DJones: Celexa kindling reaction

[Djones1984]

ADMIN NOTE DJones's benzo thread

 

Hi, I just wanted to take the time to introduce myself and ask for some advice I have been on various ssris for 11years and about 7 months ago I decided to wean myself off celexa which I had been on for the last 5 years at 40mg. I weaned of to fast over the course of about 3 months and was off for a total of 1 month when I crased hard with anxiety, fear and depression. I went back on 40mg of celexa after being off for a month but got panic attacks and weird sensations in head. After 2 weeks the doc than got me off that and put me on Paxil for 2 weeks which only made things worse with bad anxiety and feeling dissacated with everything and my cns was all messed up. They than put me on celexa at 20 mg and a low dose of remeron for 3 weeks but no relief and was getting electrical sensations and burning sensation in body. I than checked myself into the hospital where the cold turkeyed me off the celexa and put me on neurontin. I was off celexa again for a week but I gave up all other medications and put myself back on 5mg of celexa for the last 3 weeks and have also been on .05 a day of klonopin now for 2 months. My current symptoms are. Severe anxiety Inability to concentrate Muscle tension Akathesia Tremor Burning sensation in chest and pain from time to time Vision problems Brain fog Some anadonia Some nausea And sensitive to sounds and some foods and vitimins My questions is what do I do from here? Man this is no fun just looking for some words of encougement if nothing else.

Edited July 22, 2018 by Altostrata
added link

[basildev]

Hi Djones,

 

Welcome to then forum. I'm so sorry you've had such a hard time.

 

I think you've probably already worked out that your original taper from Celexa was way too fast. We recommend no more than a 10% taper of previous dosage held for 4-6 weeks at a time.

 

If you had found us one month after your taper ended, we would have recommended that you reinstate a partial dose of your celexa (say 15mg) which may have helped to alleviate the symptoms. Generally, once you have been off your medication for one month it often makes things worse to reinstate to the full dosage (I discovered this myself the hard way). This is why you had the unwanted symptoms.

 

Your doctors were misguided, throwing medication after medication at your poor destabilised central nervous system and as a result you are in a bad state. The worst thing you can do when your CNS is destabilised is to add more drugs into the mix. What it needs is consistency.

 

I think you did the right thing putting yourself back on the low dose of Celexa - that is exactly what we would have recommended. Bear in mind that your CNS has been through the ringer so stabilization will take some time (think months as opposed to weeks).

 

Here is some information on how to taper Celexa

 

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

 

Please add your medication history to your signature. Here's a link that shows how to do this:

 

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

 

 

Right now your best friend is time and patience.

[Djones1984]

Ya I am very angry with the medical profession right now and am holding some pretty big resentments towards the doctor that told me to go back on my full dose. Do you think I will recover from this mess I never had a problem with celexa just wanted to try life without meds and now I am in this mess. Wish I would have found this forum first.

[basildev]

Djones,

 

I completely understand your frustration. I too, had no real problem with Citalopram before I began my taper.

 

I've learnt a lot about the process since crashing from a too-fast taper in February.

 

It may take time but you will get better. I think the problem with Doctors, apart from the fact that they seem to think more is better where meds are concerned, is that they don't realise it can take quite a long time for the CNS to adapt to medication changes. In my opinion, chopping and changing every 2 weeks instead of sitting tight and giving it time to settle has been your biggest downfall. You trusted your Doctor's advice and this is really all you could have done at the time. We've all been there.

 

You've done the right thing reinstating, now you just need to give your system time to settle down. Unfortunately the only way around this is to go through it.

 

Post here as often as you need. We all understand what you're going through.

[Djones1984]

Don't suppose anyone knows how long it will take for my cns to calm down because everyone is differnt. I had my own construction business and basically walked from it 4 months ago so now I have no income, lost the opportunity to buy a house and basically am a mess with tons of medical bills from doctors who for the most part made it worse with the exception of a few. God will get me through this....

[Djones1984]

Thanks for the replys! With the knowledge I have now i can look back and see all the dumb decisions the docs and myself made with all the switching around and stuff. Man this is really tough stuff guys I wish everyone the best of luck and hopefully we all recover from this.

[Djones1984]

Basildev, did you too have a hard time going back on celexa when you reinstated?

