Moderator Emeritus apace41 Posted November 4, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted November 4, 2016 I wanted to post this in a place where people would see it so I chose here (everyone is looking for success stories). This is an interview between Dr. Kelly Brogan and one of her patients who recovered after 25 years of being polydrugged. It is a success story for sure. http://kellybroganmd.com/rose-recovery-from-depression-after-25-years-of-psychiatric-medication/ Best, Andy Sertraline 50mg and Clonazapam .375mg from 2000 -- symptoms of dizziness Spring 2012 increased to .5 Clonazapam and 100mg Sertraline -- no improvement Benzo microtaper from November 2012 to November 2014 (followed benzo sites "taper benzo first") Started Sertraline taper in December 2014 cut by 25mg to 75mg; 62.5mg 1/1/15 and 50mg on 2/1/15 Held at 50mg through April 5 to use liquid Reduced dosage in 10% or less drops from 50mg to 25mg -- at single tablet of 25mg on 10/5/15 Transitioned to all liquid for accuracy while tapering -- Horrible insomnia -- back to 25mg liquid and held until October 1, 2016 10/16 -- 11/18 tapered very slowly to 10.6mg. No real improvement and never really stable so updosed to 12.5mg (1/2 a pill) for convenience and long hold. After 8+ months of holding with no noticeable improvement decided to add .4ml of liquid Prozac (about 1.5mg) to see if that improves the situation Supplements, Magnesium, D3, Omega 3, curcumin, Valerian, 81mg Aspirin, L-Theanine, Vit. C, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyK Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Yes, I saw that! It's absolutely amazing. Current dose: 0! Free! Quit June 2017. 2017: Last dose zoloft: 17 June 0,00065 mg 18 May 0, 001 mg 14 May 0,002 mg 9 May 0,003 mg 28 April 0,006 mg 19 April 0,009 mg 8 April 0,013 mg 25 March 0,019 mg 22 March 0,039 mg 18 March 0,052 mg 16 March 0,079 mg 4 March 0,086 1 March 0,099 mg 22 February 0,11 mg 15 February 0,13 mg 6 February 0,145 mg 24 January 0,15 mg 19 January 0,19 mg 10 January 0,20 mg 3 January 2016: 0,98 to 0,22 mg; 2015: 2,35 to 1,01 mg; 2014: 4,9 to 2,5 mg; 2013: 9,1 to 5,1 mg; 2012: 15,7 to 9,7 mg; 2011: Started on 25 mg - then 50 mg- dropped to 25- to 12.5 mg - back to 25 mg - after 18.75 mg started tiny tapering to 16.6 mg Started on 25 mg Zoloft in March 2011 due to stressrelated tinnitus that gave me panicattacks. Had a terrible reaction to Zoloft from start, but was told to "hold on". After four months I was stuck. Therefore the long taper. Crazy, I know... Super sensitive to drops and have dropped by 4-6 % from the previous dose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reachingforthestars Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Thank you for sharing this link aspace41 I wish I knew more details how she tapered. Citalopram 40mg from 2003-2015 Jan 2015 started tapering first dropped to 35mg, Feb 30mg, March 25mg, April 20mg, May 17,5mg, June 15mg, July 12,5mg, Aug 12,5mg, Sep 0mg for 5 days because of stomac flu and after I raised to 7,5mg. All the symptoms of acute WD shaking, diarrhea, vomiting, barely could walk ect. Still didn't realize that it wasn't only stomac flu but I was also going through WD. Oct 2,5mg and crashed again badly and quickly raised to 4mg. It was then when I knew my symptoms were due to WD. Then in November after a month holding on 4mg raised to 5mg due to muscle weakness and had a VERY BAD reaction to reinstatement: akathisia(lasted for one or two weeks), insomnia, anhedonia... Drop quicly back to 4mg, Dec 3mg Jan 2016 2,6mg( in the middle of Jan after I had been on 2,6mg for a week I tried to updose to 2,8mg and immediately had bad reaction to it: akathisia for a day, andehonia got worse. The next day dropped back to 2,6mg), Feb 2,4mg( a new symptom PGAD lasted 24/7 for 2 months after that on and off), March 2,4mg, April 2,3mg, May 2,2mg, June 2,1mg, July 2,0mg( Pgad almost nonexisting, sleeping pretty good, still some anhedonia but there has been a lot of gradual progress), Aug 1,97mg-1,89mg, Sep 1,88mg-1,49mg, Oct 1,48mg- 1,70mg, Nov 0,65mg- current dose 0,5mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyK Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 Me too. It seemed relatively quick? Four drugs. Current dose: 0! Free! Quit June 2017. 