Coming off citalopram. :(

Hi k327, in answer to your question about panic attacks , yes I did experience a recurrance when I first cut back but cutting back more gradually has made a big difference. At the moment i am down to 5mg and apart from feeling irritable am ok, I have more energy and motivation than I've had since starting on them two and half years ago. I have experienced headaches , restless legs and some disturbed nights but its worth it

to know that I am feeling more alive and more like me, with all my insecurities and occasional rattiness at least I am getting on with my life again instead of feeling half alive and basically dragging myself through each day as I has been while on them and I am finally losing some of the weight I put on!

Hi Everyone. I was put on 30mg of this drug 14 months ago. I had been through nearly a year of hell, finding out my husband had been having affair with a friend, financial problems, health problems and two lively Children to care for. I did feel worse for a couple of weeks but then an amazing turnaround in my anxiety. I was able to sort through my problems, relocate to another area, settle my children into a new school. ThisDrug gave me the support to pull myself out of the awful symptoms of hideous constant anxiety. Like manyOthers I decided last month it was time to let go of this drug. I feel slightly dumb not realising the link between this drug and my two stone weight gain.! So, I have had two weeks on 20mg.... Went okay and two weeks on 10mg... Felt a bit tetchy, and since Monday have been on nothing,, last night I kept bursting into tears allNight, and am so snappy with everyone. However, I have enlisted the help of friends and family with the children and other chores so am just trying to be kind to myself and sleep and eat well. I do think it's important to support yourself with vitamins too. I guess I would just say to anyone who firstly, wants to come off this drug....get a plan in place, tell those close to you what you are preparing to do, clear the decks as much as you can, and take it slowly,, and don't be afraid if things get worse before they get better,,, your brain and body need time to adjust!! And to anyone who is considering going on this drug,,, if things are soo bad like me you could put one foot in front of the other anymore, go for it! They will help you though. X

I think you have cut back too quickly . See my posts . I am now on 10 mg which I will take for maybe two weeks then go 10-5-10-5 then 5

I may even then do 5-0-5-0

Am also on multi vitamins with probiotics and vitd3

Agree though.....the drug for me has been brilliant

Reassurance needed! My friends in reduction...

Have been on 10 mg 6 days now but this morning I had the most horrendous weird dizzy ataxic kind of experience where everything was spinning. I even put a bucket by the bed in car i was sick

Had a couple more

Yes I went onto the help sites and read similar things but written back in 2007

Am going to stick on this dose for a month I think

Just when you think you got it under control...wham

Slow slow slow

Anyone else having same issues? Vivid dreams too and the occasional freeze frame shock..although not since 15 mg

Hi Gillian,

I went down from 15mg to 10 last May, the second week on 10 was awful but after that fine but it still put me off going down to 5mg at the beginning of June which I was supposed to do, infact I have been on 10mg with no problems since that 2nd week (5 months instead of a month) and today I have taken the courage to go down to 5, I bet in a week's time I will be saying I wish I had stayed on 10, I know it was bad for a week before and I came through it and out the other side. Good Luck.. Christine.

Thanks for that Christine

It has reassured me I am not alone!

It's amazing how slowly you have to do it isn't it, considering they put you straight on 20 mg at the beginning

I shall stick to the 10mg for a month I think before reducing

I may then even try 7.5 mg nightly !! For a month

I was thinking about when I get Down to 5 that I could them maybe miss a day but I was reading that this doesn't always work so it may be careful,pill cutting to get 2.5 mg for me

Actually when I get to that I suppose it will have to do 2.5-0-2.5-0 as I can't see me cutting it any smaller!

As I keep saying to others, there's no prizes for getting off it quick as possible

Am ok now, been to work, bit dizzy at first but got through it

Thanks again

Gillian

Hi Gillian,

I'm glad you are feeling a bit better now,hopefully you are over the worst of the withdrawal side effect's I am now on the second day of 5mg, feel OK so far but it is later in the week that I will be expecting to feel odd, fingers crossed I won't. I wish I had kept on with it now earlier in the year and only done the month on 10mg, then a month on 5 then off, it would have been all over by now, as you say it isn't a race to see who can get off quickest, it is what ever feels right for you, I think I either take the plunge and get off of them completely otherwise I will be on them forever and then I will never know if I can do without them, I hope I can.

