Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 943655

Shown: posts 1 to 12 of 12. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice

Posted by Cameron S on April 17, 2010, at 6:32:07

Hi,

I found this site via google adwords advertising -

www.yourplasticbrain.com

and I found it quite interesting. I have tried quitting SSRI's a few times without success.

I am very sceptical of anything on the internet nowdays so would appreciate any advice if the information on this site is accurate. I particularly thought the advice on Exercise really interesting as I love doing this anyway

Looking for a structured program to help me get off Fluoxetine (prozac).

thanks,
Cam

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice

Posted by linkadge on April 17, 2010, at 8:16:37

In reply to Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice, posted by Cameron S on April 17, 2010, at 6:32:07

You can dissolve prozac in water then just drink a little less each day. This way you can go down as slow as you want. You could go down by tenths or hundredths of a milligram if you wanted. Spread the withdrawl out over days, weeks, months, years....whatever.

Linkadge

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice

Posted by Phillipa on April 17, 2010, at 11:02:36

In reply to Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice, posted by linkadge on April 17, 2010, at 8:16:37

Welcome Cameron I dc'd paxil l0mg with tiny bites of the pill over two weeks after two years of use. That avoided the brain zaps. Phillipa

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » Cameron S

Posted by Deneb on April 17, 2010, at 23:55:18

In reply to Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice, posted by Cameron S on April 17, 2010, at 6:32:07

Hello Cameron S!

Welcome to Psycho-Babble! Thanks for letting us know how you found Psycho-Babble. The dissolving Prozac in water thing sounds like an idea that would work. I hope you figure it out.

Deneb

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » Cameron S

Posted by conundrum on April 18, 2010, at 7:30:38

In reply to Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice, posted by Cameron S on April 17, 2010, at 6:32:07

Another thing you can do with prozac is every other day dosing because the half life is so long. I did this while I was taking it recently! Not to get off it. You could take it every 2 days probably. There are lots of ways to get off prozac, I just recommend you do it slowly. IF your body is used to it you can have a lot of problems once off it. In this case I mean if you have been taking it for years. IT might be better to get off it in a course of months rather than weeks if you have been on it for several years or more.

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » Cameron S

Posted by 49er on April 23, 2010, at 5:45:02

In reply to Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice, posted by Cameron S on April 17, 2010, at 6:32:07

> Hi,
>
> I found this site via google adwords advertising -
>
> www.yourplasticbrain.com
>
> and I found it quite interesting. I have tried quitting SSRI's a few times without success.
>
> I am very sceptical of anything on the internet nowdays so would appreciate any advice if the information on this site is accurate. I particularly thought the advice on Exercise really interesting as I love doing this anyway
>
> Looking for a structured program to help me get off Fluoxetine (prozac).
>
> thanks,
> Cam

Hi Cameron,

As one who has slowly tapered from 4 meds down to 1, here are my thoughts on this site:

I think the tapering schedule that has been advocated is way too fast. I have usually tapered my meds anywhere from 5 to 10% of current dose every 3 to 6 weeks.

You may be one of the lucky ones who can taper faster but why take the chance on getting horrific withdrawal symptoms, especially when they don't show up right away?

Prozac comes in liquid for so cutting slowly is definitely doable.

As far as tapering every other day, I wouldn't advice it. Even with a long half life, your brain still needs a consistent dose of the medicine every day.

Regarding exercise, I think that depends on the individual. Many people, including myself, found that exercise intensified our withdrawal symptoms. I have no scientific study to show to you so you'll just have to take this at face value.

But it certainly can't hurt to try. If you feel worse, you can stop.

I know this sounds strange coming from someone who takes supplements but I would tread very carefully. Fish Oil is good but on the other stuff, be very cautious.

I would not take 5htp and St. Johns Wort as you risk Serotonin Syndrome.

Good luck.

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » 49er

Posted by SLS on April 25, 2010, at 10:25:55

In reply to Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » Cameron S, posted by 49er on April 23, 2010, at 5:45:02

> I have usually tapered my meds anywhere from 5 to 10% of current dose every 3 to 6 weeks

I would be interested to know how this formula was arrived at. It sounds a bit lengthy. Was it through empirical investigation pooling data using multiple subjects or something theoretical and padded with headroom just to be on the safe side. Perhaps this schedule hits is target. I really don't know. Does one size fit all?

One thing that I read recently, which seems counterintuitive and goes against traditional thought, is that a gradual taper does not protect one from relapse when compared to rapid tapers. I would worry about rebound depression, though.

> You may be one of the lucky ones who can taper faster

I'll just poke a little here. I certainly do not advocate dropping the dose of an antidepressant precipitously. What would it hurt, though, to taper faster than you suggest so as to evaluate what an individual's brain will accomodate? If, during the less gradual taper, withdrawal symptoms become robust, one can simply raise the dosage if necessary and adjust the taper rate. It might save one from a commitment to months and months of time which one could otherwise use to trial other drugs or accomplish a drug-free state.


