So I’m on day five of Celexa withdrawl. I’ve been taking the anti-depressant for a year and a half and because I’m trying to get pregnant, I’m trying to detox off of most of the medications I’m taking.
Doctor said it’s such a low dosage (20) that I can fluctuate it depending on my mood so it’s ok that I quit cold turkey I guess.
And WOAH DOLLY. The withdrawl. It’s a pisher. Dizzy, doubled over gut aches, headaches, nausea.
Anyone else go through celexa withdrawl and have any advice as to a) how long it will last and b) if there’s any thing to do to combat it? I’m just drinking tons of water to try and flush everything out.
“Whoa!” he says in his best Joey Lawrence voice.
I just started on the next generation of Celexa, Lexapro. I’ve been on it exactly one week now. I researched the side effects, but found nothing about withdrawl symptoms, or addictive qualities. I went through enough of that getting off nicotine and caffine. Anyhoo if anyone has heard anything about withdrawl or who has any info please let me know how you’re doing with it.
Sorry for the Hijack Jarbabyj, I hope you’re feeling better.
Yikes, jarbabyj. As someone who just went ON Celexa, this startles me. I assume if you’ve been on it that long you found it effective. I’m not quite a week into it, so I’m enjoying the buffet of side effects at the moment - sweaty palms, insomnia, acid reflux, etc. - that they told me should go away in a few days.
Well good luck to you, on both the detox and the pregnancy thing.
I just started Celexa about 3 months ago. I was prepared for the side effects but no told me about withdrawl symptoms. Crap, going to have to call up my doctor and ask. Just one more thing to worry about.
I had Effexor withdrawal. I didn’t know what it was, because I went off it myself, without a doctor’s advice (not something I’d recommend to anyone, BTW). When I realized that my headaches, blurred vision, confusion, and the weird things happening to my ears were the result of withdrawal, I took half a pill. I immediately felt much better. I took half a pill the next day, then a quarter of a pill for a couple of days, and by the end of the week I was tip-top.
well, my prescription ran out so I can’t really do that without buying a whole other bottle. I want to NOT be on anti-depressants. I’ve heard taking a kava kava can help. Anyone heard that?
Hmmm. It surprises me that your doc said that. Celexa is a drug that has to build up in your system before it takes effect and quitting cold turkey will give you withdrawal symptoms even if it is a low dose. But 20 mg is actually the standard dose for Celexa. I suggest going back on for at least a couple of days and then slowly weaning yourself.
But isn’t that like a diabetic wanting to not be on insulin? If the drug is being used to correct some kind of chemical imbalance in your brain, you’re not choosing to be depressed as wanting to be off the drug would imply.
Not really, Lego. No one ever intended for me to be on Celexa forever. My doctor said the average length for staying on an anti-depressant (with therapy) was a year…I think I’ve learned enough about the illness and myself that I don’t need it anymore. And I don’t want to be on it for a pregnancy.
Benson, I always thought 20 was a low dose, since I know about four women who are on 60 a day. I was taking 10 for a while and I also took 30 for about two months.
Standard is 20-40 mg/day. I’m not a doc however, just a lowly nursing student with a drug book in front of me. I do take Celexa though so I know the pain of withdrawal because I have a crap memory when it comes to taking my meds.
Anyway yes people usually start off at about 10 or 20 and work their way up, because some will get the side effects you’re going through now when they start the drug. This is what my book says:
Adult dosage: Start at 20 mg qd (every day); may inrease to 40 mg qd if needed.
Docs can titrate however they want though, as long as they know it’s safe. Perhaps their depression was more intense? There are some docs that hand out antidepressants like candy. That may explain a 60 mg dosage. Who knows?
Jar, if you can swing it I highly recommend buying a bottle and tapering off gradually. Celexa is in the same family as Paxil, and a cursory google search reveals that they have many of the same withdrawal symptoms. When I was ready to ditch Paxil, I did a two-month tapering. Yes, you read that correctly: two months to go from 20mg to 0mg. It only took me one scrip, though, and I’ve still quite a bit left over. And I had only one day of jitters. General advice from what I’ve seen and experienced: at each time, decrease by no more than than the lesser of 5mg or 1/4 of your current dosage, and stay at that level for at least 7-10 days. Once you’re at 5 mg, decrease in half, then half again.
I understand your wanting to get over it, but it really is not worth it to stop cold turkey on “general principal.”
Oh, and get yourself a pill cutter from the drug store, they work quite well. I became quite expert in using mine.
I see Celexa is available as a liquid, too, which would make it even easier. I tried to do that with Paxil but my damn useless Rite-Aid could never get the liquid in stock. Caution that it probably would require a new scrip - I know here in NY they wouldn’t just fill my 20 mg pill form with the liquid instead.
As long as you take your meds faithfully, you shouldn’t have to worry about withdrawal symptoms. For Celexa they’re pretty much the same as the side effects. Don’t worry about withdrawal until you come off the med (if you plan on it that is, I don’t know your situation). When you do come off, titrating slowly will help prevent the effects.
About 2 months ago my Dr decided to switch me from Celexa to Wellbutrin. I had been taking 40 mg of Celexa for about 9 months, & 20 mg before that. I had no withdrawal symptoms coming off of the Celexa, but that could have been mitigated by the Wellbutrin. However, about a week after I stopped I went into a major depression. I called my Dr & now I am taking Celexa + Wellbutrin.
I’m not sure if you would call the depression I went into a withdrawal symptom… but it felt “different” than most depressions I’ve been in. Weirdly, it felt different enough that I suspected it was the meds–but not weird enough not to be depressed…
So… (sorry for the hijack)… but I didn’t experience a “withdrawal” went I went off of Celexa – just a reminder of why I went on it in the first place…
I stopped Celexa cold turkey about 6 weeks before my doc put me on Welbutrin. No withdrawal or (physical) side effects from either…
However, when I was on the Celexa, I was like the good Kirk from the Good-Bad Kirk Star Trek episode. I didn’t give a shit about anything, and I couldn’t function without my edge. Pissing me off is a great motivator.
Celexa has worked WONDERS for me…I’m really pleased with it and how it’s helped. I just don’t want to be on it for the rest of my life, and my doctor assured me that wouldn’t have to be the case. To all of those who are giving it a go, I hope you have as much success as I had.
I’ve never taken Celexa, so I don’t know anything about withdrawal personally. Seeing that you’re now on day 6, my non-professional guess is that the worst is over. But for future reference, you can ask your doctor about planning tapering off and get a prescription for fewer pills. It’s okay not to do this cold turkey!