How to Taper Psychiatric Medications (In 5 Minutes)

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[@livingunderachemicalinflue5849]

Still pinching myself that I did this taper solo over 5 years and got off my antidepressants completely after nearly 2 decades of physical dependency. The bloke is very accurate with his understanding of tapering percentages, holds during cuts and receptor occupancy as we go lower into our tapering schedules. Just wish if our local doctors and psychiatrists had this knowledge, would be a lot safer and cost effective for everyone out there in this incredibly tough journey.

[@MajICReiki]

The unfortunate part is 'they' profit from prescribing, so the incentive for cognitive dissonance is higher than the incentive for ethical medicine.

[@MollyBrown-f9i]

@@MajICReikiIt is called 'guaranteed return office visits $$$$' when a doctor prescribes benzo's (or opioids) for daily use. I told my doctor I wanted to taper after 20 yrs, that only lead to more appointments monthly. And she put a notation in my record that I was addicted, and all my prescriptions had to be screened by telehealth appointments for now on. Now I am charged for telehealth appointments every month for every prescription not just the benzo I am tapering from. Until telehealth said they were not comfortable with filling my benzo script because my doctor made a notation I was tapering and did not want anything to do with tapering patients. They left me high and dry and would not fill any prescriptions. My doctor got an earful, all she had to say was that is office policy. This completely broke what I thought was a relationship with my doctor. I have no confidence or trust in my doctor and stopped tapering. Told her it made tapering way too stressful which is counterproductive when tapering. In a blink of an eye I went from being a patient who was on a benzo to an addict and not to be trusted, which is what I feel about my doctor, not to be trusted.

[@traceyrychewhite1874]

It's wonderful to hear a Doctor who actually understands the Ashton Manual. Excellent information. Thank you

[@davidsplan4409]

OMG I prayed for this info today as my BP is out of control and resting heart rate 133. My nurse doctor know nothing.

[@JacquiQ]

He is on to it. I am half way through a long protracted taper with many set backs and many awful side effects. He knows what he is talking about. I started at 10 % of Diaz and it was too much. Had no warning of the possible side effects, they were traumatising. Just awful. Start small and slow.

[@Bethiegraceful]

Great information, but very disheartening that only the very wealthy can afford this type of treatment and guidance if you don’t want to go it alone. I’m not sure how many people can afford $3,500-$4,500 a month. Especially since a lot of people can’t work because they are in protracted withdrawal.

[@davidsplan4409]

He just answered my drama. This is as great as Dr. B ADDICTION videos.

[@MajICReiki]

That is very expensive for the majority who are targeted with medicine mismanagement and few resources to afford to recover. Scary to do it alone, without help. I don't recommend, but it can be done. ❤

[@mcb00]

You can get the same information online and hire a withdrawal coach or a supportive therapist that takes insurance if you need support

[@mcb00]

​@@MajICReikithe thing is, he can't really help you. He's going to do the basic updose/slow down he just described, because your body will dictate the pace. There's not much that can be done about withdrawal other than slowing down/holding and managing stress

[@MajICReiki]

@mcb00 oh! I know. I did my own over 15 years ago. There were no withdrawal coaches. Some supportive Therapists (psychologists) took insurance, but were not trained in anything withdrawal management, stress management yes.

[@DieHeartly]

How exactly do you taper 5 or 10 percent? It's a pill. Do you just measure and cut 5-10 percent of the end? I'm confused.

[@moontribetarot5343]

You're going to need a drug scale and either a razor or an exacto knife

[@juliadixon8465]

Crush it with a pestle, dissolve powder in 4 oz of water. Divide the water into doses. Worked for me with Klonopin

[@haileysmom2358]

I am grateful for the information.

[@ajax700]

If you want to know the same Josef knows search for Rxisk "guide stopping antidepressants" for tapering "antidepressants" drugs. And Ashton manual for tapering benzodiazepines. You will save a small fortune. Best wishes.

[@kata6966]

Is there a guide for antipsychotics?

[@i.ehrenfest349]

I tapered down from 60 mg escitalopram over 2 years. But when I arrived at around 7 mg, I went to pieces. Remained steadfast for several months, living very healthily, going to the gym almost every day. But it got so bad it was no longer responsible to go on. I so wish I could get off my ADs, but this episode has frightened me.

