Why Doctor

I need help understanding how to taper off 100mg. This poison has ruined my life. The doctor wants me to taper at 50mg for a week or 2 then the last 50 for 3 days and then start Lexapro. I know this is not the correct way.

I was taking Effexor, 225mg for about 7 years. I decided to go off because it wasn’t helping my depression and anxiety all that much anymore. I found a psychiatrist and she supposedly helped me taper. She immediately told me to take one less 75mg a week. By the 2nd week, she added Wellbutrin as a bridge. I could not tolerate it. I had vivid nightmares and made a mess of my night table all while sleeping. The doctor then changed the bridge medication to Celexa. I ended up in the ER. The third week I went off the Effexor totally. I was a zombie. Dizziness, brain fog, restlessness, no appetite, insomnia and just a general feeling of not really being here. I had a visit with my primary and he was very disturbed by how I looked and acted. He insisted I reinstate starting with 75mg. Once I did, however, the tremors started. I figured I just needed more meds. I increased to 150mg. I wanted to stay at that dose, but with the tremoring, I thought maybe I needed my old full dose. So I went back to 225mg. The tremors never went away. A year later, I started once again to taper with a new psychiatrist. I began doing it hyperbolically. However, by this time my neurologist decided to give me a DAT scan to determine whether I showed signs of Parkinsonism. The test was inconclusive which made him think the tremors were drug, or lack of them so drastically were drug induced. I am now taking Sinimet, which is for Parkinsons, because I was unable to function. It is helping but there is a chance that this Parkinsonism was caused by this horrible drug, Effexor. I am appalled and angry. Doctors should also learn how to taper these drugs correctly. What they think is fine to do, is deadly. They dont get it at all

My mom and I guided her 79  year old friend on how to come off mirtazapine safely and her doctor was on board. Today when they spoke,  she told my mom that he has since put her on trazodone and risperidone instead… and she still can’t sleep.

I wonder what the Drug Induced symptoms are of said drugs…

I’ve been on 75mg for 2.5 years now. Before that I was on two different antidepressants for around 6 years altogether also. I want to start tapering off but after talking to my doctor it sounds like he wants to taper me off far too quickly. He suggested alternating 37.5mg and 75mg daily to start with for 2 weeks, then 37.5mg for 2 weeks, then alternating the 37.5mg etc. After reading the guides on here and advice elsewhere I’m really scared to follow this doctor’s advice. Has anyone been through this and found a way to communicate with their doctor? I want to explain that I want to taper a lot slower etc but I’m scared of being “brushed off”. It’s so confusing when the doctors seem to behind on information.

“After months of taking an SSRI & experiencing psychotic drug effects that caused me to be involuntarily committed to hospital, Drs cut SSRI cold turkey then pumped 5 other psych drugs into me! Speedballed. Drs nearly killed me. When freed I stopped all Rx drugs. No no ever”