Totally OT: has anyone ever weaned themselves (or with Dr.) off of Anti-depressants?

[cin]

I have been on the lowest dose of wellbutrin, and have been trying to come off of it. But having been on ADs for 20 years, it's hard to know what I'm seeing. The 'real me' who still needs meds, or some withdrawal symptoms.

 

Any ideas, suggestions, etc. Oh, my Dr. is totally clueless. He just told me I could stop taking it. Yeah, even I know better than that!?!?!

 

thanks for any input.

[Orthodox6]

Please forgive my astonishment. No reputable psychiatrist is going to tell the patient to "go cold turkey" from an anti-depressant ! ! ! (If the doctor is not a psychiatrist or a neurologist, then unfortunately you have been seeing the wrong kind of doctor.)

 

Please call a reputable psychiatrist's office tomorrow morning and discuss your situation. Whatever you do, do NOT "just stop." That can be dangerous. (Once I was stupid enough to do that.)

[Tess in the Burbs]

I took Lexapro for a few months but hated how I felt on it and knew I needed to get off of it. I did so on my own and with lots of good vitamins/homeopathic remedies. here is a copy of the info given to me to do this:

 

You need to support your nervous system

Things like

-Omega 3 supplement. Omega is awesome and I think helped a lot. You cannot take too much of this. It isn’t toxic.

-She said eat nutritional yeast. At first I was skeptical but I put it on popcorn and it was VERY yummy. You can also sprinkle it on soup. Doesn’t taste bad at all.

-Drink plenty of water

Drink Sleepytime tea before bed every night. I was NOT a tea drinker before but I add honey to mine and now have started to like it. You can also do Chamomile tea.

Have a high protein bedtime snack. _ to _ sandwich with cashew butter or some nut butter would be fine. Not sugar!

-Take a cal-mag supplement before bed. She recommended liquid. I found one at the health food store that was raspberry flavored.

 

Then she suggested I take Gelsemium Sempervirens - A Homeopathic Remedy.

12 or 6c. They dissolve in your mouth. I took three a day in the morning.

 

She also gave me a list of things to help me if I ran into problems.

 

Extreme irritability-Camilla or Chamomilla. I found the Camilla at the health food store and it is a homeopathic. I found this one to be the one I used the most. When I noticed the most trouble with withdrawal it was when I wanted to FREAK out on my kids or anyone in my path. You don’t take it unless you need it. I also drank a cup of Chamomile along with it if I was at home and could do it.

 

Crying for what you feel is no reason or not reason enough to be that upset- Belladonna. I remember telling her I don’t cry much and she commented “Well that is because you are on Prozac, honey.†Sure enough I did do some crying. Each time I went to “that†place I worried I needed my Prozac but I always decided to wait a day and sure enough I would pull out of it.

 

One big thing I mentioned was breathing. You lie on the floor and breathe in through your lungs and out your mouth. As you blow out push your spine down to the floor and let all the air out. Pushing the air to your belly. Another one is when you breathe in raise your arms above your hear and bring up your toes toward you. When you breathe out bring your arms slowly down to your sides and point your toes. The second one is my favorite. I know it is hard with two kiddos but you can have them join you. It might teach them a way to calm themselves down as well.

 

Tip for the headache-Drink one ounce of grape juice and a small bit of protein every hour until it goes away. Protein can be a handful of nuts.

 

Make sure you drink LOTS of water and little to no caffeine if you can. Or no caffeine 6 hours before bed.

 

 

 

I went cold turkey using the above help and it wasn't that bad. I still use a lot of the supplements now(like belladonna) when I need them. Hope this helps you.

[Chris in VA]

I did. I took a variety over the years and weaned off several times.

Last time, it was off Cymbalta, and I didn't really have a problem.

[Jackie in NE]

Yes, I did. After taking Celexa for several years. (And I know now that I needed to be taking it for many, many years before I actually started).

 

I didn't intend to stop. I just kept forgetting to take it for one reason or another. So, it was not "cold turkey", but it wasn't scheduled, either. Does that make sense?

 

I finally just quit altogether.

 

But I have heard many, many warnings that you should never stop "cold turkey". Please consult a psychiatrist and come off of the medication in a scheduled manner.

 

Blessings to you,

 

Jackie

[Pip]

I weaned myself off Effexor and it was a nightmare. I was reduced to opening up the capsules and removing grains, 3-5 a day because I felt so awful. I also went off prozac, but since it has a long half life, I really had no problem.

