Ask rocketturtle something

[Peter]

p.s. what was your name before "Washing Machine"?

He was Calandale.  He and a few other people thought that it would be fun to change their names and avatars every week.

What were you taking before, how long has it been, and did you withdraw gradually or just stop taking it cold turkey?

thanks, all these name changes are confusing. oh well.

 

The people who want to do it think that it's fun, but for me it's kind of confusing too.

Was confusing for me too,
when EVERYONE was different.
Kinda boring now. But, I can
definitely see where it would be
tough, coming back.

Just pretend that we're new people.

It makes me less interested in posting when I don't know who anyone is.  All the name changes are putting me off coming here at all; I might as well pick a random site each week to post at, since I won't know who I'm replying to or who's replying to me either way.

[rocketturtle]

p.s. what was your name before "Washing Machine"?

He was Calandale.  He and a few other people thought that it would be fun to change their names and avatars every week.

What were you taking before, how long has it been, and did you withdraw gradually or just stop taking it cold turkey?

thanks, all these name changes are confusing. oh well.

 

The people who want to do it think that it's fun, but for me it's kind of confusing too.

i was on effexor xr for almost three years. i have been thinking and planning of going off of them for over five months and i booked three weeks off work so that i didn't have any outside responsibilities to attend to. the average dosage is 150mg a day. usually when coming off of effexor, the dosage is reduced by 37.5mg then you let your body stabilize and repeat. it's also a similar process going on it. i only took 37.5mg per day to begin with so withdrawing gradually wasn't an option. also it has very strong acclimation/withdrawal symptoms so alternating daily dosage (ie, take one and then the next day not take one), is really hard on your body since you would withdrawal one day and then the next day you would acclimate. also, effexor at different dosages changes different neurotransmitter patterns. generally speaking, the low dosages target anxiety patterns and the high dosages target depression patterns. you need to let your body get used to the new dosage "step". i am fortunate that my body doesn't react that way to it so the physical withdrawal consisted mainly of altered auditory and visual sensations. i also had altered nerve sensations where i would get random firings of nerves that felt like little bolts of electricity traveling along my body. that didn't hurt for me (some people get severe nerve pain if they even miss one dose by a few hours) since i love the tingly feeling of small amounts of electricity and it made me laugh every time it happened. for me acclimating (going onto the medication) was worse than coming off. when i first started taking it, i was extremely nauseous and that feeling was so strong that it dampened out all of my other senses. and, of course, since the medication is a psychotropic, going on and off if will cause temporary emotional turbulence as your body finds its new equilibrium.

Thanks for this information.  Even when the drug is tapered, it seems that it is usually tapered to 37.5 mg just before discontinuing it. It was probably a good idea to book time off work to go through withdrawal.  Apparently, some doctors treat the withdrawal symptoms by giving a small dose of Prozac, since it has a longer half-life and discontinuing it causes few side effects.

i took prozac for eight months in 1999. the first four months i felt like i was on speed. then it suddenly changed and i gained around 10 pounds a month (around 40 in total) as well as a very negative impact on my behaviour. i would hide under my desk for hours afraid to come out and i had images of cutting people's skin off to investigate the mechanics of muscle movement. i also didn't allow myself to sleep in my bed if i did not shower because i was too dirty. the whole experience scared me away from psychiatric drugs for 6 years. even the decision to start taking effexor in 2005 was long and hard. my doctor wanted me to be on at least 75mg but i refused to take more than the absolute minimum necessary. my life hasn't been nearly as stressful as when i first started taking the medication and i need to know if i can manage my life without drugs. if it turns out that i need to go back, then i think i will research a different medication since one of the two side effects i experienced with it was jaw clenching that gave me really bad head and ear aches.

[Callaway]

It sounds like Prozac did not work well at all for you.

It sounds like you had a horrible experience with it.

[rocketturtle]

Why do turtles always try to bite be me when try and help them off the roads and will you put in a good word with them for me?

i don't know. maybe they are afraid because they don't know you. try putting a blanket over them first so that they cannot see. most animals become passive when you cover their eyes and it reduces their stress in situations they do not understand.

