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Withdrawal from Antidepressants

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Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#91

Post by chillwaves »

throwaway713 wrote: post #78

I was on Nardil (phenelzine) for about 6 months. That's some weird stuff right there. I gained a whole bunch of weight, lost the ability to dream while sleeping, and couldn't eat any foods with tyramine in them (like Iberian ham or fava beans), but man, chocolate cake never tasted so heavenly as when on Nardil. Prior to Nardil, I had been taking Prozac (fluoxetine) but a combination of sexual side effects, an impatie…

What did you think about Modafinil? I went on it for a few months (without advice of a doctor) and thought it put a great pep in my step. Now that I have insurance, I will try to get it prescribed but it seemed gentle in a way, like a different flavor of caffeine but also gave me confidence. Unless I took too much, then I felt on edge, like I was clenching my jaw (probably was).

I guess I am asking you about Modafinil because somehow I was under the impression it's a somewhat casual drug and the rest in your list seem like heavy weights to me. I have never taken any kind of antidepressant but sometimes think I need to.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#92

Post by outworlder »

nylonstrung wrote: post #44
drzaiusapelord wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Phenelzine is actually a MAOI, which is a different class of drug. My understanding is that Wallace had hard to treat depression and was on this more dangerous class of drug as SSRI's didn't work well on him. He also died with Clonazepam and Temazepam in his system. Wallace also received electric shock therapy, which suggests his depression was much more serious than most cases. I think his case is very much an edge…

He actually wrote about his experiences with MAOIs in an early short story in a college journal. This was in the early 80s, well before Prozac and SSRIs made it to market. https://quomodocumque.files.wordpress.com/2008/09/wallace-am...

I just read it and I'm at a loss for words. All I can say is that it's a incredibly sad tale.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#93

Post by tibbon »

baus wrote: post #26
vomitcuddle wrote: post #12

As someone who had to abruptly come off venlafaxine due to side effects, I can tell you that it was complete hell. I experienced vomiting, the weirdest, most horrible nightmares every night, sleep paralysis with hallucinations and a recurring feeling of "electic shocks" inside my head. This lasted about a month. I think it borders on inhumane not to mention possible withdrawal symptoms before prescribing this awful "…

I had to withdraw from Effexor myself. The electric shock symptom is real. It is brutal. Combined with withdrawal from benzodiazepines, those were some of the worst days of my life

A partner of mine had super strong shocks as well from it. Scary. It went on for a while almost any time she's turn quickly

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#95

Post by paroxaway »

agumonkey wrote: post #33
69mlgsniperdad wrote: post #21

I have been on paxil(paroxetine) three separate times. Each was between six months and one year in duration. The first time, I was on a 10mg daily dose. I had quite a few issues when starting the medication the first time; however after a few weeks, I felt great. When I initially discontinued, I had the worst side effects I have ever experienced. Electric shocks in my neck and back of head, depression, mood swings, a…

Good to know, I had to take paroxetine for cripping anxiety, and will probably attempt end of treatment in a month. I remember being off one day (10mg per day) and having the same sensation you get when an elevator stops after going up. A chill in your spine, except it was very intense, and located in my brain only. Lasted a day, only thing that would relieve it is swallowing something.. I really hope I don't have to…

I recognize the irony in giving dire warnings to someone about to discontinue anxiety medication but:

* Research the potential withdrawal effects. They're much more upsetting and disruptive when you don't know what to expect or how to attribute the effects. But don't panic preemptively and expect all of them, just commit them to memory so that you don't panic if and when they occur.

* As others have suggested - taper off as gradually as you can.

* Do not schedule the discontinuation around any deadlines or professional engagements. Use a bad case of the flu as an excuse - assuming you're in the northern hemisphere it's flu season, and conveniently enough SSRI withdrawal symptoms can resemble those of the flu (http://www.aafp.org/afp/2006/0801/p449.html).

