Hi all,
I have been on and off different SSRI and SNRI meds for about 4 years now. I just decided Monday I'm done with this crap. I've had the withdraw symptoms all week but today they are really getting to me. I know there is a lot of reading I need to do here, but right now I'm at work and don't have much time. I hate to come into a new forum and start asking questions that have probably been answered a million times, but I'm desperate. I have in my possession right now some mimosa hostilis and syrian rue. I intended on experimenting with these when I have been off my meds long enough that I didn't get any bad interactions from SNRI and MOAI. However, would I be relatively safe to make a weaker rue tea this evening to try to combat some of these withdraw symptoms? Do you think it would even help me out? I'm just thinking tonight I'm either going to break down and take some medicine or try to make some tea to feel better. I just want to be safe and don't need adverse reactions on top of how I feel now. I hope I'm making sense here, I'm really scatter brained right now and if anyone can give me any advice on what I should do or any safe dosage information for the rue tea that would be REALLY appreciated. Again, I hate to ask for a quick fix and I'm looking forward to a weekend of reading and educating myself on "alternative" anti-depressants I just don't have the time right now and I'm to the point where I'm going to do SOMETHING when I get home, I just want to be safe. Thank you all!

That is great you decided to come off SSRI/SNRI, I too decided to go off them over a year ago. I know this will sound lame because it sounded lame to me but it works "try to tough it out". It will get better by 3-4 weeks. If you must take something to relieve the jitters, electric nerve buzzing ...etc, maybe try some other stuff like mild alcohol, smoke green, take advil/aspirin and some bendadryl to knock you out and go to be bed early...etc. As always just be careful not to substitute one vice for another!

I can't say for sure but I doubt you would be at a high risk of serotonin syndrome from a mild rue tea especially since you been off a SNRI for a week. I would be more concerned about stomach cramping as rue tea can be unsettling to your digestive system. It may help relax you though.(I personally prefer to grind rue and put them in capsules).

1-2gram of rue should be mild, if I am going to do pharma I usually do 4gram total worth and put them in capsules and take 1-2 capsules every 10minutes with orange juice. (I have not experienced gut rot with this method).

Please do more research before you decide to do anything. I hope everything works out for you.

Thank you,
I'm getting ready to cut out of work early to get home and rest. I've been taking Benadryl and Dramamine all week in the evening but that's getting old too; I feel like I've missed a whole week of my life! Unfortunately the only green contact I have is about a 4 1/2 hour round trip drive away but if I feel up to it tomorrow I may make that trip.

I'm probably just being dramatic, but the constant nerve buzzing and eye jitters are driving me f'in nuts! I have read a decent amount on the rue and mimosa, just not a whole lot about a daily type regimen. I went ahead and did get a little reading in this afternoon though. I know a lot of people recommend caapi too so I'm going to read up on that tonight. I think I'll just go ahead and try 2 grams when I get home and leave it at that. I think I'll be pretty safe with that dose and if it helps me out that's great and if it makes me a little ill at least it's Friday and I ain't got shit to do

Thanks for the reply. I'm really excited about my future learning and hopefully finally getting off the meds for good!

Did you ween off the medications or did you cut cold turkey? In my experiences with those kinds of medications cutting cold turkey only exacerbates withdraw symptoms. Also, if the medications you were prescribed (in addition to its main purpose) were to help keep you awake/help you sleep, be ready for a rough couple weeks adjusting to your cycle having to regulate itself by itself again. I found that (since my SSRI Rxs were for depression) that St. Johns Wort extract (just use as directed on the packaging) helped me cope for the first couple of weeks, although I'm not sure what reasons you were prescribed your those medications.

You cannot use maoi's at all while taking ssri's as it is very dangerous. With some ssri's you need to wait quite a while before using an maoi (weeks or months). Please be extremely careful as interactions can be fatal.

WEM,
I was on 40mg Paxil up until about 3 weeks ago. I decided to switch back to my 40mg Celexa since I found it's usually easier to come off of. When I quit taking it I was down to 20mg Celexa every other day. I'm used to having some side effects as my depression/anxiety really hits hard during the Winter months and I'll go on the meds and then when the Summer hits I can usually manage not using the meds. This is the first time I've used Paxil though (I used Cymbalta before but insurance changed and wouldn't cover it) so I think that's what's kicking my butt this time as I don't usually have this much trouble. I didn't think about St. Johns Wort, I'll pick some up tomorrow and see how that does for me.

