New member, my story...a little long, any advice appreciated :-)

[Guest guest]

Dear ,

Thank you for your patience.

You said:

<<Ok, this is a little long and I have trouble concentrating just to

let you know :-)

I just wanted to introduce myself and maybe ask a few questions if I

can. My name is and I am happily married to a wonderful man

for about 8 1\2 years and have three young children. Well I have

always kind of been an anxious person. About November of 1998 I had

my first panic attack. I had no idea at the time what it was but it

really scared me. I kept having them for months...often times 3 or 4

more a day and was always afraid to be by myself. At the time my

oldest was just a toddler. One time my anxiety was so bad I had my

biggest panic attack. All day long everyday I didn't feel like I

could breathe and would be gasping for air all day. That day I guess

I had hyperventilated (didn't know that is what was happening at the

time) and my legs and arms started to feel like they were falling

asleep and my hands cripled up on me..I had no idea what was going on

and had my Dad ran me to the ER. They said I was at 100% oxygen

which I found kind of weird since I felt like I couldn't breathe.

They told me in the ER they would give me a medication that would

help and that was ativan. Never once did they tell me it was a panic

attack I was experiencing so of course I thought there was really

something wrong with me. Well that continued on for months and just

wasn't getting better.>>

** This tells me that it was not a panic attack but a biochemical

alteration--possibly your thyroid, autonomic nervous system, glucose levels,

or another of several less common causes. Had it been a classic panic

attack the Ativan would have addressed it.

How much stress were you undergoing in the year prior to the onset of

your symptoms? Did you notice anything at all different in your physical

body prior to or doing his time? Were you ever evaluated for anything other

than panic attacks?

You said:

<< I had a miscarriage in March of 1999 and that

kind of put me over the edge and I went to the doctor for some help

and he put me on paxil.>>

** How far along were you in your pregnancy when this happened? Were you

pregnant when you experienced the first episode?

You said:

<<Well I wasn't on it to long and had a very

hard time with it. He took me off of that and put my on zoloft this

was about April of 1999. He said it was a newer drug and with fewer

side affects and " non addictive " safe for pregnancy of course at the

time I believed him and started taking it. I have been on it ever

since. I had been taking ativan everyday and decided to try to get

off of that after being on it for over a year. It was hard but I

manged to do it and haven't taken one in probably 3 years. >>

** Excellent!

You said:

<<I have

pretty much been on 50 mgs of zoloft the whole time..I believe a few

times the doctor said about raising the dose to 100 and I tried that

and I just couldn't handle it so went back down to 50 after only

being on the higher for a short period of time. In 1999 also after

being up one night panicking I came across a infomercial about people

who were dealing with the same thing I was. It was a self help

program about dealing with anxiety and it helped a lot. I finally

knew what I was dealing with and it taught me what to do when a panic

attack came. It helped quit a bit and I never had a really bad panic

attack since. I still dealt with anxiety but not such bad panic

attacks.

Well last year I believe in about August or so I decided that I would

try to come off of the zoloft because I know and knew it wasn't

helping me at all for a long time but was afraid to stop taking it.>>

** I have nothing to say here; I just wanted to split this up for

readability, lol.

You said:

<<So of course when I first decided to come off this I didn't know I

had to do it slowly. I went from 50 mgs right to 25 mgs. I didn't

feel to well after doing that so just stayed with the 25mgs. After

doing some research on zoloft withdrawal on the internet and

realizing I had to do it very slowly my husband started shaving a

tiny bit off the 25 mgs tablet and did that in equal amounts for

about 4 weeks at a time. Well its been about 10 months or so and I

am still on it..but just a tiny bit and am still having withdrawals.

I have had many withdrawal from this even taking this long to come

off of it. I can't remember them all right now.have trouble

concentrating but I have had the head zaps, pressure in my head,

headaches, insomnia, ibs type problems, painful gas, irregular

heartbeat, intense neasea, intense dizziness, spaced out, feeling

disconnected, increased anxiety, irritability, rage, trouble

concentrating, hard to remember things and lately the the past month

or so I have been having trouble swallowing. This one is causing my

anxiety to go through the roof. I am having trouble with depression

right now..but I think its mainly because of all the symptoms and

feeling over whelmed. I never really had a problem with depression

until I started taking this drug>>

** To address your last statement first--the good news is that you won't

experience depression forever. This is time limited, and if you think about

it, a perfectly normal, healthy response to what you are experiencing right

now.

