Coming off my pnd drugs

[Abbey]

I am currently weaning off my anti d's and am not coping very well. I have not been posting for a while because i just cannot be motivated to do anything. Last week I blamed my state on pmt. This week I am repeating a pattern of lying about hw I feel because I am scared of dh reaction. To compound the matter, I have just been diagnosed with a hyperative thyroid gland and will have to take yet more drugs. Will I ever get any better?

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The answer is yes, you will get better, but take it slowly. Was it your idea to come off the ad's, or did your gp advise it?

Of course you will get better abbey, it makes time, i have twice tried coming off my pills too
early, you just need to be ready, i found that i hated the idea of taking pills to make me feel better until my friend pointed out that if i was a diabetic, or had heart problems then taking these pills would be a problem to me.

I have been off my pills for a couple of months and even though i still have my bad days they are outnumbered by my good days.

Of course you will get better, you need to be well for at least 6 months before you should even think about coming off them.

Good Luck and remember you are not alone. Take Care

Abbey, it sounds like you're just not ready to come off the ad's and being told you have a hyperactive thyroid certainly isn't going to help. How long have you been taking them? I have been taking mine for just over a year now and there have been a couple of times recently when I've thought I was ready to give them up but then something happens to bring me down again and I decide to stay on them. My gp said that 12 months would probably be needed to stabilise me and she was right.
I know how you feel about wanting to come off them, especially if you are going to be taking other things for the thyroid, but it really would be better to stick with them until you feel able to cope. Is your dh not supportive? Why are you afraid to tell him how you feel? I too think you should go back to your gp and explain the situation.
In the meantime, hugs and best wishes ... CM

Abbey, why do you want to come off your medication? it sounds too early to me. As others have said, if you were diabetic or had an infection you wouldn't feel like this, yet PND is a real illness just the same and needs treatment just the same. Don't think of the medication for your thyroid problem as drugs, it's just balancing your body so it is more the way it was before. Thyroid problems can have profound effects on mood, too, so unless your GP is insistent, I really wouldn't stop taking your PND medication right now.

Thank you all. Your kindness is making me well up. I have been on my medication for two years which I suppose makes me a severe case? DH is very supportive but I just wander how long his patience will last. It was my idea with my gp's blessing to come off the anti d's. I thought that I was well enough but now I have just lost any confidence of ever recovering. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting further away again and I think this is compounding my feelings of dispair.

Oh Abbey, I really do feel for you .... have you thought about something alongside the medication? When I was first diagnosed with PND my gp referred me to a psychiatrist and it helped me SO much that I only had one session, but I knew that I could have gone for more if I'd needed to. I'm not a very good communicator when talking to somebody 'close' but talking to somebody neutral i.e. completely outside of the emotional loop was easy and helped me put everything in perspective.
Just an idea .... big hugs

oh Abbey, you poor thing. Here's a link to a BBC website thing on thyroid problems which might explain why you're feeling especially bad right now. I think Cookiemonster's suggestion of talking to someone is an excellent idea and takes the pressure of you having to talk to dh about it.

Hi Abbey - I'm in exactly the same position. After severe PND I've been on AD's for over 3 years. I've actually been ok for about 18 months but have tried twice to come off tablets and haven't been able to. Just had a really horrible few days after reducing dose and trying to get myself back to normal again.
Which AD are/where you taking? This can make a big difference. Also I agree with others that thyroid problem will be making things harder for you.

I am currently still on my AD - seroxat - awful to come off but have managed to reduce to half a 20mg tablet per day so am now only on 10mg daily. Have been on these since DS was born - 4 years! Not getting much help coming off them and I really want to 'go the whole hog' but am very worried - when I did stop them completely for only 3 days it was really bad but hope that as I have reduced them by half that the final step will be a bit easier but still nervous about doing it-

Hi, Bundle I looked at the website thankyou. I am on Prozac 40mg and have cut them to 20mg since beginning of Feb. Since yesterday, I have upped my dose again and am waiting for the dosage to kick in. I am going to my gp's as I heard that you can get some anti d's in liquid form which can be reduced slower than pills. This may work better for me.
I Have had counseling which was one of the reasons why I thought I was ready to reduce. Maybe I should go back again.
Talking anonymously has helped me accept that I am not ready to change yet and I want to thank you for your support, it means alot to me.
I will keep you posted.

zippyb - how long have you been on 10mg?
I've just gone back up to 10mg after being on 5mgs for a few weeks. Although I'd been ok on 10 for a couple of months before I went down to 5 - I'm just worried now that it won't be enough to get me back to feeling ok.

