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Coming off SSRIs
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Morning LB
How you doing today?
Good start to the week.
(( )) everyone - today is going to be a good day
Well I've got a puncture (AGAIN) in my car tyre but I'm still smiling!
Must be wind.....
LB, being depressed doesn't make you a nutter - you managed that all on your own
.
(( )) to all here's hoping the day treats you well.
(( ))
Good so far...... got myself a 'proper' job
Start tomorrow
xx
Congrats on the Job!
Quick question about changing meds. I've gone from 140mg of Lofepramine to 25mg of Coloproxamine (called something like that) which is a major difference, but weirdly enough I feel good as anything!
Motivation is back, labido is back with a vengance, positive thinking is back and I'm genuinely in a REALLY good mood, but not sure why... dosage has been reduced massively and they're the same chemical family but right now...I feel great. Is this normal when you change tablets?
Could be lots of reasons, you may be ready for a reduction in meds, there may be a slight difference in composition, you may have been suffering from side effects. It seems a big jump if you've gone from 140mg to 25mg without a gradual reduction. Perhaps the Coloproxamine is sufficiently different to allow for this. Some A/Ds actually increase the original problem rather than solving it, maybe that's what was happening to you when you were on the Lofepramine, hence the switch.
Or, your GP / practice or pharmacist has just done a deal with the sales rep from a different company and they're dispensing their products instead of the ones you normally have.
Either way, if it makes you feel
, then great news.
Congrats too, mrf.
I didn't take my pills yesterday. I wound up swearing a lot and was UBER agitated.
I don't think I can ditch them altogether just yet or they'll have to make room for me in Holloway when I've killed someone.
*bows*
Congrats MRF by the way on the proper job. Mr LB thinks I should get one of those too...
Aw, thanks for the concern both. I'm fine, in fact better than fine. I haven't taken one since the first week of February. The first few days were - as I said above - hell on earth, but I was convinced the pills were just making things worse by preventing me getting any sleep at all, so I was determined to stick with it. Or rather, stick without it.
After about 5 days the screaming anxiety faded away and...... we had a ceremonial burning of what was left of the packet by chucking them on the fire on Sunday.
They didn't half make a row when they went up! Probably just the plastic blister packs and the glaze on the cardboard box, but still a very satisfying noise.
The total sleep disruption seems to be getting better - whether that's thanks to stupidly long marathon training runs or just the tablets not getting in the way, I don't know or care. That it inself is making me feel waaaaaay better than I did a few weeks ago. I'm getting 4 or 5 hours a night, which believe me is a massive improvement.
Thanks, you lovely lot for the advice, support and good wishes.
Craigyb, Jennn, how are you both?
Hi Hash, it's early days to be honest and feeling pretty s****y but alot has happened in the last few weeks and months, had a stressful job too which didn't help but admitting the problem its the first step in getting help and talking over things does help. Am on holiday soon so that should help too hopefully with some sun and warmth and being away from work and everything at home.It's just tough when every day is a battle to get out of bed, go to work and just function- it sounds daft to anyone who hasn't experienced it but it's truly a horrid place to be. Glad to hear you are feeling better, getting some sleep and things going well. My mate made me run the hell runner a few weekends back which was painful but good fun, just going to put my all into training and getting through this.
MRF good luck with the new job. Doing what?
Ken,no idea on the drugs but if you feel better it has to be good, so maybe not question too closely and see how it goes? It could be that they're totally different types of drug, so a totally different dosage is appropriate?
CraigeyB I was just thinking we had a hell of a lot in common!
If you look at the bottom of each post there's a couple of little speech marks. Click on that, that's how to quote, and it shows who originally said what. Much less confusing!
No it doesn't sound even remotely daft, have a well-deserved good holiday and let us know how you go.
Hello and Good Morning
Thanks for the good wishes
Early days but looks promising and will fit in with everything else that is happening in our lives right now....
It was about 14 years ago when I was taking anti depressants (can't remember what they were now) and I can be pretty certain they helped as a 'prop' for a while when I was not coping with what life was throwing at me.
At some point or other when I was having a strong day I was dragged kicking and screaming to a recommended acupuncturist
Lying on a couch having needles stuck in me was a strangely positive experience - did it help or was it the happy pills.....Not sure - even though the sessions burnt a hole in my pocket I will say confidently that it was money well spent
Have a great day and take good care
xx
I've just tried (and failed) to come off mine.
Only taking 5mg of Cipralex now. I thought the dose was so low I wouldn't need it anymore.
I was wrong. I instantly stopped sleeping and I realised I was irritated with EVERYTHING.
I'm gutted. I gave myself a year and the year is up next week. I feel like a failure.
You're not a failure, LB, it's just that your body has adapted to the chemicals, so while your mind is capable, your body isn't.
Have you tried taking them every other day for a few weeks, then every 2 / 3 days etc until you've weaned yourself off that way?
