LemonOreo: Used 40mg daily of Celexa for 14 years. Tapered off all since Dec.1, 2015

[LemonOreo]

Help!! I have tapered slowly off Celexa 40mg after 14 years using it daily. I am now without ANY meds...and am slowly falling apart. All this was done without my doctor's knowing since she wanted to keep me on this for Forever. What do I do now?? Do I need to see another psychiatrist? Neurologist?

[nick1990]

Hey Lemo. Im taking a similar dose of Citalopram to what you were. A moderator will be along to help you out soon.

You have tapered farrrr too quickly. It is no surprise at all that you are having such a rough time. We recommend tapering no more than 10% of your current dose every 4 weeks .

Don't panic though we'll get you through this. How long ago did you take your last dose?

[nick1990]

And no you do not want to see a psychiatrist. The people on this forum are experts in this field. We will be of far more help than any doctor. Sit tight, and someone will be along shortly to advise you on the best plan of action to take

[Brandy]

Welcome, LemonOreo,

 

When did you take your last dose of celexa, and when did you take your last dose of wellbutrin?

 

Also, do you still have any left of those meds? If you do, don't get rid of them. You may need at least a small dose. When we know when your last doses were taken, people here can advise you what has worked best for most people experiencing the withdrawal symptoms you describe. Those symptoms are all too familiar to many of us.

 

One more question - Why did you decide to go off the meds? Were you having side effects or other problems with them, or just felt you no longer needed them, or ???

 

As to your question about doctors - You may find it best to change doctors in the future, but please hold off on doing that just yet. Only a handful of doctors (of any specialty) know how best to deal with withdrawal from these meds. Most will want you to stay on them forever, like your present doctor, or will want to switch or add on more meds, which usually only makes things worse. People with better knowledge than I about what will help you will be along soon. Please post your answers to the questions I asked; that will help them advise you. You will get a lot of good information and also understanding support here.

[mammaP]

Hi Lemon, welcome to SA.  Withdrawal is a nightmare and sadly most of us here arrived after tapering too fast! 

Doctors don't have a clue, and think we need the drugs for life to prevent relapse when it is actually withdrawal that is the problem. The old chemical imbalance theory was just that, a theory cooked up by the drug companies to sell their drugs. 

 

The only way to stop withdrawal is the drug you are withdrawing from. It sounds like you have had a hard time but feeling a little better now? As Brandy said we need to know when you stopped celexa and wellbutrin if that was recent. It would help us if you fill out your sig with brief details of your drug history, you can find instructions here...   http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/12364-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

Your last dose was 10 mg but you don't say when, a tiny dose of 1mg may help to ease the withdrawal.  You could then taper off that small dose by making a liquid with water, or better still with the paxil liquid which is available if you can get a prescription from your doctor.  

 

This topic tells you about reinstating to stabilise  

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/7562-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-reduce-withdrawal-symptoms/

 

And how to taper when stable 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/405-tips-for-tapering-off-paxil-paroxetine/

 

It will take a few days for the dose to become steady in your blood, when you are stable you should hold the dose for a few weeks before starting to taper again. 

 

No-one ever wants to reinstate and it is your decision but the withdrawal can go on for a  long time if you decide to ride it out.  Every one is different, some recover within months, others can take years.  

 

 

There are many topics in the symptoms and self care section,  you will find an index with links  to the  important ones here..

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/604-important-topics-about-symptoms-including-sleep-problems/

 

And one containing info on tests and supplements.  People often find fish oil and magnesium helpful and there are links to the topics for those too. 

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/606-important-topics-about-tests-supplements-treatments-diet/

 

There is a lot of reading around the site and you will learn so much here. I'm glad that you found us before going to the psychiatrist! 

[LemonOreo]

Hello all,

I just returned to this site to read more information and glean more knowledge. I kind of gave up in June when I did not get a reply, so I braved the side effects all through June and July. The strange sensations of dizziness, weepiness, depersonalizations have all stopped, but I feel as if I have fallen off a cliff. I think the depression has returned and my husband has told me he notices it very much. I am feeling low, distracted, disgusted with my job, and have lost interest in everthing. Pursuing interests is now a job, and I now hate doing things I once liked, like riding my horse. I feel low and unmotivated,but I am finding it hard to say this is full blow depression. I am seeing a Nurse practitioner in 2 weeks about meds and my husband is encouraging me to restart Celexa or something because I am such a different person now.

I decided Dee to come off the Celexa thinking I had been on it enough and wanted to see how I was without it. Now I am kind of regretting my decision. Not sure what to do.....

