Dose reduction

Hey @renee j Good luck with your taper; we are right here rooting for you! 🍀

Thanks Gigi, that's very nice of you, appreciate your encouragement. My first attempt failed 2 years ago because I did a linear taper, not knowing anything about hyperbolic tapering. My ex-psychiatrist had suggested going down from 100mg quetiapine in 25mg reductions every fortnight, because one of her other patients had done it successfully, however that person was only on Q for 6 weeks during which time there would have been little change in the brain receptors, whereas I had been on it for 13 years, and my brain was well and truly adapted. If I'd taken the psych's advice I'd have ended up in severe w/d's in hospital and possible seizures. Then, purely by accident, a couple of months ago, I came across Dr Josef Wittdoerring of taperclinic.com on youtube, talking about hyperbolic tapering and how to get liquid Q, which is essential in the latter stages in the taper if you don't want very severe withdrawal symptoms. How can it be, when this method of relatively comfortable tapering has been well-known since the 2010s, that none of my doctors or the occasional psychiatrist I consulted in desperation knew nothing about it then, and still don't now!? This time I'm feeling very optimistic since I have a tapering system that makes sense. It may take a while, but so what. Let me know how you go on yours, won't you. R.👍

Yes, same here, @renee j . My doctor suggested tapering by skipping days. Turns out that’s like playing ping-pong with your nervous system, which will eventually snap and throw the racket, the ball, and the damn ping-pong table right back in your face! So I asked him if I was the only one who reacted this poorly. And basically that's what he thinks, and I'm glad if he is right. But he is a GP, he probably just has a few cases, and who knows how many of them think it's a relapse and just stay on the stuff for life. But even if we were just a small percentage, why aren't doctors more curious about what we tell them? My doctor really seemed unfazed. Like I was just the 25th snotty nose of the day in front of him. All the stories I could tell him 😁 But oh well... I at least tried to tell him that if he prescribes this stuff, he should know that this can happen and warn his other patients. But I have slim hope it registered. All these questions aside, I'm just grateful we at least have some manuals and peer support now. My next reduction will be a 4.4% cut on Friday. However bumpy it gets, I take solace in the fact that we might just be a few, but that's enough to not feel so lonely anymore.

Yeah Gigi, skipping days is a very bad idea, just results in overdosing one day and withdrawing the next, up and down swings in drug levels, cruelty to an already stressed nervous system, and bound to create worse withdrawals than ever. I've had the same experience with doctors too. Not all, but a lot of them can get very defensive so we have to approach them very gently with very tactfully put remarks etc if we have any hopes at all of changing attitudes. When I asked my ex-psychiatrist about tapering quetiapine, her brilliant suggestion was to reduce from 100mg by 25mg a fortnight. Would have put me in hospital with severe w/d and possible seizures within a week or two if I'd done that! Her other patient, who'd only been on the drug for 6 weeks was, not surprisingly, successful, however I'd been on it for 13 years, so not a particularly good idea. Today is Friday here in the southern hemisphere, so all the best for today's reduction. Cheers, R.

Keep going always listening to your body reaction, don't look back, one day at a time.

Thanks Azul, very good advice ☺️