Rocking Chair Cat

Rocking Chair Cat
2016-03-09 20:55:13 (UTC)

8 months out. Taper from Celexa.

It's been suggest that if you're offered illicit drugs- you're supposed to reply with: "No!".

IMHO- if you're offered a Benzo drug or an Antidepressant- I'd suggest that you say "No!" with a sledgehammer.

What makes me say this? Experience.
Along about a couple of years ago (next month to be exact) I'd decided to quit/cold turkey going off my antidepressant. I chose to do so because I realized that even though I was taking an antidepressant; I was still very much depressed.
Thus- my reasoning: If I'm depressed being on an antidepressant- then it's obvious it's not doing any good. Therefore/ergo- I can just simply stop taking it and all will be good.
Right?

Not quite.

Anxiety rapidly developed. And all hell broke loose, emotionally. My mental state (already bad) went worse. When the 4th of July rolled around- and a neighbor decided to set off 21 in a row of what sounded like mortar rounds, I went full blown PTSD. (I got to enjoy some nasty places whilst in the military).
And I've not quite recovered since. This is because I chose to reinstate the antidepressant several months later. And in the interim- I still managed to the nasty symptoms even ON the A/D. Soon, I need a Benzodiazepine- to manage the middle of the night panic attacks.
Which seemed to make everything All Nice.

Up unto the point that I developed tolerance.

On the advice of the Doc- I doubled the dose, and felt like a zombie the next day. I went back to the original dose and regretted it: Full blown anxiety.
Long story shorter- I learned how to taper off of the Benzo. It was Hell.
And I've been off of that for 13 months.
A couple months after that. I decided to taper off of the A/D. It wasn't as bad as the Benzo taper in intensity. But it's worse in duration.

I've been off of my A/D (Celexa) 8 months now. And it's still very difficult for me.

There are some online statements concerning SSRI Discontinuation Syndrome and how it's only going to last between 1-3 weeks.

Horsefeathers- it's gonna last a lot longer than that. I'm 8 months out. And you know what? I've no freaking clue about when it's gonna be over and done with.
In the online bulletin board I've joined- I've read of folks in pretty much the same boat as I was- reporting problems 2-3 YEARS after getting off of the stuff.
And then there are the folks who report no problems at all getting off of them (GRRRRR!).
There are times I entertain thoughts of saying hello to the folks who invented these things and the folks who continue to push them onto Docs and the Docs who don't do any research about them before prescribing them- by saying hello with a sledgehammer.

It'd be just my way of returning the misery those bastards gave to me.

But I don't think of such very often, as often the mere thought of doing violence causes me anxiety.
Ironic, no?




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