kmm0806: Hello...

[kmm0806]

...my first visit and post here.

I've been Citalopram free for four weeks now.

I'd taken 40mg daily since January 2004

I reduced my dose, advised by gp, by 10mg weekly until stopped (4weeks)

Slowly starting to see clearly again.

One of the toughest things I've ever done!

K

[scallywag]

kmm0806 -- Welcome to Surviving Antidepressants (SA)

 

You've been off citalopram for 4 weeks, after a taper that decreased 10 mg/week from 40 mg?  I'm glad to read that you're starting to feel better. 

 

Doctors who prescribe this medication rarely appreciate how difficult the drugs are to discontinue and therefore suggest "taper" plans that are almost guaranteed to cause suffering.  To minimize the risk of withdrawal symptoms, we suggest that people taper by decreasing to 90% of previous dose once per month, e.g. 40 to 36, 36 to 32.4, 32.4 to 28.2.  As you can see this is much, much slower than your doctor's advice. For more about our plan, please read:

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?.

Tips for tapering off Celexa (citalopram)

 

What are your symptoms?  There are many symptoms that arise after too-rapid discontinuation of medications like citalopram. You can find a helpful list to download in the first post of this topic:

Glenmullen’s withdrawal symptom list.

 

Some people find relief from symptoms by reinstating a small dose of the medication they discontinued.  It sounds counterintuitive to take the medication that you just discontinued, doesn't it? The idea makes sense when we learn that our brains and CNSs (central nervous systems) adapt to the drug as soon as we start to take it -- shutting down neurotransmitter (e.g. serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine) receptors.  This happens over several weeks until the drug and our CNS reach a "happy" equilibrium.  Then when we discontinue too fast, the CNS has to scramble -- no drug, no equilibrium, no happy. You'll find other descriptions of this process at these links:

How your brain responds to psychiatric drugs - aka "Brain remodeling"

Youtube video, 4 minutes: Healing from antidepressants

 

Reinstating is more predictable the sooner someone starts after the last dose.  Our experience is that 3 months seems to be a useful rule to use: Before 3 months off the medication, it's worth trying to reinstate.  After that, it's anybody's guess how any individual will react. Some have reinstated at 9 months and found relief; others have reinstated within 2 weeks of stopping and their symptoms continued unabated.  For more information about this, please read at least the first post of this topic:

About reinstating and stabilizing to reduce withdrawal symptoms.

 

We would probably suggest a very low reinstatement dose for you, probably not more than 10-15% of your last dose. If you'd like to try this, please post that intention here in your intro topic. We'll reply with a suggestion for you to consider.

 

Many people find supplementing with omega 3 fatty acids and/or magnesium helpful during tapering and withdrawal.  Pick one or the other at a low dose and work your way up over several weeks. Please read:

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil).

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker.

 

I hope you'll find the information in the SA forums helpful for your situation. I'm sorry that you are in the position that you need the information, but am glad that you found us.

 

Edited July 19, 2017 by scallywag
add mag & omega 3 links

[kmm0806]

Hello scallywag,

Thank you for your welcome.

Yes, this is my 5th week Citalopram free.

My doctor suggested the taper period, I wish I had researched the subject then, not now.

I google searched withdrawal symptoms and had most, worst were anxiety and "brain zaps"

I was signed off work for 4 weeks as I couldn't function.

I returned to work part time for a further 4 weeks and only returned full time this week.

This has only been possible with 160 mg daily of Propranolol.

I'm trying to take one day at a time.

K

 

 

[scallywag]

kmm thak you for confirming how long you've been off citalopram.

 

A request: Would you summarize your history in a signature -- drugs, doses, dates, and discontinuations & reinstatements, in the last 12-24 months particularly?

• Any drugs prior to 24 months ago can just be listed with start and stop years.
  
• Please use actual dates or approximate dates (mid-June, Late October) rather than relative time frames (last week, 3 months ago)
  
• Spell out months, e.g. "October" or "Oct."; 9/1/2016 can be interpreted as Jan. 9, 2016 or Sept. 1, 2016.
  
• Please leave out symptoms and diagnoses.
  
• A list is easier to understand than one or multiple paragraphs.
  
• Link to Account Settings – Create or Edit a signature.
  
  

 

Have you read the information about reinstating?  Are you leaning toward reinstating to try to reduce your withdrawal symptoms?