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Featured Replies

@SarahMc is exactly right.

The only thing I'd add, is that if you taper cautiously, that would hopefully mean that you're able to maintain normal functioning, a normal life, normal activities etc.

It is very individual though.

Nothing I say is medical advice, it is simply my opinion. I am an anonymous person on an internet forum with no relevant qualifications other than being badly harmed by a drug. For all you know, I could be an idiot. You are making your own decisions and part of that is deciding how much to listen to my opinion, if at all.

 

Perhaps you should consider this post an artistic work of fiction written for entertainment purposes.


Story from SA: LukeUK: Remeron/Mirtazapine Severe Withdrawal - Introductions and updates - Surviving Antidepressants

 

15mg Remeron/Mirtazapine November starting 2022 (severe physical side effects)

Attempted to taper off January 2023, ended up having a major breakdown and going up to 30mg, took weeks to stabilise

1 month taper  to 0mg

Last dose April 2023

Severe withdrawal syndrome with many physical symptoms

Summary: 5 months using Mirtazapine, including 1 month taper ending late April 2023.

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  • Chippy
    Chippy

    A huge part of dealing with this, and I know it isn't going to make sense at first, is mind set. Acceptance and distraction are so important. Acceptance removes the resisitance, resistance is where th

  • Thanks for this chippy. I completely agree. I was working on this very thing yesterday it is very challenging but is def the right way to be. We always have the breath and we can always call out the t

  • I really appreciate it. Thank you

  • Author

Hey

Ive been wondering if i was having more issues during this crossover attempt and re stabilizing b/c of issues I’m having from buspar. I noticed, before i started the crossover, that this last batch of buspar was giving me surging/intrnse like sensations after taking. The batch of 90 I’m still taking. I know sometimes one batch even from the same manufacturer can feel a little different, or at least I’ve noticed this before in the past. Obviously there’s nothing I can do about that, but it might explain some of my issues more at night? Any thoughts?

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

14 hours ago, DCod said:

Hey

Ive been wondering if i was having more issues during this crossover attempt and re stabilizing b/c of issues I’m having from buspar. I noticed, before i started the crossover, that this last batch of buspar was giving me surging/intrnse like sensations after taking. The batch of 90 I’m still taking. I know sometimes one batch even from the same manufacturer can feel a little different, or at least I’ve noticed this before in the past. Obviously there’s nothing I can do about that, but it might explain some of my issues more at night? Any thoughts?

Yeah I agree this could be the case. It is best to be nice and stable before starting a crossover taper. If you feel changing batches of a different drug has been an issue it would have been better to wait till things settle before making a crossover attempt. When you are tapering it is always best to hold your dose steady for a while when you change batch of drug, treat it like a reduction.

I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice. I only offer my thoughts as support. Please speak to your health practitioner about your care. This is a peer site where we support each other on our taper/recovery journeys. 

 

If you are from the UK please make sure you fill in a 'Yellow Card' report for the MHRA. It is you doing your bit to help make a difference.

Please take the time to do it today 🙂 https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

For US members details here.

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Author

Wanted to give an update. Been almost 4 weeks since I’ve been back on brand viibryd after not being able to switch to generic. symptoms were better but have had some weird things the last week. Went on a long bike ride a couple days ago and that maybe kicked up some long haul which maybe kicked up some more symptoms. Hard to know. I’m surprised that I’m still have symptoms almost a month out back on my original med. pretty wild.

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

12 hours ago, DCod said:

Wanted to give an update. Been almost 4 weeks since I’ve been back on brand viibryd after not being able to switch to generic. symptoms were better but have had some weird things the last week. Went on a long bike ride a couple days ago and that maybe kicked up some long haul which maybe kicked up some more symptoms. Hard to know. I’m surprised that I’m still have symptoms almost a month out back on my original med. pretty wild.

Thanks for the update. Im pleased things are better on the OG brand drug. Sorry the symptoms ramped up a little bit recently, exercise can do this, it could equally be a wave, which is common whilst stablising. Hang in there, it will settle eventually Im sure.

I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice. I only offer my thoughts as support. Please speak to your health practitioner about your care. This is a peer site where we support each other on our taper/recovery journeys. 

 

If you are from the UK please make sure you fill in a 'Yellow Card' report for the MHRA. It is you doing your bit to help make a difference.

Please take the time to do it today 🙂 https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

For US members details here.

  • Author

Thanks Chippy

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

  • Author

Been having some adrenaline surges the last couple days. Pretty uncomfortable. I feel it’s things still resettling?

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

  • Author

Symptoms are seeming more intense with these surge symptoms. I’m not sure why.

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

6 hours ago, DCod said:

Been having some adrenaline surges the last couple days. Pretty uncomfortable. I feel it’s things still resettling?

Almost certainly, sorry it is taking some time for things to stablise for you.

2 hours ago, DCod said:

Symptoms are seeming more intense with these surge symptoms. I’m not sure why.

