anyone come off cipramil?

[maria1966]

Hi has anyone had bad experience coming off cipramil.
I took them for 10 months but was fed up of the tiredness and numbness they made me feel.
So after reducing them for 4 weeks i went cold turkey,that was 4 weeks ago and don't feel my normal self again yet.
Having problems with anxiety,going out,sleeping and have no motivation whatsoever to do anything.
I have 2 great kids 3 and 1 and a half and want to snap out of this for their sakes.
My husband becomes impatient with me from time to time and i don't feel he or his family know where i am coming from,they don't understand.
Am starting C.B.T. with a therapist to try and work things out.
Anyone else have any advice for me
thanks Maria

Bump!

I came off cipramil a couple of years ago, for the same reasons as you, I couldn't even work because they made me so tired.
Starting CBT is a fantastic step, I know SO many people who have benefitted from it...
could you ask your therapist/GP for a prescription for a different anti-depressant just while you get started with the CBT to help you feel a bit more normal? They should be able to give you something if you explain the probs with the cipramil

Maria - theres more and more evidence to show that you need to reduce AD's quite slowly (certainly a lot more slowly than GP's suggest) so you may be struggling because of that.

Seroxat is the worst one and you often have to reduce that over many many months.

You could either try and sit it out and see if the 'withdrawal' (if thats what it is) wears off, or go back to the GP to ask their advice.

Also its worth thinking about whether the problem you originally took cipramil for is still there. If so the suggestion re. CBT is definately worth looking into.
Hope you're feeling a lot better soon.
Kizziex

hi maria, I came off them and did so very very slowly, i ended up breaking a 10mg tablet into two and then taking that alternate days. It took me at least 2 months.

What has your GP said? I'd have a word if I were you. Can you take St johns wort? I take this every day and it's helped me a great deal. Your GP could advise you though.

What is CBT ? Tried hypnotherapy unsucessfully last summer - chanting "every day in every way I'm getting better & better" made me feel a bit foolish.

I took Cipramil for 7 months before coming off them - probably too fast but I hate taking tablets. After 6 months though I was heading downhill rapidly and went back to the doctors for help. Have now been on Efxor (venaflaxine) for six months at even increasing doses and don't feel anywhere near ready to stop taking them.

Sorry this ia very positive message. I really hope that you find a drug free way of coping / recovering (and if you do, please let me know!)

Hi petesmum, here's a link that may help to explain CBT?CBT into

It's Cognitive Behavioural Therapy

HTH

that should say 'info' not into btw

my DP came off them, it was difficult to being with but he's fine now. I've had CBT - it's really good, hopefully it will really help you. When do you start it?

I've tried three times to come off Cipramil (have been on it since ds2 was born - he's three). I have managed to get my dose down from 40mg to 20mg and am stable on that now, but haven't been able to get down any further. When I have tried I have had physical symptoms: dizziness, headaches, muzzy-headedness, insomnia etc., and have also returned to my pre-anti-depressant screaming, weeping, harridan self. And that's been talking it slowly - not going cold turkey. All the advice is to reduce the dose slowly - it's really not a good idea to just stop. Also ten months is not very long to be on them.

I do know what you mean though - I really don't want to take them any more: I feel permanently sort of "flat." Not depressed, in fact quite happy - but not me It's very hard to put into words. It's like my emotional responses to things are slightly deadened. I want to be myself again now: see who am underneath the tablets - but I really am struggling to come off them and dreading my next attempt.

Sorry, bit of a digression there Don't really know what to advise - you've done 4 weeks, so I can see you wouldn't want to start them again but can you cope feeling as you do now? If you can't then maybe you could take a really, really low dose (they don't make a 5mg tablet but you could cut a 10mg in half?) just to see if that helps. I would second Kizzie's advice to ask your GP. It does sound like the depression is still there: I have never had CBT but many people say it has helped them enormously. So not much by way of useful advice - just to let you know you are not alone.

Thank you so much for all the advice.I will digest it all in more detail later and get back to you all,feeding time at the zoo,the kid's are becoming impatient.
talk soon Maria

How can you get refered to CBT? I find difficult to be refered by the NHS, any idea about how much it will cost if going private? (Had just come out of cipramil cold turkey, was in a trip and with the jet lag and the changes to the routine I forgot to take it so I just stop, but feel miserable this week....)

I pay £50 per session (meant to be an hour - usually longer) and I think this is the top end of the scale. This is in the Medway towns in KEnt. I have seen £30-£35 per hour quoted. You are unlikely to get an NHS referral as they just don't have the resources. An NHS psychiatrist that recommended the CBT suggested I look on the internet. I did and I found my therapist through the BABCP website

www.babcp.org.uk/

with a list of registered therapists in your area. YOu then make the appointment yourself - the therapist will probably write to your GP as a matter of courtesy. A good investment!

