Is anyone trying to wean off an anidepressant?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 5:18 am

I was on xanax for about 6months taking max aday .25mg. I quit cold turkey in june and had no withdrawls at all, i then, thanks to a muscle relaxant that made me really anxious, had to go back on it in sept, but after a month i stopped taking it and was fine. I was on .5, sometimes 1mg of lorazepam(ativan) at nightime for 13months, and three weeks ago stopped taking it. I was taking it to help sleep, but i didnt think it was doing to much. well, no withdrawls but i havent slept in 3 weeks. lol. but I wasnt sleeping very well with it either. So it depends on how much you are taking. with the ativan, i was lower than the lowest dose already, but i could have tried taking a 1/4 mg if i was having problems. I would cut down on your dose for sure, and you should be fine. my mother in law was on ativan for about 10years up to 4mg, her idiot doctor (a new one) told her to quit taking it and would not renew the presc. ya right, she had bad withdrawl, extreme anxiety, panic, racing heart, everything. she was switched to clono something. but never quit benzos cold turkey at that high of a dose. the dose down for sure. Again depends what dose you are at right now.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 5:51 am

I have been taking Alprazolam since 1994 when I was undergoing chemo for Hodgekins Lymphoma. As the years went by and after unexpected open heart surgery, my daily dose progressively increased. In the fall of 2006 I was taking 8-10 mgs a day.(bad doctor!)I decided to quit cold turkey. BAD IDEA at that dose! Ended up in the emergency room 4 days later with heart pain, not chest pain. They let me go home! I could have had a siezure and died. After a week my senses were so hypersensitive I was hallucinating, hearing things 3 times and my muscles went into withdrawals. I immediately took a 2mg dose and it all stopped. We weaned me back down to .5 mg 3 or 4 times a day. I still have withdrawal symptoms if I go too long without any, but I don't wait to find out how bad they're gonna get. I don't feel as if I am ever going to be off of this med. My anxiety is so high it takes this much to calm me down and it does not make me drowsy or stupid like the higher doses. ASK YOUR DOCTOR HOW TO CORRECTLY WEAN OFF OF IT!!! I am told by my oncologist that .25mgs is a safe dose AS NEEDED (no more than 3 times a day). Not going by a time schedule is more effective for me. Xanax for me lasts no more than 4 to 6 hours. I separate doses as far as my body will tolerate. I don't see myself ever off of it, but I am driving to reach that goal. Good luck and God Bless! Edit remark which was my point until I got away from my dosage point: I find that I often don't need a dose at the scheduled dose time. If I don't need it I wait longer between doses. As my anxiety subsides I'm taking less per day. This has been very effective for me to stay on a low dose. There are whole days when I'm distracted from my anxiety or it is disrupted by activities with friends and only take 1 or 2 tablets sometimes. The more time I participate in things I enjoy, the less I'm taking per day. I know if I were enjoying EVERYDAY, I would be taking fewer and smaller doses and and would lose the need for it naturally. Just try not to go above your prescribed dose. There are rare days when I have to take 4 tabs depending on the circumstances of that day, but I discontinue that dose the next day as I know I will regret it. I refuse to get back on a higher dosage than I am now taking! Been there, done that and am not going back there. I still can not get a straight answer though as to withdrawal effects even at a low dose. Just don't allow yourself to get too far into the withdrawal process. Anxiety and withdrawal symptoms for me don't occur at the same time. Withdrawals create anxiety for me after they reach a certain point. I aim for passifying withdrawals and stictly limit as much as possible taking them for episodes of slight anxiety. It works for me.

deedee00 · Post by **deedee00** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:32 am

I am weaning off Lexapro right now. I started taking Lexapro about Nov 20th at 10mg/day. After 3 weeks it started to help me and I was able to successfully get past my major GAD symptoms (which were VERY severe). I stayed on it for another 3 weeks or so then started reducing it to 7.5mg/10mg every other day for 2 weeks. Then 7.5mg/day for a month. Just last week I worked my way down to 1/2 pill (5mg/day).
I will stay on that for a full month at least. Then gradually work my way down to 1/4 dose. And some time after that I will finally stop it completely.
So far, since I have been decreasing my dose, I have noticed that I feel less 'drugged' and more like my old self. I have what I'd call 'normal' levels of concern about life issues but no serious anxiety at all.
But I am also using the various tools I learned from this course and elsewhere to deal with life's inevitable ups and downs. So far, I have been successful in not allowing them to get control over me like they did before.
I exercise, pray, take time to relax and unwind everyday. I'm also learning to "LET GO" of problems and worries early on and change negative thoughts to positive or at least 'less' negative thoughts. It all takes practice but keep after it and it will work. Please don't give up.
God Bless and peace be with you.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 7:59 am

