coming off my meds [Archive]

gregcool

31-03-15, 09:58

Hi guys.iv been in 200mg of trazadone now for months and have decided with the doctor to come off them..question ? I have cut down from 200mg to 175mg three days ago and feel my anxiety and depression has raised.is this normal and will it fade.cant imagin i can cope if im just going to feel worse coming off them...

MrAndy

31-03-15, 10:11

why do you want to come off Greg,if they are working for you stay on them.If you do want to come off do it very very slowly with a reduction only every month,try and split the tablets into halfs or quarters to reduce by small amounts.

Its normal for your anxiety to raise but it should settle down if you hold the taper for a month.Pease dont rush into this ,i know from experience trying to come off quickly ends up in heartache

gregcool

31-03-15, 10:20

Hi andy..well they havnt worked in the whole time of been in them.i remember starting off with 25mg months ago,then upto 50 then 70 etc..and all the time i raised them,i never felt ant better,if anything they made me feel worse over time and iv just got used to that as my normal feelings..i want to see if i come off them that i would actualt feel better and maybe try something eles..im on the liquid form not tablets so its easy to cut down in small doses.25mg drop each time.but as i say ,over the last few days iv felt worse in myself.i dont know if its the reduction in the meds or just me feeling lower.i have this knife pain in my head and feel very aware of myself which i dont like.dont feel relaxed in any way...just want to try coming off them.ill do as you have said andy ,one month at a time.

MrAndy

31-03-15, 10:27

OK take it easy Greg ,if they arent working there are plenty of others to try

gregcool

31-03-15, 10:42

Cherrs andy..take care mate

Crystalhiggs

31-03-15, 12:00

Hi Greg, I was put on trazodone almost 4 weeks ago you may remember. My anxiety went through the roof as I went from 50-100-150 in 3 weeks. Couldn't stand it, I'm now back down to 50. I've had similar problems and symptoms coming down as I did going up although obv I haven't been on them very long. Doctor said I can stop them altogether on Thursday. (But I still can't sleep and they do help a bit sometimes!) If they don't make you feel better then I would agree you need to come off them. Good luck!

gregcool

31-03-15, 12:13

Crystalhiggs

31-03-15, 13:41

Thanks crystle..well feeling really crap today and thats just from coming down a small amount..really cant handle how im feeling today..i didnt sleep very well last night .wheres when iv been on 200mg i norm sleep 9-10 hrs solid.so worried ill start getting insomnia again.so might go back to my normal dose.

It's so hard to know what to do isn't it, and at a high dose it will take you a while to come off them. Would be devastating to then get insomnia again but maybe mirtazapine might be better for you? Or if you're noticing your sleep change as you're gradually coming down you might prefer to stick with it? Wish there was a simple answer to all our problems!!! :unsure:

Ps I can only dream of 9-10 hours sleep ... :noangel:

SADnomore

31-03-15, 23:40

Wow, very envious of your sleep, too, Greg! I would stick with the trazodone, it doesn't always help everyone, so you are fortunate, buddy! Will the doc consider augmenting with one more drug, for the anxiety? I'm on venlafaxine and was looking for a switch from zopiclone for sleep. Pleased to say the traz is working for sleep, (not quite where you are at though).

I am now considering one last add-on, for the anxiety. Not a benzodiazapene or anything zombifying. Just something to stop the unnecessary windups! There is a line between voicing my normal concerns and getting all wound up and I keep stepping over it. Something that just takes the edge off long enough for me to stop and think. It drives my family nuts. Me too. Zoloft used to help with obsessive thinking, but I really like what Effexor is doing for my seasonal effective disorder and depression, so I'll stick with that.

My doc doesn't like to prescribe 3 psych meds at once, and I won't use benzos, but if you should come across something else that works for anxiety, please pass along! Good luck meanwhile. Hang in there. Having something that helps with sleep also helps with anxiety, right? Without a good night's sleep, we are especially vulnerable to our anxious and intrusive thoughts. So work with that, okay? Keep us posted!

pulisa

01-04-15, 08:41

I think we're all searching for that drug, Marie!:D

Greg, coming off any of these drugs unsupported can be an absolute nightmare. Please make sure you have access to mental health support especially as Easter is coming up and GP surgeries will be shut.

gregcool

01-04-15, 08:51

Hi sadnomore..well iv been on the trazadone for a long time now so may just stay on it.i was just thinking to myself,i wonder if the bulk of my anxiety was actualy down to the trazadone.i forget now how i felt before the traz.i had a appointment with the mental health yesterday and they are going to give me phycolagy sesions.allso im going to talk to them and descus my medication.i think they want me to try something eles.i. not sure if ill stay on the traz as well or have to give up the traz..i just want to find something that works but also dont want to come off my traz only to find out im worse off.so i am not going to be very happy if they take me off the traz..

---------- Post added at 08:51 ---------- Previous post was at 08:49 ----------

Pulisa.im back on my regular dose.im going to wait and see what the mental health team sugest in a couple of weeks..funny i talk about how much sleep i get.well last couple of nights iv woken at 6am and not my usual 9.30 -10 am..might be because i messed around with my meds

MrAndy

01-04-15, 09:07

the olanzapine works well for anxiety ,maybe you could go up a dose on that and reduce the trazadone

gregcool

01-04-15, 09:29

Thats not a bad idea andy.ill sugest that in my meating.