How do you know when to switch?
Posted , 9 users are following.
So I've been posting on here for quite awhile and I've hit a block again and not sure what to do, and thought it best to ask the people whom have been through all this for advice.
I've been on Citalopram for a total of 7 months now, I started out with 10mg for 5 weeks and 20mg for 22 weeks and reduced down to 15mg for a week. Now, I have had times of feeling a little better, and it has helped with anxiety at the 20mg but at that dose I had other things that were very troublesome that almost made it not worth not having the anxiety and panic attacks that I've dealt with for the past 20+ years such as: DP DR (pretty bad), emotionally numb, and just feeling really 'off'. Now, once I reduced to 15mg for the first week I felt pretty good, I had energy, I was going out and doing things, but still had that 'off' feeling, and now going into my 2nd week I'm starting to feel worse again, as well as my anxiety returning. So even at the points I felt the meds helping for the anxiety and panic attacks, I still had that awful weird feeling, almost like I was on auto pilot and living but in my head I felt strange. I'm not sure if this makes sense to anyone else and I'm not sure how to describe it exactly. Now, mind you before I started taking it it was mostly extreme anxiety, and panic attacks, didn't have that really off feeling. So, do I continue taking it in hopes that it might go away, and the meds work or do I now consider switching?
Im sorry for the long post but I don't know what to do.
0 likes, 42 replies
lisa14921 Grounded
Posted
i swapped off citalopram about 2 years ago to use mirtazapine and never looked back. but i had to switch as started having horrendous nightmares on a nightly basis in the end. not that mirtzapine doesnt have its own side effects but its a lot more effective for me
mike07300 Grounded
Posted
HI, I was very simular to your situation, not sure which was the right dose & some days feeling numb & others feeling great I have found a balance that works well for me & its taking just 5 mg now around 7pm daily.
stephen03156 Grounded
Posted
Been on it almost five months now, 20mg. I have days when i feel almost normal then for no apparent reason all the pain ,headache, dry mouth comes back. Then i'm ok again.
Its bizarre..
toria_07298 stephen03156
Posted
its withdrawal from reducing
stephen03156 Grounded
Posted
Been on it almost five months now, 20mg. I have days when i feel almost normal then for no apparent reason all the pain ,headache, dry mouth comes back. Then i'm ok again.
Its bizarre..
toria_07298 Grounded
Posted
know exactly what you mean as thats how ive felt withdrawing also i was enotionally numb until i reduced to 6mg
lois95799 Grounded
Posted
you are having withdrawals.
stephen03156 lois95799
Posted
When is it time to start coming off them?
lois95799 stephen03156
Posted
dont have a clue.because iam not coming off of mine.
toria_07298 stephen03156
Posted
what are you on them for
stephen03156 toria_07298
Posted
GAD
toria_07298 stephen03156
Posted
did you try 10mg first? and did you have pain before you started the meds?
stephen03156 toria_07298
Posted
I was on 10mg for a month then went to 20mg. I have awful muscle pain too, particularly in my legs.
Early morning the worst like most people.
I sometimes consider switching to something else.
What do you think ?
lois95799 stephen03156
Posted
is still early days for you.
stephen03156 lois95799
Posted
Wow, five months!
I'm glad you've said its still early days as i feel i am still improving.
You think stick with it?
20mg??
lois95799 stephen03156
Posted
sorry that was meant for grounded.
Grounded lois95799
Posted
I feel like 7 months should be enough for it to be leveled off. I took the 20mg everyday for 6 months now.
Grounded stephen03156
Posted
See that is my real question, when do you know its time to switch. I know that not every anti-depressant is for everyone but I also didn't want to give in too soon, I figured that 7 months should be plenty of time to know. I do feel like it helped the anxiety and panic attacks but the other symptoms that I got after I started it have been just as troublesome, if not worse. This is all so confusing, I just want to feel normal again. 😦
toria_07298 stephen03156
Posted
cit can mimic fibromyaglia so that explains the pains i have them too
lois95799 Grounded
Posted
and during the six months on 20 did you feel any improvement.?and why did you drop to 15?
Grounded lois95799
Posted
I did, with anxiety, and panic attacks but other things started after I started taking it such as DP DR, being emotionally numb, and feeling really 'weird' its hard to put in words so it helped with a couple things, but switched to new symptoms which are equally as bothersome. If I had to choose between which I would rather suffer with I would probably choose the anxiety that I am at least familiar with.
toria_07298 Grounded
Posted
when i reduced i started becoming me again, for many months i didnt even feel like my home was my home
lois95799 toria_07298
Posted
i reduced to ten from twenty .and that was more comforting for ma as far as side effects.all though side effects where there .they werent severe.i stay on that dose with lots of added drama side effects only because my initial anxiety symptoms the paresthesia was relief.and eventually it all settle for me in 8 months.
lois95799
Posted
there was a time in those 8months where i could not connect my feelings to any noun.
Guest lois95799
Posted
Hi Lois
Hope you don't mind me gatecrashing but when you reduced from 20 to ten did you feel lightheaded and if yes, how long did it last? I have been on a lower dose for 9weeks and am still feeling light headed from time to time. Thanks.
Guest toria_07298
Posted
That's interesting, I've been aching in my shoulder, knees and foot since reducing.
lois95799 Guest
Posted
from time to time i felt light headed .some days dizziness some days light head.especailly if i got up fast from bed.it lasted weeks.but they got less n less every week .one day i stay in bed all day because if i got up the room would spin .bizzare.
Guest lois95799
Posted
Thanks Lois, that's the reassurance I needed. Hope your doing ok. Regards 😊
toria_07298 Guest
Posted
all normal
Guest toria_07298
Posted
Thanks Toria👍
Grounded lois95799
Posted
Lois, just curious you said that you were also on 20mg at one point, how long were you on that before you decreased? Also, how long after decreasing did you feel back to normal?
Grounded toria_07298
Posted
That is pretty much what I'm feeling, that and when I'm around friends and family it just doesn't feel right or the same. I just can't really put it into words how I feel. It is so troublesome, it feels like I'm losing my mind most the time but at the same time I'm functioning and acting normal, just not thinking that way. Ugh, I wish I could explain it better.
Grounded lois95799
Posted
I'm not exactly sure what you mean but I think I do, if so that its the worst part of what is going on with me right now, and it bothers me so much... Things just feel so 'off' if that makes sense. If you could explain what you mean that would give me more hope then I have now, because I've been reading these forums for the past 7 months and no one ever explains that feeling, so I felt like the only one. 😦
toria_07298 Grounded
Posted
if you go on surviving antidepressants plenty on there describe it well, i find on here most have minimal withdrawal compared to on there
lois95799 Grounded
Posted
but now you are taking 15 you started your process all over again.remember every time you fiddle with dose is like starting from the beginning .
lois95799 Grounded
Posted
i was on twenty for ten days .i was also on withdrawals from my guinea pig stages of different antd.it took me 8 months to feel normal.it was very rough .your descriptions of your sideeffects where just like mine or perhaps worst .i say worst.the only difference from decreasing was less severe side effects.i stuck with celexa because it relief my initial anxiety symptoms.which was paresthesia of the scalp.