Citalopram withdrawal

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I've been off the Celexa for 2 days, and I feel AWFUL! I've calmed down enough to write this, obviously, but before that I couldn't even sit down!


I left my key in either the bathroom or the computer room last nigth and someone from our floor turned it in... first they said it was found in the computer room, then they said the bathroom, according to my mother. She thought someone had come in and stolen her purse. But it turned out that I had absentmindedly stuck it in my backpack with mine! I opened my backpack and found it, but not before she half-dismantled the room and went downstairs to tell the people at the desk, and was going to call the cops. I can't concentrate on anythiong anytmore except the basics: STIMULATION! It kills me when people tell me off for being absentminded. Because I'm not focused on the wrong thing but still would be happy with it if I weas forced in the right direction. I'm unhappyu thinking about things like remembering not to leave my keys in the bathroom or whose purse to pick up and that.

Then I lost my toothbrush, which has never come out of my backpack, and a whole bunch of other papers look like they're missing too. I dumped all my stuff out onto a chair in the computer room to look for something and made sure I put it all back in... and looked at the chair after, which had nothing on it. OR DID I? I have memories of doing that. Are they false? Am I going psychotic? Was my shrink right the first day he met me? Maybe I AM suffering from psychotic depression!


I have to force myself even to type properly now; I'm shaking.


I rushed over to the pharmacy to get some more Celexa, thinking that the hospital had called in by then-- I mean, I waited like an hour or two! The last time they did it within a half hour! And guess what? They ahdn't caleld in! I felt so stupid! Whenever this happens I feel like they think that I'm trying to get drugs illegally! I can tell that in the backs of their minds they're always on guard against that.


I was stressed to the point of almost screaming and throwing things: about the toothbrush and what stuff I might have lost with/besides it, and about the Celexa and how yesterday I had resistable shadows of returning depression, today I had horrible irritability. I went to the food court to get something to eat, because I needed anything for stimulation, and was a bit hungry. Then after preparing what I ordered, the woman at the Chinese food court booth informed me that they only took cash (I had my bank card.) I told her to forget it and walked away. I just wanted to shout at her, "Fine then; It's your f*****g loss!" I was rather furious with her-- well, not with her--- yes and no-- this is a wierd thing to try to explain-- for her business not taking interac and that... who did she think she was? Did she expect people to go out of their way to order from them jsut because they were Chinese foreigners?


I went to the $ store to get another toothbrush and another toothbrush container, because I'd probably need another one soon anyway; the old one was getting worn out, and anyway, having two toothbrush containers is good because I can have two toothbrushes at once if I travel anywhere without annoying packaging that you have to remember to throw out or let accumulate amongst your stuff. I couldn't find the aisle with the hygiene products;


I haven't showered in 3 days. I've only brushed my teeth an average of once a day for the last like 5 days! Finally I calmed down, thinking, so what if my teeth get holes in them? So what if I'm a filthy pig? My life doesn't have to start now! Just calm down! But then I remember, what if I'm dead tomorrow? My life HAS to start now! I must always be organized, always be looking and acting my best, so that I can rise to the occasion during a problem and enjoy the full benefits of the last day of my life!


WHY CAN'T I JUST BREAK OUT IN BOILS INSIDE AND OUT? AND PUKE UNTIL THE INSIDE OF MY THROAT HAS 3RD-DEGREE BURNS? WHY CAN'T I JUST s**t UNTIL I HAVE HEMHERROIDS? WHY CAN'T I JUST GET PHYSICAL INSOMNIA? WHY CAN'T I JUST FAINT IN THE MIDDLE OF AN INTERSECTION? WHY CAN'T I JUST GET SO SICK I ALMOST DIE? I'd rather be in horrible physical withdrawal from something awful like heroin than be in this "mild" mental withdrawal from a prescription sissy-drug!

Sorry your having such a tough time but you have convinced me to look into taking Cetalapram....my life is as you described all the time(misplacing and forgetting things).I have horrid side effects from not taking my meds(Effexor).Our brains get used to them and it's very dangerious to go with out,tapering off is bad enough...cold turkey is actually dangerious and some will cause seizures if you stop taking them.Can you geet your physician to write out a perscription that can be filled automatically and then the pharmacy can call and remind you when they have refilled it?(I often procrastenant going into the DRs or calling a script in until I am on the last pill,(very bad habit).

So the crazy you are feeling will pass,it's not you,it;s the chemical withdrawl.Thats some comfort to know.

I ran out of prozac and may not have any till Monday so I feel your pain.

Coming down off citalopram was hell.... I had the bad fortune to be doing so when Steve Irwin died.

Sorry to hear you are having such a rough time. Any psychotropic drug, like Celexa, builds up a tolerance in your system and
can cause the symptoms you describe. That's why any time you do go off of medication with your doctor's advice, he will always
have you cut down the dosage down in half and wean you off slowly. I used to be on Celexa but, I got tired of Shrinks playing
"head games" with me and I weaned myself off slowly, cutting the dosage with each passing week. Now, I am completely free of
any prescription drugs. However, I don't advise you going off of medication completely unless you feel you can maintain complete
control of your actions and responsibilities. A good support system is advisable, too even if it is just one or two friends.

The first time a tried to come off citalopram I went cold turkey.
I was throwing up, couldn't sleep, forgetful etc. But I was sure the side effects were going to wear off and I was going to be fine.
Then about 3 weeks after I had gone off the citalopram, I depression and anxiety re-occurred. I was sure this was just another side effect, but it wasn't, I was depressed all over again.
So...I'm back on the citalopram now, and dont think I will ever attempt to stop taking it cold turkey ever again.

