LilyBlueRose Posted June 27, 2018 Share Posted June 27, 2018 Hi everyone. I am posting this time on behalf of my husband. Hoping for some insight and opinions here please. Here is a time line. For four years he was on 40mg celexa. He tapered off in May of 2016. He tapered too fast. Went back on and did a slow taper. For 6 weeks when he first tried to taper off of celexa he had a very hard time and his doctor had him trying several different meds. Ativan mostly for the full six weeks. Buspar for a couple of days, Xanax a couple of days, zoloft a couple of days. Ugh. This is when he went back on the lowest dose of celexa and tapered for three months. Hes had terrible windows and waves since quitting. This year now is showing alot of improvements. He suffers with waves of crippling fatigue, brain fog, full body aches and muscle aches, depression etc since quitting. He's in a window doing well now besides a bit of anxiety. Our biggest issue and concern is that around 6 months after quitting celexa fully he started having eye pain that felt like an ache behind the his eye. After a while it went away. Now it's back worse than before and he also feels the pain if he touches his upper lip. It sends the pain to around his eye /upper cheek bone. The pain is pretty constant and is described as dull and sore. What triggers it is touching, chewing and talking. He's had an mri, CT scan, and blood work. Our pcp suggesting atypical trigeminal neuralgia. He saw an Endodontist that said same thing and now an ent said probably that too. He is waiting to see a neurologist. The medication for this is terrible. Lots. Of old school antidepressants and anti seizure medications. Reading online is very grim and horrifying. This is titled the suicide disease. I am just so curious if Withdrawl could have caused this and if it can potentially be healed. If not the progression and outcome seems so grim Thoughts please? Current age - 29 At Ages 16- 20 Celexa 40 mg 2014- September through February of 2016 ( 18 months) Celexa 20 mg Tapered for Several months Celexa free since February of 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Emeritus ChessieCat Posted June 28, 2018 Moderator Emeritus Share Posted June 28, 2018 Here are some search terms you can put into a search engine which brings up topics and members' discussions: survivingantidepressants.org trigeminal neuralgia, survivingantidepressants.org nerve pain, survivingantidepressants.org nerve damage * 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilyBlueRose Posted June 28, 2018 Author Share Posted June 28, 2018 Thank you, I have searched those and saw just a couple of posts, but was hoping to hear from anyone who may be around the forums now who may have experience with this . Seems like a rare issue, and am really really really hoping this is WD and can be eventually healed :( Current age - 29 At Ages 16- 20 Celexa 40 mg 2014- September through February of 2016 ( 18 months) Celexa 20 mg Tapered for Several months Celexa free since February of 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilyBlueRose Posted June 28, 2018 Author Share Posted June 28, 2018 Ive been doing some digging around, and saw this. Under nervous system it is linked as a rare symptom of celexA!!! https://www.drugs.com/sfx/citalopram-side-effects.html Does anyone think if this is the case, it could be healed with time? Since it isnt actual trauma damage or vein/artery pressing on the trigeminal nerve? Current age - 29 At Ages 16- 20 Celexa 40 mg 2014- September through February of 2016 ( 18 months) Celexa 20 mg Tapered for Several months Celexa free since February of 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosetta Posted June 29, 2018 Share Posted June 29, 2018 Transgeminal nerve damage. I thought I might have this, but now I think it's simply dystonia. It is resolving. I read about TNS and scared myself half to death last year, but it has not become worse. I've been off for 16 months. I have strange nerve sensations all up and down my right side -- my toes, feet, knee, hip, fingers, arm, chest, neck, as well as my eye, temple, cheek, lips, nose, tongue and throat. I had an MRI, too, and it showed nothing. Reading and typing and driving in the car can make this worse, but not every day. Some days I can do those things and they have very little or no effect. Other days they exacerbate the very mild dystonia a lot. It's a windows and waves type issue, I suppose. Its very easy to find the symptoms of all sorts of diseases cropping up during withdrawal, and I believe the reason for this is that the nerves are getting all sorts of messages from the brain and vice versa. I think, given my experience, that rather than trigeminal nerve "damage" being a side effect of Celexa, that there is a parathesia which mimics trigeminal nerve damage. It an be a side effect of thses medications and it's