Hey everyone. Tomorrow will be 10 days of taking 6 beads and I was wondering what would be my next step.

Overall, I've gotten better. The last 2 mornings, I've woke up calm, feeling good, and have stayed that way for the rest of the day. Today, I've woke up shaky inside, heart beating fast and breathing fast. Nothing like it was the first few days, but still noticeable. I am more irritable than usual everyday, nothing terrible but definitely noticeable. My appetite has been back the last 2 days.

Any guidance on the next step would be appreciated.

1 minute ago, CND27 said:

Hey everyone. Tomorrow will be 10 days of taking 6 beads and I was wondering what would be my next step.

Overall, I've gotten better. The last 2 mornings, I've woke up calm, feeling good, and have stayed that way for the rest of the day. Today, I've woke up shaky inside, heart beating fast and breathing fast. Nothing like it was the first few days, but still noticeable. I am more irritable than usual everyday, nothing terrible but definitely noticeable. My appetite has been back the last 2 days.

Any guidance on the next step would be appreciated.

Hey

Thanks for the update. It does sound like you are responding very well to the ri. Basically you have two choices. Hold the dose and wait to stabilise or try another bead and see if things improve further. This process is very much led by your body. If you feel you may benefit from a small updose and want to try then you could certainly do that. Again don’t jump doses around. Unless you significantly worsen on increasing, wait 4 days to really judge. Then wait a total of 10 days after the increase and reassess. Let us know what you decide and how you get on.

55 minutes ago, Chippy said:

Hey

Thanks for the update. It does sound like you are responding very well to the ri. Basically you have two choices. Hold the dose and wait to stabilise or try another bead and see if things improve further. This process is very much led by your body. If you feel you may benefit from a small updose and want to try then you could certainly do that. Again don’t jump doses around. Unless you significantly worsen on increasing, wait 4 days to really judge. Then wait a total of 10 days after the increase and reassess. Let us know what you decide and how you get on.

I think I'll increase to 7 in the morning. I'm a bit emotional this morning and this shakiness I feel inside is not fun. I want to see if 7 will help. I will stay on that for another 10 days, unless I get significantly worse. Thank you so much for your advice!

4 minutes ago, CND27 said:

I think I'll increase to 7 in the morning. I'm a bit emotional this morning and this shakiness I feel inside is not fun. I want to see if 7 will help. I will stay on that for another 10 days, unless I get significantly worse. Thank you so much for your advice!

Sounds like a good idea. Yes let us know how that goes. Pleasure!

Good morning. I'm laying in bed, overwhelmed with how I'm going to taper off of this medicine, while being at a really low dose (hopefully less than 10 beads). I feel like I will feel better having a plan for when that time comes (I'm obviously going to let my brain settle a while before trying to taper off completely).

I don't want my doctor knowing I'm tapering because I don't think she'd be supportive of the hyperbolic taper. If I want to make my own liquid and taper 10% every 4-6 weeks, my questions are:

How do you crush the beads?

What kind of fluid would you use to make a suspension, so that the particles don't just sink to the bottom like they would in plain water?

Do I take half the dose twice a day, since the XR beads will be crushed?

Again, I know this is in the future, but I really want a plan. Thank you all again!

1 hour ago, CND27 said:

Good morning. I'm laying in bed, overwhelmed with how I'm going to taper off of this medicine, while being at a really low dose (hopefully less than 10 beads). I feel like I will feel better having a plan for when that time comes (I'm obviously going to let my brain settle a while before trying to taper off completely).

I don't want my doctor knowing I'm tapering because I don't think she'd be supportive of the hyperbolic taper. If I want to make my own liquid and taper 10% every 4-6 weeks, my questions are:

How do you crush the beads?

What kind of fluid would you use to make a suspension, so that the particles don't just sink to the bottom like they would in plain water?

Do I take half the dose twice a day, since the XR beads will be crushed?

Again, I know this is in the future, but I really want a plan. Thank you all again!

That’s fair enough to think about these things. I would suggest you are some way off wanting to do this as yet. You need to stabilise and then I would think in terms of months on a stable dose before tapering.

