7 replies to this topic

[svaughn]

Hi. As some have may have seen in other of my recent posts..i have decided to open them. I was on 20 and am going from there. I was originally on 60 for 3 years. he took me to 40 for 2weeks, 20 for 2 weeks, and 20 every other day. OK he told me to go back to 20 and we will do an everyother day method. I go back next week. He said if we need to we can do prozac. I have decided on my own to open them and divide. OF course they dont recmmend this and i am not going to tell him this. just wondering what all yall say when u go in for checkup and tell him how u are doing. I mean you have to go back to get the refills to continue tapering yourself down. Does that make sense? I will just tell him i am managaing and taking every other day and trying to figure it out...cant say i am dividing them bc i know i cant take 20 for awhile and skip and taper and then just quit off of 20. I HONESLTY can not go through what i did when i went every other day!!!!! i mean its kinda scary to have to open them up and do all this, but the other option didnt work.
I now know that i can use just empty gel. capsules and dont ahve to be a time released. Well i messed up today. when he made me go back he made me take 1 30mg. and this it was up to for the next day. SO i took a 20. now it is today. I took a 20 and divided 3 ways. and took 1 pill which was pretty much 7 mg. I was thinking right and thought i was diving it to make 15mg. so went from 20 to 7. i will see how it goes rest of day. As my last dose was 20 for 2 weeks and then went every other day and then i was done. that didnt work and lost it. so this is where i am now.

[svaughn]

I wanted to add that the day I took the 30 prior to that i was having ALL the symptoms. I took 30 and crashed for rest of day. OK next day took 20. zaps diminished but BAD headache and body aches. no emotional outbursts but felt sort of solemn/sad. TODAY (accidently messing up) took 7mg. So far no zaps, somewhat of a left over headache..i cant characterize as a true headache but it hurts and is more like sore. muscle aches coming and going. feel somewhat nervous. BUT i also take adderall and this causes that some too. I almost feel like i have freaked myself out with whole thing and am thinking too much so i just need to relax and see what happens. OH i did take my omega pill.

[MaureenV]

Hi. As some have may have seen in other of my recent posts..i have decided to open them. I was on 20 and am going from there. I was originally on 60 for 3 years. he took me to 40 for 2weeks, 20 for 2 weeks, and 20 every other day. OK he told me to go back to 20 and we will do an everyother day method. I go back next week. He said if we need to we can do prozac. I have decided on my own to open them and divide. OF course they dont recmmend this and i am not going to tell him this. just wondering what all yall say when u go in for checkup and tell him how u are doing. I mean you have to go back to get the refills to continue tapering yourself down. Does that make sense? I will just tell him i am managaing and taking every other day and trying to figure it out...cant say i am dividing them bc i know i cant take 20 for awhile and skip and taper and then just quit off of 20. I HONESLTY can not go through what i did when i went every other day!!!!! i mean its kinda scary to have to open them up and do all this, but the other option didnt work.
I now know that i can use just empty gel. capsules and dont ahve to be a time released. Well i messed up today. when he made me go back he made me take 1 30mg. and this it was up to for the next day. SO i took a 20. now it is today. I took a 20 and divided 3 ways. and took 1 pill which was pretty much 7 mg. I was thinking right and thought i was diving it to make 15mg. so went from 20 to 7. i will see how it goes rest of day. As my last dose was 20 for 2 weeks and then went every other day and then i was done. that didnt work and lost it. so this is where i am now.

HI Shannon,

Have to say I don't think you're ready to start divvying up the 20mg - you need to first of all become stable on that dose, then do a SLOW taper. Some people find it takes several days before the effects of a drop affect them - if your dosage is bouncing all over the place you're not going to know if it's because of what you took yesterday, today, or a week ago.


I know you've got the 60mg capsules, but do try to get your hands on a bottle of new empty capsules, you'll find it a lot easier as they're transparent. It also means it's easier to make up your own doses from (say) 60mg. To make 15mg, you just divide 60 into two capsules, then each of these into two and you have doses of 15mg for four days.

