DXM and antidepressants question

I am wanting to go 2nd or 3rd plateau on DXM next weekend, but I'm currently on Zoloft, 50 mg a day. I heard you should never mix the 2, and it might be fatal if you do. I definitely do not want to risk this, so I have a question.

If I want to do DXM, how long should I wait from after I quit taking Zoloft? I just want to make sure the drugs don't interact. My mom has me on Zoloft, and I do not need it (long story), so I can always just quit them and throw one away every day to make her think I'm on them. So how long should I quit Zoloft before trying DXM?

 

Anyone???

 

1) If you really do need to be on antidepressants, i think quitting them just to try DXM is pretty stupid, it's not worth it.

2) If however you decide to stop taking it, I know that you can't just quit cold turkey so I'd be careful.

 

I am not aware of a drug interaction between antidepressants and dextromethorphan. If one exists, you would have to stop the antidepressant several weeks before taking the DXM to avoid it.

 

And if you go off of your antidx, please wean off of it slowly. Like over a period of weeks. Like Robo said, stopping your meds just to take some DXM seems a little shortsighted.

Your mon can't write prescriptions, can she? What is your diagnosis? Maybe you DO need to be one them. If not, you're 18. You can make your own medical decisions, unless a court has ruled you incompetent to, which I doubt. My dd is 18, and although I go with her to her doctor appts. she has the freedom and privacy to talk to the doctor alone. And she often does.

 

I'm only 17, maybe u saw the 18 posts and thought it was age?

Anyways, thanks for all the info. Since I am 17 for 10 more months, I'm kind of stuck with the symptoms my mom told the doctor I have (just irritability and moodiness like any teen, my mom just likes to blow things WAY out of proportion). I don't need to be on them at all, and everyone that knows my mom is making me take them thinks it is ridiculous as well.

I've only been on them for a month or so, so should I still gradually stop taking them, and still wait a couple of weeks before taking DXM?

 

Yes, if you do want to stop the antidxs and know you will be OK. Try to talk to the doctor who prescribed them, if you think you can trust him or her. Maybe, if he hears your POV he will change his mind.

But yes, if you do go off of them, do it gradually. You will feel a lot better than if you went cold turkey.

I hope once you turn 18 your mom will see that you can make your own medical decisions.

Good luck.

 

Never take DXM if you are taking a monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI). This also applies for one week before and two weeks after taking a MAOI. MAOIs include some (rarely used) prescription drugs for depression and Parkinson's disease, a few recreational ethnobotanicals (harmine and harmaline), and yohimbe bark. Mixing DXM and a MAOI has regularly been fatal.
Do not take DXM with phentermine, fenfluramine, or the combination (phen-fen), all of which are used as prescription diet pills. This combination can cause serotonin syndrome.
Never take DXM if you are taking, will take, or have taken within six weeks, the prescription antihistamine terfenadine (SeldaneTM), or any other prescription, non-drowsy antihistamine (e.g., ClaritinTM or HisminalTM).
Never take DXM with the SSRI antidepressants Desyrel (trazodone) or Serzone (nefazodone); these combinations have resulted in liver damage.
Be very careful combining DXM with SSRI and tricyclic antidepressants (i.e., those in common use), and never use DXM when taking more than one drug at a time for depression, due to the potential for serotonin syndrome.
Avoid all products containing DXM and other active ingredients.

excerpted from http://www.third-plateau.org/faq/dxm_general_info.shtml

Note: Serotonin syndrome is described as follows:




Serotonin syndrome is a recently-identified condition that typically occurs when combining serotonergic drugs (i.e., drugs that stimulate, or mimic, serotonin activity in the brain). Most of these drugs are antidepressants (MAOIs, SSRIs such as Prozac[size=-2]TM[/size] or Zoloft[size=-2]TM[/size], tricyclics, lithium, and atypical antidepressants); others include buspirone (BuSpar[size=-2]TM[/size]), MDMA (ecstasy) and other phenethylamines, tryptophan, harmine and harmaline (both recreational MAOIs), and possibly serotonergic hallucinogens such as LSD, psilocybin, and DMT. Phentermine, fenfulramine, and phen-fen can also cause serotonin syndrome when combined with DXM.

DXM induces a release of serotonin, and while it has never been demonstrated to cause serotonin syndrome by itself, it has been shown to do so in combination with other serotonergics (365). In particular, combining SSRIs and DXM may be risky; one paper found serotonin syndrome from an SSRI combined with DXM with a concurrent vascular disease (364).

Serotonin syndrome is indicated by a combination of three sets of symptoms: changes in mental status, autonomic dysfunction, and neuromuscular abnormalities. Specific symptoms include:

• Changes in Mental Status
  • hypomania
  • confusion
  • agitation
• Autonomic Dysfunction
  • diarrhea
  • low-grade fever
  • diaphoresis (sweating)
  • shivering
• Neuromuscular Abnormalities
  • myoclonus (sudden, brief muscle spasms)
  • hyperreflexia (exagerrated reflexes)
  • ataxia (incoordination and clumsiness)

Yes, there is some overlap (e.g., shivering can considered as an autonomic dysfunction or a neuromuscular abnormality).

More serious symptoms can include rhabdomyolysis (basically, your muscle cells break open and leak muscle-cell-parts into your bloodstream, poisoning you), coma, and death. Serotonin syndrome deaths are rare, however. Treatment of serotonin syndrome requires medical intervention, and consists of supporting measures to treat the symptoms, and possibly antiserotonergic drugs. Benzodiazepines (such as Valium[size=-2]TM[/size]) have also been used with considerable success
excerpted from http://www.erowid.org/chemicals/dxm/faq/dxm_side_effects.shtml

There is some speculation that DXM and anti-depressants can multiply each other's effects, and that DXM may in fact act as an NMDA receptor anti-depressant. Anti-depressants can take several weeks to completely clear out of your system, depending on the type. Only you know specifically what type you are on, and it is up to you to find out how long it remains in your system after stopping intake. I definitely would not recommend use of recreational doses of DXM while on any type of anti-depressant.

Personally, I would not recommend cessation of your prescribed anti-depressants without the advice of a doctor. Just as these can take a long time to clear out of your system, they also can take a long time to build back up to where they need to be. If you really need to be on these (only you and your doctor can decide), then stopping them for any reason is foolish, and potentially dangerous. This is particularly true if it is so you can take DXM at recreational doses. There are other substances that are available for use which will not cause you harm if you remain on your meds. Good luck, and be safe. A trip is not worth frying your brain or damaging your physical or mental health over. You may not even like it, anyway.

***DISCLAIMER***
Nothing stated in previous, current, or subsequent messages or postings should be construed as evidence of previous, current, or future intent to violate, or any violation of, any federal, state, or local laws. All information posted is for entertainment purposes only, and should be considered entirely fictional. Author does not endorse the consumption of any substances specifically prohibited by federal, state, or local laws, or their chemical analogues, nor approves of research by unqualified individuals or minors.

 

Wow, thanks for all that awesome info. All the questions I had were answered.

 

No problem man. Be safe whatever you decide to do.

 

Serotonin Syndrome can also include hallucinations.

However, THERAPUTIC doeses of DXM are fine with SSRIs, I've taken it a dozen times for coughs, and never had any side effects. Also my pharmacist and doctor have said it is fine. I don't take more than the recommended dose, though. PhotoGra is a pharmacist, so I think he knows what he is talking about.

 

A therapuetic dose of DXM is absolutely fine with SSRI's.

I am still studying to be a pharmacist, and I haven't take "Robotripping 101"!

LOL