short dizzy spells when turning my head

[SurfingWaves]

Hi a strange side effect that I hadn't noticed until now is when I turn my head too fast, I feel dizzy for a second as if my brain and vision aren't in sync , I'm just looking for reassurance really that this won't be a long lasting thing.

Been on 10mg for 3 weeks and started 20mg 2 days ago. If it persists I might take it down to 15mg by cutting the tablet.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I can't remember having dizziness and funny heads when I started bit I definitely had them when withdrawing years later when I was much better. Coming down from 20-10mg started them but dropping 10-0mg made them more pronounced. Along with the usual brain zaps and cotton wool head it lasted for about 10-15 days but wasn't too bad.

Given you haven't got past the effects window of 4-6 weeks it is very likely a side effect.

I went straight onto 20mg and struggled so its always good to see GP's tapering up to minimise the side effects. Like I said on your other thread, there are some minimum times for balancing the dose in the body and increasing means going through an element of that again. What I didn't mention was that it takes about 4-6 weeks for SSRI's to reduce the number of serotonin receptor sites and until then they are filling up the space with more serotonin. So, this is probably why we have these side of effect windows and in increasing it will mean increasing that effect hence bringing some side effects back into play.

If you can hang on, it's worth trying given how far you are through it now. I think we have to look at how we feel in terms of side effects after the window passes because until then things are likely to be worse in some ways. If something is unbearable though or a side effect on the urgent contact list, contact your GP.

Dizziness though is often mentioned in the side effects.

[SurfingWaves]

It does feel quite similar to AD withdrawal which I've had experience with, withdrawing from seroxat once and Venlafaxine twice, over 8 years ago.
Im starting to wonder if there is any way I could be experiencing light withdrawals from 9 days of Venlafaxine that I took immediately prior to the citalopram 3 weeks ago. I changed meds because I read about the harsh withdrawals of ven and it reminded me just how terrible it was stopping that type of medication 8yrs ago so I switched before it could get too far in to my system . Besides, I think I shouldn't have been put on it in the first place as it is considered a 2nd or third line medication when other doesn't work. That stuff is like the mother bomb of all ADs it made me crazy energetic and so enthusiastic about everything within just 2 days on 75mg. It was unnatural. I know it sounds far fetched but on the very first day of taking it my anxious thoughts were obliterated for about 8 hours after the dose. I would stare at the patterns in the wallpaper thinking nothing at all. Maybe it is so strong that I am getting light withdrawals of it even tho I have swapped for citalopram? I don't know!

[MyNameIsTerry]

How long were you on it before switching? How did you switch?

[SurfingWaves]

I took it a month ago 75mg for 9 days then I called the doc and explained my concerns to him and asked for citalopram. I started the 10mg Citalopram the very next day after my last venlafaxine dose. I just stopped the ven and started the cit right away. . It's like a race to be better for my daughters christening. Crazy I know

[MyNameIsTerry]

They can cross taper Citalopram and they start at 10mg whilst withdrawing the Ven so doing a complete stop first would be more of a problem if you started above 10mg the next day but doing it like this should hopefully be fine since they would normally be allowing a Ven reduction on top of it. Ven below 150mg is really only a SSRI anyway so acting on serotonin.

Ven is a really short half life drug so it's going to get out of your system quite quickly using that model I posted in your other thread. It would have reached steady state in 9 days but with you not being on it months or years it should be safer to come off quickly. But it is one of the 2 that give the most problems in withdrawing so I guess like how they affect us so differently going in, they do on the way out. But the metabolites certainly come out quickly.

If you have not been on Citalopram before it could just be how this one affects you so I would ride it out and see where it takes you, if you can tolerate it.

We are stronger than we realise. I bet no matter what you will make that day.

I know what you mean about the 2nd line stuff. I was Citalopram first, got better, came off and sunk 6 months later with a full relapse. My GP said "these are more for anxiety than those other ones" and dished out Duloxetine. A 2nd line med when he could have re-tried Citalopram or other SSRI's. I went through hell going onto the dose where it starts to act on your adrenaline, before that side effects were just like Citalopram without the insomnia and mood sinking (quite the opposite really!). Years on and I still have side effects quite frequently which only started when I went on this stuff and I suddenly had full blown OCD! Trusting my GP got me all that really, I know more now so he won't get such an easy ride next time I see him (not been in nearly 2 years).

[SurfingWaves]

Thanks Terry, I am glad I did insist to the docs to put me on 10mg to start with as they wanted to put me straight on 20 . Best to start off low dose with a med that hasn't been tried before.. the dizzy spells are lessening in frequency now and I am on 20mg for 2 days so far, no alternating back to 10 any more for me as I see that it is not an efficient way to up my dosage.

My first AD was Seroxat which worked quite well at 20mg but noticed that missing a dose or two produced horrendous brain zaps and dizziness. I then saw a Panorama program about Seroxat and how difficult thousands of people are finding quitting the drug. After this I was determined to come off it for the reasons of terrible withdrawals and guess what the doctor switched me to (after a month off Seroxat, terrible headaches and zaps every day): Effexor!

I had a quick look at Duloxetine and see that it is an SNRI also.. What I found sinister is that my OCD also developed when using effexor SNRI, intrusive thoughts and derealisation hit me full force after a month of stopping. Like your experience I still have OCD on and off ever since but can see it for what it is now thankfully. At the time I didn't know what was going on with me and it was VERY scary.. easily the worst time of my life so far.