[@melissadawncoaching]

What if people don’t stabilize at any dose and also can’t function? Hold forever or cut anyway? Curious your thoughts

[@knowledgeos]

u r doing great work..

[@palm3rfishman]

the jumps in perspective (or framing?) make it much harder for this med-addled brain to follow. I'm seeing this a lot in videos now - is KZbin advising youtubers to do this? It's very hard on my sensory disregulation.

[@naimamarie4228]

I noticed you never really speak about tapering antipsychotics? Have you ever taken someone off antipsychotics? If so, how did you do it?

[@kata6966]

True. Not much on antipsychotics. I too need guidance on antipsychotics, Clozapine in particular. I hope the doctor replies to the comments.

[@surajjha1740]

​@@kata6966 Any suggestions? I am on risperidone 1 mg for 2 months for OCD and now I want to quit What percentage should I reduce in order to get no severe withdrawal symptoms?

[@4GSLmusic]

It’s going to be the same process. For all of it

[@fazoolbaatein8224]

I want guidance on tapering from antipsychotics too, specifically zyprexa.

[@titleb8594]

Clozapine?

[@JinKobayashiHearMe]

I've been on sertraline since 1998. Last year I lowered from the usual 75mg to 50mg while the Dr also prescribed buspirone at the same time. The withdrawals from the sertraline combined with the side effects from the buspirone was horrible and that was 14 months ago. I'm still feeling the effects some days are pretty rough. I was told in a Facebook group about protracted withdrawals that I should not lower again until I feel leveled out. I hope that I feel better soon . it comes in waves. A few.days feeling not so bad and then days of feeling depressed and anxious and feeling strong dread and hopelessness. Any suggestions?

[@MajICReiki]

I am so sorry that you're going through this! May I ask, did you ever feel level on those medications before deciding to taper?

[@mcb00]

Mindfulness may help with the anxiety. It helped me with the withdrawal anxiety from effexor. Also, support from individual and group therapy

[@Ycnan111]

@JinKobayashiH. How are you now?

[@GGShakes]

You are strong. You can do it.

[@gracegrace1896]

I can only do 5% reductions and I barely make it each time. No I’m not functioning. It’s awful.and I wait 3-6 weeks depending on how bad I feel. But anymore it’s so bad I don’t care. I have to get off. Last time I only waited 3 weeks. I don’t function at all.

[@elainaknibb6809]

I did the last one. Got down from 50mg to 10mg easy going down in 5mgs. Now I am having to liquid micro taper down the last 10mg. Tried the 10% reduction and it was too much.

[@adamwiseman6117]

Which ssri is this? And 10% of 10mg was too much to reduce by? How slow will you go?

[@lauriemtz8616]

Wow. That’s really slow tapering. How do cut a small pill by 2% etc. ?

[@user-wy5uu8gm4z]

HOw do you drop by 2 MG if you're taking a hard pill? IMpossible to cut it like that.....

[@jasonsenator6144]

They say its doctor shopping if i come in and ask for my medication back. I was in 6 mg clon. For about a decade. They cold turkeyed me and marked me as a drug seeker. All i did was say i have to work i can't pee on command. The nurses were very rude to me and they redflagged of that. Feels like im fight for my life 6 years later.

[@zephyrr108]

All I did was say I have to work I cant pee on command? What the hell are you talking about

[@jasonsenator6144]

​@zephyrr108 I got kicked off 80mg methadone and 6mg clonazepam after a decade because I couldn't pee on command. I had to get sent to the er the time before and had them painfully drain my bladder. ever since they marked me as a drug seeker so I couldn't get any benzos and have to pee to get on suboxone so they pushed me off really heavy medication and made it impossible to get help. the methadone was easy compared to the 6 year prolonged withdrawal from clonazepam. I just wish I was able to be on a smaller dose as the medication changed my brian so much I don't feel normal ever. all because a diagnosed bladder issue. I went off on them just said it like it is that I lost my dream job and family friends don't understand. so it's a lot from not being able to pee. I didn't abuse my meds and had nothing to hide and it's frustrating that they assumed I was trying to hide something when I truly could go.

[@instructoruldemeditatie2367]

So how do you taper by 10% when there are only pills not drops? 😊 These issues are wellknown and yet they are not bothering to make them in drop form . It's like they don't want to help people to taper ..

