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Chapter Six

General Pre-Tapering and Tapering Instructions

I feel rather redundant saying this again, but then, what I am about to say is something that cannot be said too many times, so bear with me.

As you start your road back, I want your journey to be as successful, and as smooth, as possible. For this reason, I say again, you cannot simply quit your medications cold turkey.

You must taper off these drugs in a controlled and planned manner, giving your body all the assistance you can, so that you can complete this program fully and not be driven back onto your prescriptions.

Your program will consist of a two-part process, the pre-taper, which takes on average two-to-three weeks. The two to three week time period is not exact; it will vary for each of you, and that is just fine. This is not a race against the clock. This is a journey back to you, and the best way to accomplish that is with steady steps that become more and more certain over time.

Once you have completed the pre-taper, you will start on the actual taper, and this is when you will start to reduce your medications, while continuing with all your “super foods” and supplements. Depending on the number of medications you are taking, and how you do on each step along the way, will determine how long the complete tapering process will take you.

This chapter is an overview of the pre-tapering and tapering process, and what each one of you will be doing no matter what drug or drugs you are taking.

These steps are vitally important to your success. Please study them carefully so that you will feel confident as you begin your personal program.

The Purpose of the Pre-Taper

Just as in running a marathon, swimming a mile, buying a house, or having a baby, you have to build up to the ultimate goal you want to accomplish. The same applies to The Road Back Program. You need to stretch your muscles, get some good nutrition into your system, and know how your daily schedule will change. This Pre Taper will set you up for a smooth reduction off your medications. This will be a period of gradual adjustment allowing you to ease into the program and to see how it goes.

Do not underestimate this first step, as it has its own goals, victories and discoveries. A few milestones will need to be reached before you are ready to move fully onto the reduction of your particular medications.

The Pre-Taper Goals

Elimination of all, or a drastic reduction, of existing side effects caused by the medications.
Learning which “super foods” and supplements created the positive change.

When you know the exact supplement or “super food” that eliminated the side effects in the pre-taper, you will know what to do to eliminate the side effect, if it occurs again during the reduction phase of your program.

The reasoning is this: If a withdrawal side effect begins during the taper, the odds are very high that it will be one of the existing side effects you had before you started your pre-taper.

A good example of the importance of the pre-taper is found in the translator’s Introduction of the book, The Art of War by Sun Tzu, from a translation by Thomas Cleary.

“Plan for what is difficult while it is easy, do what is great while it is small. The most difficult things in the world must be done while they are still easy, the greatest things in the world must be done while they are still small.”

Nutritional Supplements

Review the Chapter, “Super Foods Used on The Road Back Program” and make sure you have the “super foods” and nutritional supplements on hand. The day before you are going to start your pre-taper, review which supplements you will be taking the next day, and the time you will be taking them. If you will be carrying the “super foods” and supplements with you during the day, and need to put those quantities into smaller containers, do so. If you know that you have a busy schedule on the day that you will start, or any day following that, prepare for this by making a note of when you will need to take your supplements and how you can arrange to do so. If you do not usually carry water with you, or have it available where you will be, take some with you.

Your life is about to change and you want to be prepared for this change.

Your Daily Journal:

Every day you will keep a written record of your progress in a journal.

Review the chapter, “Daily Journal.” You are free to copy the journal and put together your own journal, or you can find pre-made journals at The Road Back website. In your Daily Journal, you will note certain information over the course of a 24-hour hour period. The reason these specific statistics are important is because the statistics will help you find your way back to center, if at some point during the program, you start to falter. Before going to bed each night, or during the day as you do each step, you will write down the following:

· That day’s date.

· The time of all medications you took that day and the dosage amount.

· All food and drinks, including coffee, water, alcohol, etc, the time you ate or drank, and the amount.

· Rate your own progress as to how you feel.

· Rate your energy, appetite, mood, and exercise.

· Include anything that you added or deleted from your daily routine.

Keeping the journal allows you to look back in time for changes you have made. It allows you to see what change made a positive improvement, and if a problem occurs, the journal allows you to look back and locate which change probably made the negative impact. By knowing this, you will be able to get yourself back on track again by being able to determine what you changed.

Examples of this could be that you increased your supplements and “super foods” too quickly or too much, and now you need to reduce them back to the quantity that you were taking when you last felt good. Or, it might be that you felt so good from the pre-taper, that you added exercise into your day, and this has now created the negative change you are experiencing. Whatever the case may be, it could be the small, and seemingly, insignificant change, or it could be a major change that you did not realize you had made. By using your Daily Journal, you will be able to find your way back. The Daily Journal will be like a good little voice that sits on your shoulder reminding you of what works for you, and what does not work.