2017: Last dose zoloft: 17 June 0,00065 mg 18 May 0, 001 mg 14 May 0,002 mg 9 May 0,003 mg 28 April 0,006 mg 19 April 0,009 mg 8 April 0,013 mg 25 March 0,019 mg 22 March 0,039 mg 18 March 0,052 mg 16 March 0,079 mg 4 March 0,086 1 March 0,099 mg 22 February 0,11 mg 15 February 0,13 mg 6 February 0,145 mg 24 January 0,15 mg 19 January 0,19 mg 10 January 0,20 mg 3 January 2016: 0,98 to 0,22 mg; 2015: 2,35 to 1,01 mg; 2014: 4,9 to 2,5 mg; 2013: 9,1 to 5,1 mg; 2012: 15,7 to 9,7 mg; 2011: Started on 25 mg - then 50 mg- dropped to 25- to 12.5 mg - back to 25 mg - after 18.75 mg started tiny tapering to 16.6 mg Started on 25 mg Zoloft in March 2011 due to stressrelated tinnitus that gave me panicattacks. Had a terrible reaction to Zoloft from start, but was told to "hold on". After four months I was stuck. Therefore the long taper. Crazy, I know... Super sensitive to drops and have dropped by 4-6 % from the previous dose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus apace41 Posted November 4, 2016 Author Moderator Emeritus Share Posted November 4, 2016 Agreed. I didn't post it for the specifics -- just for the result and the fact that someone who was bedbound for 14 months is now doing so well. Details would be great of course. I will see what I can find out. Best, Andy 1 Sertraline 50mg and Clonazapam .375mg from 2000 -- symptoms of dizziness Spring 2012 increased to .5 Clonazapam and 100mg Sertraline -- no improvement Benzo microtaper from November 2012 to November 2014 (followed benzo sites "taper benzo first") Started Sertraline taper in December 2014 cut by 25mg to 75mg; 62.5mg 1/1/15 and 50mg on 2/1/15 Held at 50mg through April 5 to use liquid Reduced dosage in 10% or less drops from 50mg to 25mg -- at single tablet of 25mg on 10/5/15 Transitioned to all liquid for accuracy while tapering -- Horrible insomnia -- back to 25mg liquid and held until October 1, 2016 10/16 -- 11/18 tapered very slowly to 10.6mg. No real improvement and never really stable so updosed to 12.5mg (1/2 a pill) for convenience and long hold. After 8+ months of holding with no noticeable improvement decided to add .4ml of liquid Prozac (about 1.5mg) to see if that improves the situation Supplements, Magnesium, D3, Omega 3, curcumin, Valerian, 81mg Aspirin, L-Theanine, Vit. C, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AmyK Posted November 4, 2016 Share Posted November 4, 2016 It still is very inspiring. Current dose: 0! Free! Quit June 2017. 2017: Last dose zoloft: 17 June 0,00065 mg 18 May 0, 001 mg 14 May 0,002 mg 9 May 0,003 mg 28 April 0,006 mg 19 April 0,009 mg 8 April 0,013 mg 25 March 0,019 mg 22 March 0,039 mg 18 March 0,052 mg 16 March 0,079 mg 4 March 0,086 1 March 0,099 mg 22 February 0,11 mg 15 February 0,13 mg 6 February 0,145 mg 24 January 0,15 mg 19 January 0,19 mg 10 January 0,20 mg 3 January 2016: 0,98 to 0,22 mg; 2015: 2,35 to 1,01 mg; 2014: 4,9 to 2,5 mg; 2013: 9,1 to 5,1 mg; 2012: 15,7 to 9,7 mg; 2011: Started on 25 mg - then 50 mg- dropped to 25- to 12.5 mg - back to 25 mg - after 18.75 mg started tiny tapering to 16.6 mg Started on 25 mg Zoloft in March 2011 due to stressrelated tinnitus that gave me panicattacks. Had a terrible reaction to Zoloft from start, but was told to "hold on". After four months I was stuck. Therefore the long taper. Crazy, I know... Super sensitive to drops and have dropped by 4-6 % from the previous dose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus scallywag Posted November 4, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted November 4, 2016 Great video, thanks for posting it Andy. If I had two wishes for it Taper specifics as reachingFTS and Amy have mentioned, Audio editing to remove the ambient noise. </end of cranky, finicky listening> This is not medical advice. Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical practitioner.1997-1999 Effexor; 2002-2005 Effexor XR 37.5 mg linear taper, dropping same #beads/week with bad results Cymbalta 60 mg 2012 - 2015; 2016: 20 mg to 7 mg exact doses and dates in this post; 2017: 6.3 mg to 0.0 mg Aug. 12; details here scallywag's IntroductionOnline spreadsheet for dose taper calculations and nz11's THE WORKS spreadsheet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator Altostrata Posted November 4, 2016 Administrator Share Posted November 4, 2016 .... Rose: The shock that it was just as horribly painful as coming off of any other street drug or alcohol or any drug that is deemed a bad, horribly addictive drug. Coming off of two anti-depressants