[Djones1984]

Hey guys anyone else have any experience with this same circumstances or have any opinions or advise?

[Altostrata]

Have your symptoms increased, decreased, or stayed the same over the last 3 weeks? Is there any pattern to your symptoms? You may wish to keep notes on paper to see if there's a pattern.

[basildev]

Hi Djones,

 

I reinstated 20mg citalopram on 27th February this year after dropping to 11mg too fast. In the past when I tapered too fast going back to my original dose fixed things within 3 days. It didn't happen this time, and I believe it is because my CNS had finally had enough after too many fast tapers.

 

Initially, my symptoms actually got worse. Thinking something was wrong I dropped 1mg for a week and then all hell broke loose. I went straight back up to 20mg and have been on that ever since.

 

I experienced windows (periods of feeling better) and waves (periods of feeling worse), and due to insomnia I took quite a few pills of Valium in April/May. Inadvertently, I developed a slight dependence on the Valium and when I discontinued that I went through another whole 2 months of worsening symptoms. I'm still experiencing the fallout of stopping the valium.

 

If I had my time over again I would do the following:

 

1) Stick to a chosen dose no matter what. Any changes in dosage, no matter how slight, further destabilises the CNS and any gains you may have made before that are effectively wiped out and you have to start again. Chopping and changing the worst thing you can do;

2) Steer clear of all supplements. None of them made any difference for me and I think they actually made things worse. I wasted a LOT of money before I realised that the only way around this is to go through it;

3) Stay away from ALL other medications. I believe if I hadn't taken the Valium I would have been recovered by now;

4) Stay away from Alcohol. Even a couple of drinks a week can slow the process of recovery because you're confusing your already destabilised CNS

5) Develop patience, patience, patience!!!

 

Hope this helps

[Djones1984]

When I reinstated at 5mg In think I have made a slight improvement in withdrawal symptoms. I have been taking. 5 klonopin daily for 2 months now and I am not going to try and taper that now. I dont drink and the only supplement I take is fish oil at lower dose. Is the klonopin making my cns and withdrawal worse? And also is 5mg enough to try and stabilise on?

[tezza]

It's possible to stabilize on 5 mg. The klonopin may be cushioning the WD, that's possible, too.

[basildev]

It's hard to tell re the Klonopin, it's a very individual thing.

 

I know that personally, my body does not do well with Valium but I only realised this in hindsight after I looked back at my symptom pattern. I believe I was getting some interdose withdrawal during May/June. I couldn't work out why after feeling better I was suddenly getting worse. The Valium was the culprit.

 

But I agree with you, don't tackle the Klonopin yet. I only took the Valium intermittently and only small doses so I was able to stop without tapering. Your scenario is different and I think you'll need to taper the Klonopin when you feel up to it.

 

As for the 5mg, well only time will tell. Like I said it took at least 6 weeks for my system to settle on the 20mg. You need to give it time.

 

The most tempting thing to do in withdrawal is to do something (ANYTHING) to stop the symptoms - go up, go down, change meds, take supplements, etc....but at the end of the day your CNS doesn't like too much change. Often changing things can make things worse.

 

If I were you I'd sit tight on that dose for several weeks, monitor your symptoms daily (I keep a spreadsheet and rate my symptoms out of 10) and then reassess after that time.

[Djones1984]

Ya i know i reinstated at way to high of dose at first and than switched meds and went up and down and I am paying the price. I have a lot of tension in my body and my neck hurts like hell, also anxiety in the morning is awfully bad. With all these changes and stuff i hope I can get stable again one day.

[Djones1984]

Hey Alto, I ran across your post about low dose of limictal and was thinking about starting that all along because it was recommended by my psychiatrist awhile back at a higher dose but was thinking of starting at like 1mg? I have also read other accounts of people having success with this and abilify I am seeing my doctor at the end of the month and will disscuss with her. Also I think I will stay put at 5mg of celexa for another month or two and keep a journal as you suggested. What do you think about the..5mg of klonopin probably leave that alone as well until my system stabilises somewhat? Thanks again everyone for replies!

[Altostrata]

Well, you've seen lamotrigine worked for me. Sorry, I can't give any recommendations about Abilify. Personally, I would stay away from it -- as basildev also suggested.

