IndigoMoon: 6 Med Taper

[Indigomoon]

Hi there, Joined this site recently to try to find others who have experienced Luvox taper as I need to begin this taper.

 

Here's the short back story:

 

I'm here to hear about others experiences with tapering Luvox. Want to skip to that part- look for the green squiggles below ~~~

As a kid had a tendency towards seasonal depression, a lot of trauma, neglect, and abuse and perhaps hormonal shifts finally led my madness to fully bloom at 13. I got  19 different DSM diagnoses while I was a teenager and was in inpatient 12 times, 16 months of residential between 3 programs, 5 months of partial hospitalization/intensive outpatient, and other than that continuously in a minimum of one therapy session a week and being followed by a psychiatrist since i was thirteen (in early twenties now). I am a psychiatric survivor who faced severe abuse in psychiatric treatment. I am an activist with radical mental health and am involved in running peer support groups, organizing protests, making zines, lecturing, and blogging about my and others experiences. now dealing with chronic pain, GI, and other symptoms as well. currently in college.

 

Slowly Tapering since 05/12

1.Adderall Xr 20mg:  Tapering effects: severe derealization

 

2,Risperdal 3mg:  Tapering effects: I found it necessary to make extremely slow but steady tapers. For me doing a reduction of 1/16 or 1/32 a mg a day was a much better choice than one cut a week to taper at the same rate. with the slow steady tapering the only issues I had were severe insomnia, increase in PTSD, and a lot of rage after years of feeling no anger at all

 

3.Lamictal 250mg: Currently 150. tapering issues: severe short term memory and cognitive issues the same as I experienced on too high of a dose. when tapering too fast i lose words, lose things like my phone 20 times a day (cannot tell you how long it can take me to find my phone or wallet in my darn coat or bag!), forgetting things that happened earlier in the day, very decreased awareness of things around me (tunnel vision) but these issues are also exacerbated by recent severe trauma. I am also having menstrual issues return with lamictal reduction- which can include increase in ptsd, mood swings, and suicidality which is hard. my gyn suggested trying primrose for that or B6 which i couldn't manage due to how bitter it is

 

