Scared: Taking multi psych drugs, starting to taper Abilify 1st

[Scared]

Hi Everyone,

 

The short story is that I have had depression & anxiety for 15+ years.  I have taken a variety of anti-depressants over the years and have experienced 2 cold turkey withdrawals that resulted in hospitalization (will never ever do that again). 

 

I am currently stable but feel "flat" almost all the time.  I am ready to taper off of all my medication (if I can).  I visited my psychiatrist today to request his help.  He was less than optimistic.  His comments included he is "100% against me going off my medication, 80% of attempts to get off meds fail, I will be on meds for the balance of my life, etc".  At my insistence he reluctantly agreed to reduce my Abilify from 5mg to 2.5mg for 1 month and then to reevaluate at that time.  He also mentioned that Prozac has a long half life and is self tapering therefore slow taper is not necessary, and that my Wellbutrin won't have any side effects of withdrawal.  It almost feels like he is setting me up to fail!  Everything I have read both here and elsewhere talks about the need to slowly taper.  It is very frustrating not to have his support and guidance.   I am grateful to have found this sight and the support that I know I will need.

 

My plans are to reduce my Abilify from 5mg to 3.75mg for the month.   I will keep you posted on how it goes.  Day 1 is tomorrow (Sept 10th).

 

Bless

 

 

 

 

 

[Scared]

Ooops, tomorrow is Sept 5th not 10th.

[Petunia]

Hi Scared,

Welcome to SA, I'm glad you found us before beginning your taper.  Thank you for filling out your signature with your history.  It sounds like your doctor doesn't have a clue, its not surprising that 80% of his attempts to get his patients off drugs fail.  Sadly, most doctors  advise tapers that lead patients to going back on the drug because of a ‘relapse’,  which is actually withdrawal.  All the drugs you are taking can cause withdrawal if stopped suddenly.  They all require careful tapering.

 

At least your doctor is willing to cooperate with what you want, sometimes that's the best people can hope for. Many people arrive here after following the advice of well meaning, but ill informed doctors.

 

See:  What should I expect from my doctor about withdrawal symptoms

 

Your planned drop of 5mg abilify to 3.75mg is still too much.  We suggest reducing by no more than 10% of the current dose every 4 weeks, this reduces the risk of withdrawal symptoms arising.  Safe tapering off psychiatric drugs means that you reduce at a rate which incurs few or no withdrawal symptoms through the process, this means that there is no disruption to your life.  It can take a while, but doing it this way offers the best chance of successfully getting off and staying off.  Please read through this post which will explain why:

 

http://survivinganti...0-of-my-dosage/

 

Here are our tips for tapering off Abilify:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1896-tips-for-tapering-off-abilify-aripiprazole/

 

These will be helpful in the future when you are ready, we recommend only tapering one drug at a time:

 

Tips for tapering off Wellbuttrin

 

Tips for tapering off Prozac

 

I'd highly recommend reading Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker. Psych meds can be pretty perilous and in my opinion should only be used for short times and very cautiously, if at all.

 

Other resources you may find helpful are Your Drug may be you Problem by Dr. Peter Breggin and Council for Evidence Based Psychiatry

 

You can use this thread as your ongoing journal to track progress and communicate with the community, add to it whenever you want.  You will find a lot of friendly help and support here.

 

Petu.

 

 

[Scared]

Thanks Petu. 

 

I'm having difficulty getting my doses right for tapering.  I have been breaking up my 5mg pill in half & then half again.  This gives me 4 quarters of 1.25.  I've been taking 3 quarters (3.75mg) plus 1/2 of a quarter 0.6mg which gives me a total of 4.4mg.  But its really hard to break up the pills exactly.  I'm going to order a milligram scale which might help.

 

Stay tuned :-)

[Petunia]

Yes, that's a good idea, its important to get accurate doses as the amount reduces.

[Altostrata]

It's a lot easier to make a liquid than to use the scale to measure dosage.