In regard to did I tell my doctor? Yes, wouldn't bother seeing a doctor I couldn't see as my 'advisor'. I don't go to her so she can tell me what to do, I go to her so I can get her opinion on what I should do. I don't always agree with what she advises, but one thing I NEVER do is say I'm doing one thing and do another.

Your doctor sounds like they've questioned the wisdom of relying on information you get on this board; next visit you should ask him what his problem is with your plan. If he says 'they're slow release - you shouldn't open them', ask him for a glass of water and drop one of the capsules in and show him just how fast the outer capsule dissolves. It's easy to focus on the things doctors don't know, but if they didn't have overall superior knowledge to us, we wouldn't be going to see them. Try to see it as working with them, rather than just going to them to be told what to do. You sound a bit concerned about 'disobeying' him, but having to go back for top-ups.

I took the empty gelatine caps to my GP and she held on to a few so she knows for future reference if she comes across someone else having to withdraw. Doctors learn a lot of what they know from us: a good one will admit it, a bad one won't. There are plenty of doctors out there now who DO know about the reputation of these drugs - we don't read about them on here because they don't prescribe it any more.

Those of us who've been through this commonly describe the headache as a 'tight' pain, rather than the thumping pain most people associate with a headache. Although i've had much worse headaches (having had migraines) I found these ones strangely resistant to pain relief tables.

keep in touch,

Maureen.


p.s. you may find it easier to just start and stay on one thread, rather than having several going - it's easier for others to keep track of who you are and what you're up to. not to mention easier for you keeping track of the responses of others.

[svaughn]

HI Shannon,

Have to say I don't think you're ready to start divvying up the 20mg - you need to first of all become stable on that dose, then do a SLOW taper. Some people find it takes several days before the effects of a drop affect them - if your dosage is bouncing all over the place you're not going to know if it's because of what you took yesterday, today, or a week ago.


I know you've got the 60mg capsules, but do try to get your hands on a bottle of new empty capsules, you'll find it a lot easier as they're transparent. It also means it's easier to make up your own doses from (say) 60mg. To make 15mg, you just divide 60 into two capsules, then each of these into two and you have doses of 15mg for four days.

In regard to did I tell my doctor? Yes, wouldn't bother seeing a doctor I couldn't see as my 'advisor'. I don't go to her so she can tell me what to do, I go to her so I can get her opinion on what I should do. I don't always agree with what she advises, but one thing I NEVER do is say I'm doing one thing and do another.

Your doctor sounds like they've questioned the wisdom of relying on information you get on this board; next visit you should ask him what his problem is with your plan. If he says 'they're slow release - you shouldn't open them', ask him for a glass of water and drop one of the capsules in and show him just how fast the outer capsule dissolves. It's easy to focus on the things doctors don't know, but if they didn't have overall superior knowledge to us, we wouldn't be going to see them. Try to see it as working with them, rather than just going to them to be told what to do. You sound a bit concerned about 'disobeying' him, but having to go back for top-ups.

I took the empty gelatine caps to my GP and she held on to a few so she knows for future reference if she comes across someone else having to withdraw. Doctors learn a lot of what they know from us: a good one will admit it, a bad one won't. There are plenty of doctors out there now who DO know about the reputation of these drugs - we don't read about them on here because they don't prescribe it any more.

Those of us who've been through this commonly describe the headache as a 'tight' pain, rather than the thumping pain most people associate with a headache. Although i've had much worse headaches (having had migraines) I found these ones strangely resistant to pain relief tables.

keep in touch,

Maureen.


p.s. you may find it easier to just start and stay on one thread, rather than having several going - it's easier for others to keep track of who you are and what you're up to. not to mention easier for you keeping track of the responses of others.

Hey. thanks for getting back to me. I was taking 20mg for 2 weeks and then took 20 every other day for one week and then he told me to stop. I was fine when i was taking the 20 every day for 2 weeks. I took 15 yesterday and 15 today. Now i have no zaps, just aches. and slight headache. i am wondering if i should go back to 20 or stay at 15 for while. it seems as this is process is just a wait and see. I will go and find the clear gels. I also guess i will tell him next time. i do like him...first one i ave liked in awhile..
now when you are on a dose i have read that its around 6 days later u know withdrawals...so since i am taking 15 should i not be feeling anthung like the aches..and then around next week that shoudl happen??? or its just diff with each person. I feel i can handle what i feel now..aches slight headache...I CANNOT handle the ZAPS and emptional outburst of crying. now my moods have kinda been off the map..yesterday felt somehwat sad and then had laughing speel...all was funny, but this is nothing compared to feelings of despair and constant crying.

