4 replies to this topic

[ESRoar]

Hi All- I’ve been tapering off of 90mg since July 2018 via the bead counting method. Throughout this whole time, I’ve been on high doses of hormones (for fertility treatment) and/or pregnant. I’m 3 months postpartum and I’ve held at 46mg since I’ve had the baby. There have been a lot of life changes (as you can imagine) and I didn’t want to add tapering withdrawals to that. The past few days I’ve been struggling really bad: I can’t stop crying, I feel almost paralyzed with depression, I can’t concentrate on anything, and then I feel guilt for having these issues around my husband and baby. My question is, has anyone had to add beads back in during a taper? I’m struggling so bad and I need to be able to work and take care of my baby. Thank you.  

[invalidusername]

Hi there ESRoar....

 

Welcome and a warm Seasons Greetings to you.... and first up, yes, plenty of people have added beads during their taper, and given your are 3 months p/p, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that you feel this should be an option. Let's not forget that 10-15% of all women have postnatal depression, and if you have previously had such an episode, these odds are increased, so don't beat yourself up for what is going on; you need to stabalise.

 

When you say a few days - how many are we talking? And what were you like prior to that? How has the last 18 months of tapering been overall? Is this depression a sudden onset, or has it occurred previously during the taper?

 

Chances are you might need to add a few beads to get stable and hold there for a while before going further. You are in a delicate space right now... but we will do all we can to help.

 

IUN

[fishinghat]

Fully agree with IUN. If you decide to go back up it may only take a few beads to do the trick. If you updose it takes 4 to 6 days to stabilize.

[ESRoar]

Hi again,

Thanks so much for responding.  To answer some of your questions, I had a week long depression spell right around the time I was returning to work from maternity leave.  The depression lifted for a few weeks and now it started again on Christmas.  This time, there doesn't seem to be a specific cause like there was last time.  Prior to all of this, I've been doing well for a few years. 

 

The taper has gone pretty well.  I move very slow at 2.5% drops and I'm currently on 46mg.  The only withdrawal symptom I've had is fatigue 2 days after a drop.  

[invalidusername]

OK, so we are talking biological depression rather than situational. Not surprising. 

 

These occasional dips in mood are going to happen, and potentially more frequently as you get closer to the zero. But at a half-way mark and a slow taper, it shouldn't be too terrible. If it has only been a few days, I would be inclined to weather the storm for a few more days to see if it passes and your previous tolerance ensues. 

 

But if the depression continues, then it would be in your better interest to take a few beads... but as Hat said, it often doesn't take that much. We often people see reinstating the previous DOSE rather than a few beads and they end up doing more harm than good as it ends up being too much of a shock to the system.