[Peter]

Anti-depressants completely fuck me up in general.  I've tried 7 and every one of them has been shit.

[The_P]

It makes me less interested in posting when I don't know who anyone is.  All the name changes are putting me off coming here at all; I might as well pick a random site each week to post at, since I won't know who I'm replying to or who's replying to me either way.

Pete, go back to your meds and quit complaining over naught. 

[Calandale]

It makes me less interested in posting when I don't know who anyone is.  All the name changes are putting me off coming here at all; I might as well pick a random site each week to post at, since I won't know who I'm replying to or who's replying to me either way.

Oh hell. We're talking THREE people,
at this point. All with a different
star color.

There can be no confusion
among those who are here.

[Peter]

It makes me less interested in posting when I don't know who anyone is.  All the name changes are putting me off coming here at all; I might as well pick a random site each week to post at, since I won't know who I'm replying to or who's replying to me either way.

Oh hell. We're talking THREE people,
at this point. All with a different
star color.

There can be no confusion
among those who are here.

Three people?  Do you have difficulty with numbers?  Here's a quick list of some people's current usernames and what they're more commonly known as.

Golden Mantella Froggy - Soph
Monkey frog - Calandale
The Mad Moon - Hale Bopp
Sputtleshines - Gallioace
Contra Warrior  - Peaguy
Tyler's Tree frog - Milla
McAnusFairy - McJagger
Atelopus frog -
Disgruntled Carpet Cleaner -
Spin Wash -
Tony Harrison - Dunc
fuck the world - Richard
P=ghey -

[Calandale]

Ah, I was just talking about the club.
Ah well. Can't expect people to keep the
same name. Most of the changes are for
a reasonable length of time.

[Callaway]

It makes me less interested in posting when I don't know who anyone is.  All the name changes are putting me off coming here at all; I might as well pick a random site each week to post at, since I won't know who I'm replying to or who's replying to me either way.

Oh hell. We're talking THREE people,
at this point. All with a different
star color.

There can be no confusion
among those who are here.

Three people?  Do you have difficulty with numbers?  Here's a quick list of some people's current usernames and what they're more commonly known as.

Golden Mantella Froggy - Soph
Monkey frog - Calandale
The Mad Moon - Hale Bopp
Sputtleshines - Gallioace
Contra Warrior  - Peaguy
Tyler's Tree frog - Milla's sockpuppet
McAnusFairy - McJagger
Atelopus frog -   Milla
Disgruntled Carpet Cleaner -   Ahayes
Spin Wash -   Hadron
Tony Harrison - Dunc
fuck the world - Richard
P=ghey -   Vodzy

Fixed.

[Tesla]

What were the dark ages like?  Was it actually dark out?

[rocketturtle]

What were the dark ages like?  Was it actually dark out?

i would guess that society was less technologically advanced than today. i don't think it was literally dark out. i think it is just a label for the time period after the roman empire fell and before the middle ages started (around 1000 - 1100 ad, i think). i don't know much about the dark ages.

[Pyraxis]

most animals become passive when you cover their eyes and it reduces their stress in situations they do not understand.

Interesting, I didn't know that. That explains why my family has always trained cats not to do things by putting a hand over their eyes until they back off, instead of spraying them with water or some of the other methods I've heard of.

[Tesla]

What were the dark ages like?  Was it actually dark out?

i would guess that society was less technologically advanced than today. i don't think it was literally dark out. i think it is just a label for the time period after the roman empire fell and before the middle ages started (around 1000 - 1100 ad, i think). i don't know much about the dark ages.

You changed your age... it said you were born in the 16th century.

[rocketturtle]

What were the dark ages like?  Was it actually dark out?

i would guess that society was less technologically advanced than today. i don't think it was literally dark out. i think it is just a label for the time period after the roman empire fell and before the middle ages started (around 1000 - 1100 ad, i think). i don't know much about the dark ages.

You changed your age... it said you were born in the 16th century.

actually the typo was the 15th century (1478). i couldn't figure out why you were asking me that question then later i was browsing through my profile and found the typo. i've fixed it.