karakol: Getting off celexa

[karakol]

For 21 days I have been taking half of my dose of celexa. I went from 40mg to 20mg. After 30 days I will drop to 10mg. I am having tightness in my chest - high stress response, trouble concentrating, loss of passion/care, fatigue. Depression is coming back. I have been on it for 4+ years. Every attempt to get off has been bad. Will this subside? Is there hope?

Edited February 28, 2014 by Petu
changed member name in title

[Nikki]

Hi...as soon as I saw your Thread I had to answer.  I just got off Celexa in November.  I was/am on another drug (imipramine - old one) so I tapered a bit different from what you will be advised to do here.  And I agree with what the other members will suggest.

 

You already dropped a large amount which will cause Withdrawal symptoms which you are having.  To circumvent WD go back up in dose close to 40mgs.  Stay there and wait.  It can take a week or so.

 

Please don't drop it again for awhile and when you do do is slowly and in tiny increments.  The advise here is a 10% reduction.  When I tapered Lexapro I did it less than that which was 1mg. each drop using a liquid.

 

Our brain can't handle a sudden drop in serotonin and the WD symptoms can last a long time if not done with care.

 

Other members will be along shortly to help you out.

 

Best regards Nikki

[karakol]

Thanks Nikki. So how long will the withdrawal symptoms last? How long will it take my brain to start to stabilize? Am I experiencing the worse of it at three weeks, or will it keep getting worse? All my other attempts I got off it entirely; without fail I would become overwhelmed with suicidal thoughts. In response to the stress and the way my brain is shutting down I have had thoughts of suicidal, but none that stayed. They were only fleeting.

[tezza]

Hi karakol, Welcome! Nikki is right, that's way faster than recommended and the symptoms you are having is proof is too fast for you.

If I were you, I'd try going back up to 30 mgs and see if you feel better by four days at that dose. No one can predict how long WDs last, it's different for all people. Some people can come off a drug fairly quickly but some have to crawl.

Please read the info in this link:

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

[Altostrata]

Welcome, karakol.

 

Yes, you are going too fast. Tezza has a good idea, go back up to 30mg.

 

I would stay there for a month to let your nervous system settle down, then taper with these tips http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2023-tips-for-tapering-off-celexa-citalopram/

[karakol]

Who has gotten off antidepressants? How long did withdrawals last? It has been suggested that I increase my antidepressant dosage. I am determined to stay the course. It will be worth it if I can get off these meds. I am three weeks in; having withdrawals. Today doesn't seem as bad as yesterday, but I have tightness in my chest, no care or motivation or focus to do any school work; looking up can give me anxiety... Irritable... You know how it goes!... I have been taking half doge (from 40mg to 20mg of celexa) and will continue for at least another week hoping it will get better. Who has had experience with withdrawal and success getting off antidepressants (I have been on them about 4 years)?

[Altostrata]

Please read http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/603-what-is-antidepressant-withdrawal-syndrome/

 

and http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/3079-about-reinstating-and-stabilizing-to-stop-withdrawal-symptoms/

[bubble]

if you read around on this forum,you will soon find answers to your questions and learn many more other things everyone taking an AD should know.

 

Happy for you that you came here.

 

Best,

bubble

[mammaP]

Who has gotten off antidepressants? How long did withdrawals last? It has been suggested that I increase my antidepressant dosage. I am determined to stay the course. It will be worth it if I can get off these meds. I am three weeks in; having withdrawals. Today doesn't seem as bad as yesterday, but I have tightness in my chest, no care or motivation or focus to do any school work; looking up can give me anxiety... Irritable... You know how it goes!... I have been taking half doge (from 40mg to 20mg of celexa) and will continue for at least another week hoping it will get better. Who has had experience with withdrawal and success getting off antidepressants (I have been on them about 4 years)?

Krakol, being determined to stay the course is not how it works with withdrawal. It isn't like some drugs when you are better once it is out of your bloodstream.

