This Damned Meds Trap!!!!!!!!!!

[Yvonne]

Three weeks off the Duloxetine and I am feeling rough. I have tension in my body and a gripping in my throat, I have a feeling like someone is standing on my chest. I HATE IT SO MUCH!!!!! I am weepy and I am losing interest and motivation. I am tired and I am weak.

Now I am an old hand at this because I know all about the demon withdrawal... oooh sorry "Discontinuation Syndrome" - mustn't call it withdrawal any more, of course Seroxat was the worst withdrawal ever - as I know I keep harping on about but I'm fed up with it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The medication would have been washed out of my body now every last residue I would imagine, (drunk enough cups of tea so I reckon it's out) - however, as my trusty CPN told me; it's all to do with the brain not getting the reuptake of the serotonim or whatever these meds do with the seratonim. The fact that it's out of my body means nothing, the fact is that the brain is still wondering why there is no reuptake of the seratonim..... and it don't like it at all!!! It's allso wondering where the reuptake of noradreneline is as well - so my poor brain doesn't know what's going on. Oh god!!!!!! This is the reason why you feel unwell weeks after stopping your med.

Every time I try to come off medication I go into this bloody mode of crying at the drop of a hat and feeling of doom. I just can't bear it. It's coming and going in waves of severity and then calming down at the moment.

Three years of trying meds which haven't worked well. One year on Duloxetine which did not do the job it claimed it could!!!!!! Is it me??? The meds did stop working for me for sure.

To be kept on Duloxetine for a whole year when I kept repeating that it wasn't working as it should (I do know when a med works well) --- is completely ridiculous. But worse than that, to then come off the med that did precisely nought and to feel crap withdrawal is something else.

This meds trap is happening all over the world to loads of people. They want to come off their meds, they come off them - go into bad withdrawal and are FORCED to start another med.

You start another med, you have to suffer the side effects for about 2/3 weeks - med doesn't kick in for about 6/8 weeks and then you are off again on this trail of hopeful anticipation of this "new" med working.

I have promised myself that I will do this. I said I would come off the meds no matter how I felt. In reality though, it's hard. More, much more needs to be publicised about "Discontinuation Syndrome" - this "Syndrome" is far worse than the original illness - this one is the demon that wags its finger at you telling you that "You shouldn't h ave gone on that crap". So sorry for the language but I think you will be guaging my mood by now.

The pharmaceutical companies, the likes of Glaxo Smith Kline and Eli Lilly and all the others MUST warn of this "different illness" one will suffer upon discontinuation of their magic medicines. They won't do that though because if they did no one would ever take them again. It's as simple as that.

Sorry for the rant.

I intend to give this 8 weeks and if I am still feeling as bad as I am now it'll be back on the old meds treadmill and trying another magic tablet.

Love to allxx

[Bill]

Hello Yvonne,

This is just a thought but I'm wondering if what you're experiencing isn't withdrawal but rather a subconscious psychological reaction.

You've been on meds quite a long time and maybe your subconscious is telling you that you're no longer taking them and so making your body react which in turn makes you think it must be reacting through withdrawal....if that makes sense.

I'm thinking this because you say about this choking feeling as if someone is standing on your chest which is normally an anxiety symptom "alone" which may not be a symptom of withdrawal. When I experienced withdrawal symptoms, I felt shakey and aggitated.

If I'm right, you may need to focus on finding a relaxation method that works for you such as deep breathing, meditation or even yoga!

I just have a feeling there's more to this than withdrawal but that you Can learn to cope without meds. I think it maybe just a case of learning how when you start feeling like this.

Ask your cpn if what I'm thinking makes any sense. It's just a thought.

I do agree with you about the long term problems meds can create though.

[ladygrom]

hi i am coming off my meds and im realy dreding it incase i have withdrawel symtoms and go back to how i was .my doc is taking me off citalopram in the new year and im already thinking to myself how on earth am i going feel coming off them .hope your ok tc elaine xx

[Yvonne]

Ladygrom

Do not for one moment let my post scare you. You may not get anything like this, lots of people come off their meds very successfully and are completely fine.

It's not psychological though Bill, my mind is not telling me that I have come off meds and that's why I feel like this. What my mind is telling me is that I have come off meds after soooo many years and I have actually done a marvellous thing!!!

They are symptoms of anxiety yes, the heaviness on the chest etc I won't deny that. This of course may be my anxiety being a bit worse for not having the medication running around my brain.

I do relaxation Bill, I have no trouble relaxing - give me a relaxation cd (and I have many and various)- and I will fall asleep. I don't have an anxiety problem where I can't relax.

The medication has been washed out of my body for sure - I know that because I am no longer getting the electric shock sensations in my head and I am not nauseous and don't have a constant headache .. which I did for the first couple of weeks after stopping the med.