You said:

<<Well I guess my questions are if anyone can answer them is I am not

sure what to do right now as far as trying to get off of these

completely. For a month I took about 2-3 not more then 5mgs (its

hard to tell but it is a very small piece) every other day (but I had

been taking the small dose everyday for 4 weeks before I went to

every other day) because trying to cut the pills any smaller they

brake into tiny little pieces. Then after a month of that and for

the past month I have been taking that same doseage every 3 days. I

just wasn't sure what to do when I got down to that tiny little piece

especially since I am still having the symptoms. Am I doing the

right thing? I am having a hard time right now and I would hate to

start taking it everyday again since I have't taken it everyday for

about 2 months now. Its been hard with the symptoms..>>

** The problem with skipping days is that at some point, you've run out

of options. The latter part of a withdrawal is almost always more difficult

that the initial.

Have you ever felt like you've stabilized on a dose prior to reducing it

again? This is important. Feeling stable in between means your chemistry

and brain has adapted to the decrease. Taking it daily is not a step

backwards. It is a step toward giving yourself what is needed to adjust to

this very low dose.

At this point, what I would do is take the little piece I have, dissolve

it in 6 oz of liquid, and drink two oz. a day for 3 days.

You said:

<<Has anyone else had any trouble swallowing? Its hard to explain its

like it always feels like there is something stuck in my throat. Or

like I can't completely swallow..even while drinking water. My

husband thinks maybe it has something to do with my head..like

because of the pressure and headaches and all that and everything

being connected it might have something to do with it..I know it sure

is making me very anxious. Thankfully the neasea (sp?) hasn't been

as intense..I was having that all day and the head zaps kind of went

away..I still have this clicking type thing I hear in my head but it

isn't as bad as those head zaps I had back in January. As far as

diet is concerend..I really haven't been having much of a appetite so

I don't eat to much>>

** Your body won't heal if it doesn't get the proper levels of nutrients

and phytochemicals.

You said:

<< but I don't eat sugar (haven't in over a year) I

only drink bottled water (that's all I drink is water) and I eat

whole grain foods and avoid simple carbs. I take a multivitamin but

I have been having trouble getting that down even in pieces. I take

about 1000 mgs of vitamin C and take about 100 mgs of vitamin b6

daily ..I was taking coral calcium but I thought maybe it was giving

me a headache so I stopped taking that..I guess I should take it

again but it has just been hard to take even capsules lately. Maybe

I should check to see if there is a liquid form for now. I have been

trying to read as many posts as I can in between the demanding job of

being a Mommy to 3 little ones..have also been trying to go through

all the files.

I am a little nervous about trying anything new and I am not sure

what I can take with what. I have been taking a natural anxiety

remedy. I am not sure if anyone has heard of native remedies..but I

have been taking the " Becalm " from them..it seems to be helping

some. My Husband and I for the past year and a half have been trying

to do things more naturally so I really don't want to have to go back

to ativan since I haven's taken any in a long time but with this

anxiety lately it is just making things so hard.>>

** BeCalm increases serotonin. This is the last thing I would take

right now. It's confusing to your brain. I would also stop the B6 for

three days and see if I notice any difference.

Most people are initially nervous about trying " new " things. This is

an understandable kneejerk reaction from what they've experienced thus far.

The difference in that and what I'm going to tell you is that the protocols

I share here are specifically for people who have taken psychotropic drugs

and are trying to withdraw and recover from them. In other words, thousands

of people have walked before you and they're all still alive.

The most important thing you can do is provide your body with the fuel it

needs to hela itself. This fuel comes in the form of nutrients. I have a

document in the files that is titled Basic Protocols

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Withdrawal_and_Recovery/files/Supplemen

ts/Healing%20Protocols/

** The responses to my questions will assist me in targeting the most

suitable thnigs fro you.

You said:

<<Well I don't know if this is enough information or to much

information..but I should probably end now since this post has gone

on forever..sorry about that. I was just so glad to find this

board. I know you all know how difficult this can all be and lonely

and how some people seem to think you are crazy and some doctors

aren't a lot of help and try to get you off these drugs to fast. And

of course wondering if the symptoms will ever go away and if you will

feel normal again.

I will keep going through the files and try to find what might help

me out with some of these symptoms and maybe I can post again and ask

questions about some of them and what I can take with what.>>

** Things will definitely get better. It just takes time and you're

still on the tail end of stopping the drug.

Regards,