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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, 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:

1. Get with your prescribing physician and/or pharmacist and layout your drug taper schedule.

2. 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, 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 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 – Take 2 Omega 3 Supreme in the morning and 2 more at noon.

Vitamin E – Take 1 vitamin E along with the Omega 3 Supreme 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 2 capsule 15-minutes before bedtime.

You can adjust these supplements around during the daytime, except for the Omega 3 Supreme. 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; only 1 capsule at a time of each and at least 3 hours apart.

Neuro Night – 15-minutes before bedtime take 2 capsules. 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 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 – All head symptoms, except headaches, when coming off an antidepressant are handled by the Omega 3 Supreme. If you are feeling any symptoms in the head, increase the Omega 3 Supreme 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 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 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 2 capsules 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.