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How to Get Off Psychiatric Drugs Safely
Copyright Notice Forward A Note From James Harper, Founder, The Road Back Chapters 3. Nutritionals Used on The Road Back Program
4.
Things
You Need to Know 6. General Pre-Tapering and Tapering Instructions 9. Pre-Taper For: Benzodiazepines, Anti-Convulsants, Anti-Anxiety & Sleep Medication 10. Pre-Taper For Antidepressants, Antipsychotics, and ADHD Medication 11. How to Taper Off Benzodiazepines, Anti-Convulsants, Anti-Anxiety and Sleep Medication 12. How to Taper Off Antidepressants, Anti-Psychotics and ADHD Medication
14.
What to Do If You Have Already
Started to Taper Off Your Medication
or 15. How to Taper Off Multiple Drugs 16. What You Can Do If You Have Never Taken Psychiatric Drugs 17. Science Behind The Road Back Program
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Chapter Fourteen
How to Taper Off Antidepressants, Antipsychotics,
(Fast and Gradual Taper) This taper procedure is for reducing time release medication and medication that can only be reduced by 20% or more with each reduction. The extended release medications are no longer a problem to taper. Now that you have completed your pre-taper program, you are ready to start the reduction of your medication. Not knowing what each of you may have experienced personally, I do know that the vast majority of people who are ready for this step tell me that they have some trepidation starting the taper, as they have had terrible side effects when they have tried to quit before. You might have experienced the “electrical zaps” in the head that is very common with stopping antidepressants, a return of depression, anxiety, fatigue, extreme ache and pain, or even wound up in a mental hospital. Now, as incredible as this might seem, this step should be the easy part of The Road Back Program! You see, the above symptoms are also withdrawal side effects and they can be stopped before the fact. If you are taking a time release medication or a medication that cannot be reduced by 10% or even a 20% reduction, you should reduce the medication as close as possible to the amount recommended as possible. Your doctor and pharmacist should be consulted with how to reduce the medication you are taking. With some medication a pill splicer can be used to cut the tablet by one-half or even one-fourth to allow for a slower reduction. If you are taking a time release medication do not open the capsule up, count the balls and try and decide which balls to take and which to remove. Removing balls from a capsule is not a safe method and needs to be avoided. You might have heard other people having success with removing the balls in the capsule but this success is very short lived. To survive in this world, sometimes we need to change the environment or change ourselves to live in the environment. The environment we have been dealt regarding available dosages has been a constant problem with tapering in the past. Either the drug manufacturers needed to make their medication in dosages that would accommodate a gradual reduction or a solution needed to be found that would allow for the large reduction while averting withdrawal side effects. With these medications, it is not always possible to compound them to exact dosages without altering the drug structure, and with some of the medications being prescribed as a time release, large reductions are the only option. Therefore, for survival, we need to change the environment and change ourselves as well. In this case, it was improve The Road Back Program to accommodate medications that could not be gradually reduced by a small percentage. The Road Back Program has and always will be a work in progress. However, at the writing of this book, that work has made a giant stride in handling the environment or better stated, the problem of available dosages supplied by the drug manufacturer. This breakthrough includes medications that simply do not allow for a gradual reduction of 10% or even 20%. With your pre-taper complete and the Daily Journal kept up to date throughout, you should know which supplement caused each positive change and handled which side effect that got you to this step. You will be using that information during the taper phase of the program to handle any withdrawal side effect, if one begins. Make sure you work with the prescribing physician before changing the dosage of your medication.
What to Do Two days
before the first reduction you will need to increase specific supplements. You
will need to use data from your pre-taper Daily Journal during this phase. Vitamin E – Do not increase beyond the 400 i.u a day. CLA (anxiety and depression) – You can increase to 1 softgel in the morning, 1 at noon and 1 additional before 4 pm. (Make sure you are taking Omega 3 and vitamin E if you are going to use the CLA) Power Barley Formula (energy and brightness) – You can increase the Power Barley Formula to 1 scoop in the morning, 1 scoop at noon and 1 scoop before 4 pm. Make sure you are taking a vitamin E to get the full effect of this barley formula. Calsorption
(brain zaps) – You can take 5 grams each day. There is no benefit of taking more
than that. Calsorption increases the absorption of calcium and can be helpful
with side effects in the gut. It is only recommended you take CalesiumD as a
calcium supplement. All of these nutritionals work quickly when they are what your body needs. Having all of them on hand to draw from as needed is very beneficial. Here is an example of how to increase the nutritional supplements 2 days before a medication reduction. Scenario – You are taking at the end of the pre-taper the following supplements and your major symptoms before the pre-taper was anxiety and insomnia.
Example of how to increase supplements 2 days before taper:
If you are taking the Power Barley Formula in place of the RenewPro to handle fatigue, you would increase the Power Barley to twice the amount you were at when you finished the pre-taper. Five days after the medication is reduced, as long as there are no side effects or only very mild side effects, reduce the supplements back down again to the amount you were taking before the increase. Wait 10 full days after you reduced the supplements and then increase supplements once again for 2 days and then reduce your medication. Again, five days after the medication is reduced, as long as there are no side effects or only very mild side effects, reduce the supplements back down again to what you were taking before the increase. Wait 10 full days after you reduced the supplements and then increase supplements once again for 2 days and then reduce your medication. Repeat this sequence until off the medication. Make sure to stay on the increased supplements for 5 full days after your final reduction of the medication. Follow instructions in the chapter Once Off medication to complete program. Example: You are taking 100 mg of a medication 1. Increase supplements 2 days before reduction of medication 2. First reduction is to 90 mg 3. 5 days after reduction of medication, lower supplements to previous amount if all is well 4. Wait 10-days 5. Increase supplements 2 days before next reduction of medication 6. Reduce medication to 80 mg 7. 5 days after reduction of medication, lower supplements to previous amount if all is well 8. Wait 10-days 9. Increase supplements 2 days before next reduction of medication 10. Reduce medication to 60 mg 11. 5 days after reduction of medication, lower supplements to previous amount if all is well 12. Wait 10-days 13. Increase supplements 2 days before next reduction of medication 14. Reduce medication to 40 mg 15. 5 days after reduction of medication, lower supplements to previous amount if all is well 16. Wait 10-days 17. Increase supplements 2 days before next reduction of medication 18. Reduce medication to 20 mg 19. 5 days after reduction of medication, lower supplements to previous amount if all is well
20.
You are now off the medication
and should proceed to the chapter
Once Off Medication The previous
example could also be used if you can only reduce the medication by 25% or 35%.
Just increase the supplements 2 days before the reduction, keep taking the
increased amount of supplements for 5 days after the reduction, wait 10 days and
reduce the medication again. What to Do If Side Effects Begin During Taper It is important to know what to do if side
effects begin while tapering off the medication.
Withdrawal side effects can happen, but addressing
them early and knowing what to do will usually make them short lived and keep
them mild as well. Use the following steps if side effects take
place while tapering. Do not reduce the medication again until
the symptom goes away.
However, if the new side effect or symptom is very
mild you can continue with the tapering of the medication and remain on the
schedule. In the previous example, if a side effect were
to start during # 7 you would not lower the medication again until at least
10-days and 7 full days of feeling very well. So, if you did not begin to feel
very well until day number 12 of the waiting period, you should wait 7
additional full days before reducing the medication again.
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