Hi All

Glad to hear there is a new forum for this after surviving antidepressants closed. So much of what I have learned about actually tapering antidepressants has been from there.

Really struggling with insomnia at about 6 months from my last decrease. Probably decreased too much but did an initial consult with outrohealth and they recommend I hold where I’m at instead of increase. Definitely good days and bad days. Unfortunately I’ve found that the liquid solution doesn’t seem to work form me (severe anxiety within a few days of switching formulations). I want to keep going with the taper when things settle but feeling less and less hopeful.

Started Prozac 20mg in 2004. Increased to 40mg in 2005. Tried to taper a few times (2008 and 2013) but “failed” due to following primary care doctor’s advice and tapering over 2 weeks or a month.

Current taper

-35mg on 3/31/25 (6 weeks)

-30mg on 5/12

-25mg on 6/30

-20mg on 8/11

-15mg on 9/30

-10mg on 11/13

-tried 7.5 on 12/30, severe insomnia starting 12/31.

Went back to up to 10 on 1/3

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

 

Please make sure your signature is kept up to date with your drug history. This will allow members to see some basic information about your drug history and situation so that they may help you best. Information on how to do this is located in the FAQs section above, but here is a direct link: Update Signature

Once this is done, future posts made by you will have this signature turned on by default. For this reason please keep it clear but condensed as possible.

Please use the format outline here Preferred signature/drug history format

I'm so sorry to read about the tough time you've had recently you will find plenty of support here for sure.

 

7 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

Glad to hear there is a new forum for this after surviving antidepressants closed. So much of what I have learned about actually tapering antidepressants has been from there.

Im glad you found us!

7 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

Really struggling with insomnia at about 6 months from my last decrease. Probably decreased too much but did an initial consult with outrohealth and they recommend I hold where I’m at instead of increase. Definitely good days and bad days. Unfortunately I’ve found that the liquid solution doesn’t seem to work form me (severe anxiety within a few days of switching formulations). I want to keep going with the taper when things settle but feeling less and less hopeful.

Sorry to hear this. I have been through your footer, added in the years to save some confusion, and put in the % decreases you made. You can see you have reduced far too quickly. Normally as we get lower in our tapers we actually have to slow the taper down, and unfortunately you sped it up. Prozac has an effective half life of 8/9 months, so it is not unusual to see some delayed onset WD happening.

When you say liquid formulation, do you mean a manufactured liquid or do you mean your own home made liquid? Did you just go straight over to that format? We suggest doing this, from a stable place, and performing a crossover taper. It is very common people react to a switch of forumulation, you are not alone.

Can I ask how are you making up your current dose of 10mg? Do you have a set of scales? It is very important your dose is consistent. Pill cutters are not good enough for this.

I understand your desire to taper further, but you really do need to stablise before you can continue. I agree with Outro, you could increase your dose a little to see if this calms things down for you, and we will help you do this if you want, but probably holding here is best.

We can help you make a much better taper strategy, once things have settled for you. This can take some time though.

In the mean time this is what I would do if I were you:

 

-Stay Hydrated 

 

-Eat a good clean whole food diet, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

 

-Stay away from caffeine, alcohol and antihistamines and any other psychoactive substances.

 

Supplements are to be avoided initially, as they often irritate our nervous systems. Try to get your nutrition through food.

 

Down the line, you may wish to introduce Fish Oil and Magnesium. Those who can tolerate them have found them calming to the nervous system. Be careful try one at a time and start low and see how you get on should you choose to try them.

 

A daily walk is very important as much as you can manage, if you can manage it. Gets you your fresh air and Vitamin D does wonders for your mind!

 

You are very welcome here and I hope you find the site supportive.

Chippy

Welcome to the forum.

All of the dose cuts you've described are larger than what was recommended on the SA forum, and now slowly being adopted by other tapering clinics, harm reduction and support groups etc.

I hope that things do settle, but when they do I think it's worth being much more cautious with your taper so that you can hopefully complete it with far fewer issues.

It is worth having a read through this as a starting point, although there are other guides for things such as microtapering and so on:

Tapering Information - Tapering - The Antidepressant Harm and Recovery Forum

9 hours ago, Chippy said:

When you say liquid formulation, do you mean a manufactured liquid or do you mean your own home made liquid? Did you just go straight over to that format? We suggest doing this, from a stable place, and performing a crossover taper. It is very common people react to a switch of forumulation, you are not alone.

Welcome @Bettyzooms

You might want to read over this link:

https://antidepressantrecovery.org/topic/240-preparing-doses-for-tapering-weighing-diy-liquids/?do=getNewComment

If you switched directly from pill to manufactured liquid, that is a change in composition as well as manufacturer. Both those changes are huge and can cause problems. The link mentions both these things and how to cross over correctly.

Did you go back to your pill form or are you still using the liquid?

