LighthousePaxil · holding

Hey Gone...' you are not alone here. We are all suffering from bad med mixes or reactions. Many of us have been in that hell. I have done it 4 times previous. What caused it was dropping too much, too fast. Now, I'm going super slow. Dropping from 10 mg to 5 mg might be drastic for your body. Please take the time to read some of our articles on slow tapering https://taper.community/resources/blog/mirtazapine-withdrawal-symptoms

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.

R

renee j4d ago

LighthouseSeroquel · active

Hi Gone Fishing, I'm presently tapering quetiapine which is an antipsychotic used off label for insomnia, but slow tapering principles are the same. Your taper of 10 to 5mg is a 50% drop, which is enormous, whereas slow/hyperbolic tapering as encouraged by this site (please, please, have a look at the articles anne noni moss mentioned) suggests the safest cuts to be between 5-10% of the present dose, and carried out every 2-4 weeks, preferably 4 to start with, minimising w/d's though not usually cutting them out totally. Otherwise your risk of even worse w/d's skyrockets and can have very unfortunate results, for example something called protracted withdrawal syndrome. All the upping and downing on your 2 drugs by your doctors won't help either, the brain absolutely hates it and will retaliate. Just reduce one drug at the same time too, one is enough stress for the brain/nervous system to deal with at a time. I may not be sounding hopeful in the way you may have been hoping, but there is heaps of hope if you slow everything down and do the hyperbolic thing. I just felt I needed to warn you about a couple of important things and mention the safer way of doing things so that's real hope as I know it. Best, R.☺️👍 (but good on you for starting a taper to start with)

Seroquel — 69 mg — 13 years — actively tapering

G

Gone fishing4d ago

Mirtazapine

Even though I’ve been on the med for 6 weeks it’s a lot less likely I’ll develope paws right? I’m staying on my mirtazapine 45 mg and not tapering that at all. As I’ve used it in the past and have been totally okay!

Mirtazapine — 45mg — 2 months | Nortriptyline — 10mg — 3 weeks — actively tapering | without clinician

G

Gone fishing4d ago

Mirtazapine

I’d also not I’ve been on my 45mg of mirtazapine for 5 weeks now so those affects from it should be baselined by now I’d think

Mirtazapine — 45mg — 2 months | Nortriptyline — 10mg — 3 weeks — actively tapering | without clinician

anne noni moss4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

It's really hard to answer your questions because the nervous system does it's own thing. We don't really know how long it takes to upset the nerves. We don't know why or how some people have paws and some don't. I'm no expert, but as far as I know, length of time on a drug is not an indicator of future pain when we stop. Thus, SLOW SLOW SLOW. SMALL SMALL SMALL reductions...no matter how long one has been taking the drug.

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.

anne noni moss4d ago

LighthousePaxil · holding

"the brain absolutely hates it and will retaliate" — @renee j

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.

G

Gone fishing4d ago

Mirtazapine

Okay I did do the taper of nort 4 days ago. I called my doctor today and they will hopefully call me on what to do next.. all this is so scary :( I just want assurance that I didn’t completely mess my life/ brain up for good…

Mirtazapine — 45mg — 2 months | Nortriptyline — 10mg — 3 weeks — actively tapering | without clinician

R

renee j3d ago

LighthouseSeroquel · active

Hi again G.F., I may have already answered you as these "threads" seem to get so intertwined, I don't think you have "messed up your life for good". I have to say that I'm not a doctor but I've read extensively all the literature by the founders of hyperbolic tapering, that I could get my hands on and watched all their YouTube videos, and had problems with these drugs on and off since the age of 16, the "good old days"🌩️ when benzos were said to be harmless etc etc, so lots of (miserable) experience. If you only started the taper 4 days ago, and especially if you were stable, you should be able to return to the previous level, possibly even straight away, to restart the taper with few, if any problems. The brain hasn't had much chance to change it's structures yet. There is said to be a "window" for this though, maybe up to a month, before things can start to get slightly "sticky" so do get your doctor's advice sooner rather than later, as you have a fair bit of time to work out what path is best for you. I realise this is a frightening experience, I've been there too, but just keep going trying not to worry, we are all here for you.

Seroquel — 69 mg — 13 years — actively tapering

R

renee j3d ago

LighthouseSeroquel · active

I've just been reading some other posts where I think people are catastrophising a bit. Understandable for sure, this is often a miserable experience. But not everyone gets protracted withdrawal, even if they go too fast or cut the dose by too much. And even if they do, most, given time, and holding or reducing the dose appropriately, and hopefully with the support of friends/loved ones, recover. It's not a race either, we need to take our time and go at a comfortable speed. It's important to stay optimistic, so if one thing doesn't work try something else, keep going, there's plenty of help here especially in the Resources" section, and of course from the community- just as important.❤️👍

Seroquel — 69 mg — 13 years — actively tapering

G

Gone fishing3d ago

Mirtazapine

Thank you, I unfortunately have health ocd that makes all this allot worse.. I’m a cancer victim and I beat that so I have bad ptsd. I’m hyper aware of my body and when I feel symptoms so all this tied with that has made this all that much harder. I fear the “forever going to feel this way” feeling.. so that’s what clouds my judgment

Mirtazapine — 45mg — 2 months | Nortriptyline — 10mg — 3 weeks — actively tapering | without clinician

G

Gone fishing3d ago

Mirtazapine

When I was on the nortriptyline I was facing all these aggressive side affects as well. I do believe doing the taper slow is good! I’ll be holding at 5 for now till further instruction from my doc. Not making any more haste decision

Mirtazapine — 45mg — 2 months | Nortriptyline — 10mg — 3 weeks — actively tapering | without clinician

R

renee j3d ago

LighthouseSeroquel · active

This is all excellent, the right way to go about it. When I tapered too quickly off valium, the withdrawal was so horrific that what followed was also a form of PTSD. It was mostly tons of anxiety and insomnia, but the psychiatrist I got shoved off onto labelled it as Generalised Anxiety Disorder, didn't link it to my previous experiences with valium, and put me on quetiapine off-label for sleep.. Thus began my dependency on quetiapine, starting at 200mg at night and still with me a decade or so later. We forge on...

Seroquel — 69 mg — 13 years — actively tapering

G

Gone fishing3d ago

Mirtazapine

Yea after all this I’m just gonna stay with my mirtazapine which I know cant hurt me and hasn’t and then never touch any of these stupid drugs ever again. Originally only took the 10mg of nortiptyline for nerve pain and while it helped all the side affects are so much worse than me just roughing out the pain and mitigating with natural remedies or chiropractors etc. that’s the rout I’ll be entertaining from now on. All this has been too much and too scary

Mirtazapine — 45mg — 2 months | Nortriptyline — 10mg — 3 weeks — actively tapering | without clinician

R

renee j3d ago

LighthouseSeroquel · active

Yeah, know the feeing all too well. Try to relax and have a good weekend, R.👍

Seroquel — 69 mg — 13 years — actively tapering

Tapering off nortriptyline

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