TAPERING OFF MY SSRI

[@maggielinea]

That is very interesting about the creativity piece. I have been on Sertraline for years and my creativity has felt flat for years. Started tapering off yesterday.

[@CheveeDodd]

Good luck on your journey!

[@bradrichards6107]

You can do it, Chevee. I am glad your life has improved for the better.

[@CheveeDodd]

Thank you Brad

[@marijuonko7092]

Thanks for sharing this. Best of luck man

[@CheveeDodd]

Same to you!

[@sebastianfigueroa7915]

Tomorrow is my last day on my SSNRI and I’m anxious due to all of the horror stories, but I’m hopeful, I’ve felt well enough to get off of my meds so I will, I’m scared but ready.

[@CheveeDodd]

Did you taper off or are you stopping all at once?

[@QMW11]

How's is going? I start my taper on Friday and I'm scared

[@CheveeDodd]

It's okay to be scared. It's part of the journey that you are on. It might be confusing for a few weeks. Things might not seem right for a few days, but it will get better. Just give it time.

[@QMW11]

@@CheveeDodd thank you! I just have to keep that in mind when the side effects kick in.

[@garysimone4977]

@@QMW11 hey how's it going

[@odinphong9601]

Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

[@karengeist4904]

I just watched your video when you announced that you would be tapering from 20 to 10. Thank you for sharing. I have been on this drug for 12 yrs now and have been unsuccessful in getting off a number of times. But, I am giving it another go and I am a week on 10 mg now with occasional brain zaps. I am a bit irritable, and slightly lower in the mood, but I am powering through. I hope to stay the winter on 10 and taper down in the spring. Hope you're doing well and free of this drug by now.

[@CheveeDodd]

Wow Karen, that sounds scary! I hope you make it through this time! I had headaches and confusion for a few weeks, but that cleared up. I'm a little over 4 years free now and it's been great. My life situation improved significantly during these years, so I have been doing quite well. Thank you for dropping a line!

[@karengeist4904]

@@CheveeDodd that's great, thanks for your reply. Keep on keeping on!

[@frightfuldog5137]

I just gotten down this past week from weening off Zoloft the process consumed of me weaning from a 25 mg down to a 12 mg every other day then eventually every two days, now I’m sitting here with hysteria and fatigue and massive confusion, just sticking in their

[@CheveeDodd]

It took a while for me to feel "normal" again. It's been a few years now that I've weaned off and I have felt pretty great ever since. Stick with it and good luck!

[@ACardFan]

Thanks for the video! I’m thinking about tapering off after about 3 years on it. Awesome Rick and Morty shirt by the way!

[@CheveeDodd]

Good luck!!!

[@DdraigGoch84]

The creative stuff I really felt

[@CheveeDodd]

It was the worst part of the experience for me.

[@DdraigGoch84]

@@CheveeDodd it may be for me too, my man. Trying to come off the stuff now but it takes so long. Just going day by day. Supplementing with gym time, walks in the hills and dips in the river

[@CheveeDodd]

Sounds like you are doing it right. I wish you all the best on your journey. Just being in touch with what's going on inside you is a huge help.

[@DdraigGoch84]

@@CheveeDodd it really is huh? I’m a ruminator though so too much self awareness can be a curse

[@CheveeDodd]

It absolutely can be, but you are aware of your self awareness and can work on that. Meditation helps me "disconnect" with those thoughts and I've spent the last 5 years learning how to be less critical of myself.

[@audreyrose4791]

Hey man, watching in 2020. Great informative video... thank you!!

[@CheveeDodd]

Thanks for watching!

[@marijuonko7092]

I been on a ssri since I was like 14. I'm 31 and I don't want to be on it anymore. Idk what to do. I don't trust dr.s. I don't want put on more meds. It's overwhelming. And it's escatalaphram.

[@CheveeDodd]

Don't take yourself off. Get a Dr to agree to slowly taper you off and follow the schedule!

