Vacation and drug withdrawal

[BookstoreEscapee]

I tried it without it, and that didn't work well. Of course, I'm stupid enough to have tried cold turkey.

Yeah, I read those horror stories. I prefer to function as much as possible.

[Dreamstalker]

Mmm, I remember when I was coming off my antidepressants, the thing I noticed was that I could feel again. I hadn't really notice how....flat I was until I started being able to cry at movies again.

Ironically, the antidepressants I was on as a pup may have caused the "flat affect" that everyone was using to say "zomg she's a sociopath". I was on some nasty stuff that should not be given to children, of course that wasn't determined until I had been off it for five years.

The last psychotropic med I was on is something geared toward schizophrenia (which I don't have and never did, it was untested for use on my condition) and caused some fun times...the last straw came when I passed out in the scene shop and came close to seriously hurting myself (thank $deity that saw had a "dead man switch").

[BlaqueKatt]

You know what I do when I get worked up over something or someone like that? I go and work out. Put all that hostility into pumping out pushups or lifting weights. That way you're taking something that can hurt you and turning it into something that will benefit you.

Prozac has the infamous "black box warning" that they may increase homicidal and suicidal thoughts-it can also cause a medication induced psychotic break-with no underlying psychosis-my uncle killed himself while on prozac-interesting note all of the "school shooters" were taking prozac or had recently stopped. It can do bad stuff to certain people.

[BookstoreEscapee]

Prozac has the infamous "black box warning" that they may increase homicidal and suicidal thoughts-it can also cause a medication induced psychotic break-with no underlying psychosis-my uncle killed himself while on prozac-interesting note all of the "school shooters" were taking prozac or had recently stopped. It can do bad stuff to certain people.

All the SSRI (Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft) and SNRIs (Effexor, Cymbalta, the new Pristiq) have that warning now. Not sure about other types like Wellbutrin. Those are also listed as possible withdrawal symptoms. I don't doubt they help a lot of people, but it is scary stuff. I've been lucky and the only notable symptoms that I can definitively attribute to the medication are the dizziness/nausea (and I've actually not had any nausea since I stopped, just dizzy and unsteady on my feet), and I'm pretty sure my sleep problems the last few days are due to that as well.

I did feel well enough to go across the street earlier and get milk at 7-11 and a slice of pizza at the pizza place, though.

[fireheart]

I was on Lexapro for about six months (SSRI). I've since come off of it, BE, from what I've read, the symptoms are normal for withdrawal. I felt dizzy, a bit nauseous and had a constant headache for the weeks I was withdrawing on them. Only difference really was that with the Lexapro, I had to cut the tablet in half (physically) to take the recommended dose. But it's a good start BE.

[Reyneth]

Good job so far, BE. It's hard to tough it out.

One thing that sometimes works for me when coming down is caffeine. I'm not a coffee fan so I don't know if the carbonation I take my stimulant with makes a difference or not, but the caffeine helps me. Another thing that helped in a recent bout was eating every 2-3 hours.

Good luck - you should be through the worst soon!

[Der Cute]

I'm glad things are working for you here!!

I don't think there's any hope of me discontinuing this Effexor, for me. I remember when (years ago) my Celexa stopped working and I slid into a dark dark ditch of depression. NOT FUN. It took a long time for Effexor to work right, and for me to come up out of that ditch, but daymn.

I have realized that I do have Seasonal Affection Disorder - I need sunshine like crazy. But, really, I dont think I could quit Effexor.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Cutenoob

[BookstoreEscapee]

Only difference really was that with the Lexapro, I had to cut the tablet in half (physically) to take the recommended dose. But it's a good start BE.

Yeah, I've read about people doing that with different drugs. Effexor is a capsule, though, so you can't cut it in half. Some people have opened them up and counted out the beads inside, though. Which I would have to be pretty desperate to do. The book I got from the library includes a case of a teenage boy who had to count out the beads and lower the dose by two or three beads every few days because his symptoms were so severe, and it took him months to get off the drugs. That was in the chapter on children and antidepressants; most of the book concerns adults and follows 6 patients on Paxil who range from no symptoms to really severe.

