Getting off Antidepressants...

[toots_jwu]

Here's one of my previous posts that explains my thyroid issues...

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Thyroid-Disorders/Here-are-the-results-from-test/show/1468128?personal_page_id=897574#post_6676732

I have been on Antidepressants for over 10 years and really would like to get off them.   I was given them when I was 17 for panic attacks/depression and really believe that I would have grown out of my problems or had them resolved with therapy but it was hard to get off them once I was on them.  They helped years ago when I was on Paxil but it made me a fat blob so I had to change brands, moved on to Celexa.  Side effects are horrible and I just want to be done with them.  

I tried getting off them last year and experienced the worst withdrawal of my life.  I was paranoid, had crying spells and literally thought the world was coming to an end and wouldn't let people leave my side.  I've never felt so vulnerable in my life.  Now I've decided to get off them again considering winter is almost over and I'm going to go on a slow liquid taper and it could take me about a year to get off completely.  Problem is, my thyroid levels are not up to where they should be (low T3) but I am convinced that antidepressants are contributing to the sweat/hot spells I am experiencing with the ERFA and cytomel mix.  

Do you think the tapering will affect my T4/T3 levels?  I am doing a 10% taper every month so it should be very slow.  I wish I could just get off them just like that but these SSRIs have a death grip.

[kl42]

yes go slow. let your body adjust slowly off it. just as it slowly builds up in you.  otherwise some people experience shocks and side effects   like return of symtoms, and spikes in anxiety. . but if you go slow you should OK.   there is no rush!!

[toots_jwu]

Trust me, I will going SLOWWWWW this time.  Nothing can describe what I went through.  I'm guessing you have experience with this..

[toots_jwu]

I'm glad I'm not alone in this fight with AD's Stella.  I thought it was all in my head!!

These are my levels:

Free triiodothyronine  4.5    RANGE 3.5-6.5
Senstitve TSH   1.37   RANGE 0.35-5.00
Free T4  16     RANGE 9-23

ANTI -PO   48 HI   RANGE <35
ANTI-TG    <20   RANGE <40

ANTINUCLEAR ANTIBODY   POSITIVE
TITRE      1:320  HI
ANA PATTERN   Speckled and homogeneous pattern

Cortisol    232

ERFA thyroid is like Armour thyroid and is available in Canada.  This is not the same doctor who STARTED me on antidepressants but my current doctor has to prescribe it as I cannot stop taking it.  The doctor who gave it to me when I was younger actually lost his license years ago =S

[kl42]

my advice take your time slowly cut  a quarter then another quarter week after week, slow is better.

[stella5349]

You might find the post below here helpful.

If your T3 is still off which it would be due to the anti anxiety meds - you maybe will never be able to get things 100% on the anxiety meds.

First hand personally - getting off almost 8 tablets of Leprexpro ( sp?) myself was the hardest thing ever and I thought 2 I wasn't going to do it. I will tell you I cut in half and half but that was WAY too hard so I went a step further and cut 1/4's instead and use that for WEEKS - then cut down another quarter - weeks again and another.

It took me 2 years total to stop using them but I will say when I got down near the end.. like 1/2 tablet daily - I was strong willed and knew I could stop them. Before - it was a mind he// game for sure and I had one he// of a time when I first started to get off them.

Note: - First I suggested --- you need to have a pretty decent level of T3 hormone in you to start ending those meds. If you are not knowledgeable about the Free T3 and Free T4 labs - and your doctor doesn't utilize them either.. then you NEED a different doctor to help you with T3 first.. then get off the med after.

Your doctor has you on Cytomel - AND ERFA???? What is that???? - Thats a new one for me and huge red flags are going off in my head seeing that.

What were your lastest COMPLETE thyroid panel lab results?

Seriously I need to look to get my head wrapped around that med choice for thyroid - AND>>>>>> is this the same doctor ordering the Celexa?

Shocking!! - That's what I have to say.

[toots_jwu]

Thank you for your well wishes.  I have done some research on thyroid and depression/panic attacks and I am aware of the connection but I have also learnt that taking ADs can also mess with your endocrine system so some don't know which one came first, the chicken or the egg? lol  This is a huge reason why I want to get off the ADs.  I was put on Paxil 10 years ago when I was 17...is it possible I had thyroid problems without symptoms at that age??  

I also want to add that years ago I did a weight loss program called Herbal Magic and lost a bit of weight and the program consisted of a no sodium diet and a bunch of supplements and reduced calorie intake.  A short while after the weight loss I was experiencing the cold non stop and then the fatigue followed.  Could this have caused my thyroid problems?  Or do you think it just exasperated problems I was eventually going to have? ...so many questions...

[artfemme]

Sounds very difficult, and I wish you the best. You might want to do a little Internet digging on the relationship between thyroid hormones and depression as well as panic disorder. Thyroid hormones have an active role in transporting seratonin across the synapses. I found that depression and panic attacks disappeared when I was finally put on T3 in addition to T4. No antidepressant had ever helped at all. When a doctor wanted me to lower my meds, it was astonishing how quickly the grinding depression returned. You might also be experiencing T3 resistance. I'm not experienced enough to advise you how to proceed, but it would seem that you would slowly increase your Cytomel as you slowly decrease the Celexa. Keep in mind that T3 is 4x stronger than T4, so if you raise it, for example, from 10 mcg to 15 mcg, that's like you raised your T4 from 40 mcg to 60 mcg, a big jump. You might also need to stagger your Cytomel in several doses throughout the day, since it sounds like you are quite sensitive. Hope you feel better soon.

[toots_jwu]

The first time I tapered various doctors told me to cut the pills in half for a few weeks and then continue cutting.  By the third month..I was a wreck and had to reinstate.  I tried reinstating half the dose but it wasn't strong enough.  So I went back on and its been almost half a year now and seemed to have stabilized.

The doctor I am seeing now seems to think the liquid taper will be the best way to get off.  I am on 20mg celexa so on the first month I will take off 10% and stay at it for about a month and then continue with another 10% cut.

I was told to take 12.5 mg cytomel but it was just too much.  I am cutting that in half and it seems to be better.  I will have to work my way up slowly, but I need it considering my T3 is very low.

[ShelleyN720]

What does your doctor have to say about the best method of weaning off of the anti-depressants? I took them off & on for a period of a few years and didn't experience withdrawals - but that's probably because I only took them for short periods of time, 1-2 years at a time.
I am surprised that you have low T3 if you take Erfa *and* Cytomel - that's a lot of T3! I am sure I'd be a jittery mess taking all that T3, but then we are all so different! I will read your former post that explains your thryoid issues.
What is a liquid-taper?