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How to Get Off Psychiatric Drugs Safely
Copyright Notice Forward A Note From James Harper, Founder, The Road Back Table of Contents
Part One
3. Suggested Nutritionals for The Road Back Program 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 (Slow and Gradual Taper) 12. How to Taper Off Benzodiazepines, Anti-Convulsants, Anti-Anxiety and Sleep Medication (Fast and Gradual Taper) 13. How to Taper Off Antidepressants, Anti-Psychotics and ADHD Medication (Slow and Gradual Taper) 14. How to Taper Off Antidepressants, Anti-Psychotics and ADHD Medication (Fast and Gradual Taper)
16.
What to Do If You Have Already
Started to Taper Off Your Medication
or 17. How to Taper Off Multiple Drugs 18. What You Can Do If You Have Never Taken Psychiatric Drugs 19. Science Behind The Road Back Program
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Chapter
Twelve
How to Taper Off Benzodiazepines, Anti-anxiety, 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. Now, as incredible as this might seem, this step should be the easy part of The Road Back Program! Take a step back and look at how you felt before the pre-taper. How do you feel now that the pre-taper is complete? You can make it off the medication. Until now, the problem encountered by most people attempting to get off any of the medications has been the availability of the medication in a dosage that would allow a gradual reduction. Several of the drug inserts will suggest reducing the medication every 3-days. With that rapid reduction suggested, and large drops in the medication, only one result would happen - suffering. 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. 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. Most medications can be compounded by a pharmacist. Compounding is a process done by a pharmacist where they make a medication for you at an exact dosage. 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 with ease. The Road Back Program has and always will be a work in progress. However, at the writing of this book, the program 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 benzodiazepines, antidepressants, antipsychotics, sleep medications, ADHD medications, and even medications prescribed in a time release form. 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 at least three Omega 3 and 400 i.u. vitamin E daily if you are going to use the CLA) 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 were anxiety and insomnia.
Example of how to increase supplements 2 days before 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 10 mg of a medication 1. Increase supplements 2 days before reduction of medication 2. First reduction is to 9.5 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 9 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 8 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 6 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 4 mg 19. 5 days after reduction of medication, lower supplements to previous amount if all is well 20. Wait 10-days 21. Increase supplements 2 days before next reduction of medication 22. Reduce medication to 2 mg 23. 5 days after reduction of medication, lower supplements to previous amount if all is well
24.
You
are now off the medication and should proceed to the chapter
Once Off Medication 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.
The Taper Stage 1 Reduce the medication by 5% every 14-days for two reductions and have success, and then move on to Stage 2 for reducing the medication. If there is no possibility of reducing the medication by 5%, reduce the medication as close to 5% as possible. Have success reducing the medication at least 2 times, see for yourself that you can do this and still feel well, and then you and your physician should decide if you should reduce the medication at a larger reduction. Make sure you work with the prescribing physician before changing the dosage of your medication. Ask your physician to write a prescription to accommodate a 5% reduction or as close as possible. You may need to use a compounding pharmacy to fill this prescription. Again, we are not in a speed race! Have the success and then move on to Stage 2. ▪ If you compound the medication it is important that the compounded drug be identical to the drug you are currently taking. ▪ Unless the pharmacist can assure you that the
medication is exactly
the same, avoid this method
of compounding. ▪ Only reduce the medication 5% every fourteen days. The 5% reduction is based on the original dosage of the medication. The 5% reduction is based on milligrams. ▪ Never skip any days of taking medication. ▪ Always take your medication at the same time each day. ▪ If you take your medication more than once each day, make sure the total reduction of the medication is no more than 5%. ▪ Take each supplement at least ˝ hour apart from the drug, but ideally, 1 hour apart. It is much better to take the supplements 1 hour after taking the drug, instead of before the drug. ▪ Continue with your supplements and “super foods” at the same times and amounts established during the pre-taper. Only increase supplements if a side effect begins. ▪ Take each supplement at the same time each day. ▪ Remember to keep your Daily Journal filled out each day and keep taking all the supplements exactly as you did at the end of the pre-taper unless an adjustment needed to be made to handle a withdrawal side effect. ▪ After you have reduced the medication twice during Stage 1 and 14-days have passed after the second reduction and you are doing well, move on to Stage 2. Stage 2 Taper Procedure:
Tapering can be this simple. Once you are off the medication, make sure you keep taking the supplements for 45-days. Read the chapter, “Once Off All Medication” and follow the ending program completely.
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