Atarax to reduce WD symptoms?

[[di...]]

I often meet people who write that Atarax helped them with WD, however, the forum surviving antidepressant does not recommend using it. Did it help you? And didn't the withdrawal symptoms prolong?

[[...]]

Hi, @[di...]) I personally found atarax a bit of assistance+- during my worst couple of wd months. Can't say it was too great but, at least, i didn't feel any side effects and simply stopped taking it one night last year without consequences. But certainly it's just my own experience and i'm not sure i'd try the medication now.

[[di...]]

Hi, @[...]!)

My windows are much better than before, but the waves are very powerful with severe depression, which is probably related to my cycle, I would like to make it easier somehow, maybe atarax or oral contraceptives

Maybe I'll try fluoxetine, which I used to drink for about a year and gave up without consequences, but I would like to get rid of the waves ) Thank you) Your experience gave me a lot of strength and hope to move forward)

Edited September 16 by [di...]

[[Ni...]]

I'm having a lot of trouble tapering Valium. I've had interdose withdrawal since long before I started the process of getting off Benzos. I have intense muscle spasms, really spasticity I think.  It twists my joints and pulls my whole body into a scoliosis like twist. Ive been able to reduce my dose by more than half, but it's taken me 4 years. If I try to go any faster than the snails pace of .001g reduction per week now, the upper part of my neck goes out so that it is terrifying. I have a connective tissue disorder which is probably why my body reacts in such an extreme way.

I honestly don't know if I can do this for another 3 years which is what the math predicts. I'm 69. I am looking for SOMETHING that might help me to decrease faster. I already use CBD oil to help manage the spasming, but it's just enough to survive. 

I remember Atarax from my kids having chicken pox. Has anyone found it helped with muscle spasms/stiffness? I was planning to ask my doctor if he knows of anything next visit. 

[[...]]

Hi, @[Ni...]. I think atarax can hardly help with muscle spasms while withdrawing. I took it and it did nothing in this regard. Of course we're all different.

I'm terribly sorry for your suffering and wish i could be of more assistance to you.. I heard some people find Epsom bath salt helpful in our condition, although I never tried it myself. Do hope your muscle spasms will soon be less troublesome for you. Smooth tapering and no spasms to you.

 

[[Ca...]]

I am not a great fan of taking other meds especially psych meds to help with benzo withdrawal or withdrawal in general. The risk of paradoxical reactions is a lot higher. The risk of severe lingering side effects like akasthisia as well. Most psych meds if not all of them have their own withdrawal syndromes that can be just as bad as benzos. And once you try to get off of the other med even if months to years out you likely might get hit with a benzo setback that might feel acute like and long lasting!  That happened to me with Ritalin (that I took for 9 years) and Propanolol that I took for acute withdrawal. And it happened to a lot of other buddies. I got hit with a very very severe setback once completely off of Ritalin and later Propanolol that's been going on for 5 months now and only slowly improving these days! I was really really sick again for a very long time! I wish I hadn't taken these substances. I would be much further down in my recovery. That's for sure!

Just trying other psych meds for a few days can cause setback and rev up symptoms for a long time. I personally wouldn't dare. That’s what I learned from my experience. It was a very sad and brutal experience. 

 

Good luck to you! Stay strong! It will pass.

Edited September 18 by [Ca...]

[[di...]]

 

Thank you very much, @[Ка...]! It's just that I'm a little tired, like everyone who is on the same "journey")

But Atarax really helped me for the first 3 months, then I gave it up and I haven't taken it for 3 months. I suffer cruelly after the month of Zoloft, I'm such a "lucky guy" 🤡

I have improvements, but my waves can be crushing (due to my cycle), and about 10 days a month I am in serious depression

 

[[...]]

@[di...], hi:) I think atarax can hardly help from depression. It's rather sedative and used mostly for sleep or to calm down. When you say depression whut level it is? And what other symptoms still left are like? 

As for zoloft, i was the same "lucky guy" as you)

[[di...]]

 

Hi again, @[...])

The first 2 months of my trip I had moderate constant depression (but I don't remember exactly, since I didn't track it then), and Atarax helped me in this regard in some way, and even completely removed the symptoms, but then I canceled. After the cancellation, I got windows and waves

My depression is serious in the waves, it's hard to tolerate it, and I'm afraid to be alone at this time. The wave in August was not as strong as in September

So I don't know what caused it, Atarax or Zoloft, since Atarax removed the symptoms

My symptoms that remain are derealization and waves of depression + hypnagogy (usually there is no depression and hypnagogy).

With depression, I'm afraid to be alone, and my husband is next to me (or takes me to work with him), I'm absolutely not functional, and doing something requires a lot of effort, but I no longer lose my appetite at this time (and on the Beck depression scale I score fewer points)

Edited September 20 by [di...]

[[di...]]

I periodically took Atarax before, before Zoloft. I can remember that when I switched from a dosage of 50 to 25 mg on Zoloft, I felt the withdrawal syndrome for the first time, but it lasted about 5 days and then completely disappeared, well, and then I got a "cold turkey", and 10 days later the first symptoms appeared. I just don't understand, if it's caused by Zoloft, why Atarax removed my symptoms (depression and derealization)

I reassure myself that it's just a withdrawal syndrome, since I didn't have these symptoms before, on the same Zoloft, and there were no symptoms for 10 days after its cancellation.

