Hi, I’m Rosetta

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/forums/topic/16629-☼-rosetta-cold-switch-may-2011-too-fast-taper-feb-2017/

Hi Rosetta

 

Welcome to the forum!

 

This is a volunteer-run, community forum aimed at helping those who are tapering and/or experiencing difficulties with psychiatric medications and withdrawl syndrome. We are not medical professionals and cannot offer medical advice. We simply offer support and opinions which you could use as talking points with a medical provider knowledgeable in withdrawing off psychiatric medications.

 

Please familiarise yourself with the forum rules and the disclaimer located here: Guidelines

 

Thank you for posting your introduction topic and for linking us through to your thread on SA.

 

Perhaps when you have time you might summarise your journey so far and where you are at currently?

 

Hope you find the forum helpful to you.

 

Chippy

Thank you, @Chippy for the warm welcome!

 

As my headliner states, I cold switched from Celexa to Zoloft in 2011. This was upon the advice of an obstetrician, on the evening of my baby’s birth, that Celexa could prevent my baby from nursing. I was very naïve, to say the least, and I trusted that advice. Five years later, after the dose had been raised numerous times due to withdrawal symptoms misdiagnosed as worsening depression and anxiety, I was very ill. Also due to withdrawal/PAWS, I had been prescribed Xanax. I quit that “medicine” CT without realizing that I was dependent. Then, I was prescribed Trazodone for sleeping issues - the inability to sleep. I stopped using Trazodone, after a few weeks, when I realized that it was an SSNI. I had researched how to taper ADs and found the wrong method on the website of a very reputable hospital corporation. I followed the method and tapered off over about six weeks finishing in February of 2017.

Edited February 1Feb 1 by Rosetta

27 minutes ago, Rosetta said:

Thank you, @Chippy for the warm welcome!

 

As my headliner states, I cold switched from Celexa to Zoloft in 2011. This was upon the advice of an obstetrician, on the evening of my baby’s birth, that Celexa could prevent my baby from nursing. I was very naïve, to say the least, and I trusted that advice. Five years later, after the dose had been raised numerous times due to withdrawal symptoms misdiagnosed as worsening depression and anxiety, I was very ill. Also due to withdrawal/PAWS, I had been prescribed Xanax. I quit that “medicine” CT without realizing that I was dependent. Then, I was prescribed Trazodone for sleeping issues - the inability to sleep. I stopped using Trazodone, after a few weeks, when I realized that it was an SSNI. I had researched how to taper ADs and found the wrong method on the website of a very reputable hospital corporation. I followed the method and tapered off over about six weeks finishing in February of 2017.

It's my pleasure. 

 

Thank you for the update.

 

Oh so many familiar themes in there, Im so sorry. I really hope over time the mainstream medical profession becomes more knowledgeable about the drugs they prescribe. There are signs of it but its too slow still.

 

My wife was also prescribed Trazodone and she didn't know it was an AD either.

 

It's been a number of years since you were drug free. How are you these days?

 

Chippy

Thank you for joining.

Hi @Rosetta it’s good to see you here!  I find it strangely comforting to catch up with some of the old gang from SA, even though I wasn’t active on there in more recent years.  We helped one another through some bad patches.  How are things for you at the moment?

@Luke @Chippy Thank you for creating this space and for welcoming me. 
 

@Songbird Hi. Good to see you, too! Yes, one might feel that this experience would be one we would want to leave behind, but, for me, I would be sad to lose touch, completely, with everyone who understands what I have been through.

Update: 9 Year Anniversary

 

This month will be the 9 year anniversary of my CT of Zoloft (which followed a CT of Xanax a few weeks before and a dose of Trazodone that was too high for several weeks).

 

I lived through months and months of akathisia that year.  So, today, despite plenty of morning anxiety on some days, I feel that I am doing ok. I can relax, and once in a while, I realize how amazing that is. I once believed that a feeling of comfort in my own skin would never return.
 

I still have dystonia at times, but it’s not painful. It’s situational rather than randomly occurring from changes in my brain — using my right hand and arm too much — like writing this post.  No big deal.

 

I have anxiety, frequently. My life, at the moment, is quite stressful. Generally, I do not have anxiety on days when there is no school for my daughter if there’s no other anxiety producing event or issue going on.  (The school matter is a complete mess.  It’s hard enough to have a teenager (or be a teenager) without school being a mess.) It’s rare that I have anxiety for no reason. I still have anticipatory anxiety if I have to do something out of the ordinary, even if it’s something I want to do. The level varies.

 

At times, I feel very off, as if I am experiencing an overstimulated nervous system, but it’s rare. Sometimes, it’s out of the blue, and sometimes it’s connected to a period of anxiety.  At times, it’s due to the environment. Loud noises, repeated loud noises, being on a street with a lot of traffic, buses and trash trucks, especially if the street is wet, is a big problem. With 8 story buildings on either side, the noise reverberates and I am completely overwhelmed. I have to avoid that if possible. However, my system calms down quickly, within a normal amount of time, after I get out of that situation. Once in a while, I feel a level of very high anxiety if I get in an argument with my husband. I think that brings back a lot of bad memories for both of us. It’s kind of a PTSD type response.  Occasionally, I get that feeling like wanting to jump out of a burning building. It does go away quickly, and what helps it go is if I cry. I can’t always do that. This residual issue is one of the most disturbing, and the frequent situational anxiety is, too.

 

I sleep fine most of the time, and I’m not bothered if I don’t one night. Flying and jet lag are a lot harder to handle for me now. It’s not just being tired or cranky. It’s having an easily overstimulated nervous system for 2 or 3 weeks after flying to a place that is 12 hours away.

 

That’s all I can think of right now.

 

 @Songbird 

Hey @Rosetta what a very pleasant surprise to see you on here. Fantastic.

Your vast knowledge is a VERY valuable asset to the site.

Take great care,         B.👍🌷

My dear friend @Rosetta I'm so happy I found you here . 
Sending all my love your way xx

Hey @Rosetta

I am now here.... So encouraging to read your experience. ❤️🙏

Hi Rosetta. I hope you're doing ok... I migrated here from SA, and decided to look up the people that have interacted with me over there. One of your posts on my former thread gave me so much support, I still need to read it often. You wrote "People are not kind are they?  Someday those people will have a serious life changing problem, and karma will not be kind.  They have no idea what it takes for you to survive.  Be proud of yourself for doing so.  You are so much stronger, more amazing, and valuable than they are with their WD free lives.  Maybe they will have an experience that changes their lives, and we will see how well they can pretend to be “normal.”" Sorry I didn't interact with you, or anyone, much - but what you wrote was exactly what I needed and need now. Thank you.

I hope you're ok ?