Unfortunately there is no rhyme nor reason with WD, I wish we understood why too.

I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice. I only offer my thoughts as support. Please speak to your health practitioner about your care. This is a peer site where we support each other on our taper/recovery journeys. 

 

If you are from the UK please make sure you fill in a 'Yellow Card' report for the MHRA. It is you doing your bit to help make a difference.

Please take the time to do it today 🙂 https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

For US members details here.

  • Author

Thanks for getting back. Symptoms are more intense in the fifth week now than they were in the first and second. Trying to not worry and accept it.

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

10 hours ago, DCod said:

Trying to not worry and accept it.

This is key 100%, if it helps the process of healing and stablising is like this for basically all of us, we look for the linear improvement, but WD pretty much never delivers, acceptance helps counter this pattern.

I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice. I only offer my thoughts as support. Please speak to your health practitioner about your care. This is a peer site where we support each other on our taper/recovery journeys. 

 

If you are from the UK please make sure you fill in a 'Yellow Card' report for the MHRA. It is you doing your bit to help make a difference.

Please take the time to do it today 🙂 https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

For US members details here.

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Author

Hello

I was talking with my clinical on Outro and they said they can. Call them and figure out what fillers they use so I could switch to having them dose out my gabapentin. Does anyone know anything about this? Should still do a crossover given that I’m real sensitive if I was to do to? See if I can offload webbing out gabapentin everyday. Thanks

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

3 hours ago, DCod said:

Hello

I was talking with my clinical on Outro and they said they can. Call them and figure out what fillers they use so I could switch to having them dose out my gabapentin. Does anyone know anything about this? Should still do a crossover given that I’m real sensitive if I was to do to? See if I can offload webbing out gabapentin everyday. Thanks

I have to be honest I did not understand this?

I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice. I only offer my thoughts as support. Please speak to your health practitioner about your care. This is a peer site where we support each other on our taper/recovery journeys. 

 

If you are from the UK please make sure you fill in a 'Yellow Card' report for the MHRA. It is you doing your bit to help make a difference.

Please take the time to do it today 🙂 https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

For US members details here.

  • Author

Sorry. A bunch of typos. Haha.

I was talking to a clinician who said that compounding pharmacies can figure out what fillers are in a medication I’m taking, like gabapentin, so I won’t have as much issue switching directly to the compounding version. Wondering if I should do a crossover if I switched still? I’m trying to see if a compounding pharmacy can weigh my meds so I don’t have to everyday.

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

10 hours ago, DCod said:

Sorry. A bunch of typos. Haha.

Haha no that is ok!

10 hours ago, DCod said:

I was talking to a clinician who said that compounding pharmacies can figure out what fillers are in a medication I’m taking, like gabapentin, so I won’t have as much issue switching directly to the compounding version.

Oh interesting I have never heard of this. So are you saying they can kind of 'copy' your OG recipe in effect?

10 hours ago, DCod said:

Wondering if I should do a crossover if I switched still?

I would do to be safe.

I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice. I only offer my thoughts as support. Please speak to your health practitioner about your care. This is a peer site where we support each other on our taper/recovery journeys. 

 

If you are from the UK please make sure you fill in a 'Yellow Card' report for the MHRA. It is you doing your bit to help make a difference.

Please take the time to do it today 🙂 https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

For US members details here.

  • Author

They can detect your manufacturer and find out what fillers are in it and try and add those same fillers. I don’t think it’s exact but could help possibly. This is what my clinician said on Outro.

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

  • Author

Contact your manufacturer*

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

12 hours ago, DCod said:

They can detect your manufacturer and find out what fillers are in it and try and add those same fillers. I don’t think it’s exact but could help possibly. This is what my clinician said on Outro.

Got you, well it sounds like it could be the way to go perhaps. I would still crossover personally to be on the safe sides. If they can do this it would be put you in the driving seat making sure you get the same thing each time.

I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice. I only offer my thoughts as support. Please speak to your health practitioner about your care. This is a peer site where we support each other on our taper/recovery journeys. 

 

If you are from the UK please make sure you fill in a 'Yellow Card' report for the MHRA. It is you doing your bit to help make a difference.

Please take the time to do it today 🙂 https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

For US members details here.

  • 4 weeks later...
  • Author

I seem to be having, and have been for some days, symptoms again from the failed crossover back in may and June. At least I think that’s what is happening. Just checking in to see if this is ‘kinda’ normal? Also am dealing with long covid symptoms right now so I’m not exactly sure. Thanks

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

12 hours ago, DCod said:

I seem to be having, and have been for some days, symptoms again from the failed crossover back in may and June. At least I think that’s what is happening. Just checking in to see if this is ‘kinda’ normal? Also am dealing with long covid symptoms right now so I’m not exactly sure. Thanks

Did things calm down for you back to more WD normal levels?

Waves are certainly very normal in this.

At their peak how would you rate your symptoms atm? 10 being awful, 1 mild.

