Jump to content
SurvivingAntidepressants.org is temporarily closed to new registrations until 1 April ×

Suggestions for this site


Altostrata

Recommended Posts

  • Administrator

Changed the name of the forum to Symptoms and self-care. This seems to better reflect the content and intent.

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

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Replies 84
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Altostrata

    35

  • Barbarannamated

    8

  • ChessieCat

    6

  • stan

    5

Top Posters In This Topic

What do you think of gathering info on Thyroid Testing in one area? There is a great deal of discrepancy especially different reference ranges for TSH, the value most often used for initial screening. It would be good to have one thread to reference up to date info. Most endocrinologists want TSH To be around 1-3 but Reference Ranges still show normal up to 5-6, very HYPOthyroid.

Pristiq tapered over 8 months ending Spring 2011 after 18 years of polydrugging that began w/Zoloft for fatigue/general malaise (not mood). CURRENT: 1mg Klonopin qhs (SSRI bruxism), 75mg trazodone qhs, various hormonesLitigation for 11 years for Work-related injury, settled 2004. Involuntary medical retirement in 2001 (age 39). 2012 - brain MRI showing diffuse, chronic cerebrovascular damage/demyelination possibly vasculitis/cerebritis. Dx w/autoimmune polyendocrine failure.<p>2013 - Dx w/CNS Sjogren's Lupus (FANA antibodies first appeared in 1997 but missed by doc).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

Much of it is collected here: Thyroid symptoms in the Symptoms and Self-care forum.

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

I just tried to search for SAM-E and sam-e and came up with nothing. Are there some tips that would make searching easier. Sometimes I get really helpful results, in other cases, nada and am at a loss as to what I'm doing wrong.

 

Schuyler

 

One link below. For some reason, does not come up when I search "SAM-e". There have been a few occasions when I got notice that there were not enough characters in search term (3 minimum, I believe) although I didnt get thst error message with this.

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/606-important-topics-about-tests-supplements-herbs-treatments/page__pid__21158#entry21158

Pristiq tapered over 8 months ending Spring 2011 after 18 years of polydrugging that began w/Zoloft for fatigue/general malaise (not mood). CURRENT: 1mg Klonopin qhs (SSRI bruxism), 75mg trazodone qhs, various hormonesLitigation for 11 years for Work-related injury, settled 2004. Involuntary medical retirement in 2001 (age 39). 2012 - brain MRI showing diffuse, chronic cerebrovascular damage/demyelination possibly vasculitis/cerebritis. Dx w/autoimmune polyendocrine failure.<p>2013 - Dx w/CNS Sjogren's Lupus (FANA antibodies first appeared in 1997 but missed by doc).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator Emeritus

 

I just tried to search for SAM-E and sam-e and came up with nothing. Are there some tips that would make searching easier. Sometimes I get really helpful results, in other cases, nada and am at a loss as to what I'm doing wrong.

 

Schuyler,

 

Here's one.

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/606-important-topics-about-tests-supplements-herbs-treatments/page__pid__21158#entry21158

 

That is exactly what I did, and came up with ZERO. Grrrr Thanks for checking though.

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

I just tried to search for SAM-E and sam-e and came up with nothing. Are there some tips that would make searching easier. Sometimes I get really helpful results, in other cases, nada and am at a loss as to what I'm doing wrong.

 

Here's one.

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/606-important-topics-about-tests-supplements-herbs-treatments/page__pid__21158#entry21158

 

That is exactly what I did, and came up with ZERO. Grrrr Thanks for checking though.

 

Schuyler,

 

Edited above post.

 

I found this by going into Symptoms area, NOT by using search tool. Sorry for the confusion!

 

Just as test, I searched on "5-HTP" and came up with nothing.

Pristiq tapered over 8 months ending Spring 2011 after 18 years of polydrugging that began w/Zoloft for fatigue/general malaise (not mood). CURRENT: 1mg Klonopin qhs (SSRI bruxism), 75mg trazodone qhs, various hormonesLitigation for 11 years for Work-related injury, settled 2004. Involuntary medical retirement in 2001 (age 39). 2012 - brain MRI showing diffuse, chronic cerebrovascular damage/demyelination possibly vasculitis/cerebritis. Dx w/autoimmune polyendocrine failure.<p>2013 - Dx w/CNS Sjogren's Lupus (FANA antibodies first appeared in 1997 but missed by doc).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator Emeritus

 

I found this by going into Symptoms area, NOT by using search tool. Sorry for the confusion!