Beautifulsorrow,
I do appreciate that. I was actually thinking about it and the last dose I took was actually last Friday (kind of lost track of days there). The half-life of Celexa is 35 hrs, so if it's not completely out of my system, I'd say it has to be pretty darn close. Plus, at such a low dosage of both the SSRI and MAOI, I figure my chance of interaction is really low. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to mess with Serotonin Syndrome and I appreciate the warning, I really do. But, after some more thought and a little more reading, I feel safe enough.

Thanks!

Well crap,
My scale only goes down to tenths of ounces so I won't get an accurate gram measurement. Looks like another night of Dramamine and a couple shots of Don Julio for me. I do like the idea of trying the St. Johns Wort though. I've taken it in the past along with my meds and didn't have any adverse reactions so I know for sure I'm good there.

Thanks again!

You have to taper off that stuff gradually
Cold turkey sucks , I tried it s few times unsuccessfully. Better to work down bit by bit.
Vitamin D helped a lot in the end.

Try vitamin D , 5Htp , melotonin , at night .
Excercise and whole food diet fruits n veggys

I'd always be able to stop and be pretty good 3 or 4 days later, but this time it's just sticking with me. Guess that just shows how dependent I've become and makes me want to stay off that much more! Vitamin D, that's interesting. melotonin makes sense. I've only just recently heard of 5Htp in some of my reading but I can definitely see how that could help.
My diet and exercise have been lacking lately, could be part of my problem. My wife's picking me up some St. Johns Wort this evening so I'll see how that goes. Thanks for the other suggestions. I'm open to trying anything; other than more "meds"

If you absolutely need something to deal with the withdrawal symptoms, I think the most logical approach would be to take a smaller dose of whatever it is you're withdrawing from.

Nothing wrong with trying to go off the SSRI cold turkey, but since it seems that it's not working, you may as well do it the regular way (i.e. by gradually decreasing the dose).

there is something wrong with going off SSRI cold turkey , It doesn't work .
depending on how long you've been on the stuff it can be horrible, like really horrible.

better to taper down slowly over a week or 2 at least.

another thing to try is Anositol you can get it at a vitamin store.

I must agree from personal experiences, it is what I'd like to call the very definition of what dependency is, it's nothing like addiction where you actively look for the next fix (with or without realizing it), but it's more like a slap in mental face as punishment, saying something like "how dare you stop taking me, you should be ashamed"

Undoubtedly, coming off paroxetine or citalopram is best done as a taper and the rate does vary from one person to the next and in part depends on dosage taken and the duration of use.Theres also no harm in devising a taper whereby you take, for example , 20mg alternating with 10mg for a week before reducing to 10mg daily etc.Once you are down to 5mg then using the medication every other day for a short time before making the plunge to zero is a useful approach at the end..

Paroxetine is particularly famous for causing crazy brain-zaps if the dose is reduced too quickly.

The medical opinion on SSRIs and MAOIs is not to take the latter for 2 weeks after the last dose of the SSRI.Fluoxetine requires a 6 week wash-out period before using MAOIs is deemed safe.

This is the the method I used.I was taking Sertraline for 9 months or so.When I felt ready to stop I first started by missing a day here and there and then halving the dose,stabilising on that and then reducing again.I was breaking the pills in half at the end.

I worked out a timescale for tapering down based on the amount of pills I had left. I had a holiday planned and that started a couple of weeks after I finished my last pill.I had no real problems with withdrawl at all,that's just my experience though I realise.

Stopping taking them suddenly is clearly not working for you so a gradual reduction is the best way.Try not to feel too disheartened about this though,the fact that you want to stop them is significant in itself,does it really matter if it takes 14 days or 14 weeks? I don't think so.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone,
I was really hoping I'd feel a little better today, but really I just feel the same. Unfortunately, the St. Johns Wort didn't really help with the brain zaps. Maybe I am being a little over anxious. I've got a pill cutter here. I'm going to go ahead and take a 1/4 Celexa today and see what happens. I guess I can live with that.

There's nothing wrong with tapering down .
Try a half for few days then a quarter then cut that down . I went through this its the best way to get off this stuff .

Use vitamin D and everthing else I suggested. it really will make a difference .

Took a 1/4 Celexa 2 hours ago and already the brain zaps are pretty much gone. Also, I don't feel nearly as spaced out. I guess I can't complain about that dosage. I'll go pick up some of the supplements you all have mentioned too. You have all been a big help!

If this is true than it's quite ironic because fluoxetine is the easiest SSRI to discontinue as far as side effects go. If you can get a doctor to help you get off the fluoxetine, they can write a script for a liquid version for tapering off, which means a more exact dosage can be taken as intake is reduced.