4.Luvox XR 100mg: Switched Immediate release 01/13-HOPING TO START TAPERING NOW

5.Prazosin 4mg: may not taper

6.Xanax/Klonopin as needed:may not taper

 

~~~~~~LUVOX CONCERNS: 
I previously had a psychiatrist who was helping me taper who was wonderful until he was horrible. He switched me from xanax to klonopin when i was blacking out from interactions of sedating medications and he knew i was extremely sensitive to sedating meds. He failed to know the prescribing information and know that the doses of xanax and klonopin are not equivalent. Xanax max dose per day approved used occasionally for panic disorder is 10mg. for klonopin the max is 4.

I was using 1.5mg of xanax. he failed to tell me klonopin takes much longer to be absorbed and the half life is a lot longer. He saw me twice on the first day I took it- once with just me and once with my therapist. He told me to "just keep taking more" until I felt something (I was in crisis). he knew i had taken 2 mg over the course of several hours before our first appointment. keep taking it he said- so i took another mg between the two appointments he now knew i was up to 3 mg in one day. keep taking it he said- so i took a 4th mg. a few hours later when it was all fully in my blood stream i was extremely intoxicated- stumbling, yelling out jokes, very silly, could barely walk and almost got hit by a car. and I blacked out and I was sexually assaulted. I called him the next day and he denied that he was wrong about the prescribing information. despite the fact he always took calls between sessions he told me "being angry at me is not an emergency" and was a complete jerk to me and told me if i was worked go to the emergency room and hung up on me- a huge slap in the face considering he knew i have severe trauma from hospitals and my therapist was working with me to keep me out of the hospital which he always supported. I ended up being hospitalized for physical health issues and the psych department did a consult and wished to speak to him yet despite the fact i was in a state of severe crisis with possible moderate serotonin syndrome (not life threatening)  and was in the hospital he refused to speak to me for an entire week giving me the silent treatment even though he would occasionally agree to speak to my therapist. so i'm reporting him to the licensing board. and i will never go back.

I got my primary care office to call in 3 months of regular release luvox which has actually been nice because it makes me sleepy. but i have no refills of the luvox and they are unlikely to agree to call it in again. I can't deal with the trauma of dealing with finding a new psychopharm who will be using clinical language and be dehumanizing so I feel pressured to try to use the two month supply I have left of regular release to try to taper because I have way more than enough lamictal to finish a taper because i have a refill of 3 month supply of 225mg.

I'm concerned about luvox taper because of its short half life and my horrendous experiences withdrawing from effexor xr. my plan is to use water titration to start with a taper of 3.125mg accomplished by cutting a 50 mg pill into 4  with a pill cutter (each piece 12.5) then using water titration method of crushing the pill with mortar and pestle, measuring 100 mg of water in a graduated cylinder, using the 100mg of water to rinse the crushed pill into a cup, suspending the particles using a hand blender, pouring back into the graduated cylinder, and removing a 1/4 of the water (12.5/4=3.125) aka removing 25ml of water which will be done using an eye dropper to measure more precisely with the assistance of a 10ml graduated cylinder. the remaining 75ml is drunk, the 25ml removed may be attempted to be saved for one day in a jar protected from light, clean water is used to rinse the graduated cylinders and mortar and pestle for extra particles of the pill remaining and that is drunk as well. the remaining dose is taken in pill form- the whole 50 mg pill and the 3/4 left of cut second 50 mg pill.  during the next taper the process is the same except only 50ml of the water would be drunk if the dose taper is tolerable, the next taper only 25ml is drunk, the next taper i would be at 1 whole 50mg pill and 3/4 of the second pill with no water titration needed. then i move on to another quarter of the pill and the process continues. I like to try to make the math easy even if then the dosage reduction is by a pretty random number. 

the good news is that i am in a psychiatric medication withdrawal in person support group that meets twice a month that is very helpful and have various friends who have done psych med tapers who are extremely supportive as well as being involved in other forums. because of my various health issues I may be better equipped to deal with certain potential side effects than others due to already living with regular nausea, sweating, dizziness, fatigue, pain, tremor, nightmare,insomnia etc and knowing how that effects me and some tools to deal with it (including ambien/L Theanine as needed to help with insomnia, zofran for nausea, and relatively low demands on me) 

 

Tapering Plans post luvox

discontinuing luvox and then lamictal I will consider my med taper a complete success. I am ok with staying on prazosin (beta blocker used for nightmares in ptsd) as I am not so concerned with the long term effects of it although i may attempt to taper it.

 

I hope to continue to have access to take benzos as needed (which when in a better state is pretty rarely- a couple times a month at most) however has ben much more frequent (a few days a week) due to how much abuse i've faced in the last year and the extreme trauma in the last year not described here. 

 

Non Psych Medication Tools for emotional stability I use

-therapy

-acupuncture

-reiki and prayer

-supplements- Curcumin was the best antidepressant substance i've ever used- so extremely helpful for getting through the fall with what would normally be seasonal depression. will probably use in the future just during late summer through early winter for that purpose

-soothing myself with showers, heat, my dog, sensory things like clay, rocking chairs

-distraction like tv shows, going to the dog park

-laughter (funny videos and comics especially)