Take care,

Christine.

Hi Gillian and Christine, I've had the same experience comming down from 10 to 5 mg and managed it by alternating 5 and 10 alternate days for 2 weeks, I am now on 5mg with occasional days of 10mg when I'm feeling very low. I guess slowly is really the only way to go, its really helpful to know that other people aren experiencing similar things. At the moment my migraines are horrendous but that may just be coincidental so I'm not always sure whether feeling sick and dizzy is a result of lower doses or just the usual effects of a migraine! hey ho another week closer to being off the citalopram .I'll let you know how it goes.

just thought i would add my experiences. been on citolopram for over 6 years and down to 10mg.thought that i was taking them out of habit and my doc was pressuring me to stop.i work away from home a lot and about 4 week ago forgot to take any with me.i eventually found a chemist in finsbury park to sell me some at £12.50 for 3 ! came home and thought sod it thats it.four weeks of head aches brain buzzs no sleep,went to the docs he said its not the cit, thats out of your system now your of them,its just hay fever and he gave me a nose spray!.should i stick it out or go back on them and try again?

Hi Karen,

It seems a good idea to alternate between 5 and 10mg, slowly seems the only way, it seems so hard to come off of them, sorry to hear you are suffering terrible migraines,every pain I get I blame on the citalopram that is another reason I want to come off, at least I will know any aches and pains I get are not caused by them. I'm sure we will all get there one day. Good luck.

Hi Christine and Karen...

Well the support we give each other is really great isn't it

Makes one feel your not alone!

If I can split then I will still make my next reduction 7.5mg. Maybe even for the month...

The cutters are £2.40 super drug

It can be done with care

I feel that alternating 10-5 -10-5 may as I said give me a hi low situation

Christine ..why don't you try the 7.5 if it doesn't work for you this week?

G

Hi Gillian,

Yes it is a good idea to do that, I will see how the next few days go. I find it difficult to cut the 10mg in half with a pill cutter, this morning I had 3 pieces instead of two !!

Christine.

Line it up carefully and press firmly..but ur right..I lost a bit in the bedroom carpet last week...well u cud use that as one of your alternating doses! Waste not want not!

I'm trying to cut back on Citalapram 20mg having come down from 40mg to 30mg - which seemed relatively ok, yes I had crippling headaches and irritability and crying spells but managed to get through with the help from my boyfriend and worryingly a bit too much wine. However I felt that maybe I was ready for the next step Ive been on 20mg for 8 months and decide with help from my Dr that I could go down to 10 by doing 20mg

one day then 10 the next. Crikey it was a mistake my body did not react well to the ups and downs,

I became teary and negative and even wanted to die. I decided I needed more help and the Dr put me back on 20mg straight. Due to the negative thoughts I found myself a councillor as the online one given to me

was not beneficial it took a few weeks to become stable again (my scenario was all down to my marriage

ending in 2010 and my husband moving his pregnant girlfriend into our marital home leaving me with

nothing apart from clothes in a bin bag) The divorce came through on my birthday in 2011- I have never

fully recovered from the loss and constantly doubt myself. After being stable for 6 months I thought Id like to reduce my dose again as my weight was increasing despite not having much of an appetite and I was constantly tired. My councillor said I should shave off a tiny fraction of the tablet...tiny weeny she said and my body would naturally adjust and there would not be a big drop. However this is proving to be an

impossible task. My mood was fine for a couple of weeks in fact I was proud of reducing slowly, now

though is a different story- I spent last night hyper ventilating and sobbing uncontrollably - I'm not eating but not losing weight and I just wanted to end it all last night. I didn't and am now looking for help to come off this drug safely and slowly if possible. This morning I took 20mg and just hope that my mood

improves.

Oh dear Clare, you are having a rough time.

Too much a drop

You now realize that.

See my posts

Get a pill cutter and do 20-15-20-15

Best with 10 mg tablets but can carefully be done if you only have 20 mg

Good luck