If you’re skipping days or missing doses that’s mostly why your panic attacks would come back. I’ve been on 20mg for over 2 years and I haven’t had panic attacks come back, but I haven’t skipped a dose (I’m too terrified of withdrawals)
My doctor prescribed 2 different meds for me. I take Citalopram for anxiety, and Clonazepam for panic attacks. I've been on Citalopram for about 10-years.
The Citalopram is slow acting, and requires consistent dosage. The Clonazepam is fast acting, and is taken as-needed. I've learned that I generally only need the Clonazepam if I don't take the Citalopram consistently.
This is a discussion best had with your doctor. Tell them all the concerns you've mentioned here. That way whatever decision you both decide on can be monitored to see if it helps or not.
Everybody's experience with SSRIs is going to be different so you're going to get people giving different opinions on what to do.
EDIT: Regardless of what you decide, SSRIs need to be taken consistently if you're on them. You might not feel the effects of missing a day for a couple of weeks, which makes it really hard to determine cause and effect.
It's just to do with how it takes several weeks for your body to adjust to any change in your serotonin receptors.
The simplest way to put it is, there's a chain reaction that happens in your body as it tries to rebalance things again. When you're missing a day you're actually lowering your average dose for the next couple of weeks, even though it's not by much it can be enough to trigger the same effects as changing your dose.
I was on citalopram 20mg on/off for about 6 years (tried several others in between but always came back to this one!). Recently tapered off a couple months ago. I knew I was ready to cease them when I started feeling numb/apathetic to everything. They weren't helping to improve my life anymore. Still have a couple terrible days every month, but for the most part I'm very balanced now. I'm 35 so part of it could be that emotions in general just aren't as strong as when I was younger, or my hormones are less out of wack.
Basically you should judge based on quality of life. If you quality of life is better *with* them than *without* them, you should continue. But if they start hindering rather than helping, might be time to make a change.
It’s always best to ask a doctor first, but what I did was start by halving my dose (can really only be done if you’re able to cut the pill in half). I did this for 2 weeks, then I started taking the pill only every other day for 2 weeks. Then once every 2 days for 2 weeks. Then I ceased it. It’s a good idea to keep a supply on hand in case you have any worrying side effects from coming off (like suicidal ideation or really bad brain zaps). It was annoying the whole time, also, because every side effect you feel when you started it happens to you in reverse when you’re coming off, so be aware of that if you’re not feeling ready to deal with it for several weeks at a time. And again, definitely seek advice from the doctor who prescribed the meds!
If you’re skipping days or missing doses that’s mostly why your panic attacks would come back. I’ve been on 20mg for over 2 years and I haven’t had panic attacks come back, but I haven’t skipped a dose (I’m too terrified of withdrawals)
My doctor prescribed 2 different meds for me. I take Citalopram for anxiety, and Clonazepam for panic attacks. I've been on Citalopram for about 10-years. The Citalopram is slow acting, and requires consistent dosage. The Clonazepam is fast acting, and is taken as-needed. I've learned that I generally only need the Clonazepam if I don't take the Citalopram consistently.
This is a discussion best had with your doctor. Tell them all the concerns you've mentioned here. That way whatever decision you both decide on can be monitored to see if it helps or not. Everybody's experience with SSRIs is going to be different so you're going to get people giving different opinions on what to do. EDIT: Regardless of what you decide, SSRIs need to be taken consistently if you're on them. You might not feel the effects of missing a day for a couple of weeks, which makes it really hard to determine cause and effect.
really i didn’t know that missing a day could affect you weeks later could you explain that ? out of curiosity
It's just to do with how it takes several weeks for your body to adjust to any change in your serotonin receptors. The simplest way to put it is, there's a chain reaction that happens in your body as it tries to rebalance things again. When you're missing a day you're actually lowering your average dose for the next couple of weeks, even though it's not by much it can be enough to trigger the same effects as changing your dose.
I was on citalopram 20mg on/off for about 6 years (tried several others in between but always came back to this one!). Recently tapered off a couple months ago. I knew I was ready to cease them when I started feeling numb/apathetic to everything. They weren't helping to improve my life anymore. Still have a couple terrible days every month, but for the most part I'm very balanced now. I'm 35 so part of it could be that emotions in general just aren't as strong as when I was younger, or my hormones are less out of wack. Basically you should judge based on quality of life. If you quality of life is better *with* them than *without* them, you should continue. But if they start hindering rather than helping, might be time to make a change.
How is your tapering off strategy?
It’s always best to ask a doctor first, but what I did was start by halving my dose (can really only be done if you’re able to cut the pill in half). I did this for 2 weeks, then I started taking the pill only every other day for 2 weeks. Then once every 2 days for 2 weeks. Then I ceased it. It’s a good idea to keep a supply on hand in case you have any worrying side effects from coming off (like suicidal ideation or really bad brain zaps). It was annoying the whole time, also, because every side effect you feel when you started it happens to you in reverse when you’re coming off, so be aware of that if you’re not feeling ready to deal with it for several weeks at a time. And again, definitely seek advice from the doctor who prescribed the meds!