Giving up after just one pill? 😕 Sometimes you have to stick with it longer than a single dose for it to actually kick in properly and for those side effects to settle down (😕)
Honestly, the real issue is that I can't even be alone for five minutes. Sometimes even two hours is pushing it. If I had to deal with being by myself from, say, 9 AM until 2 PM, I’d probably have a complete mental breakdown 😢 But hey, I'll try to at least drag myself out of bed by 11 🙂
So I got prescribed Lexapro. Plan is half a pill in the morning for the first week, then moving up to a full dose... I’m supposed to start this Tuesday, but my internal clock is a total wreck. Some days I'm rolling out of bed at noon, other days it's 3 PM 🤦 and yeah, for me, noon is basically sunrise 😁 I didn't really get a chance to ask her what the move is—like, should I set an alarm, take the pill and crash back out, or just stay up? She didn't even tell me what she was actually prescribing or when to take it, let alone mention side effects or anything. She did suggest I go get a bunch of tests done, including a brain CT (which takes forever to schedule), and said I shouldn't come back until all that's wrapped up. That could be months, so I won't be seeing her anytime soon, plus she didn't give me her number... So, how am I supposed to handle these antidepressants? Does it make sense to pop one and just go right back to sleep, or do I actually have to stay awake? Waking up early is honestly the worst part of my day...
I was wondering, assuming my doctor even brings it up—one doc asked me once, but another didn't, so I have no clue what the vibe is with my current one—is xanax SR actually better for anxiety, or should I just stick with the Helex?
From what I gather, xanax SR releases slowly over a longer stretch, which would be huge for me since I hate feeling like I have to pop pills constantly. But then again, I’m worried it might not hit hard enough when the anxiety really kicks in. Like, if a panic attack starts hitting, how am I supposed to know if I need to take another dose or if I can hold out? 🤔
Has anyone here actually used xanax SR specifically for anxiety?
wiredskipper45 said:What were you taking it for, exactly? Sleep issues, mood stabilization? And what kind of side effects did you run into? I tend to have pretty intense reactions to psych meds.🙂
I was on it for intrusive thoughts—diagnosis was F33.3. 😠
No side effects, really. Usually, I'm super sensitive and end up catching something from every pill, but Risperdal worked great for me. I was taking three a day, so that's probably a higher dose. If you're just looking for sleep, I'd guess one at night would do the trick. 🙂
Normally, it takes forever for my body to adjust and for the side effects to die down, but Risperdal was an outlier. It kicked in after about a week and the side effects vanished (the only thing I dealt with was feeling constant drowsiness and getting tired fast at first, but once I finally slept like a normal human being, it passed 👋)
wiredskipper45 said:sorry, just seeing this now. my psychiatrist did swap my antidepressant and put me on Effexor, but the side effects were absolutely brutal—I could barely function, and I ended up sleeping even less. the restlessness was terrifying, just constant nerves and this itching all over my body... and the nausea? I couldn't eat a single thing for three days straight. 😢 I'm refusing to touch antipsychotics, though. I think I mentioned this before—I was on Zyprexa for a few months once and it turned me into a total zombie, just walking around feeling nothing at all. 🙄
Risperdal actually worked great for me; it felt nothing like Zyprexa. At least for me...
Honestly, I just need something that’ll let me sleep like a regular person, even if it’s only for 5 or 6 hours. Right now, I’m dragging 10–12 hours, but once my parents head out around 6:30 AM—it's tied to this phobia I have—I start waking up every 45 minutes or so. And that keeps happening until like noon or 1 PM. Some nights, I’ll wake up 12 or 13 times. The worst part isn't just a little groggy wake-up where I roll over and pass out again; I am fully, wide-awake conscious. Half the time I get hit with total panic, and I have to fight myself just to drift off, only to be back at it an hour later. Like, I'd honestly prefer sleeping less, just give me some quality rest, because this is absolute garbage. I’m never rested, and I usually end up waking up feeling completely on edge. It's never like this on the weekends when my boyfriend stays over and I'm not alone.
shadowfox75 said:I didn't take it. No, it still has two months left before expiration. I completely understand where you're coming from... If only we could... But we will. You have the Xanax, I have the Prozac... we'll just have to support each other here.