By noting exactly how much of each supplement you have taken, each day, you will know that any positive change in your well-being will be a direct result of the exact amounts and times that you took your “super foods” and supplements.

The Following Is key to Your Success:

If emotions, physical complaints, energy, mood, or anything else improves, you will remain at the same intake level of the supplement or “super food” that created the improvement. You will be introducing each “super food” or supplement slowly. Once you experience a positive change with any “super food” or supplement, remain at the amount that caused the positive change. By keeping a record of this, you will be able to quickly chart your improvement as you move through the pre-taper and tapering programs. You will find that your journal will become a critical ally in your journey, and will help to keep you at the helm of your ship, and as the master of your destiny.

Make sure that you use your Daily Journal to track your progress

Recreational Drugs and Alcohol

Well, there might not be a lot to say here that you do not already know. The first thing is that either of these items, recreational drugs and / alcohol, can create or bring on physical symptoms that you might not want to experience during your tapering process. Using either of these could also be creating or contributing to existing problems, masking potential problems, or aggravating any problems that already exist. While I have said, do not change anything that you are doing in your life, this is one area where that adage does not apply. While on The Road Back Program, it is not about “having your cake and eating it too.”

Your goal is about becoming medication-and-symptom-free, so give yourself the chance to accomplish your goals!

Do Not Change Anything

Now I know that based on the section above, where I just said to change your habits and routines regarding recreational drugs and alcohol, it might seem as though I have contradicted myself, but not so.

Here’s an example: If you are already on some form of exercise program, and are starting The Road Back Program, you would not stop exercising. It is a great thing for your body, and your body is used to this as a routine.

If you are not on an exercise program, do not start all of a sudden, because it seems like a good idea in connection with the tapering process. Your body is not set up for both of these things at the same time and there could be hell to pay. However, you can go for a slow, casual walk daily right now, if you wish. That is fine and recommended.

· Do not start a liver-cleansing process, colon cleanse etc., and the taper at the same time.

· Do not stop drinking coffee, smoking or abruptly change your diet and start this program at the same time.

The reason that I am giving you all these do’s and don’ts, is because each one of these actions a) has its own chemical response in your system and b) any of these can either speed up or slow down the flow of medications you are taking through your body, and thus could create withdrawal side effects.

While some supplements are good for you, and some supplements may not be as good, it will be too hard to sort out what is creating what, and because of this, you may have a difficult time keeping yourself on a steady path that is gaining momentum and success. I think you get the point. Use your head. Examine the options and choose the one that stays as closely with The Road Back Program as possible.

Deviation From The Road Back Program

You might think deviating from the program would be the most obvious and easiest thing to detect, but this is not always the case.

A blessing of The Road Back Program is that it usually works quickly and a person feels a vast improvement early on. This blessing can also be a curse. In the first years of the program, a person would typically feel a major positive change about half-way through the tapering portion of this program. Now, they can experience this major positive change, frequently within the first three days of the pre-taper. The creation of the “super foods” used within the program and the time of the day each “super food” is taken has made the program work so much quicker. Imagine feeling as though you had never taken a drug after only one week on the pre-taper part of The Road Back Program. What a miracle!

However, when this major positive change is felt, the person can feel so good that he / or she begins doing things they have wanted to do for years, such as quitting smoking, giving up coffee, starting a major exercise program; essentially any additions or deletions to their normal everyday lives.

Then all of a sudden, they crash and wonder why!

My first experience with this curse happened in 1999. I received a call from a woman who was tapering off her medication. She had been doing well, and then all of a sudden, she was not doing well. This woman had tried to taper off her antidepressant medication several times over the years, before starting The Road Back Program. She could never reduce the drug without suffering extreme withdrawal and always had to go back up to her original dosage. This time, she was half-way off her medication and feeling great.

It took two weeks to finally figure out what had changed. All during this time, I had been asking her every question I could think of, to discover what she had changed, as I knew there was something that she was doing differently. I finally found out that typically, every six months, she was used to going on an all-protein diet. This was a “normal” activity for her, and because of this, she never even thought to mention it, or view it as a major change in her lifestyle. However, this diet had a huge impact on her progress, and was the major deviation from the program. Once this was established, we got her back to square-one, and she was able to complete her taper program.

I cannot stress enough: look for the obvious as well as the subtle changes if you feel a negative change during this program.

