PurplePaisley: tapering citalopram

[Altostrata]

Thank you for pointing out your confusion over the link. You're right, it needed clarification. Thank you for cooperating. I can follow the simple format a lot easier.

 

It is possible you are activated by your citalopram dose, which you take between 7-8 a.m. (Please do not vary any more in your citalopram dosing than you presently do.)

 

However, your symptom pattern is confounded by the drug and supplement combination you take a little later at more inconsistent times, including Fluticasone, Beclomethasone, Loratatadine, and Lisinopril. You may also be activated by any of these drugs, or a combination, or the vitamin D , probiotic, or multivitamin (B vitamins may cause activation) you take at the same time.

 

Please put ALL your drugs and supplements in this Interactions Checker and post the report or a link to it in this topic.

[PurplePaisley]

Hello, @Altostrata. I don't want to take up more of your time with this, since I'm having only mild and occasional symptoms now, two weeks after returning to 10 mg/day.

I'm generally sleeping better; I'm not waking with anxiety, depression, or shaking; I'm thinking more clearly; I'm able to understand complex speech; and I can read with greater understanding.

 

I'm feeling much better now than I was while taking 6.5 mg/day, and even during the first week or so after going back up to 10 mg/day.

 

My current project is to focus on the reading/videos/movement recommended by my therapist. After being on citalopram 10 mg/day for at least a couple of months, I may consider trying a very slow taper. So I'll be lurking on the site, and will become more active again if and when I attempt another taper.

 

In the short to medium term, I may try to reintroduce the supplements that I've stopped, individually and slowly, and see whether they cause any changes.

 

Thank you for your help to me and so many others.

Regards,

PurplePaisley

[Greatful]

@PurplePaisley  Hi stopping to see how you are doing?

[PurplePaisley]

Hi, @Greatful. Thanks for stopping by. I hope that you're doing well.

 

I'm doing better, thanks. I restarted tapering, very slowly (~ 5 - 6 % decrease every 4 weeks - 1 month) in early November 2021. I have had a much easier time, compared to the horrors of last year (when I messed my nervous system up with a dramatic drop).

 

Since dropping below 7 mg/day, I've been having more bothersome symptoms (just about everything I had in the last few taper steps, just...somewhat more of it), but I'm not suffering many hours daily as I was mid-2021. None of my symptoms has gone above a severity of 4 (out of 5), and that peak is usually brief. I don't shake.

My husband continues to be extremely supportive. I'm eating decently (a little too much), exercising regularly, and reading things that interest me (mostly history, history of science, and some humor). I'm able to understand things that I hear and read much better, but my memory continues to be pretty bad.

 

As a side note, my husband had nearly symptom-free COVID late last year, but I didn't get infected. I had a slightly symptomatic case in May. but my husband didn't get infected. Go know ::puzzled shrug::.

 

Cheers,

PurplePaisley

 

P.S. I've updated my Sig.

[PurplePaisley]

Update: I've revised my tapering schedule to a 3 % drop every 2 weeks, in an effort to make the wd symptoms less bothersome and long-lasting. I've updated my Sig accordingly.

 

The symptoms have become a bit worse as I've dropped below 5 mg/day, and are still up to 4/5 in severity at times. Anxiety, inability to focus and remember, and sleep problems continue to be the worst symptoms, though painful creepy-crawly and tingling sensations are an issue, especially when I'm trying to sleep.

 

Cheers,

PurplePaisley

[PurplePaisley]

Update: I've revised my tapering schedule to a 3-4% drop every 10-11 days, which I find more tolerable than larger drops less frequently. I've updated my Sig accordingly.

 

So far so moderately good. My main symptoms are anxiety, irritability, and depression, with some electric pain in limbs. Symptom severity is never more than 4 out of 5 ("4/5").

 

Cheers,

PurplePaisley

[PurplePaisley]

Happy New Year, all!

 

Update: I've added a microtaper -- I now drop by 0.2 mL (0.4 mg, roughly 1 %) every 2-4 days within each taper period. This seems to be moderating my moods -- the extremes are generally less extreme. I've updated my Sig accordingly.

 

My main symptoms continue to be anxiety, irritability, and depression, with some electric pain in limbs. Symptom severity is never more than 4 out of 5 ("4/5"). However, I now have some actual fear ("the world is ending/the sky is falling") along with anxiety. Fortunately, no pieces of sky have landed on me; I try to remember this.

 

Regards,

PurplePaisley

[PurplePaisley]

CORRECTION to the microtaper info in my update of an hour ago:

"I now drop by 0.2 mL (0.4 mg, roughly 1 %) every 2-4 days" should be "I now drop by 0.02 mL (0.04 mg, roughly 1 %) every 2-4 days".

 

As I taper further, I'll need to dilute the citalopram solution so that I can make small-enough drops using a regular insulin syringe (which has markings every 0.2 mL).

 

 - PurplePaisley

[PurplePaisley]

I've updated my Sig. As of February, I've had to change to a very small drop (0.04 mg/day) roughly every 7-10 days, because the faster taper caught up with me and caused incapacitating withdrawal symptoms (mainly anxiety and irritability). I hold the dose when needed. At this rate, it may take me another 5 years to get off the SSRI, but that remains my goal.

I have to see my psychiatrist again later this week in order to continue to get refills of the citalopram liquid. Wish me luck.

[jozeff]

Hi @PurplePaisley,

 

How are you doing? Just bumped into your story. Hope you are doing better with this slow taper.

 

Cheers

Jozeff