Posted by barbaracat on August 23, 2005, at 13:05:47
In reply to Re: Prozac Withdrawal - need advice - going off meds » barbaracat, posted by SLS on August 23, 2005, at 8:22:10
Scott,
I agree with you. Leaving someone twisting in the wind for 6 months is cruel but that's not what I was even hinting at. I was giving an 'outer limits' guideline to shoot for based on my own attempts, sometimes more successful than others, in discontinuing a med and this was in response to Veldog's question. If I were feeling miserable - tolerably miserable, not suicidal after 6 months, chances are homeostasis has occured and things aren't going to get better as a result of being over withdrawal. Sometimes it takes alot less time, especially if suicidal ideation starts creeping in, but a person generally has sense enough to make that call and I certainly sensed that Veldog would do the right thing.It's a guideline I've used with myself. I keep a journal which has proved very useful in tracking just how things really are going over time. Sometimes after deciding to stop a med, it's taken a week to throw in the towel because I knew my life would suffer. Sometimes after 6 months I could determine that I was doing just OK but the limping along wasn't acceptable and I needed to visit my pdoc. Other times I found I was doing pretty good and set my goals to the next 6 month marker. Getting off a med is hard and it's not always clear when the withdrawal rollercoaster ride is over. If a person wanted a ballpark figure to determine 'ground zero', six months is a reasonable goal. I wasn't suggesting it as a sentence to white knuckle through.
I didn't get the impression that our friend was in a bad place in any way, just the opposite in fact. I got the impression that Veldog was more curious as to what would happen once the expected ups and downs of withdrawal were over and was ready to give getting off the med a try.
We try to help each other on this board, Scott, and sometimes our own history/experiences influence what we say. I appreciate the fact that you would be concerned enough to voice your alarm, but you and I have traveled together on this board long enough to know that I'm not likely to advise someone to do something harmful to themselves. I feel confident that if Veldog were really suffering at the 2 month mark, he/she would not be moaning 'oh, uhhhgh, can't give up, BarbaraCat says I've got 4 months to go'.
If Veldog decides to go off meds and decides to do it cold-turkey (which I strongly suggested not to do), then we have to trust there's enough of a good reason, he/she has enough common sense, we add our own experience and advice as a way of offering help and support. As for dickering with someone's mental health, I certainly don't have the influence or power to do so and care enough to not do so, but if it appeared that way then know that it was not intended. Peace, Barbara
> I find six months to be unacceptable to leave someone suffering acutely in the hope that the body will somehow come to produce a NEW homeostasis different from that which for so long has remained dysregulated. You are dickering around with someone's mental health and perhaps disposing them to suicide.
>
> One thing that I believe ought to be considered is the potential for someone to develop a resistence to responding to medication the longer they go without it.
>
> Regarding Prozac and discontinuation syndrome, if the long half-life of this drug produces minimal withdrawal symptoms, how would this change one's perspective when trying to account for the reappearance of severe depression 40 days post discontinuation?
>
> Depressive rebound?
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> No.
>
> Relapse.
>
> Indefinite treatment is probably indicated.
>
>
> - Scott
poster:barbaracat
thread:545377
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/wdrawl/20050822/msgs/545651.html