Tapering Puns

Hey guys. I am wondering why every post in here is about how terrible suboxone is? Every person posts about tapering and getting off it. I thought it was about people on suboxone thst want to share thier experiences. It kinda bugs me. I myself AM tapering, but what about the people that are coming here for help. They are looking for help to get off the evil of opiates.. Suboxone saved my family, bank account and pretty much my life. I feel like there should be a separate sub for tapering. If someone comes on here that needs major help, they might look at these posts and say no way, and die 2 weeks later. Im just worried that people that NEED suboxone, will not do it, when it will be the ONLY way to help them.. not putting anyone or anybodies process down, but this sub is about suboxone helping people, I thought..maybe it's just me. Not trying to offend anyone. I'm trying to get off myself..but, some people won't live another day because they think suboxone is more evil than opiates. That's Def not the case..just wondering if I don't know what this subs really about.

/u/WORLDBURNING inspired me to make this post. My tolerance has been stable and I haven't been "chasing the dragon" but my tolerance is definitely getting higher.

I'm at .8mg Flubromazolam when I wake up, then about 4mg of Clonazolam around lunch. I might take 4mg of Clonazolam at night as well along with another dropper full of .8mg of Flubromazolam.

So... It's going to be a long road, but I feel if I switch completely over to Flubromazolam and leave the Clonazolam behind, I'll be able to track my dosage better. Better to have just one chemical dependency than two, I suppose.

Now... My doctor just put me on Wellbutrin. I'm guessing I'm going to have to hold off on taking it if I don't want to seize as I taper down. Anyone concur? Or is it a good idea to keep taking it? I think not...

Anyway, can anyone guesstimate what 8mg per day of Clonazolam would be in terms of Flubromazolam? The equivalencies? I've tried a few days to figure out equivalencies, and it seems like Clonazolam has some extra effects that Flubro doesn't and Flubro simply can't get rid of withdrawal the way Clonazolam can. Maybe I'm not taking enough Flubro? I don't know. Any ideas?

Edit: I can't go to a hospital. One, I don't have insurance. Two, all the hospitals I live near would never understand the sheer dire situation of research chemicals. They'd make me go nearly cold turkey while just barely keeping me alive using anti-seizure meds. I already have severe PTSD. If I went through what others have gone through this would be the end. I'd blow my brains out for sure once I got out of there. I already have daily suicidal thoughts as it is.... I almost feel like my ego is telling me I'm approaching the end. I love certain parts of life, don't get me wrong. But this has been the worst 9 years of my life. I'm 23. Got severe debilitating depression at 14. Aside from when I was high on something life hasn't been much fun. I was high a lot though, so I had a lot of fun. But it feels like that fun is coming to the end.

I ended up going to the ER yesterday morning because the nausea got so bad that I vomited several times. Not much the doctor there could do other than prescribe me Zofran (ondansetron) 4mg tab every six hours as needed for the nausea. A bit of good news is I'm feeling a bit better today (no more nausea at least). I've started having brain zaps which are super annoying and disorienting. My appointment with my psychiatrist is in a couple of hours and I'm wondering how I can tell her she has no idea what she's doing without discrediting her? I don't want to lose my cool today but tbh I'm furious.

Original post: https://www.reddit.com/r/antidepressants/comments/nb8lgh/antidepressant_discontinuation_syndrome_after/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

My psychiatrist tapered me off of Lexapro but apparently that wasn't enough for me not to have discontinuation symptoms. I have depression and anxiety. I had been taking the generic version Lexapro (escitalopram) for about a year and a half. It never helped me so FINALLY after many months of trying to convince my doctor to get me off of it they agreed. I went down from my dose of 20mg to 10mg for a week and then 5mg for another week and then stopping the medication all together. As of a couple of days ago I've been having insomnia, agitation, irritability, headaches, dizziness, nausea, sweating, and fatigue. All are symptoms of antidepressant discontinuation syndrome. It's become so debilitating that all I can do is lay in bed in agony. I have an appointment with my doctor on Friday however since my symptoms are so severe should I go to the ER? How long does withdrawal typically last? Please help!

