Posts by Roger Rodriguez

My grandmother, who is 76, has an elevated sedimentation rate—though the rest of her bloodwork looks fine—and she’s been dealing with black stools for a little while now.
She had surgery to remove colon polyps about 15 years ago.
Aside from this, she isn't showing any other signs of serious illness; her appetite is steady, she hasn't lost weight, and she isn't in any pain, but this discoloration is definitely worrying us.
We have a colonoscopy and an endoscopy scheduled for Tuesday, but in the meantime, could anyone offer some insight into why her sedimentation might be high or what else could be causing the black stools? I would truly appreciate any help.

Michael Reed45 said:I’m not quite sure how I managed this, but I missed my doses yesterday evening and again this morning. 🙄

I assume I can just get back on track now? 🤔

🙂
Why not set a recurring alarm on your phone to nudge you every time it's time for a dose? It might help until you get into a steady rhythm.

mistyheron8 said:Do you think it’s actually okay to bump up my Zoloft dose by 25 mg on my own without checking in with my psychiatrist first? I don't have an appointment scheduled for another two weeks, and while I am currently at 50 mg, I can't help but feel like a higher dose might be necessary. I’m still worrying about everything far too much—even if things are significantly better than they used to be—and there's still this lingering anxiety that occasionally hits me so hard it spirals into thoughts of suicide for a day or so. To make matters worse, I don't actually have her direct cell number, just the contact info for her receptionist. Has anyone else here ever decided to adjust their own dosage?

I really think you should wait those two weeks so you can hear what she has to say. If you only recently started the Zoloft, could that anxiety actually be a side effect of starting the treatment? Wouldn't increasing the dose right now potentially make things even worse?

I had a lucid dream last night 👋 👋
It was such an incredible feeling... I was able to say exactly what I wanted to say, and I’d even plan out my next sentence and how I was going to react before the other person in the dream could even respond.
Anyway, I wasn't really trying any special techniques, other than making a conscious effort every morning when I woke up to reflect on the dream and try to hold onto every single detail.

fadedbear92 said:good for you, babe!👍

😉
How are things going? Have you been getting any sleep at all?

I’m feeling perfectly fine even though I’ve started tapering off my Paxil 👋 👋
My doctor suggested dropping down to 10mg, but honestly, I wasn't ready to mess with my head just yet. So, for now, I've been splitting my pill every morning—cutting it in half, then cutting that half again—to land right around 15mg. I think I'll stick to this for at least another week before I finally make the jump to 10mg.
Anyway, I'll keep posting updates here, even if it feels like nobody actually cares what I'm up to 😂

Anthony Lopez8 said:So, I suppose I understood her description correctly after all. 😁
Personally, I experienced spontaneous lucid dreams occasionally even as a child, but I only began actively practicing them about two years ago. Nowadays, I have them on average three times a week—and if I actually have the time, even more often.
While there are plenty of books and articles out there on this subject, perhaps I could briefly outline what helped me increase the frequency of my lucid dreams in the beginning; maybe it might prove useful to some of you. Of course, this assumes you have a little goodwill and a bit of extra time to spare.

-Keeping a Dream Journal: It is absolutely worth it because it forces you to become aware of the very act of dreaming itself. In my early stages, this was particularly helpful, though I don't think I would have the patience for it now (these days, I only jot things down when I’ve had a lucid dream, and perhaps briefly what I did, though those experiences tend to stay quite vivid in my memory regardless 😁).

-"Fact checks": This is a rock-solid technique for those just entering the world of lucid dreaming. You are essentially increasing your awareness while awake, which indirectly carries over into your dreams. The idea is to perform reality checks multiple times throughout the day while you are conscious—especially when something feels strange or illogical. It is best to choose one specific method and stick to it. For instance: looking at a clock (if the numbers look garbled or if the time changes completely when you look back, you are dreaming), or counting your fingers (in a dream, you might find you have too many fingers, or they seem to blur together, or you simply can't finish counting them). Naturally, you will never conclude that you are dreaming while you are actually awake. The goal is to turn these actions into a habit. That way, during a normal dream—which is still governed by the subconscious—the moment a tiny seed of doubt arises regarding the reality of what you are experiencing, you will instinctively perform the same check. Once you do that and realize you are dreaming, the door to the lucid dream—governed by the conscious mind—swings wide open.

-Time of Day and Sleep Duration: The likelihood of experiencing a lucid dream "in the middle of the night" is extremely slim. They almost always occur right before dawn or during a nap in the afternoon. I have also noticed that they happen more frequently when I get more sleep—meaning, when I don't go to bed completely exhausted only to wake up after, say, seven hours and call it a day. You need to be somewhat lazy and sleep when you don't strictly "need" to, but rather for recreation (though, if only we always had the time for that 😬).

