tjhooked Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 I I started taking antidepressants about 16 years ago I have been on and off paxil and citalopram many times. I'm 43 now and the last time I came off citalopram about 7 months ago has been the most difficult by far. my first daughter was born in 2017. That year I quit smoking, lost 30 lbs, started to exercise and then in 2018 I quit the citalopram. I have never felt worse in my life I’m constantly extremely irritable I get headaches and rage attacks followed by crying jags. I take Ashwagenda and five HTP and an adenal supplement once a day at breakfast and I drink lemon balm tea. None of this seems to help . Has anyone else experienced similar symptoms? did anything work for you? how long did it last? Link to comment
tjhooked Posted March 27, 2019 Author Share Posted March 27, 2019 Since coming off citalopram 7 months ago...I get this sunken feeling around my eyes...a slight pressure like as if I’m wearing invisible goggles from time to time which seems to coincide with mood swings (rage and crying). Does anyone else get this? Did anything help this? Link to comment
Moderator Emeritus Shep Posted March 30, 2019 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted March 30, 2019 Hi, tjhooked. Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants. Here is some information on withdrawal to get you started: How psychiatric drugs remodel your brain Healing from antidepressants. Patterns of recovery video (4 minutes) The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization Are We There Yet? How Long is Withdrawal Going to Take? We don't recommend a lot of supplements, as many members report their nervous systems are simply too fragile to handle them. However, magnesium and fish oil tend to be calming to the nervous system and many people report they do help. Please only add in one supplement at a time and at a small dose. For more, please see: King of supplements: Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker On 3/27/2019 at 5:18 PM, tjhooked said: I take Ashwagenda and five HTP and an adenal supplement once a day at breakfast and I drink lemon balm tea. None of this seems to help . You've done so many things to make yourself healthy, but I fear these supplements may be setting yourself back. Some people do fine with supplements, but others find their nervous systems are just to compromised to handle them. Important topics about tests, supplements, treatments, diet 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan) and l-tryptophan Lemon balm Ashwagandha herb for anxiety, stress and toxic overload From the thread One Theory of Antidepressant Withdrawal: On 5/24/2011 at 10:59 PM, Altostrata said: Even drugs that are calming may cause a paradoxical reaction as the alerting system fights to stay in control. My guess is: The first phase of withdrawal, the acute phase, is the initial shock of withdrawal, with the most defined symptoms, such as brain zaps and nausea and possibly waves of unusually intense "depression" and "anxiety" -- actually, emotions generated by the neurological upset. Later, glutamatergic hyper-reactivity and autonomic instability take over. Often the autonomic instability causes wide hypersensitivity to drugs, supplements, and even foods. Please add a signature. Include drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements in the last 12-24 months. Also include supplements. This will help us give you the most accurate advice we can. Any drugs and supplements prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years. Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago) Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016. Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses. A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs. This is a direct link to your signature: Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature. Please continue to use this thread to document your taper and to ask questions. Link to comment