[ChessieCat]

Hi LemonOreo,

 

If you click "Follow" top right, you will be notified when someone responds.

 

Your very first post here states:  I have tapered slowly off Celexa 40mg

 

Looking at your drug signature, you tapered from 40 mg in December 2015 to 0 mg June 2016.  Even though many doctors would consider that a slow taper SA recommends tapering by reducing the drug by 10% of the previous dose with a holding period of 4-6 weeks to allow the brain to adapt to not getting the drug.

 

When people taper too quickly or stop abruptly, the brain has problems because it is not getting the drug it has been used to getting and this is when withdrawal symptoms occur.  See Dr Joseph Glenmullen's Symptoms Checklist

 

Withdrawal symptoms can happen immediately you stop the drug or sometimes you get symptoms many months later.  When withdrawal symptoms arise down the track (which can occur several weeks and even many months later) people and many doctors may assume that the original condition has returned or they are diagnosed with a new condition and may reinstate the drug at the previous dose (which ends up being too high because the brain has made some adjustments since being off the drug), at an even higher dose or prescribed an alternative or additional drug, when in actual fact is is antidepressant withdrawal.

 

If the withdrawal symptoms are unbearable it may be that a small amount of the drug might relieve the symptoms and then once you are stabilised you could do SA's recommended 10% taper.

 

I'm giving you lots of links because the information is very good and can help you to make an informed decision:

 

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

Tips for tapering off Celexa (citalopram)

 

What should I expect from my doctor about withdrawal symptoms?

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

 

These helped me to understand SA's recommendations:

 

Brain Remodelling (Rhi's Description of Brain Healing)

Video:  Healing From Antidepressants - Patterns of Recovery

 

I also suggest that both you and your husband read a couple of books:  Your Drug May Be Your Problem and also Anatomy of an Epidemic.

[JanCarol]

Hey Lemon - you are still within the window of opportunity for reinstatement.  Please, read ChessieCat's first link about that (heck, read all the links we send you - this is a big place, and we mods are really like librarians who try to point you to information which is relevant to you)

 

If you reinstate, you will want a tiny tiny dose.  It looks like your too-fast taper was by cutting pills.

 

Celexa is available in a liquid.  When you go to the nurse practitioner, you can ask for liquid Celexa, and that will enable you to taper the rest of the way at a safe 10% per month.  All you need to do is dilute the Celexa liquid to make it weaker.  

 

If it were me, I'd consider no more than a 1 mg reinstatement (your nurse practitioner will probably press for a higher dose - hold your guns, because now a larger dose could cause problems, plus - that's more to taper from, later).  That's a 1/2 ml of Celexa liquid.  0.5 ml.  A tiny tiny amount, just "the hair of the dog that bit you" to see if we can get your symptoms more stable.

 

So you may have to be persistent with what you want for the nurse practitioner.  My favorite line is, "I just want to be on as little as possible."  The nurse practitioner will mutter things about "therapeutic dose" which is really a fictional number determined by the drug companies to sell more pills.  The doctors and nurse practitioners tend to follow drug companies' advice; after all, they are the ones who did the "studies," right?  (don't get me started on fraud in studies!)

 

If you look around the site, you will see people on tiny, tiny amounts of these drugs, suffering side effects from changes of just 0.10 mg.  That's a 1 microgram change!  The drugs are more powerful than they tell us.

 

Another of Chessie's links that I'm fond of, is the video.  It explains the structuring of the brain, and the healing process, in one, short, easy to understand place.

 

You're not "detoxing" from Celexa - the Celexa changed your brain structures, and your brain grew dependant upon it, like roses upon a trellis.  When you pull out the trellis too quickly, you got symptoms.  A reinstatement tries to put a piece of the trellis back so that the rose doesn't break in collapse.  

 

So please, look at Chessie's links (and review MammaP's links, above, too!) before you go see your nurse, to learn what you are up against.  Their education, and our experience are widely varying.  So many of us fell down deep pits of despair by "following doctors advice," and there comes a time when you need to learn for yourself, what is happening in your body, and how to approach your doctor as a partner not a boss.  After all, it is your body that the concern, here.

 

If you try the 1 mg (or 1/2 ml of liquid Celexa) you may see a positive response within 1-4 days, and we'll know we are on the right track.  The lower the dose you can stabilise on, the better.

 

Let us know what the Nurse Practitioner says, and what you decide to do.  If you cannot get the liquid, we can teach you how to make your own liquid, and still use tiny doses for reinstatements.  

 

It can get better, and many SA members will tell you - as Nick did, above - that reinstatement has saved their lives.  

 

I hope you see the sun today!