2 hours ago, Haa said:

😢

11/05/26 After the infection has cleared and only a slight cough remains, the nausea has only increased. I become so sad at the prospect that, with a taper of 0.06 mg/day for 10 days from 24/04, I am so troubled by nausea. I cannot see how I will be able to taper down even to 75 mg, which is a manageable dose. The fatigue has also returned and the sadness has crept in. Right now I feel stuck on a dose that no one in the healthcare system would be able to respect or manage.

I did not tolerate the high dose of 100 mg sertraline and it had no effect on the crash I had in November. Therefore it felt natural to go back to 75 mg. But apparently I cannot tolerate tapering without being tormented by nausea, fatigue and sadness. It feels hopeless.

I have paused the taper since May 3 and the nausea has only increased.

I am inclined to increase the dose again, even though I know there is no guarantee of relief.

I am sorry to pure all this out on you. I know I am weaning, and so many here are struggling much more.

I pray that this soon will subside, but atm I have lost faith.

Am I reading it correctly that you have been decreasing by 0.06mg per day ? If so this is a linear tapering method, not hyperbolic. I made this mistake just over a year ago. I did a stint of decreasing Escitalopram by 0.006mg every 2 days. It worked okay until I reached a point where my body would just not accept the drop. The cumulative effects had caught up with me and I had to hold for 3.5 months to restabilise. It was a very unpleasant time. I hope this helps 🤗

@Catbird Thank you for your reply. Much appreciated you sharing your experience.

@Chippy told me about microtapering, where you decide how much to reducere pr month and then calculate how much you then reduce pr day. Then you take a brake for some weeks and redo the math. This instead of reducing the whole amount once a month and then redo the math.

But I guess this way does not agree with me or the % I chose was to high.

When I last reduced in January I think, I reduced by 5% and it went well. I then waited until end of April before reducing again. To be carefull I chose to reduce just by 4%. But it as I wrote didn’t went well.

Did you try to go a small amount up or did you just waited it out? 🙏💕

Edited May 12May 12 by Haa

30 minutes ago, Haa said:

@Catbird Thank you for your reply. Much appreciated you sharing your experience.

@Chippy told me about microtapering, where you decide how much to reducere pr month and then calculate how much you then reduce pr day. Then you take a brake for some weeks and redo the math. This instead of reducing the whole amount once a month and then redo the math.

But I guess this way does not agree with me or the % I chose was to high.

When I last reduced in January I think, I reduced by 5% and it went well. I then waited until end of April before reducing again. To be carefull I chose to reduce just by 4%. But it as I wrote didn’t went well.

Did you try to go a small amount up or did you just waited it out? 🙏💕

I used Brassmonkey Method where the reductions are weekly for 4 weeks then a 2 week hold. BUT….it's not the same every week!! (or day) I calculate the X% dosage drop is for 4 weeks then take 3/4 of the dose for the first week, 1/2 for the next, 1/4 for the next then the next drop is for a week, then a 2 week hold. It's worked for me for nearly a year. Now I can only decrease by 2mcg here and there — 6 or 7 weeks apart. I'm so sensitive to the tiniest of changes and have decided to do a 3 month hold before making any more changes. I've already had to cancel one trip away and have another 2 coming up. Meanwhile I'm missing out on life. This last 1.01mg is going to take me years.

11 hours ago, Haa said:

😢

11/05/26 After the infection has cleared and only a slight cough remains, the nausea has only increased. I become so sad at the prospect that, with a taper of 0.06 mg/day for 10 days from 24/04, I am so troubled by nausea. I cannot see how I will be able to taper down even to 75 mg, which is a manageable dose. The fatigue has also returned and the sadness has crept in. Right now I feel stuck on a dose that no one in the healthcare system would be able to respect or manage.

I did not tolerate the high dose of 100 mg sertraline and it had no effect on the crash I had in November. Therefore it felt natural to go back to 75 mg. But apparently I cannot tolerate tapering without being tormented by nausea, fatigue and sadness. It feels hopeless.

I have paused the taper since May 3 and the nausea has only increased.

I am inclined to increase the dose again, even though I know there is no guarantee of relief.

I am sorry to pure all this out on you. I know I am weaning, and so many here are struggling much more.

I pray that this soon will subside, but atm I have lost faith.

@Haa Im so sorry to read this! Perhaps being ill has rocked your nervous system more than you think. Hang in there, you are not stuck on these drugs and you can get the dose down. Give it some time for things to settle down before even thinking about continuing with your taper. Im thinking of you xxxx

So sorry @Haa maybe the infection mix was just too much and you system needs good rest time, you're not stuck, it's a long and exhausting process with no one way that suits everyone, one method may work for a while and then not, we just have to maneuver along the way and see what works.

