Julie: Highly irritable from antidepressants

[Julie]

First of all I'd like to say hello to all:)

 

I am Julie, I had severe OCD and I am taking drugs for more than 13 years.

I took over the years Prozac-6 years, Fluvoxamine-6 and now my doc change my meds on Cipralex, so I am taking this for 1 year.

I noticed the last year that somehow I have changed myself, I am easily irritable, I am angry for small things and I can't get rig of this irritation no matter I do.

Please help me! How to get rid of this irritability?

Usually I am a calm person who wants to live in peace with everyone.

 

Thanks

 

[westcoast]

Hi Julie. Welcome to the site. Have you told your doctor about this?

 

My sister takes Cipralex, and she too has had a personality change. She is irritable and hostile towards family members and usually talks only about how much people at work annoy her.

 

It might be that Cipralex has caused you to become irritable, and that you should carefully discontinue it, with help from a doctor who understands.

 

You will hear from other members here who have advice about how to safely stop using Cipralex.

[Julie]

Yes, I told my doctor about these side effects and he said that are high chances to have a relapse if I am discontinued the treatment. As I said, I had severe Ocd in my past with inability to work and take care of my kid.

Now my kid is a teenager and it's difficult to have a nice relation with him, but I 'd love to because I love my son more than anything in the world and he deserve to have a good mother.

Most of the time I am nervous from small things like he let the dirt in the bathroom or some dirt in his room, or he forgot something.

I am aware that problem is on me, I became easily irritated and this is not normal!

I was not so in the past, i was very calm and relaxed, how could I will be again the same person?

Does the AD changed my behavior?

 

I went to my doc last week and I told him about tapering from 10mg to 5 mg Cipralex and he said is not agree with this dose and he put me back on 10mg.

This morning I wok eup irritated again:( 

 

What can i do?

[mammaP]

Hi Julie, welcome to SA.  Sadly many people are affected by anti depressants making them angry and irritable.  The only way to stop this unpleasant side effect is to taper very carefully and slowly.Tapering too fast can lead to withdrawal which can make the irritability even worse!  Side effects are dose related and tend to get easier as the dose is lowered, so you don't need to be completely off before starting to feel better.    Are you taking any other drugs? There can be interactions between drugs that can cause these symptoms too. 

 

It will help if you can put your drug history in your signature strip, we ask all our members to do this so we can see at the bottom of posts which drugs have been taken and when. Here is how to do that.

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/893-please-put-your-withdrawal-history-in-your-signature/

 

I see you replied to Westcoast as I was typing.  Your doctor believes that when people stop a drug they have a relapse of symptoms but it is actually withdrawal. The drugs make changes in the brain and taking the drug away causes chaos for our poor brain and nervous system, resulting in withdrawal syndrome. This is what the drug companies say and they are the ones educating the doctors! 

 

When did you go to 5mg? Did you feel better at 5?   

 

We recommend tapering no more than 10% of the current dose. with at least 4 weeks between cuts. This allows the brain to adjust between cuts and keep withdrawal to a minimum. 

 

Here is our topic for tapering cipralex (ecitalopram) http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/406-tapering-off-lexapro-escitalopram/

 

Why we recommend tapering 10% http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1024-why-taper-by-10-of-my-dosage/

 

I am glad you found us, hopefully we can help you to  find yourself again.  We have a topic for help with the problems that led most of us to taking psychotropic drugs and teach us ways to deal with them when we are free of them 

 

http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1112-non-drug-techniques-to-cope-with-emotional-symptoms/

[Fresh]

How are you doing Julie?

 

As MammaP suggested , going down from 10mg to 9mg (10%)   may take the edge off your irritability and nervousness.

 

The section on Tapering explains how you can make a 9mg dose from your 10mg tablets.    You could tell your doctor what you have decided to do when

you see him next.

 

If you decrease the dose slowly you can avoid severe withdrawal symptoms.

 

Best wishes ,  Fresh

[Julie]

Hello Fresh and everybody!

 

Thanks for ask me. I am fine, now I am on 5mg Cipralex and I am doing very well.

 

I tried to increase on 10 mg as my doctor suggest me, but the irritation appeared again, so I decided to stay on 5mg.

Now, I have to convince my doctor that I am well on 5mg and the most important thing for me is to have a very good relationship with my family.

 

Now , i hope I can cope my OCD with this dose!

 

Thanks guys , you are awesome!

[mammaP]

Thanks for the update Julie, I am glad that you are ok now and hope it lasts for you. You may get some symptoms but they will settle down again if you just hold tight and don't change anything. When you are stable you could taper if that is what you want to do, if so we can help you to taper safely, 

 

Keep us posted how you are doing.