Tammyfx: withdrawing from citalopram

[Tammyfx]

Hello all-

 

I'm new here and need some guidance and support.

 

I am a 55 year old female. I recently lost almost 50 pounds with the help of my Fit bit Charge 2, intermittent fasting and exercise. 

 

Because I was feeling so good, I decided to try and wean myself off my Citalopram.  I started gradually and was cutting the pills in half at times. I was originally on 20 mgs and had been for about 20 years. This medication was prescribed for both anxiety and depression. My father had died very suddenly of heart failure and it wreaked havoc on my mental health.

 

Back to the weaning...again, I started slowly. I began by cutting the pills in half and taking them daily. After about a month, I started taking the half pill every other day. Eventually, I came off of it completely. This whole process took about 4 months. I have been completely off of the drug for about 3-4 weeks.

 

Here is how I am feeling: I am having obsessive thoughts about my heart rate. As I stated, I have a Fit bit that I wear. Since I started this process, I noticed my resting heart rate increasing. It was normally in the mid to high 60s. Now I have been noticing it in the mid to high 70s, with today's heart rate the highest at 82.  So needless to say, that has been freaking me out. My blood pressure is normally really good and with the weight loss and exercise, I would think it would stay in the 60s if not go lower.

 

Because of the increased resting heart rate, I am focused on that and am having obsessive thoughts about having a heart attack and dying. I'm weepy and feel defeated. I'm am wondering if I need to go back on the Citalopram to level out my heart rate and calm me down. I am considering a therapist because I really want to remain strong and stay off this stuff. I am also considering seeing a cardiologist for the increased heart rate. 

 

I have a doctor's appointment in the beginning of February to check my fasting blood levels because I am on a statin for high cholesterol. I am going to ask him at that time what he thinks I should do. 

 

One other odd symptom I have had recently is that my hands are freezing! I live in western NY. And yes, it's winter. But I can't seem to get warm. 

 

Any help and support will be greatly appreciated. I need to know that it is going to get better. My stress level regarding my health is through the roof. 

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Edited January 19, 2019 by ChessieCat
added spacing

[ChessieCat]

Hi Tammyfx and welcome to SA,

SA recommends tapering by no more than 10% of the current dose followed by a hold of about 4 weeks to allow the brain to adapt to not getting as much of the drug.  Why taper by 10% of my dosage?   Skipping days is not recommended.  The brain likes consistency.  Skipping Days vs Every Day Dosing Graph



When the drug is taken away too quickly we can get withdrawal symptoms:  Dr Joseph Glenmullen's Withdrawal Symptoms

 

The only known way to reduce withdrawal symptoms is to take the same drug that the brain has adapted to.

 

When reinstating a drug, because your nervous system can become unstable because of withdrawal symptoms, we recommend a smaller dose.  Depending on what your last dose was (don't take more than your last dose) you could take 2mg-5mg.  From Post #1 of this topic:  About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

The idea of reinstating isn't to get rid of withdrawal symptoms completely but to bring them to a bearable level.  It is better to start with a small amount and increase by a small amount if necessary than to risk taking too much.  If you take too much it might make things worse.  It takes about 4 days for a dose to get to full level in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.  Please keep daily symptom notes on paper so you can see how reinstating is affecting your symptoms.  It is important that you remain patient and try and stay as calm as possible.  When we panic we can make bad decisions.  We have members here who have panicked and increased too soon and/or by too much. 

 

This topic explains how to get the dose you need:  Tips for tapering off Celexa (citalopram)

 

Not many medical professionals know about tapering and withdrawal which is why this site exists.

 

How do you talk to a doctor about tapering and withdrawal?

What should I expect from my doctor about withdrawal symptoms?

 

 

Please create your drug signature using the following format.   Keep it simple.  NO diagnoses or symptoms please - thank you.

• details for last 2 years - dates, ALL drugs, doses
• summary for older than 2 years - just years and drug/s

Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature

 

 

This is your own introductions topic where your can ask questions about your own situation and journal your progress.

 

[ChessieCat]

Here's some additional information which might help you to understand what is happening:

 

Recovery isn't linear it happens in a Windows and Waves Pattern

 

Withdrawal Normal Description

 

When we take a psychiatric drug, we are adding chemical/s to the brain.  The brain then has to change to adapt to getting the chemical/s.  It might have to change something to do with A and then once that change has been made it affects B so another change has to be made and so on down the line.  It is a chain reaction, a domino effect.

