Amisulpride withdrawal

[J87]

Hey guys! It's J87, Im 33 years old, I had major anxieties in 2016 and After months my parents didn't know what to with me, so we went to our GP and he gave me cipralex (an anti anxiety medication) that has completely made me anxious even more than what i was before.
So I was in a really bad shape mentally, gave up and got hospitilized.
doctors gave me antipsychotics medications and said my definition is scizoeffective.
and so they gave me amisulpride, which i'm still taking today.

Back in 2018 i tried to withdrawal (from 200mg to 0mg. as it was advised by the local Hospital psychiatrist (sorry for my language - but what a dumbass! )).

Anyway i did not take the pill for half a year. annd..it was horrible!
Paranoia attacks- daily.
Anxiety- weekly.
powerful delusions by the hour.
and insomnia every night.

All of those symptoms are may be withdrawal symptoms from the medicine, but I didn't had any paranoia, or insomania, or heavy delusions or anything like i've been through before the first time i went to the hospital .
I have lost my job later that year as a sound engineer and as a concert manager while withdrawing and eventually got hospitalized second time and the doctors decided to put me once again on amisulpride. I'm taking this medicine for the last 4.5 years.


So, i'm writing you today to get some information about withdrawal
Did anyone here has ever wrote or can add links about completing withdrawal from amisulpride from high dosage? 400mg.
or perhaps has switched to another medicine and then continued the withdrawal proccess?

I wonder because i didn't find anything online, and this drug is at least 20 years old, but nobody wrote a thing.. something's fishy...

Today i am more stable but still have thoughts about this drug dependency as time goes by.. trying to understand what are my chances to get off this drug.
Im planning on reducing the medicine to the bare minimum. (today at 350mg, reducing 50mg per month)
I've heard about reducing 10% in every few weeks or so but still no evidence one could managed to withdrawal by this tecnique (at least from what i've seen online)
In the past two months i did a research online, forums, ect.. and didn't find any evidence one could handle withdrawal from amisulpride
I really dont know what to do or what to think anymore. i'm still young, and in good health and i'm staying positive.., Please advise me!.

Big thanks in advance
J87

[Zurg]

Hi J87.

The reason why it can be difficult to find articles and stuff online about withdrawal from psych meds is that it's generally not something that's been put a lot of time and research into. At least not yet. In my experience doctors are very Quick to medicate but quite reluctant to wean you off the meds again.

I am currently in a process of weaning off my medication and i'd advice you to try and look for groups online or on Facebook for people trying to get off their psychiatric medications. I am in Denmark and in spite of the small size of my country there are groups on Facebook to help with this particular problem.

Be aware that even though it is possible to get off your meds, it Will likely take a very long time. Your body is used to the medication and every decrease Will be like a small shock to it so it's better to go slowly and let your body stabilise between each decrease.

You can pm me if there's something you want to talk about. I am trying to gather info for myself during this process of stopping my medication. And i'd be happy to share it or help somehow if you need it.

[J87]

Thanks you for commenting Zurg.
Actually my psychiatrist gave me the option to withdrawal, but the truth is he doesn't know anyone who came off amisulpride, he said that the odds i won't have psychosis are not too high, but there is a chance i will get throught it.
I respect my doctor, but i have a small believe in the system, so i'm relying on peoples stories online and searching for people who went throught withdrawal from amisulpride.

Thanks for the tip on joining facebook groups, sure to check it out

[Cacoethes]

I was on amisulperide until about a month ago.
I had no physical withdrawal symptoms but the psychosis came back full force.