- Scott

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice

Posted by Phillipa on April 25, 2010, at 19:57:31

In reply to Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » 49er, posted by SLS on April 25, 2010, at 10:25:55

I always just thought it was me because I could stop an ad and zero side effects. And I went on and off benzo doseages depending how I felt for years. But this 50mg of luvox is something else. Phillipa

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » SLS

Posted by 49er on April 26, 2010, at 6:22:12

In reply to Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » 49er, posted by SLS on April 25, 2010, at 10:25:55

> > I have usually tapered my meds anywhere from 5 to 10% of current dose every 3 to 6 weeks
>
> I would be interested to know how this formula was arrived at. It sounds a bit lengthy. Was it through empirical investigation pooling data using multiple subjects or something theoretical and padded with headroom just to be on the safe side. Perhaps this schedule hits is target. I really don't know. Does one size fit all?
>
> One thing that I read recently, which seems counterintuitive and goes against traditional thought, is that a gradual taper does not protect one from relapse when compared to rapid tapers. I would worry about rebound depression, though.
>
> > You may be one of the lucky ones who can taper faster
>
> I'll just poke a little here. I certainly do not advocate dropping the dose of an antidepressant precipitously. What would it hurt, though, to taper faster than you suggest so as to evaluate what an individual's brain will accomodate? If, during the less gradual taper, withdrawal symptoms become robust, one can simply raise the dosage if necessary and adjust the taper rate. It might save one from a commitment to months and months of time which one could otherwise use to trial other drugs or accomplish a drug-free state.
>
>
> - Scott

Hi Scott,

You're asking some good questions.

Unfortunately, there are hardly any studies on withdrawal and I don't anticipate that there will be. If I elaborate, then it will turn into a rant:).

I asked this same question a few years ago on the Paxil Progress Boards. Initially, they were recommending that people drop the dose by 2.5mg.

But then one person was having a horrible time with withdrawal and was hospitalized. The psychiatrist she saw recommended the 10% rule. Since the owner of the board is an RN, she felt that made alot more sense and went with that as the recommendation.

However, they too stress that one size does not fit all. But it seems that people on the boards who try to taper too fast have alot more problems than people who taper slowly judging by the posts.

Regarding your question about why not see if you can taper quickly initially, here is the problem from my understanding of how withdrawal works.

You may not have any problems initially but constantly tapering too quickly can cause a cumulative effect on your body with withdrawal symptoms. Sure, you can go back and updose but just like when you're staring meds, it takes quite awhile for your body to get stabilized. So really, how are you saving time?

You might be one of the lucky ones and I definitely don't dispute the fact that some people don't need to to follow the 10% rule. The problem is you won't know for awhile because of the delayed effect and if you're one of the unlucky ones, it could set you back alot more than if you had tapered slowly initially.

Unfortunately, as I said at the beginning, there are no studies to guide people on this. So folks have to make the best decision they can.

49er

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » 49er

Posted by SLS on April 26, 2010, at 7:25:08

In reply to Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » SLS, posted by 49er on April 26, 2010, at 6:22:12

> You may not have any problems initially but constantly tapering too quickly can cause a cumulative effect on your body with withdrawal symptoms.

I can understand the concept of how it might be a bad thing to trigger the withdrawal syndrome when it could be prevented from happening at all. However, I don't believe that it would be too injurious if an adjustment is made soon after withdrawal symptoms emerge. I think it is the allowance of these symptoms to continue unmitigated that can lead to persistent problems. Here, I have no evidence from scientific investigation. My conclusions are based only upon what I have observed in myself and some others here.

> The problem is you won't know for awhile because of the delayed effect

I wasn't aware that there was a delayed effect. I think it should be expected that there be a period of time between when a drug taper is initiated and when declining drug levels arrive at some minimum threshold, beyond which withdrawal symptoms emerge. This might look like a delay, but really, it would be an effect that begins proximal to when this threshold is reached. Anyway, I would be interested to learn more about this delay you speak of.


- Scott

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice

Posted by FredPotter on April 29, 2010, at 21:18:31

In reply to Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice » Cameron S, posted by conundrum on April 18, 2010, at 7:30:38

The half life of Prozac is so long that I wouldn't have thought a taper was at all necessary. Recently I stopped 40mg citalopram by taking 20mg for 1 day and then nothing - well actually 4 days later I started something that works: Nardil

 

Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice

Posted by Cameron S on May 15, 2010, at 7:53:06

In reply to Re: Site with SSRI Discontinuation Advice, posted by FredPotter on April 29, 2010, at 21:18:31

thanks everyone for the replies!

actually it hasn't been as difficult as I thought - was much nastier when I came off zoloft a few years back. just a bit more emotional than before but that is to be expected


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