Chapter 10
Time Release Antidepressant Pre-Taper
Please Note: This pre-taper is for individuals taking a time-release antidepressant.
Your brand may be called; extended release sustained release or any other name
that means the antidepressant will metabolize slowly, over an extended period of
time.
Starting Your Pre-Taper
If you have not read the entirety of Chapter Six “General Pre-Taper and Taper
Instructions,” please do so before continuing with this chapter. Reading and
understanding the Chapter “General Pre- Taper and Taper Instructions” is vital
before starting the pre-taper.
You may already be in withdrawal before you found The Road Back Program.
Please hang in there; relief can come very quickly for you. Most people are never
able to get off an antidepressant due to the head symptoms that are common with
reducing this type of medication and the larger percentage of reduction that must
be done because of the availability of dosages. It is too common to have
reductions of 25% or more because the drugs only come in those dosages.
Your pre-taper is a little different than for an immediate release antidepressant.
The American Medical Association now acknowledges at least 10% of the people
that try to get off an antidepressant will not be successful due to the withdrawal
side effects. The 10% is probably higher with a time-release antidepressant. We
want you to know this so you know it is not just you. Sorry to say, most physicians
have never read the AMA report on antidepressant withdrawal and they have not
realized that 1 out of every 10 of their patients they have prescribed an
antidepressant to will have this withdrawal problem unless they begin doing
something differently.
Head side effects are the ones that stop most people from being able to get off an
antidepressant. An electrical brain zap, dizziness and other head symptoms are the
problem. For The Road Back, these debilitating head side effects are easy to stop
and stop quickly. If you have not started to taper the antidepressant yet, using this
Antidepressant Pre-taper should stop the head symptoms from even starting. If you
have already started to taper the antidepressant and have these head symptoms, the
right type of omega 3 fish oil will get you back on your feet quickly.
The supplements required for the time-release antidepressant program are the JNK
Formula, Omega 3 Supreme, Neuro Day and Neuro Night.
It’s a good idea to take 200 to 400 i.u. of vitamin E when taking an omega 3 fish
oil each day.
Make sure to keep your Daily Journal up-to-date and use graphs so you can
visually see the changes taking place with you.
What to do:
1.
Get with your prescribing physician and/or pharmacist and layout your drug
taper schedule.
1.
Plan out the second and third reduction of the medication as well at this
point to ensure you are ready with the correct dosages of the drug.
Once you have read all of the pre-taper section proceed to Chapter 15, “How to
Taper Antidepressants” and fully read it as well.
The Pre-Taper:
For the next 7-days you will be doing your pre-taper. You do not reduce your
antidepressant during the pre-taper, but, to state again, this is the time to also plan
out the reduction phase of the drug which starts after the seven days of the pre-
taper are completed.
Goal of Antidepressant Pre-taper
If anxiety is present, have it eliminated
If fatigue is present, have it eliminated
If flu like symptoms are present, have them eliminated
If depression is present, have it eliminated
Eliminate all other antidepressant side effects
Set up the body correctly to eliminate potential withdrawal symptoms.
The goal of the pre-taper may seem unobtainable to you at this moment, but after
you experience a day to two of taking the supplements used with this program, you
should begin to experience the changes we suggest will happen. It is not out of
character for people to feel as though they are no longer even on an antidepressant
as all side effects vanish quickly.
Supplements You Will Take:
JNK Formula Neuro Day
Omega 3 Supreme, Neuro Night
Anxiety or Insomnia
The JNK Formula and Neuro Day are formulated to address these symptoms.
Fatigue
If you have fatigue, the JNK Formula and Omega 3 Supreme may handle those. A
good night of sleep won’t hurt either!
DAY ONE Action:
Rate your daytime anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia and other side effects. Use the
Daily Journal and rate anxiety, sleep and any additional symptoms you may be
experiencing from 1 to 10. Rate with number 10 being the worst and number 1
being no side effect or symptom remaining.