 

Thanks Barb. I'm a terrible scanner, visually speaking. So of course when I went thru the symptoms threads, I missed this.. as per usual. What I'm looking for is a way to find this information with the search tool as opposed to manually 'hunting and pecking'. Is this just a limitation of the site?, and if so, how to know when it's a limitation as opposed to when there is actually no information. Hmmm, but I would have found something by switching to Google. Will try this.. SAM-E and survivingantidepressants.

 

Thanks for your time!

 

Edit.. sure enough. I got hits when using Google to search the site.. Hmmmm

As always, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! A proud supporter of the 10% (or slower) rule.

 

Requip - 3/16 ZERO  Total time on 25 years.

 

Lyrica: 8/15 ZERO Total time on 7 or 8 yrs.

BENZO FREE 10/13 (started tapering 7/10)  Total time on 25 years.

 

Read my intro thread here, and check the about me section.  "No matter how cynical you get, it's almost impossible to keep up." Lily Tomlin

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

Unfortunately, the search system does not recognize 3-letter words or acronyms. This is a common flaw in search systems bundled with forum software. I can't fix it.

 

You'd be able to find SAM-e or 5-HTP by looking for their compound names: S-Adenosyl methionine or 5-hydroxytryptophan.

 

I try to provide synonyms so these kinds of things can be found in site search.

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

  • 6 months later...
  • Moderator Emeritus

Could we have a good news forum. We have a recovery forum but that's for people who are off completely and symptom free. I'm thinking of one where people are seeing positive change in themselves

 

People post good news in their intros but this might get missed. I would envisage people posting good news in their intro and the good news forum I think a good news gives some hope and people often say they like reading them.

 

Others thoughts?

Please note - I am not a medical practitioner and I do not give medical advice. I offer an opinion based on my own experiences, reading and discussion with others.On Effexor for 2 months at the start of 2005. Had extreme insomnia as an adverse reaction. Changed to mirtazapine. Have been trying to get off since mid 2008 with numerous failures including CTs and slow (but not slow enough tapers)Have slow tapered at 10 per cent or less for years. I have liquid mirtazapine made at a compounding chemist.

Was on 1.6 ml as at 19 March 2014.

Dropped to 1.5 ml 7 June 2014. Dropped to 1.4 in about September.

Dropped to 1.3 on 20 December 2014. Dropped to 1.2 in mid Jan 2015.

Dropped to 1 ml in late Feb 2015. I think my old medication had run out of puff so I tried 1ml when I got the new stuff and it seems to be going ok. Sleep has been good over the last week (as of 13/3/15).

Dropped to 1/2 ml 14/11/15 Fatigue still there as are memory and cognition problems. Sleep is patchy but liveable compared to what it has been in the past.

 

DRUG FREE - as at 1st May 2017

 

>My intro post is here - http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2250-dalsaan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator Emeritus

i think that's a great idea dalsaan -

Started in 2000 - On 150mg most of the time, (but up to 225mg at highest dose for 6 months in the beginning)
Reduced off easily first time - but got depressed (not too much anxiety) 6 months later
Back on effexor for another 9 months.
Reduced off again with no immediate w/d - suddenly got depressed and anxious ++ again 3 or 4 months later.
Back on effexor - this time for 3 years
Reduced off over a month - 6 weeks later terrible anxiety - back on.
Rinse and repeat 4 more times - each time the period before the anxiety comes back got shorter and shorter
Jan - July 2012 75mg down to 37.5mg;, 8/3/12 - 35mg. 8/25/12 - 32mg. 9/11- 28mg, 10/2 - 25mg, 10/29 - 22mg, 11/19 - 19.8mg; 12/11 - 17m,
1/1- 15.5mg; 1/22 -14mg, 2/7 14.9mg, 2/18 - 17.8mg - crashed big time: back to 75mg where i sat for 2 years....

