Reduced to 10mg feeling very anxious

hi yvonne ,sorry to hear that you feel that way , i feel the same as i am withdrawing rom 2 nasty meds , to go on citoprolam , maybe the withdrawel is to fast you need to cut your dosage by 10% every month not by 50% like you have this causes a big change in chemicals in your body which you are use to , there for you are getting withdrawels , i am now down to a really small dose of to meds and i am going slow and having terrible withdrawels but i know its my body and brain adjusting so i have to take it one day at a time , not easy , but thats the problem with the drugs we take , they have unpleasant side effects , i hope you feel better soon , but go slower with your withdrawel , if you felt good on you previous dose go back to that then ask you gp to help you with a slow withdrawel program  take care , 

Hi Yvonne,

I did exactly the same as you about 3 months ago.  I started weaning myself off of 20mg to 10mg, taking 10mg every day.  Everything went well for me until about 8 weeks in and then crash........ My anxiety came back even more than ever.

The last few weeks have been truly hellish  with my anxiety at an all time high, I'm now back to the 20mg.

Ive discussed it at length with my Doctor and we both agreed that after being on them 6 years I tried to half the dose without any support, it was just too drastic, I've now started CBT and my Doctor has  signed me up to attend an anxiety clinic at our hospital.

You know I now feel that I'd rather be on 20mg for life than feel the way I did, it's no way to live, maybe in time with the help I'm now getting I can move down to 10mg, but to be honest I don't care anymore about reducing, citalopram at 20mg works for me and makes my life positive again.

Basically, take tiny steps in reducing and try and get some other form of support be it CBT or whatever works for you. 

Best of luck. 

 

Perhaps try 15mg instead of 10. Do it slower.

Firstly there is empathy here for you - it is so tough trying to carry on as "normal" and impossible to begin to explain to closed minds.  You are strong enouigh to seek help and make progress.  I have been on Cit for 6 years and tried to wean myself off it twice with no support - big mistake!  I too "crashed" and went back on 20mg.  I would rather stay on meds for as long as it takes to keep myself out of the pit of anxiety and depression.  See your doctor obviously (not that I take my own advice) but if 20 works for you, don't feel angst about it.  I wish you well. X

sorry to hear your not feeling too great. I say to people who don't understand my need for me to take Prozac, if you broke your leg you would be happy to have it fixed. My Prozac is just fixing a shortfall of something in the body and I feel great on it. When I went on holiday to Spain and forgot my tablets I got headaches and felt very lethargic, fortunately I was able to buy over the counter for €2.50, much cheaper than nhs prescription price.

hope you feel better soon. X

When I reduced my medication, all I did was cut my tablets in half for a 10mg dose.  My box of 20mg's lasted twice as long then.  Even reducing to 5mg I again cut my tablets once more making my box last even longer :-) Good value for money!

Not sure why a difference of taking 20mg every other day to 10mg a day should happen, as they're both the same dose in effect, but I know reducing medication does give you those symptoms you described, so I would say you're having withdrawl effects.  If you can last it out for a few more weeks, those feelings should pass, but if not then maybe go back and see your doctor and up your dose again to 20mg for a while longer until you're ready to try again.

People who haven't experienced depression and anxiety have absolutely no idea how it feels, or even the struggle with medication.

You can take this medication for life if you need to, and some people find they can maintain their well being on just 5mg.  People with all manner of illnesses need medication for life, and depression is no different.

K x