It sounds like you really know what you're talking about. Number 9 is so important: Don't wait to live your life until this is over! But remember not to push yourself too hard.
At the very end of a taper with the tiniest amount, can you do an every other day taper to finally be done? Your statement about the final tapers being the most dangerous is concerning.
I like the blind taper idea. I may ask the doctor for liquid Valium. I’m at 4.56 so I don’t know if the option makes sense or not. Still something to think about. Good idea to not overwhelm the doctor. I just saw my psychiatrist today and I’ve learned over time the best visit is to just be compliant, everything is going well. The main thing-don’t rock the boat. Just keep the drug coming so you can taper.
Thank you so much for bringing awareness to this. I wish there would be a world wide medical alert regarding the very real dangers of a rapid taper. I truely believe if I had a doctor with this knowledge, and had been slowly tapered off a Benzo I would be in a much stronger state than I am now, three years after a rapid taper. Thank you & your wife for what you are doing 🙏🏼 it is only through finding yourself & Nicole that I learnt what is most Likely the cause of the horrific ongoing symptoms I have experienced over the last three years. All symptoms only started after a rapid taper, done in a hospital. & a number of Gps & psychiatrists later, I have not once had one say to me the Benzodiazepine & or the rapid taper is most likely the cause, & I don’t know if I will ever get back a healthy brain & nervous system. This seems to be ‘completely unknown’.
i like the leaning into things that you used to enjoy especially social situations. you can always leave if you spend a little bit of time trying and then after that if it's too much then bail.
I experienced interdose withdrawal when tapering off a Xanax..I did as you said here...on my own, b/c my doc said I could just stop it b/c the dose was low...I was on it 6 months daily, .25mg in the am and pm...once the interdose withdrawal started I divided the daily dose by 3rds and took it every 8 hours...then I stepped it down slowly, going back up if need be to get stable, then stepped it down by a lot less.
I’m currently trying to taper off .25 xanxa once a day l. Been taking it for over a year now. I recently stoped taking it for a few days and now I’m experiencing Benzo belly. I had to jump back on it and need to do it right. Did u experience any withdrawals ?
@@Vincenzo-xe4lj ...I did in that the symptoms that it was controlling ramped up with each reduction. When I made a cut the symptoms would ramp up and I'd stay at that dose until they stabilized...it might be 3 or 4 days b/4 things settled and when they did I'd stay there for about a week total b/4 stepping down again...a couple of times things ramped up a lot and I realized I either made too big of a cut or didn't stay at the previous cut long enough, in which case I'd go back up to the previous cut and stay there a bit longer...I found it best to cut about 10% with each reduction...Imagine the pill cut into 10 equal pieces...this is how I did it: I'd take my .25 pill, put it in my pill cutter and cut on the score line, which gives 2 halves..each half is 5 parts...I'd cut 1/5 off of one half a pill and set that aside and take what remained..a full half and the half with 1/5 removed...the next step down you'd cut 2/5ths off of one half and take the other half plus the half with 2/5's cut off...It's easier to do than explain...if it's not exact it won't matter...going slow is what matters...how long you stay at each cut depends on your body's response to the cut...if you notice a big ramp up stay there longer...you're body's response is the best gauge...you'll be down to a sliver at the end...You may be able to taper more quickly, maybe do 12.5% cuts...if you do too big of a cup step back up to the previous cut and hang there awhile, then step down but with a smaller cut. Hope that helps...
I'm on 156mg of Seroquel and 37.5mg of Zoloft. I have been tapering for two and a half years to get to my current doses and I worry that it may take another 5 years to be done tapering.
Thanks for this video. Caffeine is my last vice and that coffee will be hard to let go of but may be necessary. I haven’t started tracking my doses and symptoms but as I get lower can see benefit.
#7 : Tracking symptoms has been extremely helpful, both during tapering and also as I’ve started to heal. It’s encouraging to look back and see how things that I thought would last forever have improved over time, and gives me hope that the issues that remain will also get better
When I was hospitalized recently I was given so many medications. Now just a few days after, I am not sure what I am withdrawing from besides my usual medication. On top of it all, worrying about missed appointments and rushing to pay bills is a lot to handle. Dumping on doctors is not easy when you have 5 minutes to explain your long term meds.
Watched again, and helpful. So hard to stay the course, tempted to just jump off and have sort of put some of my life on hold. I am not having protracted withdrawal so the temptation to go faster is even more. But good information here and a timely for me at this time.