[@Geveretzah1]

Took 200mg Zoloft for almost two years. Went down to 150 two months ago and I felt awful. Big mistake I didn’t took 175 before 150. And I went on 150 for some time getting used to the dosage and then went to 100 for a month or so and felt ok overall. Yesterday I took 75 mg for the first time and I hope I will get clean of those in the next months...

[@CheveeDodd]

Good luck on your journey!

[@Geveretzah1]

@@CheveeDodd thanks!

[@briank1263]

I've overcome a handful of dependencies. 15 years on nicotine, 10 years of alcohol, a handful of years of cocaine, 15 years of opiates , 3 years of benzos.. I've overcome them all. Before taking any narcotics and alcohol I was prescribed SSRIs. Been 20 years. I want to try, just don't know where to start. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@CheveeDodd]

Damn. I wish you all the best in overcoming your demons. Take care! Thanks for watching.

[@briank1263]

@@CheveeDodd thanks brother.

[@MonaMaguire]

Thank you for sharing..............I had "forgotten"..................! Blessings from Canada

[@MonaMaguire]

and how are you doing NOW? Were you successful?

[@CheveeDodd]

It's been two years and I've been doing great. Along with tapering off the SSRI, my life situation has significantly improved and I have an amazing and supportive partner that has helped me the whole way. I would say that now I'm my old self, but with much less anxiety and depression. It still flares up on occasion, but it's much more manageable.

[@crimson49er]

a lifetime of broken bones (over 100) & surgeries has made it so occasionally i get crazy pain for no good reason so i use CBD occasionally for pain. Works pretty well for me, i hate taking ibu/motrin/aspirin/painkillers so CBD felt like a less bad way to handle it when i absolutely need something to sleep or just deal. I'm not sure it does anything mentally though, i usually feel less anxious, but i think that's more because my brain is chilling out & not sounding the pain alarm anymore.

[@CheveeDodd]

Holy wow dude. That's a lot of broken bones. Thanks for the thoughts!

[@crimson49er]

@@CheveeDodd yeah. Mostly from one bad car wreck and a a few from just being a skateboard kid!

[@CheveeDodd]

I was a skateboard/bmx kid and somehow, I've never broken a bone! :-D

[@pibba]

You and I are in exactly the same situation. I am currently at week 3, down from 20 to 15, to 10. How are you doing now?

[@CheveeDodd]

I'm great! The tapering went well. It took a few months for me to feel "normal" again, and thankfully, the anxiety hasn't returned.

[@pibba]

@@CheveeDodd Thank you for the quantum of hope. I'm a divorced musician, painter and educator looking forward to feeling something, anything again. Zombies are real...they take lexi.

[@CheveeDodd]

I wish you luck! I am very happy to feel again. I've always been very jovial and creative but the medication stole most of that. It's coming back!

[@pibba]

@@CheveeDodd Inspiration. Vision and light.

[@patriciasara2205]

Hello guys! I’m tapering as well from 10mg Lexapro to 5mg. It’s been 2 weeks taking 5 mg. Haven’t fet any withdrawl yet. I’ve been on this med for 5 months I’m on 6th month now. I’m scared if I might have withdrawl symptoms :’( how did it go for you ?

[@PaulDickson7]

1 dose of 5mg screwed me up for 1 week - massive tension headaches. Too scared to even start it

[@CheveeDodd]

Wow. Thats not good. Did you find something else that works for you?

[@PaulDickson7]

​@@CheveeDodd This week it was a combo of Panadol, Nurofen, Yoga and Sleep. Still was a pretty rough week at work. I'm way too scared of Lexapro now. If things don't improve I may need to look for another job that has less demands.

[@CheveeDodd]

I hope you find something that works for you. Take care of yourself Paul. You're worth it!

[@garysimone4977]

@@PaulDickson7 hey how you doing need any help let me know,, i have been through it all

[@lobstermania4025]

3 days cold turkey same dose and I just ran upstairs and took 10 mg...This sucks.. I'm sick.

[@CheveeDodd]

Cold turkey is super dangerous! Please speak with your health care provider.