[[...]]

Hi, @[di...], may be your depression is caused by exhaustion due to this weird process or is it a purely chemical state? I'm glad you have such a caring husband. It's just wonderful! Take care of him too.

My guess is atarax didn't cause anything but covered some particular symptoms and when you stopped it they got back. But, anyway, it's not a pill for everyday use. I hope this current wave will subside in no time and is actually the last one, at least, the last one that 'big'. Healing to you!)

[[di...]]

 

Thank you very much, @[...] !

Yes, it's absolutely chemical depression with terrible derealization, usually.

 

[[...]]

5 hours ago, [[d...] said:

Thank you very much, @[...] !

Yes, it's absolutely chemical depression with terrible derealization, usually.

Then i think it should pass on its own eventually. For me, zoloft caused absolutely chemical anxiety and mental akathisia. It started to go away in 6 months as i've said.

[[di...]]

 

@[...]
Wow, akatisia, it's serious!

I'm glad it passed for you 🙏

Of course, I would like it to be faster than it really is

Now I'm trying to adapt to WD's life. For example, recently I feel better closer to the evening (almost without symptoms), and from the evening I prepare for tomorrow to do a minimum of things that I don't like

 

[[...]]

@[di...], no it was kind of mental akathisia, whatever it means. Just no peace anywhere anytime but i can't say it was a movement disorder, although it felt quite horrible.

Thank you🙂 Hope your terrible derealisation and depression will completely leave you soon too. I know lots of people experience the worst part in the morning and better in the evening during withdrawal. It's common. Wise of you to try to adapt to it. 

[[Es...]]

On 16/09/2024 at 13:02, [[d...] said:

Hi, @[...]!)

My windows are much better than before, but the waves are very powerful with severe depression, which is probably related to my cycle, I would like to make it easier somehow, maybe atarax or oral contraceptives

Maybe I'll try fluoxetine, which I used to drink for about a year and gave up without consequences, but I would like to get rid of the waves ) Thank you) Your experience gave me a lot of strength and hope to move forward)

There is fluoxetine available for PMS or PMDD (more powerful form of PMS) in the doses of 5 to 10 mg. I think you could ask your medical provider about it.

Atarax WD rather couldn't cause any depression, but Zoloft WD definitely could. I understand you participate in the forum Surviving Antidepressants. As much as I remember, their attitude towards ADs was such that I quit.

BenzoBuddies is a much more liberal site. We don't claim to be your "doctors", who will "cure you", proposing this and this course of action. We offer suggestions and leave the rest to you and your medical provider.

Zoloft WD can be brutal. Maybe, helping yourself with a minimum amount of fluoxetine at least during PMS/PMDD wouldn't be such a bad idea. It's actually perfect for these symptoms.

No one, except some internet folks, said you "should" be completely med free, but functional and happy. Which I hear you're not quite. There is even a theory in the history of literature, that Sylvia Plath committed suicide cause of PMDD and not BP! So severe were her symptoms.

To found my claim about the usefulness of Prozac for before-the-menses disorders, here is an excerpt: 

"Reviews of randomized clinical trials showed that antidepressants that slow down the reuptake of serotonin were effective in treating PMDD in both long-term use and use only during the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle."

And a few articles to get you even more convinced, maybe:

The role of fluoxetine in the treatment of premenstrual dysphoric disorder

Intermittent fluoxetine dosing in the treatment of women with premenstrual dysphoria

Low doses of fluoxetine for the treatment of emotional premenstrual syndrome: a randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled, pilot study

Fluoxetine in the Treatment of Premenstrual Dysphoria

So, there is a lot of scientific evidence on the subject. If you had no problems quitting fluoxetine, why not try it? Even each month? Or go on a low dose permanently? Doses as low as 5 mg are highly effective. And you could always up the dose to 10 mg during PMS/PMDD.

I don't think you'll hear that on SA, but you'll hear that in any compentent pdoc, endocrynologyst or gynaecologist office. This is my few cents. We always leave decisions to the patients and the doctors. Sometimes psych meds are necessary for normal functioning.

[[Kr...]]

Atarax = Heart palps for me. 

[[di...]]

 

Good afternoon , @[...]!

Thank you very much for writing in such detail!

My depression in the waves is so strong that I really think about it, however, it's still not a premenstrual dysphoric disorder, since I didn't have anything like it before, it's WD that gets worse during this period, I don't know if fluoxetine will help me with it, but of course it would be great to try it. I took fluoxetine for a year in 2019, and in May 5 days, but it probably didn't make me worse or better. I have a strange reaction to everything that is not fluoxetine, that from Zoloft, that from Venlafaxine, I have terrible side effects.

I will try to cope without fluoxetine, but I will keep in mind its connection in this situation, and of course, I am worried that it will also have to be turned off later, and how it will be.

 

Edited Thursday at 04:59 by [di...]

[[He...]]

It’s better than nothing as long as you have no allergies to the medication. Medically speaking, it’s very safe snd no data shows it would be an issue during taper. Not quite sure why people would be posting against it. 

[[di...]]

@[He...]
Mostly for the reason that the addition of an antidepressant has a chance to get a "incitement effect". In some cases, antidepressants cause the same condition when canceled as benzo. Most likely, the addition of fluoxetine will not make me 100% recover, but will only partially hide the symptoms, if it helps at all

Edited 18 hours ago by [di...]