jozeff Posted March 30, 2019 Share Posted March 30, 2019 Hi tjhooked, Welcome indeed! I understand your trouble and concerns. Did you taper or CT your meds? I recognise your symptoms. I do have the feeling that I wear glasses or have some slight pressure between and around my eyes. This is me before I get depressed. It's all in The front of my head. This depression seems to last for an hour or two and almost always disappears at night. I've been tapering from April 2018 until July 2018 but I tapered to fast so I had to hold. Have been on the same dose since August 2018.... I feel a bit more stable than I used to but the progress is very slow. I too have been on several antidepressants since early 2000 but citalopram since 2016. I have been trying a lot of supplements including yours but none of them seemed to help. Have been taking 20 mg saffron the last 2 weeks and felt much, much better. You could give that a try in the future. It did wonders for me. This might be temporary but I feel pretty good right now on it so that's what's important at the moment. So the question is did you quit cold turkey and is there a way to reduce your symptoms. Maybe the moderators can give some good advice about this,they know a lot more how to handle in this situation. My advice would be: whatever you are going to do ....do it slowly and gradually. I kept making changes Al the time and that didn't help me at all. Post here what you do and how/why and some useful advice will be coming your way. I wish you good luck! Cheers Jozeff Sep- 2016 - Okt 2017 citalopram some months 15 mg some months 20 mg Nov 2017- Apr 2018 citalopram 25 mg Apr 2018 - Jun 2018 citalopram 3 month TAPER too fast from 25mg to 16.5 mg (0.1 mg per day decrease, felt horrible and crashed) Jun 2018 - Aug13th 2018 citalopram trying to stabilize at 16.5 mg for 5 wks - August 14th 2018 - April 29th 2019 citalopram 18 mg (1.5 mg updose). 2019 apr 27 : START taper citalopram @ 18 mg: 29Jun 16.4 mg / 19aug 15.4 mg / 25aug 15.2 mg / 30sep 14.0 mg / 4dec 13.1 mg 2020 03Jan 12.75 mg / 28Jan 12.29 mg / 18Feb 11.83 mg, 25Feb 11.68 mg hold.. / 7May 11.33 mg hold...., 4Aug 10.98 mg / 5Dec 10.0 mg 4 month hold... 2021 30mar 9.8 mg / 06apr 9.5 mg / 13apr 9.4 mg / 14may 8,5 mg / 04jun 8,0 mg / 11jun 7.75 mg, 02jul 7.35 mg / 09jul 7.2 mg hold 3 weeks during holiday /31jul 7 mg/ 8aug 6.8 mg / 15aug 6.63mg / 22aug 6.5mg / 1sep 6.3 mg / 8sep 6.15 mg / 15sep 6.0 mg / 22sep 5.9 mg / 29sep 5.8 mg / 04 oct 5.65 mg / 10oct 5.55 mg / 17oct 5.45 mg / 24oct 5.35mg / 30oct 5.25 mg hold 3 wks / 22nov 5.15 mg / 01dec 5.1mg / 12dec 5.0mg / 20dec 4.85mg / 30dec 4.70mg 2022 08jan 4.5 mg / 16jan 4.4 mg / 23jan 4.3 mg / 27jan 4.2 mg / 18feb 4.1 mg / 25feb 4.0 mg / 04mar 3.9 mg / 11mar 3.75 mg / 18Mar 3.65 mg / 09apr 3.55 mg / 16apr 3.45 mg / 23apr 3.35 mg / 01may 3.25 mg / 8may 3.15 mg / 17may 3.10 mg / 28 may 3.0 mg / 7jun 2.94 mg / 18 Jun 2.88 mg / 27 jun 2.84 mg / 05 jul 2.80 mg / 16 jul 2.75 mg / 23 jul 2.70 mg / 01aug 2.65 mg / 09aug 2.60 mg hold 5wks / 18sep 2.55 mg / 25sep 2.5 mg /02oct 2.45 mg / 10oct 2.40 mg / 19oct 2.35 mg / 27oct 2.30 mg / 05nov 2.27 mg / 14nov 2.25 mg / 22nov 2.20 mg / 29nov 2.10mg / 09dec 2.05 mg / 15dec 2.0 mg 2023 hold 2.0 mg for 5 months / 05may 1.95 mg / 14may 1.90 mg / 24may 1.87 mg / 02jun 1.85 mg / 17jun 1.82 mg / 27jun 1.79 mg / 07jul 1.75 mg / 31jul 1.72 mg / 12aug 1.69mg / 27aug 1.67 mg / 04sep 1.65 mg / 09sep 1.63 mg / 22sep 1.61 mg / 27sep 1.60 mg / 12oct 1.58 mg / 18oct 1.56 mg / 31oct 1.54 mg / 06nov 1.52 mg / 18nov 1.50 mg / 04dec 1.48 mg / 11dec 1.46 mg / 22dec 1.45 mg / 28dec 1.44 mg 2024 01jan 1.43 mg / 06jan 1.42 mg/ 10jan 1.40 mg hold / 08apr 1.38 mg / 15apr 1.36 mg / 20apr 1.34 mg / 28apr 1.33 mg / 2may 1.32 mg Link to comment
