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Helping others through their journey


SquirrellyGirl

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Hi All, 

 

Maybe some of you have been to patient.info (I believe a UK site) and know of this site, but I'd like to make those who don't know it aware of it.  Perhaps there are lots of sites like this.  If you feel the urge to help others, you might visit this site and look up the drug you came off of.  Under that drug, there will be posts from people, whether they are asking questions about side effects or are trying to get off.  Sadly, the ones that are trying to get off are usually attempting too fast tapers, and could use guidance from knowledgeable folks.  The site will hold and moderate posts that have the link to this site, but usually they will be allowed.  I have tried to refer people here many times, hopefully successfully. 

 

There are so many poor souls out there struggling to get off.  If you have the time and inclination, this is one place to go :-)

 

SG

Started ADs back around 1995 after bad break-up, starting with Prozac.  Switched to Wellbutrin, and then to Effexor in 2002
Effexor XR 2002-2014 up to 225 mg at one point, down to 37.5 mg towards end but back up to 75 mg in 2014; now realize I had W/D as I dropped down, memory very poor about history.  Extreme emotions, poor concentration as I stepped back down, didn't connect the dots!
Summer 2014 reduced to 0 very quickly, was sick of anhedonia/sexual dysfunction due to meds, depression never controlled if not worse. Didn't recognize WD since symptoms built slowly (thought I had ADD! and menopausal on top of it), starting with severe sweats, very bad cog-fog and memory issues, culminating in weight loss, severe anxiety and depression, panic, severe apathy and insomnia by eight months off.  Saw p-doc who put me on Remeron, increased from 7.5 mg/day to 37.5 mg by May 22, 2015; still doing very badly though able to sleep.

June 1. 2015 Reinstated Effexor XR 37.5 mg, Remeron dropped to 30 mg PM. Immediate relief of symptoms, like nothing had ever happened!  Joined SA and began on advice of friend who recognized it was WD all along! Began tapering in July 2015.

Been tapering both meds ever since, focusing on one more than the other or doing no more than 5% of each per month.

12 mg Effexor and 5.8 mg Remeron (mirtazapine SolTabs to make a solution with OraPlus) as of 5/4/2017 

Update 3/14/18: 2.9 mg Remeron and 6 mg Effexor; 6/10/18:  2.6 mg Remeron and 4.9 mg Effexor

 

My intro: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/9313-squirrellygirl-effexor-withdrawal-etc/page-2#entry196679

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

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That is so true, SG, on just about every health-related site, you can find posts by people who need better information about how to go off psychiatric drugs. Thank you for posting this.

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

"It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has surpassed our humanity." -- Albert Einstein

All postings © copyrighted.

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So true seconded ...and its not online ...the community in which we live or i live is in the midst of a catastrophic epidemic in this area.

Im sure i am not alone in saying i seem to be a story magnet...probably because i have two little antennas ones called Blinkin and the other is called stupid or BS for short. And what most people seem to be oblivious too i pick up on and comment.

 

This is what i encountered in the last month ...in my local community..

A woman diagnosed as adult adhd and put on citalopram doc promised she would only need to take it for one month ...this month is her 3rd month and she is still on it. She managed to get to 30 drug free with adhd so why drug now??

 

2. Man cold turkeyd his citalopram and father rescued him from a failed suicide by hanging attempt

 

3. Another man put on paroxetine and a benzo after 6 months doc tapered the ad by skipping doses patient became suicidal and put back on and was clueless as too the reason  was convinced it was because he had developed a mental illness it has taken many hours of communication to try to move him off this doctor induced paradigm. he didnt want to take the drug but doc said dont worry one in three are taking it so you are not alone....thats sick!!

 

Actually doing some of my own research i stumbled upon some NZ stats ...i thought the doc was clearly exaggerating but i found that 1 in 3 people in NZ who are getting a sickness benefit are getting it for the reason of 'psychological and psychiatric disability' the correlation is a perfect fit.

 

3.A woman put on prozac because she had a headache.

 

4.A person on effexor is now going through what i believe is poopout ...im watching this space..is not interested in info believes he has a mental illness ..has already been given ect twice...to remove previous wdl symptoms from obscene tapers from doc.then put back on at double the dose.

 

5.A man talked into going to doc by his wife and getting a little something is now on an ssri ...and been on for about 1 year to date ...i think.... i need to find out more info

 

I have learnt to tread carefully because "what do you know you are not a doctor".

 

I despair at times ..with what i am seeing or stumble upon weekly...

