Guest guest Posted August 24, 2007 Report Share Posted August 24, 2007 You can get smaller doses as you go along. I think its 10 percent reduction every month. you can also buy a pill cutter when you get to the low doses. ** You don't ever reduce by looking at the calendar. A reduction is done when you feel as well or better than yuo felt prior to the most recent reduction. It can take 2 weeks or it can take 3 months. Trust your body, not the calendar. There is no logic in reducing a drug on a schedule. -- > > > Howdy, > > My name is Rob, and this is my first post to your group. I found this > site through an internet search. I am currently taking Zyprexa 10 mg > and Effexor 75 mg. I have to say that they did the trick for a while. > They eliminated my wild mood swings and basically stabilized me. I > was thankful for this for two years, until one day i realized that I > had been emotionally and spiritually truncated. I lost my overall > motivation and my creativity. I was just happy to be plodding along > in my life. Many of the things I should have been doing to advance my > career and take care of myself were shrugged off. I am no longer > satisfied with that status. I blame the medication. > > There have been physical symptoms, too. I fight very hard to try to > gain some control over my weight, and for the first time in my life, > I've had to worry about pre-diabetic conditions. I work hard to keep > myself in shape, but I feel I am fighting against a chemical tide > that I recharge daily with the meds. > > So I am interested in others' experiences in getting off Zyprexa in > particular. What strategies did you use? Did you cold turkey or > gradually cut down the doses? Did you discuss any of this with your > doctors? What sorts of reactions, physically, mentally, spiritually, > did you experience as you cut back on your meds? > > I look forward to sharing with you all, > > Rob Hunt > > > > > > > > > _____________________________________________________________________ _______________ > Be a better Globetrotter. Get better travel answers from someone who knows. Yahoo! Answers - Check it out. > http://answers.yahoo.com/dir/?link=list & sid=396545469 > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 16, 2009 Report Share Posted January 16, 2009 <<Hi, I'm located in Germany, and I've been taking SSRIs (Paxil for more than seven years; now: Zoloft, in Germany Sertralin) for eight years now. Until last September, I took Paxil, but because my liver count was affected, my doctor changed the medication to Zoloft/Sertralin, which I've been taking since then. Switching from Paxil to Zoloft/Sertralin didn't cause any problems. (Shortly afterwards, I stopped taking Perazine, which caused outbursts of deep anxiety for several weeks, but that is --luckily--over now). Now I decieded that I want to get of Zoloft/Sertralin as well, because I feel that it basically prevents me from getting better. (I don't suffer from depression, but have chronic tensions in my diaphragm & problems to distance myself from things around me, such as noise, people, etc.) My plan ( I already discussed this with my doctor, for whom it's ok) is, to reduce the 50 mg I take daily by one eight per week. (I take 25 mg in the evening, and 25 mg in the morning.) I read on the Internet that drinking much (soda water, tea) is helpful. Since I currently live on welfare, my fundes are very low, so that I don't have the money for a special diet. I have to admit that I don't manage to eat regularly (read: three meals a day), mainly due to my very low funds. My question: Is this feasible to proceed by reducing one eight per week? What else could I do? What should I be aware of? I drink much coffee. Should I reduce this?>> Claus, what is " one eight " ? How many milligrams are you talking about? You should not reduce all caffeinated and sugared beverages, you should give them up entirely. TIA, Claus P.S.: In one of the last posts, I read that no diet is NOT an option. What kind of diet would be feasible with very low funds (like $ 80.-/week)?>> **b WHole foods - this means fresh - no packaged, canned, or frozen. Vegetables, meats, moderate amounts of whole grains. There are a number of articles in the FILES section of the group site. Regards, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 ** Claus, you're decreasing the drug way too fast. We have found that decreasing only 5-10% at a time (or even less) is necessary in order to remain well. 1. Go back up to the dose at which you last felt comfortable. Wait until you feel better again. Then: 2.Do a 5% decrease in ONE drug 3. WAit until you feel as well or better than you felt prior to the decrease. 4. Only then should you do another 5% decrease. The 5% is 5% of the current dose at any given time, not the original dose. Everything you are feeling is related to going off drugs too quickly. Doctors an therapists are very bad at helping people with this. Tell them you've decided to stay on the drugs and then, just do it yourself. If you are feeling poorly, you are going too fast, It's as simple as that. Your body will always let you know. It's screaming at you right now to slow down, increase, and then do a reasonable withdrawal. BTW, we all know here how poorly someone feels when he is coming off drugs too quickly so we will assume that most of what you wrote was because of the physical crisis putting a strain on you. Once you stabilize, I am assuming that things like no self-discipline will not be an issue (mentioned in your post below). I guarantee you the suicidal feeling will go away if you just increase the drug to where you were last comfortable. I still don't understand how much you are taking. Are you saying you take 7.5 mg at night and 25 mg in the morning? If so,this is not a good plan. The decreases should be evenly distributed between the two doses. When was the last time you were on 25mg at night? How long have you been decreasing this rug? I am imagining it is only a matter of several weeks. That is why you are doing so poorly, This is much too much to drop. How long were you on this drug? Regards, > My > question: Is this feasible to proceed by reducing one eight per week? > What else could I do? What should I be aware of? I drink much coffee. > Should I reduce this?