 

Wellbutrin is supposed to be one of the easier ones to come off of, but everyone is different. I could not tolerate most of the AD's I was put on except for prozac.

[HSMom2One]

I was thinking about posting today to ask for prayer for something very similar. You see, I have been on Citalopram (generic for Celexa) for two years and decided to get off of the medication and deal with the depression with prayer and self therapy. I talked to my pharmacist and he told me to slowly wean myself off by taking 1/2 tab alternating every other day with a full tab; do this for one week, then cut down to 1/2 tab every day for a week, then 1/4 tab alternating every other day with 1/2 tab until I am completely off. He said that I should absolutely NOT just stop cold turkey.

 

I am currently taking 1/2 tab daily and it is my second week of tapering off. I feel awful!! I was feeling balanced and great before making the decision to go off the meds, but now I am having anxiety attacks and bouts of sadness and near tears. Today I had a bad headache and have been tired, not normal feelings for me at all. I'm at the point that I wonder if I should be going off the meds or not. I am not opposed to using meds, but I would prefer to not take them if possible. I do realize, however, that sometimes the Lord uses medications and doctor care to heal people. I trust Him with this -- just need wisdom to know the right thing to do now.

 

I hope we both work out a reasonable plan for our own individual needs.

[kalanamak]

Please forgive my astonishment. No reputable psychiatrist is going to tell the patient to "go cold turkey" from an anti-depressant ! ! ! (If the doctor is not a psychiatrist or a neurologist, then unfortunately you have been seeing the wrong kind of doctor.)

 

 

Well, once on the "lowest dose", that is often done. You can cut them in half, and take "half the lowest dose" for 4-6 weeks. I did have one very worried patient that cut down to a quarter and then just a couple of licks a day, but it wasn't my advice they stop to begin with.

 

IME, the most helpful thing is to make a "pact" with someone you really trust, and when that person says "it's back, you need some help again" you BELIEVE them, or at least go back in and say "my pact person says it's back". I used to have the patient who wanted to stop come in WITH the pact person, who then felt brave enough to tell their loved one the symptoms they'd be watching for. This was often sisters, BTW.

[muffinmom]

Yes...I did this once 15 years ago with good success. Then last summer I had been on a low dose of Celexa for about a month when I started going to an integrative meds M.D. He said he felt he could give me as good a result with some natural supplements. He started me out on L-tryptophan (amino acid) and pyridoxal-5-phosphate (I think that's vitamin B6) twice a day. Later he added PharmaGABApro (I think also an amino acid) to help shut my brain off more at night. I came off the Celexa, had one day where I was the most irritable I had ever been in my life, but after that...no problems. Doing very well a year later.

 

Also he had me start progesterone cream, which is known as the "happy hormone." I truly feel better today than I have felt in years. So glad I'm taking these natural supplements! Hope you have success, but I hope you can find a doctor like I found to guide you through it!

[Orthodox6]

You're right about that. I didn't know for sure, though, what the actual case is for OP. ("lowest dose" might mean "lowest dose" for her, not necessarily "lowest dose capsule/pill available".) Also, she described the doctor as uneducated about what to do, which triggered my concern that she was receiving psychiatric meds from a GP, or someone else unqualified to recommend/manage that type of medication in the first place.

 

Well, once on the "lowest dose", that is often done. You can cut them in half, and take "half the lowest dose" for 4-6 weeks. I did have one very worried patient that cut down to a quarter and then just a couple of licks a day, but it wasn't my advice they stop to begin with.

 

IME, the most helpful thing is to make a "pact" with someone you really trust, and when that person says "it's back, you need some help again" you BELIEVE them, or at least go back in and say "my pact person says it's back". I used to have the patient who wanted to stop come in WITH the pact person, who then felt brave enough to tell their loved one the symptoms they'd be watching for. This was often sisters, BTW.

[cin]

Thanks for all the feedback and advice. I would go to a psych, but I don't 'have one' and I'm really not up for all the intake stuff just to get advice on weaning off a med. I'm already on a low dose, 100 mg 1X day, and technically, they are not suppose to be cut because they are time released. When I start weaning off the paxil (He11, I know!) I'm going to get the liquid, so I can REALLY wean, very very very slowly.

