citalopram

How long were you on 20 ?

Hi Gloria, I am afraid your symptoms will not subside untill you have finished your last tablet and then it could take up to two months as it did in my case. I was on 20 for six years and then slowly weaned off over about six months. I can say that by taking it slowly, I had less side effects. I tried cold turkey once befor and found myself in lots of bother ! The vertigo like symptoms and the brain zapps happened after the last pill and lasted for but eased over two months. I do not mean to frighten you but it is best to be aware that it takes time  to adjust and you must remain strong. it can be done and you will eventually feel normal once again. best of luck to you, you'll make it through.

It will wear off in time, but if you're withdrawing further it might be better for you to do it by 5mg at a time instead to avoid withdrawal effects.  I took this last year withdrawing going from 20 / 15 / 10 / 5 / 2.5 / 1.25 / 0 and had no withdrawl effects at all.  I came off once before doing the same as you, going from 20 to 10 etc and I had withdrawal then too.  Unpleasant, but it did wear off.

Doing it much more gradual with tiny reductions will help.  I bought a pill cutter and the final 5mg I crushed as was too small to cut any further.

I've been off meds for just over 2 months I think, and have gone onto 5-HTP and l-tyrosine (bought over the counter).  Feel great still.

K x

Yes Gloria, I feel the same way and when I listen to the many posts on this forum as to problems they are experiencing when starting on these pills. They are in for quite a shock when they decide to cease this terrible med, much worse coming off.I believe there will come a time when the full extent of damage these meds do will come to light. Weather the storm, sunshine just around the corner. X

I'm new hear so sorry if I'm stealing your forum but I'm just curious. I've been on Celexa/Cit for just about 3 months now and I can tell it's helping with my social anxiety but I still get spacey and have like brain fog and it freaks me out a bit. I just wondered if anyone else had experienced that and if it will eventually go away. It has already been 3 months. I'm under a lot of stress right now with losing my job so maybe that's part of the reason I'm spacey still?

 I retired three years ago. After 16 years on Lexapro or citalopram, the generic, I decided to go off the medication I felt it was making me a little cotton headed and out of sorts. I spoke to my psychiatrist who said to wean myself off. He wasn't very interested in me.   I went from 20 mg to 10 mg to 5 mg and then I went off. My shrink told me it would only take a few days for the medication to leave my body. I don't know if it's coincidence or related  but this is what happen next: I developed severe bowel distress   I felt very full and had an enormous amount of gas and burping. Then I developed insomnia with in a day or so and sleep apnea symptoms. I could not lie down without feeling that I was choking. I resorted to sitting up all night in the chair, but I was so tired  that I kept nodding off. every time I nodded off I felt like I was choking or suffocating and I woke up and had a panic attack. This happened in rapid succession maybe 10 times a minute. I was so tired but I was fearful of nodding off. I decided to pace. I went to my internist who did a chest x-ray and CAT scan of my lower bowels  The tests showed nothing. I called my psychiatrist when I made the connection that I may be having withdrawal symptoms. Previous to this I thought I just had a virus. He told me to go back on the meds. I did and eventually the symptoms went away. Still I wanted to get off the citalopram. I asked my psychiatrist how to do this.  I went from 10 mg every day for two weeks to 10 mg every other day for two weeks to 10 mg every third day for three weeks and then I went off. After five days I developed what I thought was an influenza. It was an awful illness. I had intense head congestion constant coughing and my eyes started oozing mucus. I could not  breathe easily. I had coughing fits. And the sleep apnea symptoms came back every time I lay down I started to choke I woke up and had a mild panic attack. I could not sleep I was exhausted I went to my physician who said that the citalopram was probably in my tissue.  my physician gave me contrary advice to my psychiatrist who said that the citalopram does not remain in the body tissue. My physician give me albuterol and a Z pack. The Z pack did not help at all. The albuterol did help the excessive coughing but it made me jittery and made me wide-awake. This exacerbated the Insomnia   After four weeks of hell the symptoms have subsided. I lost 12 pounds and I was thoroughly dragged through the mud. I don't know how much of this is due to the citalopram but  it is clear that the  coincidences in timing are very suspicious. I am writing this to help other people try to understand what might happen if they decide to go off  citalopram. Good luck. By the way the medical profession was not very helpful to me. They basically wished me good luck. But I did survive.