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Dizziness, vertigo, light-headedness, rocking or swaying sensations


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13 hours ago, windchime said:

PPPD began two weeks after my fast-taper to 3mg (never even got off the med). I had no prior history of ongoing dizziness. Edit: I had three days of dizziness four months prior to my taper while I had Covid. 

 

Quote

 

2022 - Lexapro taper 7.5mg to 3mg over 10 weeks in September - November. 

 

 

The timing suggests this dysautonomic symptomology was triggered by your reduction of Lexapro to 3mg.

 

On 6/6/2023 at 4:37 AM, Altostrata said:

PPPD is just a description of a dysautonomia symptom. We already know that dysautonomia symptoms are common in withdrawal syndrome.

 

If your symptom arises from withdrawal dysautonomia, it will slowly resolve like other withdrawal symptoms.

 

Even when no drugs are involved, dysautonomia is mysterious, it comes and goes, and nobody knows what to do about it. Generally, people are advised to be as physically active as possible, take care of themselves with healthy habits, etc. -- full circle back to our advice about coping with withdrawal syndrome.

 

Many of our members with probable withdrawal symptoms or other post-drug syndromes have spent a fortune on neurological testing. They rarely reveal anything.

 

As we provide peer support for tapering and coping with withdrawal syndrome, we cannot advise you on drug treatment for dysautonomia. We don't know anything about it.

 

I would advise caution, though -- if your nervous system has been destabilized by withdrawal, it is probably hypersensitive to other drugs, which may cause outsized adverse effects.

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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Thank you @Altostrata for your response. 

 

Do you advise reinstating to a higher dose or do you think it's too late? I don't really want to do this... 

 

I presume I should pause my taper indefinitely though until I can function again (if I ever can)? 

 

Would you advise not pursuing the lithium taper either at this time?

 

Thanks again. 

2004-2010 Sertraline (15years old). 2010-2012 Poly-drugged with many AP's, SNRIs, PRN Benzo's. 

2012-2017 Lithium 1250mg, Lexapro 10mg. Titrated off Lithium over 2 years in 2016-17.

2018-2021 Lexapro 5mg. Valium PRN small doses. 2020 Recommenced low dose Lithium. Spironolactone. 

2022 - Lithium taper from 625mg to 62mg between May and December. 5mg Accutane May-December. 

2022 - Lexapro taper 7.5mg to 3mg over 10 weeks in September - November. 

2023 - Jan - 2 doses 5mg oral Compazine (immediate ADR). Three doses of 0.25 Klonipin - discontinued. 

2023 - Feb reinstated 6.5mg Lexapro and 325mg Lithium, 25mg Spironolactone then 37.5mg.

2023 - March - May: titrated to 4.5mg Lex at 5-10% and reduced to 250mg Lithium.

27th May: Increased Spiro to 100mg

Jun 23 - Reinstated 4.75mg Lex, 375mg Lithium. July 22 - Reduced Spiro to 50mg. 03 Aug - Commenced 25mg P-5-P

Current meds 4.75mg Lex, 375mg Lithium, 50mg Spironolactone. Zinc, Magnesium, Iron, P-5-P (B6).

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Please post questions about your own particular situation in your own Introductions topic, to avoid taking this topic further off-track.

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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@Altostrata, thank you, I didn't understand that etiquette but now I do. I am not sure how else I took this topic off track, that was not my intention, everything that I have posted has been on the topic of dizziness, including sharing information from Dr Healy on it. 

2004-2010 Sertraline (15years old). 2010-2012 Poly-drugged with many AP's, SNRIs, PRN Benzo's. 

2012-2017 Lithium 1250mg, Lexapro 10mg. Titrated off Lithium over 2 years in 2016-17.

2018-2021 Lexapro 5mg. Valium PRN small doses. 2020 Recommenced low dose Lithium. Spironolactone. 

2022 - Lithium taper from 625mg to 62mg between May and December. 5mg Accutane May-December. 

2022 - Lexapro taper 7.5mg to 3mg over 10 weeks in September - November. 

2023 - Jan - 2 doses 5mg oral Compazine (immediate ADR). Three doses of 0.25 Klonipin - discontinued. 

