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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 4 of 4. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by vitalsign0 on March 7, 2008, at 0:13:25
I've been on 50mgs of Luvox for 10 years. About 6 months ago my doctor wanted me to switch to Zoloft. I took 50 mgs of Zoloft for 2 months and hated it. I had zero sex drive. I tapered off it, but 2 months after stopping Zoloft, the "brain zaps" still hadn't gone away. There were really annoying so to stop them I took 50mgs of Luvox for 3 days. The side effects were pretty hardcore so I stopped. Now I feel like complete crap, my emotions are all over the map, I have nightmares, I feel like I've lost my mind, barely recongize where I am.
Can someone please tell what do to do at this point? Should I just stay off of SSRIs all together? Take a bunch of Xanax to get through the withdrawals? Take 50mgs of Luvox to stablize and taper down again? Any ideas would help.
My doctor, as well as any other doctor I've been to doesn't "believe" in "brain zaps". They sure as hell would if they ever experienced them!
Posted by bleauberry on March 8, 2008, at 18:56:42
In reply to Can someone please help me?, posted by vitalsign0 on March 7, 2008, at 0:13:25
I think some doctors do understand the horrors of antidepressant withdrawal, but most of them I think are just self blinded to how hardcore it really is. And no one really knows the longterm effects of the drugs. Most of us who have done the drugs know that something has changed a lot. I truly think doctors do the best they can, but they are just in a different world than we are. I chuckle at how silly and dangerous it would be at the same time, but sometimes I think in med school for psychiatry students should be required to take an antidepressant of their choice for 8 weeks and then taper off it, just so they know the game beyond what textbooks or pharmaceutical reps tell them.
But what to do now? Hmmm. That's tough. Why did he want you to get off Luvox? If you think it would work, maybe start getting back on it starting with very low doses. If there were problems with it, well then maybe a different drug needs to be considered. Just because zoloft stunk doesn't mean a different would. There's lexapro, prozac, cymbalta, effexor, paxil.
When I was withdrawing from zoloft, and yeah it seemed to go on forever, something that helped a lot but wasn't a total cure was 5htp. Doses as low as 10mg or as high as 150mg can do quite a lot.
Hundreds or thousands of people have thrown up their arms up in frustration and just switched to over the counter st johns wort instead. There are quite a few stories of former psych patients who found the herb to be better than meds.
I wish it was an easier road for us all. I wish there were more answers. I wish things were understood better. But in the real world we have to do what we think is best and see where it goes.
Posted by 49er on March 9, 2008, at 7:14:38
In reply to Can someone please help me?, posted by vitalsign0 on March 7, 2008, at 0:13:25
> I've been on 50mgs of Luvox for 10 years. About 6 months ago my doctor wanted me to switch to Zoloft. I took 50 mgs of Zoloft for 2 months and hated it. I had zero sex drive. I tapered off it, but 2 months after stopping Zoloft, the "brain zaps" still hadn't gone away. There were really annoying so to stop them I took 50mgs of Luvox for 3 days. The side effects were pretty hardcore so I stopped. Now I feel like complete crap, my emotions are all over the map, I have nightmares, I feel like I've lost my mind, barely recongize where I am.
>
> Can someone please tell what do to do at this point? Should I just stay off of SSRIs all together? Take a bunch of Xanax to get through the withdrawals? Take 50mgs of Luvox to stablize and taper down again? Any ideas would help.
>
> My doctor, as well as any other doctor I've been to doesn't "believe" in "brain zaps". They sure as hell would if they ever experienced them!Hi,
Because of the board rules, I can't repeat what I think about doctor not beliving in brain zaps.
It sounds like you developed withdrawal symptoms from either tapering too quickly or cold turkeying the med. When did you stop the Luvox?
If it has been recent, you might want to go back and stabalize for example on 10mg and taper very slowly. The recommendation on the Paxil Progress Boards is 10% of the current dose every 3 to 6 weeks.
If I remember correctly, Lexapro comes in a liquid form so this would be easy to do.
Tapering slow is the key to a successful withdrawal.
49er
Posted by tapioca11 on April 28, 2008, at 8:00:57
In reply to Re: Can someone please help me?, posted by 49er on March 9, 2008, at 7:14:38
Hello there,
I was on 100 mg Zoloft and weaned down to 25mg every three days...I just couldn't get past this point without severe side effects; to include brain zaps, dizziness, nausea, severe anger for little reason. The psychiatrist told me that she thought that the "withdrawal symptoms" were more psychological than actually from the meds..hmm..never had these little zaps previously. Anyway, I did some reading and I decided to take a 5-htp 50mg combo pill (by lucinda bassett...not endorsing just the one i'm using)...anyway, I was able to make it 8 days now without the zoloft. I am still having some side effects, but they are tolerable now. I hope that the little zaps go away (much less than before alraedy)soon. I have also added B12 to the mix, I took it this morning for the first time in the am and I felt nauseous (wouldn't recommend am treatment). So, depending on your stability and situation, this may be a viable solution to the immediate effects you are experiencing.
This is the end of the thread.
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