You can just reduce the beads carefully over time and this is what our current guidelines says with Venlafaxine, we have some specific help on the final stages as that’s is tricky when you get to just a few beads.

Tapering Capsules That Contain Beads

However this doesn’t give you much control and certainly maintaining a hyperbolic taper would be impossible.

So id like you to look to split your dose as you mentioned into 2 or 3 doses and make the doses from the beads by crushing them and dissolving them into water if you are interested in taking that route. It is certainly what I would do in your shoes.

I would suggest you start by crossing over to some beads in liquid and some beads as normal, to ease your system over to a liquid, then taper as a liquid from there. We can discuss volumes of fluids and exact numbers later. Some of it will depend on how many beads you land on.

Hope that helps ease your mind for the minute. We will certainly be there to help you with the process when the time comes.

28 minutes ago, Chippy said:

That’s fair enough to think about these things. I would suggest you are some way off wanting to do this as yet. You need to stabilise and then I would think in terms of months on a stable dose before tapering.

You can just reduce the beads carefully over time and this is what our current guidelines says with Venlafaxine, we have some specific help on the final stages as that’s is tricky when you get to just a few beads.

Tapering Capsules That Contain Beads

However this doesn’t give you much control and certainly maintaining a hyperbolic taper would be impossible.

So id like you to look to split your dose as you mentioned into 2 or 3 doses and make the doses from the beads by crushing them and dissolving them into water if you are interested in taking that route. It is certainly what I would do in your shoes.

I would suggest you start by crossing over to some beads in liquid and some beads as normal, to ease your system over to a liquid, then taper as a liquid from there. We can discuss volumes of fluids and exact numbers later. Some of it will depend on how many beads you land on.

Hope that helps ease your mind for the minute. We will certainly be there to help you with the process when the time comes.

Okay great, the liquid sounds like a good plan. And yes, I'll be waiting a long while before I attempt. At least I have an idea on what will need to be done. Thank you

20 minutes ago, CND27 said:

Okay great, the liquid sounds like a good plan. And yes, I'll be waiting a long while before I attempt. At least I have an idea on what will need to be done. Thank you

Pleasure. Let us know how you are getting in a few days with your 7 beads.

How have you been getting on with 7 beads?

Just giving an update. I started 7 beads 5 days ago. I've had 1 day where I was completely symptom free, I couldn't believe it. I felt amazing! Of course that was short lived. I'm back to waking up with a fast heart beat, slight feeling of doom, not super shaky like I was though. Yesterday, I was really anxious. Over analyzing everything that's going on in my life and worrying about worst case scenarios. I couldn't turn it off. It did stop about 5 pm. I'm so looking forward to another day of feeling normal, I pray I get it soon.

5 minutes ago, CND27 said:

Just giving an update. I started 7 beads 5 days ago. I've had 1 day where I was completely symptom free, I couldn't believe it. I felt amazing! Of course that was short lived. I'm back to waking up with a fast heart beat, slight feeling of doom, not super shaky like I was though. Yesterday, I was really anxious. Over analyzing everything that's going on in my life and worrying about worst case scenarios. I couldn't turn it off. It did stop about 5 pm. I'm so looking forward to another day of feeling normal, I pray I get it soon.

Thanks for the update.

It’s amazing you had a totally symptom free window. Such good news.

Although your symptoms are still obvious less than pleasant I think you are doing really well. Windows and waves are a design feature of stablising unfortunately, but nothing to worry about.

I look forward to hearing how you are in a few days.

Now that I'm up or of bed, I've been very emotional. Crying non stop for no reason. This is the first time since withdrawing that this has happened. Could this indicate that 7 beads are too much or that reinstating isn't helping?

8 minutes ago, CND27 said:

Now that I'm up or of bed, I've been very emotional. Crying non stop for no reason. This is the first time since withdrawing that this has happened. Could this indicate that 7 beads are too much or that reinstating isn't helping?

No. The fact you didn’t react badly to the extra bead is a good thing. It’s just windows and waves.

We aren’t looking for zero symptoms, especially early on in ri. We are just cushioning the effects of coming off the drug too quickly.