4th  March 2015 - 67.5mg;   31st March - 60mg;  24th April - 53mg; 13th May - 48mg; 26th May - 45mg;  9th June - 41mg; 1 July- 37.5mg; 20 July - 34mg; 11 August - 31mg; 1st Sept - 28mg;  1st Dec - 25.8mg;  28th Dec - 23.2mg; 23rd Jan-21.9mg; Feb 7th- 21mg; March 1st - 20.1mg, March 30th - 18mg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Excellent ideas, Dalsaan. "The Good News Channel". :).

Pristiq tapered over 8 months ending Spring 2011 after 18 years of polydrugging that began w/Zoloft for fatigue/general malaise (not mood). CURRENT: 1mg Klonopin qhs (SSRI bruxism), 75mg trazodone qhs, various hormonesLitigation for 11 years for Work-related injury, settled 2004. Involuntary medical retirement in 2001 (age 39). 2012 - brain MRI showing diffuse, chronic cerebrovascular damage/demyelination possibly vasculitis/cerebritis. Dx w/autoimmune polyendocrine failure.<p>2013 - Dx w/CNS Sjogren's Lupus (FANA antibodies first appeared in 1997 but missed by doc).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

I do like that idea. Thank you, dalsaan.

 

Problem is, people will get confused about where to post their progress. The Intro topics are important not only to provide support for their authors but to track progress over time. Doctors need this information to understand how to recognize and treat withdrawal symptoms.

 

The forum medium has its drawbacks, information getting scattered easily is one of them.

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

  • Moderator Emeritus

fair enough, those are both very important functions of the intro topics and I can see the risks that it will go all over the shop

 

Dalsaan

Please note - I am not a medical practitioner and I do not give medical advice. I offer an opinion based on my own experiences, reading and discussion with others.On Effexor for 2 months at the start of 2005. Had extreme insomnia as an adverse reaction. Changed to mirtazapine. Have been trying to get off since mid 2008 with numerous failures including CTs and slow (but not slow enough tapers)Have slow tapered at 10 per cent or less for years. I have liquid mirtazapine made at a compounding chemist.

Was on 1.6 ml as at 19 March 2014.

Dropped to 1.5 ml 7 June 2014. Dropped to 1.4 in about September.

Dropped to 1.3 on 20 December 2014. Dropped to 1.2 in mid Jan 2015.

Dropped to 1 ml in late Feb 2015. I think my old medication had run out of puff so I tried 1ml when I got the new stuff and it seems to be going ok. Sleep has been good over the last week (as of 13/3/15).

Dropped to 1/2 ml 14/11/15 Fatigue still there as are memory and cognition problems. Sleep is patchy but liveable compared to what it has been in the past.

 

DRUG FREE - as at 1st May 2017

 

>My intro post is here - http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2250-dalsaan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Altostrata ,

 

I've been noticing something with new people lately.    Some join , write an introduction , and don't return to see the responses.    I've emailed a few advising

that they have responses , and how to "Follow the Topic" to receive email notifications.   And they come back.

 

I'm wondering if it's possible to make that happen automatically , so anyone who starts a topic receives emails whenever someone posts on it.

If they don't want to get emails , people can still "Unfollow" by clicking the button.

 

Best wishes ,    Fresh

1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg

2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg

Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta

Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months.

July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months.

Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg.

October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive.

March 2016 , 21mg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

That's a great idea, Fresh.

 

The software does not permit an automatic "follow" of anything. I would have to hire someone to modify it.

 

I will see if there are any additional tools I can apply to Introduction topics.

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

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Moderator Emeritus

Do you think it would be useful to have individual threads for each drug? Something like the "check-in if your from..." threads. So there would be a "check-in here if you're tappering Prozac/Sarafam/Fluoxetine" thread, and on like that. I've searched for people tapering prozac, and people have contacted me in a PM because they are tapering prozac and saw I was as well.

 

Just a thought.