Having been prescribed paroxetene for crippling anxiety and having suffered through severe withdrawal effects myself, hopefully this will help.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#97

Post by CIPHERSTONE »

Pete_D wrote: post #48
harshreality wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious... you, and all other commenters who mentioned electric shocks... which I'd previously heard of as "brain zaps"... What difference would it make if the doctor had told you of that side effect before you started the drug? Imagine you have no idea of what brain zaps felt like. Would you have avoided the drug based on such a vague description? Can you describe the sensation? It's not painful, right? The sens…

I'd heard of brain zaps before quitting Zoloft cold turkey[0], but the actual experience wasn't what I expected from the term "brain zaps". Kind of like a dizzy spell that lasts 0.1 seconds, with a sort of buzzing sensation, like someone had turned on a step-down transformer in my skull. I've never experienced anything else like it to compare it to. [0] in hindsight, not tapering gradually is a really bad idea

I experienced that as well, along with what I can only describe as a brain shudder. Glad that's in the past.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#98

Post by throwaway713 »

chillwaves wrote: post #91
throwaway713 wrote: post #78

I was on Nardil (phenelzine) for about 6 months. That's some weird stuff right there. I gained a whole bunch of weight, lost the ability to dream while sleeping, and couldn't eat any foods with tyramine in them (like Iberian ham or fava beans), but man, chocolate cake never tasted so heavenly as when on Nardil. Prior to Nardil, I had been taking Prozac (fluoxetine) but a combination of sexual side effects, an impatie…

What did you think about Modafinil? I went on it for a few months (without advice of a doctor) and thought it put a great pep in my step. Now that I have insurance, I will try to get it prescribed but it seemed gentle in a way, like a different flavor of caffeine but also gave me confidence. Unless I took too much, then I felt on edge, like I was clenching my jaw (probably was). I guess I am asking you about Modafini…

I had no response to Modafinil at all. I started at 100 mg and worked up to 400 mg (under my psychiatrist's supervision), but at 400 mg, both he and I decided it wasn't doing anything — positive or negative — so I quit taking it.

After researching the subject a bit, my guess as to why Modafinil had no effect on me is that I probably have the wrong variant of the rs4680 gene. rs4680 is known as the worrier/warrior gene; those with the AA variant tend to be neurotic, have high anxiety, and handle stress poorly (my personality in a nutshell). Studies have shown that people with this variant of rs4680 do not significantly respond to Modafinil, so I suspect that I am one of them. I plan on sending a DNA sample to 23andme soon to confirm whether or not my hunch is correct.

With regard to getting a prescription, I'll note that my psychiatrist couldn't prescribe Modafinil directly to treat anxiety, so he indirectly prescribed it to address the "sleep issues" that were caused by my anxiety/depression.

For me, 5 mg of Adderall does what I was hoping Modafinil would do. Personally speaking, productivity is far more important to me than "feeling good", which is what I think a lot of people abuse Adderall for (and it certainly does produce that "feel good" sensation at high enough dosages). But at 10 mg and less, it's like a much "smoother" version of caffeine. In fact, lately I've found that I don't really like caffeine anymore because it makes me crankier, sweatier, and more jittery than Adderall does, and it doesn't help my ability to focus as well.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#99

Post by mrbill »

Even tapering off Cymbalta and tapering on to a different med at the same time..

Worst sickness of my life. Felt like death flu. Uncontrollable vomiting, diarrhea, chills, shivering, fever. I spent 4 days between bed and bathroom. Then suddenly on day 5 I was fine.

While I was on it, it completely turned off everything below the belt. No response to stimulation at all. And mentally I was a zombie. Evil stuff.

No such problems on Zoloft, celexa, or Prozac.

Re: Withdrawal from Antidepressants

#100

Post by bgeeek »

innocentoldguy wrote: post #40
69mlgsniperdad wrote: post #21

I have been on paxil(paroxetine) three separate times. Each was between six months and one year in duration. The first time, I was on a 10mg daily dose. I had quite a few issues when starting the medication the first time; however after a few weeks, I felt great. When I initially discontinued, I had the worst side effects I have ever experienced. Electric shocks in my neck and back of head, depression, mood swings, a…

I had a similar experience. I've only ever taken Paxil once, for maybe a month or so. Going into it, the only side-effect I experienced was an inability to climax during sex—-yeah, I know, too much information, but people need to know what they're getting into. When I stopped taking it, I experienced the same electric shock sensations you're talking about. My eyes twitched terribly, and I bounced back and forth betwe…

Not too much information at all. I think it's a known side effect, too.
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