Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

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Saturn
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Re: Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

Unread post by Saturn »

I have PFS 7 months now. I have no libido at all but at least i had no problem with erections. I took 2 mg paroxetine. Two days later another 2 mg and now i cannot get any erection. Caution guys!
climb
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Re: Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

Unread post by climb »

Hi everyone,

now that I've re-engaged with attempting to try and improve my situation through perhaps taking something (I was previously too scared of making things worse), I've got a list of different things I want to try. Many thanks to those on the forum who have posted their experiences, I'll try to do the same as I trial things.

Regarding reinstating low dose SSRI / Cycling like Pete and others have done, I was wondering what the official medical position is on cycling / very low doses?
I'm planning on discussing trying the possibility of trying SJW, inositol, wellbutrin, mianserin, low dose SSRI etc (not all at the same time). with a psychiatrist just to help me avoid doing anything dangerous.
I thought that perhaps cycling an SSRI is not something they'd approve of? If this is the case, perhaps I'd better not mention it if I plan to do this?

Although it's been a very long time since I took an SSRI, I do vaguely recall the phase at the beginning where the body is getting used to the drug, and you can clearly feel it affecting the hormones which influence arousal etc. I've wondered whether it was possible to re-set your brain in this manner.

Thanks to anyone who can offer any advice.
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squirtleSquirtle
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Re: Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

Unread post by squirtleSquirtle »

climb wrote: I'm planning on discussing trying the possibility of trying SJW, inositol, wellbutrin, mianserin, low dose SSRI etc (not all at the same time). with a psychiatrist just to help me avoid doing anything dangerous.
If they were qualified in that department none of us would have PSSD.
20 mg Prozac, March-May, Septemeber-December 2015
Problems starting at discontinuation: very low libido, erectile dysfunction, watery semen, no morning wood
Current Problems: mild erectile dysfunction
healing
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Re: Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

Unread post by healing »

Hey all, I've recently consolidated all known SSRI reinstatement cases into a color-coded pdf. Unfortunately, the forum doesn't allow me to link pdf's, so I cannot post it. If you're interested, direct message me and I can email it to you 8-)
Lexapro 2016. Sexual, emotional, and cognitive symptoms.

Email: healingpssd1@gmail.com
healing
Posts: 38
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Re: Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

Unread post by healing »

Hello all,

I’ve become increasingly interested in SSRI reinstatement, and its effects on neurosteroid production. I take inspiration from the success stories of Pete, Fred, and Ghost’s friend. I’ve recently found an old bottle of escitalopram, the drug that originally gave me PSSD. I understand the risk I’m subjecting myself to; I understand that this trial could make me irreparably worse. I’ll provide a thorough log of my trial, with weekly updates. I’ll be reporting back in a week from now. Wish me luck! :)

Method
Firstly, I grinded 5mg of escitalopram into a fine powder, and dissolved it into a 100ml water solution. I plan to take 10ml or the solution, or approximately .5mg of escitalopram. I figured this would be a good starting dose, as it’s 1/20th of the minimum therapeutic dose (10mg). I plan to take a single dose and wait for a week. After that, assuming I haven’t been worsened, I’ll consider upping the dose/frequency. I’ll be avoiding all drugs for the duration of this trial, including caffeine, nicotine, alcohol, etc. I’ll try my best to quantitatively report changes across my 3 main symptom categories: sexual, emotional, and cognition.

Initial Symptom Rankings (10 being pre-pssd levels)
Sexual
Libido: 2/10
Erection quality: 7-9/10
Morning erections: 9/10
Orgasms: 2/10
Genital numbness: 4/10

Emotional/Hedonistic
Emotional Tone: 3/10
Hedonistic Tone: 2/10
DP/DR: 3/10

Cognitive
Short-term memory: 1/10
Long-term memory: 2/10
Intellectual capacity: 2/10
Slurred speech/misspeaking: 5/10 (didn’t know how to rank this, ranked a 5 to compare)

Other
Daytime Sleepiness: 2/10
Sleep Quality: 6/10
Lexapro 2016. Sexual, emotional, and cognitive symptoms.

