Posted by toodlebug on November 27, 2002, at 12:46:23
I have been taking AD's off and on for the last few years and want to quit taking them. Currently, I am taking Prozac (I've weaned myself from 20 mg/day to 20 mg/every other day) and Trazodone (150 mg, but this causes drowsiness). I don't seem to be getting much benefit from them anymore and I don't like the side effects -- flat affect, weight gain, etc. I am going to start taking an Omega 3 supplement as I have read a lot of good things about that.
However, I am worried that if I quit these drugs I will have worse insomnia. That is because the last time I tried to quit taking ADs (about a year ago), the insomnia (awakening after 3-4 hours' sleep) which had originally been caused by Celexa/Effexor/Wellbutrin (I've taken them all!) got worse. While taking these AD's, I also took trazodone (50 mg) to combat the insomnia. When I quit taking them I started needing more and more trazodone to stay asleep through the night, up to 400 mg. If I took enough trazodone to sleep through the night, I would be unbearably groggy the next day. So I also tried restoril, ambien, seroquel, prosom, elavil, ativan, but none worked as well as the trazodone. This went on for about 3 months before I gave in and started taking Prozac. This time, as I have started to wean myself off the Prozac, I am needing proportionately more Trazodone to sleep. (At 20 mg/day of Prozac, 50 mg/night Trazodone worked.)
Is there anything I can take that will help me transition back to a med-free state? Since I will have so much time off in Dec. (I work at a university), I will have time to experiment then, but I need to be fully functional by Jan. My psychiatrist is willing to try new drugs, but he is baffled by my problem. I hope someone here has had a similar experience and can offer some advice! (Although I am really sorry if you have, because this is awful.)
poster:toodlebug
thread:129591
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021127/msgs/129591.html