Rate the previous night’s sleep first thing the next morning. Rate the daytime
anxiety just before bedtime of that day.
If you take the antidepressant first thing in the morning, take the medication as
normal and 1 hour later take the morning supplements.
How to do the Pre-Taper Supplements:
JNK – Take 1 capsule of the JNK Formula in the morning and 1 in the afternoon.
You can take with or without food.
Omega 3 Supreme – Take 2 Omega 3 Supreme in the morning and 2 more at
noon.
Vitamin E – Take 1 vitamin E along with the Omega 3 Supreme in the morning.
Neuro Day – Take 1 capsule 1 or 2 hours after the morning JNK. Take the second
roughly 4-5 hours later.
Neuro Night – Take 1 capsule 15-minutes before bedtime.
You can adjust these supplements around during the daytime, except for the
Omega 3 Supreme. Morning and noon is the best with the omega.
Don’t be shy about adjusting the supplements to fit your own needs. This is the
beautiful thing about these new formulas.
Just keep the JNK Formula and the Neuro Day to; only 1 capsule at a time of each
and at least 3 hours apart.
Neuro Night – 15-minutes before bedtime take 1 capsule. If sleep has not
improved within 3 days try taking the capsule 1 hour before bedtime
Fatigue:
If you have fatigue, the JNK Formula and Omega 3 Supreme should help.
How to Adjust the Supplements if Needed:
JNK Formula – The first capsule in the morning is ideal. If you find you respond
better to the Neuro Day in the morning though, take the Neuro Day first. Just no
more than 1 capsule at a time of the JNK Formula and at least 3 hours apart. No
more than 2 capsules in a day.
Neuro Day – Take an hour after the morning JNK Formula to begin. Adjust it
around to fit you though. Just no more than 1 capsule at a time, at least 3 hours
apart and no more than 2 capsules taken during the day.
Neuro Day is formulated to be taken 2 times a day, starting in the morning and
twice more during the day 5 hours apart. So, 1 capsule in the morning, 5 hours later
another capsule and another capsule again in 5 hours.
You may only need 1 capsule of the Neuro Day. Base the need for the second
capsule on how you feel. Believe me, you will know!
Omega 3 Supreme – All head symptoms, except headaches, when coming off an
antidepressant are handled by the Omega 3 Supreme TG. If you are feeling any
symptoms in the head, increase the Omega 3 Supreme to 2 softgels in the morning
and 2 additional softgels at noon. If symptoms persist after this increase, raise the
amount of Omega 3 Supreme to 5 softgels in the morning and 5 at noon. A few
people have needed to increase to 6 softgels in the morning and at noon to get the
head symptoms under control. Once the head symptoms are back under control
reduce the Omega 3 Supreme back down to the 3 softgels in the morning and the 3
softgels at noon. Check with your doctor before increasing the Omega 3 fish oil if
you are taking heart medication or blood pressure medication.
Neuro Night – Start by taking 1 capsule 15 minutes before bedtime. If you are not
going to sleep with ease by the end of the third night, try taking the Neuro Night a
little earlier in the evening.
You might try 30 minutes or even 45 minutes before bedtime.
There will be that time that fits you perfectly. The Neuro Night is formulated to
work the best with the Neuro Day being used during the daytime. Going to bed
already chilled out makes sleep so much easier.
Finishing the Pre-Taper
Do the pre-taper for 7-full days. Do not cut the pre-taper short no matter how well
you may feel after a few days. Give your body a chance to balance, give yourself
the chance to fully experience relief before you tackle the reduction of the
antidepressant.
If you wish to stay on the pre-taper for an extended time, that is fine to do,
many have. You may have experienced extreme trauma the last time you tried to
get off the antidepressant and the apprehension you may feel now is normal, not a
mental disorder. This is your time; do not let yourself get rushed by your
physician or by the information in this book. The drug manufacturer, the F.D.A.,
and even the American Medical Association state a gradual reduction of the
medication is required. We cannot stress enough, take your time. This is when the
tortoise beats the hare to the finish line.