common to hear the WD makes side effects worse. I had pain and headaches on my right side when I was on Celexa years ago, and it was aggravated by my use of the mouse at the computer. I also had my toes curling up and I became clumsy because my right foot didn't respond properly. I think it was because of dystonia caused by Celexa. I fell down a few sets of stairs because of this problem with my foot. After my medicine was switched, cold, from Celexa to sertraline, this problem continued,, but after I quit sertraline too fast (over only a couple of months) the really bad WD started. Then, this problem became so much bigger over a period of time. I thought I had had a stroke which is why I had the MRI. Now, I still have what I consider dystonia all up and down my right side, but it's not painful most of the time. When I have PMS it gets painful around my eye and temple. I know my hormones make WD worse. So, I'm wondering if your husband has accidentally done something to make WD worse and that is making the pseudo-TNS aspect worse. Did he start to eat something new or choose a new lunch place? (MSG issue). Did he have dental work done with an adrenaline based numbing agent? That can make WD worse. Did he have surgery with anesthesia? Is he trying a new supplement? Has he started a new medication? It could be any medicine even if it's not known to be a psychopharmaceutical. Did he have antibiotics? (Did you know some are psychoactive?!) We become sensitive to many substances in WD. Some people are sensitive to the only two supplements SA recommends: magnesium and fish oil. I hope he can isolate the cause, if there is one. And I do think his symptoms will resolve. Unless he's had an injury, I don't believe he hasTNS. I don't think it can appear out of no where. Good luck to you both. https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/16629-rosetta-ct-may-2011-too-fast-taper-feb-2017/?page=25 2001-2011 Celexa 10 mg raised to 40 mg then 60 mg over this time period May 2011 OB Doctor's Cold switch Celexa 60 mg to 10 mg Zoloft sertraline (baby born) 2012-2016 - Doctors raised dose of Zoloft up to 150 mg 2016 - Xanax prescribed - as needed - 0.5 mg about every 3 days (bad reaction) 2016 - Stopped Xanax Late 2016- Began (too fast) taper of Zoloft Early 2017 - Trazodone prescribed for bedtime (doseage unknown) Feb 2017 - Completed taper/stopped Trazodone Drug free since Feb 2017 2017 - Unisom otc very rarely for sleep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilyBlueRose Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share Posted June 29, 2018 Thank you SO much for your response. It really does give us hope. I know that these conditions do happen outside of withdrawl and its possible it is that, but it just seems like too highly of a coincidence for these symptoms to come along at the peak of withdrawal sickness and not be that. We are going to try to pinpoint anything that may be making it worse right now. Thank you so much again!! Current age - 29 At Ages 16- 20 Celexa 40 mg 2014- September through February of 2016 ( 18 months) Celexa 20 mg Tapered for Several months Celexa free since February of 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosetta Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 You are welcome. Good luck! https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/topic/16629-rosetta-ct-may-2011-too-fast-taper-feb-2017/?page=25 2001-2011 Celexa 10 mg raised to 40 mg then 60 mg over this time period May 2011 OB Doctor's Cold switch Celexa 60 mg to 10 mg Zoloft sertraline (baby born) 2012-2016 - Doctors raised dose of Zoloft up to 150 mg 2016 - Xanax prescribed - as needed - 0.5 mg about every 3 days (bad reaction) 2016 - Stopped Xanax Late 2016- Began (too fast) taper of Zoloft Early 2017 - Trazodone prescribed for bedtime (doseage unknown) Feb 2017 - Completed taper/stopped Trazodone Drug free since Feb 2017 2017 - Unisom otc very rarely for sleep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilyBlueRose Posted July 20, 2018 Author Share Posted July 20, 2018 bumping to see if there is anyone else out there suffering with this? Current age - 29 At Ages 16- 20 Celexa 40 mg 2014- September through February of 2016 ( 18 months) Celexa 20 mg Tapered for Several months Celexa free since February of 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecowisback Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 my husband has this after a too-rapid taper from duloxetine. he has constant eye pain and visual problems, so bad that some days he's almost blind (he is already partially sighted from a brain haemmhorage). the pain spreads down his face into his sinuses and his mouth. he also has pain in his arm and feels like there's something under the skin, and his foot on the left side feels numb and dead a lot of the time. he has lost a lot of feeling on his right