Zoloft — 6,52 — 5 years and 9 months — holding | without clinician
"in the middle of a temporary wave" — @Gigi.0809Let’s just hope this is true. I can cope with the symptoms. What drives me crazy is the obsession that 1. This might not be WD and holding won’t do anything good. 2. That these symptoms won’t go away ever. This is a very prominent issue in my life. I have had always severe rumination and fear going on for permanent illnesses (schizophrenia, permanent dpdr, permanent depression, PSSD, and most recently permanent blank mind)
Zoloft — 6,52 — 5 years and 9 months — holding | without clinician
Withdrawal is not a preview of who you are without the drug.
Zoloft — 10 years, 50 mg — currently 21.5 mg — actively tapering
"How to stubbornly refuse to make your self miserable about anything, yes anything" — @AntonHahaha, I love this title! I've read Viktor Frankl (hence the Nietzsche quote!) and actually gave Meditations by Marcus Aurelius to my son as a gift recently!
"Acceptance does NOT mean agreement or liking" — @AntonSpot on. I think there is so much old wisdom out there (like Stoicism and Buddhism) that nails this exact mindset and is helpful way beyond just coping with withdrawal.
"You are definitely a gem stone" — @AntonMan, be careful: what if your sweet compliment goes straight to my head, my ego blows out of proportion, and I start writing total bullshit that ruins everyone who reads it, and then they all sue me, I lose my livelihood, and I'm never happy again?! See? I can ruminate and catastrophize with the best of them! 😜😁 Thank you for your kind words! ❤️
Withdrawal is not a preview of who you are without the drug.
Zoloft — 10 years, 50 mg — currently 21.5 mg — actively tapering
Zoloft — 6,52 — 5 years and 9 months — holding | without clinician
Withdrawal is not a preview of who you are without the drug.
Zoloft — 10 years, 50 mg — currently 21.5 mg — actively tapering
"I think it can actually be counterproductive to be too introspective or try to read heavy books." — @Gigi.0809If I only could comprehend.
Zoloft — 6,52 — 5 years and 9 months — holding | without clinician
Zoloft — 6,52 — 5 years and 9 months — holding | without clinician
"Fear of fear is such a real thing and we want so bad to get certainty, but that need for certainty only fuels the cycle. We will never get that 100% certainty!" — @AntonThat’s pretty much my whole clinical picture paired with strong and persistent dpdr. You are absolutely right.
Zoloft — 6,52 — 5 years and 9 months — holding | without clinician
Prozac — 2.16- tapering
"while keto and carnivore can definitely be helpful for some, they can also be an added stress for other during acute withdrawal phases" — @MamaLaThis is true. I was eating keto before I started tapering, but now I can't do it because going into ketosis triggers mania, anxiety, and insomnia. I have found that my own body needs a certain amount of carbs each day to feel calm, function, and sleep. Everyone is so incredibly different though, so one thing that makes someone worse can make another person feel better. Maybe try some small changes first to see how your body reacts. Wishing you the best!
Venlafaxine (tapering) - Current dose 17.28 mg
Trazodone - 50 mg
Synthroid - 25 mcg
“Your brain and body know how to heal. Trust the process and keep going.”
Please Note: I am not a healthcare professional. Any advice given is based on personal experience and that of others in the lay withdrawal community.
Zoloft — 6,52 — 5 years and 9 months — holding | without clinician
"As I said. The cases I find in forums which are similar to the above are cold turkey cases. Not a SINGLE ONE which tells these symptoms after a smaller reduction." — @LeminaseriI said this to another person...the guidelines, cases, suggestions, etc. ARE NOT THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. In other words, everyone is DIFFERENT. Just because "not a single person" has the same timeline, dose reduction, or symptom as you DOES NOT MEAN that what you are going through is not withdrawal. I am a total outlier. My symptoms don't appear FOR MONTHS after my last dose. "The literature" says that if it takes more than a few days/weeks for a symptom to appear, then it's RELAPSE, most likely. HOGWASH. I never had the insomnia/anxiety/akathasia that struck me when I got off paxil BEFORE I took paxil. My anxiety and insomnia was bothersome, but was at a level 3 or 4. The horror hell I was in AFTER was a 15, and it showed up 6 MONTHS after my last dose. I felt great for SIX MONTHS. Slept wonderful, natural sleep for SIX MONTHS. Then BAM. I was unable to sleep. At all. and the awful anxiety plagued me all day. No doctor can tell me that is relapse. That is a nervous system having an injury and showing a delayed response. So, Lem, write your own rules. These forums/doctors/Maudsley deprescribing guidelnes are just that GUIDELINES. But your body is UNIQUE UNIQUE UNIQUE. My prayer for you is that you start believing in yourself, respecting yourself, and knowing that you are a normal human being who experiences pain. Keep coming back. Keep posting. Every "BUT" you post will be met with support and evidence that no one is beyond help. Everyone I ever knew thought, "I'm the exception. Everyone else can get well, but I won't." You are really good at TELLING OTHERS "You will get well!!!" Why not YOU? Believe it for yourself. Fake it for now. We'll keep reminding you.
atypical in presentation of side effects, super sensitive to small doses and general delayed responder. never took a psych med that didn't' make me sick immediately with infections and restless legs. have never been able to tolerate being on them, but have never had support to get off so I've been bouncing back and forth. i don't like capital letters. sorry.
Paxil — 1 mg — 2 yrs — holding until Oct. 7 doc appt.