Another major deviation from the program can be that you feel so good, you forget to take your medication(s). Of course, this is a no-no but it does happen more frequently now. Only lower the medication at specific amounts and make that amount be a gradual reduction. There have been numerous people over the years who begin a pre taper, suffering from a wide assortment of side effects. They have been taking psychiatric medications for years and have tried countless times to get off the drugs. They begin the pre-taper, and are finally able to sleep all night for the first time in months, and their daytime anxiety vanishes. Three days later, they forget to take their medication at bedtime. The next day, they are in full withdrawal and begin to question whether The Road Back Program is right for them. The only problem was forgetting to take their medication.

These variations or deviations from the program can be extremely troubling for your doctor, as well. He or she can only help you by having all the information on hand in order to guide you through the steps. For this reason, it is imperative that: a) you write everything down in your Daily Journal, including those things you think might have no bearing on you whatsoever, and b) make sure you take your Daily Journal to each of your doctor visits, so that together, you can chart your progress and get back to square one, if you need to.

“Super Foods”

A deviation from The Road Back Program can also take place with the “super foods” used on the program. Once you feel a positive change with the Power Barley Formula, do not increase it further during the pre-taper.

I often make a joke about Texans and Power Barley Formula. Big or better yet, Bigger is better in Texas. I actually made a trip to Texas not long ago and told a few people there my story on Texans. I described how to use the Power Barley Formula, what to look for regarding positive changes, and not increase that product more once that positive change is achieved.

Two weeks later, a Texan called raving about the positive changes. One week later, the same person called again, saying they did not feel as well and they were wondering what could have happened to them. This was not too difficult to solve. Texans and Power Barley Formula? They increased the Power Barley Formula to double the amount that brought on the positive changes. If one teaspoon three times a day made you feel that good, 2 teaspoons three times a day should make you feel twice as good, was the thought process.

Once the Texan went back to the amount that was right for their body, they felt good once again.

Major Improvement

The Texan story leads us to the next definition of major change - a major improvement. A major improvement is what you are going for with the pre-taper.

If you have extreme daytime anxiety and you are able to get it down to a point where you have to stop and look for anxiety to even see or feel any, you have had a major improvement.

If you could not sleep more than two hours a night and now you are able to sleep four to five hours, wake up and then go back to sleep, that is a major improvement.

If every joint in your body ached, and now you have only a little ache in the morning when you awake that goes away within the first few minutes, you have experienced a major improvement.

If you felt a major depression every day and now you feel a little depressed occasionally, you have had a major improvement.

If you feel like you are not even taking a medication now, you have had a major improvement.

Major changes are what we are going for during the pre-taper. The goal is to alleviate major complaints or reduce them to the point of being very acceptable and not in the way of your day-to-day life, so that you can taper off the medication and “live life.”

Once a “super food” or supplement provides relief or a major improvement, there is no need to keep increasing that product.

Steady State: The term “steady state” has special definitions in biochemistry, chemistry, electronics, and even macroeconomics.

In The Road Back Program, “steady state” is defined as: A constant level or a level of action that allows a balance between two or more substances.

A constant level would be to maintain a level of a supplement in the body to a degree where it never drops below a certain point. Much like the half-life of medication, keeping enough of a substance in the body at a specific strength gives a result. If you skip a dosage of medication, withdrawal begins. If you skip a serving of a supplement, withdrawal does not take place, but you do lose the steady or constant state of the supplement.

A level of action that allows a balance between two or more substances is different from a constant level. All psychiatric medications will alter hormones and the adrenals. When a “steady state” occurs with the nutritionals at a constant level, the cells will use the nutrients to begin working with each other, balancing each other, allowing the cells to receive energy and exchange back to other cells desired substances for optimum survival.

While doing the pre-taper, one goal is to find the “steady state” of each nutritional for your body. Age, height, weight, gender, how long you have been using a medication or the type of medication you might be using cannot be used to predict the correct amount of a nutritional. This takes trial and success. This is one reason it is recommended you begin each nutritional at a small amount and only increase the nutritional to the point of a positive change.

If You Have Anxiety or Insomnia, What to Expect

The following chart is the result from a double-blind randomized controlled trial with the benzodiazepine Oxazepam. Oxazepam is also marketed under the names Alepam, Murelax, Oxascand, Serax, Serepax, Seresta, and Sobril.

The trial was for treatment of generalized anxiety.

Two groups were used. One group received Oxazepam and a placebo and the other group used Passion Flower and a placebo. The Body CalmSupreme used with The Road Back Program is the closest to the Passion Flower used in the trial that is available.

