# Do You Have Any Withdrawal Symptoms?



## Conjurus (Oct 25, 2008)

I was on anafranil, vistaril, invega, and lamictal. I've been off of them all for about a month now and am having some withdrawal symptoms I think including-

During sleep-Nightmares, Punching, kicking, screaming, cussing profusely, yelling.
While awake-Increased irritability and agitation. Extremely increased sex drive.


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## Matt210 (Aug 15, 2004)

Yeah those all sound like withdrawal to me. As you can see from my thread, i'm going through withdrawal again as well. Its horrible.

Hang in there - withdrawal from psychiatric medication can take a while as your brain has to readjust. I'm sure they'll go away in time.


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## nabber (Feb 13, 2009)

Wow that must be rough. I just went from xanax 2mg x2 daily to klonopin 1mg x2 and I'm having alot of anxiety. It seems like cutting
my dose in half wasn't a smart decision. Anyway, hang in there.


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## Conjurus (Oct 25, 2008)

Matt210 said:


> Yeah those all sound like withdrawal to me. As you can see from my thread, i'm going through withdrawal again as well. Its horrible.
> 
> Hang in there - withdrawal from psychiatric medication can take a while as your brain has to readjust. I'm sure they'll go away in time.


Is there anything I can do to reduce the sex drive?


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## Matt210 (Aug 15, 2004)

Conjurus said:


> Matt210 said:
> 
> 
> > Yeah those all sound like withdrawal to me. As you can see from my thread, i'm going through withdrawal again as well. Its horrible.
> ...


Well I suppose you could have lots of sex? :wink: ...

But in all seriousness - if it is indeed withdrawal my guess is nothing can be done about it except waiting it out. I've been looking into withdrawal solutions a lot after I went half mental last time and everyone's advice seems to be "you have to go through hell if you want to get to heaven" - perhaps a bad taste metaphor, but mostly it means you have to stick it out. The only things that will make them go away is reinstating on the medication (something you've already ruled out, which is probably smart) or wait.

Keep me updated on how its going. I'm going to be withdrawing slowly for the next 9 weeks and then i'm sure i'll have plenty more withdrawal symptoms once i'm completely off. Id be interested to hear how long this lasts for you. Hopefully not too long!


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## Surfingisfun001 (Sep 25, 2007)

Of course you will get withdrawal symptoms from going off all of that. How long were you on each? I would advise anyone to get the recommended advice from your doctor to safely quit your meds before quitting cold turkey. Better yet get advise from your doctor and do your own research. Even if you are better, quitting meds cold turkey can be very very dangerous.


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

3 of the 4 medications you where on need to be tapered. I would say the clomipramine (anafranil) is the one causing the most trouble since it is a tricyclic anti-depressant and like most anti-depressants it can cause nasty long lasting withdrawals if you quit them too fast. I was only on a low dose of effexor for a short amount of time and after giving it up cold turkey the withdrawals lasted for weeks.

Quitting invega cold turkey shouldnt be too bad unless you have bipolar disorder, schizophrenia or related psychotic disorders then your symptoms will return. Going off anti-psychotics usually doesent cause much withdrawals if any but some people get symptoms like vomiting. Quitting lamictal cold turkey is dangerous since it can cause seizures even if youve never had them before.

Hang in there man those symptoms will go away and if they are really bothering you go to your doctor. Something to calm you down like a low dose of valium may help. As for the extremely increased sex drive if you ever find out which drug that you are withdrawing from is causing that let me know so i can quit a high dose of it and pick up a girl and have alot of fun for a week or so. :mrgreen:


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## Conjurus (Oct 25, 2008)

Yes I have bipolar disoder. As for the advice about lots of sex, well I can't do that right now so I'm really just looking for ways to reduce my sex drive.

And yeah I quit them cold turkey about a week apart from each other. I was on anafranil for like 4 months and the others for less than 2.