side after his bleed on the brain so he doesn't know if the pain is on that side too. it all seems to be on his left side. he is left handed. you say your husbands pain is on his right - is he right handed? hubby says when the pain is really bad it feels like his head is going to explode, like the man in the 1981 movie Scanners. the only relief he gets is if he sits in a hot shower for ages. i saw another post on here where someone said they only get relief in a hot bath and dunking their head. hubby saw a neurologist a couple of months ago because he'd had a partial seizure. we told him about the facial pain and he diagnosed trigeminal neuralgia and ordered an mra (he's already had a couple of mri's which were clear) and prescribed him lamotrigine to ward off further seizures and help with the facial pain. hubby has binned the pills. he says he's not taking any more poison and he is convinced his seizure was also down to withdrawals. we don't buy the neuralgia diagnosis as that describes a shooting stabbing pain which he doesn't get. his pain is constant. it's at its best in the morning and gets worse throughout the day, and is particularly bad when he eats. he finds he cannot eat after 7 in the evening as it makes the pain a million times worse. we're sure it is withdrawals as he says the pain has eased slightly over the past months. he stopped the duloxetine at christmas 2016 so he's about 19 months into withdrawal. Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years. January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began. Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan: 26 Feb 2019, 4mg. Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019 Reinstated prozac: 14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg, 10 Jul 8mg, 1 Dec 20mg, 1 Apr 2020 40mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LilyBlueRose Posted July 30, 2018 Author Share Posted July 30, 2018 Oh I'm so sorry to hear of your husband's suffering! It sucks to see people you love in pain. My husband's is all on his left side and he is right handed. In my heart I don't buy the TN diagnosis either and am so hopeful it eventually goes away! It can't be coincident that these symptoms happen so soon after quitting these drugs. My husband did a fast taper of several medications. I wish your husband a lot more healing! If I figure anything out that helps I'll post here! Current age - 29 At Ages 16- 20 Celexa 40 mg 2014- September through February of 2016 ( 18 months) Celexa 20 mg Tapered for Several months Celexa free since February of 2016 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecowisback Posted July 31, 2018 Share Posted July 31, 2018 Thankyou ☺ Took prozac 40 mg for 20 years. January 2017 started cutting down prozac by 12.5% a week. End of February 2017 completely off prozac and withdrawals began. Currently taking Levothyroxine 75 mcg, Magnesium citrate 200mg,Sage leaf 50mg daily Amlodipine: October 2017 , discontinued 26 Feb 2019; Candesartan: 26 Feb 2019, 4mg. Discontinued magnesium citrate 200mg Apr 3rd 2019 Reinstated prozac: 14 Jan 2019, 1mg; 26 Jan, 1.5mg; 4 Feb, 2mg; 16 Feb, 2.5mg; 2 Mar, 3mg; 5 Mar, 2.5mg, 23 Mar, 3 mg; 6 Apr, 3.5mg, 14 Apr 4mg, 23 Apr 5mg, 10 Jul 8mg, 1 Dec 20mg, 1 Apr 2020 40mg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Posted October 18, 2019 Share Posted October 18, 2019 Having bad facial pain across face.. I have a chronic facial pain condition but am wondering if it is from the lexipro withdrawal..this did not happen until is was taken off lexipro the first time 3 yrs ago.. and it’s been much worse since I came off it again in aug.. I’m thinking about going trying a low dose reinstatement to see if my symptoms abate alittle.. .5 I’m the morning.. my anxiety is sky high thru all of this.. also I had my testosterone checked and it low and my dr wants me to go to an endocrinologist..would it set my nervous system off to start on some bio identical hormones and I thing my chronic pain is causing my low testosterone.. and my glutamate imbalance is causing all this anxiety and pain... holding trilpetal Chronic cannabis use thru out.. 2013 to 2016 lexipro 10mg .3 day taper.. sept 2016.january 2017 reinstated lexipro 10 to 20 mg..900 mg gabapentine.feb 2018 .5 ativan taper 10 mg lexipro March 2019 o mg lexipro aug 2019.. quit cannabis horrible insomnia. trail 2 days of Amitriptyline 10 mg and 2 day Prozac 20 mg trilpetal 50 mg x2 daily.. 11/16 cut 45 mg x2.. burning left side of face constant from nerve damage from teeth extraction or SSRI withdrawal?? december 3 2019. 5mg Amitriptyline January 3 current meds And supplements amitriptyline 7.5 mg trileptal 40mg 1.5 mg melatonin 400 mg magnesium remag liguid. Currently at 6.8 mg amitriptyline and 36 mg trileptal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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