Kizzie - have been on 10mg for about 2 months - I just cut the tabs in half - how did you get down to 5mg? Do you try to cut them into quarters? Not sure what to do next - read on this thread about liquid forms of ADs so wonder do I try that or just take one every other day. Hope you are feeling ok today Abbey -it is really hard to do but I'm sure it will be worth it. My moods have been quite erractic since cutting down but I was actually quite relieved the other day that I had quite a good cry - since being on Seroxat I found that really difficult to do - it would just build up but the tears wouldn't come. Really feel that although they helped initially - they have suppressed alot of my emotions and now I just want to be free of them.

zippyb. you have my sympathy. It took me six months to come off Seroxat, I asked my GP for Prozac to help me do it, - some research I had read in America, it worked too. I stopped Prozac just like that, but coming off Seroxat is very hard and very slow. Be careful and lots of support to you.

if you research the files you will find a long thread on Seroxat and other antiD's

You can get seroxat in liquid form - which is good for when you are trying to come off it because you can reduce your dose but if you start feeling crap you can have a weeny bit extra. Not sure about Prozac. Would second aloha on the thryoid info' - don't let this freak you out. I had the same problem and actually ended up having the gland removed (so now underactive and take thyroxine daily to compensate) - but up until the point I was diagnosed I felt incredibly stressed and had very definite mood swings. Once everything was sorted out I was really struck by how different I felt now that I was "normal", along with the realisation that I really had not been well for ages. So don't worry about the diagnosis - it could be the best thing that's ever happened to you, for it's perfectly possible that the reason you are not coping well is nothing to do with coming off the anti d's but a symptom of the condition.

Taking it a step further, the condition could be part of why you are on anti d's in the first place. Thyroid problems are easily overlooked and, even when finally diagnosed, it's hard for doctors to say how long you might have had the condition for - so, unless you've been tested for thyroid problems in the past and had normal results, you might have been hyperactive all the time you have been on medication.

Anyway, hope my ramblings help.

Hi, I thought that I was feeling OK today but in the last couple of hours I have gone down hill again. I cannot get in to see my GP until next Thurs so am winding myself up about that.

I am trying not to get my hopes up about feeling better on the Thyroid medication in case I feel let down by it. I am considering not bothering with the Thyroid meds because I just feel like I am rattling around with pills.

On a plus note, I have had the courage to tell DH about how I am feeling and he has been very supportive!

Thanks again everyone for your support. It is helping me get throught this latest blip.

Abbey, sorry to hear you weren't feeling so good on Friday - I hope the weekend wasn't too bad.
I'm pleased to hear you've been talking to your dh - a problem shared is a problem halved as they say ....
I don't think you should abandon the thyroid medication though - see what your gp says on Thursday.
Best wishes and keep us posted ... CM

Abbey, can you not get an urgent appointment with the doctor, if you are feeling that low, then it is warranted to get an urgent appointment. Good Luck.

Abbey - as far as I know (dh is a doc) it is really important to take the thyroid neds as not taking them can make big problems for you n the future. THe hyperactive thyroid can make you feel more depressed so better off taking them, and then maybe the depression will sort itself out - in fact the thyroid probs could be causing the depression to a certain extent.
There are benefits to being hyperthyroid!! Did you know you can get all prescriptions free for the rest of your life??

Abbey - not going to pussyfoot around here... take the thyroid medication. Yes it's a pain in the xxxx to have to take more bits and bobs, but you need it, it will make you feel a lot better and it is bloody dangerous not to. Thyroid problems are potentially very serious but easily controlled. So don't make your life any harder than it already is! Here endeth the lesson.

( I have changed my name for this thread).

Abbey, please do start taking your medication for your thyroid problem. My sister stopped taking hers and she nearly died ( she said she did on purpose and when she got that bad she was going to take her 5yr old with her). Even though i do not give a monkeys about her, I don't want anyone like yourself or your children to have to suffer.

I don't think thyroid problems ever go away but they can be controlled with the correct medication

Abbey - take your thyroid pills. they are not drugs - they are just doing what your body would do naturally if it could. My mum has an underactive thyroid, and she takes her tiny pill every day and is fine, but if she doesn't (because she forgets) she soon feels down and depressed. YOu HAVE to take yours for your sake and that of your children. Please go and see your dr - you don't sound ready to come off anti-depressants yet. Maybe try another anti-depressant such as Lustral (recommended by a dr as the best and most expensive!). Please don't hurt yourself by not taking necessary medication. Think of yourself as your own baby - would you really not let yourself get the best treatment? We all wish you well.

Hi, I have started my thyroid treatment after much deliberation and with your help. I saw my doc today who has advised me to go back to my full medicaton dosage of Prozac. I hve reached my rockbottom and am starting to feel better. Next time I 'feel' ready to start weaning myself off again, I can take my ad's in liquid form to make the drop less noticeable.

Maybe I can get better.

I am glad you have seen your doctor - you really need to sort out the thyroid problem before tackling the ADs. You WILL get better - not also easy but as long as you have some support there is hope! I am still trying and although it is a bit of a nightmare at the moment am sure I can beat thi. Good Luck Abbey - thinking of you.

Abbey, there is no maybe about you getting better, you WILL better , you just have to take each day as it comes, if you want some advice from someone who knows, wait until your doctor says your ready to start coming off your ad's, after all they are the experts (Supposedly). When I had PND with dd1 I thought I was ready to come off the ad's but close friends, dh and doctor said no, it was just because they were in my system properly, so I stopped on them a further 6 months and then reduced my dosage until I gradually came off them after another 6 months. Just out of curiosity, how do you find Prozac? I've not really heard many good things and was offered this ad but refused.

Hope you feel beter soon