New Member (w/response)

[Guest guest]

[My comments are interspersed marked by ** -- ]

<<Hello,

I am new to this group. I am a 56 year year old mother of three mostly adult

boys and married 31 years. I am diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I

do have severe anxiety but feel that I am over medicated and that has changed me

from who I once was. I take 3 mg Clonazepam daily, 30 mg Buspirone daily, and 40

mg Citalopram at night. I have been tapering the Geodon I take from 20 mg

nightly to 10 mg then to 5 mg now back up to 10 mg. I am taking passion flower

at night and it really helps me sleep.>>

** Hi

While I don't want to alarm you I also don't want you to think that because

doctors prescribe these dangerous cocktails they are safe and therapeutic.

Do you know that Geodon is an antipsychotic? Before the pharmaceutical

industry bought the majority of doctors who prescribe these drugs, the doctors

would hesitate to give an antipsychotic to a person exhibiting signs of

psychosis. They hesitate because the drugs are extremely toxic to one's brain,

heart and liver. Now, Big Pharma has talked these idiot doctors into giving

these powerful drugs to people with sleeping problems. It's insane.

If I were you I would not put passionflower on top of these other drugs. Any

inability to sleep is because of these drugs and you are on too many drugs to be

adding anything else that manipulates some of the neurotransmitters already

being manipulated by the drugs.

As you've most likely learned, taking these drugs shut you down to really

feeling. It's almost like being dead. This is why people think these drug help.

But what they really do is block the neurotransmitters that allow you feel. But

all feelings get blocked, not just uncomfortable ones. The ability to to feel

joy and happiness is taken from you by these drugs.

You said:

<<I know I have a long road ahead of me but I want to be healthy again. I look

forward to learning from the shared wisdom of the group. My question is, I get

40 mg capsules of Geodon samples from my psychiatrist which I divide into 10 mg

capsules. This has worked very well. I couldn't make the jump down to 5 mg

(tried for 21 days) and now wondering since I have stabilized if I can go down

to 7.5 mg?

Thank you,

Marie >>

** Yes, you can do that as long as it is a regular formulation (not a timed

or extended release). But at some point you may find yourself reacting strongly

to the decreases. The saving grace for you thus far has been the number of

drugs you are on. Otherwise, you would have crashed from 10 mg decreases.

When you are down as low you are it is often necessary to do decreases between

2 and 5%. When doing this, you wait until you are feeling as well or better

than you felt at the point you did the decrease. If you can't say this then it

is too soon to do another decrease.

The beauty of this system is that you don't have to guess. You just listen to

your body which will not lie to you.

What led to you being on all these drugs and how long have you been on them?

Have you ever been evaluated for thyroid or adrenal issues?

Regards,

[Guest guest]

Hello

Zoloft where I live only comes in Capsule form in 100, 50 and 25mgs. It seems I

have no choice but to drop 25mgs at a time. I agree with you that four months

is too long. I am seeing my GP at the end of the month. It will be two months

that I am on 100mgs. I will ask him about it. The good side is that I am not

depressed.....just the aching bones, tired, and a bit of anxiety.

Thank you so much , I agree that 25 mgs at each lowering of Zoloft is

too much.

Stay well

Divalee

** Hi Divalee,

Read my response to you again. Nobody gets the pills in the exact strength

they need. I explained to you what to do about that. I've pasted it below

again.

========================================

** These are symptom telling you that you dropped too much of the drug or

dropped it too soon after the last decrease. In your case, you are dropping too

much at once. Btw, 4 months is much longer than you need to stay at a dose but

your decreases should be much smaller.

The best thing to do at this point is to go back up to 125 mg. Then, when you

feel better (I call it feeling " stable " or being " stabilized " ) then do

approximately a 10% decrease. In other words, drop about 12 mg. so you end up

taking approx. 113mg. You can round it out to 115mg.