Many many people come here determined to stick it out and it just does not help!  If you are experiencing symptoms then you are in withdrawal.

 

I would also increase to 30mg or even 25.  It can make a huge difference to how you are feeling.  Then hold a few weeks to stabilise before tapering slowly.

It isn't failure when you updose, it is doing what is necessary to get on with life without being floored by withdrawal symptoms.

Spend a little time reading the links that have been provided for you, and some of the introductions, they are all case histories and members' own experiences

in their own topics. You can see from the very first posts how everyone has got on with tapering and withdrawal. 

 

Every one of us here have suffered withdrawal to some degree. Many have successfully tapered and moved on. They no longer need to be here and are 

living their lives.  You can do that too. 

[tezza]

Hi karakol,

 

I realize you feel like you would be going in reverse to reinstate part of your dose but we are making suggestions based on experience and knowledge of real people that came off these drugs. Who has come off? Well, if you look at my signature, I just tapered off the AD, Remeron a few days before Christmas. I've come off Neurontin, Trileptal, Lamictal, Wellbutrin and Celexa. I've reduced Xanax from 3mg daily to .5 mg at bedtime and soma from 700 to 1050 mg daily to 262.5 mg at night.

 

When I was CT switched from Celexa to Wellbutrin, my brother had come here to die at my house (with hospice) so any WDs I may have had were not recognized because of the chaos that was going on. Everyone just thought I was a basket-case with my brother being so close to death, even I thought so. He died at exactly three weeks here and about a week later, I saw a psychiatrist.

 

My exact words: "I'm sad, but I have a reason to be". I had watched my brother go through EACH step of the "process of dying". He had liver cancer, hep C and cirrhosis. While he was here, I saw and heard from friends and relatives, daily. After the funeral, my phone stopped ringing and I was left totally ALONE. The psych doc CTd the Wellbutrin and started the FOUR drugs (see in sig). I'd only taken for three months when I began trying to taper according to an app called Epocrates which suggested tapers over a few week period for each drug.

 

The most powerful one for me has been the Risperdal. I took 1mg for 3-1/2 months, then started breaking into uneven halves and thought nothing of it. I wondered why I was re-living every mistake or wrong-doing of my past which I know now was a WD symptom. The doc refused to write a smaller dose even when I had taken half for two months. He said that sometimes 'it can take a couple of months before it hits you'. I'm convinced now that he knew about WDs but was trying to say that my original 'sadness' would return.

 

By middle of September, I decided to try to leave it off at .5mg.....One of the biggest mistakes I've ever regretted! I haven't completely recovered from that but I'm MUCH better. I left it off only two weeks and started back at .5. As soon as I had a good night's sleep, I started trimming a little more off, TOO SOON.

 

I'm down to .09mg, taking liquid and am determined to get off the remainder, hopefully this year. I don't care how long it takes, I never want to get that sick again. Since I've joined and taken Alto's advice, I've stopped some and reduced others. It took me a long time to feel like I was a living being again.

 

We're not suggesting that you stay on the drug, just get back to a dose that you can stabilize on and then taper as slowly as you NEED to. It usually doesn't get better when folks try to 'ride it out'. If you go off too fast and try to stay the course, you're setting yourself up for a very unpleasant experience. Many times when someone stops this way and leave the drug off for a length of time, they are unable to reinstate because they've become sensitized to the drug and their body retaliates. Some in this case are still in WD 'syndrome' after years and can only try to deal with whatever symptoms they are left with.

 

If you haven't read the links Alto and I provided, please do so. We are only trying to help you. You see, kara, we wouldn't inflict the suffering we've experienced on our worst enemy.

 

Most of us have spent small fortunes looking for anything that will help because it gets so bad. The Symptoms and Self-Care threads are loaded with good information.

[karakol]

Your responses are very valuable to me. I will read more of what has been provided on this site. Thank you all again...