I’m tapering off sertraline… again. Last time I tried to go off of it I tapered too fast dropping 1/4 of a 100mg pill every 2 weeks even though I was having withdrawal symptoms, I just kept going, huge mistake! I have a new method I’m trying out and so far so good. Every time I drop a dose I wait until I level out mentally before dropping another dose which takes me about 6 weeks. I still get withdrawal symptoms but I just stick it out if they’re mild and safely managable. If withdraw is too bad, I’ll go back to my last dosage for a few weeks and try again. I do not get physical withdrawal symptoms at all, it’s all mental. My first attempt to withdraw landed me in my car lost and parked in a random area where I just sat there in a daze thinking about su***d* for hours. I though about walking out into a wooded area and never coming back. It was horrible!
Great tip about giving your doctor a clear plan for your taper. This worked well for me when I started my lexapro taper. I researched the liquid and the Horowitz paper in the Lancet and she was 100% on board.
Lucky you. I have a frightened PA and a Indian doctor who doesn’t respect woman and tells me to stop any self research. I have a masters in psychiatric nursing with a nurse practitioner certification. I’m not practicing since they abruptly stopped most of my meds.
The only problem is they freak out even about the liquid. My neurologist, my psych PA and his supervisor is the Indian doctor who tells me not to do any research. When my PA was new he would follow my request.
@Abc-h5f I quit Vyvanse cold turkey. it's hard having adhd and not taking meds. I've been lethargic for about a year now. I could have some prolonged kind of symptoms but nothing to me compares to how damaged benzos did.
Sinds years of multiple medications, wich destroyed much of my life, I had the experience during soms kinds, and after, that I was really over sensitive for all kinds of food, and had strong reactions. I heared that the intestinal disorders caused by it, can have a bigg influence. Deficiency or intollerances to food or minerals seem also to be, a cause & chain reaction. Also some calming herbs made the protractive withdrawal less intens. Eventhough it will be different per individual.
How to taper extended release drugs like concerta or wellbutring ? You cannot.concerta works in 4 diferent fases .The color that disolves inmediately is a inmediate release and then you can see the pill in tree diferent colors and fases all of then crossed by an x ray.Excuse me i dont know english
That's what I've said. I've been calm and come in and ask for a taper, and my doctor says he doesn't prescribe benzos for me. I never abused my prescription for them, but they accuse me that I did. So I had to go on a 10 hour trip to see a specialist that can only taper me with Ashton manuel. I wish they never just cut me off ct.
I couldn't do anything when they took me off cold turkey. Now that I got a taper I can follow the last two much better. I was able to go to the Christmas party and walk my dog every day. Couldn't do without the taper.
What would be your opinion on treatment of serotonin syndrome with benzos? This seems to be the standard approach. I didn't receive it as my symptoms wasn't believed as I took Ritalin and stopped after a week. In hindsight I think I had serotonin syndrome causing rcvs and then neuropathy of the cns, penis and other small blood vessels in the body (probably the brain as well - as is apparently common of small blood vessel disease). Should I have been treated with benzos or would that have made things worse? Has anyone procured proof of brain atrophy due to psych drugs? I did an MRI a year after but nothing visible according to the doctors other than sinus cysts. I wonder if I developed them due to psych drugs causing a sinus infection or something similar?
I'm not stable! .. my Dr. Didn't tell me anything about this diazep. Something was wrong with me in his office in January. I thought it was too much of a dose. He said oh just cut it in half 🤬.. within 2 weeks I was in the ER my gut shot completely down.. heart rate crazy 02 stats gone. Blood pressure wild.. I had no idea what was going on.. called him for help he didn't answer.. so I went back up on a 2 mg... I'm not stable where I am.! 14 days back on the 2 mg.
Hi sir i have taken 15 tablets in 2-3 months duration....i have not taken it every day....i only have taken when i dint get sleep.....what should i do now......(my dose is escitalopram 5 mg and clonazepam 0.5 mg) ??
are you dropping 5 -10% from the initial dose or each taper step? If im starting from 20mg is each step 2mg or each each step 5-10% of the current dose im at i.e 18, 16.2, 14.58 etc etc. Thanks so much (:
I'm currently just over 7 months since finishing my ~6 week taper off of 20mg Lexapro. Taper went smoothly, and even the acute withdrawal was fine, some vertigo, but I the post-acute withdrawal symptoms have been brutal and persistent. No motivation, almost always exhausted (despite sleeping well and long every night, and eating a good diet), brain fog, fluctuating but consistent depression, anxiety etc. I have the very rare "normal/good" day. I know some people can have withdrawal symptoms for more than a year but I am starting to questions if that is the case for me as 7 months is a long time, but I don't want to quit now since I'm 7 months along. I am Canadian so it doesn't seem like I can work with you, but if you have any suggestions or directions you can point me in, it would be greatly appreciated.