I'm currently in the process of getting off taking Vyvanse and my next step is to taper off of Kratom, then eventually come off of gabapentin. My goal is to use supplements and nootropics as an aid to combat withdrawal symptoms, repair what's possible and just generally help with mood/energy, and relaxation and sleep at night. This will be in addition to making lifestyle changes such as more exercise and putting effort into eating healthier.

I regularly use CDP-choline and Rhodiola in the morning. I generally take high-dose fish oil, multi-vitamin, and vitamin d supplement after lunch. I tend to use KSM-66 ashwagandha in the evening, but am planning on trying the Shoden in place of KSM-66.

I have a supply of other supplements I'm planning on using to help me through this, but I'd appreciate advice/insight on how and when to implement them if at all. Here is a list of what I have on hand:

-CDP-choline(250 mg)

-Rhodiola(500 mg)

-Uridine (300 mg)

-NAC (500 mg)

-L-tyrosine (500mg)

-DLPA (500 mg)

-L-theanine (200mg)

-Longvida curcumin (400mg)

-KSM-66(300 mg) and Shoden(120mg) ashwagandha

-Synapsa bacopa (320 mg)

-Lion's Mane mushroom (500 mg)

-Passionflower(700 mg)

-Lemon balm

-Valerian root

-CBD

-Fish oil

-Multi-vitamin

-Vitamin d

-B-complex

I know that what may work for you may not work for me, but if anyone is willing to share their experiences with these supplements(or others) in general or what may have worked for them in similar circumstances, I would be grateful.

I posted on here some days ago detailing an awful nocturnal panic attack I had which I believe was caused by benzo tolerance/withdrawal or something similar.

I had been taking high doses of Xanax (around 2 mg or more) during the week this nocturnal panic attack and insomnia crisis happened. I also have been using Xanax almost daily for at least 7 years (mostly therapeutic doses around 0.5 mg).

Thankfully, my psychiatrist is very good and is willing to help me. She prescribed me Xanax XR, a version of Xanax which is released slower in our organism. This is everything I needed to start my slow taper.

Since then, I successfully decreased my Xanax intake from around 2 mg daily to 1 mg daily. I’m finally having normal nights of sleep and feeling no withdrawal symptoms whatsoever. Soon I’ll be tapering this drug even more to the point I’ll hopefully get completely rid of it.

I know we like to thrash talk psychiatrists, but we should recognize it when we meet a good one who is willing to help us.

I’m focusing on my quality of life like I have never done before in my entire life. I’m being way more concerned about what I eat, at what time of the day I go to sleep, and how often I exercise. Also trying to get rid of excessive sugar in my diet.

Message to everyone on here: keep strong. You WILL get better. Stop reading benzodiazepine horror stories. Just because the withdrawal affected someone very badly, it doesn’t mean it will be terrible the exact same way for you.

We also should keep working on making our voices heard. These drugs are dangerous and the danger they represent isn’t taken seriously enough by the medical class or the pharmaceutic industry.

Thanks to everyone from this sub who sent me a message and helped me during the moment I needed it the most.

I am a heavy smoker, only smoked joints and would smoke 2g a day. Tried to quit cold turkey for the longest time but the withdrawals were too harsh and always relapsed. I started to moderate my usage 3 weeks back. It was tough at first but I made sure I kept myself busy during the day to prevent me from smoking during the day. The last week I was smoking 0.3g a night. Yesterday was day 1 without smoking, I took valerian root for sleep and had a peaceful sleep for the first time in a long time without using weed.

