Hi vvector,

Once I was forced to go cold turkey and made it through 4 days, I figured I could make it on the long haul. Funny I thought it would get better as time passed. It does, but not in a linear fashion. You go back and forth with the symptoms. Very strange. I would do ANYTHING rather than go through what I have ever again. If by some cruel twist of fate I was put back on it, not by choice, I would not try going through withdrawal again. I understand that everytime you stop and go back on it makes things worse.

I don't mean to scare you. If you choose to try withdrawal, most seem to have better luck with tapering down very slowly. You can do it if you want. Just be prepared for a long, long haul. I've been told 2 years is about average for long term use. Sounds daunting I know. So I have 5 more months until that point. I have also heard of people feeling all new and better than ever after recovery. Right now, that seems a long ways off!

One thing that I still cannot wrap my head around is that MD's totally deny (most of them) the existence of the protracted withdrawal syndrome. Many many docs told me that no way I would be having any symptoms after 2-3 weeks! Ha ha! So no support from them at all. One tried to give me a SSRI, which does not work during this for most. I am no longer on any psych meds as of 19 months ago. I may feel awful at times, not all the time but at least I am coming back to my true self. Good or bad!