Citalopram Side Effects and Withdrawal

Posted , 4 users are following.

I was on Citalopram from August 2017 to June 2018. I decided to taper off of them because I didn’t like how I felt on them. I have had a pill for just over 5 weeks now. 

While on the medicine, I was definitely less panicked. However, I had a pretty constant feeling of being out of it, like being drugged or spaced out. I had this before I started the medicine so I was hoping it would help. The other really bad symptom I had was this weird dizziness and vertigo. I was dizzy before I started, but a few weeks in I remember I had rapid feeling in my head before bed like my head was moving. This turned into an awful vertigo sensation that hits hard when I lay down. It feels like I’m spinning or my body parts are moving or being pulled, and makes it hard to sleep sometimes. 

Anyway, I came off because I thought I’d feel better without the medicine. Wrong! The symptoms are still there and a little worse, and I’ve felt more panicked. While I can totally deal with the anxiety, this dang dizzy feeling is driving me insane. Anyone else have anything similar to this? Is it only withdrawal? I’ve heard that it can take 3 months to get over withdrawal, I just get less hopeful that it’ll go away the longer it persists, especially since I’ve been not well for over a year. I will add that my balance has also been wonky, last night was the worst as I almost fell on the stairs twice. 

One last weird thing that has been happening to me is that my brain seems super aware of my movements, or at least that’s how I would explain it. Like when I lay down, the movements my body makes while breathing will make me feel like I’m moving/off balance and will sometimes startle me as I’m trying to drift off. 

Thanks in advance for any replies.

0 likes, 19 replies

19 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi Jeff, I have experienced what I would describe is feeling drunk especially upon waking up. Dizziness and vertigo feelings too. Everyone recovers differently including length of time, hang in there it can take time to settle.
    • Posted

      Thanks, Paula. Though I’ve never been drunk, I’ve also described it to others as feeling drunk. My biggest fear is always that I have some other serious condition or something, so it’s reassuring to hear that you experienced dizziness and vertigo as well. I’m really trying to hang in there. Thanks for your reply. 
  • Posted

    Hi there , sounds like this could be withdrawal, did you come off them slowly by cutting down doasage gradually?
    • Posted

      I was on 20mg for 2.5 months, then went up to 30mg for the rest of treatment. In May, I went down to 20mg for 2 weeks, then 10mg for 2 weeks. So I went from 30mg to nothing in 4 weeks. 
    • Posted

      No wonder your have all those issues..you wean way too fastttt..
    • Posted

      And now your suffering the consequences..I love my phychiatrist ..but I love this forum more... praying for your recovery ..
    • Posted

      Oh Jeff, thats a quick drop, I went from 30mg to 20mg due to a health scare and I ended up in bed for the best part of a month. Took a good 3 months to settle. We are all different though.
    • Posted

      Ugh, great. Well I’m praying I recover soon, all I want is to feel normal, guess it’s too much to ask for.
    • Posted

      If you get any worst .. reinstate a small dosage..iam sure your phychiatrist will approve..
    • Posted

      Yep! Way too quick! The correct tapering is over a much longer time then that. X
    • Posted

      I really do hear you jeff!  I just went with it, am not going to lie it really took its toll on me but I was determind, so put my life on hold for months, and didnt want to take any other meds to assist the withdrawal, I do wonder if I was wrong there, even so my final tapering is going to be really slow I dont care if it takes me a year, am not going through that again.
    • Posted

      IAM with you on that one Paula ..take your sweet time the mental and physical pain is not worth it..a year sounds perfect...
    • Posted

      Hi Lois, hope alls good with you, I think I might have a water infection. Do you know any antibiotics that don’t interfere with citalopram 10mg. 

      Yours hopefully 

      Jacquie x

    • Posted

      Iam pretty sure that you can take the ones that are penicillin..not really sure though..check with your doctor..the ones that are not related penicillin can make you feel weird ..again check with your doctor.
    • Posted

      Thank you so much Lois, I’m off to my appointment soon x

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