ANd do you mean just keep adding to this post right here so it will be easier for people to keep track. thanks. i know i will be asking a question again soon:) shannon

[Determined]

Thank you both for throwing yourselves out there. I really appreciate knowing what others are going through. I start the weaning process this week, and even if it costs me my nw job, I will get off of this evil stuff. Sorry for hijacking your thread, I just wanted you to know that someone is going through this at the same time.

Randy

[MaureenV]

Hey. thanks for getting back to me. I was taking 20mg for 2 weeks and then took 20 every other day for one week and then he told me to stop. I was fine when i was taking the 20 every day for 2 weeks. I took 15 yesterday and 15 today. Now i have no zaps, just aches. and slight headache. i am wondering if i should go back to 20 or stay at 15 for while. it seems as this is process is just a wait and see. I will go and find the clear gels. I also guess i will tell him next time. i do like him...first one i ave liked in awhile..
now when you are on a dose i have read that its around 6 days later u know withdrawals...so since i am taking 15 should i not be feeling anthung like the aches..and then around next week that shoudl happen??? or its just diff with each person. I feel i can handle what i feel now..aches slight headache...I CANNOT handle the ZAPS and emptional outburst of crying. now my moods have kinda been off the map..yesterday felt somehwat sad and then had laughing speel...all was funny, but this is nothing compared to feelings of despair and constant crying.

ANd do you mean just keep adding to this post right here so it will be easier for people to keep track. thanks. i know i will be asking a question again soon:) shannon

Hi Shannon,

(I have the same surname by the way, just with the extra 'a').


With the threads, I just meant that because those of us who check out the posts regularly do so via 'new entries' you don't need to post in a few different threads to make sure someone sees it. Also, if you continue all of your question/comments in one thread, others can come in and see your history. Sometimes it's hard to remember all of the names/details, and sometimes people come back after a few weeks absence and it's easier to remember who they are. It doesn't really matter, you may just get more accurate information back.

Re the six days: no, everyone's different; that's the case for some, for me it was only a few days and then it was several more days before the disappeared. I was tapering down very, very, tiny amounts. The reason I mentioned that is because if you think after a few days that you feel o.k. and you can drop further, you may get hit a few days after that.

If you feel o.k., there's no harm in staying at 15, but if I were do I would do so for a week THIS TIME, just to make sure you're stabilized. I know you badly want to be off - don't worry, we've all been there. There aren't too many of us who haven't tried a bigger or faster drop and had to go back up in dose. I tried to (unsuccessfully) stop completely at 10mg.

regards, Maureen.

[MaureenV]

Thank you both for throwing yourselves out there. I really appreciate knowing what others are going through. I start the weaning process this week, and even if it costs me my nw job, I will get off of this evil stuff. Sorry for hijacking your thread, I just wanted you to know that someone is going through this at the same time.

Randy

Don't worry about hijacking threads, it's not a hanging offence around here.


Have just answered your other post.


cheers, Maureen.

[nursedeborah]

Shannon,
I do have the thing with the withdrawls and them hitting me around the 6 th day.
Yes everyone is different, and this is also why it's best to wait at least 2 wks
before you decrease.

I know that when I was taking the drug, I could miss a dose, and yes in a day or
2 I would get the clangging in my head, but this is different from that, and it
lasts a few days as well, then settles down, and alll is well.

As I got nearer to the end it did get easier for me, and I really had a very difficult
time getting off the drug, more that most. I don't mean that to take away anyone elses
pain, and heart ache they have gone through, I just mean from what I have read, and been
told.

I would stay at the 15 mg, but if you do have problems, remeber you can always add a few beads
this is not a race, but a goal.

Debbie