2023 - Feb reinstated 6.5mg Lexapro and 325mg Lithium, 25mg Spironolactone then 37.5mg.

2023 - March - May: titrated to 4.5mg Lex at 5-10% and reduced to 250mg Lithium.

27th May: Increased Spiro to 100mg

Jun 23 - Reinstated 4.75mg Lex, 375mg Lithium. July 22 - Reduced Spiro to 50mg. 03 Aug - Commenced 25mg P-5-P

Current meds 4.75mg Lex, 375mg Lithium, 50mg Spironolactone. Zinc, Magnesium, Iron, P-5-P (B6).

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  • 7 months later...

My dizziness has only gotten worse. Feeling like I’m going to pass out any second but never have, 24/7, all the time. I feel very drugged/drunk, very spacey. My hands & feet & head feel very disconnected from my body. It feels like my brain is shutting down, but parts of my cognition are still clearly fine. How can this happen while going so slowly?? This is WD, right?

May 2019 started lexapro 2.5 mg; 2020 went to every other day; 2021 beginning of Mar, tried to stop but had insomnia; Mar 30, 2021 reinstated 1.25 ev other day, WD symptoms, not enough

April 19, 2021 started liquid, .85 mg/day; May 1, 2021 .8 mg, May 6 .75 mg; June 6 .7 mg, June 20 .65mg, June 30  .6mg, Jul 24 .55 mg, Oct 17 .5 mg, Dec 5- .45 mg; Jan 26, 2022- 4mg,  April 18- .375 ; April 24- .35; April 29- .3; Jun 12- .25 mg; Jun 28- .2 lex; Sept- .15 mg, Nov .1- long hold, never got better

June ‘23- PPPD started 🙁, Jun- .09, Jul- .08, Oct- .07, Dec- .06, Jan ‘24- .05!

Taking Magnesium, whole foods iron, & natural supplements as needed for sleep

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@Dee12h I would guess this is WD or was triggered by WD. Medications are known to be a cause of this as recorded on this page https://www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/services/physiotherapy/vestibular-physiotherapy/persistent-postural-perceptual-dizziness-pppd-or-3pd/

There is a lot going on and it hard to pinpoint one thing. It seems all the symptoms you have mentioned are symptoms of PPPD.  I am sorry you are going through this and know it is a long process. I'm sure you tried the exercises for it. I also understand that overdoing the exercises my make it worse. 
I don’t know what is happening but I know in WD it feels like our brain got thrown into the washing machine so trying to find info makes it harder.

I hope you find a more satisfying answer tan what I have to offer.

Current: Bupropion 450mg, Neurontin 800mg, Klonopin 0.5mg

History:

July 2020: started Cogentin 1mg, Lamictal 50mg, Zoloft 150mg, Zyprexa 5mg (+5mg as needed), Klonopin 0.5mg

November 2020: stopped all meds cold-turkey

February 2021: started Latuda 60mg, Lithium 300mg, Melatonin 5mg, Protonix 40mg, Topamax 25mg

2 weeks later: stopped Topamax, increased Lithium 900mg, started Klonopin 1mg, Lexapro 20mg, Neurontin 400mg

April 2021: started Bupropion 150mg, Revia ?mg

May 2021: stopped ReviaProtonixLexaproincreased Neurontin 800mg, started Celexa 10mg

August 2021: decreased Celexa 5mg (stopped Celexa 2 weeks later), increased Bupropion 300mg

September 2021: increased Latuda 80mg

October 2021: decreased Lithium 600mg for 4 daysLithium 300mg for 4 daysstopped LithiumLatuda

     increased Bupropion 450mg, started Remeron 15mg, decreased Remeron 7.5mg, stopped Remeron

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5 hours ago, ThatOneGirlStitch said:

@Dee12h I would guess this is WD or was triggered by WD. Medications are known to be a cause of this as recorded on this page https://www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/services/physiotherapy/vestibular-physiotherapy/persistent-postural-perceptual-dizziness-pppd-or-3pd/

It's definitely been a problem for me! Seems like dizzy spells hit any time I lower any of them.

 

5 hours ago, ThatOneGirlStitch said:

There is a lot going on and it hard to pinpoint one thing. It seems all the symptoms you have mentioned are symptoms of PPPD. 