 

The same thing happens when we take the drug away.  That's why it's possible to experience such a vast array of withdrawal symptoms, and they can change, and be of different intensity.  These explain it really well:

 

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

are-we-there-yet-how-long-is-withdrawal-going-to-take

 

On 8/31/2011 at 5:28 AM, Rhiannon said:

When we stop taking the drug, we have a brain that has designed itself so that it works in the presence of the drug; now it can't work properly without the drug because it's designed itself so that the drug is part of its chemistry and structure. It's like a plant that has grown on a trellis; you can't just yank out the trellis and expect the plant to be okay. When the drug is removed, the remodeling process has to take place in reverse. SO--it's not a matter of just getting the drug out of your system and moving on. If it were that simple, none of us would be here. It's a matter of, as I describe it, having to grow a new brain. I believe this growing-a-new-brain happens throughout the taper process if the taper is slow enough. (If it's too fast, then there's not a lot of time for actually rebalancing things, and basically the brain is just pedaling fast trying to keep us alive.) It also continues to happen, probably for longer than the symptoms actually last, throughout the time of recovery after we are completely off the drug, which is why recovery takes so long.

 

AND

 

On 12/4/2015 at 2:41 AM, apace41 said:

Basically- you have a building where the MAJOR steel structures are trying to be rebuilt at different times - ALL while people are coming and going in the building and attempting to work.

It would be like if the World Trade Center Towers hadn't completely fallen - but had crumbled inside in different places.. Imagine if you were trying to rebuild the tower - WHILE people were coming and going and trying to work in the building!  You'd have to set up a temporary elevator - but when you needed to fix part of that area, you'd have to tear down that elevator and set up a temporary elevator somewhere else. And so on. You'd have to build, work around, then tear down, then build again, then work around, then build... ALL while people are coming and going, ALL while the furniture is being replaced, ALL while the walls are getting repainted... ALL while life is going on INSIDE the building. No doubt it would be chaotic. That is EXACTLY what is happening with windows and waves.  The windows are where the body has "got it right" for a day or so - but then the building shifts and the brain works on something else - and it's chaos again while another temporary pathway is set up to reroute function until repairs are made.  

 

[ChessieCat]

During any taper, there will be times of discomfort.  We strongly encourage members to learn and use non drug coping techniques to help get through tough times.

 

Understanding what is happening helps us to not get caught up with the second fear, or fear of the fear.  This happens when we experience sensations in our body and because we don't understand them we are scared of them and then start to panic.

 

This document has a diagram of the body explaining what happens in the body when we become anxious:

 

https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/docs/AnxietySelfHelp.pdf

 

Anxiety Stuff - all kinds of stuff about anxiety attacks and things that help ...

 

Audio FEMALE VOICE:  First Aid for Panic (4 minutes)

 

Audio MALE VOICE:  First Aid for Panic (4 minutes)

 

Non-drug techniques to cope

 

dealing-with-emotional-spirals

 

Dr Claire Weekes suffered from anxiety and learned and taught ways of coping.  There are videos available on YouTube.

 

Claire Weekes' Method of Recovering from a Sensitized Nervous System

 

Audio:  How to Recover from Anxiety - Dr Claire Weekes

 

CBT Course:  An Introductory Self-Help Course in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy

 

Resources:  Centre for Clinical Interventions (PDF modules that you can work through, eg:  Depression, Distress Intolerance, Health Anxiety, Low Self-Esteem, Panic Attacks, Perfectionism, Procrastination, Social Anxiety, Worrying)

 

On 4/28/2017 at 4:03 AM, brassmonkey said:

 

AAF: Acknowledge, Accept, Float.  It's what you have to do when nothing else works, and can be a very powerful tool in coping with anxiety.  The neuroemotional anxiety many of us feel during WD is directly caused by the drugs and their chemical reactions in the brain.  Making it so there is nothing we can do about them.  They won't respond to other drugs, relaxation techniques and the like.  They do, however, react very well to being ignored.  That's the concept behind AAF.  Acknowledge, get to know the feeling involved, explore them.  Accept, These feelings are a part of you and they aren't going anywhere fast. Float, let the feeling float off as you get on with your life as best as you can.  It's a well documented fact that the more you feed in to anxiety the worse it gets.  What starts as generalized neuroemotinal anxiety can be easily blown into a full fledged panic attack just by thinking about it.

 

I often liken it to an unwanted house guest.  At first you talk to them, have conversations, communicate with them.  After a while you figure out that they aren't leaving and there is nothing you can do to get rid of them.  So you go on about your day, working around them until they get bored and leave.

 

It can take some practice, but AAF really does work.  I hope you give it a try.