Today will provide its own set of challenges but for me facing day 1 without the intense withdrawals I normally face is the biggest win as opposed to simply going cold turkey, dying and then binge smoking. Find a strategy that works for you, cold turkey just didn't cut it for me. I feel like I built more discipline with tapering my usage and I couldn't be more proud

I started my taper last week. I had been taking 5mg once nightly for a few months. Prior to that it was more like 3mg a couple times per week. I went from 5mg to 4mg for 2 nights, all was good. Then I dropped to 3mg on Sunday night. Tuesday and Wednesday i was jittery and had some anxiety, but Thursday and today (Friday) I have felt good. Am i ok to reduce further tonight or am I rushing it? I don't want to drag it out longer than necessary but don't want severe withdrawals either lol. I was thinking of dropping to 2mg tonight.

Edited to add: I guess I am mostly curious how other people are feeling when they go down on their taper plans. Did you wait until you felt totally normal, or were their certain symptoms that you considered acceptable and powered through? I've never withdrawn from anything so it's really like, the experiences I'm hoping to hear about.

So basically we were having sex and I couldn't get it hard last week. I told her straight up I was taking an antidepressant (Zoloft 125mg). She actually takes 25 mg of the same medication, so she was pretty understanding.

My libido is super low and I feel pretty emotionless. How can I tell her that she's gonna have to be patient for me for a bit before I get "back to normal"? Is this even a good idea?

Edit: at the same time I feel like if she isn't patient for me for a bit she isn't worth it in the long run. Thoughts on this?

Anyone else feel like this ? I don't want to get into it because I'm exhausted but I need to put it out there. It is so aggravating and when I get to this point I want to laugh at the situation, but then I just end up crying over everything that takes even an inkling more of an effort than operating on auto-pilot mode.

So I’ve been doing this the right way (for once). Tapering slowly and steady and all I can say is man, I’m doing okay. It’s okay to come off your meds as long as you have a plan and communicate it with your doctor. And my plan has been been ketamine (sublingual and IV infusions) and microdosing with psilocybin. I know this will piss people off. I’m aware it’s not the usual. What you may not know is that I’ve already jumped through every possible hoop medically possible. I have treatment resistant depression. I am actually the definition of treatment resistant depression. I’ve done full rounds of ECT (electroconvulsive therapy), TMS (Transcranial magnetic stimulation), EMDR ( Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing), over 20 psych meds, decades of therapy, Spravato (Esketamine) and now IV ketamine infusions and sublingual ketamine and microdosing psilocybin mushrooms.

In one week the only psych meds I’ll be on will be seroquel (which I’m also starting to reduce) and Wellbutrin. I also take Topamax for my migraines. In addition to this I also got my Mirena IUD removed in December and that changed my anxiety for the better. Being hormone free has been a whirlwind of shit. My skin went to hell but my feelings settled and equaled out.

I’m posting this not to start a fight. Or say that my way is the only way. I don’t believe that at all. What I’m trying to say is that I tried every damn way my doctors told me to dance. And my depression came back inevitably no matter what. Now that I’m in control of my body and my treatment I have experienced 100% less relapse in my deep depression. My suicidal depression. I applied and got accepted and have started to go back to school (electrician school) I am actually working to get off disability. I’ve been on disability for 3 years. I want to and I have been more active. I have challenged myself. I have become a better version of me. The me that was stuck in mood stabilizers for years not doing anything with her life….yeah, she isn’t here.

I am pro medication. I think most of us need it. I think I was over medicated and wrongfully treated. I think I needed more understanding and therapy and real long term treatments that continued to work with my illness not dull me.

Thanks for reading.

Im about to start detoxing. Flushed all my dope down the toilet. If i take norco the first day or 2 of withdrawal, would it make wd not as bad?

So I posted a few time on this forum already. Everything is looking good over here today but I am struggling with just wanting to go CT at this point (just an addict way of thinking)

I have been super successful with my taper thus far. I went from 35-40 gpd to now sitting pretty at a solid 9.5 gpd and still dropping. I have not had urges to use more or cheat my doses even when I experience withdrawal symptoms from my weekly cut. I actually smile to myself when I experience these symptoms because I know I’m kicking ass and doing what needs to be done. I don’t intend on coming out of my taper completely unscathed. Pain is necessary for change and healing.