 

I'm going to try some of the herbal/homeopathic stuff. The progesterone cream, I'm interested in, but I'm already on the pill, with no breaks, so I'm not sure if I should try that. I'll have to check with my GYN. I could probably get the liquid paxil from him with no problems too. He's relatively laid back. (I'm not even going to where my PCP is....Paranoid is close though!)

 

Cindy

[Mama Anna]

Dh came off Wellbutrin after being on AD meds for almost two years. The main thing he and the psychiatrist discussed was where he was in life at that point. Our future has a tendency to change frequently (job changes, moving between states, totally swapping future plans, having babies, etc.) and dh was at a point where things hadn't changed for about six months and wouldn't for another six months or so. Plus, he had a firm (and reasonable) plan for the future, to which he has kept pretty well. The low level of stress in his life at that time was a prime reason for trying to come off right then.

 

It has helped that he and I are very open about discussing his moods and encouraging him to take self-help measures when he needs them and that we know the kinds of situations that tend to lead him back down that road and try as a family to avoid them.

 

20 years is a long time from which to come off by on your own. I echo the earlier poster about making sure you have an accountability partner who can say, "This isn't working - you've got to do something."

 

I don't know anything about specific physical symptoms.

 

HTH!

 

Mama Anna

[ChemMommy]

I weaned myself off Effexor and it was a nightmare. I was reduced to opening up the capsules and removing grains, 3-5 a day because I felt so awful. I also went off prozac, but since it has a long half life, I really had no problem.

 

Wellbutrin is supposed to be one of the easier ones to come off of, but everyone is different. I could not tolerate most of the AD's I was put on except for prozac.

 

 

I tried to get off effexor and it was AWFUL!! I have never, ever been that crazy in my life. I, too, was removing grains from the capsules, but taking out 25% for the first week and then 50% the next. It was TOO much.

 

My family begged me to go back on something. I'm now on Lexapro and probably won't ever try getting off anti-depressants again. Depression runs heavily in my family and, honestly, I'm tired of fighting it all the time (like I did when I was pg and nursing). I'll just stay on it.

 

I weaned off prozac with no problems at all, though. I read that it's the short acting ones that cause the problems. These are the same ones that give you a nasty headache and nausea if you miss a dose.

[muffinmom]

Thanks for all the feedback and advice. I would go to a psych, but I don't 'have one' and I'm really not up for all the intake stuff just to get advice on weaning off a med. I'm already on a low dose, 100 mg 1X day, and technically, they are not suppose to be cut because they are time released. When I start weaning off the paxil (He11, I know!) I'm going to get the liquid, so I can REALLY wean, very very very slowly.

 

I'm going to try some of the herbal/homeopathic stuff. The progesterone cream, I'm interested in, but I'm already on the pill, with no breaks, so I'm not sure if I should try that. I'll have to check with my GYN. I could probably get the liquid paxil from him with no problems too. He's relatively laid back. (I'm not even going to where my PCP is....Paranoid is close though!)

 

Cindy

 

If you're not on the pill for birth control reasons, then I'd recommend the natural progesterone cream over the hormones in the pill--far healthier than the synthetic hormones, with no dangerous side effects.

[elizabeth]

If you're not on the pill for birth control reasons, then I'd recommend the natural progesterone cream over the hormones in the pill--far healthier than the synthetic hormones, with no dangerous side effects.

Evidence for this assertion? Soy also can act like an estrogen and for BRAC mutation and other gene caused cancers it could be quite dangerous. Progesterone does have evidence backing its use in combination with estrogen as being protective against endometrial cancer but to assert that the "natural " progesterone is somehow safer without reference to medical research from a peer reviewed journal is not satisfactory to me.

[Mommy22alyns]

I have tried several times, but unfortunately I will probably never try again. Everything I've come off of except Wellbutrin was a nightmare, and the Wellbutrin was probably okay because I had other a/d's in my system that I wasn't coming off of. Cymbalta was a special kind of h$ll and I refuse to ever go on Paxil again because coming off of it was awful.

 

If you can manage your depression naturally, go for it. I cannot. Best of luck to you! :)

[cin]

I'm on the pill for a combination of pms and physical symptoms associated with my period. Life, in general now, is much more smoother. Not 1 good week, 1 emotional week, 1 week down with painkillers, and 1 week trying to regroup....

 

:001_huh:

[Maria/ME]

Just really quick as I have not read other posts...

