Citalopram withdrawal - help?

i am hoping for some good news on withdrawl symptoms, ive had them for two weeks now, reduced from 20mg to 10mg then off completly. flue like symptoms, dizzyness is the worse feeling, moods swings but not too bad. its the trippy dizzyness and the flash buzzing head pains and feeling of flloating, driving me mad.

anyone got a clue apporox' how long will this last ?

I have been on citalopram 20mg . I didn't seem to be benefiting from it anymore so I stopped. My depression and mood have hit rock bottom. Looking back, I wish I would  have switched to a different antidepressant treatment. 

Hi Laura,

Everything you mentioned is exactly what I'm going through now.  I started on citalopram in Feb 2007.  A few years ago I was up 60mg a day when my life and marriage was falling apart and I was self destructive, suicidle and drinking/drugging. During the bad times I was able to get to a stage when the right buttons were pushed, I would have no fear of verbally abusing someone even though as a small person I knew I would have had to take a beating and just didn't care!  Even the partner I had at the time would get so scared because she knew I had no concern for self preservation and I couldn't control it.  (We were both drinking everyday) I've smashed up the kitchen, smashed down locked doors and passed out on the side of the road beside my motorbike with my helmet still on!  Amazing how it affects the brain!  My dizzy spells can make me feel sick and I've lost a lot of weight.  I've spent the last few weeks weening off my 20mg dose because everything has settled down and I'm away from the life that was causing my grief, but I too feel like crying all the time or expolding with anger!  I am seeing a counceller and also am considering anger management because I sometimes feel that I may have the capacity to do something bad to someone.  So after 9 years on this drug I am hoping the side effects back off soon!

Also, I've been using valium to try and even out my mood and the dizzy spells....seems to work, especially with couple of wines!

I've been on antidepressants for almost 20 year, and Citralopram for the last three. I rotate because they start to lose their punch. I suffer from anxiety and depression that exercising 4-5 times a week and staying busy doesn't touch. I finally stopped taking this medication because the depression was becoming debilitating. I slowly weened down and then stopped. The first two weeks I felt better than I ever have in my life. I was happy, able to be spontaneous and go places. My relationship with my husband of 25 years was amazing. I felt normal for the first time in my life. Now Im almost at the end of week three and the depression is hitting me hard. The first two weeks my emotions were always there and I cried easily, but I was so happy I didn't care. Now I feel extremely tired, am not sleeping too well, and I just feel sad. I think the worst part was thinking that I was finally after so many years I was blessed to be a normal person, and now I'm back to the struggle. I'm so frustrated. On the meds I started feeling numb and it was hard to cry. I felt detached from most things and avoided all situations. I don't want to go back to that. I'm an extreme introvert so depression and anxiety just make this worse. I need to get my act together because I have a daughter who is 20 and is with me 24-7 because of a traumatic brain injury that has left her like a permanent 4 year old. I put on a happy face for her and my husband everyday, but I just want to go to bed and cry. Like I said before I exercise, eat healthy, take vitamins, go to church and feel like I'm doing everything on my part to be happy....but I'm not. 

Hasn't anyone anything positive to say about coming off Citalopram?!  I have used this medication for anxiety on and off over the last 10 years or so, and found it easy to discontinue.  However 20 mgs was my highest dose and I find 10 works best.  I reduce on docors instructions by using one every other day, and then tapering off slowly.  Thank God I have not had any major problems.  I have a very stressfulcareer, and when I find my anxiety becoming crippling, I just go back on.  I hope you're feeling better now Laura.

I have also heard very good reports of using 5-HTP intead of SSRI'S - and also acupuncture to help aleviate withdrawal symptoms.  Hope this helps.

Hi everyone,

I started taxing paroxetine back in November of last year and after reading about the horrifying long-term effects, I started to wean off of it. I was prescribed 10mg and took it for a month, reduced the dosage to 5mg and my mood didn't seem to worsen. I then decided to reduce the dosage to 2.5mg, took it for two weeks and then decided to stop completely.

It was the worst feeling ever. Crying spells, loss of concentration, and felt weird when people were talking to me. I went to see the doctor and she switched the medication to citalopram. I took it for a few days but I was afraid I was going to get addicted, so I decided to quit after the 4th day of taking it. As the days progressed the symptoms just kept getting worse so decided to take the full 10mg.

I took the 10mg of Citalopram for about 24 days. About 10 days ago I decided to reduce the dosage to 5mg, again because of my fear to get addicted, and the first few days the symptoms reamined the same but for the past 3 days I have been getting massive headaches, crying spells and the loss of concentration has been worsening.

