Posts by Scott Alvarez22

wiredskipper45 said:Hold on... are you actually saying I'll never be happy again, regardless of whether I take the CIA or not? 🙂

Wait, are you saying I'll never be happy again, regardless of whether I take the CIA or not?🙂

Not at all! Not in the slightest.
The goal is to take the medication first so you can actually find some stability and start the recovery process.
Once that constant anxiety and restlessness finally subside thanks to the meds, that’s when the real work begins—gradually tapering off slowly and steadily. That’s the path out.

I'm speaking from my own lived experience here, so look at it this way:

After spending six years on Zoloft, I realized about two months ago that I had reached a plateau, even though I hadn't quite conquered my social phobia yet.
I started the taper, and within two months, I was off it entirely. I had already finished weaning myself off Xanax about six months prior, so I figured, "Hey, this should be a breeze," especially since getting off Xanax took me an entire year of very gentle adjustments.
For the first fifteen to twenty days, I felt like a brand-new person—full of life, warmth, and genuine enjoyment. But then, once the withdrawal symptoms really started hitting, everything sank like a lead weight in the middle of the ocean right before... well, you know how it goes.

The bottom line is you have to calm down first and accept that these drugs come with daily side effects. Once things stabilize, you begin a very slow, deliberate taper, and eventually, everything settles back into place.

Could you maybe go into more detail about what your experience was like with Mirtazapine and Effexor? I’m seriously considering making the switch.

wiredskipper45 said:I’m really curious if anyone actually managed to get off their meds and ended up feeling better overall?!
Or is everyone else (like me) just in a much worse state after stopping therapy than when they first started?
Not that they even worked perfectly while I was still on them... 😢
I’m currently on some combo involving Lexapro and Depakote, and the insomnia from it is brutal. It feels like my Xanax isn't even doing anything anymore; I just feel drugged out and groggy, but everything is still terrible... I've never felt this kind of total lack of willpower in my life. On top of that, my nerves are just fried—I can feel it throughout my whole body. I’m functioning, I’m working, I’m raising my kid by myself. But it’s all just pure autopilot. There’s zero joy left in anything. :/ Now I’m sitting here wondering if I should go back on the CIA, but I honestly don't even know what I want anymore... and my doctor keeps asking me what I expect these pills to do for me?! wtf??? All I know is that Mirtazapine let me sleep like a log and made the depression feel slightly more manageable, but it did absolutely nothing for the anxiety—that constant nervousness. And Effexor and Prozac caused such bad side effects that I didn't even bother trying them for more than a single day. Citalopram was basically like Bonkers to me—nothing. Wellbutrin felt amazing for the very first day, like a massive adrenaline rush, but then ugh—you can't sleep at all on it. I’m losing it, I’m exhausted, and I’m running on empty. I’m terrified I’m going to snap and end up in a psych ward being pumped full of antipsychotics, which is exactly what I’m trying to avoid at any cost. I’m scared of APs.
Please, if anyone has dealt with similar issues or medications, share your experiences.
thanks.

From what I've gathered, only Zoloft and Effexor seem to have the right profile for treating anxious depression.

The state you find yourself in after coming off medication is usually much worse if you do it abruptly. By "abruptly," I mean failing to go through a tapering process that lasts at least 8 months.
If you decide to switch back to Zoloft, expect about 3 or 4 days of nausea, tremors, drowsiness, insomnia, digestive issues, and brain fog, though it might finally knock down the anxiety.

Finding joy and taking CIA rarely go hand in hand; that's just the reality. So, don't blame yourself—blame the chemistry.

Weather patterns, barometric pressure, and my Xanax habit.

In my experience, I’ve noticed a strange correlation between the barometer and my medication needs. When the air pressure drops—you know, those heavy, rainy days or when a big storm front rolls in—I find that I need to scale back on my Xanax and other meds. It seems like the low pressure itself makes me feel sluggish and drowsy, and taking a full dose of Xanax on top of that just hits me way harder than usual. Honestly, whenever the pressure dips down toward 985 hPa or lower, I always feel better if I just take a slightly smaller dose than what I’m used to.