 

I weaned off of Wellbutrin after about a year. I found that the symptoms going ON Wellbutrin were worse than when coming off!

 

However, I weaned very slowly...cutting down about a 1/4 of a pill at a time. I experience quite a bit of depression. And when I say depression I am talking I don't care about anything life is worthless type of depression. It was very difficult and I did get night sweats and this kind of electric shock thing I had going on WB. I think it's very rare. The Dr's deny that's the drugs, but duh...what else could it be. Anyway....it was well worth going off of in my case, but not a walk in the park. In the end it was worth it to be where I am now!

 

I would say make sure you have support for both the physical and mental symptoms!

[muffinmom]

Evidence for this assertion? Soy also can act like an estrogen and for BRAC mutation and other gene caused cancers it could be quite dangerous. Progesterone does have evidence backing its use in combination with estrogen as being protective against endometrial cancer but to assert that the "natural " progesterone is somehow safer without reference to medical research from a peer reviewed journal is not satisfactory to me.

 

 

I too have read of the potential unhealthy side effects of soy, which is why I avoid it. But everything I have read about natural progesterone cream says there have been no reports of unhealthy side effects in the 20+ (I think that's the number) years that it's been in use. (There have been reports of women not feeling well on it initially--some believe that effect happens for a short time before the benefits are felt). One thing I do know is unhealthy--the estrogen dominance in my body that definitely leads to breast cancer, heart disease, and hosts of other illnesses. And the effects of synthetic hormones in general are widely known.

 

I don't have a peer-reviewed journal to quote offhand, but there may be such out there. Perhaps if I had time today (although I know I don't today), I could look one up for you--I have a friend who reviews journals all day long every day. Maybe he can connect me to such an article.

 

I understand why you would like hard evidence for this. I am a very careful person and do lots of research before trying "unproven" supplements or treatments, but if I waited on the medical field to get all the proof they felt comfortable with before allowing me to try some treatment that has at the very least excellent clinical evidence, I would still feel like crap today and be largely nonfunctional. I'm very comfortable with the choice I have made. (BTW, I am under the care and guidance of a very careful, cautious M.D. who has been in practice for 25 years total, and who has practiced integrative medicine for the past 15 years, so I have some level of trust in his expertise and experience as well).

[kalanamak]

Also, she described the doctor as uneducated about what to do, which triggered my concern that she was receiving psychiatric meds from a GP, or someone else unqualified to recommend/manage that type of medication in the first place.

 

Yes, unfortunately MANY people have no insurance for these kind of problems, and instead end up seeing a doc for fatigue or anxiety symptoms like shortness of breath and palpitations, etc. There are also a significant number of people who don't want it on record they ever went to a psychiatrist or counselor. They come in and want it billed as menopausal symptoms.

MANY docs, after looking for the other basic problems, try giving anti-depressants, as the new ones are pretty darned safe, are hard to overdose on and kill yourself, and are acceptable to many patients (i.e. "a pill", rather than lifestyle changes, etc).

 

However, there is really no excuse, as there is SO much continuing medical education out there on depression, and since depressed patients are "hard" on a doc, most docs really want to treat it right, if only to save their hide from suffering on their end (there is a saying about depression: a depressed patient is depressing, and indeed, if someone seems listless and withdrawn but is NOT depressing, I always review the diagnosis).

[Rosie_0801]

I'm on the pill for a combination of pms and physical symptoms associated with my period. Life, in general now, is much more smoother. Not 1 good week, 1 emotional week, 1 week down with painkillers, and 1 week trying to regroup....

 

:001_huh:

 

Have you tried a chiropractor? Regular adjustments sorted out virtually all my period pain and most of the mood swings too. That was a wonderful, though unexpected side effect!

 

The chapter in "The Jungle Effect" on depression is a very interesting read. The section in "New Vital Oils" by Liz Earle is too; that one should be easily found in your local library.

 

Rosie

[Terabith]

If you're on the lowest dose, I think I would start cutting it in half. Alternate taking half dose and "full lowest dose" for a month. Then do a month on half of lowest dose. Then, if things are okay, cut it in half. (Quarter it. With a pill cutter). Alternate half and quarter dose for a month. Then a month at quarter dose. Then take a quarter dose every other day. Then stop.

 

Are you on both wellbutrin and paxil?

Edited June 6, 2009 by Terabith