-The "Wake Up and Return to Bed" Technique: This involves waking yourself up a few hours before your actual alarm goes off, staying awake for about half an hour to an hour, and then heading back to sleep. In my experience, the probability of having a lucid dream using this method is enormous.

-WILD (Wake-Induced Lucid Dream) Technique: While the methods mentioned above became largely unnecessary as I increased my dream awareness, this technique is something else entirely. It isn't about "waking up inside a dream," but rather about letting your body fall asleep while your mind remains fully awake. There is a lot written about this, and it is certainly more difficult than the MILD technique, but in exchange, it opens the door to entirely new experiences. By this, I am primarily referring to "out-of-body experiences," which—despite the fact that the sensation differs significantly from standard lucid dreams—I still maintain are nothing more than another variation of a lucid dream; in other words, they are still an (incredible) product of our own minds.

I actually remember my dreams from start to finish every single time, so I suppose I don't really need to keep a journal, right? It would take me half the day just to write everything down! 😬
These tips are fantastic—they don't require much effort or time, just a bit of consistency, I think.
I'm going to give it a shot 😉

Kenneth Flores5 said: I’m 15... and honestly, I’ve been struggling with heavy depression since the 5th grade. I’ve tried to end it three times now, though I never really had the nerve to go through with anything massive... so it was always just... well, either ending up in the ER or dealing with a broken arm or leg and a concussion in the hospital. Anyways... I've cycled through a ton of different meds by now, but nothing seems to actually work. Based on what you guys have dealt with... which med is actually the best?.. I don't know if this is right, but my psychiatrist switches up my prescription every two weeks if I tell them I'm still feeling crappy. That shouldn't be how it works, right? o.O

This is honestly painful to read... Fifth grade? So you were only about 11 or 12 years old at the time?
I honestly think you need to find a new psychiatrist immediately. Any decent doctor would tell you that prescribing "heavy-duty" medications—like mood stabilizers or antidepressants—to someone under 18 isn't standard practice unless they are under incredibly strict medical supervision. Isn't it terrifying that such prescriptions can actually trigger suicidal thoughts in young people?
There’s really no such thing as a "perfect" medication... what works wonders for you might be a total disaster for me. It’s all so incredibly individual, isn't it? Honestly, even a complete novice wouldn't be switching prescriptions every two weeks—I find it hard to believe that's actually how her psychiatrist operates.
If none of the medications seem to be doing the trick, have you considered inpatient treatment? You could be hospitalized under professional supervision to trial different options one by one until you finally find the right solution.

Anthony Lopez8 said:Don't you ever have any pleasant lucid dreams? Because what you're describing sounds less like lucidity and more like false awakenings or perhaps even sleep paralysis. To me, a lucid dream is synonymous with a conscious, CONTROLLED dream—which implies a positive experience by default. Or did I fundamentally misunderstand your description?
And please, let's be rational here; what kind of person is actually afraid of going to sleep? 😛 😉

Actually, what you just described is also a form of lucid dreaming. The distinction is that people on this forum often mention dreaming, becoming aware they are dreaming, and then waking up. True lucid dreaming refers to a state where you have complete control over the dream; many who can achieve this say they've used it to solve problems they couldn't tackle while awake.🤷
Every few months or so, I have one of those experiences where I'm in total control from start to finish, and it feels amazing—I can do whatever I want.😬
The thing is, I haven't figured out how to trigger it on purpose.

Larry Howard8 said:I honestly don't get people who watch movies like that.
If someone is already struggling with their mental health, watching something like that can definitely
trigger a serious breakdown...

From what I can tell, this girl wasn't unstable before; she seemed like a perfectly normal person without any history of mental health issues. A movie with this kind of theme certainly isn't the cause of her current state.
Even though I'm a bit of a scaredy-cat myself, I watched it and still can't wrap my head around why everyone is calling it the scariest horror ever made. 🤷
Wouldn't it be better if people just realized they were watching a movie before diving in? Instead, they get terrified, and then they start bashing anyone who can actually sit through such gruesome, terrifying, fictional films.

Nathan Kim10 said:Well, obviously they won't if you're taking standard doses. Plus, just read the warning label on the box—it's not rocket science. You aren't supposed to mix anything that hits the central nervous system with alcohol. Even a kid should get that.☕
All antidepressants have sedative effects. Same goes for antipsychotics.

Exactly, and that’s precisely why this debate started in the first place. We've had people practically giving others a green light to mix the two, clearly without even glancing at the instructions.
I'm not saying you aren't right, but shouldn't we lay out every possible scenario and theory? People can be incredibly reckless when it comes to these things. It isn't like grabbing an Advil and a Budweiser, is it? 🤷

Nathan Kim10 said:It doesn't matter what you drink. Alcohol amps up the sedative effect. Your blood pressure just tanks.

