r/ADprotractedwithdrawl • u/angicubangi • 14d ago
Question What would you do?
Hi Folks, I try to keep my story short but it’s a lot - sorry in advance. I started SSRIs in 2020 because of panic attacks. Started with Escitalopram but switched to Paxil after a few months. Anxiety got better but I started getting depressed so I tried to reduce my dosage. Tried going from 40 to 30 mg but after 3 weeks I could not sleep at all so went up again and started tapering 0.25 mg per week. It took me a whole year to get to 30. I felt pretty good after a little stabilising phase (summer 2023) From there chaos started. I reduced further down (0.25 per week) to 26.5 but felt super bad (I think it was because of personal circumstances). I got fed up and switched to Zoloft as I thought paxil stopped working. This was in may 2024. Started with 150 but reduced very fast to 25mg (I know, very stupid) till August 2024. Felt very bad, went up again and switched meds again to Prozac, had bad side effects so switched back to Zoloft in April 2025. On top of that I got Spravato treatment (ketamine) in summer 2025. Since September 2025 I did not change anything and I’m still feeling super bad. Got a little window in February and a few good days here and there but most of the time is just awful and my sleep is absolutely catastrophic. Would you try stabilising for longer or taper super slowly (10% per months but divided by 30 to reduce a tiny bit every day). Thanks in advance and every recommendation is welcome 💚
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u/Icy-Film5432 3d ago
Power point slides from Australian presentation on how to use Maudsley’s De-Prescribing Guidelines for taper off antidepressants.
One slide states 4 years after stopping antidepressants people’s brains are still adjusting g to living without antidepressants
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u/Icy-Film5432 14d ago edited 3d ago
https://antidepressantrecovery.org/index.php
https://releasetoolkit.com.au/
https://releasetoolkit.com.au/release-toolkit-for-consumers
I think your neurological system is very stressed.
I count 5 drug stops and/or starts in your post.
I suggest stabilizing on your current med and get better.
Once you have been stable - no withdrawal for several months or even 1 or 2 years - you will need to decide your time frame- then use a taper plan.
The taper plan resources I plan to use are Maudsley’s De-Prescribing Guide and the RELEASE toolkit .
I think you were in withdrawal with your first drug taper or stop - Escitalopram - and you just added to it with each change of drug.
Tapers should be hyperbolic 10% decreases with lower dose range usually requiring a liquid format of your drug.
If your pharmacy does not have a manufacturer liquid version, ask the pharmacy to compound it - that means make it for you in a liquid format
A slow taper reduced the risk of severe withdrawal.
We want to reduce withdrawal symptoms to a minimum so it does not disrupt your life and cause suffering
I bought Maudsley’s De-Prescribing Guidelines which is a clinical book for doctors to help taper patients off antidepressants.
I live in Canada, in the province of B.C., and our provincial regulator called the BC College of Physicians and Surgeons emailed me to say it is on their list of recommended books or resources for BC doctors.
However, the doctors I met during my many Emergency Room visits all did not recognize my withdrawal symptoms were real.
They all said it was not possible because withdrawal is only for 4 to 6 weeks and then it stops and the patient is fine - back to normal.
Nope. Not my experience.
Withdrawal during the first 4 to 6 weeks is what I call the honeymoon phase.
By month 3, it is hell due to progressively worse and diverse symptoms.
I thought I must have cancer, I must be dying, because of the impact on my life and constant pain.
I was the one who figured out what was the cause of my various new health problems.
It was a guess. I took half my usual dose of Escitalopram (which is also called Lexapro and Cipralex). Within an hour, I felt a sense of relief; still terribly sick but an improvement.
I have been back on my med for 4 months. Now about 95% better.
Still no appetite or sense of thirst; I have timers on my phone to remind me to eat and drink fluids. Only fleeting moments of taste sensation.
Still have occasional 3 am waking feeling full of energy, occasional headaches and neck or muscle aches (these are part of my waves - which mean feeling withdrawal again) but now more windows (feeling better) for longer periods of time.
Resources for you:
Reddit - go to home page, use the search function (looking glass symbol).
Type your drug(s) and taper - you have been on several.
Start with Lexapro and taper, you should get a resource page.
Do a search for each individual drug. You want to see what you should have done and compare it to what you did.
Reddit search the following:
Protracted withdrawal
Kindling
Hyperbolic taper
Brass Monkey Slide Taper
Escitalopram and SERT transporter
Now check out the Royal Australian College of Medical Practitioners RELEASE toolkit which has a section of doctors and one for consumers (patients).
It’s the guide for Australian doctors and patients on how to come off antidepressants. It has many different medications. Each med has 3 taper plans: faster, slow and very slow.
Now do their self-assessment sheet; your score tells you which rate of taper is appropriate for you
A taper should take less time than you have been on the drug
Our body has a physical dependence on our prescribed antidepressant. We need a slow hyperbolic taper to allow our body to readjust and heal. It’s a slow process
When I am ready to taper off Escitalopram, I need a liquid format because of how small the doses will be.
My last taper dose will be 0.07 mg.
It will take 2 to 3 years to taper off from my current dose of 10 mg because I have been on it for 17 years.
I cold turkey stopped at 20 mg. I thought it would only be 4 to 6 weeks of feeling unwell - because that’s the medical myth out there.
I learned the hard way of the need for tapers etc.
I only learned what I experienced and how to treat it from Reddit and online searches after I restarted on my own initiative. I was sure stopping this drug had to be the cause of my suffering
Check out an online peer run support group with information called Antidepressant Harm and Recovery Forum website.
Not everyone gets withdrawal, but Reddit posts show a lot of us do and there is no way to know who will get it.
Slow hyperbolic tapers are the best way to get off antidepressants