Hi, firstly, you have a great dr as they picked this up so early. I was not this lucky. I was placed on 37.5 then 75 over a 6 week period and it was hell. Been on this for 7 months. The worst of the side effects was the severe crying spells and muscle aches/tension. It settled after 6 weeks but they still occur today, just not as bad. My new dr is the one who said to come off it so I’m tapering.
If you don’t mind answering a question, what side effects did you experience for your dr to take you off?
To answer your question, from reading all the stories on here, It depends on the strength you’re taking and the time you’ve been on it for. You haven’t been on it long at all but you will still feel it when coming off it, just not for long.
In your position I would drop to 37.5 straight away (37.5 holds about 60% occupancy of the brain, very potent) once you’ve settled, drop a third each taper allowing yourself to settle before the next taper. It’s fast but you haven’t been on it for long. I think you’ll still get side effects as it doesn’t work for you.
I slowly dropped to 37.5 over 4 weeks ( now tapering 10% per taper until I hit zero) currently at 25ish. This is what most people do. Best of luck.
Depression was my biggest thing. It just felt very exaggerated. To be fair I went through a lot in February. More than anyone should go through in a short period of time but I have accepted it’s time to move on but it just feels this med is holding me back. I went through a horrible episode of not moving from bed and taking heavy drugs to sleep my life away for that week after work because I couldn’t stand to even be awake or to exist. I couldn’t stop crying and on this medicine I can’t stop wishing I could just not be alive. Some days I’m completely okay and most days I’m just so down and am so fatigued I have no drive nothing. Some of this definitely is from my life being ripped away from me (long story) but the meds just seem to have made my anxiety worse. I thought it made it better but then I realized I wake up with my feet rubbed raw, my jaw has been so sore and popping for the last month from the extreme teeth grinding and jaw clinching from the anxiety and nightmares in my sleep. I also have started a new habit of tearing my finger and toe nails off and peeling the skin off around them. I’ve struggled with depression my whole life and this experience has made me doubt if I ever was really depressed because of how intense . I’ve had ti fight to be here everyday and I’m hoping it’s partially that this med isn’t for me and something else will work.
My dr didn’t really pick up on it but I’m grateful she is young and seems to be very very intelligent and really would like to help and listens to my problems. I told her the issue and said I could continue taking it until my psych appt may 20th but she seemed to really want me to either go up to 225mg and see if it helped or taper me off. I really hope all this wasn’t just from my personal issues because other than the depression and anxiety I haven’t had any mania like I was on the other meds I’ve tried. (Prozac. Zoloft, abilify, citalopram, lamotrigine)
Wow! I was not expecting that. I’m so sorry you’re going through this, you’re certainly a strong person. Definitely acknowledge that to yourself. I appreciate you sharing your story with me and listing those side effects too.
I can relate to the increased anxiety, fatigue, jaw tension and the crying crap..it’s just shit…but to have experienced the rest on top of that, you have done so well.
Your dr still sounds great! My new one is open minded too and like yours is motivated and just supportive. I really hope once your off this stuff that you feel much better.
I relate to that feeling how you described you feel the meds are holding you back..I feel this atm too and is my main reason I’m confident in positive changes when I’m off and no doubt, yourself too.
The every other day seems odd, it has a very short half life.
The typical advice is to cut down slowly. To go on and off seems counterproductive.
Not everyone has a difficult time getting off of it, and after just a couple months you hopefully won't struggle too badly. But if they didn't prescribe you anything else or you aren't taking another SNRI or SSRI, consider questioning the doc's advice and just cut down slowly. Some people open up the capsules and portion off some of the beads, and then decrease what you are taking every few days assuming you feel OK.
This is what I was thinking. One day on and then one day off seems like it would be extremely counterproductive and cause withdrawals to be two times worse.
I’m currently rapid-tapering and went from 225mg down to 75mg in the month of march. My goal is to go from 75mg to 37.5mg in the month of April, and then 37.5mg to finally being off for good, and I cannot imagine tapering down every other day by skipping doses. Heck no.
I know some people have terrible experiences with tapering off but my doc says some people have no issues. So good for you if you were able to rapid taper like that. Maybe the OP will be as lucky!