To be clear, we aren't even talking about sedatives here.
I don't experience any drops in blood pressure from my antidepressants.

Nathan Kim10 said:Not possible. It's just a fact. Mixing sedatives with alcohol drops your blood pressure; it doesn't spike it. 😁
Just another troll.👎

We are discussing antidepressants here, not sedatives.
In theory, you're right, but... since no antidepressant affects everyone the exact same way, who's to say your blood pressure won't drop when you mix them with alcohol? Those odds get even slimmer if you've had a few glasses of red wine, for instance. Not to mention people who already deal with fluctuating blood pressure levels.

It’s possible she didn't even take an ecstasy pill or anything like that; maybe it was just a sedative or something else entirely... Since the other user mentioned she was staying home and just lying around, could she have been feeling down because she took something to take the edge off?
Anyway, I really hope everything turns out okay. I’m with Saoma on this one—it’s much better to talk to the doctor tomorrow and get some actual answers than to sit here guessing and stressing yourself out, don't you think?

Brandon Newman95 said:Well, my meds weren't right on the first try—still suspecting there might be some rare neurological issues involved. And honestly, it was my own fault for not being more aggressive about getting things sorted out sooner.
I deal with some weird labels, mostly anxious depression. Plus a few other diagnoses, mainly F-22—supposedly psychosomatic issues triggered by stress, especially since nothing was treated in a timely manner.

Fair enough, but if you're taking Coaxil for one specific diagnosis, you'd be prescribed a different regimen if there were actually a neurological component involved. Generally speaking, once the symptoms of the mental health condition you're treating with C. begin to subside, the medication is typically phased out within a few months to a year after those symptoms disappear. Isn't that how the process usually works?

Brandon Newman95 said:And what about Coaxil? How long are you actually allowed to stay on it? It says up to a year in the literature.

From what I understand, when dealing with things like panic disorders, various phobias, or general anxiety, therapy should typically be phased out about six months to a year after the symptoms have cleared. For some people, once they start an antidepressant, those symptoms vanish so quickly that they can stop treatment quite early on.
That said, if someone is still struggling and doesn't feel like themselves even a full year after starting treatment, shouldn't they just stay on it?

Hmm, I wonder if bipolar disorder typically manifests that abruptly, within just a few days? 😕
It’s true that none of us can provide a medical diagnosis, but I certainly believe there are enough signs here for this girl to see a psychiatrist and find out what's really going on. Isn't it vital to catch these things early? It makes treatment so much smoother and faster, so please don't waste any time—get her scheduled for some testing as soon as possible.

Jason Gray3 said:Hey everyone, just joined the group. I'm also dealing with the whole antidepressant situation
I’ve been on 20 mg of Paxil for about four weeks now, paired with Xanax at 0.25 mg three times a day because I was having
panic attacks—like when I’m riding the bus, those thoughts just start racing. I feel slightly better with this combo, but
whenever I actually have to meet up with someone or get things done, this nagging little anxiety starts taking over again.
Quick question about Paxil: how long does it actually take to kick in? I’ve heard from some people that it can take up to two months before you really feel the effects.
I’d love to hear from anyone else who’s on this specific med. THANKS

Check out the "Panic Disorder" thread; there are plenty of us there on Paxil, so you can read through everyone's experiences.
For me, it worked wonders—it was a total game-changer, and I haven't had a panic attack in over a year. Four weeks is still quite early in the process, so feeling a bit of residual anxiety is actually pretty common, but that should fade over time.
Don't forget about psychotherapy!
As for side effects, the only ones I dealt with were excessive sweating and some weight gain, though my libido stayed fine. What kind of side effects you might encounter—if any at all—is entirely up to your own body, so try not to overthink it too much.
I’d also suggest, as I've mentioned to others here, that you don't stay on it indefinitely and make sure to check in regularly with your psychiatrist. You can look back at some of my recent posts in this thread to see what I mean.

Double post

Walter Brown8 said:Soryy cow, I didn't catch that you were tapering off Paxil. I've only been on it for 27 days myself, and honestly, I haven't had many side effects—nothing serious, anyway.
And yeah, I'm taking Xanax alongside it, obviously, like a little side snack, but the antidepressant is definitely the MVP here.
So, how long have you been on it?

I've been on it for four years now. Is it effective? Absolutely. But man, getting off it is a massive struggle. If I could give you one piece of advice, don't wait as long as I did; try to stop sooner rather than later. Once you feel those last few symptoms fade, maybe about six months out, you should be able to clear it from your system.
This isn't my first rodeo when it comes to tapering, but I'm really hoping this is the final time. 👍