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Renegade8
Niggar please
Registered: 10/11/03
Posts: 386
Loc: Orange County
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal?
#3674972 - 01/24/05 10:04 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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A friend of mine is getting off Paxil and having some wicked withdrawal symptoms, so I suggested she try taking 5-HTP for a few days. I know it helps with post-E depression and it seems to help me sleep, but has anyone here used it to get off antidepressants?
-------------------- I'm just see-through faded, super jaded, and out of my mind. - R.I.P. Layne
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blink
eye of horus
Registered: 03/31/02
Posts: 11,349
Loc: Geographic Location (Stat...
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: Renegade8]
#3675057 - 01/24/05 10:12 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
Renegade420 said: A friend of mine is getting off Paxil and having some wicked withdrawal symptoms, so I suggested she try taking 5-HTP for a few days. I know it helps with post-E depression and it seems to help me sleep, but has anyone here used it to get off antidepressants?
1) She should consult his doctor, and slowly lower the dosage of her medication under that supervision and let the doctor know if she plans on taking any supplements to her medication like 5HTP 2) It might help a bit, but the withdrawl might not be strictly due to serotonin being metabolized by reuptake. You might want to consider that the action of the drug is not directly related to her symptoms, perhaps it's the drug itself. 3) 5-HTP is metabolized to 5-HT (serotonin) so this might help if 2 is wrong. YMMV and have her talk to her doctor! edit: he/she his/hers
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Edited by blinkidiot (01/24/05 10:14 PM)
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fresh313
journeyman
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: blink]
#3676598 - 01/25/05 07:59 AM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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yeah, just taper off the SSRI, go a lower dosage every day for 2 weeks, quitting ssri's cold turkey aint the way to go
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crazyman
Brass or Steel
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: Renegade8]
#3678001 - 01/25/05 01:50 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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SSRI medication should definitely be tapered off of much like any benzodiazepine...... I took Welbutrin for 6 months a few years back, and then quit abruptly.... I had a seizure and extreme apathy and depression for a week or so after wards...... Even though most anti depressants are non-narcotic, they should be treated with the same precautions as one would with alcohol, benzos, or opiates.. Gradually lower the dosage... 5-HTP or melatonin should ease any withdrawal symptoms. If the symptoms get worse, see a doctor ASAP! Anti depressants may seem benign, but they really are not to be taken lightly.
-------------------- I want to live in Northern Exposure. Ed Chigliak would be my pal.
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Society
Mmmm... pizza
Registered: 07/03/04
Posts: 14,303
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: crazyman]
#3678197 - 01/25/05 02:26 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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SSRI's should be deleted off the surface of the Earth.
-------------------- Delicious Pizza
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fresh313
journeyman
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: Society]
#3678258 - 01/25/05 02:34 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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i second that reject doctors can keep thier seratonin syndrome
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BloodNOil
Captain Zeep
Registered: 10/08/03
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: fresh313]
#3678330 - 01/25/05 02:47 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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hmmm... how bout some real electrical shocks so that the withdrawal symptoms don't conflict with reality?
just playing. i've done the paxil thing before, too. best way, besides tapering off, is to just hang in there for a couple weeks, imo. why treat a chemical dependency with another chemical?
-------------------- It's like a koala bear crapped a rainbow in my brain!
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fresh313
journeyman
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: BloodNOil]
#3678371 - 01/25/05 02:54 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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to make pharmaceutical companies filthy rich
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Society
Mmmm... pizza
Registered: 07/03/04
Posts: 14,303
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: BloodNOil]
#3678571 - 01/25/05 03:41 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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Quote:
BloodNOil said: electrical shocks
Man.. I had some electrical pulses running through my brain when I quit taking Lexapro. During withdrawal I entered such a state of panicky lethargy that I just laid on the the ground, closed my eyes, and decided I'd just accept the fact I was going to die very soon.
SSRI's worsened my depression, killed my secks drive, and apparently created some seemingly-permanent, severe anxiety problems.
Sorry to stray off topic, but I'm taking an SSRI (Lexapro) once again out of desperation and once again it has failed. I'm going to taper off regardless of what the psychiatrist and authorities say. I'm interested in this 5-HTP chemical... how is it obtained and what exactly does it do?
St. John's Wort is where it's at.
-------------------- Delicious Pizza
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crazyman
Brass or Steel
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: Society]
#3679305 - 01/25/05 06:45 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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Homeopathically speaking, St. John's Wort can work, otherwise it's more of a placebo. 5-HTP can be acquired at any health food store... Kinda pricey, but perhaps worth more than St. John's Wort.
-------------------- I want to live in Northern Exposure. Ed Chigliak would be my pal.
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browndustin
dustybuddy
Registered: 10/03/03
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: crazyman]
#3679384 - 01/25/05 07:04 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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I wouldn't take anything else that'd mess with my seritonen, no way in hell. Tell her to let her body do it the natural way. Let her ween herself off of the ssri's, as it can be a hell of a bumpy ride!!
I was only on a 10mg (or 20mg, can't remember) dose of celexa, one of the more popular ssri's where I live. It's supposedly one of the more "mild" ssri's. Absolute horse shit. Some people are much more sensitive to some drugs, and I damn near vomitted to death when I came off of that shit. Almost contemplated suicide many times, but was too physically weak to commit myself to the act, thank fucking god.
