Starting Cipramil Again...

Hi Nadita

I too was on citaloprim 20mg for anxiety and went off them due to falling pregnant and also feeling much better. I went on and off between my two pregnancies and seemed to cope and for the last 6 months was off them completely. About two weeks ago I started suffering really bad anxiety and panic attacks again so started cit back up. I've started on 10mg and have been on it for 5 days going up to 20mg on day 7. I must say my anxiety and panic is so much worse since starting it I know things can get worse before they get better but I didn't experience this last time I wake of a money with a feeling of dread like I don't want to start my day. I've got two kids under 2 and the thought of having to do all the things I have to do with them just freaks me out. My doctor has given me alepam also known as serepax 15mg which I break in half and have been having twice a day to help get through these symptoms. Doctor thinks they should start to subside after about two weeks I really hope this is true. I've read a lot of people start to feel a lot better around the 4 week mark but I know it can take up to 8 weeks which seems like forever and everyone is different so can vary. I really hope you and I start to feel normal again it really is the worst feeling in the world. Keep in touch and let me know how your going and I'll do the same.

Good luck

Hi, I too was on Cit and weaned myself off them as I felt better. I was off them for around seven months. i felt great and was really happy. My Mum fell and broke her hip which sent me into a tail spin. I tried to do without the antidepressants but realised I needed to go back on them for my own sanity. The side effects haven't been as bad as first time around and now by the start of week six I feel a whole lot better and able to cope. Just keep thinking every second, minute and hour you are getting closer to be your old self. Take care xo

Hi Nadita

like you I was on citalopram for about two years and weaned myself off them successfully and very slowly. I survived for 10 years without one hint of anxiety and then only a bit over eighteen months ago had severe anxiety back ,panic attacks and depression. This was brought on by my Mothers death and difficulty with my daughter having depression. 

Consequently I went back on to cit but this time took weeks and weeks for me to start feeling better. I remember calling my doctor after six weeks and telling him my anxiety was worse! He told me that it was early days and to keep persevering .This was June and by November I was starting to feel much better we were going on holidays to the UK so I wanted to be well.

Now I am fine but it took a long time and a lot of perseverance and we are all different.So take heart in knowing that you will be well again but it takes months not weeks. 

keep in touch on this forum we are all on the same journey and here to help.xx

Nadita, how did you come off cit?  A note to all who have come off only to go back on:  going off too quickly can cause protracted withdrawal which includes anxiety and depression, so it isn't a relapse of the original condition but rebound from coming off the drug.  What patients don't know is that these drugs cause an artificial increase in neurotransmitters in the gap between nerves by blocking receptors (thus, SSRI stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor).  The nervous system wants homeostasis, though, so down-regulates serotonin receptors and production. When one comes off the drug too quickly, an imbalance is created again because the nervous system is now set up for operation with the action of the drug as part of the equation.  It takes much longer than anyone expects for the nervous system to adapt back to life without the drug, and recovery occurs with windows and waves - times of feeling good, then bad, then good, then bad.  I think this is because of feedback loops in biochemistry, that serotonin levels affect other neurotransmitter levels, and the reverberations of changing one element in a system full of interactions last for months.  Four months and more out is very common for depression and anxiety to come up in protracted withdrawal.

So, the med is the hair of the dog that bit you, but because your system was dependent on the drug, not because you've had a relapse of the original condition.

Should you try to come off in the future, you should follow the 10% taper recommendation which allows the nervous system to adapt to very small changes in drug such that when you finally come off, most of the adapting will have already occured and the likelihood of protracted withdrawal is much reduced.

I learned about this after a failed attempt to come off Effexor over a year ago.  I'd been on it for 12 years, and came off too quickly. I suffered from protracted wd for 10 months before reinstating, and no one realized what it was because the emotional symptoms didn't start until five months later.  Now that I understand what happened, I am tapering off again, this time so slowly that my system hardly notices.

I just wanted to share this because without knowing about it, one is left with the erroneous impression that apparently we can't live without the drug and must be on it for life, which is absolutely not the case.  However, because of the physiological changes the drug causes, we must taper off VERY SLOWLY!