Adverse reaction Diary

[Iggy131313]

Ok, new day, new diary

After tons of reasearch I have at last found out that I have been suffering from the kindling effect which is when trying to restart an ssri that you have been on previously it can either not work or turn paradoxical/adverse on you.

I have spoken to 3 others on here who have suffered the same fate.

I have also read that the central nervous system after taking such a kicking during the adverse reaction really needs time to recover.

I also now understand why I shut myself away in the bedroom with the curtains closed, its because I am now ultra sensitive to stimuli, the dark quiet space is a comfort to me because its a comfort to my central nervous system.

So after my 5 days upto 30mg I have done 2 days on 20mg and will continue that until saturday when I will take my first 10mg and do that for a week to try and come off them. Its only once Im off the meds that I can begin my rocovery from this nightmare.

I woke up very anxious this morning and feeling sick, very shaky, my hubby took my little one to school and I went back to sleep until 11am. now im awake and on my laptop in bed which is about to conk out as the screen has become very blurry and I keep getting the blue screen of death, god knows what Im gonna do when its gone.

I am also getting the brain heat I have always had on the cit, my brain get hot in certain places, different places at different times but I can feel something happening in there.

I have moments of feeling ok but on the whole im no longer the person I was before starting meds, I wish I had gone to hospital on the 4th day when I felt I needed to but was scared they would commit me. lol, I only had 1 panic attack before restarting these meds!

anyway I will track my recovery here and hopefully one day I will the person I was again.

---------- Post added at 12:29 ---------- Previous post was at 12:27 ----------

Since starting cit these are the symtoms I continue to have

1) severe/moderate anxiety - terrible until about 12am then its hit and miss to when it comes on, usually ok by night time but not always.

2) shaking in arms and legs

3) memory issues - sometimes cant finish a sentence or find it hard to bring a word to mind that is very simple.

4) ultra sensitive to stimuli

5) stuck in bedroom all day

6) brain heat

[Sparkle1984]

Good luck, I hope you start to feel better once you come off them.

[Iggy131313]

Gosh so do I sparkle, but I have read that people can take 18 months - 2 years to recover from this reaction and am very worried about that.

I think the average time to recover from an adverse reaction is 6-8 weeks but it all depends on the body chemistry.

I will say one thing, people need to be sure that they need to stop their meds before they stop because of the risk of this and also the fact that I stopped cold turkey last time would add to thie risk of this kindling effect.

restarting ssris can be more dangerous with each restart, I should have recognised that my side effects were way more than the norm and gone to the hospital then but you live and learn eh?

keep me in your prayers people that my central nervous system can recover quickly from the chemical storm

[nicola1980]

Good luck chick, you'll soon have that spring back in your step im sure xx

[Sparkle1984]

All this about the kindling effect has set me wondering - I've had several anxiety episodes throughout my life, but this is the only time that I've had the courage to ask for help, so this is my first time on citalopram (or any other SSRI for that matter). I'm now worried that if I feel better and I come off it in a few months time, what will happen if I get another anxiety episode a few years down the line? I seem to get them every few years. So now I'm thinking would it be safer if I just stayed on the tablets forever? (Although I'm not sure whether my family would be too happy about that, but it's something I need to consider). Has anyone got any advice about this?

[Iggy131313]

No No No, sparkle, MOST PEOPLE can go on and off ssris with no problems at all. But SOME people cannot, no one understands why.

I have not posted this to scare or influence anybody just to share my story with anyone who is suffering the same and to reassure them that they are not alone.

Most people on here have restarted many times with no issue, I think Nicola had an adverse reaction on her 4th attempt.

It was my bad luck that I had the adverse reaction on my second attempt.

In one way I wish I had stayed on the cit, never came off them but thats in the past.

Also its worth noting that the chances of getting this kindling effect is much bigger if you stop cold turkey, so when the time comes for you to come off just do it slowly, I quit cold turkey last time so that could be why this happened to me.

please, please dont think this is the norm. Its not.

xxx

[Sparkle1984]

OK, thanks putting my mind at rest. I knew the kindling effect doesn't happen to everyone, I just wasn't sure how common it was. I don't have my review with my doctor until November, so I'll keep getting repeat prescriptions until then, and then I'll just have to see what happens. I definitely will come off gradually, although I'm only on 10mg so it shouldn't be too difficult.

[Iggy131313]

thats the key matey, come off slowly and give your body time to ajust, that way you have hardly any chance at all of this happening to you.

sounds like cit is really suiting you, its great to hear. xx

[laura442]

I really think you are making the right decision Iggy, I hope you get back to normal asap ! Is that really true that it is more dangerous with every restart of ssri's ???????

[Iggy131313]

From what I have read that seems to be the Case...But especially is the ssri is cold turkyed or not weaned off properly

Dr Tracy Blake is the leading expert in adverse reactions caused by ssris, this paragraph is from a post on paxilprogress


"...when "some" people go cold turkey (or close to cold turkey) off of an ssri, they "sometimes" only have a small window of time before they can go back on an ssri without causing further damage to their withdrawal. for people that this is the case for, this window is usually varies from 2 to 6 weeks. charly groderick and others warn about this. sometimes when a person goes cold turkey, after a certain period of time, the brain sees the ssri as the enemy. this is known as the "kindling effect." this has happened to numerous people on this website. shea took a single dose of lexapro 4 months after her cold turkey withdrawal and went into convulsions and went to the ER. i tried taking zoloft 2 and 1/2 weeks after i went cold turkey and got terrible nosebleeds and migrains so i quit again. after trying to go back on 2 months later, one dose of zoloft thru me into the emergency room with akathesia. several months later, i tried only taking "2 milligrams" of zoloft and guess what happened? my skin started burning and i got akathesia. charly groderick himself quit prozac cold turkey and a couple of months later took a single dose of prozac which also put him in the ER and that is what made him sick for years. rob robinson warns in one of his posts that going back on an ssri can make things much worse once you are in a cold turkey withdrawal. dr. ann blake tracy warns on her website that each time you go back on the ssri tends to be more dangerous and this is possibly why."

It all makes sense to me, but I am a minority, like I said I have only spoken to 4 others on here who have experienced this and there are hundreds who havent so its nothing to worry about, just something to bear in mind if you keep getting worse and dont understand why