Baxter: struggling with Cymbalta

[Baxter]

 

 

On 3/17/2019 at 10:48 AM, Baxter said:

 

[Baxter]

So it's April in Massachusetts. Beautiful, hopeful springish days followed by raw, rainy/sleety 30 degree days. The daffodils are ignoring the temp changes and proceeding to bloom  on schedule in the sleet. 

 

I've been dealing with a few health issues that may be related to taking citalopram...Last summer after I finished switching from Cymbalta to citalopram, I started experiencing recurring hoarseness and sore throat. Was diagnosed with acid reflux, started taking xantac, which helped with some of the acid reflux, but the sore throat and hoarsenss still recurred. (cant take prilosec because mixing it with citalopram increases risk of heart issues. Apparently, citalopram combined with a few other substances can mess up heart beat.) I was in speech therapy for a couple of months to see if I could work out  spasms in my throat. I;m still waiting for endoscopy to make sure that there isn't something wrong with my esophagus. But hoarseness, sore throat, bruxism, are all side effects associated with Celexa, so I'm trying to not worry about some yet to be revealed medical horror while waiting for my endoscopy appointment, which was booked 6 weeks out from my last doctor appt. I also am annoyed that I had to read about side effects on med inserts and MedLine instead of discussing them with my psychopharm doc. 

 

Meanwhile, I'm still working at Department Store. I recently cut my hours down to see if my energy level would improve...Reducing hours has resulted in some good things - I've been outside with the dogs more and I started sewing and enjoying it. I'm planning to go on a weekend quilting retreat in May, which was not at all appealing a couple of months ago.

 

Now the question I'm asking myself: should I drop again? Wait and enjoy the window Im in?  Reducing doses of liquid citalopram certainly is easier to manage than counting spheres of Cymbalta. But I'm really liking how I'm feeling right now. 

 

 

[Baxter]

I've started a slide down to 14 mg Citalopram

[Carmie]

All the best with your latest drop Baxter, 

 

Let us know how you’re doing. Could you please update your signature too, thank you. 

 

Sending hugs🤗

[Baxter]

I've been at 14mg of Celexa since April 21. I went to the quilting retreat and had a pretty good time. I was productive and didn't eat a mountain of desserts, so that feels pretty good too. My throat is still bothering me, endoscopy is not till this summer so I guess the MD in charge of that area of my body is not too worried(?).

 

Meanwhile, I am still working at Department Store. I have had a couple of MISERABLE headaches in the past month - Show stoppers that wrecked entire days. Always after a shift at Department Store...There are so many horrifying perfumey objects, I wonder if that sets me off...I'm thinking of changing jobs, but to what I don't know. I find that getting out and talking/joking with teenaged coworkers is really fun. The plastic, the scents (OMG what is up with scented candles and new scented laundry products?)

 

I don't know where I could get a part time job that doesn't involve a candle department...

 

So I'm pretty good now - don't know if May is going to be a citalopram reduction month. I don't want to jinx myself by dropping too quickly, although it seems to be going pretty well.

 

So glad to be able to drop in and record my progress.

[Songbird]

Glad to hear you're doing well.  Keeping it slow and stable is the way to go. It's good to hold a while longer when your body tells you it needs a break.

[Baxter]

My latest drop has been a total non-event! I experienced nothing that I relate to as WD symptoms. So glad I made the switch to liquid citalopram. Not dropping again for a couple/few weeks. 

[Baxter]

So far so good...Starting my slide to 13mg tonight.

[Altostrata]

Yay!!

[Baxter]

I was too cocky, dropped too fast, got unbelievably irritable and quick tempered. I have gone up a bit and calmed down. I'll hang in at approx 13.5mg for a few more days. 

 

 

 

[ChessieCat]

Please update your drug signature whenever you make a change so it remains current.

 

Account Settings – Edit a signature

[Baxter]

OK, made it to 13 mg...Much more irritable, easy to anger. Otherwise, here I am, at the lowest dose of a single psych med, since 1990.

 

 

[Altostrata]

Yay!!

[Baxter]

waking up scared,  calming myself to the poinot of being edgy. I completely lost my temper over something pretty trivial yesterday. (poor spouse) Am thinking a lot about mistakes, bad moves, and screw ups - memories all the way back to grade school.  What circuits did the last drop mess with, I wonder. cant tell if I should go up or sit it out. I don't want to cause my own divorce...

Also this thread is valuable - I've been here before.

 

[Songbird]

It's tough when your dose gets down lower and all the difficult parts of yourself start popping out of the woodwork.  I've been feeling very emotionally sensitive lately, overreacting to silly things.  I'm just holding for however long it takes to settle down.

[Baxter]

On 7/6/2019 at 2:10 AM, Songbird said:

It's tough when your dose gets down lower and all the difficult parts of yourself start popping out of the woodwork.  I've been feeling very emotionally sensitive lately, overreacting to silly things.  I'm just holding for however long it takes to settle down.