Wow, a lot of people can relate, eh?


Krex, citalopram is an antidepressant just like Effexor... I think someone actually recommended that maybe I should switch to Efexor, lol. How well does Efexor work on you?


I'm also stupid; I've never been on anything really in my life, so I thought that since it said to take one tablet a day, and there were 30 tablets in the bottle, and it was prescribed on such and such a day, I couldn't get it again until 30 days later... but I'd been taking some extra sometiems (bad idea... won't do it again) so I ran out like 3 days early... I only remembered afterward that you're supposed tio get another prescription about 3 days early anyway, because sometimes it takes time to process and red-tape mixups and all that. It'll probably be ready for me tomorrow! Yay!


PS... I do ahve sort of moodswings when off it... I rejoiced when I found my toothbrush on a chair in the computer room... I swear I hadn't seen it when I had sat down on that chair to type my first post in this thread... maybe it was GOD, lol! Then I went down again. up, down, up, down, but the downs are more bad than the ups are good. I also have bad eyesight, which may be ia big part of my ability to lose things... however, the anti-d helps me become happy enough with my life to pay attention to it, so it's probably me too, not just my eyes.

Oh. I can relate.

I had a horrible experience with clonazepam. I didn't realize how potent an effect it was having until I accidentally forgot to take my evening dose one night. After a couple months I was pretty much having withdrawal all the time even though I was still taking the same amount I started with. I had no idea why I was feeling so horrible. At that point I thought it was a side effect so I stopped taking it completely.

Huge mistake. I tried to wait out the withdrawals but it was impossible. My sleep got all messed up and I felt so sick. I got the shakes, sweat all the time, and the room spun whenever I moved. I had to start taking it again and decrease the dose over a few months to get off.

Effexor....I have been taking it for the past 5 years.I am on one of the lowest doses,only 75mg a day.It lets me feel normal emotions,unlike the Zoloft I was taking that made me feel like a Zombie.I think it has actually allowed me to feel what I was really feeling when I was depressed....frustrated,angry and sad(totally different than depressed.)

It also keeps me from crying all the time which I found really annoying(happened every time I felt stressed,my version of a "melt-down").I do wish I didnt get so upset about "little things",also embarassing, as it negates my usual logic self....maybe it's a little OCD and a little aspie.It really is hard to know how much "credit" to give a medication,as a lot of my depression eased as I got older,stopped drinking and doing the other self destructive things,finding out I had AS,actually helped a lot to.I may still decide to kill myself one day but it isnt in my brain 24/7 any more and that is pretty nice.The few times I have skipped a dose or two,I will start feeling myself tear up again(over nothing)and it's a good reminder to get my meds.(if I skipped a day of Zoloft it would remind me by feeling like someone was give me electrical shocks...very short hald life in that one.

See if you can get the pharmacy to do automitic refill on your meds and "courtisy reminder call to pick them up.They make a ton of money on perscriptions and most will do this service to keep your business.

Yay; my doctor told them to automatically dispense the stuff to me every 30 days! I got it this morning; they remembered me by name.

What is it with me today? I'm getting those cold awful pains in my head, the social anxiety is coming back, and my face looks like my grandmother's did when she was stressed and in the middle of chemotherapy treatment! Is the Celexa not starting to kick in again yet?

Quartermass I love your post. God bless Steve!

I've been on celexa for two years I'm on 40mg. I feel shite at the moment paranoia, anxiety, low mood thats mainly cos I drank booze last week mind. Before that I had tried lamictal, mirtazipine, seroxat, venlafaxine, prozac. I think its just my brain and circumstances there ain't no pill.

Hi, I'm new here.
I have just had my meds changed from Fluoxetine to Citalopram and this topic heading kind of freaked me out.
I was getting real bad sweats and itching along with some mild paranoia, headaches and spacing out, but now I am worried about my new meds. I don't like having to take a pill to handle life but I used to be suicidal, felt like I had been depressed all my life, now I can kind of handle it.
What are we supposed to do? Why must I conform to some standardised idea of 'normal'?
I feel lucky as I have someone who can monitor me, give me an external perspective that is helpful as I can trust her, but my life didn't used to be like that and it is only with that support I feel like it is safe to use meds without loosing myself.
It scares me too go back but I don't like being a medded up weirdo either, it seems to me that because I don't fit in I get depressed, because I don't understand the game I get depressed, but the depression is just the symptom, and being different isn't an illness.
Maybe we need our own spaces to live, I feel like one of the characters in 'The Crysalids' but I already live in New Zealand and I am still the odd one out... peace j

PS - My obsessions are music and a WWII computer game. I used to play a lot of board games but as everyone got older the gaming circle dissolved and meeting new people now I am older is so hard, the boardgames were good because it gave a group of generally strange and disparate personalities an external focus to operate around which I found easier than 'normal' social engagements.
I used to like raves and even used to DJ but some types of music were just too 'noisy' and I would get stressed out, but again the loosing myself dancing was a safe way to 'socialise' people didn't expect too much and I could withdraw without too much attention.

RH, welcome to WP!


The reason why I was in bad citalopram withdrawal was because that was what I was like before I started taking it and I hadn't taken it... it's odd and complex, I guess!


There's a thread in the Random Discussion forum on the 2nd or 3rd page I think, on an AS commune... there's also one in the General Autism Discussion forum about an Aspie country... and there's a link in my sig to the Aspie commune planning board! Hey, better to live on the Fringes and get into a war with the normal people than just live in the normal society all alone and separated from each other!