[circles5]

hi all,

i've always been kindo've spontaneous, within my own boundaries...
So far every anti-depressant i've been on i've one day decided 'That's it, i've had enough!' and cold turkey them. (which i know is unwise)

However i've always got by... even off 100mg sertraline and 40mg fluoxetine (respectivley) and both long term...
By got by, i mean; got through..... Sertraline was particularily tough due to it's short half life.
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So, this time round i tried my usual; jump off my SSRI medication without informing my doctor or anything.. but was hit by some of the worst anxiety iv'e had in years (prior therapy)
and i simply couldn't take it, so i went back onto my 20mg a day of Fluoextine.

Now, i have started a taper of; one day on, one day off.
Once again, i haven't informed my doctor.... and my keyworker is on leave...
but i'm doing ~o.k...... - definatley not brilliant though.

I'm now on day 8 of my 1 day on 1 off regime... and i remember my doctor suggesting that i go for 1 week of this. Then move to 1 day on 2 days off for the next week.... and finally 1 day on: Three days off.. and then stop.

But, i really feel the withdrawal bad this time round... i really don't know how i managed to cold turkey in the past...
I feel really out of it. So i've postponed any further reduction untill my body get's used to my current regime.

Is this the best way to go about tapering? (not telling the doctors aside)
I might ask for liquid fluoextine.... as i really don't like the idea of taking some, on alternate days..... - despite it's long half life...
it seems like your body doesn't know whether it's coming or going (prozac wise)

i'd much rather have gone down to - 10mg a day.... instead of 20mg over two days..
and follow suit with small reductions in daily dosage untill i can jump off a very low dosage.

how long will i be feeling the 'discontinuation' W/D ?
i suppose it's hard to answer,,, but i really hope it's not months....
i'm fed up of withdrawals... diazepam, anti-depressants, nicotine, alcohol, opiates...
all within the last year....
i'm determined to be free from dependence on substances...

--

ugh,,, and i'm going to be awake all night.... ;(
i managed to sleep from miday untill 10:00PM tonight.... so i shall look forward to sunrise.
(at least the weathers been GLORIOUS in the U.K last few days...)
hope it stays that way.

Regards,
Circles5

[pinkflower17]

That's a little unusual. Most people don't get withdrawal symptoms with Prozac bc you're right, it has a ridiculously long half life. It can actually be used to help with withdrawals from other SSRIs. I can see how the one day on, one day off etc might kind of throw you for a loop. If it was me, I'd ask for some 10 mg tabs and taper down to 10 mg/day, then completely stop. You're on 20 mg? Maybe stay on that for a week, then 10 mg for a week? That's what I'd do anyway. Just an idea. Sorry you're so miserable.

[circles5]

hey pinkflower17,

thanks for your reply, - yeah i really don't understand why i'm having it so rough...
but something about the day off thing does feel; weird...
i'll inquire about some 10mg tablets, see if that evens things out a bit.
and then maybe liquid if i can't handle getting off 10mg..
it's not even that my anxiety symptoms have got drastically worse, i just feel like i've got some awful psychedelic flu....

thanks again,
hope your well
C5

[pinkflower17]

Originally Posted by circles5

hey pinkflower17,

thanks for your reply, - yeah i really don't understand why i'm having it so rough...
but something about the day off thing does feel; weird...
i'll inquire about some 10mg tablets, see if that evens things out a bit.
and then maybe liquid if i can't handle getting off 10mg..
it's not even that my anxiety symptoms have got drastically worse, i just feel like i've got some awful psychedelic flu....

thanks again,
hope your well
C5

Once you get down to 10 mg if you're still struggling, fluoxetine comes in 20/5 mL, so you could probably go down to 5 mg that way, but I think you'd have a harder time going lower than that just cause it's hard to measure out smaller than 1.25 mL doses. Are you starting a new anti-depressant? If you are, you could probably start it now and then you likely wouldn't have any symptoms at all. Good luck and take care.

[Vonnegutjunky]

From all that I have read - and I have read a lot since I have unsuccessfully tried to get off Paxil 4 times in the last 8 years - even with Prozac and its long half life your supposed to stick to a linear taper - step down by 10% of your current dose and stay at that dose for 4-6 weeks so your body has time to regulate itself - remember I am not a doctor so please do not take this as medical advice - but I have done quite a bit of research on people struggling to reduce their ssris

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[circles5]

hey vonnegutjunky, thanks for the advise.... - i agree about the linear taper, i didn't quite do a linear taper - but it was somewhat that way, and then i jumped off when i was doing two days off (20mg) two days on.
i do believe that a 10% reduction every 4-6weeks is maybe a little bit slow..- although i'm sure it would minimize withdrawal symptoms massivley.
sorry you're having it tough - i've heard paxil is difficult to get off.

well i've managed to stop now.. and the side effects have worn off - and thankfully i haven't gone back to being as anxiety ridden as i was before i started taking it about a year~ ago.
(this being due to the interpersonal work and c.b.t. e.t.c that i've been doing whilst on it)

So now i'm back to feeling - normal.... which is fantastic. (Nomal isn't exactly 'fantastic' for me... but it's good to be back to normal -> but even better i guess, what with the c.b.t develpments e.t.c......
So Better than normal !!

thanks for the advice everyone.
Circles5