diary of withdrawal - different perspective
Posted , 4 users are following.
Just on my 5th day of withdrawal after being on cit for 9 months, which came about by forgetting to take it one day and then the next, and felt fine. I first stated cit in Feb 2013 and came off gradually but 'needed' to go on them again as went through a stressful time. This time however its different - ive heard all the horror stories of cold turkey, but over the last 5 days i've only had 20mg in total and feel in control and fine. Will update tomoro - please feel free to comment x
1 like, 8 replies
gillian176 ktkay
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faizi ktkay
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Better way to withdraw slowly. For a month leave one day ina week then sexond month leave two days in a week and on third month leave three day and so on.. But make sure do not leave for consecutive days. Still suggest ask your GP for a better advise looks like 9 months is too early.
The_sleepy_crow ktkay
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i have just sent a message to another member about reducing citalopram (see response to jane70)
firstly, citalopram has a half-life of 35 hours, which means that if you take 20mg now, it will still be in your body at 11am on Friday morning.
citalopram works by increasing the amount of serotonin in your brain. For women, serotonin levels naturally fluctuate during a monthly cycle. Our brains finds it difficult to adapt to sudden changes in serotonin levels. For this reason, when a patient first starts on citalopram - they need to increase the dose steadily over 6 weeks or more - however, this timeframe is dependant on the dose that will provide the best level for you. 'Normal' Serotonin levels are different for every patient - some folks need 20mg, some 30mg and some 40mg or more.
Citalopram and other SSRI drugs must never be stopped abruptly - this would cause withdrawal symptoms due to the large decrease in your serotonin levels. The best way to reduce this drug is to decrease in very small amounts - 5mg every 2 weeks is ideal. Anything bigger than a 10mg decrease is TOO MUCH.
Hope this helps. Good luck with everything.
Sleepy Crow x
gillian176 The_sleepy_crow
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carol87925 The_sleepy_crow
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The_sleepy_crow carol87925
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well done on the driving!! That is really great news! You must capture your success in an achievement diary. Also really great to hear that you are feeling better than a week ago - -again, capture this positive progress in your achievement/success diary.
how are you doing today?
i am doing ok - I have just survived a long weekend without my husband being at home - I was dreading it, but I managed to get through it...hooray!
i need to start working on getting my confidence back with driving. I have been doing a few little outings -just 5-10minute journeys - but I want to build on this. I have this problem driving issue before (a few years ago) and managed to learn to control my fear. I have just started CBT, which is helping me to focus on my anxiety problem. Basically, I am underestimating my coping ability and overestimating my sense of danger. I need to work on getting the balance right.
we can work together on overcoming our fear of driving - I would love the extra support.
righto, bedtime in the UK. I guess it's still afternoon in the US.
take care Carol & keep being positive
sleepy Crow
x
ktkay
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ktkay
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