*************You can accomplish this either by cutting the pill into the

approximate size you need, or dissolving the pill in 5 oz. of liquid (hot water

usually works best) and then pouring off 0.5 oz. This is 10 mg. . This means

you'll take 115mg. *****************

Then, you allow yourself at least two weeks on this drug at this dose

(could be longer on other drugs). At this point, ask yourself this question:

" Right now, do I feel as well or better than I felt prior to doing this last

reduction? "

If you can say yes it i time for your next 10% reduction. If you are unsure or

say no, wait longer.

If you really feel poorly, really poorly after a 10% reduction, go back up

again, wait to stabilize, then do a 5% decrease instead. There is plenty of

flexibility in this.

Regards,

[Guest guest]

Hello

Zoloft where I live only comes in Capsule form in 100, 50 and 25mgs. It seems I

have no choice but to drop 25mgs at a time. I agree with you that four months

is too long. I am seeing my GP at the end of the month. It will be two months

that I am on 100mgs. I will ask him about it. The good side is that I am not

depressed.....just the aching bones, tired, and a bit of anxiety.

Thank you so much , I agree that 25 mgs at each lowering of Zoloft is

too much.

Stay well

Divalee

** Hi Divalee,

Read my response to you again. Nobody gets the pills in the exact strength

they need. I explained to you what to do about that. I've pasted it below

again.

========================================

** These are symptom telling you that you dropped too much of the drug or

dropped it too soon after the last decrease. In your case, you are dropping too

much at once. Btw, 4 months is much longer than you need to stay at a dose but

your decreases should be much smaller.

The best thing to do at this point is to go back up to 125 mg. Then, when you

feel better (I call it feeling " stable " or being " stabilized " ) then do

approximately a 10% decrease. In other words, drop about 12 mg. so you end up

taking approx. 113mg. You can round it out to 115mg.

*************You can accomplish this either by cutting the pill into the

approximate size you need, or dissolving the pill in 5 oz. of liquid (hot water

usually works best) and then pouring off 0.5 oz. This is 10 mg. . This means

you'll take 115mg. *****************

Then, you allow yourself at least two weeks on this drug at this dose

(could be longer on other drugs). At this point, ask yourself this question:

" Right now, do I feel as well or better than I felt prior to doing this last

reduction? "

If you can say yes it i time for your next 10% reduction. If you are unsure or

say no, wait longer.

If you really feel poorly, really poorly after a 10% reduction, go back up

again, wait to stabilize, then do a 5% decrease instead. There is plenty of

flexibility in this.

Regards,

[Guest guest]

Hello

Zoloft where I live only comes in Capsule form in 100, 50 and 25mgs. It seems I

have no choice but to drop 25mgs at a time. I agree with you that four months

is too long. I am seeing my GP at the end of the month. It will be two months

that I am on 100mgs. I will ask him about it. The good side is that I am not

depressed.....just the aching bones, tired, and a bit of anxiety.

Thank you so much , I agree that 25 mgs at each lowering of Zoloft is

too much.

Stay well

Divalee

** Hi Divalee,

Read my response to you again. Nobody gets the pills in the exact strength

they need. I explained to you what to do about that. I've pasted it below

again.

========================================

** These are symptom telling you that you dropped too much of the drug or

dropped it too soon after the last decrease. In your case, you are dropping too

much at once. Btw, 4 months is much longer than you need to stay at a dose but

your decreases should be much smaller.

The best thing to do at this point is to go back up to 125 mg. Then, when you

feel better (I call it feeling " stable " or being " stabilized " ) then do

approximately a 10% decrease. In other words, drop about 12 mg. so you end up

taking approx. 113mg. You can round it out to 115mg.

*************You can accomplish this either by cutting the pill into the

approximate size you need, or dissolving the pill in 5 oz. of liquid (hot water

usually works best) and then pouring off 0.5 oz. This is 10 mg. . This means

you'll take 115mg. *****************

Then, you allow yourself at least two weeks on this drug at this dose

(could be longer on other drugs). At this point, ask yourself this question:

" Right now, do I feel as well or better than I felt prior to doing this last

reduction? "

If you can say yes it i time for your next 10% reduction. If you are unsure or

say no, wait longer.

If you really feel poorly, really poorly after a 10% reduction, go back up

again, wait to stabilize, then do a 5% decrease instead. There is plenty of

flexibility in this.

Regards,