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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by vitalsign0 on September 22, 2010, at 12:07:45
Brief history:
Been taking Luvox 50mgs and Xanax .5mgs at night for the past 14 years for generalized anxiety and OCD.
My doctor switched me to Prozac to make withdrawal easier and it worked. I took Prozac 10mgs for a month and then stopped the SSRI altogether. I still got some brain zaps and headaches, but they were a lot more mild than any other previous attempt. Things got bad two weeks after stopping for a few days, then calmed down a bit.
Here it is 4 weeks after stopping Prozac, 2 months after stopping Luvox, and I'm still getting brain zaps, disconnected feeling, and headaches. I can never predict how I'm going to feel day to day.
How long should this go on for? My doctor said at this point it may not be the medication withdrawal anymore, but a physical manifestation of baseline anxiety and I might want to restart Luvox or try a different one.
Any advice?
Posted by Phillipa on September 22, 2010, at 12:34:38
In reply to SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping, posted by vitalsign0 on September 22, 2010, at 12:07:45
Oh no as basically on the same as you were for all those years didn't control the symptoms though taking 1mg xanax and 5mg valium also. Well if it's a return of the anxiety or OCD what is your doc suggesting you take now. Did you find that there is something in luvox that your body just doesn't want to let you off of? I did. Had to continue it again. Phillipa
Posted by vitalsign0 on September 22, 2010, at 13:00:33
In reply to Re: SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping » vitalsign0, posted by Phillipa on September 22, 2010, at 12:34:38
I wanted to get off it because I didn't think it did much for OCD, I felt hooked on it out of fear of withdrawal and it made me really lethargic.
Dr said a higher dose of Prozac, Celexa, or Zoloft would work.
I am rather lucky, I have a young doctor who has gone through SSRI withdrawal himself so he listens and sympathizes well.
I guess the Luvox may have helped my overall anxiety level, just not for OCD at that dose.
Too early to throw in the towel? Should all withdrawal be cleared up by now?
Posted by weatherfreak on September 22, 2010, at 19:33:06
In reply to Re: SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping » Phillipa, posted by vitalsign0 on September 22, 2010, at 13:00:33
NO! Don't throw in the towel at all. I've had 2 SSRI's that did that to me in the past. It took a month for the zaps to stop then as they slowly receded, it took another 5 months or so to feel normal again.
If you really want to be off medication. I have found it can take me 6 months or longer to feel like me again. Some people find it takes longer and some quicker. Everyone is different, but what you are experiencing is not out of the ordinary to me at all. Good luck, you're through the worst of it.
Posted by Phillipa on September 22, 2010, at 21:13:24
In reply to Re: SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping » vitalsign0, posted by weatherfreak on September 22, 2010, at 19:33:06
Wow would have never guessed as two years of l0mg of paxil weaned off and was normal after the two week withdrawal. Tiny pieces smaller each day. Phillipa
Posted by Conundrum on September 22, 2010, at 23:37:33
In reply to Re: SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping » vitalsign0, posted by weatherfreak on September 22, 2010, at 19:33:06
These are known to happen. There are a couple of antipsychiatry groups on yahoo groups that specialize in helping with these issues. I wouldn't take their views on drugs seriously but they can offer support and have some very good notes in their "Files" section on how to handle a protracted withdrawal. It seems that many notice differences around 6 month intervals. 6 months, a year, 18 month, 2 years. You don't sound as bad as some of the folks there so it will probably be a lot shorter.
Posted by mellow on September 23, 2010, at 2:50:24
In reply to SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping, posted by vitalsign0 on September 22, 2010, at 12:07:45
I feel your pain and I will continue to follow your post as i'm going through this right now!
I'm ten days off of Celexa. I was at 20mg Celexa for probably two years and 40 mg Lexapro for three years before that. The doc dropped me to 10mg of Celexa for a couple of months and I'm ten days into no Celexa at all right now. I made and emergency appointment on Monday and he increased my Lamictal to 150mg b/c I said I want to try with no SSRI in my cocktail. (My theory being that the SSRI's make mixed episodes and jittery manic energy worse) He said we will see what happens, but I have to remain open to being on an SSRI if I can't calm down and get my obsessions and emotions under control.