Hope you find relief very soon and don't apologize for anything, let off steam as much as you need, we all understand, much healing and peace your way xxxx

Edited May 12May 12 by Fullhealing

1 hour ago, Catbird said:

I used Brassmonkey Method where the reductions are weekly for 4 weeks then a 2 week hold. BUT….it's not the same every week!!

BM Slide is just a Micro Taper technique, rather than divide the dose reduction by 30, for daily dose reductions, you just divide it by 4 to give you weekly dose reductions. Either way the dose drop should be recalculated at the end of each cycle and based on the new dose, not the starting dose.

@Catbird @Chippy and @Fullhealing

Thank you so much for you kind support and for sharing your experiences and how you are doing atm.

Today is much better.

I am turning a corner now I think. Yesterday I cried out here on AR and got so much support. Today I got my faith back and at the same time I am much wiser.

I’ll wait at least a month maybe more before I start to taper again. These last week’s have been horrible. Now I need to rest and hopefully this more manageable state will continue.

Thank you again and may you find peace and mening in the middle of this.

I mean there is no mening of this WD hell, but it is possible to find meaning with life itself. I found it here in your company and amongst my kayak club bodies. Thank God we have each other.

Hugs and well wishing 🙏💕

1 hour ago, Haa said:

@Catbird @Chippy and @Fullhealing

Thank you so much for you kind support and for sharing your experiences and how you are doing atm.

Today is much better.

I am turning a corner now I think. Yesterday I cried out here on AR and got so much support. Today I got my faith back and at the same time I am much wiser.

I’ll wait at least a month maybe more before I start to taper again. These last week’s have been horrible. Now I need to rest and hopefully this more manageable state will continue.

Thank you again and may you find peace and mening in the middle of this.

I mean there is no mening of this WD hell, but it is possible to find meaning with life itself. I found it here in your company and amongst my kayak club bodies. Thank God we have each other.

Hugs and well wishing 🙏💕

Was hoping to hear that @Haa so very pleased for you! good call to give your system a good rest, right there with you in the waiting club for the next reduction..

Thank you so much for the encouraging words on my thread, appreciate you!

Take good care and may your relief last as long as possible 🙏 ❤️

11 hours ago, Haa said:

@Catbird @Chippy and @Fullhealing

Thank you so much for you kind support and for sharing your experiences and how you are doing atm.

Today is much better.

I am turning a corner now I think. Yesterday I cried out here on AR and got so much support. Today I got my faith back and at the same time I am much wiser.

I’ll wait at least a month maybe more before I start to taper again. These last week’s have been horrible. Now I need to rest and hopefully this more manageable state will continue.

Thank you again and may you find peace and mening in the middle of this.

I mean there is no mening of this WD hell, but it is possible to find meaning with life itself. I found it here in your company and amongst my kayak club bodies. Thank God we have each other.

Hugs and well wishing 🙏💕

Im glad to see things are better for you :)

I agree. Give yourself time to recover from what has been a tough week or so.

We are always here for you.

Are things going for you? Hopefully a bit better? @Haa thank you for being so kind, always so supportive xxxx

Thank you for tjekking in.

I found a way to calm my mind and body. I remembered it today.

I remembered that when I lie on my stomach on the floor with my head on my arms, and let my body sink into the floor and feel it support me, it's as if my brain and body let go. A deep sigh comes. I lie there for about half an hour. After that I feel whole and grounded. I feel calm, feel collected, and have less nausea. It's a relief to have found this possibility. I did it this morning and have felt calm all day. I will do it again tomorrow. When I felt the worst I repeated it several times a day.

It is for me a way to contain it all and let the floor support me.

Perhaps you could find it useful even though we all are different.

So yes today was a better day.

Hopefully you can find rest as well and get a good nights sleep.

We do what we have to do to contain this journey.

Fullhealing thank you for your support, it is so importen to meet a soulmate who understand and care.

Hugs xxx

Edited May 14May 14 by Haa

49 minutes ago, Haa said:

Thank you for tjekking in.

I found a way to calm my mind and body. I remembered it today.

I remembered that when I lie on my stomach on the floor with my head on my arms, and let my body sink into the floor and feel it support me, it's as if my brain and body let go. A deep sigh comes. I lie there for about half an hour. After that I feel whole and grounded. I feel calm, feel collected, and have less nausea. It's a relief to have found this possibility. I did it this morning and have felt calm all day. I will do it again tomorrow. When I felt the worst I repeated it several times a day.

It is for me a way to contain it all and let the floor support me.

Perhaps you could find it useful even though we all are different.

So yes today was a better day.

Hopefully you can find rest as well and get a good nights sleep.

We do what we have to do to contain this journey.

Fullhealing thank you for your support, it is so importen to meet a soulmate who understand and care.

Hugs xxx

So pleased to hear that you are better today and that you found something that strengthens the sense of grounding that is so lost in this process, that is wonderful.

I wish you continued improvement, no doubt it will happen as time goes by and the system catches up with the recent cuts.