You're on a strong drug plus a drug to stop the side effects. You might haveva relapse if you go off these. What does your doctor think? I met a guy yesterday who is happy that he is on these meds every day because it has kept him out of hospital for the past 22 years. Previously he was on and off the meds which meant he was in and out of hospital fairly regularly with a lot of suffering. Please be careful! God bless you.
Its not withdrawal its neurological damage. I have seen people still suffering 2 to 10 years later. Normal withdrawal is like 1 or 2 months, protracted withdrawal is 4 to 8 anything above that is neurological damage. I checked drug forums for years and even people who have protracted meth or heroin withdrawals don't suffer as long like psych drug withdrawals
@@alexanderp8037 some doctors would ridicule that paragraph,I believe people are suffering for a long time.Innocent people that have trusted their docs,docs tend to listen to pharmaceutical companies
It sounds like you really know what you're talking about. Number 9 is so important: Don't wait to live your life until this is over! But remember not to push yourself too hard.
Excellent video. Wish all this was around 20 years ago. But thanks.
At the very end of a taper with the tiniest amount, can you do an every other day taper to finally be done? Your statement about the final tapers being the most dangerous is concerning.
Can you half the dosage to make it slower ?
I like the blind taper idea. I may ask the doctor for liquid Valium. I’m at 4.56 so I don’t know if the option makes sense or not. Still something to think about. Good idea to not overwhelm the doctor. I just saw my psychiatrist today and I’ve learned over time the best visit is to just be compliant, everything is going well. The main thing-don’t rock the boat. Just keep the drug coming so you can taper.
Thank you so much for bringing awareness to this. I wish there would be a world wide medical alert regarding the very real dangers of a rapid taper. I truely believe if I had a doctor with this knowledge, and had been slowly tapered off a Benzo I would be in a much stronger state than I am now, three years after a rapid taper. Thank you & your wife for what you are doing 🙏🏼 it is only through finding yourself & Nicole that I learnt what is most Likely the cause of the horrific ongoing symptoms I have experienced over the last three years. All symptoms only started after a rapid taper, done in a hospital. & a number of Gps & psychiatrists later, I have not once had one say to me the Benzodiazepine & or the rapid taper is most likely the cause, & I don’t know if I will ever get back a healthy brain & nervous system. This seems to be ‘completely unknown’.
i like the leaning into things that you used to enjoy especially social situations. you can always leave if you spend a little bit of time trying and then after that if it's too much then bail.
I experienced interdose withdrawal when tapering off a Xanax..I did as you said here...on my own, b/c my doc said I could just stop it b/c the dose was low...I was on it 6 months daily, .25mg in the am and pm...once the interdose withdrawal started I divided the daily dose by 3rds and took it every 8 hours...then I stepped it down slowly, going back up if need be to get stable, then stepped it down by a lot less.
I’m currently trying to taper off .25 xanxa once a day l. Been taking it for over a year now. I recently stoped taking it for a few days and now I’m experiencing Benzo belly. I had to jump back on it and need to do it right. Did u experience any withdrawals ?
@@Vincenzo-xe4lj ...I did in that the symptoms that it was controlling ramped up with each reduction. When I made a cut the symptoms would ramp up and I'd stay at that dose until they stabilized...it might be 3 or 4 days b/4 things settled and when they did I'd stay there for about a week total b/4 stepping down again...a couple of times things ramped up a lot and I realized I either made too big of a cut or didn't stay at the previous cut long enough, in which case I'd go back up to the previous cut and stay there a bit longer...I found it best to cut about 10% with each reduction...Imagine the pill cut into 10 equal pieces...this is how I did it: I'd take my .25 pill, put it in my pill cutter and cut on the score line, which gives 2 halves..each half is 5 parts...I'd cut 1/5 off of one half a pill and set that aside and take what remained..a full half and the half with 1/5 removed...the next step down you'd cut 2/5ths off of one half and take the other half plus the half with 2/5's cut off...It's easier to do than explain...if it's not exact it won't matter...going slow is what matters...how long you stay at each cut depends on your body's response to the cut...if you notice a big ramp up stay there longer...you're body's response is the best gauge...you'll be down to a sliver at the end...You may be able to taper more quickly, maybe do 12.5% cuts...if you do too big of a cup step back up to the previous cut and hang there awhile, then step down but with a smaller cut. Hope that helps...
