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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by CygnusX1 on March 17, 2002, at 2:48:15
Well I gave it a shot. I tried to taper off Luvox. I am on 50 mg and I went to 25 mg. The first day was great. I felt good about myself and what I was doing. That was Friday. Today (Sunday) I wasn't doing as well. I find that I do not feel "connected" to reality. I was driving around my hometown of 12 years and it felt like I've never been here before. Sitting around in my house felt like I was in another dimension. Even hanging out with my girlfriend felt "foreign". So tonight I popped a 50 mg pill.
Would I have better luck taking it even slower? Like from 50 mg to 37.5 mg? Would that help deter the strange feelings I've had this weekend?
I don't want to throw in the towel for good. But I cannot function correctly barely feeling connected to reality.
Thanks
Posted by jay on March 17, 2002, at 9:19:31
In reply to Withdraw was too much, posted by CygnusX1 on March 17, 2002, at 2:48:15
Posted by IsoM on March 17, 2002, at 16:57:57
In reply to Withdraw was too much, posted by CygnusX1 on March 17, 2002, at 2:48:15
some can taper off quickly without noticing the least difference, but not me. Luvox & Paxil are the two I had to take months to taper off. Does that give you an idea of how slowly I went?
Whenever I dropped a dose, I also give it a week before droppig again. What I did was break my 100 mg Luvox into 8 pieces (as much as I could) - that's 12.5 mg each roughly, & drop it by that much each week. The last month, I had to taper even slower. I'm a bit of an extreme example, but I did it.
Posted by fachad on March 17, 2002, at 18:25:01
In reply to Withdraw was too much, posted by CygnusX1 on March 17, 2002, at 2:48:15
It may require patience and persistence, but if you really want to quit and you don't want to be miserable, you need to go slower. If you try to go too fast, you will just get discouraged and give up.
Find the smallest increment you can with dosage. If you get scored 25mg tablets, it is easy to snap them in half for 12.5 mg. If you buy a pill cutter, you can cut those pieces into 6.25 mg slivers.
Start with your current dosage for three days, then a smaller dosage, then your current for three days, etc. So if you are at 50mg now, it would be 50, 50, 50, 43.75, 50, 50, 50, 43.75 etc. Maybe you could just do every other day at the lower dose. 50, 43.75, 50, 43.75, 50 etc. You will know if you are going too fast because you will feel miserable.
Remember that each time you change the dose pattern, you have to give your brain time to physically and chemically change. For me a month is about minimum between dosage changes if I don't want to feel symptoms when I make another dosage change. You may be able to go faster, or you may need to take it slower.
Again, if you go too slow you will not have any bad effects, but if you go too fast, you will get all kinds of unpleasantness and may even precipitate a new depression or rebound target symptoms.
Rush is a great band, but a poor strategy for SSRI tapering (sorry, that was so pathetic, but I couldn't Resist).
Posted by CygnusX1 on March 17, 2002, at 22:05:55
In reply to Go Slower - By Smaller Increments » CygnusX1, posted by fachad on March 17, 2002, at 18:25:01
So if I'm following you correctly, I would go 50 50 50 43.75 50 50 50 37.5 43.75 43.75 43.75 37.5 43.75 43.75 43.75 31.25 37.5 37.5 37.5 etc..
Close?
> It may require patience and persistence, but if you really want to quit and you don't want to be miserable, you need to go slower. If you try to go too fast, you will just get discouraged and give up.
>
> Find the smallest increment you can with dosage. If you get scored 25mg tablets, it is easy to snap them in half for 12.5 mg. If you buy a pill cutter, you can cut those pieces into 6.25 mg slivers.
>
> Start with your current dosage for three days, then a smaller dosage, then your current for three days, etc. So if you are at 50mg now, it would be 50, 50, 50, 43.75, 50, 50, 50, 43.75 etc. Maybe you could just do every other day at the lower dose. 50, 43.75, 50, 43.75, 50 etc. You will know if you are going too fast because you will feel miserable.
>
> Remember that each time you change the dose pattern, you have to give your brain time to physically and chemically change. For me a month is about minimum between dosage changes if I don't want to feel symptoms when I make another dosage change. You may be able to go faster, or you may need to take it slower.
>
> Again, if you go too slow you will not have any bad effects, but if you go too fast, you will get all kinds of unpleasantness and may even precipitate a new depression or rebound target symptoms.
>
> Rush is a great band, but a poor strategy for SSRI tapering (sorry, that was so pathetic, but I couldn't Resist).
Posted by fachad on March 18, 2002, at 8:34:36
In reply to Re: Go Slower - By Smaller Increments , posted by CygnusX1 on March 17, 2002, at 22:05:55
I didn't really mean to prescribe a rigid taper regimen so much as to suggest different ways to go slow. (like small increments, alternating days, etc.)
The only real way to figure out your taper is to proceed slowly and if you feel any withdrawal symptoms, like being disconnected or whatever, go back to where you felt ok and then proceed slower.
If I were you I'd try 43.75 every day and see if you feel ok.
You will always know if you are going too fast because you will feel withdrawal symptoms.
> So if I'm following you correctly, I would go 50 50 50 43.75 50 50 50 37.5 43.75 43.75 43.75 37.5 43.75 43.75 43.75 31.25 37.5 37.5 37.5 etc..
>
> Close?
>
>
>
>
> > It may require patience and persistence, but if you really want to quit and you don't want to be miserable, you need to go slower. If you try to go too fast, you will just get discouraged and give up.
> >
> > Find the smallest increment you can with dosage. If you get scored 25mg tablets, it is easy to snap them in half for 12.5 mg. If you buy a pill cutter, you can cut those pieces into 6.25 mg slivers.
> >
> > Start with your current dosage for three days, then a smaller dosage, then your current for three days, etc. So if you are at 50mg now, it would be 50, 50, 50, 43.75, 50, 50, 50, 43.75 etc. Maybe you could just do every other day at the lower dose. 50, 43.75, 50, 43.75, 50 etc. You will know if you are going too fast because you will feel miserable.
> >
> > Remember that each time you change the dose pattern, you have to give your brain time to physically and chemically change. For me a month is about minimum between dosage changes if I don't want to feel symptoms when I make another dosage change. You may be able to go faster, or you may need to take it slower.
> >
> > Again, if you go too slow you will not have any bad effects, but if you go too fast, you will get all kinds of unpleasantness and may even precipitate a new depression or rebound target symptoms.
> >
> > Rush is a great band, but a poor strategy for SSRI tapering (sorry, that was so pathetic, but I couldn't Resist).
Posted by David Smith on March 18, 2002, at 23:28:29
In reply to Withdraw was too much, posted by CygnusX1 on March 17, 2002, at 2:48:15
Have you been to www.breggin.com ?
Dr. Peter Breggin suggests tapering off of meds verrry slowly.
The suggested dosage is a reduction of the AD by ten percent every 7 to 10
days. If your doctor is cooperative you may want
to enlist her (his) aid.
Withdrawal effects can be life threatening!
Also if you are taking more than one Rx then taper off one med at a time.Good luck!!!
This is the end of the thread.
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