On the flip side, when we have those clear, high-pressure days where the reading stays at 1005 hPa or higher, I can stick to my standard dosage without any issues.

It turns out that between the weather and the Xanax, we basically turn into human barometers.

David Bishop4 said:The trouble is, I’ve already opened the bottle and taken one tablet. And since this was all handled through my doctor's prescription, I'm feeling a bit stuck.

Honestly, just try to make it work anyway. Take that opened box back to them and explain the situation; maybe they'll let you return it, then you can just use your own cash to pick up a smaller pack at that same pharmacy where they have your prescription on file.

David Bishop4 said:I definitely plan to, but I won't be able to get to it until next Saturday, which feels like nearly two weeks away. Otherwise, I might try checking in with my primary care physician.

Honestly, you could just head down to the pharmacy where you picked up the 1mg SR and ask them if they can substitute it with two 0.5mg SR doses instead.

Pfizer and the initial side effects

My own experience:
Right at the start, within about an hour of taking it, it hits you much like Xanax does. You’re looking at nausea, restlessness, tremors, dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision, tinnitus, and all that good stuff... which, predictably, sends anxious people into a complete tailspin because they genuinely fear their condition is worsening instead of improving.
The trick is to just ignore these sensations and constantly remind yourself that this is just the Pfizer working its way through your system, not some permanent neurological breakdown. There is no point in fighting these symptoms; it's an exercise in futility. I suggest you just accept them, let the nausea and the jitters wash over you, and wait it out. It passes eventually.

That’s why I recommend a gradual tapering off of things like Xanax once you’ve finally made peace with the side effects of the Pfizer.

HOW TO TAPER OFF PIZER

Even though I haven't quite managed it myself—not even after six years—I think I’ve figured out why it’s so difficult. Because the Pfizer carries such frequent side effects (that restlessness, the nausea, the shakes, the brain fog, etc.), it breeds a deep sense of insecurity in the user. Over time, many people end up retreating from life's daily social demands, pulling inward to cope.
Once the Pfizer stabilizes and those side effects either vanish or become a predictable, manageable baseline, that's when you have to start forcing yourself to live. You need to begin doing the things you would have done before medication, or the things you used to do, despite whatever lingering discomfort remains.
Once you have regained a full social life—meaning those fears and anxieties have finally subsided—that is when you can begin the slow, very gradual process of weaning yourself off the Pfizer.

Gerald Torres2 said:Thanks for the reply, but I’m already well aware of all that. You really have to run from Xanax like it's a bad habit. My main struggle right now is this anxiety. I thought Zoloft was an antidepressant? Now I'm confused... I want an antidepressant that can actually keep both my depression and anxiety under control, using Xanax only for emergencies. Usually, people go for Paxil (which is a popular antidepressant right now), but that didn't sit right with me at all—it actually made everything feel worse and worse even after two months of taking it. Is it even possible to get physically addicted to antidepressants, or is it more of a psychological thing?

Gerald Torres2
please, don't let yourself get worked up over this!
Zoloft is exactly that, but it’s a slow burn; it takes time to kick in. If you were looking to step things up from Zoloft, you might look toward Pfizer or Eli Lilly, though I haven't personally ventured down those paths yet.
Regarding Effexor, the documentation states something like this:

Effexor tablets are indicated for the treatment of depression, including cases where depression is accompanied by anxiety.
Effexor is utilized in the treatment of:

All types of anxiety disorders: generalized anxiety disorder, panic attacks, social phobia…
Mixed forms, specifically anxious-depressive disorder.
Various neurotic depressive disorders (I say neurotic because in bipolar disorder, or what used to be called manic-depressive psychosis, the depression and anxiety are entirely different in terms of psychodynamics and everything else).
Hypochondriasis—which is a notoriously difficult disorder to treat and a heavy burden for the patient to live with. I really ought to write a more detailed post about that in a separate thread. These are individuals who constantly feel they are suffering from various ailments—one day it's this, the next it's that—they go for medical checkups far too often, yet there's no organic evidence of illness. Still, they persistently experience symptoms like stinging pains, shortness of breath, or chest tightness.
Recent studies also suggest the medication might be useful for severe forms of premenstrual dysphoric disorder (I'll touch on that topic more deeply some other time).
Certain conditions manifesting within categories of various "personality disorders," such as Borderline Personality Disorder or similar emotional instability profiles.