-in person peer support and activism groups - for psych drug withdrawal, psychiatric survivors, LGBT+, and being involved in activism with feminism and disability rights

-online forums and blogging

-hotlines

-hope to return to artistic hobbies

-would like to meditate again

 

BENEFITS I'VE EXPERIENCED FROM PSYCH MED REDUCTION THUS FAR:
-(periods of post new trauma aside) - much more stable mood, less depressed, very infrequent panic attacks, being able to make extreme progress in therapy regarding past traumas and use emdr, romantic interest return, much more creative, ability to be more spontaneous, better able to connect with others and maintain friendships
 

 

More background on past experiences of madness

mood- depression and extreme abrupt mood swings, very brief hypomania, chronic suicidality

trauma- lots of abuse and trauma in my life, including severe abuse in psychiatric treatment. avoidance, flashbacks, dissociation, panic attacks, nightmares, easily startled

anxiety- periods of frequent severe panic attacks and more general anxiety. times of mostly obsessive OCD

altered states/"psychosis": I firmly believe I would have never been psychotic If I had never been on antipsychotics. I was on atypical antipsychotics (seroquel and ability) for years before I was ever psychotic. My first time ever hallucinating was during excruciating Effexor XR withdrawal as directed by my psychiatrist- was vomiting, sweating, having chills, having severe full body shaking/tremors, extreme dizziness, and hallucinated for my first time. felt like i was dying. my psychosis was almost always premenstrual and was always linked to increase in PTSD

Other: hatred of body, restricting eating, self harm, difficulty processing numbers, concentration/memory/cognitive issues due to meds and trauma, a ton of issues sleeping my whole life- including night terrors, nightmares, sleep paralysis combined with trauma nightmares and hypnogogic hallucinations, etc

 

 

List of known 29 medications which were prescribed between ages of 13 and 19

* indicates side effect serious enough to cause med switch      ** indicates severe and immediate side effect

 

Antipsychotic:

Abilify,Seroquel,Geodon**,Risperdal, Thorazine**, Haldol**

 

Antidepressant:

Prozac,Zoloft*,Cymbalta, Effexor Xr, Wellbutrin*, Luvox,

 

Mood Stabilizer:

Lamictal,Topamax**, 

 

Stimulant:

Concerta,Adderall XR, straterra 

 

Anxiety/Sleep:

Ambien, Ativan,Xanax, Klonopin, Buspar, , Inderal, Prazosin, Trazadone, Neurontin, Vistaril

 

Other:

Naltrexone*, Lyrica**

 

 

 

 

I have used bolding, underling and coloring in my post because with my cognitive issues and dissociation it makes it much easier for me to navigate such a long piece of text. I realize for others this may make reading more difficult- if this is the case for you I apologize.

I welcome questions and comments although please DON'T give me any suggestion to return to the psychiatrist who i am filing a report against or dismiss his behavior which resulted in my most recent sexual assault

Thank you glad to be here.

[mammaP]

Hi Indigomoon, WOW, what a strong person you are! Fist off, let me tell you that no-one here will 

suggest returning to any psychiatrist!! ( unless it is one of our non medicating games! )

 

You are very much on the ball with everything and your taper plan sounds great except for one thing,

I am concerned that it will be too fast. After your history of psychiatric drugs your nervous system 

will need some time between each tiny cut. SSRIs are a nightmare for withdrawal as you know and 

it would be a shame for you to hit withdrawal way down the line after doing so well.

 

I've been tapering effexor for almost 2 years now and had a pretty painless taper for over a year before 

I stopped when I was at just 5 beads from a capsule containing 400!  After a month off I was hit by the

most horrendous withdrawal. I reinstated last April at 4 beads and have suffered withdrawal in waves 

since then, I have only managed to drop 1 more bead in 9 months, all because I went too fast! 

 

Here is our topic for tapering including micro tapering as you are planning. There may be something in there

that will be of interest to you. http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/300-important-topics-in-the-tapering-forum-and-faq/

 SA don't advise tapering multiple meds because if symptoms occur it is hard to tell

which one is causing the problems, I don't know how often you use the benzo, if it is every day then that will need

tapering too.  

 

I wish you well with your tapers, you have come so far and will indeed show them all that you can function well

without the poison and abuse that has been inflicted on you for too many years! You are an inspiration and I 

hope that you will keep us updated with your progress. 

[tezza]

Welcome and WOW! I agree with mammaP, your CNS has been through a lot, I'd go very slowly with all future tapers.

 

As for the readability of your introduction post...more paragraph breaks with a space between is nice (in some places) but other than that it was easy to read.

 

I'm glad you've joined us and wish you well!

[Indigomoon]

Hi MamaP and Tezza thank you for your response. To clarify I will not be tapering multiple medications at once- I'm holding on the lamcital taper (last reduction was months ago) and will be tapering Luvox.  Tapering on the amount of medication I have left may be too fast in which case I will attempt to get my primary care to refill again. I have definitely found slow steady consistent tapering is what wins the race for me. one big cut could lead to months of suffering instead of slow steady being just tiny short lived flare ups in the past. Thank you for your welcomes!

[Rhiannon]

Yep, I would definitely focus on finding a source of Luvox for as long as you need for a safe taper. 

 

Congratulations on the progress you've made already!

 

I'm also concerned about the benzos--if you're using benzos two or three times a week that's enough to downregulate the benzo receptors and cause some withdrawal between doses.

 

I'm interested that you have cognitive problems with Lamictal tapering, I have noticed that with mine too. It seems to pass at about the same rate as the other withdrawal symptoms. I also get this weird reflux vomiting thing and sometimes sudden bouts of nausea. Oh well.