In comparison I find Citalopram to produce a very natural 'at ease' feeling that is subtle but effective at 10mg. The side effects are manageable for the peace it brings me. It doesn't really change my thoughts too much but there is no horrible anxious feeling that goes along with the thoughts.

I am using the time on Cit to get back to a steady working life and face a few of my fears as well. I have practiced mindfulness on and off fo rthe last 7 years (usually when I am hit with anxiety I practice every day) do you think it is as easy or effective when taking an AD?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yeah my GP went straight in at 20mg my first time. He told me I could experience "some sweating & loose bowel". 48hrs later he was calling in the Crisis Team as he didn't know what to do and alll they said was to help me sleep! They were very good, he was clearly not very knowledgeable despite assuring me he has treated a load of depression in his patients. :doh:

I've read about those brain zaps on that stuff and how they can be much more severe than normal SSRI withdrawals. Some people on here have said they came off it no problem so as ever it's just so individual.

Thats interesting about your OCD. Another member on here said she had the same with Duloxetine but seems ok on Ven (but she does take the low maintenance doses). I too was very scared as I had no idea what was happening to me. My anxiety was through the roof for the first 7-10 days and the aggitation was something I hadn't had before. Knowing what I do now, I would have been bacl down my GP's for a switch. The aggitation spells have been coming back ever since without triggers but they are now shorter periods whereas at the beginning them were 3 weeks bad to 1 week tolerable. (it wasn't as bad as the start up though by far)

When this happened to you, it wasn't when you crossed over the 150mg dose by any chance was it?

It's really annoying looking back as I ended up spending more than a year on OCD that I never had in the first place!

I started Mindfulness whilst on my current med. I found it very hard at first and it took a couple of months but it did start to show changes and I understood it more at a deeper level. After 6 months daily I noticed bigger changes, the biggest being a sudden awareness of a shift towards compassion. I literally felt that happen as if a switch had been flicked one day and it stuck. It also helped me beat my issues with nausea as I employed it one night whilst actually being sick from a bug. I didn't mean to, it was just like something in my head said "ah, so this is what real nausea feels like" and from there on it has been rare and even then easily controlled. Bizarre but true!

I do find it hard when I suffer aggitation to use Mindfulness. It does come to me intuitively e.g. when I'm out walking I will want to stop and touch some railings or change my viewpoint to look at something more deeply. This is harder when the aggitation is on me though.

The trouble is, how hard would it be before starting meds when you are already pretty bad? I think it would have been quite a struggle for me then. I certainly don't think it would have worked in the side effect window as that was something else.

Hoe has it helped you?

[SurfingWaves]

The OCD started the first time I tried to quit ven - I was on 75mg and quit cold turkey. I never have been so confused and upset in my whole life it was horrific. It was two weeks of this - walking around my town one day I went in the library looking for books on relaxation I didn't find any, just budhism books and this book called The Power Of Now. Well, it seemed like that book was magic it was amazing the effect the words were having on me. I learned in half an hour that I could put my attention deeply into the present moment and have a break from my intrusive thoughts. I sat in the library reading that book until they closed and the next day I went back and photocopied about 50 pages of it. That's how I started with mindfulness and I have gone on to read the other great books like happiness trap and jon kabbat zinn books.

Using mindfulness in periods of anxiety kept me off ADs for the next 8 years but most recently I have found that my worries are far too strong to cope with in this way. I simply could not/cannot accept the embarrassment and panic I get from chronic blushing and more recently this panic made me sweat really badly as well. That was the last straw for me and I knew it was time to see the doc I was looking like a nervous wreck when I spoke to people. I find that I don't remember to practice mindfulness when I don't have anxiety which is maybe an excuse for my lazy mind not really wanting to be aware of the present moment. Im hooked on playing pinball and browsing the net all the time instead, when the anxiety kicks in I suddenly remember mindfulness like it is my back up plan and I don't want it to be like this because mindfulness should be a way of life for me. I guess I am still a beginner after 7yrs :)

Anyways I would say venlafaxine made me really happy while I was on it but that episode of OCD and derealisation when I came off it scared the crap out of me, I jumped back on it in desperation but more reading on the net showed me there were other less intense meds that could help me.

What are your fav mindfulness books?

---------- Post added at 22:32 ---------- Previous post was at 22:30 ----------

Im taking a look at your mindfulness thread, lots of good info there

[MyNameIsTerry]

Thats the Ekhart Tolle one, isn't it? I haven't read it myself but it's been mentioned on here in a good light a few times since I joined. The Happiness Trap looks good and I've not read about ACT before other than online articles. I know Kabat-Zinn but I haven't read his books, more his free material online as they are a bit pricey compared to some of the UK ones. I have read Professor Mark Williams MBCT book (the Frantic World one) which is very good. Michael Chaskalson's book looks interesting as it is a meld of techniques from both MBSR & MBCT. I was thinking of trying one of those quick technique books too where each page has something quick on like Patrizia Collard's as it looks ok from Amazon's look inside feature.

Cheers, I put that thread together as we discuss it on so many individual threads or recommend it to people and end up typing a lot of the same. I plan on expanding it to add in about the gardening, arts & crafts, etc when I get time.

I know what you mean about lapsing, I keep doing this. I try to keep my practice in when it comes to objects, sights, etc when out walking but it's more the meditative side that I have struggled to keep up with my fatigue issues, life getting in the way, etc. I really need to restart this and commit to it again like I did before but as you know, it can be hard with routines when it comes to OCD as it's not all about the C.