I only had a headache on Monday, and I'm not even sure it was directly related to the meds. It was also hot in my apartment and I hadn't slept well, so it may have been just a headache. I get those. I took some Advil and it helped. I also got Dramamine (24-hour less-drowsy formula) because I read that it can help with the motion sickness-type symptoms, and I figure, knowing myself and by past experience with missed doses, those were the most likely ones for me to get. I haven't even opened the package, though.

It took a long time for Effexor to work right, and for me to come up out of that ditch, but daymn.

I have realized that I do have Seasonal Affection Disorder - I need sunshine like crazy. But, really, I dont think I could quit Effexor.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Cutenoob

Effexor worked pretty quickly for me, so maybe that's a good sign. I'm glad you're doing better with it.

So last night I actually slept better...through the night, even! (Though I didn't actually fall asleep until at least 1am or later.) It's 10am and I just got up a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, they are mowing the lawn outside and I don't want to open the sliding glass door. The smell is strong enough through the other windows that are already open (which is to say, all the other windows in the place). Not feeling too dizzy so far...I think...'k, maybe a little more than when I started writing this post...anyway...had a banana, gonna take a shower in bit and have some cereal. Or maybe reverse that order, haven't decided yet...

[BookstoreEscapee]

So today is Day 4; I had a hard time falling asleep last night and when I did manage to drift off I had some weird dreams that woke me up, once with my heart pounding rather quickly. That wasn't fun. Then I slept until 11:30, which in the short term may be a good thing, but I'm trying to get out of that habit. Now it's pouring rain and has been for an hour or two now. But I like rain, so . I haven't really been feeling dizzy so far today, though yesterday it got worse as the day went on, so we'll see.

If/when the rain stops I might have to go across the street to Ralph's for an italian ice (which I wanted to do yesterday but never got around to). Besides, I owe my roomie $5 and I only have a 20 (which is why I borrowed the 5 from her in the first place, to give the woman at the nail place a tip, since they were busy and I didn't want to pull someone away from another customer to ask for change).

[Onemagicmummy]

coming off anti depressants sucks, almost 5 years ago i had to crash off cipramil/citalopram as i just found ot i was pregnant, it was not nice, i felt like crap and kept going dizzy, feling sick, freaking out a bit. by day 3 i was crawling the walls and took one pill, i felt way better within an hour, that was my last pill. a couple of weeks later i saw my MW and told her and i was really upset and scared incase i had hurt the baby, she said it was OK, if i needed it that badly it was better to take the pill and not stress out as the stress would be worse for the baby.

i never want to go there again. that baby is now 4yr old, second oldest of 4, soon to be 5.

i hope things go smoothly for you

Kiz

[BookstoreEscapee]

Update for today, Day 5: Feeling OK. Still having trouble falling asleep (moreso than normal, at least) and still feeling a bit dizzy. I noticed I've been craving sweet stuff/carbs...probably because normally, when I feel dizzy and lightheaded it's because I need to eat something. Since I'm feeling that way more or less constantly, my brain is going, "Hey, you should eat something!" Gonna have to watch that.

Two more days of vacation! My mom is having a garage sale tomorrow; I'm sure there's stuff I could try to unload, but I really don't feel like going through all my crap...

[TheSHAD0W]

I recommend you eat well and promptly when you feel that craving; just make sure you add protein to the mix. Also, go get some small packs of starchy foods and nosh on them through the day.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I recommend you eat well and promptly when you feel that craving; just make sure you add protein to the mix. Also, go get some small packs of starchy foods and nosh on them through the day.

I'm trying. I have some whole grain crackers, Cheerios, Eggo Nutri-Grain waffles, fruit, milk, yogurt...ate my last piece of string cheese yesterday with some soup... gonna have to go to the grocery store tomorrow or Sunday. I'll have to stock up for work lunches for next week, too (really? vacation's over already? ). I also have some chicken in the freezer that I should probably use up soon.

Doesn't help that my roomie bought a cake the other day...