Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Welcome to the group Myra, are you still doing 40mgs one day and 20mg the next.............this is not a good way to withdraw from these drugs. If you are still doing this, can we as a group suggest you reduce from the 40mg just 5-10%, then wait until YOU feel stable before making another 5-10% reduction...........your body must be jumping all over the place doing alternate days like that. Please consider seriously the 5-10% decreases, you will feel better and although withdrawal will still be harder you will decrease the amount of damage. I'm not sure about the Splenda, I know the Stevia is safe. Kim will know though. Go easy on yourself. With love > > First, thanks for allowing me to join this list. > I've been on Fluoxetine (generic Prozac) for 9 years and would like to wean myself off my > dependency. I've taken 40 mgs a day the entire time and started to alternate taking 20 one > day and 40 the next. I'm experiencing some very weird effects that I just read today may > be associated with the withdrawel syndrome. I have developed a heart arythmia when I lay > down at night that feels like my heart is pausing and then catching up with itself. I'm > wondering if this is causing real damage to my heart or will this pass in time? I'm also > very dizzy and tired at times. I don't drive much and work from home so it's not a problem > to wait out the symptoms if they will pass as long as I'm not doing permanent damage of > any sort. > The last time I discussed discontinuing the drug with my psychiatrist, (about 2 years > ago), she questioned why I wouldn't want to so I dropped it. I deeply appreciate the > transformation that therapy allowed me to discover and I don't regret taking the drug but I > feel it's time has passed and I'd like to stop taking it correctly. I only see her 4 times a year > as she requires to keep the prescription current. ( Something else I'd like to discontinue as > well.) > I was glad to see that I'm already a step ahead after reading the info on diet in your > information. I started eating Weight Watcher's Core diet plan about 2 months ago and have > gotten rid of all sugar and refined products. I don't eat red meat or fish but I do eat > chicken. (Just a preference).They advocate a fat free diet so I'm wondering if, while I'm > reducing the meds, if I should include them? Also, how do you feel about Splenda as > opposed to Stevia? > I use it infrequently but like it better and would like to continue to use it if it's ok. > I appreciate any info you can give me on the best procedure for this process! > (I hope I gave you enough info!) > Thanks in advance, > Myra > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Hi Myra, Welcome to our group. I'm glad you've been reading the files section. There is great information there. So you've probably already read that we need to come off these drugs very slowly, making cuts of no more than 5-10%, then waiting 2-3 weeks or until we are stable before cutting again. You have a double whammy going on. You're in withdrawal from reducing the dose too fast, and your brain-chemistry is being jerked around by alternating between 20 and 40 mg. The psychiatrists really should be required to experience this for themselves before advising people to do it. That is great you have gotten rid of the sugar and white flour. That will help you a lot. Way to go! Splenda is not a good idea. All of the artificial sweetners except Stevia are toxic, and they can all cause sugar cravings. We need fat. Fat is good. The best cooking fats are extra virgin olive oil and extra virgin coconut oil. Real butter is fine too. Olive oil is great on salads. All the other cooking and salad oils on the market are dangerous. Margarine is the worst, and Canola is horrible. You may have noticed Carlson's fish oil in the files section. This is very important to healing. Sorry to hit you with a lot of info, but you raised several important points! The bottom line is that we are trying to give the body what it needs to build and to heal. Proteins and vegetables, and small portions of whole grains. Yahoo! Photos Got holiday prints? See all the ways to get quality prints in your hands ASAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 , thank you so much for your response. Right now i think I need to go back to 40 mgs a day and take it slower. It sounds like this will be a very long process but I'm determined to do it. It never occured to me that I could just open the capsule!! LOL!!! So if I'm understanding this correctly, I need to dump a tiny bit off from one of the 2 capsules each day? And then increase how much I reduce that amount each week? I'm not sure how much I should remove to make it 5% a week so any additional info would be most appreciated. I'd rather just get rid of the excess than transfer it to new gel caps since I have more than enough in my prescription already. Re: Splenda... I had the feeling it was triggering cravings so I'll avoid it too. I've never heard about Canola oil being a problem! Can you give me more info on that? I know about hydrogenation but I thought any unhydrogenated vegetable oil was ok? Also, is the pain I'm feeling in my chest due to damage to my heart? and is this causing me permanent damage? Wondering if I need an EKG. Thanks again, Myra __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL – Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Hi Myra, The most scientific way would be to count all the beads in one capsule and then calculate 10% of that. So if there are 100 beads, you would only take 90. Each dose, you would just count out 10 and toss them. If they are hard to handle, try tweezers. Actually I have no idea how many beads are in a capsule. Prozac has a long half-life meaning it stays in your system a long time. I would suggest 3 weeks for the first