Anyone ever gone off of an antidepressant? *Update bottom of page 2*

[borzoimom]

It helps TREMENDOUSLY!!!! ( also good for reproduction too.. lol.. ) You take care- I am here most of the time during the day, and you can always email me at [email protected] if you want too.. God bless!

[JenBKR]

It helps TREMENDOUSLY!!!! ( also good for reproduction too.. lol.. ) You take care- I am here most of the time during the day, and you can always email me at [email protected] if you want too.. God bless!

Thank you very much!! I really appreciate that!

[borzoimom]

you got it hon- ( yes i am southern.. lol..) and it really does help! ALOT!! Let me know okay??

[cfuh]

Hi there!!

Just wondering if you went off your meds cold turkey or slowly by reducing the dosage? The withdrawal affects are less if you do the latter.

Cathy

[JenBKR]

Hi there!!

Just wondering if you went off your meds cold turkey or slowly by reducing the dosage? The withdrawal affects are less if you do the latter.

Cathy

I very slowy weaned off...I don't think I could have gone cold turkey with Effexor because the side effects are so severe. In fact, it took me close to a year, then I switched to Prozac for a couple weeks to keep the side effects at bay. Thank you!

[Catty1]

I have had good experience with Paxil and its cousins....Lexapro, Celexa.

There are different "families" of SSRIs out there.

I think anyone should be free to try a completely different one if you need to. Doctors make educated guesses - they are the experts, but you are the boss. You know how you feel and don't feel.

Communication! That's the ticket. Jen - maybe you just need a low dose of the Paxil type?

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Getting off is never easy. I got alarmed by the slightest negative feeling ... .
But with the help of my neurologist, I was able to stay off for at least 2 years. I was taking Prozac then.
I have also been on Effexor, but I got so much weight in no time; so I switched to "SERLAIN". No side effects now.

That tip about B-complex sounds very promising! I will talk about it to my doc next time!

[BitsyNaceyDog]

I have had good experience with Paxil and its cousins....Lexapro, Celexa.

Paxil was the worst thing for me, I was on it for my anxiety. Paxil didn't help my anxiety as much as I would have liked, it only took the edge off a little. The thing I most hated about it was that if I forgot to take my pill at the right time I would have bouts of rage. I normally took it before bed, because that's when I could best remember, but if I did forget I would wake up in the morning feeling horrible. Sometimes I would be filled with anger and rage towards everything including my pills and I wouldn't want to take them. Justin would notice when I didn't take it though and he'd make me take it. I was on Paxil for several years simply because I was afraid of the side effects of getting off of it. Eventually I did slowly wean off of it and onto Zoloft. I liked Zoloft, but my body built up an immunity to it after about a year and I was switched to Lexapro. I quite my job earlier this year and thought I could function without my anxiety meds. I was weaned off the Lexapro and had little side effects when doing so. I'm much happier now not being on the meds. I don't go out as much and never by myself, but it's worth it to me to be off the meds.

[Catty1]

Wow, what a scary experience that was KBlaix!

I have been on these things for depression only, so they have always had some good effect for me.

So glad to hear you are feeling better!

[BOBS DAD]

Jen,

I hope it all works out for you. I take Paxil for anxiety and I can't stop. I don't feel anxious anymore and I don't feel any more anxious in the instances that I have tried to stop. But i get this very weird almost lightheadedness sensation that is very disturbing. I also get the KA-Raziest of Vivid Dreams - more like night terrors and wake up feeling tense and physically sore from clenching fingers, etc. So I guess I have to stay on them.

I hope you can succeed and that vitamins are your cure! Good luck,

Dan

[lovingpaws]

I was on anti depressents in the late '80's, the 'other" kind before ssri's. then in the '90's I was diagnosed with bi-polar and have made the rounds with ssri and anti convulsant type combos. I've finally ended up with prozac & topamax both which have the bonus of helping me with migrains which were almost a daily occurance. Different types of med effect people differentlly, and some people do react to them with anger - small percentage, but biollogically there are other things going on as well. prozac all take about 6 weeks to get into the system and see/feel difference and the same to exit. Also while these meds are ok alone, it is best to seek/have therepy during treatment to understand what your're going through, and 'talk' it out.

I had my share of going on & off the meds due to the side effects. For me that really is not an option. I do well on them, and I do have seasonal dosage changes, so that may be something to consider, sometimes you may need more sometimes less.

[JenBKR]

Well, I hadn't updated for a while, just wanted to thank everyone for your support. The B vitamins have helped a little, but I was still not doing well. I talked to my doctor, who recommended a low dose of Prozac. I have been on Prozac before, and it's a medication I can continue to take when I get pregnant. So far, it has helped tremendously. I think I'm starting to realize that I may be on an antidepressant for the rest of my life, or at least for a very long time, but I think I'm ok with that. I've been feeling so much better the past few days (been on the Prozac for a couple weeks now, it's finally starting to really kick in). It really hit me when I was on vacation for a few days and couldn't stop crying that something was wrong. I just wanted to update and thank everyone so much for all of your support. It helped more than you know. ((((hugs))))

[cassiesmom]

Jen,

I hope it all works out for you. I take Paxil for anxiety and I can't stop. I don't feel anxious anymore and I don't feel any more anxious in the instances that I have tried to stop. But i get this very weird almost lightheadedness sensation that is very disturbing. I also get the KA-Raziest of Vivid Dreams - more like night terrors and wake up feeling tense and physically sore from clenching fingers, etc. So I guess I have to stay on them.

I hope you can succeed and that vitamins are your cure! Good luck,

Dan

I take Effexor and fluoxetine. I have long, crazy, vivid dreams now. Sometimes they are like Bob's Dad describes - night terrors - where I wake up physically achy. Most mornings I wake up beat from excessive REM sleep. I'll take that over how depressed and anxious I was before I started on the fluoxetine, though. There is one more minute of daylight each day - YEAH!! If anybody out there has a way to get rid of SSRI dreams, I could use a good night's sleep. Research has shown that the brain during REM sleep uses almost as much energy as the brain when awake.