I'm on 156mg of Seroquel and 37.5mg of Zoloft.
I have been tapering for two and a half years to get to my current doses and I worry that it may take another 5 years to be done tapering.
Thanks for this video. Caffeine is my last vice and that coffee will be hard to let go of but may be necessary. I haven’t started tracking my doses and symptoms but as I get lower can see benefit.
#7 : Tracking symptoms has been extremely helpful, both during tapering and also as I’ve started to heal. It’s encouraging to look back and see how things that I thought would last forever have improved over time, and gives me hope that the issues that remain will also get better
When I was hospitalized recently I was given so many medications. Now just a few days after, I am not sure what I am withdrawing from besides my usual medication. On top of it all, worrying about missed appointments and rushing to pay bills is a lot to handle. Dumping on doctors is not easy when you have 5 minutes to explain your long term meds.
Thanks for this, doc. Very helpful.
Watched again, and helpful. So hard to stay the course, tempted to just jump off and have sort of put some of my life on hold. I am not having protracted withdrawal so the temptation to go faster is even more. But good information here and a timely for me at this time.
I’m tapering off sertraline… again. Last time I tried to go off of it I tapered too fast dropping 1/4 of a 100mg pill every 2 weeks even though I was having withdrawal symptoms, I just kept going, huge mistake! I have a new method I’m trying out and so far so good. Every time I drop a dose I wait until I level out mentally before dropping another dose which takes me about 6 weeks. I still get withdrawal symptoms but I just stick it out if they’re mild and safely managable. If withdraw is too bad, I’ll go back to my last dosage for a few weeks and try again.
I do not get physical withdrawal symptoms at all, it’s all mental. My first attempt to withdraw landed me in my car lost and parked in a random area where I just sat there in a daze thinking about su***d* for hours. I though about walking out into a wooded area and never coming back. It was horrible!
Great tip about giving your doctor a clear plan for your taper. This worked well for me when I started my lexapro taper. I researched the liquid and the Horowitz paper in the Lancet and she was 100% on board.
Lucky you. I have a frightened PA and a Indian doctor who doesn’t respect woman and tells me to stop any self research. I have a masters in psychiatric nursing with a nurse practitioner certification. I’m not practicing since they abruptly stopped most of my meds.
The only problem is they freak out even about the liquid. My neurologist, my psych PA and his supervisor is the Indian doctor who tells me not to do any research. When my PA was new he would follow my request.
Wish I had seen this before I emailed my PA. I’m the opposite more info helps me feel comfortable in my decisions for me and when I am practicing.
How are u doing now? Did u have a link to that paper at all by chance?
All things must pass. That's the best advice ❤
Good tips, thank you Dr. Josef ❤
Thank you! Great information!
Thanks so much, that’s really helpful!
I really appreciate your help Dic! Thank you!
Thank you.
Thank you!
I am locked up my hands are tied
Wow, they put me on Vyvanse in rehab. It was horrible.
Got to be terrible to táper bcoz the lisine interaction and extended release.can i ask you what rehab and why please?
Got serious problem concerta its imposible to táper and Bupropion too
@Abc-h5f I quit Vyvanse cold turkey. it's hard having adhd and not taking meds. I've been lethargic for about a year now. I could have some prolonged kind of symptoms but nothing to me compares to how damaged benzos did.
Sinds years of multiple medications, wich destroyed much of my life, I had the experience during soms kinds, and after, that I was really over sensitive for all kinds of food, and had strong reactions. I heared that the intestinal disorders caused by it, can have a bigg influence. Deficiency or intollerances to food or minerals seem also to be, a cause & chain reaction. Also some calming herbs made the protractive withdrawal less intens. Eventhough it will be different per individual.
excellent
How to taper extended release drugs like concerta or wellbutring ? You cannot.concerta works in 4 diferent fases .The color that disolves inmediately is a inmediate release and then you can see the pill in tree diferent colors and fases all of then crossed by an x ray.Excuse me i dont know english
How and where does one get a liquid clonazepam (not compound) for microtapering?
I think a Compounding pharmacy can make it up for you?
@@juliemauger6183 not available everywhere.
I’m on 25mg of Zoloft been taking it for 5 weeks. Idk if I should cut in half or cut a little bit off
That's what I've said. I've been calm and come in and ask for a taper, and my doctor says he doesn't prescribe benzos for me. I never abused my prescription for them, but they accuse me that I did.
So I had to go on a 10 hour trip to see a specialist that can only taper me with Ashton manuel. I wish they never just cut me off ct.