[@lobstermania4025]

@@CheveeDodd I have an appointment next Friday. Going cold turkey is much much harder than I thought. I'll try the 10 mgs and see if that helps. Feel like I'm out of my body. Super dizzy, dry mouth even when drinking water, bed spins st night, forgot my address and throwing up dry. Hell

[@CheveeDodd]

@@lobstermania4025 yeah. I forgot to take it one weekend and it was terrible. It can also cause seizures and heart palpitations. Take care of yourself. Good luckn

[@jacobcoleman5696]

A safe taper schedule is go 10% at a time. So if you are on 10mg for example you would remove 1 mg and take 9mg. You can do this with meds from a compounding RX place or like me I use plain old water. Following the example I gave above if you dissolved the 10mg table in 100ml of water and measured 90ml that would be your dose. If you do it on your own and the doctor doesnt reduce your dosage just toss the extra 10% in the sink. You want to give the pill time to dissolve or Ill put it in a water bottle with the correct amount of water and shake it for a while then measure out my dose. I hope this helps.

[@treefrog5543]

Contrary to popular belief, 5mg of Lexapro is not a low dose.

[@zyd7827]

Used to watched you mate,,,you've haven't changed at all...and I like that

[@CheveeDodd]

Thank you so much!

[@laurencewoodward658]

Hi mate, did your original symptoms of anxiety etc return? I'm on the same medication and currently tapering off but very slowly (I'm currently down to 5mg). I worry that at some point the intense feelings of anxiety I had before will come back. Like you said in your video anxiety is normal for certain circumstances but I would get it over stupid shit like meeting friends etc. Thanks for sharing your experience.

[@CheveeDodd]

Yes, they came back, but to a totally normal and manageable level. What I would call "normal". Absolutely NOTHING like before. I don't remember if I said it in this video, but for me the medicine took away ALL anxiety, almost to a concerning degree. It was bliss at first. A well needed respite. I'm in a good place now. Good luck on your journey!

[@laurencewoodward658]

@@CheveeDodd That's great to hear, I'm glad you're doing good. I have the same reaction to the medication you did in that it definitely reduces my anxiety and depression but I've lost a lot of my interests/hobbies and I don't really get a kick out of anything anymore, that coupled with the "brain fog" feeling I get most days makes it not worth taking this stuff anymore. I've actually been recommended a really slow taper (over the course of 6 months +). Can you remember if you had insomnia when you tapered off? It's the only thing I'm finding so far.

[@CheveeDodd]

I tapered over 5 weeks. If I did have insomnia, it was really short lived. I don't really remember having many negative side effects. I'm glad I had the medicine, but I'm also glad I'm done with it. It took a long time (years) for the "fog" to fully fade. Thanks for watching and checking in! I did quite a few follow up videos to this one where I talked about how I was feeling as it exited my system.

[@santeenl]

@@laurencewoodward658 how did you taper from 5mg to 0?

[@birgittafloren1716]

Crazy I been tapering 20 months from 100mg to 25mg sertraline and tht its fast..

[@CheveeDodd]

Oh wow. Are you going to taper all the way off?

[@birgittafloren1716]

Of course im going to do tht this pills, have so many side affects, i was burnt out should never take it..12 years of this pills..never more pills.

[@CheveeDodd]

Good for you! Good luck on your journey!

[@birgittafloren1716]

@@CheveeDodd im off sertraline now..

[@CheveeDodd]

Great! How are things going for you?

[@garysimone4977]

How you feeling I took g or a yr...was hell coming off ...but worth it Are ya all the way back

[@CheveeDodd]

Getting there. I'd say I'm at about 98% and I only started feeling mostly normal in the past few months. It's been almost 3 years.

[@Polecat-qz5om]

@@CheveeDoddugh that m at 2 mg i feel awful sorry you went through those hard times. Im going through it now . 😢

[@CheveeDodd]

@Polecat-qz5om I hope it gets better for you! ❤️

[@Polecat-qz5om]

@@CheveeDodd me too

[@SugaFree2387]

How long after tapering did it take for you to feel like your old self again? I went off Celexa 10mg and for the past 9-10 months ive felt horrible.