 

I seem to have calmed down a little. It's amazing how every time it feels brand new

 

Longer between drops, I think. I want to enjoy myself.

[nick1990]

Hey Baxter .

just chiming in to say well done on your citalopram taper so far.

im also tapering off citalopram. It’s slow but so worth it !

 

i just wanted to say , don’t be afraid to go even slower, or even try a brass monkey slide method taper . I’ve found a monthly brass monkey slide of 5% to be about my limit to how fast I can go while still maintaining a good quality of life . 

You can go faster but the suffering will be more intense and why rush it if the goal is to live a fully functional life ?

 

all the best

Nick

 

[Baxter]

On 7/15/2019 at 1:46 AM, nick1990 said:

 

i just wanted to say , don’t be afraid to go even slower, or even try a brass monkey slide method taper . I’ve found a monthly brass monkey slide of 5% to be about my limit to how fast I can go while still maintaining a good quality of life . 

You can go faster but the suffering will be more intense and why rush it if the goal is to live a fully functional life ?

 

Hi, Nick,

 

YES! A functional life is what it's all about! I'm on liquid so I have been sliding down over a few days. But it's time to go to smaller decreases. 1mg drops worked well dropping from 20 mg to 14mg since October 2018. But the bumpy ride down probably indicates that I need to drop smaller increments.

[Baxter]

OK, so I have been at 13mg of Citalopram for five weeks. It took the better part of three weeks to feel that I was having no reduction-related symptoms. I am currently feeling ok, energy level ok. My interest in fun stuff is high. My irritability seems - better. (Also, nobody annoying is within earshot..😉.)

 

LONGER between drops! Smaller increments. No plans to drop again for a few more weeks. I have a lot of projects to finish for the annual  quilt show, which is the first week in October. Can't be bothered to lose sleep, be spaced out, etc. right now. 

[Peachy]

On 3/18/2019 at 11:11 AM, Baxter said:

Hi, India,

 

I am a long term SSRI/SNRI user who stopped withdrawing from 60mg of Cymbalta at 30mg and lived with withdrawal symptoms for many months at the halfway point. Fast forward 10 years. Cymbalta pooped out and I was forced to make a change to another SSRI. Citalopram. I am currently on 15mg and just to give you an idea, it took me a year to transfer from Cymbalta to Citalopram and get down to 15mg. I read your description of sensory overload, limited attention and retreating from beloved social activity and thought that you and I have much in common.

 

I am just writing to offer support. One of the reasons I was on 30mg of Cymbalta was because I couldn't face dealing with the effects of withdrawing. Then the drug dropped out on me. I am hopeful that I can slowly decrease my citalopram (taking liquid is making the whole process so much easier than counting those cymbalta spheres bouncing around...) Hang in! Putting your taper on hold is not a bad idea at all. But don't wait for it to crap out on  you!

 

All the best and Jozeff sorry for the thread hijack.

Did you continue to experience these symptoms after switching your medication? Did it at least reverse some of the award symptoms or poop out? 

 

[Baxter]

Just dropping by - haven't tapered further. I am - ok. Life is challenging beyond the med situation. I don't know when I'll be able to get back to my own issues. I'm having problems with my neck/spine (long history of problems following a serious car wreck decades ago.)  Beloved hubbo has "slipped" again and is requiring a lot of attention while he goes back to AA and everybody there praises him for his courage. I'm furious and exhausted.

 

I'll be back if/when I can continue my taper in peace.

 

 

[Giulietta]

Hi Baxter. Sorry to hear about the complications in your life now and about your spinal issues. I can relate to those with degenerative disc disease, arthritis, etc. Not sure what I'm doing for my next steps either at this point. Sounds like it's been a tough week for us both. Things will get better.   Guilietta.

 

 

[Altostrata]

Oh, no. Hugs to you, B.

[Baxter]

Thanks for the kind words. In the words of the Terminator: I'll be back. 

[Baxter]

Hanging in a 13 of Citalopram. Trying to stay calm and fight back against the flashes of temper, which rereading my thread, seem to be an issue I have had from the jump. Home live is more or less stable. Going to a 12 step program for families...find that very supportive.

 

More news when there is some. I'm really hoping that I'll feel comfortable dropping again - If I take another 10 year hiatus I wont be done till I'm 80 years old...Thanks for being here, resource to thousands.

 

 

[Baxter]

Dropping in to update the state of WD affairs. I am on liquid, so I am able to able to titrate pretty small dose reductions. Also to congratulate myself. I was able to decrease my AD dose from 20mg to 13 in one year. For somebody who has been on ADs for 30 years, that's pretty good. maybe I'll be able to drop more in the coming year, maybe not. Harm reduction and experiencing pleasure beyond WD symptoms is my goal. Currently on the smallest amount of psych drugs since 1989 when I got involved with them.