1988-2012: Prozac @ 60mg (with a few stops and starts)

Fall 2012: Returned to 40mg after discontinuing and horrid withdrawal 

Fall 2013: 40mg Fluoxetine, added 150mg Wellbutrin to treat fatigue 

Winter 2014: Attempting to taper both (too fast)

April 2014: 9mg Fluoxetine + 37.5 Wellbutrin 

Summer 2014: 8 mg Fluoxetine + 0 Wellbutrin (way too fast a drop)

Late summer/Early Fall 2014: Debilitating Withdrawal symptoms 

Fall 2014 - Wellbutrin successfully kicked to the curb but…

Oct- Dec 2014: Panicked reinstatement of Fluoxetine ->30mg - held for 5yrs

Jan 2021: taper to 20mg Fluoxetine  then tapering by 1mg every 2-3 months

Fall 2022 - held at 10mg->December 2022: 9mg->Feb 2023: 8mg ->March 2023: brassmonkey slide begins: 7.8mg -> 7.6 -> 7.4->2 week hold (April)->7.2->7mg->6.8->2 week hold->6.6-> 1-month hold ->(June)-6.5->4-week hold-> (July)-6.4 (discontinued brassmonkey slide and slowed taper)-> (Aug)-6.2->(Sept)-6.0->(Oct)-5.9->(Nov)-5.8->(Dec)-5.7->wave!->(Jan)-5.8->(Feb)-6mg and holding.

 

My 2014 withdrawal experience: https://rxisk.org/antidepressant-withdrawal-a-prozac-story/

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

We have found that what the drugs have in common is more extensive and important than distinctions between them. For example, all the antidepressants have similar withdrawal symptoms (in common with benzos, too).

 

So it makes sense to have threads about the symptoms regardless of the drugs involved, which you will find in the Symptoms and Self-Care forum.

 

The differences between the drugs that are important for tapering are described in the drug-specific topics in the Tapering forum.

 

When an individual add posts to these Tapering topics, the conversation tends to become very specifically about the individual's own tapering situation, taking the conversation off-topic and making it difficult to read for those wanting more general tapering information. Also, mod responses duplicate efforts in the Introductions forum. (That is why we move such posts to the Introductions forum; also, the information becomes part of the individual's history, which is very important.)

 

People who are tapering the same drugs often find each other by searching for the drug name in the Introductions forum and posting in each others' topics. You can, of course, have group pm threads too, if you wish.

 

There are many combinations of these drugs, and many people are on more than one. Topics for each permutation would spawn a lot of topics.

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

  • 10 months later...

Ive been thinking about how many people could benefit from the wealth of knowledge on this website. Mainly Im talking about fellow WD sufferers who can't find this site. Ill give an example when I google Lexapro withdrawal the first site that comes up

 

ishttp://mentalhealthdaily.com/2014/05/07/lexapro-withdrawal-symptoms-how-long-do-they-last/

 

This website has over 400 responses and many are asking the same questions that we all got answered. Ive tried to make posts recommending this site but its not allowed and my comments do not get published. Even my general responses dont get published. Mentalhealthdaily.com has a comment board for every single Antidepressant. Each has over 400 responses. I read somewhere on the site that these boards gets hundreds of comments daily and maybe one or two get published.

 

This is only one site and an example of how many people are not finding survivingantidepressants. This tells me that everyday at least 10-50 new people are searching the web for answers to their medication complications. How do we make this website more accessible and mainstream? Any ideas?

Was on 30mg (Lexapro) for 7-8yrs20mg for 3 months (This was my choice my Doc wanted me to drop much faster)15 mg 2week10mg 2 weeks 5 mg 1 week0 since August 24th . PPI Dexlant  30 mg taper has begun. Cutting 20% currently.  using zantac as needed.  Benzo is currently 0.10mg 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Mentor

I don't have any ideas, but I do think it would be wonderful if this site was coming up in google searches more often

I found it quite by accident when looking up side effects from a different med

oh no, wait, I found it when looking up lawsuits about  zyprexa!!!

my doc was refusing to Rx it as a PRN (which I am glad about NOW) and I could not understand her refusal, as she'd Rxed it several times in the same way in the past, so I thought, maybe there's a problem with it that I dont know about

 

the search for zyprexa lawsuit brought up a link here, the very first one I'd ever seen (or possibly, noticed...?)

