to skyrocket. 6/23/22 went to electric forest with a new outlook and positive attitude. July 2022, I’ve never been happier, have felt no negative side effects from quitting, sleep is a little bit harder off the drug but overall I feel alive again. FREE :)))) My Taper off of Klonopin was less severe but still took about 9 months of steady decreasing in dosage until I was able to kick it. Was only on .5 Mg Dropped to .25 MG last year around October Dropped to .125 Mg around Jan 2022 Leading up to June I was nibbling less and less of it until I was almost to nothing June 2022 I quit I love all you beautiful people for sharing your stories and messages. I hope you have success with your journey, sending hope and love to you all.

Hi All, I am new to the group--my name is Jennifer. I have had quite the journey post-partum with my 16 month old son. I was originally put on Zoloft 50mg about 3 weeks after my son was born and stayed on it until mid-March (so about 9 months). I was feeling great that I wanted to come off of the medication. I tapered off of it over a month...it was a difficult taper which makes me wonder if I should have stayed on it longer. But then 5 months after that I went on an intensive yoga retreat and came back with crying jags, anxiety, and insomnia. I went on some herbs for a while to help with adrenal function prescribed by a chiropractor and felt a little better energy wise but was not getting anywhere with the insomnia or crying jags. I discontinued the herbs. Then on the very next day, I went on a nasty ride with psychotropics again with my regular doctor. I wanted relief so I went back on Zoloft but it was so agitating, they needed to give me Lexapro (it's supposedly a little less activating) and Trazadone to sleep. Trazadone worked for one night but I still was so agitated. Then, they ordered me Xanax. After taking one, I felt I wanted to jump out of my skin. I called a psychiatrist and was put on Remeron and Klonopin right away and told to stop everything else. The Remeron helps me sleep but I still feel so overwhelmed at times since coming back from that intensive yoga retreat. The Klonopin helps at times too but I do not want to take it everyday. I am in therapy which is EMDR-based. It has helped but I find it focuses on the negative aspects too much. So we have done some CBT to keep me in the moment. What I am looking for is advice from anyone out there that has had a similar experience with antidepressants and what you did to help yourself. I will be taking saliva tests for cortisol and female hormones tomorrow. Thank God I can send them out on Monday. Other things : 1) I would like to know if anyone knows of a good doctor who understands conventional and holistic care that can help me to slowly get off the Klonopin. I only take 0.25mg twice a day but I am so sensitive to any movement in drugs right now. 2) I would like a doctor's viewpoint/knowledge person on this forum on how Remeron works with the adrenal glands. Could the Remeron be making things worse, better (because I am getting sleep), or is there no difference to the adrenal glands while taking it. 3) If the saliva tests come back with issues with both cortisol levels and female hormonal imbalances, how do I use herbs such Ashwagandha (adrenals) and/or Shatavri (balance female hormones) with Remeron? Or are there other suggestions out there? My biggest concern is adding these new herbs, if needed, while taking Remeron and Klonopin. I know I need my sleep but I also want to be as proactive as possible in finding the best solutions out there. And I have a feeling that there are some veteran people on the forum that could really help me. Thanks, Jennifer

I've been on 50mg Pristiq 4 years, want to wean. I got stressed out after a fainting episode and near-death smoking wakup call, had anxiety attacks, ate xanax for a couple weeks while pristiq kicked in (i quit smoking cold turkey while i was still crazy with anxiety, no ciggies 4 years now yay!) now I want to stop Pristiq - libido and clear vision would be nice. my doctor is getting fired, expressed zero interest in weaning me. found your forum via google search; i'm hoping to find the magic method of getting off this stuff and share the experience.

Hey guys! So I have started my taper off of Lexapro 20 mg, for Panic Disorder and Pure O. When I spoke to my psych she said to just drop from 20 to 10. I of course looked at her like she had lost her mind! I have already quit cold turkey once and after 3-4 months of it, I had a very severe panic attack and went back on. Needless to say, I am doing this the right way now! I started at 18 mg, and have been here for almost 3 months. Of course, it isn't exact, due to it being a pill and a wonky pill cutter. So far, I have felt great. But then I started my period. Of course I was emotional, but that wasn't the problem. I have been having intense intrusive thoughts about dying. Yet, the second these thoughts manifest, I am instantly in a panic. Why? Because ONE- I do not like the thought of death, and TWO- I don't like the thought of harming myself. Of course, my conscious side is like "Hello! you are afraid of dying, classic panic, so calm down you're not going to hurt yourself," And I don't plan it out or think of ways to do it. I just simply think ok, im going to die soon and it may or may not be at my own hands. And it freaks me out. I think it is a combo of my hormones and the weaning. Please tell me this is normal! LOL. I can tell it is just a combo of things going on in my head, because I can usually talk myself down and after a bit of dwelling on it, I forget about it. But again, is this normal? I hate how you can think of one thing, and it spiral into something horrible. Everyone thinks of death and how it may happen, or when, or who will be at your funeral, or who will even notice, things like that. I just take it and run with it and get myself worked up over nothing. Oh to have an "un-medicated" brain again!