tjhooked Posted April 1, 2019 Author Share Posted April 1, 2019 Hi Jozeff, I did taper off citalopram ridiculously slowly...I think I tapered for about a year and a half going down by 2.5 mg at a time. Ive been doing the same thing as you where I try all different kinds of supplements. I recently tried probiotics and that really messed me up...it increased my rage attacks and headaches tremendously. Maybe I will try saffron and see if it helps. Thanks for taking the time to reply. TJ Link to comment
jozeff Posted May 29, 2019 Share Posted May 29, 2019 Hi tj, How are you doing? Cheers Jozeff Sep- 2016 - Okt 2017 citalopram some months 15 mg some months 20 mg Nov 2017- Apr 2018 citalopram 25 mg Apr 2018 - Jun 2018 citalopram 3 month TAPER too fast from 25mg to 16.5 mg (0.1 mg per day decrease, felt horrible and crashed) Jun 2018 - Aug13th 2018 citalopram trying to stabilize at 16.5 mg for 5 wks - August 14th 2018 - April 29th 2019 citalopram 18 mg (1.5 mg updose). 2019 apr 27 : START taper citalopram @ 18 mg: 29Jun 16.4 mg / 19aug 15.4 mg / 25aug 15.2 mg / 30sep 14.0 mg / 4dec 13.1 mg 2020 03Jan 12.75 mg / 28Jan 12.29 mg / 18Feb 11.83 mg, 25Feb 11.68 mg hold.. / 7May 11.33 mg hold...., 4Aug 10.98 mg / 5Dec 10.0 mg 4 month hold... 2021 30mar 9.8 mg / 06apr 9.5 mg / 13apr 9.4 mg / 14may 8,5 mg / 04jun 8,0 mg / 11jun 7.75 mg, 02jul 7.35 mg / 09jul 7.2 mg hold 3 weeks during holiday /31jul 7 mg/ 8aug 6.8 mg / 15aug 6.63mg / 22aug 6.5mg / 1sep 6.3 mg / 8sep 6.15 mg / 15sep 6.0 mg / 22sep 5.9 mg / 29sep 5.8 mg / 04 oct 5.65 mg / 10oct 5.55 mg / 17oct 5.45 mg / 24oct 5.35mg / 30oct 5.25 mg hold 3 wks / 22nov 5.15 mg / 01dec 5.1mg / 12dec 5.0mg / 20dec 4.85mg / 30dec 4.70mg 2022 08jan 4.5 mg / 16jan 4.4 mg / 23jan 4.3 mg / 27jan 4.2 mg / 18feb 4.1 mg / 25feb 4.0 mg / 04mar 3.9 mg / 11mar 3.75 mg / 18Mar 3.65 mg / 09apr 3.55 mg / 16apr 3.45 mg / 23apr 3.35 mg / 01may 3.25 mg / 8may 3.15 mg / 17may 3.10 mg / 28 may 3.0 mg / 7jun 2.94 mg / 18 Jun 2.88 mg / 27 jun 2.84 mg / 05 jul 2.80 mg / 16 jul 2.75 mg / 23 jul 2.70 mg / 01aug 2.65 mg / 09aug 2.60 mg hold 5wks / 18sep 2.55 mg / 25sep 2.5 mg /02oct 2.45 mg / 10oct 2.40 mg / 19oct 2.35 mg / 27oct 2.30 mg / 05nov 2.27 mg / 14nov 2.25 mg / 22nov 2.20 mg / 29nov 2.10mg / 09dec 2.05 mg / 15dec 2.0 mg 2023 hold 2.0 mg for 5 months / 05may 1.95 mg / 14may 1.90 mg / 24may 1.87 mg / 02jun 1.85 mg / 17jun 1.82 mg / 27jun 1.79 mg / 07jul 1.75 mg / 31jul 1.72 mg / 12aug 1.69mg / 27aug 1.67 mg / 04sep 1.65 mg / 09sep 1.63 mg / 22sep 1.61 mg / 27sep 1.60 mg / 12oct 1.58 mg / 18oct 1.56 mg / 31oct 1.54 mg / 06nov 1.52 mg / 18nov 1.50 mg / 04dec 1.48 mg / 11dec 1.46 mg / 22dec 1.45 mg / 28dec 1.44 mg 2024 01jan 1.43 mg / 06jan 1.42 mg/ 10jan 1.40 mg hold / 08apr 1.38 mg / 15apr 1.36 mg / 20apr 1.34 mg / 28apr 1.33 mg / 2may 1.32 mg Link to comment
tjhooked Posted May 29, 2019 Author Share Posted May 29, 2019 (edited) Hi Jozeff, I started Saffron once a day about a month ago. Overall Im doing slightly better than last time I posted. I still get the sunken feeling around my eyes especially when I’m stressed or I’ve done a lot physically demanding work. I will hopefully soon be going to a holistic healing center and seeing how or if they can help. I wake up tired in the mornings and I have brain fog most of the time...I have to attend meetings as a part of my job and I have extreme difficulty focusing on what people are saying. I generally feel down with low self esteem. How are you doing? Edited May 29, 2019 by ChessieCat reduced font Link to comment
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