 

  • pysch med history: 1974 @ age 18 to Oct 2017 (approx 43 yrs total) 
  •  Drug list: stelazine, haldol, elavil, lithium, zoloft, celexa, lexapro(doses as high as 40mgs), klonopin, ambien, seroquel(high doses), depakote, zyprexa, lamictal- plus brief trials of dozens of other psych meds over the years
  • started lexapro 2002, dose varied from 20mgs to 40mgs. First attempt to get off it was 2007- WD symptoms were mistaken for "relapse". 
  •  2013 too fast taper down to 5mg but WD forced me back to 20mgs
  •  June of 2105, tapered again too rapidly to 2.5mgs by Dec 2015. Found SA, held at 2.5 mgs til May 2016 when I foolishly "jumped off". felt ok until  Sept, then acute WD hit!!  reinstated at 0.3mgs in Oct. 2106
  • Tapered off to zero by  Oct. 2017 Doing very well. 
  • Nov. 2018 feel 95% healed, age 63 
  • Jan. 2020 feel 100% healed, peaceful and content
  • Dec 2023 Loving life! ❤️ with all it's ups and downs ;) 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow That is pretty interesting, good thing you didn't get hooked on that aswell. I am curious to find out how others found this site. I actually don't remember but I found it 7 months after stopping AD. HAD I found it earlier I could have potentially helped myself by reinstating. At the very least I would have known what was happening.

Was on 30mg (Lexapro) for 7-8yrs20mg for 3 months (This was my choice my Doc wanted me to drop much faster)15 mg 2week10mg 2 weeks 5 mg 1 week0 since August 24th . PPI Dexlant  30 mg taper has begun. Cutting 20% currently.  using zantac as needed.  Benzo is currently 0.10mg 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

It would be nice if everyone knew what we knew, but they have to find the site, and to find it, they may have to search.

 

Quite a few people find it through Google. Most forums are public so many combinations of keywords will work.

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

  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi everyone,

 

I agree.  When I was searching for antidepressant symptoms prior to reducing my dose I didn't find this site in Google.  As soon as I searched withdrawal symptoms it came up.  Unfortunately I had already been on a lower dose for 2 weeks.  Thankfully it was only 2 weeks.

 

Many people don't realise that they are suffering withdrawal symptoms so would not search for that particular term.

 

Meta tags can be used by webmasters to provide search engines with information about their sites.  Maybe this needs to be reviewed.  Maybe someone who is web savvy, or has a relative or friend who is, might be able to help with suggestions.

 

I recently created a post on Mentalhealthdaily.com suggesting this site and it hasn't been posted, which is very disappointing because as Mort said there are so many desperate people there who could be helped.  There was one post way back on November 7, 2014 by Kets (hi Kets if you are still around here) saying they had joined SA.

 

CC

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

This site is loaded with meta tags.

 

It is true that people often do not know to search for "withdrawal symptoms." I've entered many alternative tags as well.

 

If you Google "antidepressant symptoms," you will not likely find this site because of the many, many pages describing antidepressant side effects. There is no way this site can be shown above them. It does not get the traffic of, for example, webmd.com.

 

I cannot compensate for people not knowing the right keywords to use in their search.

 

Because the server for this site is in the United States, if you are using Google outside the US, Google will display results for your country before displaying this site.

 

Chessie, what were you searching for?

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

  • Mentor

Hi everyone,

 

I agree.  When I was searching for antidepressant symptoms prior to reducing my dose I didn't find this site in Google.  As soon as I searched withdrawal symptoms it came up.  Unfortunately I had already been on a lower dose for 2 weeks.  Thankfully it was only 2 weeks.

 

Many people don't realise that they are suffering withdrawal symptoms so would not search for that particular term.

 

Meta tags can be used by webmasters to provide search engines with information about their sites.  Maybe this needs to be reviewed.  Maybe someone who is web savvy, or has a relative or friend who is, might be able to help with suggestions.

 

I recently created a post on Mentalhealthdaily.com suggesting this site and it hasn't been posted, which is very disappointing because as Mort said there are so many desperate people there who could be helped.  There was one post way back on November 7, 2014 by Kets (hi Kets if you are still around here) saying they had joined SA.

