Stopped Celexa one week ago. Now feeling BAD!!!!
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hello, I have been on Celexa for Anxiety and Depression for 1 1/2 years. Was in it about 5 years ago for the same thing and came off. First time on was due to Alcohol withdrawal. Second time is because of the loss of my son.
I was on 40mg and weaned down to 5mg over a 3 month period. I've been on 5mg for about 1 months.
I have been feeling really good and wanted to Jump off of the 5mg but my doctor wanted me to wait a few months. I went in vacation this past week and was feeling so good I forgot to take my meds for 3 days. When I realized it, I was afraid to take them after that long and thought I would be fine.
Well today about 7 days off I feel REALLY BAD with Anxiety!!! Also feel that the depression could come back because I am scared of what is happening to me. I've been through this Anxiety before but it feels like the first time for some reason???
Should I take the 5mg of Celexa??? Or should I tough this out??? I don't want to be on this drug for the rest of my life because I'm afraid it might not work for me after a while and then I would be in worse shape if that even makes sense.
I can't believe I was feeling completely back to normal and now this!!!
Waiting to hear back from my doctor but really scared and would like any advise. PLEASE!!!!
0 likes, 39 replies
Angel1984 robert80755
Posted
Hi, definitely get back on your 5mg... you sound like you've come off way too soon!
I did the same thing over a 6 month period.. and I felt AWFUL!!!!! I'm back on it now but a lower dose.... feeling so much better.
Your mental health is so important, the doctor may give you the option... however if it was me I would definitely get back on them, then wean down slowly.
I was on them for 7 years and have always worked, I don't think antidepressants stop working because they increase your serotonin.... so I wouldn't worry about them not working in the future.. because they always do work... and if they did have less effect they would just put you on a different type of antidepressant.
When anxiety hits we dread and fret about the future! But we need to focus on the now and this present moment... so if your feeling horrific get back on your 5mg. 💪🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😀
robert80755 Angel1984
Posted
Thank you very much Angel1984!!!!!!!!! Not sure how I would even wean off of 5mg if I wanted to down the road.
Do you think even though I've been off of the 5mg for a week it will help to go back on?
Thank you so much again!!! I was feeling completely normal and now this!!!!! The Greiving of the loss of my son will never go away but the Anxiety and Depression were GONE!!!!!
robert80755
Posted
Well now I feel completely normal so really confused at this point!!!!! I haven't felt as bad as I did a few hours ago for a long time!!! Was actually REALLY SCARY!!!!
Now I am very confused on whether this is just some withdrawal effects that will go away or that I will spiral into hell????
My thoughts are if I take the pill again, I will ether feel good and have to deal with this down the road when I decide to get off, or I will go through the side effects of starting the drug all over again because I have been off of it for 7 days. Then I will be really confused!
I'm thinking of waiting one more day and if I feel as bad as I did this morning then I will take it. Or maybe I can and should tough it out?
God losing my beautiful son to suicide has been the most horrible thing I've ever had to deal with; I MISS HIM SO BAD!!!!!!!!!!!! I need a break!!!!!
Angel1984 robert80755
Posted
The idea is you see at on 5mg for a long time.. then some people half it again to 2.5mg (cut it with a knife) then they do this for months. The longer you do this the more likely you won't have the awful withdrawels.
All doctors all have different opinions... some try to get you off them over a few weeks some say months.. some say years... (depending how long you was on them)
What I say is give yourself some slack, why the urgency to be off them right now anyway? -.. take your time. I'm playing to be on 10mg for 12 months then ween to 5mg for another 12 months.. then go onto 2.5mg over another 12 months.
The reason for this decision is because all the people who have successfully got off them seem to have taken longer to ween off.
If you have one now, you might feel odd for a few days but then you will feel ok again.
I'm so sorry to hear about your son? When did this happen? Have you tried counselling? I lost my mum in 2009, I'm now having counselling which is helping.
The reason your probably feeling not too bad now, is because the withdrawels is like a pendulum effect... one minute feeling DREADFUL then the next minute feeling alright... it's weird! Your brain is trying to create the serontonin which it is now lacking. I think weening off slower helps the brain make normal serotonin..
Give yourself a break 😊
Angel1984 robert80755
Posted
robert80755 Angel1984
Posted
I lost my son in 2015. I'm so sorry to hear her you lost your mom! I've been to counseling, there is nothing they can say to help me feel any better about my son. They have given me coping skills. As long as I don't feel the way I did this morning, I will make it.
Thank you so very much for taking the time to answer me Angel, it truly is a blessing!!!!
I am going to think hard about what you have said. It all makes complete sense!!! If I feel bad again tomorrow then I am surly going to take the meds.
God Bless You!!!!!!
Angel1984 robert80755
Posted
Do you find it's worse in a morning? I'm always worse in a morning.
I tend to distract myself in a morning by deep breathing and reading a book just to distract my mind. But it's getting a lot better now I'm back on citalopram.
I know what you mean some things that happen in life hurt so bad.. and no amount of help changes it... but time will help you heal I promise you that.
In the mean time be gentle with yourself, if you feel crap in the morning get back on your 5mg, you deserve to be happy.
Also have you tried chamomile tea?? It reduces anxiety by 40%... I leave the tea bag in the cup and leave it to brew for 8 minutes then I drink it, it really calms me down.
robert80755 Angel1984
Posted
Well Angel I just took 10mg pill. You were right about the pendulum effect, I started feeling worse again. The doctor called me and told me to take 10mg to jumpstart it and then go down to 5 mg in a week if I want to. But to stay on 5mg until we see how things go.
