Coming off citalopram. :(

Hi all

I have posted the link to those foods and hopefully the moderator will approve those

I take vitamins with probiotics but was tempted to take the non pro ones as I think they give me a lot of wind!

Still sticking with 10 mg and hoping.....

Foods that help.....

Oats. Walnuts. Am having those for breakfast.

egg whites...a well know supermkt sells tetra packs egg whites. 15 in the tetra for just over £3

Lasts a while in the fridge...

Am going to add some to my one egg omelette for lunch not only to help my levels but cholesterol and weight reduction as well...

Hi everyone, just an update on how coming off citalopram is going. I started reducing down from 20mg in august this year and am now down to 5mg and feeling more 'alive' than I have done for at least 3 years. My weight is going back down. I'm going to give my brain a couple more weeks on the 5mg as reducing to 2.5 was leading to some rather irritable moods and low feelings .

I shall try the potatoe, oats walnutsetc which interestingly I have been eating more of than usual anyway.

I'm finally sleeping better, the annoying restless legs and fluey symptoms have stopped and I,m starting tofeel more 'normal' or as close to it as I ever have been! Also my migraines have eased off, so all in all feeling more positive. Its worth remembering that if the black dog depression comes visiting again there are other anti depressents that are not nearly so difficult to come off that are worth trying.

Its worth perservering, life is for living, not just for surviving!

Hi Karen - that's great to know, maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel- I fear I will never come off 20mg- just so tired but can't sleep and if I do then I have crazy dreams and night sweats. Are there any other anti dep that I could take?

Hi Karen, I'm so pleased that things are going well for you, I thought they were for me as well until yesterday, I have been on 5mg for nearly 3 weeks and yesterday I felt strange all day, I can't really describe it and then when I sat down in the evening after my evening meal I started to shake, teeth chattering and seemed like every nerve in my body going and I had to rush to the loo, after that it went off, I thought it was a one off but exactly the same thing happened this evening, I wonder if they are withdrawal symptoms which only seem to come on when I want to relax or whether it is something else, this is how my anxiety started 2 years ago when I had bad food poisoning so it is very similar. I am in two minds whether to go back to 10mg tomorrow or is this just going to make matters worse.

Gosh that's awful cmc , I did have a weird brain spinning dizzy ataxic thing week two of 10 mg but it never happened again

I can see that is scary for you and you will be apprehensive as to what happens tomorow.

This drug has a 37 hrs elimination half life in the body

Basically that means if you takea dose now half of it will still be in your body 37 hrs later and a quarter of it 37 hours after that

So I am not sure that if this is week 3 this should affect you

If it was me I would probably give it another dose try, I take mine at bedtime...but if it happens again i would try 10 mg 5 mg 10 mg 5 mg. for couple of weeks . See how that goes

Try not to,put yourself into any anxious stressful situations

I was reading my own notes on this today where I felt irritated again at 20-10-20-10

So went back up to 20-20-10-20-20-10

Then 10 every night

Does that make sense?

Karen

I had crazy dreams at 20 but not as many now. I don't always sleep well and sometimes it's like someone's switched the light on in my brain...I think it's a woman's hormonal thing too though as lots of my friends say same thing .....and they are not on cit!

Are your sweats hormonally related ?

I'm 39 and not on any contraception so hopefully I have normal hormones. However the night sweats have been noticeable since going on citalopram 40mg 2 years ago. My whole body has changed and not for the better- I just hate being beholdent to this tiny tablet!

Thanks Gillian, I was thinking I may give 10-5 a go and see if I feel any better, I take mine in the morning and always have, funny thing is since being on 5mg I have had a better night's sleep and less dreams.

Christine..

I've been on Citalopram for over 15 years! 40mg a day. After my relationship broke up and a myriad of other things due to some of the side effects, I decided to come off them. I went down to 20mg straight away for a week, then 10mg for a week (I have two days to go) then I'll stop completely.

I've been sick with flu over the last two weeks, but think I'm coming right. The only thing I've noticed is a bit of dizziness and heightened anxiety in last couple of days and feeling nauseous. I don't know if that's related to the flu or coming off the meds.

Did anyone feel nauseous when coming off them?

I felt nauseous going on them, not off

I get like, a low grade headache pressure feeling now am reducing

HI Gillian, Clare, Christine and Kurani,

Yes I've had headaches, flu like symptoms weird dreams night sweats nausea and dizziness, the good news is the symptoms do ease off after a few weeks! Kurani I think you may be reducing a bit fast but if you can cope with the above mentioned side effects good for you.

Christine I think Gillians advice is helpful its what I have done when I've needed an extra boost as it were

and I've still managed to return to cutting down abeit more gradually than I had orignally done.

The good thing is we.re all heading in the right direction ie off citalopram however long it takes us. Best ask a Dr about alternative anti depressants just say you dont want to be put on any type of ssri, they are the ones that mess with your seratonin levels.

Another day closer to a citalopram free body, yay.

Hi Karen,

It is good to know that the horrible symptoms do go eventually, I still feel a bit odd today but I think it is getting better, what I find strange is that I went down from 20 to 15 with no trouble, had one fairly bad week from 15-10 but nothing like now, so why should it happen on the third week after dropping to 5, very strange. My partner is amytriptolene (spelling) but for pain, he seems to be able to up or lower the dose with no affects at all, I was offered these and now wish I had taken them instead of the citalopram but there we are too late now.

Hope all keeps going well

Christine

Hi all

Karen sums it up well. I agree it's too quick a reduction

I have also had the same issues where I was ok for a while on a reduced dose then wham...

It's so tempting though isn't it to think right back to 20 mg safe zone ...but keep at it and we will get there

It's great we can all feedback and support

There should be a like button!

I see my link to seratonon rich foods passed the moderator ..See about 13 posts back

Well things are going well, the dizziness has stopped and the nausea it turns out is from the antibiotics I'm on which I finish on Monday. I have one more day on Citalopram then I am off it completely, I'll give it a week or so before I say I'm side effect free

Yes I am coming off them very quickly, I discussed with my doctor before taking such a rapid approach. After so many years on them I would rather put up with a few side effects coming off them than the hell I have had while on them.

I am experiencing some low level anxiety because I've been on them for so long and despite wanting to be rid of Citalopram, it's kind of scary thinking I won't be on them anymore. Having said that, I've had years of therapy and various treatments, so I'm well prepared for what life throws at me in future.

I wouldn't necessarily recommend coming off Citalopram so quickly to others unless you feel you can deal with the symptoms that might pop up while you're coming off them.

For me it was a decision based on what has been happening in my life of late and the severity of the side effects I had while taking Citalopram.

I wish you all the best, it's so great that this forum exists. When I was first diagnosed with anxiety, the internet wasn't widely available like it is today.

Will be back in a few days for an update

Hi all I started on "c" about 10 months ago.

As I was feeling so teary after I failed to revive my dad when he collapsed at home.

I have relationship problems, major pain to my shoulder neck and back. I felt everything was too much

Finally lost my temper at my mums and decided I needed help for a bit.

My dr suggested "C" saying there are no side effects and not addictive. So I did.

I'm normally such a strong person but thought maybe I needed some help.

I now want to come off it I'm on 20mg and last Friday stopped cold turkey. I have been feeling very light headed and have trouble sleeping. Oh and the biggest reason to come of is I have gained 16kg in this short time. Which is the biggest reason I need to come off. My weight makes me more depressed than ever. I can't believe he never told me I have seen him many times he just said I'm fat

Anyone else have any suggestions.