On one hand I feel worse than I have in a long time, but I also feel like I did before my full mental collapse in 2005. I have been listening to jazz and writing poetry and short stories again. I'm blogging and feeling very passionate.
But the down fall is my emotions and nervous energy are just all over the place. I feel like I'm going crazy, but this is the first time I have felt "real" emotions in almost five years...and maybe its worth the anxiety to see the beauty in life again...between the freak outs anyway.
Posted by vitalsign0 on September 23, 2010, at 6:46:58
In reply to Re: Protracted Withdrawals, posted by Conundrum on September 22, 2010, at 23:37:33
Do you have a link to any of these?
Posted by Conundrum on September 23, 2010, at 8:13:12
In reply to Re: Protracted Withdrawals » Conundrum, posted by vitalsign0 on September 23, 2010, at 6:46:58
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/prozacawareness/
The other group doesn't exist anymore.
You will need to joint the group. Then go to file #4 called "Reaction to an antidepressant" the same rules here can apply to withdrawals.
There is also a good article by Dr. Healy about healthy withdrawals.
Hope you find it useful. Many of the posters there will be able to relate to your situation.
Posted by 49er on September 24, 2010, at 4:26:31
In reply to SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping, posted by vitalsign0 on September 22, 2010, at 12:07:45
> Brief history:
>
> Been taking Luvox 50mgs and Xanax .5mgs at night for the past 14 years for generalized anxiety and OCD.
>
> My doctor switched me to Prozac to make withdrawal easier and it worked. I took Prozac 10mgs for a month and then stopped the SSRI altogether. I still got some brain zaps and headaches, but they were a lot more mild than any other previous attempt. Things got bad two weeks after stopping for a few days, then calmed down a bit.
>
> Here it is 4 weeks after stopping Prozac, 2 months after stopping Luvox, and I'm still getting brain zaps, disconnected feeling, and headaches. I can never predict how I'm going to feel day to day.
>
> How long should this go on for? My doctor said at this point it may not be the medication withdrawal anymore, but a physical manifestation of baseline anxiety and I might want to restart Luvox or try a different one.
>
> Any advice?Vital Sign,
Unfortunately, you essentially cold turkeyed Prozac at 10mg and that is why you are having the problems you're having. I am not saying that to be critical by the way.
Unfortunately, many psychiatrists (not all) are clueless about withdrawal symptoms. Obviously, I disagree with your doctor.
You might want to consider reinstating the Prozac at 10mg since it sounds like you didn't have problems. Once you are stable and ready to taper, I would get the liquid version and taper 10% of current dose every 3 to 6 weeks.
I hear the groans from everyone on the board that this will take too long. Well, this is not a race and the goal is to be off permanently.
You found that the quick way didn't work so it is time to try another method in my opinion.
Good luck.
49er
Posted by Conundrum on September 24, 2010, at 8:02:06
In reply to Re: SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping » vitalsign0, posted by 49er on September 24, 2010, at 4:26:31
> > Brief history:
> >
> > Been taking Luvox 50mgs and Xanax .5mgs at night for the past 14 years for generalized anxiety and OCD.
> >
> > My doctor switched me to Prozac to make withdrawal easier and it worked. I took Prozac 10mgs for a month and then stopped the SSRI altogether. I still got some brain zaps and headaches, but they were a lot more mild than any other previous attempt. Things got bad two weeks after stopping for a few days, then calmed down a bit.
> >
> > Here it is 4 weeks after stopping Prozac, 2 months after stopping Luvox, and I'm still getting brain zaps, disconnected feeling, and headaches. I can never predict how I'm going to feel day to day.
> >
> > How long should this go on for? My doctor said at this point it may not be the medication withdrawal anymore, but a physical manifestation of baseline anxiety and I might want to restart Luvox or try a different one.
> >
> > Any advice?
>
> Vital Sign,
>
> Unfortunately, you essentially cold turkeyed Prozac at 10mg and that is why you are having the problems you're having. I am not saying that to be critical by the way.
>
> Unfortunately, many psychiatrists (not all) are clueless about withdrawal symptoms. Obviously, I disagree with your doctor.
