Chapter 10
Time Release
Antidepressant
Pre-Taper
Please Note:
This pre-taper is for individuals taking a time-release
antidepressant. Your brand may be called; extended release
sustained release or any other name that means the
antidepressant will metabolize slowly, over an extended
period of time.
Starting Your
Pre-Taper
If you have not read the
entirety of Chapter Six “General Pre-Taper and Taper
Instructions,” please do so before continuing with this
chapter. Reading and understanding the Chapter “General Pre-
Taper and Taper Instructions” is vital before starting the
pre-taper.
You may already be in withdrawal
before you found The
Road Back Program. Please hang in there; 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 and the larger
percentage of reduction that must be
done because of the availability of dosages. It is
too common to have reductions of 25% or more because the
drugs only come in those
dosages.
Your pre-taper is a little
different than for an immediate release antidepressant.
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. The 10% is probably higher
with a time-release antidepressant. We want you to know this
so you know it is not just you. Sorry to say, most
physicians have never read the AMA report on antidepressant
withdrawal and they have not realized 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.
Head side effects are the ones
that stop most people from being able to get off an
antidepressant. An electrical brain zap, dizziness and other
head symptoms are the problem. 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 this Antidepressant Pre-taper
should stop the head symptoms from even starting. If you
have already started to taper the antidepressant and have
these head symptoms, the right type of omega 3 fish oil will
get you back on your feet quickly.
The supplements required for
the time-release antidepressant program are the JNK Formula,
Omega 3 Supreme TG, Neuro Day and Neuro Night.
It’s a good idea to take 200 to
400 i.u. of vitamin E when taking an omega 3 fish oil each
day.
Make sure to keep your Daily
Journal up-to-date and use graphs so you can visually see
the changes taking place with you.
What to do:
-
Get with your prescribing physician and/or pharmacist
and layout your drug taper
schedule.
-
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 Chapter
15, “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 antidepressant
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 is 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:
JNK Formula Neuro Day
Omega 3 Supreme TG Neuro Night
Anxiety or Insomnia
The JNK Formula and neuro Day
are formulated to address these symptoms.
Fatigue
If you have fatigue, the JNK
Formula and Omega 3 Supreme TG may handle those. A good
night of sleep won’t hurt either!
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 the antidepressant
first thing in the morning, take the medication as normal
and 1 hour later take the morning supplements.
How to do the
Pre-Taper Supplements:
JNK – Take 1
capsule of the JNK Formula in the morning and 1 in the
afternoon. You can take with or without food.
Omega 3 Supreme TG
– Take 2 Omega 3 Supreme TG in the morning and 2 more at
noon.
Vitamin E
– Take 1 vitamin E along with
the Omega 3 Supreme TG in the morning.
Neuro Day –
Take 1 capsule 1 or 2 hours after the morning JNK. Take the
second roughly 4-5 hours later.
Neuro Night
– Take 1 capsule 15-minutes before bedtime.
You can adjust these supplements
around during the daytime, except for the Omega 3 Supreme
TG. Morning and noon is the best with the omega.
Don’t be shy about adjusting the
supplements to fit your own needs. This is the beautiful
thing about these new formulas.
Just keep
the JNK Formula and the Neuro Day to; only 1 capsule at a
time of each and at least 3 hours apart.
Neuro Night
– 15-minutes before bedtime take 1 capsule. If sleep has not
improved within 3 days try taking the capsule 1 hour before
bedtime
Fatigue:
If you have fatigue, the JNK
Formula and Omega 3 Supreme TG should help.
How to Adjust the
Supplements if Needed:
JNK Formula
– The first capsule in the morning is
ideal. If you find you respond better to the Neuro Day in
the morning though, take the Neuro Day first. Just no more
than 1 capsule at a time of the JNK Formula and at least 3
hours apart. No more than 2 capsules in a day.
Neuro Day
–
Take an hour after the morning JNK Formula to begin. Adjust
it around to fit you though. Just
no more than 1 capsule at a
time, at least 3 hours apart and no more than 2 capsules
taken during the day.
Neuro Day is formulated to be
taken 2 times a day, starting in the morning and twice more
during the day 5 hours apart. So, 1 capsule in the morning,
5 hours later another capsule and another capsule again in 5
hours.
You may only need 1 capsule of
the Neuro Day. Base the need for the second capsule on how
you feel. Believe me, you will know!
Omega 3 Supreme TG
–
All head symptoms, except headaches, when coming off an
antidepressant are handled by the Omega 3 Supreme TG. If you
are feeling any symptoms in the head, increase the Omega 3
Supreme TG to 2 softgels in the morning and 2 additional
softgels at noon. If symptoms persist after this increase,
raise the amount of Omega 3 Supreme TG
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 TG 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.
Neuro Night
– Start by taking 1 capsule 15 minutes before bedtime. If
you are not going to sleep with ease by the end of the third
night, try taking the Neuro Night a little earlier in the
evening.
You might try 30 minutes or even 45 minutes before bedtime.
There will be that time that fits you perfectly. The
Neuro Night is formulated to work the best with the Neuro
Day being used during the daytime. Going to bed already
chilled out makes sleep so much easier.
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 even
the American Medical Association state a gradual reduction
of the medication is required. We cannot stress enough, take
your time. This is when the tortoise beats the hare to the
finish line.
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