I recently started a new job and I can't seem to concentrate at all. I have been making careless mistakes and this can determinental as the tasks are accounting to related. The worse of all of this is the headaches and the lack of concentration. I am not sure if I should go back to 10mg or continue with 5mg for a few more weeks.

I seriously do not know what to do. I don't want to back to the doctor because I know for a fact she will try to increase the dosage and that is the exact opposite of what I am trying to do.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. I do not want this to interfere with my new job and I want these massive headaches to just stop as they are unbearable.

Thank you in advance!

Hello,

I just wanted to share my experience.

I started a taking 10mg citalopram dose almost two years ago.

Last January I thought I didn't need them anymore so I decided to stop taking them. i didn't stop cold turkey but I decreased the dose. It took me almost two months. I thought I wasn't gonna have any side effects because of the long decreasing process, but I was wrong. 

The first week, apart from the phisical effect such as dizziness, sweating and flu like symptoms, my emotions were very accentuated. I was likely to have anxiety and get very paranoid.

Two days of the second week were the worst. I couldn't get out of bed and I had depression symptoms like I didn't care about anything and anyone, I was extremely sad, I had sucidal thoughts and no sex drive. 

I also had a few crisis such as screaming and punching whatever I could find in the middle of the street. I was lucky to be with a friend so he stopped me from doing that.

They weren't really panic attacks but more of abstinence crisis. It was really weird as I wasn't really my self in that moment. It felt like the emotions possesed me.

I remember having anxiety, sadness and fear feeling all of them at the same time. It was awful. I was so sick of it.

The third week it was better although I still had anxiety. For that I took rescue remedies as I didn't want to take valium or any other chemical substance which could have created another addiction. I was also really sad and I thought that was it. That was what I would have felt like for the rest of my life. But that wasn't true.

At the end of the thrid week I suddenly started to feel better.

I just want to advise you to really make an effort to get out and have some fresh air. Eat healthy, have someone like a friend or family or a partner to talk to as support is really important to get through it.

It's also important that you keep reminding yourself that if you feel sad, anxious or scared is only because your body is not used to not have the medicines support.

I would also reccommend to really think about before taking antidepressants. Think if you can do without it and therapy maybe is the only right medicine. If I'd go back in time I wouldn't probably take them.

I'm on my fourth week at the moment and I feel way better. But I know that my body still needs to get better. It started to produce serotonin again but I know that from now on it will only get better. Always bear this in mind.

I'm still bit scared of going out with friends but I know that I need to make an effort. 

If you stopped taking antidepressants, even if it take 3 months to stop them completely remeber that if you feel sad it's only for a phisical reason not because you are actually sad. You need your body to heal from it.

Nico

 

Hi all

Looks like it's been 7 months since the last post.

Would be really interested too see how everyone is doing now?

My back storey as quick as I can.... Choose to go on the Mariena coil after having my second daughter after 1 year gained 1 stone, started feeling very anxious and depressed. ( suffered with both years ago so presumed it was just returning) another 6 months of trying to cope on my own I decided it was time for some help. Went to my GP who prescribed citalapram. 10mg to start. Felt horrible at first then upped it to 20mg. Gained another 1.5 stone over the next 6 months. It helped in a way but the weight gain was starting to bother me. (I'd just lost all my baby weight and some, 3 stone 11 lbs!) as I wrote this I've gained it all back 😒😒

Done some research and turns out that the coil can make you feel depressed and anxious and can make you put on weight 1/4 women apparently.

So I've had the coil taken out and have been weaning very slowly off the citalapram. I was cutting my 10mg pill into half and then again so 2.5mg every other day. Recently I was leaving two days in between and now I've decided to stop. I'm on day 4 and I feel like hell!!

This has taken MONTHS to do this I've gone as slowly as possible after doing lots of research on line. I've been on he drug less than a year and never went on more than 20mg.

Side effects so far are feeling sick, visiting the toilet A LOT! Brain zaps as I've seen them called and the dizziness is just awful, I'm so so tired but luckily I'm sleeping ok. It's bank holiday Monday here in the UK I can hear my husband and kids downstairs and I'm in bed with the room spinning. It's half term now and we have lots planned I'm worried now I'm not going to be able to leave the house feeling this ill 😔😔😔

Please please someone tell me this all stops soon and the weight will just magically drop off??? 😳😳 I know I'm asking a lot 😂😂

Hope everyone is well xx

Ok it's not been 7 months lol

For some reason I couldn't see new threads until i registered!

Going thru same thing.  On Citalopram about 5 yrs....tapered off slowly and it's been 4 wks since being off completely.  Feel so off.  Memory bad, irritable ,feel like I'm in a fog.  Wondering how you are doing.