Katinka Posted March 20, 2016 Posted March 20, 2016 Hello, i am very happy to have found this site. I am from scandinavia and have not found any supportpages in my language. I have made introduction about my history in my profile. Shortly, i reduced medication for 4 months and then stopped. Its been 6 weeks and I am suffering strongly from tinnitus, anxiety, shivering inside, fast hartbeating, small "lightnings" in the head, pressure on the chest and hard sweating especially while asleep. The hard part here is the not knowing how long these will last. Am I ever going to be happy and normal again. I get psychiatric help on the side, it helps but it is devoststating Wien home and having panic attacks. I have has suicidle thoughts but I know I am not going to do anything bad. I think of my children and try harder. I cry easily and lose my nerves also easily...I am like my teenager, embarrasing. I would love to hear stories about succeeding and how long did it take. I know we are all indivuals and react differentily. Today I went for a 2 hour walk with husband. It was nice. Have not been able to do that in weeks because of the short breathe and heartbeats and beeing sick constantly. I got complaints at work for making mistakes and beeing sick to often. It was hard because I could not tell why. Now I worry about my job also and try t be normal at work and not get sick.otherwise I have no job at all... But weekend was partly ok. I had moments without wd. Katinka Citalopram 20 mg, 10-12 years. 2015 reduced it to 10 then 5 Mg leaving also every fourth day off and then every third. In the beginning of February 2016 after tampering of after 4 months I stopped completily. Now, no medication. Bad wd.
AliG Posted March 20, 2016 Posted March 20, 2016 Hi Katinka. Welcome. It sounds like you are in withdrawal. Reinstating a small amount of the drug , could help to alleviate the symptoms. Please have a read of these links , and then come back with any questions you might have. No one can say how long this will last , but reinstating a little will help you to stabilize, and keep functioning in your job and your life. Then you can taper off , slowly using the 10% taper method. What is withdrawal syndrome? Please put your withdrawal history in your signature About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms Ali Many SSRI's and SSNRI's over 20 years. Zoloft for 7 years followed by Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, Cymbalta, Celexa, Pristiq, Valdoxan, Mianserin and more - on and off. No tapering. Cold turkey off Valdoxan - end of May 2014 Psych Drug - free since May 2014 .
Ali4 Posted March 20, 2016 Posted March 20, 2016 I stopped over one month docs orders after being on ten years as well, I reinstated after 2 weeks of agony and noticed immediate improvement, so I could at least some what function, you may try that as well, the WD syptoms just get worse, but that's just my experience, reinstating is your choice, have a read through the forum, great info and help here, welcome to SA and good luck with everything. Ali. 10 years citalopram 30mg- tapered down in December 15/2015- Jan 15/2016 to 20mg for two weeks, ten for one week and five for another week, then stopped, less then two weeks later, sheer hell broke lose with debilitating withdrawal symptoms. Update-- reinstated 5mg of celexa on feb 5-- within hours noticed immediate difference in WD symptoms-- Holding holding and more holding. Updose- March 23/16 too 10mg- relieved the harsher head symptoms- current symptoms headaches, dizzy, numbness and tingling in my head. Benzos- 2015-Ativan on and off for 6 months 2mg- switched to clonazepam nov 2015- 2mg till Jan 2016 Zopiclone 7.5mg nov-dec 2015- was tapered off over 4weeks- Currently in protracted withdrawal. ???????????????????????????????? Update- ended up in the hospital April 18/16 major suicidal ( never had that before) was admitted/ been there ever since, put me back to full dose celexa 30mg no drugs added, IAM FINALLY STABLE AFTER 3 months of tortuous hell. Got a great physiatrist that new all about WD, he will help me taper properly in a couple of months at 5% deductions holding 8 weeks. I never want to relive that hell again. Udate- stable and holding, doing things slowly is key.
Katinka Posted March 20, 2016 Author Posted March 20, 2016 Thank you for your answers. I am a bit shocked how the doctors have not warned me about these very strong wd. I have contacted him again (proffs. Psych.) and he was surprised of the sympthoms and said normally they are not that difficult. I dont want to go back taking antidepressions after suffering for months. Also reducing (you call it tampering off?) has been so difficult. So I have decided to suffer and try to go this through since I started it. If it gets worse i have to reconsider. Katinka Citalopram 20 mg, 10-12 years. 2015 reduced it to 10 then 5 Mg leaving also every fourth day off and then every third. In the beginning of February 2016 after tampering of after 4 months I stopped completily. Now, no medication. Bad wd.
AliG Posted March 20, 2016 Posted March 20, 2016 Katinka. As it's only been 6 weeks , you are in a good place to reinstate, if you so choose. You might want to reconsider , as it can be many months or even years, sometimes of withdrawal symptoms. You never really know , how it's going to be . After so many years , on the drugs , it could take a lot longer than you think to go through this process. Have a read of these links , and see what you think . What is withdrawal syndrome? Brain Remodelling Ali Many SSRI's and SSNRI's over 20 years. Zoloft for 7 years followed by Effexor, Lexapro, Prozac, Cymbalta, Celexa, Pristiq, Valdoxan, Mianserin and more - on and off. No tapering. Cold turkey off Valdoxan - end of May 2014 Psych Drug - free since May 2014 .