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

Are you on anything now for the bipolar disorder? It isint exactly something that you can treat without medications. Getting it under control with meds is the only way to go if you want to live a long life that is not full of depression, mania, mixed states and rapid cycling all the time. Bipolar has something like a 20% mortality rate so going the med free route is stupid in my opinion.

I have bipolar disorder 2 and i was med free for about 6 months one time due to a stupid psychiatrist. Then it took me another few months for the meds to start working properly. I came damn close to losing my life many times during this period of time. I was suicidal more often then not and was rapid cycling like a bunny rabbit on methamphetamine. So ya it was no fun to say the least.

As for meds to dampen your sex drive a atypical anti-psychotic may do it or a mood stabilizer/anti-manic agent. These are really the only safe options for you. It may have nothing to do with the med withdrawal at all and may be hypomania or mania retur ning. My sex drive goes through the roof when im manic or hypomanic. Many people with bipolar think that the meds are lowering their sex drive when in fact the meds are just knocking out the mania.


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## Guest (Apr 27, 2009)

I'm not convinced that Jesse has bipolar at all but well

Jesse, you're 22, a high sex drive is NORMAL and HEALTHY ...LOL....You are experiencing your sexual peak, that's all.


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## Conjurus (Oct 25, 2008)

comfortably numb said:


> Bipolar has something like a 20% mortality rate so going the med free route is stupid in my opinion.


What exactly do you mean by this?

I don't have bipolar 1 or 2 i have otherwise unspecified or something like that.


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## Matt210 (Aug 15, 2004)

Conjurus said:


> comfortably numb said:
> 
> 
> > Bipolar has something like a 20% mortality rate so going the med free route is stupid in my opinion.
> ...


I'd imagine suicide is what he means - the lows from bipolar are unlike anything from unipolar depression (i'm generalizing of course, depends on the person).

I think you are fine Jesse. You are smart enough to know if suicide comes up again you'll speak to your doctor and get back on meds. Right now just focus on getting through the withdrawal. As I said - i'm going through it right now too. Only one drug so you probably have me beat, but I know what a struggle it can be.


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## Conjurus (Oct 25, 2008)

I'm now sleeping on the floor so I don't punch the headboard of my bed. I havn't been having as many nightmares which is good.

I've thought about suicide before and attempted it once. I don't think i'll ever try again.


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## Matt210 (Aug 15, 2004)

Conjurus said:


> I'm now sleeping on the floor so I don't punch the headboard of my bed. I havn't been having as many nightmares which is good.
> 
> I've thought about suicide before and attempted it once. I don't think i'll ever try again.


Good. Not that I know you well or anything - but from what i've seen on here I wouldn't have been at all concerned about you. You seem to have things under control.


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## comfortably numb (Mar 6, 2006)

The mortality rate is mostly from suicide and a few other things like overdoses. Alot of people with bipolar self medicate god knows i have and still do.

The mortality rate is for bipolar in general and alot of people fit into the NOS catagory because the catagories are too damn rigid in my opinion. Like the criteria for rapid cycling is if you have 4 or more mood swings within a year. WTF i mean most people fit into that unless your bipolar 1 manic. I used to get atleast that many mood swings in a week when i was at my worst. Thankfully lamictal is really good for rapid cycling and atypical anti-psychotics help as well.

People with bipolar often don't comit suicide when they are depressed either suicides often occur when someone is manic or worse in a mixed state. Mixed states is one of the most dangerous psychiatric states you can suffer from and are way more dangerous then the major depression you get with bipolar disorder. And yes the low with bipolar depression is truely awful. Ive often gotten it for months on end and had it for about 5 months last year.

Conjurus if you start feeling wacky at all go to your doctor ASAP. This includes starting to feel hypomanic. Sadly alot of people with bipolar can't tell when they are going manic. Generally bipolar meds are taken for life and i think it's a good idea to take them for life. Well taking a mood stabilizer such as lamictal or lithium for life is definetely a good idea. My meds are working well now so why would i stop taking them and risk getting bad again.


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## Conjurus (Oct 25, 2008)

I can't afford medicine.


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