Furthermore, with Zoloft and similar drugs (after about six months), you definitely develop a dependency, which is why you need to taper off very gradually over several months. Apparently, with Effexor, you can transition immediately if you stop Zoloft on the same day, meaning you don't necessarily face that agonizing withdrawal period.

So, HOW do you keep depression and anxiety under control? That's precisely why I posted here in the first place—because I honestly don't know!

It’s been years now, and I’m still staring at the same wall. Even after all this time on the Xanax and Zoloft, there hasn't been any real progress to speak of. It feels like I'm just spinning my wheels.

Gerald Torres2 said:Hey everyone!
I’m new to this forum, so I figured I’d introduce myself... I’ve been dealing with panic attacks since I was 14, so we’re looking at about 12 years now. They used to happen maybe once every six months, but once I hit 24, they were hitting me multiple times a day. On top of that, I’m dealing with depression, anxiety, and agoraphobia. I previously tried Paxil (which nearly drove me insane—it killed my appetite and left me unable to even hold a conversation) and Misar at 0.5, 1, or 1 mg. I fought through that for three or four months before deciding to cold-turkey the meds on my own. That was about a year and a half ago. Two months ago, I finally went back to my psychiatrist because I realized I couldn't just white-knuckle this on my own, no matter how hard I tried. I was prescribed Wellbutrin XR 150mg and Xanax at 0.5, 1, or 1 mg. Of course, the Xanax wasn't enough, so I ended up taking three a day. Currently, life is throwing some heavy stuff my way, and while the Wellbutrin helped with the anxiety initially, it isn't doing anything for me now, and the depression is creeping right back in... I feel like I'm sinking again and I just don't have the strength to fight it. I’ve heard that combining Zoloft and Wellbutrin works wonders, since I need something to lift my mood while also dialing down the anxiety, and honestly, I want to get off the Xanax for good. Can anyone offer some advice or share if you've had similar experiences?
Thanks in advance.

I know exactly what you mean.
After going through something very similar myself, I can tell you that they offered me a combination too, though they framed it as a single medication (either Mirzaten or Velofax), claiming it was essentially a combo pill from a different manufacturer. This drug, whether it's Mirzaten or Velofax, was supposedly meant to be a direct transition from Zoloft, containing Zoloft plus something else (I never quite grasped what the addition was).

Where the trouble lies (in my experience):

Xanax works fine when it kicks in and during those first two hours, but the moment it wears off, the withdrawal symptoms hit immediately.
The lack of Xanax in your system triggers nausea, dizziness, tremors, and dark thoughts. It’s much like Zoloft, which causes dizziness and depressive dips during withdrawal.

My advice:

Take as little Xanax as possible, but don't make yourself miserable in the process—just whatever you do, stay away from Xanax SR!!!!!!

Instead of using Xanax SR, try taking a standard Xanax 0.25, then split it in half and take those halves throughout the day at your current dosage level.
Every 15, 30, or 45 days, drop one of those 0.25 halves, and eventually, you'll have phased it out entirely.

Hope this helps!

First time posting here. 40-year-old male.
I’ve been wrestling with this cocktail of anxious depression and panic attacks for ten years now, and honestly, I still haven't found a way out. Today, though, things hit a breaking point; I sat there seriously contemplating if I could finally just end this whole struggle once and for all.
I’ve been on Zoloft for six and a half years, paired with Xanax for six. I managed to get off the Xanax about six months ago, and this past month, I actually attempted to taper off the Zoloft as well.
Today was one of those days where it felt like a choice between my life and the Zoloft. In the end, I took the pill, and the world just sort of collapsed around me again.

I figured I might be able to offer some insight to anyone else navigating this mess—whether you're dealing with the fallout from Helix, Xanax, Misar, or Zoloft, or trying to figure out what happens when you start them, quit them, or fall back into the cycle after a break. I can share the raw details: the symptoms, the strange sensations, and the side effects I've endured through every season of life and every practical hurdle I've faced. If my own weary experience can help someone else make sense of it all, then I'll share it.