So my question is, does slow and steady really win the race? I feel like I am better off sticking to my schedule now and riding this taper out until I hit 3.5-5 gpd and then jumping. It’s just the addict part of me who just wants to go all or nothing and jump right now (but I also can’t afford to miss work and slack on my parenting). I’ve been so disciplined this entire tapering process. I’m surprising myself every day.

I would love to know everyone’s slow/slow-ish tapering experience and if it really did help you in the end? Will my body thank me for this later when I jump? Or am I just prolonging the inevitable?

Hello! So,my fiance has been tapering off subs for a month or so now and has been a complete asshole to me. I have been very patient with him and letting the things that he says and the way that he treats me for the most part roll off of my back. I understand that he is tapering, but why such the shitty attitude towards me?! I am also 8 months pregnant and this instability and roller coaster of emotional has me very concerned. Everything seems to be my fault and he is impossible to talk to. He also acts like I never want to be with him sexually...what does he expect? And by the way, I do! But he is never nice for long enough to do anything. That is a different issue. Anyways, how long should this tapering take? Today he told me to leave him alone and that would help the most because if I didn't he would want to use. How do you think that makes me feel? I just do not know what to think of this since it is clearly not the way that I want to live or deserve to be treated. Thoughts?

Hello, I worry 24/7 & panic everyday. I cannot go further than a mile from home without panicking. I panic at bad news that I think I’m hearing (when I’m just hearing people wrong). I panic at things I have to do months in the future. I panic all. the. time. and it makes me depressed. I didn’t used to be like this. I used to be the opposite actually. This started after a very traumatic illness and life changes coincided.

Anyways, my psychiatrist wanted to give me sertraline (Zoloft) until I told her that my GP gave me that a couple years ago & my tongue went numb from half a dose. I have an extensive list of life-threatening allergies, so she’s just being careful.

So, she prescribed me Paxil. I didn’t want Lexapro or Celexa due to QT-prolongation.

Now, as I sit here for 10+ hours in a day scanning the internet for every documented case of trying Paxil or getting off of it, I’m afraid it will destroy my life and health to go off of it. It may help for the time being, but what if going off does even more damage?

Anyway, I could use advice. If someone has some. Because my existence right now is hell. I believe being afraid all the time is exactly what hell is like? That’s how I live right now. Always on edge like the worst could happen at any moment.

Hello everyone, So first, shortly about me. 31 male, I have bipolar disorder and I am on 200mg lamotrigine. Yesterday was last dose of 10mg escitalopram as doctor recommended. I hit the gym few times a week. Everything is fine with that. I get addicted to phenibut again. First time I did ColdTurkey and will never do it again. This is hell!

I read the REDDIT stuff about cutting 50-100mg everyday but is it really that slow neccessary? Or at least If I go that way will the WD be calmer?

Now about my taper: I was on 10g of Phenibut for about a month. 1st week of taper I was on 9g and it was OK 2nd week I did 8g and still it was not bad 3rd weeks began and:

Yesterday I did 7g in the morning and later the evening was like " Everything is grey, something bad is gonna happen". I took my last 1mg of clonazepam and went to sleep. When I wake up I still felt like shit. So after I took 4,6g in the morning it is still shitty but I can just live a day, went to the gym. Feel little less shitty but I am afraid the night. I am going to take 2,4g near evening.

Is it really better to split dose during the day when taper? I ask because if this shit happens today as yesterday I will call my doctor and tell him about phenibut maybe he prescribe gabapentin or something? Right now I dont even want to think about work which I like. Dont want to watch Netflix even. The best would be take benzos and sleep all the time but... its definately worst option. Also dont have any benzos and dont want it. Gabapentin or Baclofen help tapering down faster or it just make withdrawal easier ?

Got down to 35mg diazpeam a day from a 12-16mg a day Xanax habit, but this new job I've started has compelled me to take more. I work 12-14 hour shifts and sometimes only get a ten minute break, its absolute chaos and I take between 60-100mg diazepam just to calm me down - it can't go on like this.

