As some of you will know, after the discussion in the chatroom the other night, I have been trying to come of the evil SEROXAT.

Just to let you know that the advice about coming off it really slowly was indeed valuable. Like a fool, I tried to come off it all in the space of one week!

Consequently, I had an awful panic attack during my Psychology exam this morning and had to walk out.

Needless to say, I have been to the doctor's and am now back on it. I shall now try again but over a period of weeks, if not months.

No problem with my exam: I will resit it in June.

Silly bugger I am.

Any advice or help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi Sam
Sorry to hear it got to you today of all days, but at least you now know what's going to happen if you try coming off it too quickly.
I hope your doctor is supportive of you, and I am sure you will get lot's of support on here.
The bottom line is that if the tablets keep you on an even keel just keep taking them until the time is right for you to come off them. Good luck in whatever you feel is right for you.
owdlad

Thanks, owdlad. Thanks for the pm, too. I just sent you one back.

The thing is with SEROXAT, I was originally told by my doctor that they were not addictive, and therefore relatively easy to come off.

How wrong. I would never have started on them in the first place had I known the conseqeunces.

Cheers

Excuse my ignorance but what is SEROXAT?

I chose to come off fuloxitine against the doctors wishes a few years ago and never looked back. I reduced my dose gradually over a period of 3 weeks. It was really an awakening to start feeling my emotions again without the numbness I had become used to. I appreciated the good and bad feelings. It was quite an experience that changed my outlook on life and the way I feel. 3 years on and I'm still a content bunny that loves the people around him.

Originally posted by Dirk Diggler
Excuse my ignorance but what is SEROXAT?

Here ya lazy bugga

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/2310197.stm

:thumbsup:

Originally posted by Dirk Diggler
Excuse my ignorance but what is SEROXAT?

SSRI Anti depressant (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor)

Originally posted by Dirk Diggler
Excuse my ignorance but what is SEROXAT?

It's an anti depressant.

Some brief info/background and useful links here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/panorama/2310197.stm

Nomme

Hi Sam,

Sorry you had such a bad experience there - however, don't let it put you off coming off Seroxat altogether. Like you said, just take it slower next time.

You might also find that watching your diet, etc. during the coming off is a good idea. Keeping the blood sugar levels stable will help mood anyway.

Also, watch your calendar - do it when there's NOT an examination coming up...:(

Take care, and hang on in there - you'll get it sorted.

joe

Originally posted by Sam Miguel
Thanks, owdlad. Thanks for the pm, too. I just sent you one back.

The thing is with SEROXAT, I was originally told by my doctor that they were not addictive, and therefore relatively easy to come off.

How wrong. I would never have started on them in the first place had I known the conseqeunces.

Cheers

I'm not sure if they are addictive. but you do rely on them. is that the same thing?

He was wrong saying that they were easy to come off. no ADs are easy to come off

Wow cheers for the info Nomme and Owdlad.

I was once prescribed fluroxatine (sp?) due to some home life situation which was affecting me.
I chose not to start taking it because the doctor said I'd have been on it 6 months minimum.

I battle through the time and although it was hardI'm glad I didn't start taking it.

I appreciate that for some it is a requirement that they're glad of taking - I really hope everything works out for you Sam Miguel (I know it will).

I can honestly say I'd never heard of SEROXAT prior to this thread, my quack never mentioned it at the time.

All the best Sam.

Seroxat has a half life in the body of about 24 hours (within 24 hours, half the drug will have left your body in some way, and so on every 24 hours).

Fluoexetine (Prozac) Has a half life of something like 21 days.

This means you can stop taking fluoexetine much more easily, because you don't experience a sudden crash, like you do when you stop seroxat cold.

These drugs are not addictive, in the sense that they reinforce habitual behaviour, it's just that they are mood elevators that work on some pretty misty principles, not yet really pinned down.

And when you have been taking them for any length of time, there is a considerable gulf between your current state of mind, and what it would be without the drugs in your system.

The higher you are (with these drugs at least), the harder the crash when you stop. But with prozac the crash is drawn out over a month so you barely notice it. With Seroxat, its much more sudden, as you discovered. Did your doctor not warn you against stopping suddenly?

Do you know, you lot: I feel better already!!

Lovely stuff.

I'll laugh at that exam situation eventually!!!

When you put things into perspective, it doesn't really matter does it?

Thanks, Phan. Very useful. The half life info explains a hell of a lot!

My doctor told me to take a tablet every other day for a week, and then just stop altogether.

I know, I know....

...I may go round to see my doctor and insert a large garden gnome in him.

Interesting stuff phan as usual. I've just remembered it wasn't fluoxitine I came off, i had changed to amitriptyline a few months earlier. Any info on that? I know it's tricyclic anti depressant.

There was a scandal about seroxat recently. They original trials showed it was addictive, and they decided not to include that on the information they presented to the FDA.

They've changed it all recently, and the new packaging and advice leaflets do say it's addictive. A lot of people in the UK version of the FDA (sorry, I forget the name) have quit in protest over it.

Dodgy business.

My other half has been trying to come off it for a few years now and has a wealth of knowledge and info about it.
There are quite a few forums and websites offering advice and support that she knows about.
Send me your email and i will pass it on if you want.