There is an element of healing going on here and that can take some time.

It’s really normal for symptoms to fluctuate and come and go as things settle down.

Honestly I’m really pleased with how you are. Coming off your drug too quickly can cause all sorts of troubles and from what I’m reading the ri is working really well.

Hang onto that window!

7 minutes ago, Chippy said:

No. The fact you didn’t react badly to the extra bead is a good thing. It’s just windows and waves.

We aren’t looking for zero symptoms, especially early on in ri. We are just cushioning the effects of coming off the drug too quickly.

There is an element of healing going on here and that can take some time.

It’s really normal for symptoms to fluctuate and come and go as things settle down.

Honestly I’m really pleased with how you are. Coming off your drug too quickly can cause all sorts of troubles and from what I’m reading the ri is working really well.

Hang onto that window!

This is so reassuring, thank you so much!

1 hour ago, CND27 said:

This is so reassuring, thank you so much!

Pleasure

Ugh I'm not doing so well. Still waking up with my heart beating out of my chest. I'm constantly thinking about things and get myself worried sick over them. Yesterday I couldn't turn off my thoughts. I took my kids to a local theme park and was hoping that would distract me, but it didn't. Even yesterday evening, I usually get a break in the evenings, but I was still so anxious. I just want my brain to be quiet

Edited June 2Jun 2 by CND27
Typo

22 minutes ago, CND27 said:

Ugh I'm not doing so well. Still waking up with my heart beating out of my chest. I'm constantly thinking about things and get myself worried sick over them. Yesterday I couldn't turn off my thoughts. I took my kids to a local theme park and was hoping that would distract me, but it didn't. Even yesterday evening, I usually get a break in the evenings, but I was still so anxious. I just want my brain to be quiet

I’m so sorry to read. Unfortunately this journey can be a bit up and down like this. I imagine you are starting to understand this now! Remember the better days and evenings in particular you’ve had. The fact you had a one day clean window is amazing. Just imagine your system putting things right during these difficult times.

Thank you. I expected waves and windows, I just feel like this week I've been getting worse and it scares me

2 hours ago, CND27 said:

Thank you. I expected waves and windows, I just feel like this week I've been getting worse and it scares me

Unfortunately this isn’t uncommon. The path to stability can be unpredictable. Waves can be worse before things get better. You have shown some really good signs. Let’s see how you are in a few more days. Hope things ease a bit for you tomorrow.

Thank you for the reassurance

2 hours ago, CND27 said:

Thank you for the reassurance

Pleasure

Just here to echo what @Chippy said.

Unfortunately, when reinstatement "works", that doesn't always (or even often) look like a quick fix where you are instantly and consistently doing great.

The day symptom-free is a very good sign, but the fluctuations in symptoms can be considered "normal". Even when people start these drugs the common clinical advice is that it can take weeks of this sort of thing and that this is normal.

I hope you continue to experience more stability in the coming days and weeks. I think unless you significantly and severely worsen, it's best to stick with this and hope to continue to stabilise, and the periods of low or no symptoms are a good indicator that this is likely happening in time.

Tomorrow will be 10 days of 7 beads. What should I do next? I'm still panicky in the mornings and throughout most of the day. I get a little relief in the evenings but it's still there. Crying on and off all day, looping thoughts of worst case scenarios that won't stop, not eating/losing weight, and feeling hopeless.

9 minutes ago, CND27 said:

Tomorrow will be 10 days of 7 beads. What should I do next? I'm still panicky in the mornings and throughout most of the day. I get a little relief in the evenings but it's still there. Crying on and off all day, looping thoughts of worst case scenarios that won't stop, not eating/losing weight, and feeling hopeless.

Im glad you are still getting some relief in the evenings that is good to hear.

If you think you may benefit from another bead, add it in and if things don't worsen dramatically, give it 4 days and see how you are, then wait 10 days again and assess.

14 minutes ago, Chippy said:

Im glad you are still getting some relief in the evenings that is good to hear.

If you think you may benefit from another bead, add it in and if things don't worsen dramatically, give it 4 days and see how you are, then wait 10 days again and assess.

Okay thank you