Antidepressant Withdrawal

[[Buddie]]

Hi Wolfie,

I always advise people to check out survivingantidepressants.org for everything regarding ADs. Mods know have experience in "polydrugging", it is worth checking out!!

All the best,
[...] x

[[Buddie]]

 :)Thanks [...]

[[Buddie]]

wish I had heeded all this before I ignorantly came off Zoloft in 4 weeks time after 15yrs on it..was told to start gabapentin and I would be fine..

read up on gabapentin and made the decision NOT to take anymore drugs that play with my brain chemistry

so here I am 5 months off as of Oct 9th (next week) and I am DIEING!@!!!!!

but for me reinstating seems futile. I also tapered .125mg from my lorazepam last Saturday...so I must just be a martyr or masochist

let me say that coming off the sertraline is as hard as the benzo...I AM WICKED sick

Are you off all ADs now? I was put on Lexapro 3 months ago and want to wean off of it but I think it's helping mask my withdrawal from Lexapro so then I think maybe I should leave it alone for a few months Bim so confused. I just don't want my symptoms to get any worse.

[[Buddie]]

I was prescribed antidepressants way back in 1987 and it did wonders for me. I was truly clinically depressed to the point I had myself entered into a hospital. Over the years I tried quitting them, only to have problems with dizziness. Finally, about three years ago, I broke my 50 MG tablets of fluvoxamine in half, and took those up until 6 months ago, when I cut those in half. In other words I was then taking 12.5 MG. Three weeks ago I stopped taking them altogether. I have had little trouble. Maybe a little dizziness and a little depression. Nothing major. I think the reason I did not have problems is because I did it go gradually. I know this flies in the face of the 10% reduction every two weeks, but it did work. Now, I've managed to cut down to .125 MG of Ativan a night. And I've done that over a period of three years also. Not sure where I'm going with that, as I have little or no problems taking such a low dose. I realize that I am still dependent, however. Getting off the 30 year habit of daily antidepressant use should give me confidence regarding the benzo. I guess my message would be to not expect the worst regarding withdrawal. I wasn't even seriously trying to taper off the antidepressants, if I were I would have gone the 10% route, with the scales and all. Maybe NOT taking it too seriously actually helped me.

[[Buddie]]

i would second that. Just because placebo versus nocebo is a very real thing. The less fear you feel about something the better. But don't cold turkey of course.

[[Buddie]]

I so wish I had found this forum forever ago. I was started in Paxil over 25 years ago for what was really pretty mild premenopausal sxs. It did smooth out the edges. As you will see by my list of meds in my signature I have been so over medicated it's just hard for me to even read. Stopping the Paxil was not ever mentioned by any Dr. I just took it like a good little patient. Almost all my family and friends of the female sex were on one AD or another.
This past fall I had gotten off a ton of stuff- morphine, methadone (high dose- pain clinic) lyrica, a statin. I decided I was so good I would quit the Paxil, basically CT. I was mainly tired and had the eye movement/brain shocks for a few weeks but thought I was good, I could cry again. When major symptoms started weeks later I didn't even think about it being the paxil. I was dizzy, weak, horribly nauseated, racing heart, chest pressure, fainted.. ended up in the ER twice and honestly thought I was going to die. I had never felt so bad. When it hit me that it was possibly the paxil I looked it up and saw that some people had experienced the same symptoms. For months on end. I immediately got back on it and after a month of improvement I was finally better. The thoughts and memories that were unbearable before going back on it were hell. My poor husband would say "do we need to go somewhere?" as in a mental facility, but I kept saying I was not a threat to myself or anyone else so what would they do? I was not nearly strong enough to wait and see if there was life or something better on the 'other side' of the torture. I feel OK on it. I would love to be off. But my latest Rx for xanax after my chronic pain that has had me in bed for 90% of the last 17 months ended in yet another disaster. I was put back on morphine, which I am trying to take as little as possible  and xanax which was not used nearly as often as allowed- I didn't want to get addicted so I quit it CT. And here I am. Being totally ignorant of the dangers of sudden WD and finding myself in a big mess I found BB. I have had some people tell me I need to get off the paxil but that is way down the list at the moment. It will be a while before I am off the xanax. I just want to say that having this forum and knowing what it teaches is the best thing I have ever found when/if I do decide to try again to get off paxil. God bless each of you on your journey and for the support you can get only from someone who has walked in your shoes. We each have our own experience but we all can understand what others are going thru even if it's not exactly the same. The non-judgment means as much to me as anything else!

[[Buddie]]

Hi! Is there anyone on the forum tapering an SSRI after benzo withdrawal? If so, let's be buddies! 

[[Buddie]]

Hi! Is there anyone on the forum tapering an SSRI after benzo withdrawal? If so, let's be buddies!

Hello I’m tapering off an NDRI Wellbutrin not an SSRI but still an antidepressant after having just come off 2mgs of klonopin July 31st

I need some buddies too. Thanks

[[Buddie]]

I’ve been away from the site for a while, but am back to connect with others.  I’ve been off of Zoloft for five weeks and going through withdrawals. I never wanted to feel as bad as I did a couple of years ago, but here I am just trying to get through another day again.

[[Buddie]]

I’ve been away from the site for a while, but am back to connect with others.  I’ve been off of Zoloft for five weeks and going through withdrawals. I never wanted to feel as bad as I did a couple of years ago, but here I am just trying to get through another day again.

Hi. I’m currently tapering Sertraline. I’m curious to hear how your taper went? Did you reduce slowly or cold turkey?