Medication Tapper.

[Zephyr360]

Hi : )

I have been taking antidepresants for five years.

So five years ago i was suffering from work burn out, i was working 80 hrs a weeks, living on red bull and eating really badley. I worked in remote desert region so not much mental health support etc. i burnt out.

I decided to go back to my hometown for some rest and take six months off, but going to my family home just didnt work, they couldnt or wouldnt understand why i wasnt working. This put alot of pressure on me to go back to work but i just couldnt.

A few months later a close mate ended his life. This really broke me. I went to the doctors for “ help “ i said i just cant feel good at all etc etc etc.. and he probably should of said- go away eat more fruit n veg, take some time off work, meditate, listen to music, go bush walking etc.. but No, he said i should take medication, this medication just did not agree with me at all, it gave me energy for about 2 months, but what go’s up must come down! I stayed on it for around 9 months. I then went to a different doctor and he said another medication is great & helping heaps of people, i said ok reluctantly & stayed on those with similar & worse side effects to the other medication for around 2 years. At that point i hadnt worked, i was thinking of ending my life, my wife was sick of me and my rage, i became very angry.. i was a hard working, funny, active guy that loved his wife more than anything & now was a pretty terrible man to be around. I went and saw the local mental health team and they took me straight off medication without tappering and put me on a new medication. This nearly killed me. I lost my mind, went nuts & wanted to end it. Fastforward.. i have been on this medication for around 3 years now,  and scared spitless to finish the tapper.

[mocha delight]

Thank you all who have replied as you’ve all taught me that even though I’m not been diagnosed with depression & anxiety (although there’s no doubt in my mind I have both) that I need find out what what side effects there of anything I might be prescribed once I am plus to not to take no as an answer to finding that out.

[Haether]

Hi. I'm sorry you've had such a horrible experience, many / most people take antidepressants with few major problems. I'm fortunate in that I've stopped every psychotropic med I've taken cold turkey (over a dozen - and some multiple times) with no issues. However many people do have difficulties if they taper medication too quickly. There is a fairly simple formula to follow when tapering, but I won't tell you as I suspect BB will consider it medical advice (BB doesn't know the legal definition of medical advice, they think sharing information is advice).

The thing to remember about the internet is that typically it is only the people with difficulties that are posting. Eg I don't go on sites pointing out that I've never had any issues. If you are interested in getting good information about medication, google the name of the medication (chemical name) and 'product information'. That gives you the information doctors read, and has good info about side effects and their incidence. Hope that helps.

[Zephyr360]

Gday!

Thanks for the replys folks : ) i have started the tappering and down to 3/4 of 30mg, doing ok, no energy but not alot of brain zaps, have been eating well and taking viatamin B12 & tumeric caps.

9 days in and im ok so far, will do this for 1 month then drop down to half.

I join the gym tomorrow, this will help.

Will check in and update as i go

🖖🏻