Glad you are here. 🙏

17 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

Hi All

Glad to hear there is a new forum for this after surviving antidepressants closed. So much of what I have learned about actually tapering antidepressants has been from there.

Really struggling with insomnia at about 6 months from my last decrease. Probably decreased too much but did an initial consult with outrohealth and they recommend I hold where I’m at instead of increase. Definitely good days and bad days. Unfortunately I’ve found that the liquid solution doesn’t seem to work form me (severe anxiety within a few days of switching formulations). I want to keep going with the taper when things settle but feeling less and less hopeful.

Started Prozac 20mg in 2004. Increased to 40mg in 2005. Tried to taper a few times (2008 and 2013) but “failed” due to following primary care doctor’s advice and tapering over 2 weeks or a month.

Current taper

-35mg on 3/31/25 (6 weeks)

-30mg on 5/12

-25mg on 6/30

-20mg on 8/11

-15mg on 9/30

-10mg on 11/13

-tried 7.5 on 12/30, severe insomnia starting 12/31.

Went back to up to 10 on 1/3

Warm welcome @Bettyzooms sorry to hear about your great struggle unfortunately insomnia among other symptoms so common in this process.

I hope that as you maintain the current dosage, the system will balance and so will the symptoms.

Take it as slowly as possible and the journey will be more bearable, small steps will go a long way.

Glad you are with us 🙏

Thanks all! Definitely dropped too fast with the taper (even though I thought I was going slow). Seemed to go ok until the last drop in November. Considering adding back in 1-2.5 mg because sleep has been so bad this week. Currently I’m on 10mg capsules.

Really struggling with histamine issues too. Was shocked to hear how related that is to tapers. Not sure I can cut out anti-histamines completely but have found the DAO enzyme and low histamine diet has dramatically cut my need to antihistamines

Hey @Bettyzooms

8 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

even though I thought I was going slow

You were not to know! It’s crazy we have to figure all this out ourselves!

8 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

Seemed to go ok until the last drop in November.

Because of the half life, this is probably a delayed response from previous dose drops.

8 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

Considering adding back in 1-2.5 mg because sleep has been so bad this week.

If it were me, I’d do no more than 10% initially. Safer that way. An up dose may activate you and make sleep harder.

8 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

Currently I’m on 10mg capsules.

Do you have scales and syringes?

You said you reacted to liquid before? Was this pre-made liquid?

8 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

Was shocked to hear how related that is to tapers.

These drugs play havoc with everything unfortunately. 😞

13 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

Thanks all! Definitely dropped too fast with the taper (even though I thought I was going slow). Seemed to go ok until the last drop in November. Considering adding back in 1-2.5 mg because sleep has been so bad this week. Currently I’m on 10mg capsules.

Really struggling with histamine issues too. Was shocked to hear how related that is to tapers. Not sure I can cut out anti-histamines completely but have found the DAO enzyme and low histamine diet has dramatically cut my need to antihistamines

Unfortunately, quite a few people find that their tapers go ok until they don't.

This is why many support groups advocate being cautious and prioritising avoiding this over getting off the drug quicker, unless you're severely adversely reacting to it.

13 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

Thanks all! Definitely dropped too fast with the taper (even though I thought I was going slow). Seemed to go ok until the last drop in November. Considering adding back in 1-2.5 mg because sleep has been so bad this week. Currently I’m on 10mg capsules.

Really struggling with histamine issues too. Was shocked to hear how related that is to tapers. Not sure I can cut out anti-histamines completely but have found the DAO enzyme and low histamine diet has dramatically cut my need to antihistamines

Very relatable and in general it's so common @Bettyzooms I've been dealing with histamine rage since the middle of this process, I'm still trying to eliminate things related to histamine but without much success, I also tried an antihistamine for a short period that made my system even more crazy.

Glad to hear you found something that helps you.

Over time, as your system clears, I'm hopeful that it will get easier.

@Bettyzooms thanks for filling us in on some details.

Prozac is awful with histamine as is my drug, paxil. I deal with it as well. Vitamin C can also help with it. This link might help:

https://antidepressantrecovery.org/topic/228-histamine-intolerance-food-lists

19 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

Considering adding back in 1-2.5 mg

Prozac has a huge half life because it metabolizes into norfluoxetine. This means it takes time to build up in our system....I would give it more time. Sleep issues are common and it is important to practice good sleep hygiene to assist your central nervous system.

When you were using liquid was it diy. Prozac is very soluble and lasts easily 14 days in the fridge, if you decide to do that again. It is really important to do a slow cross over from the pill to liquid.

19 hours ago, Bettyzooms said:

need to antihistamines

Antihistamines can reach tolerance. It is recommended not to use more than 14 days for a person not in withdrawal. It is also recommended to taper off them because they cause rebound. How long have you used them and which one?

Because you are tapering a drug that affects histamine receptors, it is important to allow your body to heal and learn how to use them again. That is why it is important not to use them regularly or if possible, at all.

❤️🙏