Withdrawal from antidepressant/OCD medication

[drae01]

Withdrawal from antidepressant/OCD medication, Luvox.  I was relieved to see I am not alone with the struggle to quit my medication (AGAIN!).  I actually laughed out loud (and it is so not funny-I'm miserable and so are all the folks trying to battle this war)  when I read some of the comments pertaining to weaning off Paxil like elevator head and the legs that run on their own (my favorite, LOL!!) because I too am having these symptoms. I have tried to wean off of Luvox, as follows per my provider:  "Take one every other day for two weeks, then take 1/2 every other day for two weeks then stop".  I am on day five.  Of course I am positive for anxiety, the need to crack my chest bone, heart pumping out of my chest kind of anxiety.   Mood swings.  Emotional and angry. Weakness and pain in the hands and forearms. Dizziness and "balloon head" or feeling of being disconnected from my own body.  Hot flashes (I am usaully always cold).  Feeling as if I am going to pass out.  Insomnia and horrible, jump out of my dream, nightmares.  The feeling as if my legs are not my own, almost numb and thick, being manipulated by another, stepping higher than really necessary.  Really, I feel like I am marching slowly rather than walking, almost as if I need to step over something ( I look stupid, I am sure).  I also constantly shake, not only my hands, arms, and legs but my core.  I hope I can stop for good this time, attempt number 4.

[drae01]

I forgot~I was diagnosed with OCD and tried Paxil, Prozac, Lexapro, Celexa, and Wellbutrin which were all unsuccessful.  Luvox worked but I am ready to try and live life without it.

[drae01]

Hi!!  Thanks for the response and input.  I have germ phobia. When, my son was born (he'll be 6 in September), I had anxiety about people touching him without using hand sanitizer first.  I became consumed with the thoughts of getting him sick.  I would panic when I saw someone reach out to touch him and would either verbally express my concern (giving the impression that I was a snot), with some anxiety relief, or keep silent and feel like the world was going to end.  I work in the healthcare field and if a patient or doctor or coworker would simply pat my back I would need to spray myself down with Lysol.  Irrational thoughts.  I would make my husband use hand sanitizer after opening mail, putting a rented movie into the VCR (still do this), and frequently during simple outings.  I was driving our family nuts, constantly nagging my husband to perform these stupid rituals.  I admit, I still use hand sanitizer between seeing every patient, using a gas pump, and or touching door knobs, etc.  I, however, am not consumed with it.  I don't have the panic attacks when I see someone reach out to touch my son.  I may be cognitive of the fact that somene touched him but I don't need to bring him home and scrub him down.  Absolutely the medication work, but over time I have determined my fears as irrational and unnecessary and silly.  By taking the Luvox, I developed hypokalemia (low Potassium), Nephrology claims I have Renal Tubular Acidosis, yet the low Potassium only became present within weeks of taking the Luvox.  I have seen, hypokalemia, rarely but existent as a side effect of this medication.  I think I would like to try to challenge my OCD without treatment and see if I can continue living a pretty normal life but I first have to battle the weaning process.

[FairyTale24]

are you diagnosed with ocd? if so, why do you want to get off the medication? is it not working for you? or do you want to try something new? medication sometimes with therapy is the key element to working with ocd symptoms. have you ever tried prozac? statistically is seems to work very well with the obessions, thoughts and behaviors. also i have ocd as well, terrible, and about two years ago i was taken off one medication to go on prozac, and gosh i felt the same way that you are describing, i had the shakes awful as well. prozac seems to have worked best for me, maybe it could be an option for yourself to think about? either way, hope this helps a little, good luck=) feel better