Does withdrawal cause increased anxiety?

[steveo1980]

Have reduced from 10mg to 5mg and was okay(ish) and now reduced to 2.5mg(!!) and feel anxious again.

Just hoping it is the withdrawal.

On 10mg, was having good an bad days, 50/50 and was the same with 5mg.

Had the theory that it may be the tablets balancing me out that actually stopped me feeling great so have tried to reduce.

Fingers crossed!

[suzy-sue]

Some people do find this happens ,even on low reductions .Ive recently reduced by 5mg and after 2and a half weeks still feel on edge and more anx in the morning s .It takes time for the dose to settle ,like it did when you started on them .Hopefully by the 4th week of reduction it will even out for you .Mine did last time I reduced ,and I didnt notice the dfference at all after 4weeks .All the best t/c sue x

[steveo1980]

Thanks for taking the time to reply Sue - much appreciated.

I'm hoping that it will settle and once off the tablets will be back to my normal self. I'm now only taking 2.5mg(!) so hoping the anxiety is a result of the withdrawal and not because the feelings are still there...

I was having pretty positive days so hoping they will improve even more once settled.

Thanks!

[Micko]

What are you taking Steveo?

[steveo1980]

Citalopram

[Micko]

Never taken that? it's a bloody vicious circle pal! my social worker is'nt into meds but she is'nt a sufferer and if there were'nt medications surely we would be a damn site worse! all the best pal

[Going home]

Yes sounds like a bit of withdrawal to me, depends on how long you've been on the them too, even though its a small amount and a small reduction your body will still protest a bit. Ive been there too but stick with it you're doing great and its worth it when you're finally able to say ciao to the meds, well done.

Anna xx

[steveo1980]

thanks Paul and Anna - nice to read such posts.

have been on the pills for probably 5 months now due to anxiety through house move/new baby etc

started on 10mg which was a nightmare and recently thought (when i was feeling better) that i could possibly feel even better if i stopped them altogether. I had good days but other days when i felt like they were not letting me feel happy if that makes sense, as though i was feeling a little down, when normally i'm not a down person. My theory was that because they balance you so you have no highs or lows that they may be stopping the real me getting through. I'm normally a pretty happy guy i think.

Good luck to you Paul, i think the trick is not to be greedy and rush being off them. Thats what i keep telling myself anyway.

But then on the other hand, I said this morning do I just stop altogether and run with the withdrawal and get it out of the way...

CRAZY hey!

Good luck.

[Going home]

Well I know what you mean about stressful life events though its been quite some years since I had a new baby, but I am moving house next week and even though its a move we're happy about I know it will be stressful. The thing is, that whenever I think about the new house I get the same physical symptoms as when i'm unhappy about something, so there is good stress as well as bad yet the feelings are the same. Its that we react in a different way to the palpitations etc if get them when we're happy :)

Anna xx

[steveo1980]

just going to post on exactly this stevo, I was down to 5mg and steady (14 days) so today I took nothing and felt bloody awful, but I think that was more my head going `whoah neddy, no pill?`

felt better by teatime and haven`t run round the streets naked or attacked anyone just yet so we`re getting there.

I think it`s nature that you`re so near getting off them altogether suddenly you think `ooh christ` rather than `nearly there`

best of luck getting off the meds, I`m going to go to 2.5mg daily I think rather than nothing.

Paul

How are you getting on Paul? Well hopefully.