>> > > > Claus, what is " one eight " ? How many milligrams are you talking about? 'One eight' means 7.5 mg. > You should not reduce all caffeinated and sugared beverages, you should give them up entirely. Oh my god, really? I'm afraid that I'm addicted to caffeine as well. ( But if you recommend this, I'm going to drink tea, mineral water etc. instead. > P.S.: In one of the last posts, I read that no diet is NOT an option. What > kind of diet would be feasible with very low funds (like $ 80.-/week)?>> > > > **b WHole foods - this means fresh - no packaged, canned, or frozen. Vegetables, meats, moderate amounts of whole grains. > > > There are a number of articles in the FILES section of the group site. I read the article on 'diet' after sending my post. I actualy feared that I wouln't hear from the group again. I checked Yahoo for several days, but didn't see my indroduction among the new posts. When I logged in right now, I was surprised to find a number of posts and your response. I erroneously wrote '$80,-/week'; actually, it's $80.-/month (!) I am not eating properly at all right now a) because of lack of money, and because of lack of self-discipline. My entrie situation is very difficult. I am currently in therapy with a therapist I have been with for two years now. In addition, I have support from my doctor. My main problem is that I live completely alone, despite various attempts to get in touch with people. I have been to a number of self-help groups, but I am not going to one right now because of the heavy tensions in my diaphragm/anxiety that builds up when I go to a group & have to listen to long talks by other people. I am really desperate right now and I am also having the feeling that I might go insane. There's just such a huge discrepancy between what I experience in my daily reality and what both my therapist and my doctor are saying. Especially things like cellphones make me very aggeressive, and I simply don't know how to deal with that. I have to use public transportation daily, and I'm listening to music via my MP3 player in order to protect myself. but nonetheless it's very difficult. Since I am thinking about suicide sometimes, maybe the best thing is to go to a clinic for a while, in order to protect myself. I talked about this today with my doctor, but she said that she feels that this is not necessary right now. (Now, since I am at home, I am very desperate and am asking myself that a clinic is probably neccessary, even if I don't want to go.) I can reach my doctor again on Monday. This is what makes me so afraid: the different 'versions' of what's going on with me and the society around me. I have the feeling that the social climate is becoming weirder and weirder, but I am pretty alone with this impression. That's what confuses me so much. (The situation in the apartment where I live is difficult,too. I am not getting along with the other people in the house, since in my basement flat it's not so quiet that I feel comfortable. I have been trying to find another apartment, but since I partly live on welfare, this is pretty difficult.) Can anyone tell me inhowfar this (confusion, the feeling of 'going insane') could have to do with my reducing Zoloft/Sertraline? In the evening, I'm now down to 7.5 mg (from 25 mg). In the morning, I still take 25 mg as before. I am trying to drink more mineral water, but I have to admit that it could be more. Anyway, I will give up beverages with sugar and coffee, and to drink maybe one glass of mineral water/tea every half hour. Thanks for responding to my first post. Claus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 5, 2009 Report Share Posted February 5, 2009 > > You can get smaller doses as you go along. I think its 10 percent > reduction every month. you can also buy a pill cutter when you get > to the low doses. > > > > ** You don't ever reduce by looking at the calendar. A reduction is done when you feel as well or better than yuo felt prior to the most recent reduction. It can take 2 weeks or it can take 3 months. Trust your body, not the calendar. There is no logic in reducing a drug on a schedule. -- After reading some of the stories at http://www.quitpaxil.org/, I had the impression that reducing 7.5 mg/week would be feasible. I just wanted to be consequent and (i have to admit) wanted to 'get it done' asap. I'm afraid that I don't have a good connection with my body, therefore am often not sure what's right. Claus>> ** Claus, you have a good enough connection to know that you feel like killing yourself and you don't think you can function around other people. What more do you want for signals? You can certainly understand these, right? 7.5 a week is way too much at a time. Your first reduction should have been 1.25 mg. from both morning and night time doses. That is a 5% reduction. This may also be too much but it's worth trying. Normally, this will work for most people. -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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