Date:  Thu Mar 15, 2001 3:01pm

Hi,
My name is Mary.  I came off Xanax (.05 mg 2 x day for 5 years) and 
Celexa (20 mg for 7 months)in June of 2000.  I tapered 2 weeks on 
both of these meds, not knowing any better, and most of you here know 
pretty much what my life has been like (symtpom-wise) for the last 9 
months.

I joined a benzodiazepine (Xanax) support group months ago, which I 
am still a member there, but I never thought that the Celexa might be 
playing a part in this horrible witdrawal, too, until just lately.

I'm wondering if anyone here has found anything to ease a lot of the 
symtpoms we go through.  My most predominant symtoms now are the pins 
and needles feelings (paresthesia), which are always accompanied with 
severe depression and nervousness, dry eyes, excessive salivation, 
strange feelings in mouth and teeth, muscle pain and an overall *ill* 
feeling (to name a few ~ LOL).  I can go from a happy, upbeat mood to 
severe depression in a very short time once these symtpoms hit from 
what seems out of nowhere.

I do have good days here and there, but am becoming very discouraged 
because it seems after a few good days ~ I continue to get hit with a 
return of symptoms that knocks me right back down.

I realize now I'm probably experiencing 2 withdrawals (Celexa & 
Xanax).  With the Celexa, 7 months use, is there a typical length of 
time where one gets over this nightmare?

The saddest thing is, I was never very depressed and never very 
anxious to the point of it really interfering with my life, but I 
allowed doctors to convince me that I needed these drugs.  

Hope you all have the best day you can. Best regards,

Mary M.

Date:  Thu Mar 15, 2001 3:46pm

Response1:
Mary:  Welcome!  It is probably the Celexa that is causing most of your 
problems.  If you were only on  1 mg of Xanax a day, your withdrawals would 
not be TOO severe.  It's when you get up to 2, 3 4, 5,+ mgs a day that the 
REAL problems start.  But there ARE some symptoms of withdrawal even at 1 mg, 
but you should be over that by now.  The SSRI withdrawal can take months or 
years from which to recover.  Your episodes will come and go; that seems to 
be the pattern with all of us. I am 3+ years post-Paxil and I'm still not 
okay, but my episodes are less frequent now than they were a year ago.  I 
thought I had fully recovered when I hadn't had one in 11 months and the 
BOOM!  I was flat on my ass with all the symptoms of withdrawal accompanied 
by a rabid case of anxiety.  The comfort comes in knowing you are not alone 
and that when these episodes hit, you should not be running to the doc 
because they will tell you that these are NEW symptoms and you need MORE 
meds.  The more you understand what these drugs (especially Celexa) have done 
to your brain, the less you will freak out about now bad you feel. You are 
not going crazy; you just had a really bad acid trip in the form of a legal 
pharmaceutical!!!!  Take care and again, glad you found this group!!  

Trisha

Date:  Thu Mar 15, 2001 4:07pm

Response2:
Mary, I would bet that your problems are coming from
the Celexa, but may also be a combo. I only took
Prozac for 15 days, (15 pills) and 8 months later I
still have problems. It takes a few years to recover 
from these drugs, you can't tell how long the withdrawal 
will be by how long you take it. We have people who have 
taken an SSRI 1x 1 pill and 2 years later is still having 
problems. Just educate yourself as much as you can on these 
drugs and you will have a better understanding. And don't 
run to the doc because he just won't believe you, and he 
will tell you your crazy and you need some more pills.
Do yourself a favor, be strong and understand the cycle of
these drugs, so you wont go taking them any more.

Glad you found the group,

Cynthia