Silmarwen After 16 years on meds I've started tapering! (Cipramil & Noritren)

[Silmarwen]

Hi everyone.

 

I got sick in 1997 with postpartum depression (I'm 40 years old now) and started taking psych meds for the first time in my life (see my signature for what kind of meds and dosis).

 

After being sick for so many years I finally feel strong and confident enough to start a slow taper and I'm so thankful to have found this forum with so much knowledge and heartwarm people!

 

I actually started tapering a little bit before I found this forum so I can see that I have started out a little rough with dosis cuts that have been to high and to quick, but from now on I'm going to do the 10% of current dosis taper. Oh, and I saw my psychiatrist yesterday and told him about my plans and he's onboard (also with the very slow tapering). I have had the same psyciatrist for 16 years now, ever since I was hospitalized, and he is the best! A really good doctor that really listens to me and who is really open to new ideas and theories, he never thinks he knows it all just because he is a doctor.

 

Anyway, I reduced Cipramil (citalopram) from 40 mg to 30 mg in the end of June 2013. Still on 25 mg of Noritren (my psychiatrist has advised me to taper one drug at a time and that is also what I'm most comfortable with). Didn't feel any w/d symptoms.

 

Around the 15th of July 2013 I reduced Cipramil to 20 mg. This time I did feel w/d symptoms. A couple of days of feeling depersonalized, kind of in a bubble. Nervous stomach coming and going, fluttering feelings in the chest/heart also coming and going. Tired for a few days but then gaining more energy.  A few days of restless legs, like an electric current buzzing in my legs.

 

It's like the symptoms shifts from day to day: like I can have two days of feeling the anxiety in my stomach and the fluttering feelings in my chest for a couple of days, then it subsides and the restless legs and nerve pain in the toes take over for a few days. Then that subsides and the nervous stomach comes back instead but not as bad as the first days. I definetely feel the symptoms getting much better already, not as strong as they were. And I feel happy even when I have the w/d symptoms and that is a big plus to me because I really fear getting depressed again (even if it's just w/d symptoms) and that is why I'm going to take the taper really slow....I don't care if I have to spend 1-2 years or longer on the tapering as long as I can have as mild w/d symptoms as possible.

 

I probably haven't written everything I want to tell yet, kind of difficult to remember it all at once, but I will write again when things pop up along the way.

 

 

 

 

[Silmarwen]

I have a question about how to taper properly:

 

I'm on 20 mg Cipramil and the withdrawal symptoms I had have subsided....how long should I stay on 20 mg before making another dosis cut?

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Silmarwen.

 

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

 

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

[Silmarwen]

Thank you for the welcome, Alto!

 

And thank you for pointing me to the appropriate threads....I think I'm going to wait until september 1st before lowering my dosis, because I'm going to my cousins wedding on august 31st and I want to feel good for that!

[Silmarwen]

Withdrawal symptoms still come and go but they get less and less.....after 1-2 hours of restless legs last night, I have for the first time today been feeling nauseus and had a headache...this is almost gone now (it's 5.30 in the evening now).

 

I still get the anxious feeling in my stomach but it's not as strong as it was 14 days ago.

 

I have been doing a lot of reading at this forum for the last few days, especially about hypersensitivity to drugs and supplements....back in january I started taking folic acid ( a B vitamin) and after a couple of days I began feeling really depressed and very anxious. It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that it dawned on that I began to feel bad after starting with folic acid so I stopped taking them and after 2-3 days all those symptoms had gone! I was like: now I can't even take a B vitamin supplement without my "fragile psyche" acting out!?

 

And then I read the forums and the explanation for the sensitivity to supplements etc. is that it is because of the SSRI's I have been taking for years that has messed up my CNS? Can you recover from this or will the CNS continue to be hypersensitive even when one succesfully comes off antidepressants?

[Rhiannon]

Sounds like you're down from 40 to 20 since some time in June? That's a 50% cut and very recent. I think holding until at least September is a good idea.

 

Withdrawal symptoms tend to wax and wane and to unfold out over a period of several months; sometimes people don't get really hit with the worst of them until three to six months out. After such a big cut I think it would be wise to be cautious and take some time to make sure you're really feeling stable and solid before starting to taper further.

 

Actually if it were me I would go back up to 30 mg and hold for a couple of months and then start a more reasonable taper.  But it's up to you. I know I can't handle that kind of big cut, myself.  But I'm pretty sure you're not me!

[Silmarwen]

Thank you so much for your comment, Rhi!

 

Yes, that is a 50 % cut since june. It was right before I found this forum and read about the 10% tapering method.

 

I'm feeling really good (despite some of the w/d symptoms, but they are not strong and I don't feel them all the time like in the first two weeks) so I'm going to stay at 20 mg. But I am going to take your advice and stay at this dose for at least a couple of months, maybe even longer. ;-)

[Silmarwen]

@Rhi:

You were right about my dose cut being to big.....the w/d symptoms (mostly upset stomach, anxiety and lowered mood) were suddenly getting worse so I thought it

 

would be wise to take your advice and go back up to 30 mg Cipramil and I'm happy to say that it did the trick! So thank you! I'm going to stay on this dose for

 

several months before I will consider tapering again.....it's not worth to feel bad when it can be helped.

[tezza]

Hi Silmarwen,

 

I think you've made a wise decision by following Rhi's advice and up dosing for now. It's also a good idea to hold there for a few months like you said. Give your CNS plenty of time to settle back down.

[Silmarwen]

Thank you, Tezza, for your comment!

 

Yes, I'm at least going to stay on this dose for 4 months....maybe longer, we'll see!

[Silmarwen]

Just a quick update on updosing cipramil to 30 mg: this was definetely the right thing to do as I don't have any w/d symptoms at all now! So I'm going to stick to the plan of not decreasing the dosis until december or january.