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Citalopram - seeking advice coming off cit

Posted , 3 users are following.

bee80381
bee80381

Hi everyone,

Im looking for some advice please. I know that your GP is the first 'go to' but i would really like to get some advice based on the personal experience of others.

I have been on Citalopram for almost 8 months now.

I (very reluctantly) started taking it after my depression and anxiety became so bad it started seriousely interfering with my ability to live a normal life (going to uni, seeing friends, leaving the house, getting out of bed, doing anything that didnt involve fretting about things). I had a series of very stressfull and upsetting events (all unrelated) happen at once and it just all got too much so after A LOT of coaxing from my GP (i have never needed medication before) reluctantly agreed to accept some help. (The stressfull events included caring for a relative with dimantia, accademic studies,and sa child in the family diagnosed with terminal cancer/treatment).

Over the past few months i have felt a lot better - not amazing, but functioning and i am able to face the world and drag myself out of bed and am far more sociable.

The stressfull events in my life have not changed - they are ongoing, but i feel far more able to cope with them now. I know its not going to be forever and sometimes we just have to be strong.

I would like to come off Citalopram now, i have been on 20mg pd for 8 months.

Side effects i have had have been weight gain ( up 2 stone), AWEFULL acne (that has left bad scares) and difficulty concentrating.

I know we are all different but i would really like to hear from others who have come off citalopram and what your experiences have been, and also if anyone has experienced the side effects i mentioned and the difference coming off cit made please?

Thank you all smile 

  

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • amy75782
    amy75782 bee80381

    Posted

    The best advice I have it make sure you are ready. My GP told me the biggest mistake people make is thinking they feel better but really you need to stay on it for another 6 months after feeling yourself.

    If you do decide it's the right time the slower you come off the better. The eithdrawl effects are quite bad feeling dizzy was the worst one for me. It took me about a month to come off 10mg.

    I went back on them more or less straight away, but everybody is different.

  • Capodingos
    Capodingos bee80381

    Posted

    The side effects I had from citalopram were difficultly getting to sleep, which made me feel very tired and had difficulty concentrating at work. I also had put on weight, over 3 stones.

    I had been on them for years due to difficulty stopping due to withdrawal symptoms, which I always used to think was the depression and anxiety returning.

    When reducing the dose it is best to do it very slowly, or the withdrawal effects could make you feel worse than you did initially.

    I felt I had more energy and motivation as I was reducing the dose, but also my moods were all over the place which I found hard to cope with and felt very tearful or bad tempered at times.

    I have been off them for several months now and am sleeping better but my anxiety is a lot higher than when taking them, but stopping the citalopram coincided with a couple of very stressful situations which are ongoing so I will never know how it would have been otherwise.

    Some people suggest that taking tablets on alternate days is one way to cut down, but it was bad for me and made the withdrawal symptoms worse. Unfortunately many GPs underestimate the withdrawal effects. I got 10mg tablets from the GP and cut them into quarters, to reduce the dose by 2.5mg at a time, I then took the same dose every day for at least two weeks until I felt things had stabilised. I got some clear empty pill capsules from ebay to put the pieces of tablets in and made up a weeks worth at a time. As you have been taking them a for a shorter time it may be possible to reduce the dose faster, and it may be easier for you, but it is best to be cautious and if it feels bad then take it more slowly. One symptom I had when reducing too fast was the 'brain zaps' or electric shock sensations which are strange but not as bad as the uncontrolled emotions, anxiety and depression.

    Hope it is easier for you, but make sure you feel ready to stop, and discuss it with your GP.

  • David_21660
    David_21660 bee80381

    Posted

    Hi Bee,

    Some good advice there and interesting for me as well because, when I see the doctor in two weeks she may start to reduce me from 40mg to ? If she says I am ready. I may be able to come off or stop at 10mg for the forseeable. I feel better however, it must be a slow and gradual reduction under her supervision. She knows all about "sticking plasters for the brain" so, I am lucky and no way would I reduce myself, not without consultation. Has the side effects been taken into consideration?

    Anyway, good luck, just remember that as you say unfortunately those upsets in your life are still there and will you be able to cope without it? Do you have support yourself?

    We wish you well whatever you decide and pray things get better.

    Regards,

    David 

  • bee80381
    bee80381

    Posted

    Thank you all for the advice. My GP is all for stopping them and i feel ready too. The 'plan' is to do it over 1 month. So down to 10mg for 7 days, 10mg every other day, then every 3 days ect...and changing things if i need too.

    I am on day 3 of going down to 10mg from 20mg and it hasnt been great rolleyes  Today i was honestly a bit worried that i might be having a stroke (i know it sounds extreme) i had horrible pins and needles in my fingers and toes and all over my face and couldnt speak properly and was sick.

    I am a migraine sufferer so that had crossed my mind but although it was similar it was different! 

    • Capodingos
      Capodingos bee80381

      Posted

      Sorry to hear to you are not feeling well.

      20mg to 10mg is quite a big step, I was unsuccessful reducing by that amount, and 1 month sounds a short time scale, unfortunately GPs often don't fully appreciate the withdrawal effects as the drug companies try to understate them. The withdrawal effects might feel too much to deal with If done too fast or that the depression/anxiety is returing.

      The withdrawal effects will slowly reduce over a few weeks, but it is much easier if you can cut the 10mg tablets into two and go back up to 15mg for a time (a couple of weeks or more) until you feel OK, then to 10mg, then 5mg.

      I found on days I skipped a dose I felt worse (brain zaps), and it was better to take the same dose every day. I actually reduced by quarter tablets, 2.5mg at a time which minimised the physical symptoms but my moods were still all over the place. I had optical migraines when reducing less than 5mg, and took a small fragment about 1/8th of a tablet for the final dose.

      Antidepressants are sometimes prescribed to prevent migraines as they are linked to serotonin levels.

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