[@CheveeDodd]

Well, I still don't feel like my old self, and I hope I never do again! But I get what you mean. It was about 2 years before I started to feel "right" and only this year (3 years after) that I started saying I was "normal." I suffered a lot of cognitive loss on the drugs and I feel like my brainpower has finally recovered.

[@SugaFree2387]

@@CheveeDodd yeah for me the drop in IQ/ loss in cognitive ability and irritability were the most persistent symptoms during the withdrawal period.

[@ourspacesinc]

@@CheveeDodd I’ve been on 20mg for 9 months. I’ve put on 27 pounds because of it and Im just and empty shell of a person walking around. It’s basically taken away all my bad symptoms of depression and anxiety but I need to get off of this medication to lose weight. Im gonna taper for the next two months

[@CheveeDodd]

I gained a fair bit too. I've since lost it all through intermittent fasting. I wish you luck going forward!

[@badlilbrawd0602]

I'm currently on 20mg of Prozac and haven't taken one in 3 days. I'm terrified of withdrawal but haven't experienced anything major yet. Idk how to essentially tapper bc it's the lowest dosage.

[@CheveeDodd]

Did you decide to stop on your own? Please consult with your doctor. This could be very dangerous!

[@badlilbrawd0602]

@@CheveeDodd I did. My appointment is on the 28th. I'm just SO ready to stop feeling content sitting in my room. From my research the half life of Prozac is 4-5 days, since I have not experienced anything negative as of yet I'm scared taking another one will just set me back from the progress I've made. On the other hand I'm scared of withdrawal

[@badlilbrawd0602]

@@CheveeDodd I just wanted to update. Went to Dr yesterday. They have told me to now move to taking one pill a week for 4 more weeks and then stop Full transparency I am also microdosing. Or should I say mini microdosing. Thanks again for the video. You really put how I feel into words.

[@CheveeDodd]

That's great! I'm glad you talked with the Dr and came to a good solution. How do you feel microdosing is helping? Is this something you talked with your dr about or something you decided to try on your own? I've been following the research on that and it seems super promising!

[@michimoreno4061]

I hate to bother but how did that taper work for you

[@CheveeDodd]

No bother at all! It went well. I was tired and a bit confused for the first week or two, but after things leveled out, it wasn't really noticeable. It took me about 3 full years to feel "right" again.

[@axel9546]

I plan to start SNRI in 1 month. This is my biggest quest... How would I be able to stop this medication, and if after I will feel as always I felt before taking the medication for the first time?

[@CheveeDodd]

I stopped about 3 years ago and it took me a long time... to feel "normal" and by normal, I mean that I am now my "old old self"... pre-depression and anxiety me.

[@axel9546]

@@CheveeDodd You experienced many version of You. Which is and will be the best in your opinion?

[@CheveeDodd]

I think my current version is the best. The medication helped me a great deal during some very difficult times, but that version of me was... muted. I had little joy, but I also wasn't anxious at all. Current me is able to feel joy AND anxiety, but the anxiety is at a much reduced level. My life went through some huge changes in the past 4 years, and that has been a large factor in why I decided to stop the medicine. I have a wonderful partner and supportive friends and I no longer feel trapped. That might be the bigger factor than the medication was

[@axel9546]

​@@CheveeDoddso even after all the negative things that the medication did, would you do it again?

[@CheveeDodd]

Yes. It was a very long decision before I started the medication and it was the right choice.

[@DeLuca101]

I saw in one comment you had a rough time going from 15 to 10 mgs. In the video you said you were going to try to reduce from 20 to 10. Did you have problems trying initially going from 20 to 10 ? Any quick info would help. Ty

[@CheveeDodd]

Yeah, I had some headaches for a few days and a general "foggy" feeling for a week or so. It wasn't that bad though. Pretty mild compared to the first taper .