Its malpractice 100%
So sorry this was done to you😢
Really nice video! i was wondering if i could help you edit your videos and make them more engaging as well as create short content out of them.
I couldn't do anything when they took me off cold turkey. Now that I got a taper I can follow the last two much better. I was able to go to the Christmas party and walk my dog every day. Couldn't do without the taper.
Mine is quite the horror story because I had no choice when I was taken off 6mg clonaz. I've made it about 6 Years now.
How do i taper of 7.5mg mirtzapine i tryed 3.75mg it give me anxiety
What would be your opinion on treatment of serotonin syndrome with benzos? This seems to be the standard approach. I didn't receive it as my symptoms wasn't believed as I took Ritalin and stopped after a week. In hindsight I think I had serotonin syndrome causing rcvs and then neuropathy of the cns, penis and other small blood vessels in the body (probably the brain as well - as is apparently common of small blood vessel disease). Should I have been treated with benzos or would that have made things worse?
Has anyone procured proof of brain atrophy due to psych drugs? I did an MRI a year after but nothing visible according to the doctors other than sinus cysts. I wonder if I developed them due to psych drugs causing a sinus infection or something similar?
You don’t know what you’re talking about 😅
@@msp423 Then please enlighten me. A-hole. All I referenced can be read about in scientific studies/rehab information.
Awesome video thank you!
I'm not stable! .. my Dr. Didn't tell me anything about this diazep. Something was wrong with me in his office in January. I thought it was too much of a dose. He said oh just cut it in half 🤬.. within 2 weeks I was in the ER my gut shot completely down.. heart rate crazy 02 stats gone. Blood pressure wild.. I had no idea what was going on.. called him for help he didn't answer.. so I went back up on a 2 mg... I'm not stable where I am.! 14 days back on the 2 mg.
Hi sir i have taken 15 tablets in 2-3 months duration....i have not taken it every day....i only have taken when i dint get sleep.....what should i do now......(my dose is escitalopram 5 mg and clonazepam 0.5 mg) ??
#9!!!!
Also, if you're experiencing akathisia or EPS, you will certainly NOT be tapering by 10% month.
Akathisia is brain damage, and leads to dementia caused by Side effect, neuron death which moves from one neuron to the next
are you dropping 5 -10% from the initial dose or each taper step? If im starting from 20mg is each step 2mg or each each step 5-10% of the current dose im at i.e 18, 16.2, 14.58 etc etc.
Thanks so much (:
I'm currently just over 7 months since finishing my ~6 week taper off of 20mg Lexapro. Taper went smoothly, and even the acute withdrawal was fine, some vertigo, but I the post-acute withdrawal symptoms have been brutal and persistent. No motivation, almost always exhausted (despite sleeping well and long every night, and eating a good diet), brain fog, fluctuating but consistent depression, anxiety etc. I have the very rare "normal/good" day. I know some people can have withdrawal symptoms for more than a year but I am starting to questions if that is the case for me as 7 months is a long time, but I don't want to quit now since I'm 7 months along. I am Canadian so it doesn't seem like I can work with you, but if you have any suggestions or directions you can point me in, it would be greatly appreciated.
I was on 20mg/day for 3 years
I’m on 1mg Risperidone and Cogentin 0.25mg . Should I reduce the Cogentin or Risperidone?
You're on a strong drug plus a drug to stop the side effects. You might haveva relapse if you go off these. What does your doctor think? I met a guy yesterday who is happy that he is on these meds every day because it has kept him out of hospital for the past 22 years. Previously he was on and off the meds which meant he was in and out of hospital fairly regularly with a lot of suffering. Please be careful! God bless you.
Be carefull schizofrenia its not a joke.Risperidone its not the kind of drug to get rid of.i know its cripling drug but psikosis its not better
Why not nj in your program?
Waiting on license there, should be soon! Some licensing boards take ages to review your application.
What about PA?
What's nj
East what's PA?
I tapered....still got severe WD
It's hard not to get angry at your doc,we're in this position cos them.Should we be grateful for our lives being destroyed.
Its not withdrawal its neurological damage. I have seen people still suffering 2 to 10 years later. Normal withdrawal is like 1 or 2 months, protracted withdrawal is 4 to 8 anything above that is neurological damage.
I checked drug forums for years and even people who have protracted meth or heroin withdrawals don't suffer as long like psych drug withdrawals
How fast did you taper?
This is scarey…
@@alexanderp8037 some doctors would ridicule that paragraph,I believe people are suffering for a long time.Innocent people that have trusted their docs,docs tend to listen to pharmaceutical companies
"Promo sm" 😓