Bluemoon New here

[Bluemoon]

Hi all,

I have been on antidepressants on and off since I was 14. I have GAD, OCD and Depression.

I"m going to start about eight years ago. I was on Prozac, the highest and it worked great for a while. Then I reached the "poop out" stage and my psyh put me on citalopram. It worked wonders for me for years. I was on 80 mg for about 3 years. Then I decided I wanted to see if I could handle going without it. My psychiatrist advised against it, but said she'd taper me off. I was on 80 mg and she said I should do 10mg every 2 weeks I think. Long story short I did end up off of it. I lengthened my taper myself by about a month, I thought she wanted me to taper too fast.

I had about 3 weeks of all the physical withdrawl symptoms. Head whooshes, muscle cramps, can't sleep. Then a month went by and I was fine. One day it was like all my anxiety and OCD came back at once! I was having awful obsessive worrying (which is the ocd I have) and anxiety. I was having crying spells and I went "emotionally flat" and was having suicidal thoughts.

I called my psyc and told her I wanted to go back on the citaopram, but she said she couldn't put me back on 80 because of a new study out showing it increases heart problems. That gave me even more anxiety, so I tried Zoloft. Made me super drowsy, I tried that for week. Then I went back to Prozac. Still feeling no relief, I ended up going to the er, bc I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I was paying too much attention to my pulse and caused myself to have anxiety "heart palpitation" feelings. I was also having heart burn. This was all in November of 2011.

I ended up going back on the citalopram, this time I am at 40mg only. My boyfriend stuck with me through all this and has been wonderful.

 

Now, I have decided I would like to to taper off again, this time I am going to get help from my GP who is fully supportive of helping me get off them. He also said he agrees we need to go as slow as possible. I also saw a CBT for a month to learn how to deal with my anxiety and OCD triggers. I do not want to be on these meds anymore! I am pretty much terrified of tapering off again. But I really want to.

Starting around September I noticed my anxiety etc creeping back up and that's when I started CBT. I think I have reached the "poop out" stage on this dose. I am going to see my doctor to discuss this in a few weeks. Any adivce would be most helpful. Such as, best way to taper doseage wise.

Thanks everyone!

 

40mg citalopram CURRENT

80mg citalopram previous

60mg prozac

[Bluemoon]

Got home and looked at my calendar from 2011 when I was tapering. I kept track of the dose. My numbers above are wrong.

I did 20mg tapering over a 5 month period. Doing a 20mg drop once a month. At the end I took half of half a 10 Mg pill for a month and then completley stopped.

I had the emotional withdrawal 2 months after stopping. I was at 80 and now I'm at 40. I'm hoping since i am on a smaller dose the withdrawal wont be as bad this time. Has anyone found that to be true?

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Bluemoon.

 

The nervous system is dynamic. Yours may have accommodated to the 40mg citalopram dosage as it had to the 80mg (a truly excessive dosage, which has proven to be dangerous).

 

In addition, since you had the previous withdrawal difficulty, your nervous system may be sensitized to dosage reductions.

 

We recommend a very gradual dosage reduction, starting at 10% per month.

 

Please read these topics carefully:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2023-tips-for-tapering-off-celexa-citalopram/

 

And in general about tapering:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/300-important-topics-in-the-tapering-forum/

[Bluemoon]

Thanks,

I will tell my doc in a few weeks I want to do 10%. Not sure what he has in mind, but I'm pretty sure it comes in liquid. I would prefer to do that instead of cutting my pills. Is the liquid more expensive than the pills?

Thanks

[Bluemoon]

Hello all,

just a quick question about tapering. I have about 40, 40mg tablets left and I want to do the 10% taper. I don't mind cutting the pills. I estimated I will have to do 3 cuts in all, but I will get down to 35mg, not 34mg. Would that one mg make a difference?

I"m not going to start until I discuss it with my GP. (see intro) I could also have my doc give me the lower mg pills. The liquid is expensive.

Thanks

 

 

 

 

Citalopram 40mg (current)

Citalopram 80mg

Prozac 60mg

[Jemima]

Bluemoon,

 

Because the above question is about your personal tapering, I moved it here to your Intro. The Tapering Discussion is for more general information and discussions. No problem, it just takes a while to get the hang of this forum.

 

I'm not sure if this article on making your medication into a liquid is suitable for Citalopram, but it's worth checking. Cutting pills is fine at high doses, but when you get down to very small reductions, a liquid is best. Your doctor might have some ideas about how to get the liquid less expnsively.

