Feeling scared and afraid for no reason after being off Celexa two months

[Jen2024]

I recently weaned myself of Celexa after five years hoping the anxiety would be gone for good. Now as I type this tonight I had a horrible panic attack earlier. Racing heart beat , fear, panic, head spinning, rapid breathing, just really bad attack. I have been wore out lately due to a busy schedule , but I even had a fear that if I just went ahead and rested and went to sleep to try to sleep it off I would never wake up. How do I beat these feelings and overcome these horrible anxiety attacks. It’s like the older I get the worse they get. Never had any fear/anxiety episodes until my 30’s. Now I’m like the saying goes “Afraid to live , but scared to die” . I just want to be happy and enjoy my life like I use to. Any advice to help get thru this and get over my anxiety would be greatly appreciated.

[AnxiousSilver]

First and foremost - Welcome to this site.

This place is a good and supportive community.

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Second - Was it your decision or your doc's decision to go off of Celexa.?

There's obviously no wrong answer here, I'm just curious.

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Third - "You recently weaned" what dosage were you previously on, and how long were you off it? (a couple days, weeks, months, ETC)

I'm asking because I'm just making sure that you tapered. (If this was your docs decision, I'm sure he/she would suggest tapering too - "weaned" usually means "tapered" but just making sure)

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Finally - As for the rest, a lot of what you wrote is normal anxiety, stress, irrational thoughts, and don't worry (no pun intended) that's something that a lot of us here do. (myself included, and sometimes on a daily basis depending on the stress)

& I realize that I may not be completely helpful, but I'm trying, and talking things through sometimes helps. (especially when all the useful and helpful information is finally out there)

In the mean time. Take a slow breath through your stomach, and reply whenever you feel comfortable.

[Jen2024 in reply to AnxiousSilver]

It was my decision to go off the medication,but my doctor was supportive and said at anytime I felt I needed to go back on it to call her immediately. I was on 20mg of Celexa and it was a couple months process to wean myself off it. My doctor had me start slowly from 20mg a day to taking 10mg every day then every other day until I was completely off them. It’s like what I wrote in the other comment. I just want to be a normal person that doesn’t need medication to be able to enjoy my life. So I wanted to try and go the all natural route of exercise, breathing exercises,etc So far not doing to great.

[Raggedy-Ann]

hi jen, i am wondering why you decided to go off your medication and do you have any specific things that trigger these attacks? I was feeling good and decided to stop taking my meds (ok my boyfriend at the time said didn't need them, over and over) I slowly deteriorated. I was a mess and we broke up. My dad told me you wouldn't tell somebody with a heart condition to stop taking their meds. that always stuck with me. I have an illness that attacks my will to live. --

[Jen2024 in reply to Raggedy-Ann]

I told my doctor that I wanted to just try and see if I can fight anxiety naturally without medication. I’ve always had anxiety ,but never had panic attacks until my 30’s. That was when I started my medication ,but it makes me feel like I have no control over my life that I’m literally depending on medication to help me be “normal” (no fear/anxiety/panic attacks).

[Sassysyl]

This is me exaxtly.. I'm so tired I just want to feel normal

[Darkhouse]

Depression and anxiety are illnesses, and such, can be treated as one. I liked Raggedy-Ann's statement about the heart medication. If you need something to manage it, it's OK, that's not weakness, quite the opposite. However, there are other ways as well. Just like you have to train your body to get stronger by working out, the mind can be trained to experience less anxiety through mindfulness exercises. Meditation actually, with time, changes parts of the brain, calming it. Exercises like yoga and Tai Chi are meditations for the body and the mind, and cultivate mindfulness too. They also help eliminate excess energy that accumulate in the body which can lead to anxiety. A nice form of meditation is called Yoga Nidra, and it's in between asleep and awake. You do it in bed, but it can be used for panic attacks as well. I like Ally Boothroyd's voice as I find her voice soothing... Breathing exercises can be your friend as well, especially in the moment of a panic attack. I've been in many situations over the years where I didn't have access to medications and had to rely on my breathing techniques. I like the 4 square technique, but there's lots on line. Find one you like and stick w it, practice makes perfect they say...

[PandaBlues]

My first question would be how often were you having panic attacks when you weaned off of your medication? And two: what is your safety plan when you have an attack?

Honestly if you were having them very frequently and did not have a successful safety plan or way of managing them it may not have been a good idea to taper off just yet.

I self weaned off of my meds when I was about 90-95% recovered from panic/anxiety attacks. And when I would get one I would be able to manage and have it go away within 1-2 minutes without any distress. I still have the occasional anxiety attack but I know how to manage it and move forward without letting it control me.

I too wanted to feel “normal” but I’ve come to realize that “normal” doesn’t exist. It’s a false narrative we label ourselves and others with when we want to emulate someone else’s life. We need to just be able to handle the life we have in the best way that we can. When we can do that we’ll find happiness and normalcy again.

But Make sure you can manage your symptoms before pulling the plug otherwise you may find yourself spiraling because you had no safety net in place to begin with…You should speak with your doctor.

[Hope4me1]

I have been on a very low dose of Prozac for many, many years. I have tried to wean slowly off this med twice in my life. Each time I spiral back into a crippling anxious state within a month or so. I have faithfully taken it ever since. I, too, wanted to be “normal” but I have to accept that this med helps me and I should be happy to have it help me cope. I also have to take low doses of Clonazepam at times as well. It’s no different if I had to take meds for diabetes or high blood pressure. This medicine helps us manage an illness not any different from a physical one. This rational helps me feel I’m okay and no less normal than anyone else. Hope this helps. ❤️😊🕊️

[CAGgmb]

If someone has high blood pressure, they take meds to control it. If someone has high anxiety, they might take meds to control that. For me, it's a combination of meds and coping techniques. I prefer to take the least amount of medication I can to deal with physical and mental issues. Do you have coping techniques that work for you? I take a walk, breathe slowly and deeply, do crosswords, read, organize. Is there something that works for you? It's also important to stay hydrated. Good luck. It's hard to deal with anxiety and panic attacks. I've been dealing with them since childhood. Still here, still fighting.

[Marysblue]

Check out the herb ashwaganda for anxiety, There are also some teas you can buy that for stress.

[Beholy]

Hi Jen, I also suffered GAD for years and medication use to work for me now I can't seem to get any medication to work, I started taking Buspar for about 3 weeks now and just added Diazepam for about a week and still not working yet, waking up every morning with anxiety and my legs are weak and feels like the flesh on my legs are shaking and the anxiety last all day, oh Lord Jesus help us. God bless you 🙏