Down to my last 70mg. 4 today, 3 tomorrow. I know this isn't the right way to go but it's got to the stage where I can't stop myself.

If anyone knows the likelihood of me having a seizure at work then I'd love to know because I think if I had one at work it would shock them enough to change things. I've voiced my concerns enough times.

My best advice for those who want to taper from 3 or 2mg down (lower doses) it is very helpful to understand the medication duration and half life. I see alot of folks tapering down waaay too fast and many times run into alot of discouraging post that begin discouraging others. For those who are attending an MAT and arent limited to the medication, I don't see a reason for not taking the time to do it right 1 time. A rapid taper is appropriate when you are obviously limited to the amount of medication. Or in a detox clinic etc.

When you go too fast, it'll all catch up to you eventually and it can be quite discouraging. It takes a single dose a couple of days sometimes 3 to stop working and another couple days for it to exit the body (medication afterlife). It really depends on the person. It is significantly strong. This is why its hard to get off of it.

One of the biggest mistakes i see people make is tapering down again right after stabilizing (on lower doses). So let's say after you taper down to 1.5 from 2mg, you experience mild WD symptoms for 3 to 5 days wich is expected, but once those symtoms go away in about 5 days, you get confident and taper again a couple days later or so. The stabilizing period takes time. Even if you feel great after tapering and getting through the Symptoms. Best chances are you are still stabilizing on the new dose. Be patient. When you think you are stabilized, you stabilize more. I spend 1 full month on each new dose. After the month, I take a week to think about things and prepare myself, let my family know, etc and take my new dose. Dont put pressure on yourself and have an exact date that you taper on unless you are limited to the Subz. It's not a race.

Another thing that I'd like to mention is that when you get to lower doses like 2mg or 1.5, you may experience mild WD symptoms a couple of hours just before the time you take your dose. Your body is working with less medication so it is learning to adjust to a lower dose. Try to hang in there for those hours and take your dose at the same time. Some people think that they will never get enough relief out of just 1mg or 1.5 and will always sort of have lingering symptoms etc but in my opinion, you can be stable and comfortable on very low doses, it just takes even more time to stabilize. Those symtoms go away, specially if you are consistent with the same dosage at the same time. Some people would rather just jump and get it all at once.

I am not a

I'm trying to taper as much as I can, I have about 60 oxy 10mg and 3gs of h (only smoker) but I've been trying to space out my smoking to every 6 - 12 hrs (and I've been successful for about 3 days so far) and also switch to oxy and take less and less but I was just given gabapentin (never taken before) and I have some weed and benzos. Told my mom and girl about my situation they are supportive and tell me to keep weening off but they are not addicts like me I'm honestly either going to smoke or take a couple soon because I'm afraid and don't have a full plan. Any tips or advice?

Has anyone used a milligram scale for tapering at levels below a milligram?

Also, does anyone know if the the 2mg pills are big enough that there wouldn't be a huge difference if the scale is off by +/- 1mg or so? I'm having a hard time finding the millgram weight of any of the suboxone/subutex pills or their generics; but I'm assuming I'd want to seek out the heaviest ones.

I've tried tapering below 1mg using the 2mg strips (lowest dosage available in US), but have had a lot of difficulties. I know that at least some of this difficulty is from the fact that the medication is unevenly distributed in the strip. I figure that if a single pill is powdered up, that the bupe would be more evenly distributed than it is in a strip, and I can use fractions to figure out how many mg of the pill powder to take to equal .9mg, .8mg, .7mg, etc.

Hi! I’ve been taking Kratom daily for close to 9 years now. The last year or so I’ve been taking around 20g a day so not a massive dose. I’m currently on day 16 of tapering. I’m doing 0.5g reduction a day. It seems to be going well but I’m reading that you should reduce them have a few days without reducing to allow your body to adjust. Is this true? I’ve not had much in the way of withdrawals yet. A few mild body chills, runny nose but nothing compared to when I’ve previously tried to go CT which I have a few times before. Do you think this will work or am I setting myself up for a relapse once I get towards the end? I’m down to 12g a day at the moment so it’s dropped by 7.5g in the 16 days I’ve been tapering. I’m so scared of getting bad withdrawals though as I never cope well with them and have 4 kids and a husband who works offshore so I really hoped tapering would be the way to go.

