Posted , 5 users are following.
I've been on these for five weeks and side effects have been horrendous. My depression is far worse and my anxiety levels and agitation are through the roof.
I don't want to be on them anymore and want to taper off. I'm not going to go cold turkey but I can't handle the side effects. What's the best way to taper off 20mg that I have been for five weeks now?
Thank you
0 likes, 5 replies
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jadelou93 alan82302
Posted
Hi Alan,
please try and hold on, they do make your Anxiety and Depression worse before getting better, your in the toughest week right now. Don't give up so soon! I'm on week 21 of 20mg now and honestly i remember being where you are now, feeling like things are alot worse and like it will never get better but i promise you it WILL get better. The side effects should start calming down once you get to about week 8.
With your anxiety, it will sky rocket, i was extremely bad with mine and it hit the highest its ever been at week 5-6 then it calmed down and i saw things getting more and more better after that, i still have bad days but no where near as bad, its a matter of keeping yourself distracted and keeping positive at the moment.
With Depression, again it will get worse before it gets better, but try and find something you usually enjoy to keep yourself distracted. I found Paining helped me, something to consentrate on but also calming and relaxing aswell as keeping my mind focused.
Please don't give up just yet, i know it's hard but if you fight through this rough patch i promise you will feel a lot better!
Feel free to drop me a Private Message if needed. I will try and help if i can.
Stay strong and keep positive.
Jade x
Jonesy77 alan82302
Edited
I agree with Jade. Hang on in there if you can as you will hopefully feel much better very shortly. Keeping yourself busy doing activities that require concentration can be really helpful. I do watercolour painting, wordsearches and crosswords, jigsaw puzzles and games on my tablet such as Candy Crush and Angry Birds 2. I have to force myself to do them as I have no enthusiasm for anything right now but they're really good at keeping me calm and focusing my mind on something other than my worries about how I feel and my panicky thoughts about not getting better. I also go for a long walk each day and I listen to music if I'm just going for a wander or focus on birdsong if I go out in woodland. Hope these suggestions help.
Laura
jadelou93 Jonesy77
Edited
I also play games on Tablet and play with my Kids, although not always the most joyful when they start arguing 😂 but distraction is the best thing right now 💜
red1234 alan82302
Edited
i just wanted to echo what the others have said. 5-6 weeks was my lowest point!!! i m not sure if it was because i expected to be better and was nt or because i really was worse than when i started but i can honestly say i felt like i was going insane!!! i could nt eat, i had a constant bad stomach, i was loosing so much weight........... but by about 7-8 weeks i started to feel better and things are continuing to get better now. i think i m about 17/18 weeks and 80% of days are good and considering we re in lockdown, with 2 kids homeschooling and a full time job i dont think thats too bad! i definately think once restrictions ease and we can have some level of normality again i will feel alot better. The isolation and lack of routine enables me to overthink on my bad days...... which is nt a good thing!!!! I would encourage you to stay with it a bit longer if you can.
Hope you have a better day today. I use the calm app when i m having a bad say which really helps me!!
alan82302
Edited
An update as I went ahead with coming off citalopram as the side effects were so horrendous on my five weeks on them
I have been off them for six days and whilst the depression is still there and quite bad, it's nowhere near the extreme level on them. I feel so much better. Have been running every day, none of the horrendous side effects. And for the first I actually slept last night and my head feels clear of the constant pounding and ringing.
I went from 20mg to 20mg tablet every other day in a week and stopped.