orangebags: citalopram then escitalopram - 20 years

[orangebags]

Hi everyone,

I am a 41 year old female. 20 years ago when at college, I was diagnosed with depression/GAD. I was put on citalopram. Very rough start, but eventually eased symptoms after 6-8 weeks. I was told it would be short term.

At some point, I did try to go off of the medication under doctor's guidance, however this did not go well. I think they were quick tapers. Every 2 weeks or so I'd drop 2.5-5 mg kind of tapers. Big return of symptoms. Or withdrawal. It's unclear to me which.

 

I was switched to escitalopram at some point. I believe I was started at 20 mg. I'm pretty sure the time I tried to wean off this, I was put on Prozac to increase the half-life and hopefully make things easier. This did not work. Same kind of withdrawal symptoms. Very quick change from feeling ok to feeling suicidal. I remember it was 11 days for that to happen.

 

About 5 years ago, I asked to decrease my escitalopram dose from 20 mg to 15 mg. This went well. However, over the years I have become very fatigued very easily, to the point where it has disrupted my quality of life. I have had sexual dysfunction since I was 20 years old. Everything seemed blunted. My critical thinking skills seemed dulled. I have no idea any more if I'm dependent upon the drug or if I still have depression. My current doc and I had a conversation, and agreed on a slower weaning schedule where I'd drop from 15 to 10 mg, which I now realize was a poor idea as things are not going super well. The idea is then every 2 months I'd drop by 2.5 mg. As I've found this website, I'm about 1 month into the 15 to 10 mg drop.

I have a very hard time, as I know others do, discerning what is withdrawal and will get better over time, and what is actually the disease. I also am a scientist, I want to believe doctor's know what's best, but my personal experience with tapering off of these meds has contradicted them. My current doc says that any return of symptoms is depression and not withdrawal, that these dose drops are too small to cause withdrawal symptoms. I don't know what to believe.

I do know that I want to know what I feel like off of this med. I want to do it in a way that won't make me feel so badly though.

Should I tough out the current symptoms? Wait until they stabilize until I do another drop, regardless of what % said drop is, or should I re-up my dose, re-stabilize, and then decrease more slowly? If I'm having withdrawal symptoms now, will this go away eventually? I really don't know what to do. My doc I know won't buy that this is withdrawal, but I know you guys will likely say it is. If I'm on the fence, I just don't know what to do.

[Frogie]

@orangebags

 

Welcome to SA. We are a volunteer ran site helping people taper off psychiatric medications or have tapered off and are now healing.

 

 

This is your introduction page where you will receive information, ask questions and meet other members. We ask that you only have one introduction page so we can keep all your information in one place.

 

 

I'm sorry to hear you are having a rough time with your tapering but unfortunately most dr's know very little about these drugs and the implications they cause by not tapering properly.

 

 

I'm going to supply you with some links to read on tapering off escitalopram.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

The Brassmonkey Slide Method of Micro-tapering

 

Tips for tapering off escitalopram (Lexapro)

Dr. Joseph Glenmullen's withdrawal symptom checklist

 

 

 

Here is some important information about how these drugs actually work.  This explains why we get symptoms from going off of these medications:

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

 

This helps you understand what withdrawal syndrome is: 

 

Video on Recovery from Psych Drugs

 

 

Stability is really important when we are tapering off psych meds.  Please read the link about stability:

 

Keep It Simple, Slow, and Stable

 

 

 

Since it has been a month since you went from 15 mg to 10 mg, I would say to hold and wait until your symptoms subside before attempting to taper again.

 

Stabilising After a Reduction - What Does That Mean?

Withdrawal Normal Description

 

 Waves and Windows in SSRI Withdrawal

 

 

We don't suggest a lot of supplements on here as they can be stimulating to the central nervous system (CNS), except 2. If you would like to try one, try a small amount and wait a few days before introducing the other.

 

 

Magnesium

Omega 3 Fish Oil

 

 

 

 

After you have read the links provided, please reach out with any questions you may have.