I'm an extremely dedicated hobbyist that's relatively new to the hardware aspect of computer programming / development, but no stranger to the software side of things. Grew up in a family where there was always someone in the house with this ability though, so a lot of the processes are not entirely foreign to me - I embrace the learning component of it.

However, I wanted to know whether my expectations / perspective was incorrect before beginning.

DIY Laptop Sourced

Was looking for some open source projects to fill up some time and stumbled upon this model here: https://www.olimex.com/Products/DIY-Laptop/KITS/TERES-A64-WHITE/open-source-hardware

Seems simple enough, cost is cheap, all the parts are there etc etc.

Can I 'Pimp' This Device?

Let's say money is no material concern for me and I'm also extremely well-connected with endless resources, so the chip shortage is neither here nor there for me as well.

What is the furthest plausible extent that one could modify this computer to "tune" it up?

While its cool to build a laptop and get that raw hands-on experience, nobody wants to use a $200-300 device with Ubuntu 16.04 preloaded onto it in the year 2021 for anything serious (at least I don't).

I'm assuming that these are the bare essentials that are included to get you far enough to where you can confirm that your build works properly. But my hope is that these parts the machine ships with are only 'placeholders' installed under the assumption that the purchaser will source parts of their choosing to build a PC to their exact specification and liking (heavily considering a personal project where I build an ARM PC - where there's a will, there's a way).

Any and all comments are strongly appreciated.

Due to some other conditions, I am now the proud owner of a medical marijuana card. Curious to people’s experience on either using it to taper down from alcohol or whether some form of alcohol abstinence or moderation occurred while using it?

So I know Benadryl can have negative effects on WDs. I’ve been tapering this year from 50mg and will be hitting 14mg Tuesday. So far it’s been basically a breeze, only small annoying side effects, but if I take Benadryl, will it make me feel worse or can I take it if my allergies are outta control for normal relief of that?? Sorry is this is a crazy question..

Hi, everyone! My neurologist has had me on 10 mg/night since the end of March; she specifically prescribed it after my first of what has now, since the end of March, been 20+ bad tinnitus/ear ringing attacks that she believes are related to a migraine variant (I tend to think that, since most of these ringing episodes have been in response to muscle-related triggers, it's more due to symptoms shifting as my TMJ splint—I'm about nine weeks in—continues to get adjusted, but oh well).

The majority of the worst attacks happened during the first two weeks on nortriptyline. While I know symptoms can fluctuate depending on the type of migraine issue, and that TMJ-related symptoms can fluctuate during treatment, even if I put the ringing aside, I've spent a lot of the past six weeks VERY fatigued most days, with some brain fog, with more muscle cramps (especially in my neck and legs), more anxious, more emotional, even with more headaches, and just generally feeling crappy/out of it. Given the timeline, I've naturally wondered if the nortriptyline is causing this. Within the past few months, I've also begun acupuncture and recently started PT, both of which seem helpful ...still, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that the nortriptyline is weighing me down. Even my TMJ doctor and PCP, and I trust them both, have expressed concerns about me being on this medication.

In any case, I know the only way I can be sure about how it's affecting me is by getting off of it for a few weeks. I discussed with my neuro and, while she clearly wanted me to increase the dose instead, supported my decision; so, for the next two weeks (I'm going to start this at the start of next week), she wants me to take the 10 mg capsules every other night, then I'll do two weeks off it completely, and then report back. So, while I know 10 mg is a comparatively low dose to begin with, can anyone here speak to any issues they've noticed when tapering off nortriptyline? Also, can anyone relate to how I've felt since starting it?

Interestingly, when my neuro herself prescribed the nortriptyline, she made a point of stressing how she's not a big fan of medication and how she really wanted me to communicate any concerns with her about the nortriptyline ...but since then she's seemed reluctant to attribute any of my complaints to the medication and clearly would've preferred I up the dosage. Sigh.