 

CC

ah this is what  I have heard, that there are ways to "optimize" your website to have it show up in the search engines closer to the "top"

 

I know that most of the forums I'm a member of have done this, I will see if I can find out how it's done. It *may* have something to do with advertising, though, because the forums/message boards that come to the top most reliably also have some advertisements connected to them or allowed on them.

*that* might be what makes the biggest difference, I don't. wouldn't surprise me, though.

 

 I wish I had this information years ago, so yes, it would be awesome if it was coming up on the first couple of pages of a search

 

  • pysch med history: 1974 @ age 18 to Oct 2017 (approx 43 yrs total) 
  •  Drug list: stelazine, haldol, elavil, lithium, zoloft, celexa, lexapro(doses as high as 40mgs), klonopin, ambien, seroquel(high doses), depakote, zyprexa, lamictal- plus brief trials of dozens of other psych meds over the years
  • started lexapro 2002, dose varied from 20mgs to 40mgs. First attempt to get off it was 2007- WD symptoms were mistaken for "relapse". 
  •  2013 too fast taper down to 5mg but WD forced me back to 20mgs
  •  June of 2105, tapered again too rapidly to 2.5mgs by Dec 2015. Found SA, held at 2.5 mgs til May 2016 when I foolishly "jumped off". felt ok until  Sept, then acute WD hit!!  reinstated at 0.3mgs in Oct. 2106
  • Tapered off to zero by  Oct. 2017 Doing very well. 
  • Nov. 2018 feel 95% healed, age 63 
  • Jan. 2020 feel 100% healed, peaceful and content
  • Dec 2023 Loving life! ❤️ with all it's ups and downs ;) 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator Emeritus

Hi Alto,

 

My first search would have been in Google for Pristiq side effects.  Two weeks later I would have been searching for side effects but I've just checked my History and realised that I didn't find SA via Google, it was listed in a website (http://beyondmeds.com/support-in-wd/) which I must have found when I discovered that there were support and FB groups.

 

As for meta tags, I did a quick search after I posted and discovered that search engines work on more than just meta tags (I started a web course back in 2002 so things have changed since then).  They mentioned about other websites linking to a site means it gets more hits.  Hopefully by putting our heads together we might be able work out how to get SA onto page 1 of google searches with blinking lights and a sign saying Stop Here First.

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

If you want me to add specific phrases as meta keywords, please list them in this topic. But I cannot ever make SA appear on the top when someone is searching for "antidepressant symptoms." It is impossible. There are too many much larger sites offering information central to "antidepressant symptoms."

 

One factor Google uses to determine the order of results is number of unique visitors per day. Another is the number of referring sites, although I believe Google made a change in this to downgrade links from link farms.

 

Looking at the logs, I can see people are finding the site by searching for keyword combinations that include "withdrawal", "tapering", "weaning", and "stopping."

 

Example of successful searches leading to SA pages:

 

how can you slowly temper of seroquel

withdrawal symptoms of pristiq

use wellbutrin as bridge with effexor

how do you get off citalopram

brain zaps remedies

 

 

and many more.

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

  • Moderator Emeritus

Maybe we just need to go back to the good old-fashioned word of mouth, which is what I am trying to do.  Technology might be here to stay but many tried and true methods still have their place and this may be a good example.

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

Posting the full link http://survivingantidepressants.org in a public forum site counts as a referring link. Posting "Surviving Antidepressants" is not a referring link.

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

  • Mentor

OK I asked a friend who knows how to do this stuff and her response was: Usually when that happens is because the message board is not hosted on a software platform that Google recognizes or is able to search

 

 

but since it does at least come up sometimes, I would guess that's not the issue

 

I tried...

