happy pill withdrawal

[ptgatsby]

Originally Posted by Natrushka

It is not pointless. If it is indeed SSRI discontinuation syndrome it can be dangerous.

Yes, and there are two ways to get off - the first is to replace it with another SSRI that is longer acting or similar without the same withdrawal problems, and the other is to taper off the full SSRI over a long period of time (depending on if it is a fast or short acting drug.) Zoloft is fast, I believe, with a very short half life.

Either way, if you are taking zoloft, and have been for a while, be careful coming off of it. You may be able to taper off safely... I think the short action ones recommend about a 5% drop/week, but this is one case where I'd see a doctor about it before going cold turkey.

[dissolved girl]

If it's still bothering you then taper the withdrawal. My withdrawal from Effexor was not pretty. Feverish, headaches, strange dizzyness, emotions everywhere, digestive system completely screwed up. I tapered my dose incredibly slowly (over 2 months) and still got this.

If it's tablet form use a pill cutter to slowly decrease your dose, if it's capsule form or enteric coated talk to your doctor.

I believe that Prozac - Fluoxetine has the longest half-life of the SSRIs. It is the AD usually used if withdrawal is an issue, or at least it was last time I checked.

P.S. I could never decide if the crazy dreams were a bonus. I used to get confused with what was real and what was a dream which did get a bit odd... That was before my withdrawal though.

P.P.S. Goodluck

[Ivy]

I went cold turkey off of Prozac (or a placebo, but I think it was Prozac) when I did a social phobia study at Duke about ten years ago. It wasn't pretty. They told me to taper it but I just quit. I was a wreck for a week or so.

[Uberfuhrer]

I'm on Paxil, and whenever I forget to take it, I display my inner rage, but I also get a terrible headache.

Unfortunately, I was on Paxil long before I was 18, and so my parents made the decisions. One day, I'm gonna make them pay for tampering with my natural persona. I have a feeling that Paxil is what screwed me up, because it's done nothing to help my anxiety or depression.

I'd use drugs for physical pain, but I wish I wasn't dependent on mental drugs. My mentality is the definition of myself, and when tampered with, I lose touch with my true self, because antidepressants and antipsychotics mess with your natural state.

And I think psychiatrists are no better than drug dealers...except the government encourages you to get hooked through the use of psychiatrists. The government wants to have records of the people in society that are hooked, so they can manipulate your thoughts and make you easy to control. And they can't have that with a non-certified drug dealer.

[Athenian200]

Originally Posted by Uberfuhrer

I'm on Paxil, and whenever I forget to take it, I display my inner rage, but I also get a terrible headache.

Unfortunately, I was on Paxil long before I was 18, and so my parents made the decisions. One day, I'm gonna make them pay for tampering with my natural persona. I have a feeling that Paxil is what screwed me up, because it's done nothing to help my anxiety or depression.

Oh, my.... Paxil? I'm really against the use of that drug. I don't really like the effects. It basically forces people to be happy and less shy, whether they want to be or not. And look at the side effects:

Originally Posted by Wikipedia

Most common

* Weight loss or gain (most often gain rather than loss)
* Headache
* Nausea
* Dry mouth
* Increased sweating
* Drowsiness/Somnolence or Insomnia
* Increased or decreased appetite
* Constipation or diarrhea
* Inability to achieve orgasm
* Partial or complete loss of libido (sexual desire)
* Erectile dysfunction
* Tremor
* Vertigo/Dizziness/Motion sickness

[edit] Less common

Check with your doctor if these continue or are bothersome.

* Increased feelings of depression and anxiety (initially)
* Apathy
* Loss of empathy
* Flattening of emotional response
* Nocturnal salivation
* Nocturnal bruxism (teeth grinding)
* Pupil dilation
* Asthenia or muscle weakness
* Muscle ache
* Pruritis
* Rash
* Nightmares or change in dreams
* Change in sense of taste

[edit] Rare

See your doctor if you have any of these symptoms.