I would ask your doctor to give you the liquid version of seroxat (it's typically 10mg per 5ml) and drop it by about 5mg per week. I know that sounds slow and on a typical 20mg will take a month to come off but better that than the nasty side effects of stopping dead. Be aware of some of the side effects you may get (sleep disturbance, visual disturbances, anxiety, headaches) as knowing they are side effects can be helpfull. Also make sure your eating a good ballanced diet and try and do some regular exercise to help raise your endorphin levels :)

There are some scary stats concerning some of the SSIR`s, but I really hope what choice you make is the comfortable one.

Hey there San Miguil.

As an ex Saraxat user I can tell you that on several occasions I tried to stop using Saraxat and it was pure hell.

For reasons I did not understand I would burst into tears even at work, there were times I thought of suicide as a better option to life and not knowing that it was withdrawl symtems I had no way to stop the feelings I was having.

I know 3 other people who had the same problems and every one of them tried to self harm, what was worst was that friends and family had no idea what was going on so they just thought I had lost the plot, which I had, but didnt know why.

There are some strong ugres that go through you whilst with drawing from saraxat and you will need all the strength you can muster up to get through it unscathed, let the people around you you know that you are quitting and also let them know what could happen to your behaviour patterns, there seems to be alot of aggression through withdrawel as well so this can be a huge problem.

I will not go in to the reasons , but I lost a lot of friends when I came off saraxat, it changed me in to some one I am not untill I had it completely out of my system.

If you wanna know more you can PM me.


Good luck

Originally posted by Sam Miguel
Thanks, Phan. Very useful. The half life info explains a hell of a lot!

My doctor told me to take a tablet every other day for a week, and then just stop altogether.

I know, I know....

...I may go round to see my doctor and insert a large garden gnome in him.

A classic Fawlty Towers line. :D :lol:

I took citalopram for a year, and I've been on efexor xl for over a year now they both haven't made any differnce whatsoever.
It ****** me off

Originally posted by Sony
I took citalopram for a year, and I've been on efexor xl for over a year now they both haven't made any differnce whatsoever.
It ****** me off

I tried citalapram and it never did much for me either, the 1st one I ever used was amatryptelene and that chilled me out but they were a friends and I was young so I guess that doesnt count.

The first anti depressant that a doctor gave me was Prozac, and it worked for a year but affected my sex drive so I came off it, and was ok for a while, but when I was given it again it did not seem to work so I ended up on citalopram which did not work either, so then I ended up on seroxat which gave me a constant hangover feeling and got me completely bladdered when I had a drink, there were some good reactions as well but I would say that the withdrawell is the worst and would never recommend this drug to any body, in fact it should be taken off the market.

When I was coming off seroxat I was so depressed that I had to go on another anti depressant to counter the reactions I was having so the doctor prescribed lustral and this drug was terrible I had constant night mares and weird urges that were not me at all,(may be this was the symptoms from saroxat withdrawell) I guess the best advice is not to use antidepresants until you know why your depressed, untill you know this you will get no where because the anxiety and depression will still be there after the tablets have gone.

If Im honest I think that my doctor would have given me anything just to get rid of me and on to his next patient, so he put me on a cocktail of drugs which in the end did me more damage than good. Also there where three doctors in my surgery and I did not always see the same one, to be honest they did not help me very much and never told me that what I was feeling could be withdrawell symptoms.

I think after the experiences I have had over the last few years I will never use an antidepressant again.

jon

Seroxat does have a habit of making you feel half asleep - when I was on it a few years ago I told my doctor I thought its success as an antidepressant stemmed only from the fact that you were either a) asleep or b) too tired to feel down. I actually ended up being hospitalised so I don't really remember how I came off it. I think I probably just stopped taking it and in the midst of everything else the withdrawal effects went unnoticed for what they were! I guess the only advice I can give you is to echo previous posts and say take it slowly, ask your doctor to reduce the strength of the tablets, take those for a while and then start taking them every other day and so on. Good luck :thumbsup:

PS. Could you get a medical note for your exam?

Yeah, it looks like I am back at square one. The funny thing was last Autumn I was feeling brilliant then Xmas knocked me back.

It was foolish to try to come off them at such a critical timer.

Yes, I may be able to get a medical note for my examination.

I'll enquire aboyut this, but to be honest, it's really the last of my worries.

I am thinking of writing an article for NEW SCIENTIST:

"Why Worry About Taking a Psychology Exam?

[i]Michael Simmonite explains how doing a runner can sometimes be the better option."[i/]

LOL!!

Yeah, it looks like I am back at square one. The funny thing was last Autumn I was feeling brilliant then Xmas knocked me back.

It was foolish to try to come off them at such a critical timer.

Yes, I may be able to get a medical note for my examination.

I'll enquire about this, but to be honest, it's really the last of my worries.

I am thinking of writing an article for NEW SCIENTIST:

"Why Worry About Taking a Psychology Exam?

Michael Simmonite explains how doing a runner can sometimes be the better option."

LOL!!

they can make you see double, too!

LOL, sorry about that. Nice reply.

For some it can lead to self harm and even suicide. But little warning of these possible side effects accompanies the drug.

it really makes me wonder... isn't the whole idea of anti-depressants to try and help these things NOT to happen? and to help recover from emotional problems?

it's as bad as painkillers, take them to get rid of headaches and one of the possible side affects "may cause headaches"... lol

I was on anti depressants last year, cant remember which one... but I was only on them for a month or two, mainly cus I wasn't sleeping at all... due to a few personal things all happening at the same time and messing me all up :(

good luck with coming off them mate! doctors are all happy to give anyone pills but when you need to come off them they're full of bad advice usually