[@rebel5634]

Taking fluvoxamine since last 5 years. Earlier I used to take Fluvoxetine since I was 7. I am trying to taper off Fluvoxamine 50mg. I successfully did it from 200 to 50 in last 2 years. Now the things are getting harder. The problem is that I can't get fluvoxamine in liquid form. It's not available in 25mg or lower doses either. Does this work if i try removing 6.25 every month ( i need to cut the pill into 8 pieces). I am really scared because I tried 50 to 0 in last 3 months before and failed. This time I am fixing 8 months for tapering for 50 to 0. Please advise if I can try any other method. Can I soak it in liquid myself and do that liquid tapering. I thought it is too complex and might be dangerous as well. Does going 6.25 off every month sounds doable? Please help.

[@CheveeDodd]

I'm not a doctor, so I'm not sure I can give you real advice. When I got down to the lower doses of lexapro, my Dr told me to cut the pills. That's what I did and it seemed to work for me. I've heard ~5-10mg a month is better than the fast taper I did, so that should be fine.

[@twilight4612]

How to taper paroxetine 10mg

[@FearsomeWarrior]

My dad killed himself in May. I started Lexapro a month after. I planned with doctor to go three months. I have a little over two weeks of pills left. Looks like I'm tagging along. I started following you before this happened. Glad I am following you. Kinda like you're my scout going ahead here. The sleep it causes when I've missed a day is very distressing. Really try not to forget but if I had errands or something out of way where I'm not home after work it happens. Never knew what was a better time of day to take. Morning, afternoon, with dinner, or before bed.

[@CheveeDodd]

The dreams are the weirdest. I'm not looking forward to those. Did you plan a tapering with your Dr? Sorry to hear about your father.

[@FearsomeWarrior]

Just going to cut the last 7 in half I think. I haven't had a dream since I was 10 years old. that I remember anyway.

[@patriciasara2205]

Hey how are you now?

[@santeenl]

Can you expect withdrawal after using for only 5mg?

[@warrenbates2949]

Yeah you will, better taper 2nd day panic, anxiety then insomnia,I restarted 3rd day.

[@seanneedham1019]

Hi I'm currently trying to taper from 20 mg fluoxetine after the new year any advice would be appreciated

[@CheveeDodd]

Have you talked to your Dr? I was at 20 when I started the taper and the only thing I can say is keep going. The first few weeks is okay. Maybe a bit of confusion, bit my taper from 15 to 10 was... Rough.

[@seanneedham1019]

@@CheveeDodd thanks mate keep in touch i start tommoow what did u get as in side effects?

[@Mama_Bear88]

I’m on Lexapro and have gained 45lbs. I need to taper off as well. How are you?

[@CheveeDodd]

I'm glad I decided to stop the medicine. It's been a long journey. I wish you the best! I'm doing really well. It's been 3 years and I can finally say I'm back to "normal", but a good new normal. Not the mess I was before I started the medication. I also started intermittent fasting 2 years ago and have lost about 40 lbs. (That I put on while on the medicine)

[@Mama_Bear88]

@@CheveeDodd glad to hear you’re doing good!

[@CheveeDodd]

Thanks so much Tiffany!

[@marks8759]

Thats a rapid taper

[@glamoc0000]

How long did it take for the libido to recover

[@CheveeDodd]

I didn't notice any significant change to my libido while on the medication.

[@garysimone4977]

CBD,, it is not the cure all,,,,rreason is we dont know the dosage or mg needed,,,,but worth a try

[@CheveeDodd]

I tried. No noticeable effect.

[@garysimone4977]

@@CheveeDodd try the thc but go very very slow.. it just started to help me

[@javi.r.acosta]

Qué tan bueno es el CBD?

[@garysimone4977]

It was a awful drug It does num you out

[@marysather4074]

Tooooo fast of a taper!

[@CheveeDodd]

You aren't the first person that has mentioned the taper length. I followed my Drs orders exactly. What sort of taper would you expect?

[@Radioactivestatic]

@@CheveeDodd tapering off should be done over a course over months ! Not one month or even two mouths.