Seroquel — 50 — planning taper |
trileptal -75 planning taper
prasozin 1 mg planning taper
started my psych med saga in 2001 and wish I never had. I had some difficulties with sleep and anxiety, but NOTHING like what was in store for me after trying every med out there. My last treatment center promised to "get me totally off" in 2022 but it was a lie. They just switched drugs and added more and more in a desperate attempt to help me "stabilize," so they could call me a "success story" once insurance stopped paying. I agree with those who state that this industry needs to change. AND I'm working on not being resentful about my suffering because it doesn't help anyone.
been on an off cocktails since 2001. Most recent mixture, prescribed in 2024: 20 mg Paxil, 150 Trileptal, 50 Seroquel, 2 mg prasozin, (for PTSD/nightmares.)
immediately went to 1 mg prasozin, and after 3 months cut to 10 mg paxil. No felt effects. Then went to 5 about 3 months later, (though I didnt' keep track so I'm rusty.) No felt effects. So, I've roughly been on 5 mg for a year and a half.
Side effects always force to to start tapering RIGHT AWAY.
I didn't start keeping track of my Paxil taper until this year. I went from 3mg to 1 in 10 months, using a liquid Maudsley-ish slow taper. Again, no felt effects until now.
October 2026...sleeping less and feeling more sedated during the day. Having trouble managing my social life without getting over-stimulated. Must set boundaries according to my body and not my heart.
Holding 1 mg paxil until blood work done and evaluated, and to see if build a social life that doesn't make me lose sleep. Sounds silly as I type it, but actually, nothing is "silly" on this ride! Everything is WILD!!!! LOL
Keeping all other meds the same. Sorry so long.
Zoloft —50 mg to 15 mg — 8 years with a cold turkey and reinstatement in between— was liquid micro tapering, crashed at 14.275 mg and now holding at 15 mg.
Prozac — 2.16- tapering
Mirtazapine — 0.12mg — 3 years, 7 months
Zoloft —50 mg to 15 mg — 8 years with a cold turkey and reinstatement in between— was liquid micro tapering, crashed at 14.275 mg and now holding at 15 mg.
Mirtazapine — 0.2mg — 1 year — actively tapering
"The difference between two near identical doses is hardly anything" — @Cosmic1973Doesn’t that prove Maria’s point tbh?
Zoloft — 6,52 — 5 years and 9 months — holding | without clinician
Zoloft —50 mg to 15 mg — 8 years with a cold turkey and reinstatement in between— was liquid micro tapering, crashed at 14.275 mg and now holding at 15 mg.
"I know my anxiety is through the roof right now. That’s why my family wants me to go back up to 25 because they think it’s all my anxiety and not withdrawal anymore. I’m so scared that if I go back up to 25 the symptoms will get worse though. I don’t know what to do. If I shou..." — @Maria A.I’m the exact same as you. Almost identical. This microtapering thing destroyed us. Thank you Dr. Horowitz. You destroyed people’s lives! And I wonder how many more. I don’t have even the emotional capability to feel angry right now. These tapering communities have following problems: There are people who hopped on a med without anything serious to begin with. These people realize, that they must go off the med because they actually were fine. And if they get over their withdrawal eg. taper properly without doing harm, they become better and post “I’ve recovered..” while they didn’t have anything from to recover in first place. But in my case (and maybe in the case of Maria as well) we have had serious psychiatric conditions before ever taking any med. And the med helped us. So it is 1. Very very unscientific and 2. Maybe a bit harmful to tell us (Maria talked to Horowitz as well) “well you should get off your meds ASAP because xyz.” I’m on the same place as you @Maria A. Did you have the urge to pace before any meds? Because afaik this akathisia is a classic withdrawal thing. Can you differentiate between your current anxiety and that before you were on meds? That would be maybe helpful. In front of the eyes of all of you, a very young man’s life get destroyed day by day, and he will let an incredibly wonderful woman behind himself. It’s a tragedy. My life got destroyed after taking a nap. I read stories of people with severe PSSD and it resonates to me the most. With all the respect to everyone here. I’m hearing nobody talking about crippling anhedonia, crippling emotional numbness, severe cognitive dysfunction and severe insomnia. I still didn’t read anyone having severe cognitive dysfunction from reducing the med on 4%. I know I’m repeating myself. But that’s my reality. We talked with my wife yesterday about my situation. She says that I need to be strong, still complete the apprenticeship. Still do the things I would usually like. But I feel like someone with an IQ of 40. The outside world gives extremely little stimuli in my head. No ability to have deep thoughts. No ability to have complex thoughts. No ability to hold a thought and continue it. It’s all gone. After a nap. Excuse me everyone. 5-6 days ago I could cry. That felt at least a bit refreshing. That’s also gone. My wife cried yesterday the whole day. I couldn’t feel sorry. It’s just an abstract concept in my head. My internal world is slipped out of me. If that’s Horowitz’ fault, oh my god. He might walk over my corpse.
Zoloft — 6,52 — 5 years and 9 months — holding | without clinician
Zoloft —50 mg to 15 mg — 8 years with a cold turkey and reinstatement in between— was liquid micro tapering, crashed at 14.275 mg and now holding at 15 mg.
"I never ever had the urge to pace before medications. I also never had severe insomnia, burning in my arms," — @Maria A.Take this as a hint. It’s withdrawal. It will get better. You will stabilize. Just be patient❤️
Zoloft — 6,52 — 5 years and 9 months — holding | without clinician
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