Thought for the day: Lets stand up, and let’s speak out , together. G Olsen

We have until the 14th. Feb 2018. 

URGENT REQUEST Please consider submitting  for the petition on Prescribed Drug Dependence and Withdrawal currently awaiting its third consideration at the Scottish Parliament. You don't even have to be from Scotland. By clicking on the link below you can read some of the previous submissions but be warned many of them are quite harrowing.

http://www.parliament.scot/GettingInvolved/Petitions/PE01651   

Please tell them about your problems taking and withdrawing from antidepressants and/or benzos.

Send by email to petitions@parliament.scot and quote PE01651 in the subject heading. Keep to a maximum of 3 sides of A4 and you can't name for legal reasons any doctor you have consulted. Tell them if you wish to remain anonymous. We need the numbers to help convince the committee members we are not isolated cases. You have until mid February. Thank you

Recovering paxil addict

None of the published articles shed light on what ssri's ... actually do or what their hazards might be. Healy 2013. 

This is so true, with anything you get on these drugs, dependance, tapering, withdrawal symptoms, side effects, just silent. And if there is something mentioned then their is a serious disconnect between what is said and reality! 

  "Every time I read of a multi-person shooting, I always presume that person had just started a SSRI or had just stopped."  Dr Mosher. Me too! 

Over two decades later, the number of antidepressant prescriptions a year is slightly more than the number of people in the Western world. Most (nine out of 10) prescriptions are for patients who faced difficulties on stopping, equating to about a tenth of the population. These patients are often advised to continue treatment because their difficulties indicate they need ongoing treatment, just as a person with diabetes needs insulin. Healy 2015

I believe the ssri era will soon stand as one of the most shameful in the history of medicine. Healy 2015

Let people help people ... in a natural, kind, non-addictive (and non-big pharma) way. J Broadley 2017

 

 

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It is only going to get worse with the move to integrate mental health care in the PCP's office.

 

http://www.madinamerica.com/2015/10/integration-of-physical-and-mental-health/

Drug cocktail 1995 - 2010
Started taper of Adderall, Wellbutrin XL, Remeron, and Doxepin in 2006
Finished taper on June 10, 2010

Temazepam on a PRN basis approximately twice a month - 2014 to 2016

Beginning in 2017 - Consumption increased to about two times per week

April 2017 - Increased to taking it full time for insomnia

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Wow, nz11, that is some wild stuff!  What I like on the patient.info site is that people are asking for help to come off Effexor and Remeron, and so at least they are receptive to help.  I try to stay clear of the questions about med side effects and only offer up help on tapering and alerting people to the pitfalls of doctor-induced fast tapers, that it isn't a relapse of their illness as the docs would have you believe, and to be ready for it. 

 

Given I have been in a drug-induced, numbed-out haze for most of my adult life, I haven't felt too passionate about anything, but this issue is raising my ire!

Started ADs back around 1995 after bad break-up, starting with Prozac.  Switched to Wellbutrin, and then to Effexor in 2002
Effexor XR 2002-2014 up to 225 mg at one point, down to 37.5 mg towards end but back up to 75 mg in 2014; now realize I had W/D as I dropped down, memory very poor about history.  Extreme emotions, poor concentration as I stepped back down, didn't connect the dots!
Summer 2014 reduced to 0 very quickly, was sick of anhedonia/sexual dysfunction due to meds, depression never controlled if not worse. Didn't recognize WD since symptoms built slowly (thought I had ADD! and menopausal on top of it), starting with severe sweats, very bad cog-fog and memory issues, culminating in weight loss, severe anxiety and depression, panic, severe apathy and insomnia by eight months off.  Saw p-doc who put me on Remeron, increased from 7.5 mg/day to 37.5 mg by May 22, 2015; still doing very badly though able to sleep.

June 1. 2015 Reinstated Effexor XR 37.5 mg, Remeron dropped to 30 mg PM. Immediate relief of symptoms, like nothing had ever happened!  Joined SA and began on advice of friend who recognized it was WD all along! Began tapering in July 2015.

Been tapering both meds ever since, focusing on one more than the other or doing no more than 5% of each per month.

12 mg Effexor and 5.8 mg Remeron (mirtazapine SolTabs to make a solution with OraPlus) as of 5/4/2017 

Update 3/14/18: 2.9 mg Remeron and 6 mg Effexor; 6/10/18:  2.6 mg Remeron and 4.9 mg Effexor

 

My intro: http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/9313-squirrellygirl-effexor-withdrawal-etc/page-2#entry196679

This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.

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