cut so you see how you feel. Sometimes it can take 2 weeks for the Prozac withdrawal to show up. If you cut again before you know, you can end up compounding the withdrawal b/c you body would not have had enough time to adjust. Dr. Mercola's website has a lot of good info about oils. www.mercola.com. You can search it by just typing oil or fat, or some variety of oil to get more specific. I don't know anything about the heart stuff, but hopefully someone else will. Oh, one more word of caution about "low fat". The way low-fat or fat-free products are created, is to replace the fat with some form of sugar. There have been studies done on how much fatter people are since the low-fat craze started. It may have been started by Pritikin whom you've probably heard of. Yahoo! Photos Got holiday prints? See all the ways to get quality prints in your hands ASAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Hi Myra, Your heart is fine. You're feeling the effects of withdrawal, which are time-limited and will go away. Go ahead and get an EKG to set your mind at ease, but odds are it won't show anything. This is a fairly common symptom of withdrawal. It goes away. is right on track with everything she has to say. Another excellent resource for understanding fats and oils is Fats that Heal, Fats that Kill, by Udo Erasmus. I highly recommend it. Regards, Kim co-moderator -- Visit my art blog at http://kimdenise.blogspot.com/. " Thanks to my work everything's going well " --Claude Monet To Purchase Supplements at discount:VitacostSave Up to 75% on Vitamins. Click Here!<ahref= " http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=huXTs6tQbr8 & offerid=59379.10000087 & type=1 & subid=0 " Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 " This is a fairly common symptom of withdrawal. It goes away. " Myra, I had heart palpitations when I was in withdrawal. It is really horrid, but mine went away, I don't get them anymore. > >Reply-To: Withdrawal_and_Recovery >To: Withdrawal_and_Recovery >Subject: Re: New member -Fluoxetine >Date: Sun, 8 Jan 2006 13:31:02 -0500 > >Hi Myra, > >Your heart is fine. You're feeling the effects of withdrawal, which are >time-limited and will go away. Go ahead and get an EKG to set your mind at >ease, but odds are it won't show anything. > >This is a fairly common symptom of withdrawal. It goes away. > > is right on track with everything she has to say. Another excellent >resource for understanding fats and oils is Fats that Heal, Fats that >Kill, >by Udo Erasmus. I highly recommend it. > >Regards, >Kim >co-moderator > > >-- >Visit my art blog at http://kimdenise.blogspot.com/. > > " Thanks to my work everything's going well " --Claude Monet > >To Purchase Supplements at discount: > >Vitacost >Save Up to 75% on Vitamins. Click Here! ><ahref= " >http://click.linksynergy.com/fs-bin/click?id=huXTs6tQbr8 & offerid=59379.10000087\ & type=1 & subid=0 > " _________________________________________________________________ Are you using the latest version of MSN Messenger? Download MSN Messenger 7.5 today! http://messenger.msn.co.uk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 I can't tell you how comforting it is to have you all saying this. My initial reason for taking Prozac in the first place was for OCD which is now completely managed. With my heart acting funny I saw old thought patterns creeping in. Glad to know it's temporary. I opened 1 capsule this morning and spilled out about 10% (powder) and it was simple to do. It makes total sense that the amount has to be regulated rather than fluctuating one day to the next. I'll decrease this way instead over time. Of course I'm anxious to be done with taking it but it's not worth the side effects. VERY interesting info on oils! I'd never heard that before but I'm not fond of eating anything that's used in the production of industrial products! Think I'll skip the rapeseed from now on. I have a very good way of avoiding sugar. I know it's addictive but that thought gives me license to use it on occasion so I've decided that I'm allergic to it. Having other allergies to certain foods is an easy way for me to understand that I can't have any at all without serious consequences. So when a craving hits i just remember my " allergy " . Thanks again for all the input!! Myra __________________________________________ Yahoo! DSL – Something to write home about. Just $16.99/mo. or less. dsl.yahoo.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Hi Myra, I forgot prozac is a powder! This makes it much easier. Simply dissolve the powder in a set amount of water--say 10 ounces-- and pour off half an ounce, then drink the rest. You can use one of those measured droppers they sell for giving liquid medicines to children--they work well for accurate measuring. It's easy! No more pouring out the powder--it needs to be more accurate than that. Have you purchased any supplements? Fish oil is tremendously effective for symptoms of OCD (which is not really a disorder, BTW-- it's symptom of nutrient deficiency. Great way to look at sugar. It really helps, doesn't it! Regards, Kim co-moderator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 8, 2006 Report Share Posted January 8, 2006 Myra, You sound great. I love hearing people say they are committed to not eating sugar, it will help so much. I recently found a new way to think about it. I thought of some things I truly hate, and realized that in over 25 years not a bit of them has crossed my lips. That would be coffee and canned tuna. That thought really took away my excuses for how hard it is to get away from something. If you hate it, you can avoid it. So now I just keep telling myself how much I hate sugar b/c of what it does to me. Yahoo! Photos Got holiday prints? See all the ways to get quality prints in your hands ASAP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.