>
> You might want to consider reinstating the Prozac at 10mg since it sounds like you didn't have problems. Once you are stable and ready to taper, I would get the liquid version and taper 10% of current dose every 3 to 6 weeks.
>
> I hear the groans from everyone on the board that this will take too long. Well, this is not a race and the goal is to be off permanently.
>
> You found that the quick way didn't work so it is time to try another method in my opinion.
>
> Good luck.
>
> 49er
>What he said. Some people are very sensitive to these meds and need to withdrawal very slowly. The nice thing about using prozac is you can do this fairly slowly. The downside is you'll have to wait a couple weeks for the drop in dosage to actually have an effect, due to prozac's long half life.
Posted by vitalsign0 on September 24, 2010, at 16:28:15
In reply to Re: SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping » vitalsign0, posted by 49er on September 24, 2010, at 4:26:31
>
> Unfortunately, you essentially cold turkeyed Prozac at 10mg and that is why you are having the problems you're having. I am not saying that to be critical by the way.
>
> Unfortunately, many psychiatrists (not all) are clueless about withdrawal symptoms. Obviously, I disagree with your doctor.
>
> You might want to consider reinstating the Prozac at 10mg since it sounds like you didn't have problems. Once you are stable and ready to taper, I would get the liquid version and taper 10% of current dose every 3 to 6 weeks.
>
> I hear the groans from everyone on the board that this will take too long. Well, this is not a race and the goal is to be off permanently.
>
> You found that the quick way didn't work so it is time to try another method in my opinion.
>
> Good luck.
>
> 49er
>You know, that's not a bad idea. I figured the long half life of Prozac would coast me through the withdrawals which are really bad with Luvox. But I have been on Luvox for 14 years. That's a long time. Perhaps tapering off Prozac even slower is the remedy.
I wonder if having taken Xanax all these years with the Luvox is making SSRI withdrawal worse. I know that they fight for the same enzymes in the liver affecting the metabolism.
Posted by bleauberry on September 26, 2010, at 10:40:04
In reply to SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping, posted by vitalsign0 on September 22, 2010, at 12:07:45
After 14 years, there have likely been some profound long lasting and maybe permanent changes in the brain. It isn't the same brain you had prior to Luvox.
Manifestation of anxiety? Grasping at straws. Sorry, ssri zaps are not anxiety. Headaches have a thousand causes. To point at anxiety seems weak to me. Unless of course you are indeed suffering some heavy anxiety. I didn't see that in your post.
For reference, I was still have brain zaps 4 weeks after stopping zoloft and I had only been on it for 6 weeks. Prior to that it had been 6 weeks of lexapro and 8 years of prozac.
Doctors have not yet taken notice of it yet, but there is a very clear phenomenon of post-ssri adverse effects following longterm use. It's almost as if we need to keep taking the ssri for life, regardless if it does any good for us or not, simply because the molecule has become such an integral part of the body we can't readjust to working without it. Almost like a permanent physical dependency.
I would probably give it another month to see what happens. My zaps were gone at about the 6 week mark. My true baseline really didn't settle in until about 3 months....these brain adaptations...either getting on a med or getting off....take a long time.
> Brief history:
>
> Been taking Luvox 50mgs and Xanax .5mgs at night for the past 14 years for generalized anxiety and OCD.
>
> My doctor switched me to Prozac to make withdrawal easier and it worked. I took Prozac 10mgs for a month and then stopped the SSRI altogether. I still got some brain zaps and headaches, but they were a lot more mild than any other previous attempt. Things got bad two weeks after stopping for a few days, then calmed down a bit.
>
> Here it is 4 weeks after stopping Prozac, 2 months after stopping Luvox, and I'm still getting brain zaps, disconnected feeling, and headaches. I can never predict how I'm going to feel day to day.
>
> How long should this go on for? My doctor said at this point it may not be the medication withdrawal anymore, but a physical manifestation of baseline anxiety and I might want to restart Luvox or try a different one.
>
> Any advice?
Posted by creepy on September 29, 2010, at 8:38:14
In reply to SSRI withdrawal 1 month later, still zapping, posted by vitalsign0 on September 22, 2010, at 12:07:45
I took celexa for about 8 years and recently dropped it. I had about a month of brain zaps. Id stick it out, it shouldnt be permanent.
This is the end of the thread.
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