 

Hubbo is doing - ok - as am I. Can't really explain why, except to note that going to 12 step programs seems to help. I have to accept that although he really really wants to not drink, so far he can only stay sober for about 15 months max, then we go through the wringer - again. My family background includes major alcohol and/or prescription drug problems as far back in family history as we know(and down to the next generation) on both sides. I am co dependent/anxious/depressed and looking back, perhaps that explains some of the decisions that I've made over the years. It amazes me that my grandfathers and father were able to "succeed" and that our grandmothers and mother were socially accepted (in my mom's case, maybe not so much, although she was professionally successful). Ditto for hubbo. 

 

ANYWAY. I have dropped a tiny bit and am recording it in my signature. I experienced quite a lurch in mood and motivation. Both settled within a week or so, so I think tiny drops are in my future.

 

Again, I am grateful to this community. Nobody else knows what we're dealing with.

[Altostrata]

NIce to see you again, Baxter. Well, all we can do is to carry on!

[Altostrata]

How are you, Baxter?

[Baxter]

Hello, fellow survivors, 

 

I haven't been around for months, and don't have much to show for it. I am pretty much quarantined due to age and husband's medical status. My depression/anxiety/withdrawal are - about the same, which is one reason I haven't been around. 

 

I have dropped infinitesimal amounts and am now down to 12.5 mg of citalopram. The lowest amount of psychoactive drugs I have been on since 1989.

 

All the best to the many folks frequent this site. May you be well, happy and find peace.

 

[ChessieCat]

Thank you for coming back to update us.

 

38 minutes ago, Baxter said:

I am pretty much quarantined due to age and husband's medical status. My depression/anxiety/withdrawal are - about the same,

 

This may not be all withdrawal but may be caused or exacerbated by the covid situation.  Being in lock down for extended periods is not good for anyone, let alone people who are struggling with other issues.  Since the beginning of the year we have been getting members posting that they are experiencing unexpected/worse waves and the timing seems to fit with the changed working/financial/additional stress that has resulted from covid.

 

43 minutes ago, Baxter said:

I have dropped infinitesimal amounts and am now down to 12.5 mg of citalopram.

 

It doesn't matter how slowly you have to do it.  You are going in the right direction and you are doing it carefully.

 

43 minutes ago, Baxter said:

now down to 12.5 mg of citalopram. The lowest amount of psychoactive drugs I have been on since 1989.

 

That in itself is a huge achievement.  Congratulations.  And a virtual pat on the back.

 

45 minutes ago, Baxter said:

I haven't been around for months, and don't have much to show for it.

 

Please continue to drop in and update us.

 

On 5/15/2011 at 5:22 AM, Altostrata said:

This site is also a research project. The personal stories on this site are documentation of an iatrogenic condition -- suffering caused by medical treatment -- that is almost always ignored, misdiagnosed, or denied by the medical establishment. Given the widespread prescription of antidepressants to tens of millions of people worldwide, withdrawal syndrome probably affects hundreds of thousands if not millions -- including newborns and children.

Antidepressant withdrawal syndrome can last weeks, months, or years. It can be distressing, debilitating, or even disabling. It may be adding to an increase in what is termed disabling mental illness.

With our documentation of antidepressant withdrawal syndrome, we hope to educate the medical establishment about this problem. Case studies are essential; they are evidence understood by doctors, the psychiatric industry, and government regulatory agencies. The have already informed numerous articles in major publications and scientific papers.

Our hope is, eventually, antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs will be prescribed rarely, and only in cases of extremely severe mental illness after less invasive treatments have been tried.

Please join Surviving Antidepressants in its mission to support, document, and educate about psychiatric drug withdrawal syndrome.

 

 

[Baxter]

Greetings - I am back to check in to update my progress.  Between August and December 2020, I managed to edge down to  a new low of 12.2 mg of Celexa. I updated my signature but didn't comment otherwise. I was hanging in with the pandemic, grateful that to be able to stay home, get out to the woods walking, healthy to this point. 

 

Since it got cold in New England, in person contact dwindled to a few, short walks with friends. I miss hanging out in lawn chairs with friends and family. The big snow on Monday has rendered us just about house bound as we can't get out to the woods.  I try to remember that I am fortunate - not worried about stable housing, not required to be around people while the case count is so high in our area. Also, I'll be eligible for a vaccine in a few weeks, which may reduce my existential dread some. I would cheerfully hibernate till then, but I'm not a bear...

 

Anyway. depression and anxiety are not higher t,hey're tolerable, which is - interesting. I hope you all are hanging in as well.

 

[Wania]

Baxter, I read Your old posts that You werent tolerating supplements during withdrawal. I wanted to ask did it improve?