Hi Everyone! Long time listener, first time caller etc. I found this site and the *amazingly* helpful advice here almost a year ago when I started making serious first steps into tapering off Effexor. Abridged personal history - Started Effexor for General Anxiety around 21 years ago after a short period of trying Zoloft, Remeron and Buspar. Tried to come off once around 10 years ago after tapering off over four months, but that didn't really work, and life circumstances were not ideal, so I've spent the last ten years working insanely hard to get to a place that I felt confident in along with my Psychologist and Psychiatrist where I could give it another go. So six months ago I found a great compounding pharmacy and started the taper, going down 10 percent each month, which has been going great! It's been going so great though, that I feel I've reached a plateau, and that at the current rate, it could take another three years using this method! So - I was just wondering if anyone here has any anecdotal or personal stories of what might work to potentially accelerate the process, so I can get it closer to a further 6-12 months. What would be a conservative figure to drop down by for this timeframe? Curious to hear how other people approach this Thanks in advance!

Hello! I am currently tapering off of 75mg Effexor XR using the 10% method and holding each dose for 3-4 weeks. I’m coming up on half of the amount of beads in my 75mg. Believe it or not, but my 75mg ranges from 235-290 beads inside each capsule. I have averaged out 8 capsules when I started and the average amount is 266 beads. So I have been using that as my baseline for removing by 10%. Currently, in my tapering schedule I am removing 115 beads in each capsule. I have been removing beads like this: 254-115=139 280-115=165 247-115=132 266-115=151 So the amount of beads I take each day is different. The size difference in beads varies a lot and I make sure there’s a good amount of all sizes of what I’m ingesting. I’m honestly not even sure if I’m doing this correctly and should be counting what I’m taking, rather than what I’m throwing away. (?) What my main question is... Since I average about 266 beads can I switch to 37.5mg capsules once I’m taking on average 133 beads (1/2 of 266) I’d like to hold at 37.5mg through the holidays as I am busiest at work during this time and I will be traveling a lot and don’t want to deal with withdrawals. Is half the amount of beads in a 75mg capsule truly 37.5mg? I don’t put anything past Effexor, and really want to do this safely and effectively. Any input is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

I am under a physician's care for titrating down from Mirtazapine, 7.5 mg per night, and closazepam .5 mg twice per day after abruptly stopping skunk weed use for 6 months. I have only been on the two drugs for 4 weeks. Obviously I will take direction from my doctor on titration. All of the available literature for stopping skunk weed, a strong strain of marijuana, says that it usually takes about 4 weeks to recover. If I would have known I would have dramatic anxiety I would have slowly stopped using the weed, but I did not and had an acute anxiety arise. Looking for input as to how long my taper may need to be off these two drugs, given the fact that I have only been taking them for 4 weeks. I would love to hear from anyone with similar situation, or qualified people that can advise me as what to expect. Thank you.

My question is this: How can I wean myself off of Venlafaxine without getting dizzy/vertigo spells and horrible nightmares? Hello, this is my first time on this site, and I've come for advice, if possible. My doctor recently suggested I change from 150 mg of Venlafaxine(generic Effexor) to Bupropion(HCL SR 150) I decided to wean myself off quickly from the Venlafaxine, (it's been two days) so basically just stopped taking it, and started the other one. I started experiencing intense dizziness and vertigo. I also started having horrible nightmares. I thought it was the Bupropion that was causing it, but now I suspect it was quitting the Venlafaxine cold turkey that caused it, 'cause I took a Venlafaxine today to just see if the vertigo would go away, and within an hour of taking it, the vertigo was gone! My question is this: How can I wean myself off of Venlafaxine without getting dizzy/vertigo spells and horrible nightmares?

As I write this, I have just retired from my work as a librarian after 16 years. I have been taking Paxil for the same time frame. After reading a recent study linking Paxil to dementia, I determined this was not the drug for me. My mother was one of 6 siblings - she died before dementia set in, but all 5 of her siblings were diagnosed with it, and her one remaining sibling - her twin sister - is in a dementia ward currently. So, with the drug linked to dementia and a likely genetic predisposition, I determined I no longer wanted to use paxil. I should point out that it appears the paxil was working for my anxiety, but I think that is kind of irrelevant now. I began weaning myself off of paxil a few months ago. This was not really intentional. But, I was taking 60 mg per day, which was 1 1/2 tablets. I just got tired of cutting the pills in half, so dropped down to one, which was 40 mg. This appeared over time to have very little effect on the impact of taking the drug, so I let the lower dosage stand. Over the last couple of months, I determined I would try reducing it even further. I dropped to 30 mg for a couple of weeks, 20 mg for a couple of months, and 10 for a couple of months. I stopped taking it completely around June 1, 2016. I retired from work on June 10, 2016. Since about June 13 I have been really experiencing a lot of withdrawal symptoms, or what I believe are withdrawal symptoms - headache, rage episodes, head zapping, constipation, nausea, etc. My doctor is not comfortable the symptoms I am experiencing are from the paxil, but we have tested for other conditions and nothing has turned up. I may have weaned too quickly, or I am experiencing what it is like to no longer take the drug with my anxiety and depression returning. I am hoping to find some answers with this group on Surviving Antidepressants.

