u/Levontiis

Why is the withdrawal worse than starting the medication? I’ve been withdrawing 20mg of citalopram for 3 weeks at 20-15-10-5. I have not felt alive in 3 weeks. Insane exhaustion to the point I feel I could fall asleep standing up, which makes my eyes so tired, dizzy, and then makes me nauseous. There has been zero break through and it didn’t matter how slowly I tapered so I just said to hell with it and we stopped 5mg yesterday. My sleep hasn’t even been that bad but holy damn this exhaustion is just unrelentless. How long did it take you to get past withdrawal? I was only on the darn pills for 2.5 months but my nervous system is very sensitive . I took the same med for 2 years 5 years ago and had no problem coming off it which is so silly to me. It has me wondering if I’m having a silent vestibular non ending migraine or just withdrawal symptoms

So yeah my doctor wanted me to switch antidepressants after 20mg citalopram wasn’t doing much for me after 2.5 months. She wanted me to go onto 37.5mg of venlafaxine and said I could switch over immediately, no taper. I have been paying for it for 4 days now after stopping citalopram for one night and trying the venlafaxine. I called a pharmacist the day I took the venlafaxine and he recommended I taper off citalopram at half a dose for at least 5 days which is what I think is much smarter!!. I still feel nauseous, extremely exhausted, not sleeping well, just got rid of a migraine that was triggered by this, and lightheaded. Good news is I’m not crying profusely anymore! I refuse to stop this current 10mg of citalopram until I feel good again because holy. I might even go to 5mg for a while. Did you stop cold turkey?

Update: it’s the next day and the symptoms haven’t budged and if anything got worse. Pharmacist recommended I wait it out at 10mg unless I can’t tolerate it (I already can’t and I have a vacation on Saturday I really want to go to) so I can try to go back up to 15mg for a while. This is absolutely miserable, it feels like I can’t fully wake up which is accentuating the dizziness and nausea and I can’t stop crying which worsens my head pain. I could sleep last night which was an improvement but that didn’t help much. I hope if someone else experiences something like this they can get some reassurance that others have also gone through this awful experience. I’m almost scared to go on an antidepressant again even though I’ve tried many before with no problems

I’m very confused on what to expect from migraine medication. I’ve been getting hormonal migraines that just started around 4 months ago so my journey is not going well. I’ve tried a few triptans and Ubrelvy but I don’t ever really feel anything immediate or even relief the same day. I’ll still have pressure and then sometimes the next day I might wake up with less pressure or no pressure. I can’t get any meds covered so am trying to use them sparingly, but my migraines are never so painful to the point I can’t function yet they last for 10+ days making me moody, exhausted, and just overall depressed and miserable. Google says migraines shouldn’t last longer than 3 days but uhh I’m just confused on what’s happening and since they last forever I have no clue when to even take a triptan as I don’t get aura. I just started slynd to stop my period and guess who got break through bleeding that triggered 6+ day migraine yippee

I have been getting menstrual migraines for 4 months now but the most recent one I think is still happening and it’s day 11. I am absolutely exhausted and the head pressure/pain comes and goes. I’m not sure if the exhaustion is linked to this pain but it started with it. Saw my doctor yesterday and she gave me Ubrelvy and prescribed me a triptan. What does your migraine exhaustion feel like? My sleep has been fantastic but I wake up completely hit by a truck unable to go to work

Well my ferritin went up from 36 to 83 after 600mg of venofer for my non anemic deficiency which is good. I don’t have enough money to get another infusion so I’ll start supplementing again to try and get up there. My doctor refuses to investigate my root cause aside from easy blood work tests and gaslights me into saying it has to be my period. Well I’m going to stop my period with birth control for a little bit to see and then watch as my ferritin plummets. I am so exhausted since my last infusion over a month ago but also have been suffering with menstrual migraines the last 4 months. I really thought my fatigue was all from my deficiency but I feel worse than I did before I got the infusions. I just feel so hopeless as I can barely make it into work anymore I’m just so tired

I had my second 300mg Venofer infusion just a week ago today and every day it’s a new physical symptom. My first one 3 weeks ago I had no issues at all. My symptoms started with this second one with fatigue and headaches then 4 days later I had awful nausea and exhaustion, and the last few days are now just exhaustion, headaches and a racing heart. I just feel weird because my head almost feels clear from my normal brain fog but super tired so I can’t unleash its full power. I couldn’t take this uncomfortable feeling anymore and was convinced my phosphorous was low so went to the ER, but labs are completely normal if not almost perfect. I am beyond frustrated because I feel crazy and just can’t get better and not even the doctors can help. I guess I just ride this weird wave of suffering and hope I make it out? I know iron flu is a thing but it feels weird to not be feeling much better by now. Anyone experience anything similar? I’m assuming it’s an inflammation thing, I might also have POTS which I’m sure doesn’t help. I’ll keep hydrating and trying to eat enough but holy moly

I’m not diagnosed with POTS as my doctor wanted to rule out iron deficiency without anemia first. However, I got my second 300mg Venofer infusion 6 days ago and to say it feels like I’ve been hit by a truck is an understatement. My first one 3 weeks ago was absolutely fine aside from fatigue and I actually started feeling pretty good. Then this one hit with headaches and fatigue and by day 4 nausea and complete exhaustion. Today is mostly just exhaustion but now also worsening tachycardia that had actually subsided drastically before this second infusion. Today my sit to stand is about a 40bpm jump yahoo! Blood pressure elevates slightly as well but not a concerning amount. I was on propanolol for a month or so before infusions but had to stop as I found it really felt like I couldn’t breathe but I just popped half a dose to get some relief (please!). Anyone else experience something like this? Wondering if this is a temporary flare due to the inflammation but holy hell it never ends lol

I finally saw my family doctor and she doesn’t seem confident that we will be able to find the root cause to why only my ferritin is always low. Where do you even start with checking things? I’m getting a celiac test (pretty sure my last one was negative but oh well), H. pylori because I knew someone who had it, and feel like I should look into endo or just ovary/uterus in general and further GI tract stuff. I just feel so silly asking for specific tests because I don’t have crazy symptoms in those regions so feel uncomfortable asking for them as I’m not even sure what they could show that could explain the root cause. I’ve been getting iron infusions the last month but I’m so scared that my ferritin will get high and then drop after spending the money for the infusions. I’ve been low in ferritin for a looong time so maybe that’s the “root cause” and maybe the iron infusions will kickstart that baseline back up. What did you demand get tested first?

I am quite interested to see if my enjoyment of life, libido, and overall interest in relationships will forever be dampened regardless of raising ferritin or if I’ll be a completely new person again. Since last summer my ferritin tanked without anemia and I have felt like a complete zombie mentally and physically. Im in my early 20s so people always ask if I have any new love interests, and while I only like reading romance, I genuinely haven’t had the desire to put in any effort or even consider a relationship in a long while. I don’t even get any romantical tingles anymore. Did you find after raising your ferritin and improving in symptoms that you became a new you or after all that suffering you couldn’t quite get back to who you used to be?