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Decreasing Celexa


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My dd is likely a mycoplasma case as she had a high IgG and is responding well to Biaxin xr and prednisone. Dr. T and I talked about lowering her Celexa when doing a prednisone burst and while things are going well.

 

Whe she started the Celexa this fall it seemed to take the edge off and anxiety symptoms diminished a noticable amount at 20mg. She still had a long way to go and we upped it to 40mg. There was no noticablei mprovement at that time but it was shortly after that that I figured out that Advil gave her great (er) relief and came to the realization that she had PANDAS.

 

So, she started it before we knew she had PANDAS/PITAND and we would like to get her off it becasue we don't really know if it does anything anymore or even if she needs it.

 

I decreased her dose two nights ago from 40mg to about 30mg. (cut off part of the pill) Yesterday was a very good day. Evenings are always more difficult and last night was no different but it was on the better side. Today was also a very good day up until 5 pm when everything fell apart. (badly) She is really having a hard time, OCD/facial motor tic. Since starting the Biaxin most of her days have been better but we did have one day that was this bad a while back. Thank God it didn't last.

 

Now I am worried that tonights difficulties are from the lowering of the Celexa dose and not just part of the ups and downs of the healing process. I guess I won't know unless we stick with the reduction for a while longer but I'm curious as to others experience when lowering the dosage of an SSRi while on antibiotics and prednisone.

 

Comments?

 

Thank you,

Angela

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I'm currently weening my daughter's lamictal. She was taking 150mg AM and 100mg PM. The psychiatrist said we could reduce 50 mg/day for 2 weeks and then go down another 50, etc. I'm going slower than that- cutting only 25mg at a time and waiting at least 2 weeks before making another cut. I wait longer than that if she doesn't seem stable.

So, if you think she's going through withdrawal, try cutting less and going slower.

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From what I have read about tapering off SSRIs, Celexa and Lexapro are the most difficult because they have such a short half life. You may have to go very slowly and there will likely be some difficult days. We've been weaning my son of Zoloft since October and can't seem to get off the last 25 mg because the withdrawals have been pretty severe and I've been wanting him to be in a better place before we try to just deal with it and push through. I think I may end up cutting the 25 if half again.

 

One way to tell if it is a withdrawal reaction vs. something else is to give her the regular dose again. If the symptoms go away within 24 hours, it withdrawal. You will need to wean in smaller increments and probably need to take it very slow. We've started by going down 1/4 of a dose every two months but he's been at 25mg since early December.

 

If I had known getting off an SSRI would be this difficult, I really would have thought longer and harder about it.

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Thank you for your replies. I'll see what today brings and see if she seems to be staying worse or it last night was just a bump in the road. Maybe I'll give it the week.

 

I'd just keep her on it if I didnt' know that sometimes it actaully makes PANDAS kids worse. What if she could be better without it? It did seem to help when we started it but she was in a VERY BAD place. She was completely incapacitated by the OCD. She has improved tremendously, esp. since starting the Biaxin.

 

Wish there was an easy answer.

 

Angela

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I'd just keep her on it if I didnt' know that sometimes it actaully makes PANDAS kids worse. What if she could be better without it?

 

Although we are rollercoaster'y here- when my son went off the lexapro and abilify a part of his personality came back that we had almost forgotten about.

He told us that he felt like a groggy fog was gone and his head felt more clear.

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Thank you for your replies. I'll see what today brings and see if she seems to be staying worse or it last night was just a bump in the road. Maybe I'll give it the week.

 

I'd just keep her on it if I didnt' know that sometimes it actaully makes PANDAS kids worse. What if she could be better without it? It did seem to help when we started it but she was in a VERY BAD place. She was completely incapacitated by the OCD. She has improved tremendously, esp. since starting the Biaxin.

 

Wish there was an easy answer.

 

Angela

 

Zoloft was activating my son some and I didn't realize it. I don't think it did anything at all for his OCD. He also gained 15 pounds in less than a year, which is a lot for a 9 year old. Since he's been down to the 25 mg, the he has lost a few pounds and grown a little so he is only about 5 lbs overweight now for his height. Just take it slow and expect a few bumps in the road. Glad to hear the Biaxin has helped so much!

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my daughter (8) was on celexa for about 3 1/2 months, we had to stop quickly because for some episodes of dangerous behavior. She was completely off in a week. Then had trouble returning to school, but i think it was from pandas, not going off the celexa.

Peglem, how did the lamictal work? We are slooowly building up to proper dose. wondering what experience others have had with it. thanks.

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my daughter (8) was on celexa for about 3 1/2 months, we had to stop quickly because for some episodes of dangerous behavior. She was completely off in a week. Then had trouble returning to school, but i think it was from pandas, not going off the celexa.

Peglem, how did the lamictal work? We are slooowly building up to proper dose. wondering what experience others have had with it. thanks.

 

Initially the lamictal was prescribed by the neuro for some "seizure-like" episodes and severe headaches/photophobia that presented after Allie's T&A. Those did go away. I don't know how much success was due to lamictal and how much was due to other PANDAS treatment. Later, the psychiatrist increased her dosage, using it as a mood stabilizer- we saw a very clear improvement with the increase (nothing else had changed). It was clear improvement, but not dramatic- it helped a little, but when you're where we were, that little bit makes a difference. Now that we are seeing such dramatic improvements with the zith, we decided to try going off lamictal, and we're doing fine with that so far. So, I wouldn't rave over lamictal's effectiveness for us, but it is really the only psych med that we found helpful at all. (other than valium, but we don't like to use that too much) There is some evidence that lamictal slightly suppresses the immune system, so that may account for its helpfulness.

Edited by peglem
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