i've been trying to get off paxil for about 5 weeks now. I was on 20 mg for a few years, then went down to 10 mg. About 3 weeks later I had a bad weekend with anxiety and depression. Recovered a bit now again. I'm trying to decide should I ride out this current storm (maybe the withdrawals will subside soon) or is it more than just a temporary setback? i.e., should I go back up to 20 mg because anxiety will return permanently if I don't? This is a tough decision. How long can I expect some withdrawal symptoms? Also, is it normal to have headaches during this time? Thanks, M.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 10:44 am

Originally posted by NorCalMark:
i've been trying to get off paxil for about 5 weeks now. I was on 20 mg for a few years, then went down to 10 mg. About 3 weeks later I had a bad weekend with anxiety and depression. Recovered a bit now again. I'm trying to decide should I ride out this current storm (maybe the withdrawals will subside soon) or is it more than just a temporary setback? i.e., should I go back up to 20 mg because anxiety will return permanently if I don't? This is a tough decision. How long can I expect some withdrawal symptoms? Also, is it normal to have headaches during this time? Thanks, M.

Try and kick this episode out without the meds. If it doesn't get better, your call to dose up to 20 mg. I was on Paxil for about 2 years and weened off of it early 2007 with no side effects whatsoever. Thought I had kicked anxiety completely but come November 07 it came back and stronger. Doc put me back on Paxil and have been on it since December. It evened me out for a while but a week or so ago, I'm here back feeling not right. Not sure what to attribute this episode to. It's frustrating nonetheless to be off of it and doing well and it came back so bad that I had to go back on.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 06, 2008 6:23 pm

Thanks for the feedback, Joe. Talked to my doc and he wants me to give it at least another week - says it's probably a bit of withdrawals. Headaches seem to be better today - hopefully they'll continue to subside. I just hope this works, because staying on the same dose for so long makes me feel like I'm not making any progress at all (although I might have to accept that I'll need meds indefinitely - is that possible?). If I do need meds indefinitely, well, I hope I can use the lowest dose possible (at least that's my goal). I don't know what dose most people take, but he tells me that 10-20 mg is not much; so I guess that's good.
Thanks again, M.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:54 am

Paxil is a fantastic medication and has always worked well for me. However, coming off of it is not so easy. I am dosing down and dealing with the whooshing sound in my head non-stop. I hope that anyone who is weaning off of anti-depressants is consulting a doctor. There is a great website that has advice on how to wean off of Paxil (quitpaxil.org) I will warn you that this website is a bit anxious producing when you hear the stories of others who had problems coming off of Paxil...go to the section with advise on how to deal with the withdrawal symptoms, it is helpful

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 07, 2008 8:28 am

Originally posted by NorCalMark:
Thanks for the feedback, Joe. Talked to my doc and he wants me to give it at least another week - says it's probably a bit of withdrawals. Headaches seem to be better today - hopefully they'll continue to subside. I just hope this works, because staying on the same dose for so long makes me feel like I'm not making any progress at all (although I might have to accept that I'll need meds indefinitely - is that possible?). If I do need meds indefinitely, well, I hope I can use the lowest dose possible (at least that's my goal). I don't know what dose most people take, but he tells me that 10-20 mg is not much; so I guess that's good.
Thanks again, M.

I'm glad to hear you're feeling a bit better and hope this trend continues. Just keep in mind there's no shame in taking meds. If your anxiety/depression is a chemical issue there isn't much you can do and the Paxil will help. I stress about having to be on them forever but I've talked myself into one day at a time. And yes, 20 mg is a low dose. Just don't beat yourself up over having to take it.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 10:22 am

JoeP.

Keep working the program and believe in yourself so that you can overcome your fears. Then, you will be able to go without the medication.

AmandaJ

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Feb 10, 2008 12:17 pm

Originally posted by Kris10:
I have been weaning off Paxil very slowly for sometime now. I'm considering taking another antidepressant to help with some of the withdrawal. But then worry what coming off that will be like???????