18 years and counting

[Mister_T]

January 30, 1998 was the day my life changed as result of a TBI suffered when my wife and I were struck head-on by a drunk driver. Since mid 1998 or so, I have been on Citalopram/Celexa. The entire explanation at the time was that this would help with my sleep patterns and irritability.

Eighteen years later, I have begun to "de-medicate" myself, under the supervision of a medical professional. My current dosage is 20mg daily. Since an insurance error and delay of my prescription in April and I missed my meds for three days, I have tried this in previous years and understand the "brain shocks" and dizziness, so I am prepared and have managed to compensate for the "sudden" side effect. As of today, I take ONE 20mg dose every TEN DAYS with little to no side effects until the tenth day. I am flexible and take the med if the effects get too bad.

My goal is to see if I STILL require this medication. The withdrawal effects are not the best, but aside from THAT "personal" suffering, I am doing well.

I want to encourage you to talk with your doctor to see what is best. MY doctor lost track of me and just maintained what he had already done. Didn't check to see if that was still best. His Physician's Assistant is the one who guides me. Big pharma is about $$$. If you NEED it, USE IT!!!! FOREVER!!!! But I don't need THIS med at THIS time!!

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya Mister_T and welcome to NMP

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way

[Justinian]

Is your wife OK?

I have been taking venlafaxine for about three years and I get "brain shocks" when I miss a dose. I take five (5) 225mg tablets each day. Three in the morning at two at night. And two other psychiatric medications.

It's not entirely relevant, but what happened to the drunk driver? They get a suspended sentence and driving ban here if they don't kill anyone. Which is basically an invitation to do the same thing again whenever they feel like it. They can do this because driving whilst banned (without tax, insurance or a valid licence) goes unpunished, too. Prisons are expensive, so it's apparently better for society (in allegedly the fifth largest economy in the world) to have dangerous criminals prowling the streets. If you've ever considering visiting the UK, I'd probably dissuade you from doing so for the above reasons.

Welcome to the board, anyway.

---------- Post added at 12:58 ---------- Previous post was at 12:56 ----------

they contain a wealth of information

Some might say...