Coming off serzone

Well - google got me this:

"Treating Anxiety Disorders

Cognitive Therapy of Anxiety Disorders: A Practice Manual and Conceptual Guide
Adrian Wells. New York: John Wiley & Sons (www.wiley.com). 1997, 314 pp.

Since the publication of ... bla bla bla ... and a last chapter on future directions.
The cognitive conceptualization throughout this book is that anxiety disorders are often maintained by the patient's misinterpretation of symptoms (panic, hypochondriasis), thoughts (obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety), and feelings (obsessive-compulsive disorder). Because of the emphasis on the patient's mislabeling of symptoms ("I'm having a heart attack"), maladaptive assumptions ("I have to get rid of my anxiety, completely"), conditional statements ("If I have a thought, then I'll act on it") and schemas ("I have no control"), each anxiety disorder can only be completely understood by developing a cognitive conceptualization. It is the emphasis on a deep, detailed and penetrating cognitive conceptualization that makes this book an outstanding contribution to the literature...."

I better put somthing understandable together later.

if you don't mind... that would be fantastic!

To pick up the book and read it though.... is it something that average person can apply or is it strictly theoretical written for a therapist?

I dunno' ' bout the entire book. But if you skip to the chapter on panic and you will have patience with a very dry presentation I dont se why not. There will be a few technical terms to deal with but a lot of the important stuff will be rather clear for anyone familiar with panic attacks.

And dont hold your breath on a summery.

Hi there,

WEll I have officially stopped the serzone (as of Thursday night), taking the last dose which was 25 mg. I ramped down for months from 250 mg than took 25 mg for 6 days and 25 mg every second day twice then stopped. I sincerely hope this is enough of a tapering off period. Any feedback on that folks? My palpitations have gotten worse but I just want this sh** out of my system. Anyone else experience withdrawal from serzone and if so how long did it take before things settled. I know Juno is now doing great after 5 weeks, which is hope for me.

Thanks so much,

T

Good luck with that, tasha! Keep us informed how you get on!

Can I ask if you do any kind of regular exercise?

Kathleen

I train very hard 5 days a week (with weights, plus cardio). During the last month I have switched to lower weights because my strength and energy levels are low but I am still training. I have been working out for 10 years now so I am hoping being physically fit will help.

Hi Tasha

Do you know about the trick of getting your legs above your head when you get palpitations? It sounds weird, but it can work. You can just put your legs up the wall while lying flat on your back.

Roger

Never heard of it --- and if you were a guy lying beside me I would say you were just hitting on me

As long as I still have my sense of humour right? No, seriously, I never heard of it. Not sure how it works physiologically. Is that all I do (put them against the wall while on my back?)?

Hmmm, thanks I will try it!

Upon further investigation I read that putting your feet up is good for circulation (esp. varicose veins) - making sure legs are above heart level thus allowing the blood to ebb back to the heart.

However I don't see how it's good for palpitations because the latter isn't a result of lack of blood to the heart? Just curious. I will try it anyway and hope it works, thanks for the tip.

bump

Is that you coming back down to earth, tasha?

Kathleen

Trying! It's been a week since my last dose of Serzone and all my withdrawal symptoms seemed to have peaked last weekend. Now there are actually moments when my heart isn't racing and I sincerely hope these 'moments' increase in length. I still feel dizzy, disoriented, find it difficult to breathe at times, fatique, vertigo, blurred vision, racing heart, and so on. My question is, how do you know what is the withdrawal and what is here to stay. I guess it's a crazy question and definately one asked out of panic.

You're right there, tasha! You will just have to live longer to find out! Enjoy the peaceful moments - and imagine them s - t - r - e - t - c - h - i - n - g themselves into minutes... and then hours... and then days...

Kathleen

Kathleen,
That is such a wonderful way to thing about it. Peaceful moments becoming peaceful hours, days, and on.

~Mermaid

kfedouloff wrote:You're right there, tasha! You will just have to live longer to find out! Enjoy the peaceful moments - and imagine them s - t - r - e - t - c - h - i - n - g themselves into minutes... and then hours... and then days...

Kathleen