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Learn – Psychiatric drugs and diagnosis
Prepare – Readiness for drug tapering
Taper – Practical how-to information
Heal – Withdrawal survival
More

LearnPsychiatric drugs and diagnosis
PrepareReadiness for drug tapering
TaperPractical how-to information
HealWithdrawal survival
More

Psychiatric drugs and drug research
Psychiatric diagnoses
A primer on psychiatric drug dependence, tolerance and withdrawal
Psychiatric drug taper rates: a review and discussion

Introduction: the vital role of good preparation
Step 1 – How do I feel about the idea of coming off psychiatric drugs?
Step 2 – Learn about psychiatric drug dependence, tolerance and withdrawal
Step 3 – What is my withdrawal beacon?
Step 4 – Managing day-to-day responsibilities and tasks
Step 5 – Building a support system
Step 6 – Communicating with prescribers
Step 7 – Listening to the body and its messages
Step 8 – Being with pain and darkness
Step 9 – Is the time right for me to taper?

Step 10 – Get informed about your psychiatric drug
Step 11 – Ensuring that a drug is relatively ‘taper-friendly’
Step 12 – Interactions, reactions and sensitivities
Step 13 – Taper rates
Step 14 – Taper schedules
Step 15 – Taper methods
Step 16 – Preparatory decisions
Step 17 – Gather the gear
Step 18 – Essential skills
Step 19 – Setting up a taper journal
Step 20 – Implementing a taper

Withdrawal symptoms A to Z
Coping techniques A to Z
Reclaim your health

Help Hub – Support articles
Family and Friends – Support your loved ones
Practitioners – Prescribers, coaches, doctors, etc.

An Overview of Psychiatry's Diagnostic Manual (the DSM)
"ADHD" Stimulants
"Anti-anxiety" Benzodiazepines
"Antidepressants"
"Antispychotics"
"Mood Stabilizers" and Lithium
"Sleep Aids" Z-Drugs
How Outcomes are Measured in Psychiatric Research

How "Mental Disorders" are Diagnosed
How Psychiatric Drugs are Researched and Marketed

Exercise
Reflections: Listening to yourself

Reading assignment
Reflections: Grappling with the facts about psychiatric drugs

Exercise: Exploring feelings and beliefs about psychiatric medications
Reflections: To withdraw or not to withdraw

Inventory exercise: Responsibilities, tasks, and possible solutions
Reflections: Planting seeds

Exploratory exercise: What does “support” mean to me?
Optional exercise: Create an inventory of your needs and possible supports
Reflections: Anchoring in a sense of safety and security for the taper road ahead

Reflective prompts
Tips and troubleshooting around a difficult relationship with a prescriber
Reflections: To ask or not to ask your doctor?

Exercise: How much do I let my body guide me?
Readings: Physical health during withdrawal
Reflections: Coming off psychiatric drugs is about journeying back to our own bodies

Exercise: How do I manage deep and difficult challenges in my life?
Optional exercise: Create an inventory of your strategies
Reflections: Journeying back to being with ourselves

Gather the key documents
Reflections: Getting empowered through self-education
ICI's guide to the FDA-approved drug label
ICI's key to withdrawal-related information in the FDA-approved drug label

Determine how ‘taper-friendly’ your drug is
Reflections: to switch or not to switch

Readings
Reflections: navigating the unknown

Readings: Getting a handle on slow psychiatric drug tapering and finding the right rate for you
Reflections: Making your chosen rate as safe as possible

The options: A daily microtaper or cut-and-hold schedule
Discussion: Comparing the pros and cons of daily microtapering and cut-and-hold schedules
Reflections: Make a decision – or hold off for now

Making a liquid mixture
Using a digital scale
Counting beads in a beaded capsule
Using a compounding pharmacy
Using a manufacturer’s oral liquid
Reflections: Which psychiatric drug taper method is best for you?

Making a liquid mixture using immediate-release tablets or capsules
Using a digital scale to weigh powder from a crushed immediate-release tablet or poured-out powder or beads from a capsule
Counting beads from a beaded capsule
Using a compounding pharmacy to obtain capsules and/or liquid
Using a manufacturer’s oral liquid

Adapter caps
Bead-counting surface
Counting implement
Digital scale
Empty capsules
Graduated cylinders and pipettes
Jars
Labels and pen/marker
Measuring bowl or tray
Mortar and pestle
Pharmaceutical-grade powder filler
Pill bottles
Pill organizer
Refrigerator and/or cooler bag
Slip tip syringes
Transferring implements

Counting and making cuts with beads
Diluting powder when using a digital scale
Understanding the limits of a digital scale's accuracy
Using an adapter cap
Using a digital scale for weighing and making cuts
Using a mortar and pestle for pulverizing tablets
Using syringes
Doing calculations for a taper
Special tips for calculations and liquids

Section 1 – Tracking calculations and amounts
Section 2 – Listening to your body and tracking symptoms and experiences

Review
Sample implementation: Making and cutting a liquid mixture
Sample implementation: Using a digital scale to weigh and cut powder or beads
Sample implementation: Counting and cutting beads
Sample implementation: Using a compounding pharmacy
Sample implementation: Making cuts from a manufacturer’s oral liquid

Looking for something specific?

Guide Steps Archive | Page 3 of 12 | Inner Compass Initiative

118 items

Section 2: Listening to Your Body and Tracking Symptoms and Experiences
Section 1- Tracking Calculations and Amounts
Reflections: To Switch or Not to Switch
Determine How ‘Taper-friendly’ Your Drug is
Reflections: Getting Empowered Through Self-Education
Gather the Key Documents
ICI’s Guide to the FDA-approved Drug Label
Step 19- Setting Up a Taper Journal
Step 20- Implementing a Taper
Using a Digital Scale for Weighing and Making Cuts

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Prepare– Readiness for drug tapering
Taper– Practical how-to information
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Inner Compass Initiative, and ICI Connect (collectively, the “Website”) are a web-based online information-sharing and connecting platform which seeks to provide opportunities for likeminded people to find each other, and to facilitate the sharing of information that improves the general public’s understanding of psychiatric drug withdrawal and of “mental health” diagnoses and treatments generally. Any and all information, materials, and content (the “Content”) posted on the Website is provided for general educational and informational purposes only. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the authors, bloggers, and/or editors of the Website are laypeople who have direct personal experience taking, reducing, or tapering off psychiatric medication and/or supporting someone else who has taken, reduced, or tapered off psychiatric medication. The Content on the Website neither constitutes nor should be interpreted as the professional medical or clinical advice of a physician, pharmacist, therapist, counselor, prescriber of psychiatric medication, or any other kind of licensed practitioner, and should not be used or relied on to treat or diagnose any diseases, illnesses, or symptoms. To read our complete disclaimer, click here.

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