Hey bropiates, it's been a long and confusing ride but honestly I really want the ride to slow down to a near halt. I've been using H for the past 1 1/2 - 2 months now, and I'm only doin about 2-3 lines a day, sometimes 4. I never shoot, and have probably been on opiates steadily since September or November. My big question to you guys is how do I taper off H to where the withdrawals won't be so bad? I want to quit for a good time to get my mind and body right and I want to get healthy. It's probably hurting my fiancee more than I know to watch me do this all the time but we both have bad, unhealthy habits and I need help getting out of this slump so I can help her with her life as well. Thank you guys for always being here and thank you to anyone who replies to this. I'm not quitting forever, but I want it to be where I'm only using once or twice a week and not every single day to the point where withdrawals are always another day away. I know I have the mental willpower to do this, and I really want to help myself.

I took benzos daily for 6 years, and have no anxiety problems, no mental addiction, and still.. Having to getting off this shit, it is not worth it. Luckily I have no anxiety and don't really care about the brain damage all of this gave me. I have never had a black out, and I say this proudly. Once you get physically addicted for example after weeks or months of daily benzo use, you'll learn some stuff about yourself

Hi all. I've decided that I must quit it completely, so I wanna share my story here, so I get some support and feel more committed to it.

I am 27M and I've been drinking pretty much daily for a few last years. But nothing crazy yet, usually a drink or two in the evening. I couldn't be hungover all the time as going to office in this state is hell lol, that was keeping me in line mostly. But well, then covid hit and we all went fully remote. And that's where it went downhill. "Hey, why not sip a bit of whisky while I work?" And in next months it slowly turned to being drunk most of the time. Few times I thought, man I can't be like this and I would stop for a week or two (and I first learned what a withdrawal is), only to get back to it. Still I somehow managed to always do my work despite being fucked up all the time (this will be important in a minute).

But now I had some time off work, also the weather here is getting warm and some friends invited me to barbecues and holy shit, I went on my craziest bender yet. For a whole week I drank about 500-1000ml of scotch every damn day and usually some beers in addition. Blackout in the evening every day pretty much. Few days in I got constant nausea and my throat still hurts from all the throwing up but I would just get it done and then force more booze in. I also lost appetite because of it, I think for 2-3 days I ate nothing at all.

And eventually I fucked up.. I needed to return to work and do something for my clients at the end of the week but I didn't stop being fucked up in time and I didn't. They are very not pleased, I hope I will still turn it around but that's how it hit me now - up to this point I've been in a sort of denial, if my drinking wasn't affecting my career at all it's not such a bad thing right? Finally messing something up because of it made it clear - I'm an alcoholic, I can't reliably drink in moderation or even control it as that bender has shown, I need to completely quit right damn now.

So it starts - I got just a little buzz in the yesterday evening and managed to fall asleep. Woke up today at around 9 and oh boy, the withdrawal hit. I've had them before but it was on other level. Shaking, sweating, fast heart rate as usual but the anxiety went through the roof. I was just laying, listening to my pounding heart and thinking I'm gonna have a heart attack any minute now and started having these crazy thoughts imagining my parents at my funeral.

At this moment I decided there's no

I was on 1mg daily klonopin for 17 yrs - my Dr wants me to take Lexapro while tapering and continue afterward.

I’m hesitant because I don’t want to be stuck on another med, yet also realize my GAD is real and needs to be dealt with.

Has anyone had positive experiences with SSRI’s during or after taper?

Thanks!

Hello all,

I have been prescribed fluoxetine for about a year now as the onset of the pandemic wasn't great for my mental health. I have been taking 40mgs daily for 10 or so months and it seems that my depression has lifted. I spoke to my psychiatrist and he suggested I reduce my dosage to 20mgs daily, which I began doing today. I have noticed a slight increase in anxiety but my guess is these symptoms are psychological due to the long half-life of this medication.