Email: healingpssd1@gmail.com
Jaxx
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Re: Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

Unread post by Jaxx »

Good luck man, and we all appreciate the logging!
DGS94
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Re: Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

Unread post by DGS94 »

Good luck - keen to see how you go.
Maxin
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Re: Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

Unread post by Maxin »

Here’s my experiece in years past when reinstating:
My damage was caused by lexapro 20mg.
I have many symptoms but the worst are chronic fatigue and hypersomnia . Weight gain. Anhedonia. No motivation.

A few years after lexapro damage I tried a small dose of lexapro. 2 mg to be exact. Literally with in an hour or two I felt it. As far as I recall (this was years ago) I felt almost back to normal. I found this really interesting because as we know ssri take weeks to work. So why did I feel the effects so quickly. And from such a small dose? Obviously whatever changes to receptors had stayed permanently. Which is scary. Like the OP I had a few good days and then started to not feel so great and stopped. The fear of more changes to my brain was stronger than the good effects I got. But I believe these drugs work so precisely and complexly that the only way back out is the way you came in, if you catch my drift.

Back to the OP original post. Yes the brain zaps are weird and must hold some sort of clue to all this, to take that a step further. I am female. Before ssri damage, whenever I would orgasm after I would get this zap like feelings in my clit for a while after, Not sure any other girl can relate to this? Anyways, when I got the brain zaps from lexapro I remember thinking that they actually felt really similar to the zaps I would get post orgasm. My point being, I wonder if similar receptors are in both brain and clit/penis. I know it’s out there but I felt it was with mentioning.
healing
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Re: Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

Unread post by healing »

Hey guys, just giving a quick update on my trial.

April 8, 2020
Took approximately .5mg escitalopram (volumetrically dosed)
-Went for a bike ride after dosing, may have lowered exercise-induced brain fog
-Spring air brought up memories of pre-pssd times
-Typing faster
-Feeling more performance anxiety while playing video games at night
-Felt emotional release after looking at pictures from childhood, cried a bit
-Started getting weird zaps across the left side of my face, that eventually grew into different parts of my body. Zaps lasted for 30 minutes and subsided. I could compare it to the shock of getting a cavity filled, but they didn’t hurt.

April 9, 2020
Didn’t dose
-100% pre-pssd morning erections (not uncommon, but it seemed to have been stronger than usual).
-Very tired throughout the day, took a 2 hour nap a couple of hours after waking.
-Tingling sensation across my body as I was waking from nap, very strange weed body high-like sensation. Feeling quickly subsided as I woke up fully.
-Increased heart rate while watching porn, libido was going up and down throughout the day.
-Masturbated, felt baseline all-around, may have lost my hard faster

April 10, 2020
Didn’t dose
-Woke up with 50% pre-pssd morning erections
-Feeling baseline

April 11, 2020
Didn’t dose
-100% pre-pssd morning wood
-Had sex and love dream
-Feeling baseline.

April 12, 2020
Didn’t dose
-100% pre-pssd morning wood
-Feeling baseline

April 13, 2020
-Intense dreams
-100% pre-pssd morning erections

I think I’ll up the dose to 1mg of escitalopram today. So far so good, nothing too drastic has changed thus far.
Last edited by healing on Thu Jan 04, 2024 11:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Lexapro 2016. Sexual, emotional, and cognitive symptoms.

Email: healingpssd1@gmail.com
sandrospace
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Re: Low Dose SSRI (Reinstatement)

Unread post by sandrospace »

Wow thats an amazing story! Please post your experiences further.

I have an old bottle of Escitalopram ( Cipralex) and want to start the same "project".
What do you mean with "(volumetrically dosed)" , i want to start with 1-2mg ( 5-10%) what i use before a day and
than reduce 6x times week, than 5x times week, 4x times and so on.
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