Is Celexa Addictive?
According to the American Psychological Association, too many antidepressants are being prescribed.1 Antidepressants are notorious for how difficult it is to get off them, once started, with Celexa addiction complications affecting about 20% of users.7 That has left a significant number of users scrambling for help with Celexa tapering. As of 2017, the American Psychological Association and the National Center for Health Statistics estimated that nearly 13% of the entire population were taking antidepressant medications.2 Nearly 20% of people over 60 years of age were taking antidepressants in 2017.2 Likely these numbers have continued to rise as they have done for each of the last 10 years.
Celexa Discontinuation Syndrome
Drugmakers downplay the addictive properties of Celexa and other antidepressants. After years of being confronted with “withdrawal reaction” evidence, have instead opted to use the softer term “discontinuation syndrome.”7 Prescribers are mandated to disclose these withdrawal reactions as part of informed consent.8 But rarely do our patients report that they recall hearing about discontinuation syndrome at the time of prescribing. Many of our patients report that if it were explained to them the addictive mechanisms of antidepressant drugs, or what might be expected when stopping Celexa, they would have rejected the medication. Unfortunately, the medical profession has little to no expertise for people who decide to come off of these drugs — “no scientifically backed guidelines, no means to determine who’s at highest risk, no way to tailor appropriate strategies to individuals.”9 It is also a measure of our experience at Alternative to Meds Center that most of our patient’s former providers have little in the way of practical guidance regarding Celexa tapering methods or what to expect during Celexa cessation. In fact, many of our referrals come from these prescribers who at times feel blindsided by their patient’s withdrawal symptoms or what to do to help them.
Planning Celexa Titration
Patients are typically advised that Celexa will raise the patient’s serotonin levels, and that will fix their depressed state. They are often told of a chemical imbalance as being the cause of their depression. And while there may be some connection between brain chemical imbalances and mood disturbances, researchers are lacking evidence to support it. There actually is no direct evidence to support this claim.10 They might also be told that what they are experiencing while getting off Celexa may be a “relapse” of their depression or other “mental illness” when in all actuality the discontinuation effect may be a completely different mechanism.11 Typically, there is a point of differentiation to distinguish Celexa discontinuation syndrome from a depressive relapse. Discontinuation effects will usually occur within days to a week of reducing or stopping the medication and they tend to lessen or resolve over the next 3 or so weeks. A depressive symptomatic relapse tends to occur more slowly and can get increasingly worse over time.11 If your doctor is not differentiating the two, it may help if you bring up the concept of Celexa discontinuation syndrome. If they are not able to give you guidance distinguishing the differences, it would be wise to get a second opinion.
Celexa Drug Trials and Marketing
- The majority of drug trials that show there are benefits of taking antidepressant drugs were funded by the drugmakers.3,4
- The majority of these studies were never publicly released. This is sometimes called “cherry-picking” in drug trials.12
- The drug trials used to back up claims of how effective these drugs are were all done over an astonishingly short 8-week period.6
- The FDA issued suicide watch warnings after antidepressant drug trials showed a doubling of suicide risk over that of a placebo, particularly among young people.6
- When a person decides on a Celexa taper, withdrawal may result in symptoms and intensity in symptoms never before experienced by the patient.13
- The cause of depression as a “chemical imbalance” long held by big pharma, and still, the basis of its feverish sales pitch has never been proven.14 The source of this theory remains obscure, and despite decades of touting it as trustworthy, and bonafide as a basis for drug treatment, currently, there is a strong trend in psychiatry, in general, to discard it, and let the unsubstantiated theory of mental illness equals chemical imbalance subside.3
- Similarly, antidepressants sold as a method of correcting such a chemical imbalance never did and never could correct a deficit in natural hormones or natural neurotransmitters.14 It is conceivable that these drugs may cause extant natural stores of neurochemicals to be burned up at an accelerated rate, for a short time causing a temporary rise in mood. Cocaine produces a lift in mood, accelerating dopamine expression by blocking the dopamine transport mechanism.15 Ultimately though, this drug-induced acceleration has a limit, and the user will experience a lesser effect over time. No antidepressant creates more Serotonin, only the naturally occurring substance tryptophan does.16 Celexa is also unlikely to regulate serotonin at the exact measurements required. These neurochemical balancings are unique to each person. and to each moment actually. Over the long-term, antidepressants may be draining stored neurochemicals, which then could disrupt and alter the CNS and brain chemistry drastically. Although, since the chemical imbalance theory lacks substantiation, it would similarly be difficult to prove that the medications are depleting them since there is not a reliable way to test for brain chemicals.14
- The British Journal of Medicine notes that the psychiatric manual for diagnosis and treatment, currently DSM-V was put together by a panel of members, the vast majority of whom are financially tied to the pharmaceutical industry.4
Reasons to Opt for Getting Off Celexa
A typical experience of antidepressant users is that either the drugs didn’t work at all, or that they caused unsustainable discomfort and intolerable symptoms, also called side effects.18 Some of the more common side effects of Celexa include:
- Worsened depression
- Suicidal ideation
- Increased anxiety, nervousness, agitation, etc.
- Emotional outbursts, crying spells, rage, etc.
These adverse reactions and the lack of results from the drugs may lead to wanting to withdraw from Celexa. There are also other concerns that may lead one to consider antidepressant tapering. Treatment for Celexa withdrawal is available at Alternative to Meds Center.