 

I would minimize dependence on any benzo. However, since you've been on Klonopin for 2 months, a change in dosage may be destabilizing.

 

If lamotrigine seems to help, after stabilizing you may wish to go very slowly off the Klonopin.

[Djones1984]

Man I am having a rough day, It is just so hard to live like this with anxiety so high and my cns all messed up and am super sensitive to food and supplements. Do you think I will ever be able to stabilize on celexa again after going back on 40mg and back and forth on so many meds? What foods should I avoide during this? I am just scared I will never have my life back.

[Altostrata]

No one can answer those questions. 40mg Celexa may be much too strong for you now.

[Djones1984]

I am currently only on 5mg for the last 3 weeks, I initially reinstated at 40mg and was to much along with adding in the paxil for 2 weeks and put my system into craziness. I also felt like my brain was being zapped while on the meds. What a mess I guess that's all I can do is take it a day at a time.

[Petunia]

I'm not experienced with tapering, but from your history, it looks like you dropped from 40mg celexa down to 5mg very quickly, and are now trying to stabilize on that.  I see that there were some other changes in between, including being medication free for a month, and other medications which would have confused and destabilized your nervous system.

 

Like you, I wish I had found this site before trying to come off my medication.

 

I'm not sure if 3 weeks is enough time to know if you can stabilize on that amount.

You wrote in an earlier post that you feel like your symptoms have decreased slightly, that sounds like a positive thing.  In general, would you say you have been gradually feeling better over the 3 weeks that you have stayed at this amount of medication.

 

Keep monitoring your symptoms and posting, don't worry, you will get better and get your life back. It might just take a bit longer than you would like.

[Djones1984]

Thanks! I am feeling a little better mentally but like you said my nervous system is destabilised and my whole body is feeling it and its hell.

[Altostrata]

It's impossible to tell whether a slightly higher dose of Celexa might be helpful. If you try this, go very slowly, from 5mg to 6mg, for example. If symptoms increase, it won't help. It takes about 4 days for a dosage change to fully register.

[Djones1984]

I am breaking up 10MG tabs by eye right now probably not the best way but having a hard time getting doc to prescribed liquid celexa. Will this kind of screw me up from stabilising because I might be off on the dose a little bit?

[Altostrata]

Repeating basildev's advice, read this http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/2023-tips-for-tapering-off-celexa-citalopram/

[Djones1984]

I just started making my own celexa solution with 20ml water and a 20mg tablet and using a syringe to take my dose as described by someone in celexa tapering post. Have you heard anymore about any problems doing it this way alto or anyone just want to be as consistent as I can.

[Altostrata]

People have successfully used this method.

[basildev]

I did it that way Djones - it worked fine for me.

[Djones1984]

How long did you keep the mix for, like enough for two days?

[basildev]

I did a fresh batch every day - but that was because the lowest I got was to 11mg so had a use up a whole pill for each batch.

[Djones1984]

I sure wish I would have found this site before I decided to come of my celexa in 2.5 months after 5 years. Still on the 5mg and it has been a rockyroad my whole body is messed up and I am weak and shacky. Climbed a latter yesterday up and down and now my legs are cramping up and sore as hell the next day. Do you think I will ever recover from this? I am only 29 and have a lot left to live for and this is ruining my life.

[Altostrata]

Please re-read this topic when those fears come up again. Yes, you will recover -- it will take time and your taking care of yourself.

[Djones1984]

Thanks alto! Its just neuro fears...

[Rhiannon]

Hey, just wanted to chime in and say I think your prospects are really good, as long as you give yourself a good long time to really stabilize and recover, and you don't give in to the temptation to go up and down on doses or add new meds or supplements to the mix.

 

Really, it's just time, but it's way more time than we want it to be. We get it!

[Djones1984]

Ya its the time part that kills me, I mean I just keep thinking it's going to take years to recover from this. My life has never really been great to me but I started my own remodelling business 4 years ago and now I can't even work and it kills me I feel weak and my body hurts. I keep wishing and beating myself up over all of this like i should have just kept taking them.

[Djones1984]

The hardest part is it feels like my life is on hold and coming to an acceptance point is hard. How do you come to accept this?

[Altostrata]

Good question. How about starting a topic in Symptoms and Self-care about it?