and anti-anxiety (which I was only on a tiny bit of anti-anxiety for a few years at the end) was, I would have to say, 100 times worse than coming off of street drugs. Dr. Brogan: It’s shocking. So you spent quite some time really struggling with disability around this taper process, right? Rose: Yes. I basically was in bed for about 70% of the time for the first 15 months. That’s a lot. I would have little periods where I felt good enough to go outside, go for a hike. And let me tell you, whatever I could do, I […] I’m like, “I’m going out into the woods and going for a walk” or “I’m going to go lay in the sun” or whatever. I needed to feel life. Dr. Brogan: Yes. So there’s something that sustained you through a period of time where many people would consider giving up all hope, wondering how long this could last, “Am I permanently damaged? Is it possible for me to ever feel stable and vital again?” So, something sustained you. What would you say that was? Rose: I think I just hoped. I had a lot of hope. Even while I was medicated, I think that I always tried things. I just had hope that I wasn’t going to feel like this forever. I think I remembered something from when I was a kid, maybe a few weeks where I felt good. I grabbed on to that and I was like, “I could feel like that again.” I think I’ve always been a dreamer. I think I would have this fantasy that I can dream that dream again. And just that, just that little tiny thing was enough for me to say, “There is no going back. I don’t care how crappy I feel. I am not going to take any pharmaceutical to make me feel better.” And I was offered all kinds of stuff, Lyrica, whatever, Gabapentin, blah-blah-blah. I’m like, “There’s no way.” Dr. Brogan: So you committed. Rose: I was totally committed. And I had faith that it was going to get better. I mean it was going to pass. Even though I was doing this all by myself— I haven’t met you yet. I didn’t have forums. I did not enter any group forums or anything. The only time I would look anything up is if a symptom was lasting too long. I would just quickly check the forums to make sure something terribly wasn’t wrong. Do I need to go to see a doctor or something? Am I dying? And I would see that okay, this is fine and I would just go off the forums because the forums bring me anxiety. They perpetuate it by fear and I try not to look at them. It was too much. I tried to distract myself from the sickness. So I threw myself into my […] .... 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marsha Posted November 7, 2016 Share Posted November 7, 2016 I don't know. I have lived in a perpetual state of trauma since I can remember save maybe 10 years of my life. Sexual abuse, physical, mental, emotional abuse, rape, and then the drugging 22 years so far. My mind and body don't work so good any more. I don't think I have that much longer to live. This is a fact I must face and accept. Hoping for the best though. If I survive, I will have one whopper of a success story. If I have spoken inappropriately I apologize and understand if my post is removed. I am not a medical professional. My comments and posts are based on personal experiences. Please consult appropriate medical professionals for advice. I was started on psych drugs back in the late 80's. You name it. I probably was on it. 47 different drugs. Over 57 thousand pills. Tapered off final cocktail February 1st, 2013- September 9th, 2019. For Hashimotos I take Levothyroxine. Liothyronine. BP meds. For supplements I take B12 hydroxy. Fish oil w/D3. Bee pollen. Magnesium Glycinate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
injuredman Posted November 29, 2016 Share Posted November 29, 2016 Marsha, Perhaps we can offer some hope to each other. Abilify and Trazadone (Dropped from 15 mg to 3.75 mg, 50-200 mg, respectively for 10 years prior), Ambien, Lunesta, Sonata, etc (sleep meds, et. al.) Celexa, Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil,( and other anti-depressants interspersed though out this) Zyprexa (5-10 mg, for 10 years prior to that) Navane (5-10 mg, for 6 years) Halidol, Cogentin, Ativan (5 then 10 mgs) (9 months total at least) Stelizine, Thorizine (3 days) Total about 29 years (Many more I'm sure I don't recall, of course, all doped up, now hopefully 'reovering') Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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