Moderator Emeritus Fresh Posted March 20, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Posted March 20, 2016 Hi Katinka , welcome to the site. If you go to the Relationships section , there's a page for people from Nordic countries to connect and converse in your first language. After 10 years , you are likely to be in for many , many months of bad withdrawal ... AliG can testify to that. Success stories from people who've tapered too fast come literally years down the track. It's not a matter of being strong enough to endure a month or two of feeling uncomfortable. It will likely mean you're unable to keep your job and care for your children. You'll just be too sick. Please read the link on reinstating provided. We would suggest 1 or 2 mg to start to see if that gives you some symptom relief. Most people stabilize on less than 5mg a day ( we do not support dosing on alternate days - it just destabilizes the brain further). You may want to consider this over the next week or two as your withdrawal continues to develop. Best wishes , Fresh 1987-1997 pertofran , prothiaden , Prozac 1997-2002 Zoloft 2002-2004 effexor 2004-2010 Lexapro 40mg 2010-2012Cymbalta 120mg Sept. 2012 -decreased 90mg in 6months. Care taken over by Dr Lucire in March 2013 , decreased last 30mg at 2mg per week over 3 months. July 21 , 2013- last dose of Cymbalta Protracted withdrawal syndrome kicked in badly Jan.2014 Unrelenting akathisia until May 2014. Voluntary hosp. admission. Cocktail of Seroquel, Ativan and mirtazapine and I was well enough to go home after 14 days. Stopped all hosp. meds in next few months. July 2014 felt v.depressed - couldn't stop crying. Started pristiq 50mg. Felt improvement within days and continued to improve, so stayed on 50mg for 8 months. Began taper 28 Feb. 2015. Pristiq 50mg down to 45mg. Had one month of w/d symptoms. Started CES therapy in March. No w/d symptoms down to 30mg. October 2015 , taking 25mg Pristiq. Capsules compounded with slow-release additive. March 2016 , 21mg
Moderator Emeritus KarenB Posted March 20, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Posted March 20, 2016 Welcome from me too, Katinka. The other have given you good links and advise. Reinstating is likely to be your best way through this. There will be lots of support for you here, and you can ask questions whenever you like. We very much want you to be okay! Of course, it is a lot to get your head around all at once - so much new information and decisions to make. Just keeping reading through those links, and coming back to this thread to discuss things until you feel you understand it better. You don't need to go through this alone. Hugs, Karen 2010 Fluoxetine 20mg. 2011 Escitalopram 20mg. 2013 Tapered badly and destabilised CNS. Effexor 150mg. 2015 Begin using info at SurvivingAntidepressants. Cut 10% - bad w/d 2 months, held 1 month. Micro-tapering: four weekly 0.4% cuts, hold 4 weeks (struggling with symptoms). 8 month hold. 2017 Micro-tapering: four weekly 1% cuts, hold 4 weeks (symptoms almost non-existent). 2020 Still micro-tapering. Just over 2/3 of the way off effexor. Minimal symptoms, - and sleeping well. Supplements: Fish oil, vitamin C, iron, oat-straw tea, nettle tea. 2023 December - Now on 5 micro-beads Effexor. Minimal symptoms but much more time needed between drops. Symptoms begin to increase. 2024 April - Updosed to 6 microbeads - immediate increase in symptoms for 4 days. Decreased to 5 microbeads. 'The possibility of renewal exists so long as life exists.' Dr Gabor Mate.
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted March 20, 2016 Moderator Emeritus Posted March 20, 2016 Hi Katinka and welcome to SA, As the others have already said, reinstatement is your best option to reduce your withdrawal symptoms and then once you are stable you can then do a 10% taper of the last dose. The reason for this is that the drug has changed your brain and it is expecting to keep getting the same amount of the drug. When we take the drug away quickly the brain has trouble working properly and causes the withdrawal symptoms. If we reduce the drug a little bit, the brain is able to adapt to not getting as much of the drug during the holding or stabilising period (4-6 weeks) and then we repeat the process and reduce the drug a bit more and the brain can adapt again. If you decide to reinstate the drug you might feel a bit of relief from the withdrawal symptoms within a few hours or 1/2 day. * NO LONGER ACTIVE on SA * MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: (6 year taper) 0mg Pristiq on 13th November 2021 ADs since ~1992: 25+ years - 1 unknown, Prozac (muscle weakness), Zoloft; citalopram (pooped out) CTed (very sick for 2.5 wks a few months after); Pristiq: 50mg 2012, 100mg beg 2013 (Serotonin Toxicity) Tapering from Oct 2015 - 13 Nov 2021 LAST DOSE 0.0025mg Post 0 updates start here My tapering program My Intro (goes to tapering graph) VIDEO: Antidepressant Withdrawal Syndrome and its Management
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