I can't believe I had to take this pill again! I hope to God I didn't mess things up and the pill won't work now; I was feeling so good for months!!!!
When I have the Anxiety it is always worse in the Morning. I think it has something to do with cortisol.
God I hope this works!
Thank you Angel!!!
robert80755
Posted
Angel1984 robert80755
Posted
I felt exactly the same 4 weeks ago! Honestly give it a few days and you'll start feeling so much better I promise!
It WILL work there's no doubt about that.
I felt the same! I was like 'oohh as if I have to take this pill again?!!' ... but see it like this.. if you was vitamin b12 defietient you wouldn't think twice about getting help and have a vitamin b12 shot or tablet! Or if you had diabetes you wouldn't think twice about having injections.. because your body needs it.... so it's the same thing here too, your brain is struggling to make serotonin so you take a pill to help with that 😁
I felt like a failure to begin with... but then realised it's not a bad thing to make myself better
My sisters brain doesn't make much serotonin naturally at all so she's on citalopram for pretty much life.
Ok so let's live for today... and take each day as it comes! .... this is the time to take back time for yourself and give yourself a bit of TLC,and cut out caffeine as that heightens anxiety.
This time take things a lot more slowly
I went back on 10mg to jump start but I'm planning on staying on 10 for a while, then I will go down to 5mg.
robert80755 Angel1984
Posted
Really nice to read this Angel! Feeling pretty bad right now! Just going to take it Slow!
Your analogy is spot on!
It's amazing how bad this feels even though I've been through it before, it's very scary stuff!!!
Thank you!!!!
Angel1984 robert80755
Posted
I agree it is scary stuff, it effects our thoughts and gives us scary thoughts... but this is the lack of serotonin that does this. Hence why when we go through trauma ... we feel sad which effects our serotonin levels which causes stress and then can bring on anxiety.... this is why I think when we have had sadness/trauma in life we are more suspectable to anxiety depression etc... this is why I think we shouldnt go rushing off the medication. There's nothing wrong with aiming to feel better and do things slowly.
Hope you are feeling ok today?! Get today over with and your one step closer to feeling better 💪🏻
katecogs robert80755
Posted
Yep - that's far, far too quick to withdraw from 40mg. Maybe reinstate 5mg again by just taking it.
I withdrew from 20mg and took a year doing it from 20 / 15 / 10 / 5 / 2.5 / 1.25 / 0 spending 1-2 months on each reduction. I had no withdrawal. My last 5mg dose I had to crush and divide and then divide again .... worth it though.
There's nothing wrong with taking this meds for life if you need to. It does not stop working. Sometimes life's stresses can make the anxiety reoccur, but it is not due to the meds failure.
Personally I'd reinstate 5mg for 2 weeks, then 10mg for 2 weeks and stay there for a bit. Wait until the dose has settled and you're feeling better before attempting withdrawal again - and I can thoroughly recommend doing it the way I did. There should be no hurry coming off these.
I think withdrawal symptoms will be with you for a while yet, but reinstating will help minimise this.
K x
robert80755 katecogs
Posted
I will be reducing SLOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW the next time for sure!!!
Thanks again and hope you are doing well!!!!!
katecogs robert80755
Posted
Hope it goes well for you
sanja1993 katecogs
Posted
You always make people think so positive, every time I read your post makes me smile, as we all think we are loosing our minds and you always clear things up. I am at 7minths on 30 and still struggle, much better than I was but still tend to get his with anxiety and I seem to fixate over something, like for example I get this weird dull annoying feeling in the centre of my chest under rest bone and totally freak my self out. I am sure I still have a bit to go till they work I guess, but than again it's not a magic pill so can't expect it to fix it all. Hate anxiety
katecogs sanja1993
Posted
Hi Sanja
I think its because I've been through this and can now see the pathway and all the pitfalls along the way. I thought I was losing my mind too once and its not a nice place to be is it.
7 months is a long time to be on the meds - do you have good and bad times, and are the good times outweighing the bad? When we have anxiety it changes the way you think and feel, and its quite normal to fixate on something ..... its the anxiety that does this. It happened to me too.
What happens is that when you fixate on something or have any fear about anthing, if you freak out about it this is adding anxiety to the anxiety you already have, which then keeps you in the loop. This is very hard to do, but if you can let the anxiety just be there about the weird dull feeling you get in your chest and don't react to it, you will slowly lose that fear. Its the reaction to it that keeps the anxiety circulating. You'll still feel fearful about this feeling in your chest, but its just letting it be there, carry on with whatever your doing (sort of ignoring it .... yes, really hard) you slowly give your body the message that its not a threat and so it will stop producing anxiety about this particular fixation. By not feeding your body extra anxiety it breaks that cycle, and over time your body stops feeling anxiety. Any fixations you have fade away too - because its the anxiety that keeps it there.
For me, working with this method and taking these meds I felt it was my magic pill. All my worries, fears, depression and anxiety all slowly eased off over time and they don't bother me anymore.
Anxiety is awful, and I found the best tool was learning about it and how it works on the body keeping you constantly anxious. Anxiety is in effect an alarm system trying to protect you from danger. Unravelling this for me was the biggest breakthrough I had and the medication worked on the rest.
K x