Best thing you can do is be there for your friend. If she likes marijuana, perhaps find some realllly dank buds and let her take only a hit or two when she needs to. I was so messed up for a week or so that I didn't think of ganja until the whole ordeal was almost over. It completely subdued the migraines and nausea, but don't smoke too much at all. I'm just warning because it's really hard to know how drugs are going to interact with different people in different situations. Take care
-------------------- When the stress burns my brain it's like acid raindrops maryjane is the only thing that makes the pain stop
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crazyman
Brass or Steel
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: Renegade8]
#3679882 - 01/25/05 08:47 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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And yes. Your doctor should have definitely ascribed you to taper off, and if he did so, he/she should have given you a method to do so.....SSRI's are not a joke. They can temporarily alter your brain/serotonin chemistry terribly for up to 3 months after discontinuation of usage.
-------------------- I want to live in Northern Exposure. Ed Chigliak would be my pal.
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Renegade8
Niggar please
Registered: 10/11/03
Posts: 386
Loc: Orange County
Last seen: 15 years, 6 months
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: crazyman]
#3680843 - 01/25/05 11:16 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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Yeah, I agree with everyone that she should have talked to the doctor or, at the very least, tried to taper off on her own. Unfortunately, this was a spur of the moment decision that she made independently and is now suffering the consequences. I didn't even find out about it until a week of no meds had gone by or I could have warned her about the dangers of quitting cold turkey.
That's a good point about not introducing another chemical into her system, but it has seemed to help over the last 2 days and now she can taper off the 5-HTP like she should have done in the first place.
Thanks for all the quick replies.
-------------------- I'm just see-through faded, super jaded, and out of my mind. - R.I.P. Layne
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browndustin
dustybuddy
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: Renegade8]
#3691617 - 01/27/05 10:58 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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Good to know that things aren't overwhelming for her!! You're a good friend
-------------------- When the stress burns my brain it's like acid raindrops maryjane is the only thing that makes the pain stop
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Society
Mmmm... pizza
Registered: 07/03/04
Posts: 14,303
Loc:
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: browndustin]
#3702546 - 01/30/05 02:25 PM (19 years, 1 month ago) |
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In all honesty, I think quitting Lexapro "cold turkey" permanently screwed me up. Horrible anxiety ever since I quit.
-------------------- Delicious Pizza
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some1whoisntme
Stranger
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: Society]
#4990403 - 11/28/05 04:12 PM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
SocietyRejects said:
Quote:
BloodNOil said: electrical shocks
Man.. I had some electrical pulses running through my brain when I quit taking Lexapro. During withdrawal I entered such a state of panicky lethargy that I just laid on the the ground, closed my eyes, and decided I'd just accept the fact I was going to die very soon.
SSRI's worsened my depression, killed my secks drive, and apparently created some seemingly-permanent, severe anxiety problems.
Sorry to stray off topic, but I'm taking an SSRI (Lexapro) once again out of desperation and once again it has failed. I'm going to taper off regardless of what the psychiatrist and authorities say. I'm interested in this 5-HTP chemical... how is it obtained and what exactly does it do?
St. John's Wort is where it's at.
I JUST got off Lexapro, and let me tell you, it was 3 months of hell. I totally know how you feel. I keep thinking I want to go back on lexapro, but I REALLY hate that drug. I was on too high of a dosage (20mg) and it made me VERY violent... I'd freak out about little things and even threatened someone very close to me with a baseball bat... luckily she ran away... some very scary experiences which I throughly regret. Once I got down to 10mg I was back to normal, then I swore to never take that mania-inducing crap again. Yuck! Hang in there.
-------------------- "Ignore the distortion you're forced to percieve and believe that what supercedes is love, but who agrees?"
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some1whoisntme
Stranger
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: some1whoisntme]
#4990413 - 11/28/05 04:15 PM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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Oh, sorry for resurrecting this thread... I thought the date said 11, not 01.
-------------------- "Ignore the distortion you're forced to percieve and believe that what supercedes is love, but who agrees?"
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headset
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: crazyman]
#4990437 - 11/28/05 04:22 PM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
crazyman said: SSRI's are not a joke. They can temporarily alter your brain/serotonin chemistry terribly for up to 3 months after discontinuation of usage.
celexa messed me up for 8 months to a year after discontinued use.
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compman
Stranger
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: headset]
#4995979 - 11/29/05 08:04 PM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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SocietyRejects, I know exactly how you feel bro. I came off Effexor cold turkey, boy did things change for me after that. All the typical horror story type symptoms (electric shocks, extreme depression/anxiety, depersonalization, etc) havn't really been the same person since. what I miss most is laughter...I havn't had a REAL laugh (ie, not faked) in about 2 years...which was when I was on effexor and had a acip trip...oh to go back in time.
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namesash
Guntotindemonslayer
Registered: 04/07/04
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Re: Will 5-HTP help with SSRI withdrawal? [Re: compman]
#5003838 - 12/01/05 07:16 PM (18 years, 3 months ago) |
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You guys have got it all wrong. You are trying the wrong SRRI's. Lexapro, Celexa, Paxil, and Effexor are too powerful. Try something like Prozac or Zoloft.
Zoloft saved my life, no shit. I'd be in some mental institution w/o it.
-------------------- "Where's your will to be weird?" -jimmy morrison
Edited by namesash (12/01/05 07:17 PM)
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