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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 13 of 13. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by sukarno on July 15, 2007, at 17:28:22
I've been on Stablon for 2 1/2 years and a few days ago I tapered from 4 tablets a day to 3 tablets a day. Today I only took 2. Yesterday I felt some mild nervousness and just wasn't feeling right, but nothing major.. I could handle it. I then had a panic attack, but it too wasn't severe.
Today though I was just reading an article online and experienced a massive brain zap and about fell out of my chair. I feel off balance and anxious. The zap was like a seizure, although I've never had a seizure. It reminds me of Paxil's effects after taking 1/2 tablet of that years ago.
It's like someone took a hammer to my head and my reaction/reflex was to strike the desk and I immediately put my head on the bed, which is next to my chair. My wife was startled and I told her I think this must be a withdrawal reaction from Stablon.
Seems so much like SSRI withdrawal, but I've never really experienced SSRI withdrawal. I've only had a brain zap in 1993 after taking 1/2 tablet of Paxil and that scared me to death. In 1996 I also felt a big electrical shock sensation and thought I was struck by lightning and even heard the sound when I was walking outside at night in the downtown area, but no one else saw or heard any lightning that night. I had just come off Prozac a month or two prior to that episode.
I really don't think I can taper anymore from this drug. I might just be stuck on this stuff forever.
The reason why I tapered was because I began to develop a rash around my ankles and then it appeared on my arms, but now it seems to have resolved.
Has anyone else quit Stablon and experienced any horrific effects?
Posted by tendency on July 15, 2007, at 20:25:55
In reply to Stablon and brain 'zaps', posted by sukarno on July 15, 2007, at 17:28:22
Wow..this is kinda scary and disappointing to here. I've just started stablon about two weeks ago and have been loving it..
So, can't give you any advice on withdrawal but it makes me think that I'll only stay on stablon about a year then try quitting.
Actually, I do have one piece of taper advice that I learned the hard way: how quickly did you taper from 4 to 3 to 2 tabs? It sounds like it was over the course of perhaps a week.
IMO this can be dangerously fast. If I were tapering off Stablon after two years I'd cut back by 1/2 tab every 10 days or so. Just my 2 cents..
Posted by Phillipa on July 15, 2007, at 21:28:35
In reply to Re: Stablon and brain 'zaps' » sukarno, posted by tendency on July 15, 2007, at 20:25:55
And I had to taper off l0mg of paxil. Just a smaller piece each day and I was fine took it for two years. Love Phillipa
Posted by sukarno on July 15, 2007, at 22:54:31
In reply to Re: Stablon and brain 'zaps', posted by Phillipa on July 15, 2007, at 21:28:35
I probably tapered too fast. I just became confused after reading case reports where people had abused Stablon, taking up to 90 or more tablets per day and then successfully detoxified in a matter of days without significant withdrawal phenomena.
I am quite a sensitive person though, but your advice is much safer. I'll try to go slower on the taper. I am perfectionistic, unfortunately, and tend to be impatient with tapering. I used to taper Valium quickly because I was so eager to come off it and I would have a bad reaction. I have to learn to be disciplined in my tapering.
I hope that rash I had has nothing to do with Stablon. That worries me because if you ever develop an itchy rash, abdominal pain and/or fever while on Stablon, you should discontinue it because it may be a sign of liver toxicity and those symptoms often precede drug-induced hepatitis. Liver toxicity though is rare and from what I read it only occurs in those genetically predisposed, but I'm not sure how one can test to see if they are prone to that or not.
It is a great medication though, no doubt about that. I just wish it wasn't so expensive. :-(
Where I live, I pay 55 cents per tablet at a local pharmacy, which to me is expensive and I've heard that others pay 75 cents to $1 or more online.
If only a generic would come out that's 1/2 the price of this. It really eats into my budget. 4 tablets a day.. that's $60/month at least.
Posted by Sigismund on July 16, 2007, at 2:12:10
In reply to Stablon and brain 'zaps', posted by sukarno on July 15, 2007, at 17:28:22
>I tapered from 4 tablets a day to 3 tablets a day. Today I only took 2.
4 to 3 is doable. 3 to 2 more difficult.
I've done 4 to 3, but not the other.
I'm not so concerned about how hard it is to give up.
My worry is that ultimately it may worsen my depression, but that is only because I wonder if drugs aggravate the conditions they relieve. (And a bad day too.)