I have already referred two of my friends here and mentioned this to my doc (who of course laughed)

 

 

  • pysch med history: 1974 @ age 18 to Oct 2017 (approx 43 yrs total) 
  •  Drug list: stelazine, haldol, elavil, lithium, zoloft, celexa, lexapro(doses as high as 40mgs), klonopin, ambien, seroquel(high doses), depakote, zyprexa, lamictal- plus brief trials of dozens of other psych meds over the years
  • started lexapro 2002, dose varied from 20mgs to 40mgs. First attempt to get off it was 2007- WD symptoms were mistaken for "relapse". 
  •  2013 too fast taper down to 5mg but WD forced me back to 20mgs
  •  June of 2105, tapered again too rapidly to 2.5mgs by Dec 2015. Found SA, held at 2.5 mgs til May 2016 when I foolishly "jumped off". felt ok until  Sept, then acute WD hit!!  reinstated at 0.3mgs in Oct. 2106
  • Tapered off to zero by  Oct. 2017 Doing very well. 
  • Nov. 2018 feel 95% healed, age 63 
  • Jan. 2020 feel 100% healed, peaceful and content
  • Dec 2023 Loving life! ❤️ with all it's ups and downs ;) 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

i put a look on the first page of this forum, 

for what i know, the tag meta name keywords seem a bad idea today

before people filled this, some filling abuse of keywords, google is giving penalties actually or no more read it, many actual website no more fill it...

 

what this forum do not have(i do not find on first page index) is the key of webmaster tools

the register is free and google comes read his key and crawls

the files from this register is nice, you see bad pages, problems google have with your site, your best keywords(not the meta tags) and the links in and out, and here you see what to do to progress

i would delete the meta tag names keywords(today obsolete) and register the google webmaster tools on the first page index

for anxiety 

12 years paxil - cold turkey 1,5 month - switch celexa 1 year taper; total 13 years on brain meds 

67 years old - 9 years  med free

 

in protracted withdrawal

rigidity standing and walking, dryness gougerot-szoegren, sleep deteriorate,

function as have a lack of nerves, improving have been very little 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have thought of this a from time to time too Stan as I too have been to the other sites that come up before SA ... effexor withdrawal symptoms was the search I just tried yet again SA comes up #35... like you i have been to the other sites making posts .(made it my passtime for awhile and non of my posts were posted... same as you.

I have been told that if each time you want to come to SA if you search the term same Effexor withdrawal and bypass the other 34 eventually Google will take note and move SA up for that topic... I did that for a time too... gave up. 

 

That is all I know.

WARNING THIS WILL BE LONG
Had a car accident in 85
Codeine was the pain med when I was release from hosp continuous use till 89
Given PROZAC by a specialist to help with nerve pain in my leg 89-90 not sure which year
Was not told a thing about it being a psych med thought it was a pain killer no info about psych side effects I went nuts had hallucinations. As I had a head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion in 85 I was sent to a head injury clinic in 1990 five years after the accident. I don't think they knew I had been on prozac I did not think it a big deal and never did finish the bottle of pills. I had tests of course lots of them. Was put into a pain clinic and given amitriptyline which stopped the withdrawal but had many side effects. But I could sleep something I had not done in a very long time the pain lessened. My mother got cancer in 94 they switched my meds to Zoloft to help deal with this pressure as I was her main care giver she died in 96. I stopped zoloft in 96 had withdrawal was put on paxil went nutty quit it ct put on resperidol quit it ct had withdrawal was put on Effexor... 2years later celexa was added 20mg then increased to 40mg huge personality change went wild. Did too fast taper off Celexa 05 as I felt unwell for a long time prior... quit Effexor 150mg ct 07 found ****** 8 months into withdrawal learned some things was banned from there in 08 have kept learning since. there is really not enough room here to put my history but I have a lot of opinions about a lot of things especially any of the drugs mentioned above.
One thing I would like to add here is this tidbit ALL OPIATES INCREASE SEROTONIN it is not a huge jump to being in chronic pain to being put on an ssri/snri and opiates will affect your antidepressants and your thinking.

As I do not update much I will put my quit date Nov. 17 2007 I quit Effexor cold turkey. 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1096-introducing-myself-btdt/

There is a crack in everything ..That's how the light gets in :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Administrator

The public forums on SurvivingAntidepressants.org are fully searchable. Google's spiders, and others from other search engines, spend a lot of time on them every day.

 

Info about traffic http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/survivingantidepressants.org

 

Thanks for the Google Webmaster tools suggestion, stan. I know about it but need to find time to implement it.

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

  • Moderator Emeritus

If you want me to add specific phrases as meta keywords, please list them in this topic. But I cannot ever make SA appear on the top when someone is searching for "antidepressant symptoms." It is impossible. There are too many much larger sites offering information central to "antidepressant symptoms."