Based on your experience, at what point should I expect withdrawal symptoms to begin? Are withdrawal symptoms primarily physical (nausea, tingling sensations, etc) or psychological (anxiety, depression, insomnia)?

I plan on staying on 20 mgs daily for at least a month before making further adjustments, but at that point is it effective to take 20 mg every other day for example? Can I safely shift to 0 after stabilizing on 20 mgs?

Are there any supplements that you have found to be helpful? I take 10 mgs of melatonin for sleep but am open to other options.

I hope all is well, I appreciate any feedback.

My psychiatrist is telling me not to taper off, but I’m going to find a way whether a doctor recommends it or not. I know I probably shouldn’t just say fuck it and flush them, so does anyone have advice? I’m on 100mg right now.

Hey all,

As a preface: I love my prescribing doc - he’s queer/totally ensconced in the queer scene in my city, treats tons of trans men, zero access issues. So this is not a case of an ignorant provider.

However: he maintains that starting around 50 my T levels will need to be lowered to match the natural T decline that happens with cis men. I can’t find any supporting medical/scientific s data on this (unsurprising, since we are rarely studied medically), and also... it just doesn’t make sense to me - specifically, for me. I started T at 43 so I feel like I’ll barely be finished with puberty by 50 lol. I’m in great health; I’m almost 2 years on T and have no issues with BP, RBC, cholesterol etc levels increasing. So I can’t really see why I shouldn’t get to reap the benefits a little longer as cis dudes do, time wise. Also, I’ve had a hysto but still have ovaries and if I sense any HINT of menopause symptoms because I’ve been made to go down in dose I’m going running for the hills.

Anyone have experience with this?

I usually take 6-9g three times a day. Today I only took one 9g dose!! Proud of myself.

Usually I feel like one would taper off something by going 2 to 5g per dose three times a day. But I like the macro effects better than the stimulant effects of lower doses. So this is definitely a stranger type of taper lol

However, I honestly didn't notice a huge change in my anxiety or goosebumps until 16 hours into not taking my normal doses. Woohoo!

So, I've read a little bit from people that kava helped them taper. It's threads from a few years ago. I was just wondering if anyone has used it and if it's helped them? Also, what kind of kava did you use? I know it won't be a magical cure but anything that can help. Thanks

Hi, everyone! About a month ago, I asked about positive and negative experiences with nortriptyline for vestibular migraines. My neurologist has had me on 10 mg/night since the end of March; she specifically prescribed it after my first of what has now, since the end of March, been 20+ bad tinnitus/ear ringing attacks.

The majority of the worst attacks happened during the first two weeks on nortriptyline. While I know VM symptoms can fluctuate, even if I put the ringing aside, I've spent a lot of the past six weeks VERY fatigued most days, with some brain fog, more muscle cramps (especially in my neck and legs), more anxious, more emotional, even more headaches, and just generally feeling crappy/out of it. Given the timeline, I've naturally wondered if the nortriptyline is causing this. Within the past few months, I've also begun acupuncture, TMJ treatment and PT, all of which seem helpful (by tracking my symptoms there also seems to be a strong correlation, in my case, to muscle-related issues causing the tinnitus episodes)...still, I haven't been able to shake the feeling that the nortriptyline is weighing me down. I know I could be wrong, but I also know the only way I can be sure is by getting off of it for a few weeks. I discussed with my neuro and, while she clearly wanted me to increase the dose instead, supported my decision; so, for the next two weeks, she has me taking it every other night instead, then I'll do two weeks off it completely, and then report back. So, while I know 10 mg is a comparatively low dose to begin with, can anyone here speak to any issues they've noticed when tapering off nortriptyline? Also, can anyone relate to how I've felt since starting it?

Interestingly, when my neuro herself prescribed the nortriptyline, she made a point of stressing how she's not a big fan of medication and how she really wanted me to communicate any concerns with her about this nortriptyline ...but since then she's seemed reluctant to attribute any of my complaints to the medication and clearly would've preferred I up the dosage. Sigh.