Posted by 49er on July 19, 2008, at 13:28:37
In reply to Re: Thank you, everyone, posted by linkadge on July 19, 2008, at 10:01:29
Hi,
The purpose of this post is not to respond to Maxime's original message since she has made her decision.
But as I keep stressing on these boards ( I know many people are sick of me saying it), if you decide to taper your meds, your best chance of success is to taper very slowly. The Paxil Progress boards, which is run by an RN, recommend 10% of the current dose every 3 to 6 weeks. That website is
http://www.paxilprogress.org. It is for any psych med issues in spite of what the name says.Most people taper way too quickly as many doctors are not up to date with withdrawal issues and taper their patients way too fast. As a result, withdrawal symptoms get confused for a return of the illness and patients stay on meds for life when they might have been able to get off.
Anyway, I was essentially given the message I had to be on meds for life. After the meds caused horrific side effects, including a hearing loss, I decided differently. I have tapered from 4 meds down to 2 and expect I will be off everything at the end of 2009 or sometime in 2010.
In spite of dealing with job instability and the death of my mother, I am doing better than I ever did on meds.
Obviously, everyone has to make their own decision regarding meds. But it is totally incorrect to assume that anyone with a serious depression needs to be on meds for life.49er
poster:49er
thread:840049
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20080718/msgs/840781.html