[@TE-7302-]

Big Pharma doesn’t want anyone to taper off their drugs. No money in that. Capitalism at its finest. 💩

[@youdontfoolmebro]

Yes, it is ridiculous! They don't care one single bit.

[@TE-7302-]

And, to answer your question: you buy a Gemini scale, a nail file, and spend hours each week cutting and weighing doses; basically become a home pharmacist. Or you could pay for compounding, which can be expensive. It’s infuriating that we have to do this ourselves.

[@youdontfoolmebro]

@@TE-7302- And if they find out we try to take responsibility on our own, they become infuriated and will blame us for every single problem that ever occured (even though it probably has to do with exactly the fact that pills are only in one-size-fits-all options).

[@JohnDoe-fc3nh]

Ok So, first you take a pill of your med. Let's say it has 2mg. Now, let's supposed you can divide it in two, or even four equal parts. You get 0.5mg for each. You take it and dilute it in a glass with 100ml of water in it, for instance. Mix it really well. Then, you determine the amount of milligrams for microdose intake. Let's suppose you wanna take 0.05mg. You convert it to ml, and then you get 10ml. Pick up a seringe and take 10ml from the glass. That's all.

[@DeniseHurd-qm7id]

A lot of the sickest people never stabilize are only partially stabilize after each cut

[@rosesRred2400]

That’s me 😢

[@anteg9084]

The 7 day hold doesn't protect one from the risk of protracted withdrawal though, right? It's too early to know... But I guess one can't wait 3mo-1y after each reduction to see if they will have protracted withdrawal from that reduction. But going slow enough one might let the protracted withdrawal catch up early enough to know that you are having this reaction and know for the rest of your taper (not sure what one does when one gets protracted withdrawal, if they need to re-instate to be safe or they can only ride it out for as long as it takes.... Haven't seen all the videos yet, if they talk about it).

[@Bethiegraceful]

I’m curious about drugs like Prozac where the half-life is longer. When I do tapers I don’t feel the withdrawals until almost a month later, so the 7 day hold doesn’t work for me.

[@mcb00]

​@@Bethiegracefulif it takes a month to get withdrawal, then space your cuts for 5 weeks..the point is to give your body enough time to tell you if it tolerated the cut, before cutting more

[@thisgirl5933]

Yeah, I thought about that. Nuts.

[@VaibhavSharma-x3p]

Hii i am from india can i also taper my mediccines please tell me

[@TheresaJacobs-f5e]

Hard to taper when you can’t get your meds . I’m afraid I’ll have a seizure getting off of Klonopin

[@NealGumpel]

Yes I moved to Tennessee and NOBODY and I mean nobody will help you. They will give you buckets of Seroquil but won't even listen

[@Elektra_7]

Great info

[@jennybobick5270]

How fast can I taper after only being on Lexapro for 6 weeks?

[@beatrizdickens6183]

Help! My son was misdiagnost and I would like him to taper, he said he would do it but he does not, how to convince it!!!! I wonder if meds already screw him!!

[@joefarrow1599]

Hi can you do Lithium tapering schedule?

[@Impaled_Onion-thatsmine]

I just cut the tablet in half as directed for a period after abrupt cancelation of effexor. The diagnosis Is in the remission itself.

[@KFlow-ox2yi]

Thank you so much again!

[@gabriellemorellisinger1608]

I wanted to join the waitlist for your group???

[@rockyarora2008]

Thank you. I need your help to taper duloxetine. I have dizziness and my head spins. I can't even get off the bed. My tinnitus is always there. I am on 20mg of duloxetine grom 3 years.

[@stevio8865]

Hey. Have you been on 20 mg all the time? If you're having withdrawal symptoms when tapering down to zero, you could try to go to your psychiatrist/neurologist to prescribe you fluoxetine as it has a really long half-life. So that could help to taper down itself. You can also try medication to ease your withdrawal symptoms, for example, dimenhydrinate for nausea and dizziness.

[@timcepin3386]

If someone took two doses of a medication such as Rexulti, does he or she need to taper off the aforementioned medication?

[@4GSLmusic]

Not typically.