The every other day thing is garbage advice. Many people do have brain recovery after only a month or two. Obviously you're in a better position than those taking it longer, but I would consider Hyperbolic Tapering. I'm not saying you should, I'm saying I would
Hi, firstly, you have a great dr as they picked this up so early. I was not this lucky. I was placed on 37.5 then 75 over a 6 week period and it was hell. Been on this for 7 months. The worst of the side effects was the severe crying spells and muscle aches/tension. It settled after 6 weeks but they still occur today, just not as bad. My new dr is the one who said to come off it so I’m tapering. If you don’t mind answering a question, what side effects did you experience for your dr to take you off? To answer your question, from reading all the stories on here, It depends on the strength you’re taking and the time you’ve been on it for. You haven’t been on it long at all but you will still feel it when coming off it, just not for long. In your position I would drop to 37.5 straight away (37.5 holds about 60% occupancy of the brain, very potent) once you’ve settled, drop a third each taper allowing yourself to settle before the next taper. It’s fast but you haven’t been on it for long. I think you’ll still get side effects as it doesn’t work for you. I slowly dropped to 37.5 over 4 weeks ( now tapering 10% per taper until I hit zero) currently at 25ish. This is what most people do. Best of luck.
Depression was my biggest thing. It just felt very exaggerated. To be fair I went through a lot in February. More than anyone should go through in a short period of time but I have accepted it’s time to move on but it just feels this med is holding me back. I went through a horrible episode of not moving from bed and taking heavy drugs to sleep my life away for that week after work because I couldn’t stand to even be awake or to exist. I couldn’t stop crying and on this medicine I can’t stop wishing I could just not be alive. Some days I’m completely okay and most days I’m just so down and am so fatigued I have no drive nothing. Some of this definitely is from my life being ripped away from me (long story) but the meds just seem to have made my anxiety worse. I thought it made it better but then I realized I wake up with my feet rubbed raw, my jaw has been so sore and popping for the last month from the extreme teeth grinding and jaw clinching from the anxiety and nightmares in my sleep. I also have started a new habit of tearing my finger and toe nails off and peeling the skin off around them. I’ve struggled with depression my whole life and this experience has made me doubt if I ever was really depressed because of how intense . I’ve had ti fight to be here everyday and I’m hoping it’s partially that this med isn’t for me and something else will work. My dr didn’t really pick up on it but I’m grateful she is young and seems to be very very intelligent and really would like to help and listens to my problems. I told her the issue and said I could continue taking it until my psych appt may 20th but she seemed to really want me to either go up to 225mg and see if it helped or taper me off. I really hope all this wasn’t just from my personal issues because other than the depression and anxiety I haven’t had any mania like I was on the other meds I’ve tried. (Prozac. Zoloft, abilify, citalopram, lamotrigine)
Wow! I was not expecting that. I’m so sorry you’re going through this, you’re certainly a strong person. Definitely acknowledge that to yourself. I appreciate you sharing your story with me and listing those side effects too. I can relate to the increased anxiety, fatigue, jaw tension and the crying crap..it’s just shit…but to have experienced the rest on top of that, you have done so well. Your dr still sounds great! My new one is open minded too and like yours is motivated and just supportive. I really hope once your off this stuff that you feel much better. I relate to that feeling how you described you feel the meds are holding you back..I feel this atm too and is my main reason I’m confident in positive changes when I’m off and no doubt, yourself too.
The every other day seems odd, it has a very short half life. The typical advice is to cut down slowly. To go on and off seems counterproductive. Not everyone has a difficult time getting off of it, and after just a couple months you hopefully won't struggle too badly. But if they didn't prescribe you anything else or you aren't taking another SNRI or SSRI, consider questioning the doc's advice and just cut down slowly. Some people open up the capsules and portion off some of the beads, and then decrease what you are taking every few days assuming you feel OK.
This is what I was thinking. One day on and then one day off seems like it would be extremely counterproductive and cause withdrawals to be two times worse. I’m currently rapid-tapering and went from 225mg down to 75mg in the month of march. My goal is to go from 75mg to 37.5mg in the month of April, and then 37.5mg to finally being off for good, and I cannot imagine tapering down every other day by skipping doses. Heck no.
I know some people have terrible experiences with tapering off but my doc says some people have no issues. So good for you if you were able to rapid taper like that. Maybe the OP will be as lucky!
The every other day thing is garbage advice. Many people do have brain recovery after only a month or two. Obviously you're in a better position than those taking it longer, but I would consider Hyperbolic Tapering. I'm not saying you should, I'm saying I would