In Withdrawal
If you are currently in withdrawal from your medication, there are a few things you must do. The first and most important is to get stable again. How to Get Stable Again
Going back up to the last dosage of the medication you felt fine at is what you would do. If you are at 10mg dosage now and all was fine with you at 20mg, go back up to the 20mg. Don’t feel like you are losing ground by doing that. Ultimately, you are going to save yourself a lot of time and physical or mental pain. The Guidelines for Tapering
Reduce the medication slowly and gradually. If side effects begin and those side effects are too strong, go back to the last dosage you were doing well and remain at that dosage until you feel very stable again. When you decide to continue tapering again, do so at a slower pace.
Antidepressants
If you are getting a side effect known as “brain Zaps” you need to go to your local store and buy some omega 3 fish oil. Look on the back of the label and choose one with the highest amount of EPA per softgel you can find. Hopefully, you can find one with 400mg of the EPA in each softgel. You will need to take 4 softgels at once. Most of the time it only takes a dosage that high to get rid of the brain zaps. If they get less but still present, take another 4 softgels about 6 hours later. Once the brain zaps are going you can reduce the omega 3 to 2 softgels a day.
The next time you are going to reduce the medication, 3 days before you do that, increase the amount of omega 3 fish oil again. That action should stop the brain zaps from even starting when you reduce again.
You need to educate yourself a little before you continue tapering. The bestselling book, How to Get Off Psychoactive Drugs Safely is available for free. Click here and you will be taken to a page on a website of ours. If you would like guidance along the way our help is also free. Send an email to Jim Harper at Jim@theroadback.org Whether you are taking a benzodiazepine, antidepressant, antipsychotic, ADHD medication our program may fit you perfectly. It has fit over 19 million people since 1999.