LB- I took those tablets when I had post-natal depression 6 years ago. I remember when I tried to stop them I felt really anxious, but it was just a case of stopping them more slowly, so i took one every other day for a week, then half every other day for a week, then i stopped completely and it was ok.
Thanks guys.
I think when I feel ready I'll take your advice and go every other day and then every 3 days until I can stop.
I did 6 days of no tabs and I felt pretty horrible. I feel much better now I'm taking them again. It's just it feels like I'm admitting defeat now I'm well again!
The rational me is saying the same as you guys. The "I want to be in control of everything" me is pissed off I couldn't do it in under a year.
LB A year is an arbitrary number though- 13 or 14 months isn't much different to 12 in the whole scheme of things, don't be hard on yourself
I'm still trying to get ON my SSRIs, lol
I sort of "didn't" LN. I started by missing a tablet or so because I forgot and then just carried on....
It wasn't pleasant.
But going on them wasn't pleasant either. I HATED the side effects. Took me about 6 weeks to calm down!
KK - I got them all.
I had a morning sickness feel constantly. (And I'm phobic of being sick, which is useful in someone who projectile vomits with allergies)
I had panic attacks, felt agitated ALL the time, restless, headachy and I got the shakes. It DID settle down after a couple of weeks and completely stopped at 6 weeks. In week three I got a feeling of COMPLETE calm that felt like sedation, which I didn't like at all. I felt drugged, as if I wasn't capable of living a normal life, so I had to be medicated away from problems.
A friend of mine who'd had a really bad time the previous year had been on them. She was utterly brilliant. I didn't tell many people but I DID tell her, mostly because I knew that she would not judge me and she's a bit of a perfectionist too so she'd understand I hate being out of control. The thing she said when I first took the pills that resonated most was "you may feel MUCH worse at first - they take a few weeks to settle".
She had suffered really bad paranoia on hers (Cipralam) and had literally locked herself in the house for a week until they settled. I was prepared for something really bad and thankfully it wasn't "that bad"!
I'm beginning to think that I have suffered from anxiety attacks for over 25 years without even realising what it was. If I trace back through my life there are clear signs of NOT coping when I would happily have told you that I was doing fine. I would also have said "we are not a product of our experiences - we can choose or not choose to be affected by them"
This might be the stupidest thing I've ever said.
Not really, but sometimes we can't help whether or not we chose to be affected by them, other things affect us so much that it all spins out of control. We can choose when we're feeling strong, and we don't see how we can't always feel strong, but then something comes along that whacks that completely out and we struggle again. It's a chemical imbalance that is extremely precarious.
Just re-read that and realise it sounds a bit negative, but I'm trying to say that (like Slugsta) it's not your fault.
Years ago, when I had my first real diagnosis of depression, the only sympathy and empathy I got was from my GP and two people who came out to me when I was desperate. (PND, I was meant to be in the mother and baby unit, but it was full. One day I was so desperate, I called them, they got a team out to me and they stayed with me as I was on my own with the off-spring). Anyhow, they were brilliant, just told me that if I had a broken arm, no-one would think twice about treating it. This was just another illness, explained further by my GP as a chemical imbalance, rectified by medication which re-balanced the chemicals. Now that's how I see it regardless of how others do.
Edited for rant, but thought better of it, so deleted it.
I agree with Jeepers that deperession and anxiety are not the fault of the person experiencing them.
You could say that in many cases, you can choose whether or not to ask for help.
I was lucky to have that help and support around me ...I fully realise that not everyone is so blessed
LB - please try not to feel you've failed by giving your self this time limit on the pills .......it surely cannot hurt to stay on them for just that extra bit of time..... especially as you are feeling better for taking them again. I'm guessing that you will kind of know when it's time to come off them and not your wall calendar.
As I always say "keep taking the tablets"
And, TBH, there are plenty of people out there who take "alternative meds" in the form of booze and / or "recreational" drugs because they have the same problems, but don't have the strength to face up to them.
Don't beat yourself up (just find someone else to beat up
).
LB, 3 thoughts -
1. I heard a chap talking about depression on the radio recently (can't remember his name unfortunately) but he described depression as 'the curse of the strong'. The strong carry on, carry on, carry on.....but then carry on too long and get depression cos things get too much. There is a lot of evidence now that mentally strong people get depression rather than those who aren't so mentally tough.
2. My GP described it to me in terms of enzymes. We naturally produce enzymes that continually mop up the 'happy fluids' that help conduct electrical signals in the brain. When we get depressed, we produce too many enzymes, so too much fluid gets mopped up and the electrical signals don't work properly. The SSRIs stop the production of too many enzymes. Therefore, it is a biological, physical problem.
3. When i first went on Fluoxetine, I gave myself a target of 6 months. I came off after 6 months and it was a disaster. I had to go straight back on for a further 12, so 18 months in total.......but that longer period on them meant I got better!
Hope that helps