Medication withdrawal symptoms?

[Crepe Myrtle]

Hi everyone,

I tapered off my medication throughout last year, now haven't had any for 9 months. I'm still getting frequent brain zaps which I expected, though thought they'd have stopped by now.

I have suffered bouts of nausea and vomiting for over a year. This last bout has been ongoing for 3 months.

Seen doctors and gastro specialists who've done all the tests and found no medical reason for the nausea.

I wonder now if I might be suffering some kind of long term withdrawal syndrome? If the brain zaps (which I associate directly with discontinuation) have carried on this long perhaps the nausea is also a discontinuation thing?

Sensitive nervous system? Haven't quite got my head around how this works...

Anyone out there had long term withdrawal symptoms?

Thanks for reading.

[Croix]

Dear Crepe Myrtle~

Welcome back. It must be very disconcerting and worrying to have symptoms for such a long time, as well as making life miserable.

As you have already done the sensible thing and had these examined to see if there is any physical cause perhaps it might possibly be associated with your withdrawal, or even other medication even though 9 months might seem a long time.

Do you think it might be worth having a discussion with your doctor about this? It may be that there might be solutions that assist you to withdraw more easily.

While it is not a parallel with you and I am not suggesting anything I remember once a long time ago I tried a medication, it was found to be of no benefit, so I was instructed to taper off it. When I did I started having nausea and dizzy spells as well as more extreme moods. My psych said it might have been my diet, put me back on the meds and we tried again. This time it went without trouble.

Let me empasize I'm not saying that is a solution for you, I'm no doctor. All I'm saying is that sometimes the prescribing doctor may come up with a solution.

Do you mind if I ask if you have any support while you are facing this? A family member or friend perhaps? While they may not be able to do anything practical just listening and caring can be a help.

Please let us know how you get on

Croix

[geoff]

Hello Crepe Myrtle, it's not an easy decision to stop taking the medication and whether it's your decision or a joint one with your doctor at the moment doesn't really matter, however, by stopping them, then your bodily system has to again adjust to life without them and if a difficult situation does happen with you, then you have to deal with it and no medication as a back up.

The choice is yours and I understand your decision, but in order to stop them you need to be able to handle any type of situation without a negation response, because if this does happen then you may experience what you have told us.

The doctor's advice is to cut back slowly on your medication and see how you are able to react with various situations that don't suit you and then make a final decision.

Geoff.

Life Member.

[Crepe Myrtle]

Hi Croix,

Thanks for your response, I appreciate it. I have had conversations with my health professionals and have another appointment booked. I'm a little disappointed that the possibility of my symptoms being 'discontinuation' have been dismissed very quickly because I tapered off slowly over a long period (in hindsight perhaps not gradually enough). The world of medicine is still way behind in recognising side effects and symptoms of psychoactive drugs.

I will get through this, I do have support and my general life is these days much smoother than it used to be, apart from the nausea that is!

Thanks again,

Crepe

[Crepe Myrtle]

Hi Geoff, thanks for the feedback. I guess it's only recently that I've considered there may be a connection between my nausea and medication cessation. It never occured to any of my treating professionals. Every body is individual and will respond in a different way. If 95% of people respond in a particular way, we mustn't forget those 5% who respond another (rare/uncommon) way. My body has shown itself time and again over the years to be in that 5%.... 

It's comforting to find anecdotes from people who share my experience but upsetting at the same time that research hasn't advanced enough to recognise or treat these less well represented cases. I wish I or my doctors had made the possible connection earlier.

[Junior1962]

Hi Crepe, nice to meet you.

if you are talking about antidepressants then YES you are having withdrawal issues. 
I’ve had a long battle with antidepressant withdrawal. Brain zaps and nausea are two very common symptoms. I’m not sure what causes the brain zaps but the nausea has to do with serotonin levels. 
If you are able to cope with it, know that it will ease over time. I found naturopathic support helpful. 

[Crepe Myrtle]

Hi Junior1962, I'm sorry I've only just seen your reply now. Thank you.

I've confirmed that I do have protracted withdrawal syndrome which unfortunately is not often recognised and is in fact often disbelieved altogether. I've done a lot of research and discovered the work of Mark Horowitz, particularly his paper on Distinguishing withdrawal from relapse (available on his site markhorowitz.org). Also the work of Baylissa Frederick has been of huge assistance to me along with thousands of others.

My psychiatrist thankfully is aware of this syndrome and is now supporting me in a very small reinstatement of the anti depressant. It's unfortunate he didn't recognise the problem sooner. It could have saved me a lot of trauma and the health system a lot of resources if this syndrome was recognised.

With this tiny reinstatement my brain zaps have now drastically diminished. In time I believe the nausea will fade.

Thank you again for your support.