I'm gonna look into this, thank you for the info. At a loss right now, also having heartrate issues so thinking maybe POTS? Then again, heartrate issues aren't out of the realm of possibility for meds too. Hoping to figure it out soon!

Pronouns: they/them/theirs 

Started on Prozac in early 2000s to treat cPTSD, been on various cocktails ever since.

2002-2004, 2017-2022: Buspar, tapered down to 0

2016-present: 100mg Seroquel for sleep -> May 2023: 90mg -> June 2023: 81mg -> September 2023: 72mg -> switched to brand name, much too strong, down to 60mg -> October 2023: 54mg -> November 2023: 50mg -> January 2024: 45mg -> April 2024: 40.5mg

2016-Present: 100mg Wellbutrin SR -> January 2023: 75mg IR (37.5mg 2x a day) -> February 2023 (33.75mg 2x a day) -> July 2023 (30.37mg 2x a day) -> August 2023: 27.33mg 2x a day 

2018-present: 25mg Pristiq

2015-present: 600mg Gabapentin (200mg 3x a day) -> December 2022: 300mg Gabapentin (100mg 3x a day) per GP's recommendation after side effects -> March 2023: 90mg 3x a day (switched to liquid suspension) -> April 2023: 81mg 3x a day -> September 2023: bad generic, switched back to homemade liquid; too strong after bad generic, down to 70mg 3x a day, still bad. Adjusted slowly till at 60mg 3x a day, much better. Long hold till -> December 2023: 54mg, still feels too high after November Seroquel switch from brand name to generic, doc recommended 50mg which feels better -> January 2024: When Wellbutrin went down, Gabapentin started putting me to sleep, went down to 45mg, then 41mg to stay awake, so far so good -> February 2024: 36mg, still too high, 34mg -> March 2024: 31mg, STILL too high, 30mg

Supplements: Multivitamin w/magnesium, probiotics, digestive enzymes, anti-viral nitric oxide nose spray as needed

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  • 2 weeks later...

Anybody heard from @Caesar65??

Jan 1-15 2023 - Ativan 2mg

Jan 1-12 2023 - Trintellix 10mg

Jan 14-16 2023 - Escitalopram 5mg

Jan 15-Jan 20 2023 - Ativan 1mg

Jan 21-30 2023 - Ativan 0.5mg Slow taper down - 5 days 0.5mg once a day. Then 0.5 mg every other day for 3 doses.

Jan 17- Feb 04 2023 - Escitalopram 10mg

Feb 05-14 2023 - 5mg for 5 days, then 2.5mg for 4 days. Feb 15 - Zero Mg Escitalopram

Mar 11, 2023 - Propranolol 20mg

 

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February 10 was the last time he was on. 

20 yr+ Paroxetine/ Dec2018-May 2022 20 mg/ May 2022 30mg/2022.07.28-2022.08.24 30mg to 0mg/ August 24-29 2022 10mg Prozac/2022.11.28-2022.12.04- 5mg Paroxetine/Dec 5&6/22 10mg Paroxetine/ Dec 8&9/22 10mg Prozac/ 2022.12.07 to 2023.07.01 5mg Paroxetine

TAPER 23.07.02-58mgpw/4.9mgai/ 23.07.21-4.8 mg/23.07.28-4.73 mg/23.08.04-4.65 mg/21.09.23-4.58 mg/27.10.23-4.56 mg/5.12.23-4.54 mg/2.1.24-4.52 mg/9.1.24-4.51 mg/17.1.24-4.49 mg/26.1.24-4.47 mg/6.2.24-4.46 mg/19.2.24-4.44mg /4.4.24-4.43mg

8am-probiotics/9am-paroxetine, 200mg mag bisglycinate/ 1000mg Vitamin D/noon-1000 mg algae oil (500mg DHA/10mg EPA/620mg Omega 3)/5pm-75 mg DGL/200mg calcium citrate/8pm-.25 mg melatonin

"... your strength will be in keeping calm..."-Isaiah 30:15

I am not a medical professional just your peer. The suggestions I give are based on personal experience and/or the well documented experience of others.

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