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2693-how-to-make-a-liquid-from-tablets-or-capsules/

[Altostrata]

Bluemoon, for your first cut, 5mg rather than 4mg probably would be close enough. It seems a closer calculation is more important when people get lower in dosage.

 

Here's a topic about making citalopram liquid:

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2022-making-a-celexa-solution-yourself/

 

Good idea to see if you can get tablets in smaller dosages from your doctor.

 

Don't be surprised if your doctor doesn't understand tapering by 10%. Many think there is no problem at all going off these drugs.

[Bluemoon]

Hello all I first posted back in 2012, I was on Citalopram and tried unsuccessfully after that post to taper off it again and ended up back on Prozac 30mg.  Long story short I am now on 5mg Lexapro after discovering 10mg made me sweat excessively in my feet and armpits.

I am now on 5mg and after being on antidepressants most of my life since 13 really want to try and get off them again(see post in intros).  I recently found this article online about Tardive Dysphoria (http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/mad-in-america/201106/now-antidepressant-induced-chronic-depression-has-name-tardive-dysphoria) and believe I probably have this.  After reading this, I am certain I want to get off these drugs.  However I have NEVER been on Lexapro.  I've tried every other SSRI.  I've only been on Lexapro for about a month, so I am confident I may have not as bad a time with withdrawl.  I plan on staying on 5mg for a month, then tapering more.

My question is what supplements should I start taking now?  I am thinking Omega 3's.

Any advice/info would be most helpful..........I have GAD, OCD and depression.

THank you

[mammaP]

Hi Bluemoon, since you joined us 2 years ago you have been on a very high dose of citalopram, prozac, and now lexapro. 

You have only been on lexapro for a month. If I were you I would hold for a few months before starting to taper it to

allow your nervous system to stabilise from all those changes. Doctors often switch drugs, add and take away, making our

poor brain and nervous systems unstable. By holding for a while you will be more likely to succeed this time.

I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear but we want everyone trying to get off meds to get off them safely.

 

Because you have been on them for so long and had so many changes recently I would suggest a micro taper to start with,

and taper 5% of the current dose with at least 4 weeks between cuts. Then if it goes well you could increase the cuts to

10%. This will take time but you will eventually get to the end without having to go back up or on another because it failed

again. Doctors just don't know anything about withdrawal and tapering, they are educated by the drugs reps and they do not

want anyone coming off their drugs because it would affect their pay packet! 

 

Supplements, most people find a good quality fish oil helpful while tapering and in withdrawal, and magnesium is very calming

and good for sleep and aches and pains when used in a warm bath.  Other supplements help some but others react to them so

it is trial and error really. We have lots of threads on supplements that have peoples experiences of what helped them. 

Personally I stick with magnesium and fish oil, but am about to start D3 because we don't get much sunlight here in winter.

 

Here are some topics for you to look at so you can prepare well for your taper. 

 

Tips for tapering lexapro http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/406-tapering-off-lexapro-escitalopram/

 

About micro tapers http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2878-micro-taper-instead-of-10-or-5-decreases/

 

And most important, the 3 KIS  http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/6632-the-rule-of-3kis-keep-it-simple-keep-it-slow-keep-it-stable/

 

Welcome back Bluemoon, I hope we can help you to get off the drugs successfully. 

[Bluemoon]

Thank you very much for your reply mammaP!  So, do I need to get the liquid form or can I just use a pill splitter?  So I think a month on 5mg, then taper to 2.5...

Thanks again

[mammaP]

A 5% reduction would be 4.75, 10% would be 4.5. It is quite confusing and takes me an age to work things out too!

 

To go from 5mg to 2.5 would be a 50% cut and far too much, it would lead to more problems and inevitably you

would have withdrawal symptoms. Liquid would be much easier because you can dilute to get the small doses.

I am not very good with maths but we have some members who are wizards with numbers who I am sure will help

with working out the doses in liquid for you. As I said before, I would wait at least 3 months on the 5mg before

making any cuts. This will allow your brain to stabilise and get used to the new drug. 

[Bluemoon]

Ok, I'm going to call my doctor tomorrow and see if he will prescribe me any Lexapro without seeing him first.  I'm currently getting it from my psychiatrist and I know she won't be happy tomorrow morning when I call and cancel my follow up appointment, haha.  I'd rather get the Lexapro from my general Doc b/c he is WAY cheaper to see and I know he will help me taper, I just hope he doesn't want me to come in

Thanks so much!!