Take good care and thank you!

Hugs back xxx

@Haa Just thought I would come by and check on you. I'm very pleased to read that you had a better day. I hope they continue.

So pleased to hear you are doing well @Haa still on the waiting list but that's fine, no rush, better slow and functional than fast and disastrous.

Hope it's stays well ❤️

Edited May 17May 17 by Fullhealing

@Haa How are you doing?

Hi @RachelSusan Thanks for asking.

I am almost back to baseline Still some nausea. I asked @LostinCanada what she used, and she told me that she was going to make som chicken broth.

I think I might try to make some myself.

What helped you when you were nauseous?

And how are you doing? I really recognised myself in what you wrote of the little voice pushing to get on with the reduction as everything is going so well. Oh I been there and it is still there as soon as I have recovered, wanting just to speed just a little up. But not this time. Hugxx

Edited May 19May 19 by Haa

@Haa I'm glad to hear you're almost back to baseline. @LostinCanada gives great advice, and it's definitely worth a try. As for my nausea, I tried all the suggestions others in withdrawal gave me, but nothing really worked. I lost a lot of weight, and while the speed of the weight loss wasn't healthy, it ended up being okay since I had started out a bit overweight. Nausea is the worst, but sometimes the only thing you can do is live through it. Unless of course the chicken broth works. Please let me know if it does.

I'm doing alright at the moment, thank you for asking. I made that cut starting today so I'll see how I feel in a week or more.

I'm glad you could relate to my post, and honestly it's a relief to hear I'm not alone in that way of thinking. That little voice can be very convincing once things start improving. I'm really trying to stay mindful of it this time.

Hugs back to you. 😄

@Haa Actually, I came back to add something to my last post because I think I made it sound like everything is completely fine. And overall, things are good right now for me. But what I didn’t really express is how frightening tapering can be and how horribly wrong it can go. I know you’ve been through a lot, not just with your most recent taper, so I know you understand exactly what I mean.

So yes, at the moment things are going well, but I still live in a pretty constant state of high alert with tapering. I’m always watching closely for any sign that even my tiny reductions might be too much. Thank goodness we have each other for support because most people just can't understand what it is like.

Hugs. 😄

@RachelSusan You are so absolute right. It is frightening, when you have been through crashes. The body keeps the score. Which is good, as it give us telltales. This is like with everything else, as long as we don’t overdo it.

I find it easier, when I am not overwhelmed with WD. Then I am able to notice, and then let it go. As times goes, I “forget to check”, which is a relief.

So if I get too absorbed in checking, I distract myself, with tings I find pleasure in.

When hell is prominent, there is not much to do, but to give myself as much rest I can, so the nervous-system get the opportunity to recalibrate and establish balance between sympaticus and paresympaticus.

I just borrowed the book The polyvagal theory. I’have read it before, and now I want to refresh my memory on the topic. It gives a good explanation of what happens, and how one can help the nervous system to turn down sympaticus and give space for the parasympaticus system.

I am glad that you keep your nose in the track. I am going to wait at least 2-3 weeks, before I resume tapering.

And I agree, it is lifesaving to have people, who know, how this is to be on this journey, where there are no shortcuts.

Hugs 🙏🇩🇰

@Haa Distracting yourself with things you enjoy is such a good way to help your nervous system recalibrate. Taking a 2 to 3 week break before tapering more sounds like a very wise decision.

Which book called The Polyvagal Theory did you borrow? I googled it and there were several by that name. Is it the original one by Stephen Porges, or a guide by a different author? I know you have a medical background, so I wanted to ask your advice. Do you think the original academic text would be too difficult for someone like me without a medical background?

xx

@RachelSusan I borrowed

The Pocket Guide to The Polyvagal Theory.

Even with a medical background, I chose this one, as I am more interested in the results and short explanations than a long academic paper. :)

And it is still Stephen Porges, who is the writer.

🙏💕

@Haa I found The Pocket Guide to the Polyvagal Theory: The Transformative Power of Feeling Safe by Stephen Porges through our public library’s online system. I was able to place a hold on it, so I can borrow it for free once it becomes available. There are a few people ahead of me on the wait list, but I’m in no hurry. I’m very interested in reading it. Thank you for the information.

😄

@RachelSusan you are so very welcome.

I also borrowed it in our library. It is nice, you don’t have to buy every book, you want to read. We too had a waiting list, but as you say, we are not in a hurry.

Looking forward to discus it, when you get that far.

Have a nice evening. xx

Edited May 19May 19 by Haa

Thanks for the brief update on my thread and for the worm kind words @Haa

So glad to hear you're back to stability and are able to enjoy yourself, wonderful!

Wishing you the easiest path possible and looking forward to your next update.

Hugs 🩷🩷

Happy to read on @Fullhealing s thread you are doing better @Haa xxx