1. Community
  2. Mental health
  3. Sertraline

Citalopram to sertraline

Posted , 4 users are following.

clare_sturdee
clare_sturdee

Hi ive been on citalopram for almost 2 months and have decided to ask my gp to change my meds as the side effects of the citalopram are not subsiding...shes putting me on sertraline 50mg but has told me to start coming off the citalopram 20mg by taken it once every other day for 6 days before starting on my new meds. Has anyone else had to chamge their meds half way through treatment and if so where the side effects still there or did they subside?

Any advice would be much appreciated

Thanks

Clare

0 likes, 7 replies

7 Replies

  • a-new-day
    a-new-day clare_sturdee

    Posted

    hi, i've done that quite a few times myself, and there is hopefully a good chance whatever side effect was troublesome for you with citalopram , wont be there with sertraline

    i took citalopram in the past myself, but seemed to be tired a lot,  but i dont get tiredness on sertraline (but others might, it's kind of a hit and miss thing finding the right med for you)

    note: i take my sertraline in the morning.. and on starting i had some tiredness for the first week or two but then it went away

    • clare_sturdee
      clare_sturdee a-new-day

      Posted

      Hiya...thanks for replying...ive had sore heads like someones squeezing it on either side. Not sleeping, tingling in my feet and hands...no energy and always tired...i was on citalopram before and never had any of these side effects. This time round its been constant for 6 weeks. Just worried going from one tablet to another. I thought id need to get one out of my system before starting another tbh.
    • a-new-day
      a-new-day clare_sturdee

      Posted

      the opinions and advice about antidepressants seem to vary quite a bit between doctors, but personally speaking (as advised by my doctor), if i am switching to an antidepressant of the same family (eg. the SSRI's), and i dont have any over-the-top side effects going on, i just take the new med the following day instead of the previous one i was taking.  i dont taper off the previous one first ...

      especially if on the standard doses (standard dose of citalopram is 20mg,  standard dose of sertraline is 50mg to start for a few weeks and then can go up in the dose if necessary)

      it does sound u are having quite a few side effects going on with citalopram, so maybe taper off a bit first to be safe, as recommended by your doctor

    • clare_sturdee
      clare_sturdee a-new-day

      Posted

      Hiya...thanks for your reply...ive started tapering off the citalopram as advised my my dr. I felt great not taking it for one day. Took one today and i feel like poop. Sometimes feel if i really need these things cause they just seem to cause more trouble for me rather than improve my symptoms 😕
  • iris46
    iris46 clare_sturdee

    Posted

    Up till 2 weeks ago I had been taking 200mg Sertraline/day for 14 weeks and they did absolutely nothing for me. My doctor then prescribed citalopram. I took my last 200 of Sertraline on the Tues morning and started 20mg citalopram on Wednesday without any problem. Since then I'm up to 30 mg and next week 40. Personally I found Sertraline had worse side effects tbh. I was worried about the straight swap but the doc said I'd be fine because I was continuing with another med in the ssri range. Don't worry....you'll be fine

    • clare_sturdee
      clare_sturdee iris46

      Posted

      Hi there...my Dr prescribed me these as an alternative to citalopram because of the extreme side effects im getting from citalopram. Im not sleeping great at night either even though im tired. I really hope i find something that works for me. Thanks for the reply xx
  • jeremy40060
    jeremy40060 clare_sturdee

    Posted

    Hi clare..

    Hope you doing ok!! Im glad you are weening yourself off slowly from Citalopram...good choice!!

    How are you coping so far by moving to sertraline 50mg ?

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.