 

One factor Google uses to determine the order of results is number of unique visitors per day. Another is the number of referring sites, although I believe Google made a change in this to downgrade links from link farms.

 

Looking at the logs, I can see people are finding the site by searching for keyword combinations that include "withdrawal", "tapering", "weaning", and "stopping."

 

Example of successful searches leading to SA pages:

 

how can you slowly temper of seroquel

withdrawal symptoms of pristiq

use wellbutrin as bridge with effexor

how do you get off citalopram

brain zaps remedies

 

 

and many more.

 

Off topic and forgive me but the ..........and many more at the end gave me a chuckle.  So thank you.  Feel free to delete this inane comment........no problem.

Late 2023- gone to emeritus status, inactive, don't @ me, I can check who I've posted on, and I'm not really here like I used to be......thanks.

Started with psycho meds/psychiatric care circa 1988.  In retrospect, and on contemplation, situational overwhelm.

Rounding up to 30 years of medications(30 medication trials, poly-pharmacy maximum was 3 at one time).

5/28/2015-off Adderal salts 2.5mg. (I had been on that since hospital 10/2014)

12/2015---just holding, holding, holding, with trileptal/oxcarb at 75 mg. 1/2 tab at hs.  My last psycho med ever!  Tapered @ 10% every 4 weeks, sometimes 2 weeks to

2016 Dec 16 medication free!!

Longer signature post here, with current supplements.

Herb and alcohol free since 5/15/2016.  And.....I quit smoking 11/2021. Lapsed.  Redo of quit smoking 9/28/2022.  Can you say Hallelujah?(took me long enough)💜

None of my posts are intended as medical advice.  Please discuss any decisions about your medical care with a knowledgeable medical provider.  My success story:  Blue skies ahead, clear sailing

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

What about having a forum for support groups? There are so many new people joining, and the intros move down super fast. I try to read new intros, but there is just sooo much to go through. It is a bit mind boggling to try and connect with anybody. Perhaps if there were support groups such as one for bad insomniacs, or long-term users such as me, or PP refugees, or users of certain drugs, it would help people connect and interact more. I understand that we all have a lot of the same problems with ADs, but there's got to be some way to help people find like-minded (or lost-minded :)) people more easily. Then newcomers could be steered towards a support group that might be helpful, or encouraged to begin a new one.

1975--first signs of depression

1981--started on imipramine (Tofranil) for IBS and depression

1983-1986--severe depression, rotated through several drugs, on MAOI for one year, eventually back to tricyclics

1986-1994--chronic low grade depression, on tricyclics

1994-96--severe depression, rotated through several drugs inc. Prozax, Effexor, etc..

1996-2013--chronic low grade depression, SAD, on amitryptiline usual dose 12.5-25mg

     flurazepam (Dalmane) as needed for insomnia

2013--developed temazepam (Restoril) dependance for 2 months, tapered off over 1 month

   started bio-identical progesterone 5 mg., depression has lifted completely to this day

March 2016--forced to c/t both amitryptiline and flurazepam, zolpidem not helpful

reinstated small dose (.5 mg) amitryptiline due to stomach issues and tapering w/titration

June 19th--jumped from amitryptiline--drug free!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Moderator Emeritus

What Sarabera has suggested seems like a good idea.  I totally missed tagging my initial post.  Definitely one for each drug type, and one for each major withdrawal issue, ladies wanting to get pregnant .  There most probably are many withdrawal issue topics already started.  However, members would still be best keeping their Intro topic updated.  CC

* NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA *

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED:  (6 year taper)      0mg Pristiq  on 13th November 2021

ADs since ~1992:  25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq:  50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity)  Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021   LAST DOSE 0.0025mg

Post 0 updates start here    My tapering program     My Intro (goes to tapering graph)

 VIDEO:   Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrator

I would love to more easily edit and add tags! It's a limitation of the software, I'm afraid.

 

For now, search within a forum will have to do for finding people who are taking the same drugs and have similar symptoms.

 

Generally, people with the same symptoms connect in topics in the Symptoms and Self-care forum  There's a topic and discussion on just about every symptom you can imagine.

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

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use Privacy Policy