[@athena5862]

How do you taper off of vrylar. There are only 4 doses and they are only in capsule form which is ar least 25%. How do they expect you to taper.

[@4GSLmusic]

Get your dr to order to a compounding pharmacy and do a liquid taper. It’s a lot easier and the same dose cuts apply. Not more than 10% for most people every 4-6 weeks. 5-10% is a general starting point. Some can come down quicker at that reduction every 2-4 weeks. All of these drugs can be tapered in the same way. When you’ll know it’s too big of a reduction and too quickly is when you experience symptoms that aren’t just annoying or uncomfortable, but debilitating. This is when you go back up to the last dose and slow the taper if you can’t wait until restabilizing. This is very doable. Find a compounding pharmacy.

[@johnflynn2109]

Extreme excersise

[@sarasmile5274]

Are u saying extreme exercise will help with tapering off and the depression itself?

[@johnflynn2109]

@@sarasmile5274 yes + sunshine

[@sarasmile5274]

@@johnflynn2109 im in the danger zone cause i am lazy asf

[@naeemakhtar442]

Its just a theory how you taper 10 % if minimum 12mg per tablet?

[@john-o2e6h]

How can I taper off 2.5mg of valium at night and in the morning please

[@magicaree]

How are people cutting 5% of a tablet??

[@kristeandreatujague7016]

Some use a file and a scale like a jewel scale to check the weight.

[@mcb00]

You make liquid or buy it liquid form

[@europeanamerican]

Fingernail file with scale set on grams.

[@nitpm8088]

This is interesting. ! Will try it.

[@VaibhavSharma-x3p]

Hii i am from India can i also do taper my psychiatric medicine olanzapine

[@ancabostinariu6550]

With Effexor the tapering is easy if one opens the capsule and counts the granules and then figures out how many can be taken off evey week to avoid sy of withdrawal

[@KeishaKiger]

I have been taking 75 mg of FXR for two years and I’m wanting to get off of it or at least lower it so for the past four days I’ve been taking out 13 balls cause I thought that was 10% but is it fine to just take a bigger jump with that bigger dose and then go extremely slow later or am I on the right path feel free to give me any detailed information I greatly appreciate appreciate it

[@RoseyPosey545]

I wondered about that. Have you used that method to get off Effexor?

[@KeishaKiger]

@@RoseyPosey545 yes it’s actually worked really well. I do a 10% drop about every 10 days. I started out with 208 beats and now I’m down to 133.

[@ancabostinariu6550]

I told my patients to do that. It took a long time but it worked

[@lindabown7810]

I have been on 300mg of Effexor-XR for over 15 years, I take two 150mg capsules a day, there are 12 tiny pills in each capsule (generic brand) I started by taking 6 pills out for the first two weeks and now I have took two more pills out, I’ll do this for another two weeks and so on, I can’t wait to be off this drug I don’t feel I have any emotions and get no enjoyment from anything in life 😢

[@Thebellreve]

I’m so done with Wellbutrin. It lost its effect

[@Uma921]

Comment to boost.

[@empressafiya9022]

It sounds like you can only taper properly with a liquid form cause you can't possibly cut pills with accuracy with a 5% to 10% reduction.

[@tammy4760]

This email does bot work. How do i get ahold of this dr?

[@bhadresh1135]

❤

[@XenoTravis]

Don't list to the comments saying it is expensive. That is excuse to keep taking the medicine that is hurting you. Diazepam is very cheap. The helper medicine is also very cheap. Apply for Medicaid and have your doctor say you are indeed disabled and need the insurance

[@renekukard9279]

No!!!! I did it without a Dr. !!!!!! All by myself. Using an emery board, filing down very little over 18 months. I didn’t know about %. I simply filed tiny bits off. Sleeping pills, antidepressants as well as benzodiazepines.

[@Me-fs5mi]

Kriss Reese, Tim fletcher

[@arvindize]

👍🏽

[@makeamericakateagain]

Im so confused

[@beansncornbred2576]

Deleting comments I see so you can keep up your hustle on the sick and disadvantaged I see huh Doc?

[@sendalisrondansalazar6079]

❤❤❤❤❤

[@CreativeRecipeswithKaren]

Blah blah blah

[@VaibhavSharma-x3p]

Hii i am from India can i also do taper my psychiatric medicine olanzapine