Posted by Sigismund on July 16, 2007, at 2:33:37
In reply to Re: Stablon and brain 'zaps', posted by sukarno on July 15, 2007, at 22:54:31
>successfully detoxified in a matter of days without significant withdrawal phenomena.
Oh hell, you know what the medical profession means by that.
It means you didn't nearly die.
Posted by sukarno on July 16, 2007, at 17:25:46
In reply to Re: Stablon and brain 'zaps' » sukarno, posted by Sigismund on July 16, 2007, at 2:12:10
I went back to three tablets a day and feel much better now. I don't even feel like I need 4 again.
I don't think I'll try to go down to 2 tablets until a few more weeks have passed.You are right about the medical community and their interpretation of withdrawal. What they think is "mild" is really "major" to the patient. hehheh. :-)
It's like how they describe abrupt benzodiazepine withdrawal. They think that vomiting, insomnia, muscle cramps and rapid heartrate are all "minor withdrawal symptoms". To me that's major, but then again, they aren't the patient. Doctors should sample some of the medications they push on their patients so they know what that is like.
It's so easy for them to sit back in their chair and dismiss brain zaps and sexual dysfunction associated with SSRIs and deny that those are withdrawal symptoms. They're probably thinking to themselves, "Thank God I don't take that crap!". lol
Posted by zmg on July 16, 2007, at 18:41:20
In reply to Re: Stablon and brain 'zaps', posted by sukarno on July 16, 2007, at 17:25:46
sukarno,
Also keep in mind that there are pill cutters available at most pharmacies. I've used one with my Stablon (and I tapered off Valium at about 2.5 milligrams per week using my cutter comfortably).I think tapering is very good and doing it as smoothly as possible is a very good thing.
Zaps don't sound fun.
Posted by cruise on July 23, 2007, at 9:27:37
In reply to Re: Stablon and brain 'zaps' » sukarno, posted by zmg on July 16, 2007, at 18:41:20
Are any of you taking Stablon successully with a benzo?
It doesn't seem to be working very well for me with my Klonopin after almost 5 weeks and I've seen a couple of posts where someone was experiencing the same symptoms (or lack of results) using the two together.
Posted by Sigismund on July 23, 2007, at 16:32:02
In reply to Re: Stablon and brain 'zaps', posted by cruise on July 23, 2007, at 9:27:37
I was taking Valium (around 10mg/d) when I started tianeptine and got a response to it.
Posted by zmg on July 23, 2007, at 16:59:25
In reply to Re: Stablon and brain 'zaps', posted by Sigismund on July 23, 2007, at 16:32:02
Ya, I think I've mentioned elsewhere that Stablon in the beginning caused a little tension with me and I took Valium concurrently for maybe 2 or 3 week then stopped the Valium. I'm not sure I'd say the 2 worked well together, but I was mostly just trying to take the edge off while my system adjusted. Once I did adjust Stablon on it's own worked pretty well for anxiety.
Posted by sukarno on July 24, 2007, at 3:07:01
In reply to Re: Stablon and brain 'zaps', posted by zmg on July 23, 2007, at 16:59:25
I've been on Valium for most of the past 17 years (when I wasn't on Valium I was on Tranxene or Xanax). Stablon still works for me, although I too felt some tension/nervousness begin to affect me after 12 days of taking it and needed to increase my bedtime dose of Xanax to help me sleep.
With time though, Stablon reduced my anxiety enough to where I've tapered down my benzodiazepine dosage considerably. I switched from Xanax back to Valium in 2005 and tapered down. Whereas I was on 5.5mg of Xanax per day in the early days of taking Stablon, now I'm only on 15mg of Valium a day which is roughly equivalent to 0.75-1.5mg of Xanax, depending on which equivalency chart you believe. That says a lot right there about the effectiveness of Stablon as an anxiolytic...for me at least. :-)
I'm only on 3 tablets of Stablon per day now and have been ok for the most part. I just feel more emotional than usual (depressive), but it's not that bad and I think my body will adjust. It had better adjust because I really can't afford to buy Stablon.
Too bad Stablon isn't as popular as SSRIs, because if it was, then there would be a generic manufacturer willing to produce it and we'd all save a lot of money.
Posted by cruise on July 24, 2007, at 19:16:17
In reply to Re: Stablon and brain 'zaps', posted by sukarno on July 24, 2007, at 3:07:01
Unfortunately, Stablon seemed to do nothing for me which was very disappointing after reading all the good posts here.
I stopped it as of today after speaking with my psychiatrist (i was on it for close to 5 weeks) and am going back to Celexa.
This is the end of the thread.
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