I'm in the process of weaning off of Cymbalta. I started on Citalopram for depression, but was switched to Cymbalta following shoulder reconstruction surgery as it is apparently good for both depression and pain management. I started at 30 mg, increasing to 60, then finally 90 as a maintenance dose. Now I've started weaning off. I went from 90 to sixty, and stayed on sixty for 3 months, now I'm moving down to 30 (today is first day at 30) without much in the way of side effects, other than a little bit of dizziness. My concern is how to get from 30 to zero. I am also on Lorazepam for a gerneralize anxiety disorder, and I do find that taking it it helps to reduce the Cymbalta side effects. As well, I take Melatonin at night to ensure a restful and easy sleep. Any help or suggestions would be great and much appreciated. Cheers Duncan

Hi, I'm new here. I took lexapro for 10 months and decided (with GP help) to switch to pristiq because I was always tired and wanted to get energy back. I tapered off lexapro 20mg quickly (<1 week) because I was impatient. Now on pristiq was good for 3 days now hell. Nauseous within 30 mins of taking it, often vomiting, spinning head, it wears off about 4 hours too quickly and I feel like I get withdrawals (nausea, headache, head spinning, panic, paranoia, horrible visual images, nightmares. Have had to have 3 days off work. I want to stop pristiq. I've only been on it 2 weeks, 50mg daily. My doc doesn't believe my symptoms, thinks I've got a virus. After only 2 weeks any ideas on how to taper? Should I transition back to lexapro? If so how? Thanks

hey everyone. so i'm in need of help. lets start from January 2014. I started Prozac 20 mg. I stayed on this until the end of June 2014, taking 1 a day. Then i switched to Celexa 20 mg once a day. I've been taking this and still am on this dosage. As you can see I've been on an antidepressant for 9 months straight with no breaks. With Celexa I've been having weird drug interactions. If I take benadryl I start feeling tingly and feel like I'm on fire. So i stopped taking benadryl. I"m also prescribed adderall 10 mg as needed. If i take adderall I start feeling like im on fire as well. So i stopped taking adderall. Then a couple days ago i went to walmart and bought some whey protein pre-workout mix because i'm trying to lose the weight celexa has inevitably put on. I drank the preworkout shake for the first time... and I started feeling like i was on fire... like i couldn't breath. It seems like everything triggers an interaction. I want to GET OFF antidepressants. I missed a dose of celexa and the next morning i woke up at 6 a.m. with tingling and weird temperature highs and lows, cold sweats and I was in so much physical pain that i was in tears, my head was killing me and i didnt feel normal. I felt zoned out, felt like i had the flu and felt scarily lethargic. The tingling and temperature highs and lows also existed. My eyes would dilate when i would get hot for some reason and then the feeling would go away... then come back. i went to the doctor because i just felt so out of place. i ended up taking my celexa and still felt sick and weary. my blood pressure was fine. my temp was normal. but i was so hot i went to take a bath and the coldest water felt warm to me... scary. and so the doctor said that i needed to wean off the celexa. he said to just stop taking it because i'd only been on it for 3 months. but keep in mind i was on prozac then switched to celexa. a total of 9 months of ssri use. i asked him what if i started withdrawing to which he replied to taper off the celexa. he wants me to cut my dosage in half today. i'm so tired of the side effects of celexa but the withdrawal is real. its making me allergic to everything! and i never knew how hard it would be to get off of until i experienced such terrible withdrawals. any comments or advice would be appreciated greatly. thank you for reading.

Hey guys! So I've been meaning to see this guy around the corner from me. He's a psychologist who worked in pharmaceuticals for a part of his career and couldn't take what he saw and now is a certified nutritionist, counselor and owns a natural health store where he takes patients, and puts them on tapering plans and monitors their new plan of supplements, etc. I made an appointment with him (not telling my husband). Most around me have either been on meds, think taking anti depressants 'work great' and don't understand that these meds are just not for me and i'm trying to find my way safely off of them. I even have a friend who says 'i'm just never going off Cymbalta so I don't have to worry about withdrawals' - and a cousin who's been on prozac for 6 years who says 'i can't cry and i have insomnia but i'm cranky without prozac' - So these are the people i'm surrounded by. My gut, my heart and soul are telling me to get off of these now matter how low I'll get, I'll get out of it through exercise, nutrients, etc. So here's this guy. (of course he's heard of Dr Peter Breggin) http://www.earthfoods.us/page1 His name is Dr. Pappas. I've talked to him before in the store but I made an actual one on one appointment with him. If you can help me come up with questions for him maybe or things to look out for I will. Thanks so much!