CHAPTER 10

ANTIDEPRESSANT

PRE-TAPER

Starting Your Pre-Taper

If you have not read the entire chapter “General Pre-Tapering and Tapering Instructions,” please do so before continuing with this chapter. Reading and understanding the chapter “General Pre-Tapering and Tapering Instructions” is vital before starting the pre-taper.

You may already be in withdrawal before you found The Road Back Program. Please hang on; relief can come very quickly for you. Most people are never able to get off an antidepressant due to the head symptoms that are common with reducing this type of medication. It does not matter if you are taking one of the old type of antidepressants or the newer SSRI’s, relief is possible and the symptoms can be reversed quickly.

The American Medical Association now acknowledges at least 10% of the people that try to get off an antidepressant will not be successful due to the withdrawal side effects. We want you to know this so you know it is not just you. Sorry to say, but most physicians have never read the AMA report on antidepressant withdrawal and they do not yet realize that 1 out of every 10 of their patients they have prescribed an antidepressant to will have this withdrawal problem unless they begin doing something differently.

For The Road Back, these debilitating head side effects are easy to stop and stop quickly. If you have not started to taper the antidepressant yet, using the Antidepressant Pre-taper should stop the head symptoms from even starting. As noted in this chapter, Omega 3 fish oil is the key supplement.

The 3 supplements that are required for the antidepressant withdrawal program are the JNK, Omega 3 Supreme and vitamin E.

At first look, you or your physician might ask, “what does vitamin E have to do with withdrawal” or “are you trying to tell me vitamin E will help with withdrawal side effects?”

Here is the answer – Vitamin E will not help with withdrawal symptoms at all. When a person takes omega 3 fish oil, the omega 3 will deplete vitamin E from the body and use the vitamin E to help for absorption. You will become deficient in vitamin E if you take fish oil daily and do not supplement. That is the only reason why vitamin E is in this program.

Make sure to keep your Daily Journal up-to-date and use graphs so you can visually see the changes taking place with you.

Females

This section is redundant, but it is that important for you to know. If you are a female we strongly urge you to include the supplement FemLife Supreme. If you read through the list of drug side effects, you will find several drug induced side effects that are female specific. These side effects range from all PMS symptoms imaginable to full pre-menopausal and post-menopausal symptoms. Too many times we have heard from females doing this program and they were doing very well and then their normal PMS symptoms would kick in each month and it would become difficult for them to tell if the problems were the tapering of the drug, did they need to increase a specific supplement or were the feelings totally PMS related.

The addition of the FemLife Supreme removes this confusion that all too often can complicate the withdrawal process. Additionally, many females were initially prescribed their medication to try and stop symptoms that probably could have been handled naturally in the first place.

Menopause brings on its own body and mental phenomena and being able to handle those will make this withdrawal program so much easier as well.

This is also the time for you to be looking at the drug-tapering portion of this program.

What to do:

1. Get with your prescribing physician and/or pharmacist and layout your drug taper schedule.

2. Plan out the second and third reduction of the medication as well at this point to ensure you are ready with the correct dosages of the drug.

Once you have read all of the pre-taper section proceed to the chapter, How to Taper Antidepressants and fully read it as well.

The Pre-Taper

For the next 7-days you will be doing your pre-taper. You do not reduce your medication during the pre-taper, but, to state again, this is the time to also plan out the reduction phase of the drug which starts after the seven days of the pre-taper are completed.

Goal of Antidepressant Pre-taper

• If anxiety present, have it eliminated

• If fatigue is present, have it eliminated

• If flu like symptoms are present, have them eliminated

• If depression is present, have it eliminated

• Eliminate all other antidepressant side effects

• Set up the body correctly to eliminate potential withdrawal symptoms

The goal of the pre-taper may seem unobtainable to you at this moment, but after you experience a day to two of taking the supplements used with this program, you should begin to experience the changes we suggest will happen. It is not out of character for people to feel as though they are no longer even on an antidepressant as all side effects vanish quickly.

Supplements You Will Take: (If you have anxiety, insomnia or fatigue, make sure to read the section in this chapter, Optional Supplements for Specific Conditions)

JNK Supplement

Omega 3 Supreme

Vitamin E

There are optional supplements to use if you have anxiety, insomnia or fatigue. Those supplements are listed later in this chapter.

DAY ONE

Action:

Rate your daytime anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia and other side effects. Use the Daily Journal and rate anxiety, sleep and any additional symptoms you may be experiencing from 1 to 10. Rate with number 10 being the worst and number 1 being no side effect or symptom remaining.

Rate the previous night’s sleep first thing the next morning.

Rate the daytime anxiety just before bedtime of that day.

If you take your medication first thing in the morning, take the medication as normal and 1 hour later take the morning supplements.

How to do the Pre-Taper

Morning Supplements:

JNK – Start your morning by taking 1 packet of the JNK supplement. If using the JNK Aminos, take 4 capsules. You can take the JNK with or without food.

Omega 3 Supreme– Take 3 Omega 3 Supreme softgels at the same time you take the JNK supplement.

Vitamin E – Take 400 i.u. of vitamin E along with the Omega 3 Supreme in the morning.