Discontinuation syndrome as it's now called is very real and people are not aware of it. People think it's a return of the original illness when they come off medication - trouble is how you feel when you have discontinued a medication is usually far worse than your original problem.

I have extensively studied this subject and I have had it confirmed by my cpn that when you stop medication having been on it for a long while the fact that the brain is not getting the amount of seratonim that it's used to will affect you.

Bill, if you give someone a bottle of wine each night for a year then you suddenly stop it then there would be some reaction - the person may crave the alcohol and may get some kind of withdrawal. With these medications we don't crave the medication but our brain is so used to the mechanism the med was creating that it has to react. It's so well documented now.

My cpn would agree with you Bill - reason; she is completely convinced that this illness is only caused by thoughts. She is cbt mad!!!! Lol.

[joy]

good rant Yvonne about the meds go round and well done for surviving thewithdrawals. You are so right about everytime hoping the next pill will be the magic one and suffer from disappointment when you realise its no better than the last one.
At least by coming off, you may be able to see the woods for the trees as it were and give your body a med holiday at the same time while you work out what do to next.

joy

[Yvonne]

Joy

wise words. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[Bill]

Hello Yvonne,
Yes, I can understand that and I can see what you're saying.

Do you think you've come off Too quickly and not given your body enough time to adjust? I can remember when I took diazepam that it took me 6 months to come off them completely but I'd only been taking them for 3 years. What you're saying almost sounds like your body is in shock because it's struggling to cope without. Almost like stopping an addiction.

Do you think it would be easier to take a small dose of something and very very gradually wean yourself off it so it doesn't make you feel so ill by giving your body more time to adjust? Just reduce as you feel comfortable with?

I know if I just stop my diazepam my anxiety would have been uncontrollable.

I admire your strength and courage but I wonder if you're trying to do things too quickly? What do you think?

[Yvonne]

Hi Bill

Thanks for messaging. Sometimes when people don't say anything it's horrible. I know I can always rely on you though.

Bill, what would you suggest I take in a small dosage? Do you mean another a.d.? I don't think I could bear that mate - just couldn't go through the side effects - they usually get me for two weeks then you normally have to wait 6/8 weeks for the thing to actually kick in. I feel I have come this far and I feel I have to see it through.

I did speak to my cpn today and I asked her if I should take a little diazepam. I was given a few tablets from my stroppy gp of 2mg. She reluctantly handed those over as if I'm some kind of a diaz junkie and yet I have never had benzos. She said I can take 1mg to take the edg off the anx. She says that it's the anx I'm feeling that makes me get a bit teary and it's no problem at all to feel like that and that I must let the tears out.

Bill, I didn't know you were still on the diazepam. Or did you mean before?

I think you are right about my body being in shock. We'll see how I go and hopefully I'll get through all this.

Hope you are well.

[sarasvati]

I took Seroxat for 8 years altogether and the last 3 I was getting off it. I was taking 30mg, then one day 20mg one 30mg, then 20mg for a a few months, then 20mg one day and 15mg another. Eventually I was on 10 a day, and then 10 every other day for a few good months. When I finally stopped I felt nothing. I was also anxiety and OCD free for a year after that, really amazing.. I have relapsed though unfortunately, and this time around Seroxat is not a magic pill anymore. I think if I could do it over again I would stay on the 10mg a day for the rest of my life. Now that I feel so bad again, I would do anything to get back to feeling good. Maybe this time around need to do it med free, don't know yet, it's just been 2 weeks back on Seroxat, but I can't tolerate more than 5mg because I get migraines.
If you go really slooooooooooooow then the withdrawal is minimal if at all.
OR at least it's just my experience :-)

[Bill]

Sorry Yvonne, I overlooked your post because of my fall etc.

No, I don't take any meds anymore. I did try most of them in the past but I cope ok without.

Confidence has a large part to play. After my fall I found my confidence had been knocked and worrying thoughts troubled me more. Now though I'm beginning to feel more like myself and am coping better.

I think in the past I would have been very tempted to go on a med but I won't go back down that route.

The holidays and at this time of year, can have a bad effect on us because we like routine and things to occupy our minds. For the same reason I hate Sundays because they're too quiet.

I think the worst combination is being bored And being on our own because our minds will look for something to think which will often be something to worry about and then the symptoms become worse!

It's definitely possible to learn to cope without medication but it does take time, learning how to cope and patience.

Sara, I think something that helped me with OCD was to move quickly from one thing to the next so I avoided time to dwell and think. Keeping my mind occupied with what I had to do next. Seroxat really made me feel ill so I had to stop taking it. I cope ok these days without it though.