Sure can 🙂 you can never have enough support 🙂
even though I'm heading back for a new antidepressant, so we won't be worrying about tapering off the Xanax anytime soon 😉
shadowfox75 said:I agree, I think that is... I noticed I still have some Normabloc left in my drawer. To be honest, I haven't taken a single dose since October 2011. I am unsure whether I should take one now or just try to push through this on my own...😕
You sure they aren't expired? 😬 Jokes aside, maybe try to hang in there. I'd give anything to be able to go without those damn Xannies. They helped me out when I was trying to get off other pills, but man, they really messed me up in the end. 🙂
shadowfox75 said:Good evening, everyone. Today, I feel absolutely wiped out for the first time in ages. I honestly don't know what's happening... I'm terrified that I might never get back to my old self. I managed to push through until 5:00 PM at work before heading to Chase. I thought I was going to collapse right there in the middle of the branch. Vertigo, fainting spells, instability, and this bizarre visual disturbance—it felt like my vision shifted by 500% in just a few hours. Panic set in immediately (you all know how anxiety works). I was convinced I’d either pass out on the floor or lose my mind. My brain immediately went into overdrive, convinced there's some underlying illness, even though I've been checked out from top to bottom. I had an MRI two years ago, and just two months ago, I did a full physical. Everything came back perfect. I've even gotten my weight under control; I lost 30 pounds over the last two years with my doctor's help. And yet... here I am again, gripped by fear and a million "what if" questions. Currently, I'm on half a dose of Paxil and 100mg of Lamictal. That's it. I can't tell if this is being amplified by all those videos I've been watching on YouTube about tapering off Paxil, or if something is actually physically wrong. I'm trying to figure out what this could be, but you know how things are handled here in the States...🙂 Damn. If this hits me just from thinking about tapering off Paxil, what happens when I actually tell my neurologist I want to stop? I have no idea if I'm even ready for this, but I've been on Paxil for nine years now, and it's just... exhausting.🤷 Thanks, and sorry for venting.🤔
Derealization. It's nothing major, really. Except for that exact moment when it hits you, obviously. Classic anxiety move. Don't sweat it, you're fine 🙂
It’s not even about whether I want to be on birth control or not—there are other ways to handle that—it’s just that these pills are absolutely wrecking my mental state, and I’ve still got at least 12 months left on them. 🙄
I think I’m just gonna pull the plug once I start the AD.
Cloning yourself sounds like a laugh, but you can't go posting on all your old threads using a clone account. I mean, maybe the mods would cut her some slack this once, but let's be real—she'll be too busy fighting with tech support about why her emails aren't even hitting her inbox before she gets around to that. 🙂
shadowfox75 said:Good for you... I'm actually jealous. I'm already feeling the withdrawal symptoms just from watching these documentaries on YouTube. If only my mother were still alive to give me a hug... man... Let's switch gears for a moment... LIVE, LIVE, JUST LIVE, MY DARLING... HOP, HOP, HOP...🙂🙂🙂🙂: rock:
here you go 🙂🙂 from me too. It's just digital, but at least it counts for something 🙂
I totally get it. I know I’d be losing my mind too if I knew what was coming, especially since everything bad I read just sticks with me 🙄
But hey, it crossed my mind to ask—do you girls take birth control, and does it mess with your head? Mine is absolutely wrecking me. I'm honestly worried it might even dial back how well my antidepressants work, and maybe things feel worse because of them rather than without them. Should I stop taking them? (I only take them because I have to, for my health, specifically my 😛 issues) or not? I'm feeling more unhinged than ever, both literally and figuratively 🙂
shadowfox75 said:You all are wonderful. I suspect I will be relying on this community once I begin tapering off this Paxil...🙂
I managed to get off that garbage without any weird glitches or fallout🥳 didn't even feel nauseous or anything🙂
So yeah, turns out I'm the exception to the rule, but that doesn't mean you won't be fine too. Just try not to stress yourself out beforehand—you don't want to trigger withdrawal symptoms while you're still actually taking the Paxil.
And if it's trash? Yeah, I can definitely agree with you there.😬
shadowfox75 said:I respect that.👍 I am just hoping I can endure this, because the fear I'm feeling is honestly overwhelming. My biggest concern is that I might inadvertently reinforce my own symptoms through autosuggestion. I'm going to head over to YouTube now to see if I can find some helpful information.
I just wanted to reach out and share what happened with me. I stopped taking my antidepressant and antipsychotic cold turkey—because, surprise, nobody told me that wasn't a thing you do—and honestly? I felt fine. Just totally nothing. I kept taking Xanax, which I think actually saved me from the worst side effects. Then again, I never really felt like the Prozac was doing much besides making me sleep like a baby, so maybe that played a part too. It was the lowest dose, once a day, for maybe 8 or 9 months.
Tapering off the Xanax, though, was a total nightmare. This past summer, I got down to 0.25mg four times and I just couldn't go any lower. 🙂
Anyway, I just wanted to say that coming off antidepressants doesn't have to be a disaster for everyone. The more you dwell on the potential side effects, the more likely you are to actually feel them. Try to stay chill—some people have a rough time, sure, but there are plenty who barely even noticed they were stopping. 🙂
Honestly, I’m kind of on board with them being extra about it. I don't get why anyone would go through all that trouble just to log in and browse this Reddit 🤷
especially if they’re already coming over from some massive, high-tier 😬online community .
loneraven25, what about everyone else getting those 503 and 504 errors? You think they're all logging on from the exact same IP or using the same PC? 🤔
The whole "it's user error" theory kind of falls apart when you have over 30 people—including the admin—all saying the site was down during the same window. thread
The real question is how much tolerance someone has actually built up to these meds. Like, if they’ve been popping 4 Normabels every single day for a year, taking an extra 6 probably won't even touch them. But if they haven't been taking any at all? Man, those 6 could cause some serious trouble.
Another thing to consider is whether this was actually prescribed. We need to know what the dosage is (check my previous post) and how long they've been on it. If there was no prescription and they haven't touched these drugs before—just head straight to the ER.