I got myself off Efexor by reducing the dose - a few days at 1 every other day, then every 2 days. I felt absolutely awful - queasy, a numb feeling in my head - but it did go and was worth coming off them.

Hi again,i went on cipramil as i was having issues with going out,had only been out twice in 8 months.Also i had depression issues which came on that i feel had beeen hidden over a number of years due to bereavement in losing my mum then my dad and then last year my oldest brother.
To be honest the doctor met me for 5 mins at home put me on the tablets and left me to it for 8 months.I contacted him saying the tablets were making me worse and he referred me to a occupational therapist.I must be lucky to have been referred for the CBT treatment on the NHS.
My doctor was not impressed that i was coming off the tablets but i felt to do the therapy justice i wanted to be myself as i thought once the therapy was over i would be left taking the tablets then having to stop again and the old issues would probably come back.
They have now suggested i do the CBT for the here and now and deal with the past issues with a counciller which they say i will have to pay for privatly.
I have had 1 session of CBT and unearthed a lot of pastpains then left to deal with the here and now and the other stuff from the past is up to me toorgainise a counciller.
A bit confusing i know but they say the CBT therapist has not got the time to deal with the other issues whilst dealing with the going out.
I need to get on top ofn this as my son is starting pre school and have found it difficult to take him so the therapist has offered to help me do this by coming with me when i take him once and awhile.
My husband is not too happy with the GP as feels i was put on these tablets with no support and had past issues resurfaced only to be told you will have to find a counciller to continue dealing with these.
It's difficult for family members to understand,my family have been understanding but with there own lives to live you don't want to burden them
My husband's family live away and only know half the story as i feel of they knew i was'nt taking their first grandson to pre school they would be annoyed .
I tried to talk to MIL the other week but it obviously caused her distress as when i rang a few days later to apoligise for getting her invovled FIL put the phone down on me and i still don't know why.My husband dos'nt know why i was so upset by this but then again it is difficult to ask him to go againest his parents.
I suspose i was looking for a surrogate mother in my MIL which just is'nt there.
Anyway although the tearfullnes has returned and the patienence is wearing a bit thin since i have stopped the tablets i don't feel so distant and numb as i did,it's called reality as my husband says.
Anyone else had problems with in laws relating to these issues?
Thanks for listening
Maria

Message withdrawn

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Will look into CBT - thanks for explaining what it is! I really want to get this PND under control or better yet recover.

I suppose I'm lucky that my GP is pretty supportive. I see him every month for a chat - even if todays session was very upsetting ubt that's a whole new thread. Initially I was refered to a specialise nurse / therapist but I didn't get much out of our meetings and after about 5 visit we agreed to save the NHS some money.

I think my family (DP, parents, in-laws) would find it easier to understand if my leg had fallen off instead of having a hidden problem If I remind my DP on a daily basis of how I feel then he might consider how his actions affect me but I can't keep it up for long - get sick of my own moaning so it's a case of keep quiet & just get on with things. Sorry, getting a bit side tracked and negative there.

It's so true Petesmum, when you talk about the leg. People who haven't experienced depression will never truly understand. I don't know about you but when famous people come out and say they have/had it I feel it's so positive. It makes people sit up and think. Depression has nothing to do with having money/fame/happiness it's to do with a whole host of other things.

Maria, sounds like you have a lovely therapist there

Hi Again,just to say since coming off the cipramil,now 5 weeks ago i feel much more like my old self,even though i am still depressed i can see thinks a bit more clearly.I have come to the conclusion the stresses in life are normal and it,s just that i am not dealing with them very well at the moment.
I have been buying some self help books from e bay on depression and find these quite useful.
Interestingly one book says depression is something that happens to the strong people,the ones that deal with crisis after crisis and seem strong to the outside world,but this can only go on for so long before a fuse blows and causes depression.This book points out how this is a physical thing rather mental and that surprisingly
people closest to you are least likely tro understand.If you had a broken leg etc they can see that but depression is not their physically for them to see.I know what the book meant when it said you can deal with so many things from way back,mine being my mum,s death in 1993 and my dad,s in 1997,both of which i was to late to see them before they died,and put it to the back of your mind thinking i have dealt with this.Then bang other things happen for you to deal with and suddenly something snaps years later.
Great book,really opened my eyes to a lot of things.
Anyway my CBT therapist is visiting tomorrow and will move on with the going out issue with her.
Not sure how it will go as she advisedagainest coming off the cipramil whilst donig the CbT but who knows?
She should be bringing a list of private councillers for me to look over to deal with the past issues.
Anyone used a private counciller or had a counciller on the NHS.
keep smiling xMaria