How do you know when to next reduce?

[HanPanes]

I'm looking for any thoughts/experiences on when to reduce. I know that it's a good idea to wait 3 - 6 weeks but I'm 5 weeks now since my last reduction (9mg to 8mg Prozac) and I'm still pretty much house and bed bound - severe depression, anxiety, crazy head stuff etc etc.

My withdrawal symptoms from each decrease don't seen to start until the 4th week after a drop and this time has hit me so hard I'm barely surviving.

I'm not in a rush to reduce further as I've come to accept that I HAVE to have some quality of life so I'm thinking next reduction after Christmas.

Two questions:

1) Is it best to do reductions on a regular basis and show your body some consistency or wait until you def feel you can cope with it?

2) I've been on these drugs 13 years and have NEVER ever felt well so how do you guage when you're next ready to reduce if you always feel crap anyway? I'd love to be someone who stabilised, felt better, was of sound body and mind then reduced but that just never happens!

Any thoughts gratefully appreciated and I'm so grateful already for this site - even though it's not a happy topic it's such an amazing resource.....

Han

[rain]

I wouldn't reduce any further until you feel stable... I asked that question several months ago and was told that how long you wait between drops has no bearing on anything. Others will post their thoughts, I'm sure.

I hope you start feeling better very soon!

[HanPanes]

Thanks Rain, I agree with your thoughts on waiting but what is 'stable'?- I've certainly never known that feeling but I guess there are degrees of hell so I'll wait for a lesser degree!!!....LOL otherwise I'll cry!

[Songbird]

Originally Posted by HanPanes

My withdrawal symptoms from each decrease don't seen to start until the 4th week after a drop and this time has hit me so hard I'm barely surviving.

Prozac has a much longer half-life than Paxil, so you may have to wait longer between drops than Paxil taperers. You should definitely wait until you have stabilised before dropping again, otherwise previous drops will catch up to you later and you'll get a double whammy.

If you have some symptoms that are there all the time, then wait until the stuff that has appeared after the drop settles down again to how it was before. Although it may be just that you've tapered too quickly up until now, and you need to wait at your current dose for longer, or even do a small updose to relieve the worst of the symptoms and allow you to stabilise.

[rain]

You could also try going down by less - instead of 8mg to 7mg... drop to 7 1/2, when you feel ready to reduce again.

You could try a small updose as SB suggested. For sure, don't drop again until you are feeling better.

[Songbird]

I agree with rain about smaller drops from now on.