Column on the left of the chart is Hamilton Anxiety Score.

Notice the gradual reduction of anxiety over 30-days. Use the graph located after the “Daily Journal” chapter and chart your own progress.

Calcium-Induced Side Effects With Benzodiazepines and Anti-Convulsants

· When taking benzodiazepines and /or anti-convulsants, do not take a supplement containing ionic calcium.

If you are taking an antidepressant or anti-psychotic medication and anxiety is a major complaint, avoid ionic calcium as well.

The difference between ionic calcium and “plain” or unaltered calcium is that ionic calcium is altered into a form that the body takes in instantly, versus “plain” or unaltered calcium, which breaks down in the body more slowly. An example of an ionic calcium product would be one that either dissolves or fizzes when put into hot or cold liquid.

While either calcium is a wonderful supplement in a natural, healthy diet, it is not something that you want to use if taking a benzodiazepine or if you are suffering from anxiety. Calcium is something that all our bodies require, and one of its main properties is assisting with the correct functioning of nerve impulses. While you do want to have your nerves and their impulses functioning correctly at all times, you don’t want or need to increase or “feed” this nerve stimulation while you are taking and or trying to taper off of benzodiazepines and / or anti-convulsants.

Calcium stimulates electrical discharge of the nerves. The stimulation of nerve impulses is the primary problem with using calcium along with a benzodiazepine or ant-convulsant.

It has been shown in clinical trials that blocking calcium can help protect a person from some of the worst of the benzodiazepine withdrawal symptoms.

Calcium-induced side effects while taking a Benzodiazepine or anti-convulsant can include:

· Hyperkinesias: an abnormal increase in muscular activity, hyperactivity, especially in children.

· Hyperthermia: unusually high body temperature.

· Hyper aggression.

· Audiogenic seizures: Seizures caused by loud sounds and noises.

· Increased anxiety.

· Psychosis.

· Numbness around the mouth.

· Tingling in the extremities.

· Shortness of breath.

It is vital that you ensure you are not taking an ionic calcium supplement while using a benzodiazepine or anti-convulsant.

The Road Back has been contacted by several patients and physicians about the use of calcium. Some dispute this part of The Road Back Program.

Suggestion: If you are taking a calcium supplement and suffer from anxiety, do not take the calcium supplement for three days and see if the anxiety goes away or subsides greatly. If the anxiety subsides, there-is-nothing-left-to-argue-about. If the anxiety stays the same, it is not the calcium. Keep taking the calcium!

Your Next Step

· If you are taking a benzodiazepine, anti-convulsant, anti-anxiety or sleep medication, follow the instructions found in the chapter “Pre-Taper for Benzodiazepine, Anti-convulsant, Anti-anxiety, and Sleep Medication.”

· If you are taking an antidepressant, anti-psychotic, or ADHD medication, follow the instructions found in the chapter “Pre-Taper for Antidepressants, Anti-Psychotics, and ADHD Medication.”

If you are taking a benzodiazepine, anti-convulsant, anti-anxiety or sleep medication along with an antidepressant, anti-psychotic or ADHD medication follow the instructions found in the chapter “Pre-Taper for Antidepressants, Anti-Psychotics, and ADHD Medication.” In that chapter, there is a section “If You Have Anxiety or Insomnia.” Follow the pre-taper instructions in this section.

Two Key Components for Accomplishing a Complete and Successful Taper Are:

You must fully complete your pre-tapering program, before starting your medication reduction, tapering program.

You must taper slowly.

If you make sure that you take those two steps, you will be tilting the scales in your favor. They allow for a high degree of control over the process, and I want you to have this control! These steps allow the body time to recover from the effects of the drug or drugs, with the benefit of rest and correct nutritional “super foods” and supplements.

The claims, information and products mentioned through this site or within the book, How to Get Off psychiatric Drugs Safely have not been evaluated by the United States Food and Drug Administration and are not approved to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. The information provided on this site or within the book, How to Get Off Psychiatric Drugs Safely is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for advice from your physician or other healthcare professional. You should not use the information on this site for diagnosis or treatment of any health problem or for prescription of any medication or other treatment. You should consult with a healthcare professional before starting any diet, exercise or supplementation program, before taking any medication, or if you have or suspect you might have a health problem.

Copyright 2006 The Road Back. All rights reserved. No part of this Web Site may be reprinted or distributed without permission.
Copyright 2006 - How to Get Off Psychiatric Drugs Safely by James L. Harper used with permission.

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