Did you get covid? Covid and WD have a crossover of symptoms for sure.

I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice. I only offer my thoughts as support. Please speak to your health practitioner about your care. This is a peer site where we support each other on our taper/recovery journeys. 

 

If you are from the UK please make sure you fill in a 'Yellow Card' report for the MHRA. It is you doing your bit to help make a difference.

Please take the time to do it today 🙂 https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

For US members details here.

  • Author

Ya. Things had calmed down for a few weeks. The symptoms weren’t as intense when they came back. Maybe a six at its worst. Ya got Covid years ago, been having long haul symptoms on and off.

Wanted to get an opinion on something. I take Nattokenesse and Bromelin for Long Covid and have for some time. I read that Bromelin is an enzyme in pineapple. Apparently it helps your gut which produces more serotonin. I am not currently tapering and haven't tapered in many years, so I able 'stable' right now. Is there a concern with taking Bromelin, with meds, and also stopping it as I plan on not taking it a bit down the road? I don't seem to have symptoms from taking it and as far as I know I don't really have issues when I stop taking it or miss doses, other than more long covid symptoms come back. Thanks

DC

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

16 hours ago, DCod said:

Ya. Things had calmed down for a few weeks. The symptoms weren’t as intense when they came back. Maybe a six at its worst. Ya got Covid years ago, been having long haul symptoms on and off.

I am very pleased to hear this.

16 hours ago, DCod said:

Wanted to get an opinion on something. I take Nattokenesse and Bromelin for Long Covid and have for some time. I read that Bromelin is an enzyme in pineapple. Apparently it helps your gut which produces more serotonin. I am not currently tapering and haven't tapered in many years, so I able 'stable' right now. Is there a concern with taking Bromelin, with meds, and also stopping it as I plan on not taking it a bit down the road? I don't seem to have symptoms from taking it and as far as I know I don't really have issues when I stop taking it or miss doses, other than more long covid symptoms come back. Thanks

DC

I don't know this supplement so I would just say when you are ready to stop taking it, don't stop it abruptly, reduce it slowly maybe 25% cut for a week and see how you are, if you don't notice any issues reduce 25% again, hold if you do. Body likes gentle and not sudden especially when its sensitive.

I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice. I only offer my thoughts as support. Please speak to your health practitioner about your care. This is a peer site where we support each other on our taper/recovery journeys. 

 

If you are from the UK please make sure you fill in a 'Yellow Card' report for the MHRA. It is you doing your bit to help make a difference.

Please take the time to do it today 🙂 https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

For US members details here.

  • 3 weeks later...
  • Author

Hello

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on how to easily funnel gabapentin powder into a capsule from the scale? Is there a metal tool people use?

Thanks

DC

Started taking antidepressents for OCD when I was in 8th grade. Took anafranil during this time. Was off meds for most of High-school started taking: Prozac (senior year)

Effexor, Wellbutrin, Lexapro, Zoloft, Pristiq

(Lost track of the rest of the meds I was on. I was put a lot of different antidepressents from age 19-25 and I can't remember them all.

Tapered off Pristiq over a 4 month period in Fall of 2013. This triggered Withdrawel Syndrome which I slowly recovered from over some years.

I am currently still taking:

Buspar 5mg,

Gabapentin 255 mg, and

Viibryd 10mg. I plan on tapering remaining meds.

3 hours ago, DCod said:

Hello

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on how to easily funnel gabapentin powder into a capsule from the scale? Is there a metal tool people use?

Thanks

DC

I would put the capsule on the scale, zero/tar it, then use a small drug/powder spoon to load up the capsule and adjust till it's reading correctly.

I’m not a medical professional and cannot offer medical advice. I only offer my thoughts as support. Please speak to your health practitioner about your care. This is a peer site where we support each other on our taper/recovery journeys. 

 

If you are from the UK please make sure you fill in a 'Yellow Card' report for the MHRA. It is you doing your bit to help make a difference.

Please take the time to do it today 🙂 https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk

For US members details here.

If you google amazon you can get lab micro spoon/spatulas.

I haven't used them myself, but I believe other people have used them.

Just check the diameter of your capsule and you should be able to find a spoon to match.

You could probably ask your pharmacist for advice too.

Hope this helps.

Wombat

1998 Paroxetine 20mg, getting to 60mg and staying there for many years.

Started reducing by 10mg at a time, December 2018 to June 2019. At 30mg held for 2 and a half years.

Beginning 2023, start micro tapering from 30mg

End 2023 - 18.76. End 2024 - 13.37. End 2025 - 8.58 

2026 - 31 Jan - 8.38, 15 Feb - 8.19, 07 March - 8.06, 14 March - 8.00, 08 April - holding and start liquid transition, 22 May completed liquid transition 8mg (16ml) held for 1 month

27 June - 7.9, 12 July - 7.75, 18 July - 7.6, 25 July - 7.45, 22 August - 7.30,

 

Deuteronomy 31.8 "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

 

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