Posted by JohnnyW on July 9, 2011, at 5:56:18
Hi there, I've been having the most unpleasant withdrawal effects (discontinuation syndrome) from taking Stablon, and I really felt the need to post about it somewhere.
Here's a diary of what's happened so far (this has all happened over the PAST WEEK!). I started taking Stablon for my depression and mild anxiety.
First three days:
Tapered up from 1 tablet to 3 a day - Felt good. Felt a definite improvement to my mood and outlook. Also a reduction in the anxiety I had been feeling. I felt more talkative and mentally aware, and also occasionally felt a nice little "buzz".Day four:
Woke up in the middle of the night feeling as though something was wrong. I felt panicked. (A little side detail: I remember I had very lots of colourful shapes behind my eyes when I first woke up (with my eyes closed) but they disappeared.)I woke up fully and the panic was extreme (although it wasn't a full blown panic attack) and was accompanied with very negative thoughts. The whole experience became unbelievably overwhelming. I was still very tired, and so tried to sleep through it, but every time I drifted into "alpha" sleep (when you start day dreaming before you sleep) I got a jolt of anxiety that would wake me up. It was horrible.
The mixture of anxiety and negative thoughts kept me awake, and I didn't know how much longer I could put up with them. I know that if I had to feel like that every day, I would have happily chosen death as an alternative. It was extremely horrible. Worse than anything I'd ever experienced. Like depression and anxiety x 100.
Day five:
That morning I eventually had to go to work, without having sleep. I was still panicked in work, but it became less so. And I didn't feel quite as negative.Spoke to my friend (who had had success on Stablon) and they convinced me that the experience was probably a "bump in the road" due to taking something new. As such things would probably improve as the medication "levelled out" in my system.
I held off taking any more Stablon until about 11am, but when my nerves from weren't completely subsiding I decided to take one. I immediately began to feel better. So I took another one in the evening, hoping my friend had been right.
That night I slept for 8 hours and felt OK.
Day six:
I decided to only take two tablets a day from now on, and I felt ok for most of the day, but by the evening my sense of anxiety had started to grow again. The nerves made me worried that I was going to have a repeat of the horrible experience.I tried to keep myself calm by meditating and I eventually fell asleep. But sure enough, after about 2 hours sleep, I woke up and felt panicked and negative again.
It was just as overwhelming as before, and again I didn't know how much longer I could put up with such a feeling. I felt FAR too sensitive, mixed with negativity and anxiety. It was just as horrible as I'd remembered from the previous night.
And again, I remember feeling, at times, that death would have been better than overwhelming negative thoughts coupled with crippling anxiety. It was HORRIBLE. (Although I didn't have any plans for how I might end my life -- it was just a logical reasoning: It this feeling wasn't going to go away, I could never live with it. Luckily I felt that it would eventually go away.)
Day seven: Had to go into work again, but this time the nerves didn't subside as much during the day. I couldn't eat properly because my stomach was churning too much. I made a decision to come off Stablon for good. Nothing was worse feeling as bad as I had done the previous night, and I honestly didn't know if I could withstand another similar experience.
With the nerves not subsiding, and with the idea that stopping abruptly could be bad, I took one final tablet in the late morning. Hoping it would at least give me the mental lift that I could ride out.
Unfortunately it didn't help much, my nerves still persisted, and so I decided not to push my luck -- no more Stablon.
That evening the nerves in my stomach were still there and I couldn't sleep. (I got about 3 - 4 hours, off and on.)
Yesterday:
My nerves continued throughout the day. They got so bad, and coupled with the few hours sleep I'd had over the past two days, I asked if I could leave work early.I managed to get a short-notice appointment with my doctor that afternoon. I tried to explain my severe anxiety and how it was stopping me from sleeping and eating properly... I didn't mention my experiment with Stablon for fear of reprisal. (I doubt he would have heard of the medication, and would probably have just told me something along the lines of, "Well it's your fault for trying to self-medicate" -- possibly not entirely untrue).
His only solution was an SSRI -- something I REALLY don't want to take having been on them so many times in the past, I just didn't want to have to go down that route. He began to get a little frustrated with me for resisting an SSRI ("it will help" he insisted -- even though he said the effects wouldn't be felt for three weeks(!)). I eventually agreed that I would try Zoloft, something I had previously had success with, and he gave me a prescription.
I haven't taken the Zoloft, and I don't plan to until I at least feel like these side-effects have subsided more. I really don't want to risk tripping anything else in my brain right now.
I went to my pharmacist and he was more sympathetic to my feelings of anxiety, telling me to try vitamin B supplements, Omega 3-6-9, getting more exercise, drinking plenty of water, good pro-biotics, etc.
I also picked up some Valerian root. I haven't tried any of these yet, though.
Last night my stomach nerves were still there, and I had difficulty falling asleep -- although mercifully I eventually did.
Today:
My stomach nerves and mental sensitivity are still here, but I think they may finally be starting to subside. (Although I'm beginning to wonder exactly when they will go -- I'm SO sick of feeling like this.)I'm even afraid of taking the B vitamins or Valerian root, just in case it makes me feel worse... I'm so afraid of feeling as bad as I did on those two nights.
Anyways, I'm sorry for this very long post! I just wanted to share my experiences, and maybe hear if anyone else has had anything similar? I would love to know what's causing all this, and what the best route to helping my anxiety subside might be.
Thanks for any advice. I wish I knew what I could do to definitely help.
- Johnny
PS -
It's such a shame: When Stablon made me feel good, it was amazing. It was so much better than any SSRI I've ever had -- if only it hadn't unlocked these weird side-effects in me :(
poster:JohnnyW
thread:990604
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110630/msgs/990604.html