Jase: I need help. I went off an citalopram cold turkey 3 months ago.

[Jase]

Mid February, I had a panic attack/anxiety attack/nervous breakdown. It affected my mental health, immensely. I became afraid of everything and lost my ability to sleep. I had been on 10mg Citalopram for years. I had missed 3 doses and then taken 3 regularly in the days before the breakdown. I stopped abruptly, out of fear, immediately after the breakdown. I also stopped caffeine and marijuana, my only other daily drugs. There had been an increase in anxiety leading up to the breakdown for about a month.. I had a couple smaller anxiety attacks that had quickly subsided. The last one seems to still be occuring, nearly 4 months later. A month after I tried going back on the Citalopram a couple times since stopping. Both times it resulted in severe anxiety and depression, even worse than what I am experiencing daily. I now have severe agoraphobia. I had to quit my job because of it and the fact that my sleep is a mess. I slept well for years. Now, I do not fall asleep til around 6am and sleep around 3 hours. I have lost weight. I am very constipated. I need help. 

[Jase]

Was on 10mg Citalopram for 4 years. Started having anxiety attacks. Had a big panic attack that resulted in agoraphobia and insomnia after 3 missed doses. Stopped Citalopram cold turkey after that. It has been nearly 4 months. All symptoms persist including constipation, mood swings, sleep anxiety, depression, weight loss, fatigue and ocd. Tried to reinstate Citalopram 1.5 months ago but the side effects were unbearable. Please advise.

[Jase]

Was on 10mg Citalopram for 4 years. Started having anxiety attacks. Had a big panic attack that resulted in agoraphobia and insomnia after 3 missed doses. Stopped Citalopram cold turkey after that. It has been nearly 4 months. All symptoms persist including constipation, mood swings, sleep anxiety, depression, weight loss, fatigue and ocd. Tried to reinstate Citalopram 1.5 months ago but the side effects were unbearable. Please advise.

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Jase.

 

57 minutes ago, Jase said:

I had missed 3 doses and then taken 3 regularly in the days before the breakdown. I stopped abruptly, out of fear, immediately after the breakdown. I also stopped caffeine and marijuana, my only other daily drugs.

 

Accidentally missing doses or skipping doses can cause symptoms as you describe. You did not have a "breakdown", missing those doses caused your nervous system to have a system crash. Then, when you quit, you made this into cold turkey. Now your nervous system is sensitized and you have withdrawal syndrome.

 

Do you have any citalopram left? Whatever you tried before was too much for your sensitized nervous system. Often a very small dose reinstatement will help. I might try 0.5mg. This topic explains how to use a liquid to take a very small dose Tips for tapering off Celexa (citalopram)

 

You'd take this at the same time each day -- no skipped doses -- to stabilize for some months, then taper off by tiny amounts later.

 

Please let us know how you're doing.

 

PS Please do not start any more topics in the Introductions forum, it makes unnecessary work for the moderators.

[Jase]

Thank you for your reply. Regarding reinstating the Citalopram..does it matter that it has been months since I last took a dose? Would that be too long to wait to reinstate? Also..I have 20mg pills. Not sure how I could get the dose down to 0.5mg. I could maybe get them down to roughly 5mg. Also..should I take them in the morning or night time? Insomnia has been a major..and scary..part of this ordeal.

[ChessieCat]

Please read Post #1 of this topic:  About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms

[ChessieCat]

25 minutes ago, Jase said:

I have 20mg pills. Not sure how I could get the dose down to 0.5mg.

 

Please read Post #1 of this topic (Alto already provided it) which explains how to get small doses: 

 

34 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

 

This topic explains how to use a liquid to take a very small dose Tips for tapering off Celexa (citalopram)

 

 

[Jase]

Ok. I read it. This situation is mind boggling and..frankly..terrifying. 

Question.. Is constipation a common side effect of ssri withdrawel? I've never had constipation before but right after I had my episode it showed up and has not gone away in all these weeks. Another odd symptom..before this all started, I had a few warts that I had a hard time getting rid of over the years. Right after this all started, the warts disappeared and have not been back. It almost seemed like my body became "inhospitable". 

Thank you for your answers. Seems that my doctor doesn't really know enough to keep me healthy. Early on in this situation she prescribed me trazadone for sleep along with the citalopram she had me try to reinstate. I woke up the 2nd night with severe heart palpitations and severe pain across my chest. I did not know someones heart could beat that fast without dying. 

Seems that my situation is this..

The only way for me to know if it is too late to reinstate after the nearly 4 months that it has been since I was on a regular dose of Citalopram 10mg is to try to reinstate at a super low dose. That..of course..terrifies me because I have heard that spme people develop movement disorders after such a long wait. Otherwise..I just have to live with this hell. Ok. Great. 

[ChessieCat]

 

We cannot make the decision for you.  All we can do is to provide you with the information and make suggestions so that you can make an informed decision.

 

Please let us know what you decide to do and also to let us know how you are doing, whatever decision you make.  Members introduction topics are case studies through which SA hopes to educate the medical community.

[Jase]

I understand. I am just nervous to take any med because I ended up being without sleep for 2 nights in a row, followed by a week of severe muscle jerks in my arms legs and neck, when I stopped taking ativan (0.5mg at night for 10 nights over 14 days along with 5mg citalopram for the1st 4 of those days). That calmed down 1 month ago. I still have the muscle jerks but its 10% of what it was a month ago. I don't want that to happen again..or even worse..I don't want to be stuck with it forever. This is all new territory for me. I've never had anything like this happen to me and I am trying to make the best decision I can for my family. I am going to reinstate the citalopram at 0.5mg and I will let you know what happens. I am sorry for being so wordy about it. Again..I am just a little scared. 

[ChessieCat]

We understand that it can be scary and overwhelming.  Having experienced something bad previously makes us concerned that it is going to happen again, and that is normal for anybody.  Once bitten, twice shy.  I feel like that with my taper.  I had a bad experience when I reduced my original dose by 50% and had bad brain fog and  2 weeks later couldn't type.  SA suggested updosing which I did and 4 hours later I could type again.  I'm a professional typist so had a benchmark.  My bad experience has made me extremely cautious with my taper.

 

Please note that it takes about 4 days for a dose to get to full strength in the blood and a bit longer for it to register in the brain.  It is important to be patient and try and stay as calm as possible.  Worry and anxiety can cause symptoms in the body  which are not related to the reinstatement.  There is a diagram on this page that lists how the body can react when you are anxious.  https://www.getselfhelp.co.uk/anxiety.htm

 

Over the next few days you may find that you notice every sensation in your body.  It's important to try and be an impartial observer, to observe without going down the rabbit hole over every little thing you notice.  Observe but don't continue to focus on it.  And yes, we understand that this can be difficult to do.

 

We strongly encouragement members to learn and use non-drug-techniques-to-cope