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!!!!
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. 💪🏻👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻😀
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!!!!!
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!!!!!
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..
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Man this has been a roller coaster ride and I WANT OFF!!! Finally feeling better now but I'm sure it won't last!!! This blows my mind!!!! I thought I was cured!!!
I was on 40mg and got down to 5mg, you would think I could just jump!
Just want to thank you again Angel, you truly made getting through this day a lot easier!!!!
Infact where are you based is it America? Only because you said 'mom' and we say mum, anyway I'm in England and it's morning here.... I'm feeling not too bad.
Yeah I thought I could just jump off 5mg... but I think my brain just needs that little side kick. But I'm staying on 10mg for a while.
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 💪🏻
We all learn the hard way My first attempt at withdrawing was quicker and I had withdrawal. Eventually it settled and was doing well meds free but stress made me restart the meds, so the second time when I was ready I did it over a year and was so much better. Been off meds 10 months now and still ok.
Hi Angel, yes in the United States. Really glad to hear you feel better. It's morning here now and I woke up feeling ok and then it slowly crept up on me and the tingling and anxiety are here now but not as bad as I felt yesterday. I took the meds again. Going to stay on them for a while!!!
Still feeling bad. About 30mins After taking the 10mg of Celexa I felt worse. Anxiety high it's an Amped up feeling. I'm thinking it's the medication getting back in to my system. I'm going to goto 5mg tomorrow and stay there. That's what I was on when I got off.
I'm curious to know what you consider feeling bad? For me it's this feeling of adrenaline, tingling in arms and legs. Heart feeling like it's beating faster. Fear of this feeling lasting forever! I really don't know how else to explain it and really don't understand why it makes me feel so bad! I know I worry about it getting worse and depression following it!
I guess there is slight depression involved because when I feel like this I don't want to do anything.
It's funny because I've been through this before and it does get better but every time I go through it I feel like it never will! Funny's not a good word for it that's for sure!!!