* Myoclonus (involuntary muscle twitching)
* Sodium depletion
* Severe restlessness or akathisia
* Uncharacteristic levels of aggression (especially in children and teens)
* Uncharacteristic risk taking

[edit] Very rare but serious

* Suicidal ideation and Suicide
* Serotonin syndrome
* Bipolar mania or hypomania
* Schizophrenia (unverified)
* Jaw, neck, and back muscle spasms
* Fever, chills, sore throat, or flu-like symptoms
* Yellowing of the skin or eyes (Jaundice)
* Black, tarry stools (this can indicate upper GI bleeding)

I really think this might have happened to you.. just horrible.

[Uberfuhrer]

Hmmm...what makes you think I have nightmares and changes in dreams? (I actually don't remember my dreams.)

And apathy, well, let's just say I consider that a gift and not a curse. The minute you care about someone else, that's when you lose perspective.

And Paxil certainly didn't make me less shy or happier...

But now I have a reason to kill my parents. For they killed me first.

[ygolo]

Wow! Is there something about people who post on the web that makes them prone to depression (or Bipolar disorder)? I guess statistically 1/3 of us would be.

I was off Effexor for just the weekend because I got to the pharmacy late one day, and when I came the next day, they had some mixup which took another day to clear up.

During that time I had really bad headaches, vertigo, and rather disturbing dreams (not nightmarish in content, but I thought I would never wake-up).

Anyone else have dreams where they seem to be caught in a loop of waking-up? -- to the point you don't remember what was real and what was stuff you dreamt (the dreams consisted of pretty normal occurences)?

I think I "woke-up" 30-40 times before actually waking up (I hope I did anyway) when my parents called.

[Jennifer]

Originally Posted by ygolo

I think I "woke-up" 30-40 times before actually waking up (I hope I did anyway) when my parents called.

Yes, how do you know you're still not dreaming?

[Geoff]

Sometimes I feel like an outsider on the web, because I have never taken anything like this. Not even considered it, never needed anything diagnosed or prescribed. I can't imagine being on a zoloft-like drug.

When I was recovering in hospital from a serious operation I even refused the Morphine because I preferred the pain to having my mood changed.

Am I the odd one out here?

-Geoff

[Uberfuhrer]

Originally Posted by ygolo

Wow! Is there something about people who post on the web that makes them prone to depression (or Bipolar disorder)? I guess statistically 1/3 of us would be.

I was off Effexor for just the weekend because I got to the pharmacy late one day, and when I came the next day, they had some mixup which took another day to clear up.

During that time I had really bad headaches, vertigo, and rather disturbing dreams (not nightmarish in content, but I thought I would never wake-up).

Anyone else have dreams where they seem to be caught in a loop of waking-up? -- to the point you don't remember what was real and what was stuff you dreamt (the dreams consisted of pretty normal occurences)?

I think I "woke-up" 30-40 times before actually waking up (I hope I did anyway) when my parents called.

I was on Effexor for a while. It only lasted a week or so, but I was forced off of it. A side effect for Effexor, I believe, was loss of appetite, and yet it required me to eat when taking it. The thing was that I was rather chunky at that time, and the Effexor made me lose weight. I remember my parents nagging me to eat something, and I became unusually snappy...but at least I was assertive. My snappiness intensified because before the medication, my parents nagged me to stop eating and lose weight, and when they got their wish, it became a contradiction.

The first med I'd ever been prescribed was Zoloft, and then I got switched to Ritalin for a while, and then, I think Prozac. And now, Paxil, which I continue to be on, and it is limiting my creative potential. It doesn't make me less anxious, as far as I'm concerned, it just makes me even less motivated. And unfortunately, I can't get off of it without getting splitting headaches.

I rarely ever remember my dreams, but I'd much rather have nightmares to remember than no dreams at all. I think a lack of dreams at night is what has caused my lack of motivation for so long. When I don't feel empty, I'm usually spiteful and angry, and so I guess erectile dysfunction and constipation slipped into me somehow.

I wish I could get off the Paxil because I want my imagination back!