Noon

Take 3 Omega 3 Supreme softgels.

Optional Supplements For Specific Conditions

Anxiety/Insomnia

If you have daytime anxiety and or insomnia take:

Body Calm - 2 hours after the morning JNK, take 1 Body Calm capsule.

Body Calm Supreme- 2 hours after taking 1 Body Calm capsule, take 1 Body Calm Supreme capsule.

For the rest of the day and evening rotate the Body Calm and Body Calm Supreme capsules every 2 hours.

Wind up with the Body Calm Supreme at bedtime. If you take the antidepressant at bedtime, take the bedtime supplement 1 hour before the antidepressant.

Cal Mag Supreme– You can take 3 cups a day of the Cal Mag Supreme. End with 1 cup at bedtime to help with sleep.

Fatigue

If you have fatigue, include the supplement Admax to your daily routine, or the FemLife Supreme if you are female.

Admax (Males)– Take 1 Admax capsule mid-morning or about 1 hour before you generally begin feeling fatigue in the day. You can take as many as 4 Admax each day if needed.

FemLife Supreme (Females) – Take between 1 to 4 capsules of FemLife Supreme in the mid-morning. We suggest you start with only 1 capsule and increase as needed.

Power Barley Formula– If you prefer to take organic foods to combat the fatigue, use the Power Barley Formula. Start with 1 scoop of the greens in the morning and stir in a glass of water and drink. You can increase the Power Barley Formula to as much as 3 scoops in the morning, noon and again before 4 pm. (Make sure to increase this product slowly)

Additional Optional Supplement

We have saved the JNK Liquid Booster for this section; however it probably should have been placed within the required supplements.

Antidepressants make a gene called JNK become over activated. The high expression of the JNK gene creates a number of problems within the body and these problems can cascade into real medical conditions. Reread the Drug Side Effect chapter and you will see real medical conditions, not just mental and emotional symptoms.

Clinical studies with the JNK Liquid Booster have shown liver enzymes back to normal, cholesterol levels back to normal, glucose back to normal, triglyceride levels back to normal range and weight loss for those patients over weight. The antidepressant side effects are one thing to handle, but the body conditions often associated with antidepressant usage can create their own set of symptoms.

JNK Liquid Booster - Pour ½ capsule of the liquid in a glass of water and drink at a normal speed you usually drink water. If you want to also lose weight while tapering off the medication, take the JNK Liquid Booster as described in the How to Lose Weight chapter.

How to Adjust the Supplements if Needed

JNK – You can add a second packet in the afternoon if desired. The best way to judge if the second packet is needed would be; if the morning packet makes a wonderful change in how you feel but around noon or so you feel a letdown. Some people take ½ of a packet at noon and that gets them over this period, while very few need a 3rd packet in the late day.

Omega 3 Supreme– All head symptoms, except headaches, when coming off an antidepressant are handled by the Omega 3 Supreme. If you are feeling any symptoms in the head, increase the Omega 3 Supreme to 4 softgels in the morning and 4 additional softgels at noon. If symptoms persist after this increase, raise the amount of Omega 3 Supreme to 5 softgels in the morning and 5 at noon. A few people have needed to increase to 6 softgels in the morning and at noon to get the head symptoms under control. Once the head symptoms are back under control reduce the Omega 3 Supreme back down to the 3 softgels in the morning and the 3 softgels at noon. Check with your doctor before increasing the Omega 3 fish oil if you are taking heart medication or blood pressure medication.

Adjusting Optional Supplements

Admax (Males)– You can take additional Admax during the daytime if desired. The best way to determine if additional capsules of Admax are required is to look at your Daily Journal or your Daily Graph. If the fatigue lifts until noon when you take Admax in the morning, take an additional Admax capsule just before noon. Use the Admax for fatigue or if you just feel dull.

Body Calm – You can take as many as 3 Body Calm every 2 hours if needed to help with daytime anxiety.

Body Calm Supreme- You can take as many as 2 Body Calm Supreme every 4 hours if needed to help with daytime anxiety. You can take as many as 3 Body Calm Supreme at bedtime to help with sleep.

FemLife Supreme (Females) – If you are a female and you have not started the FemLife Supreme and you are having any menopausal symptoms or PMS symptoms, it is time to start. You can take as many as 4 capsules a day of the FemLife Supreme. You can take all 4 capsules at once or spread them out through the day. If you take 1 capsule and you feel these symptoms lift a little but not completely, try taking 2 at a time the next dosing. This is a supplement where you need to listen to your body and adjust accordingly.

Finishing the Pre-Taper

Do the pre-taper for 7-full days. Do not cut the pre-taper short no matter how well you may feel after a few days. Give your body a chance to balance, give yourself the chance to fully experience relief before you tackle the reduction of the antidepressant.

If you wish to stay on the pre-taper for an extended time, that is fine to do, many have. You may have experienced extreme trauma the last time you tried to get off the antidepressant and the apprehension you may feel now is normal, not a mental disorder. This is your time; do not let yourself get rushed by your physician or by the information in this book. The drug manufacturer, the F.D.A., and the American Medical Association even state a gradual reduction of the medication is required. We cannot stress enough, take your time. This is when the hare beats the rabbit to the finish line.