Coming off citalopram. :(

Hi,

Reading these last few posts has given me encouragement to keep on with the reduction .....as I too felt once the initial 3 weeks had passed that I could gladly stay on it forever !

But I do worry about the long term effects as discussed and that the longer your on it the worse it can be

Thanks for the vertigo comments, I just thought that was my post menopausal me but obviously not

I was going to take myself down to 10-5-10-5 next. I think I felt better at 10 daily to be honest and even better at 20.....but is that the drug talking, yes weight gain and libido were/ are problems for me too. I hadn't quite realised the weight issue to be honest until I started loosing with no difference in my gym routine

I too have been tempted to see go back to 20 mg but in the long term I can see that's not good

I do feel I am becoming irritable again especially with my husband. Is that me or the withdrawal...but men can be senseless at the best of times ha ha!

This support is helpful thank you

I also meant to ask again as no one ever replied....can we be permanently low on seratonin?

If the drug produces more for us.....do we just go back to square one when off it?

Any thoughts anybody?

Hi Gillian,

Like you I am also wondering if the effects I am feeling are withdrawal or me, and is this is how I am going to be for ever more, hope not. I wonder also about the seratonin levels, just wish someone had all the answers but it seems like even the GP's haven't.

Hi Gillian,

I spoke to my Psychologist at length about "Serotonin Syndrome" as it's now know. There is evidence to suggest that the drug does stop the brain from being able to produce it's own serotonin levels so that you become dependent on it. I'm not sure over what time period this happens or if it's dependent on the person which I think it would be.

There is also a lot of study being done now showing it is possible to retrain the brain and re grown the synapse pathways in the brain even after severe strokes. And it all has to do with repetition. So the theory is that you can also train your brain to product serotonin again but it will take a few months. Google this subject for more info. Hope it helps. x

With regards to your weight lose - did you loose weight going from 20mg to 10mg? because I didn't notice any difference in my weight and still haven't dropped anything. Even though I'm now on 0 and have been at the gym and seeing a dietician. I am desperate to lose some kgs.

My personal experience of this Serotonin thing is that (once you stop taking Cit) it's levels go all over the place - up and down - for quite some time but today (well over a year or two,, oh I dunno it was a while ago) I feel just like I am still on Cit, so for me I feel that it's levels have recovered to the point that it is more (than when I started Cit) rather than less

Hello

I have been on Cit for 8 years now for my OCPD. I started at 20mg and the past 3 years I have been on 40mg. I have tried to stop 3 times on my own. The first time I wanted to stop I asked the dr. and she said she thought I should stay on it for longer and this was a couple years into it. It has helped because before I started taking it I was let go from at least two jobs because of being late. Every time I tried to walk out the door, I would see things out of place and start messing with them and then I would see something else I needed to do and I could never get out of the house even though I knew I had to be at work on time. I haven't been late since those times but I am constantly tired and have no energy most times. I have never gained weight. The longest I have been off of Cit is about 3 weeks. The last time I tried to stop it I ended up at the hospital because the withdrawl was so horrible. I could not function normally...the dizziness was the worst and the feeling of being there but I'm not really there because I am totally out of it. I missed work and I was no good to take care of my kids because I couldn't even be up long enough to fix dinner. It was the worst feeling ever. I also had my first anxiety attack at about the 3 week mark. That's when I went back on Cit because I couldn't deal with it.

I want to be off this medicine. I think I need something different because ever since I had the first anxiety attack in 2012, I pretty much have a slight one almost every day. The bad ones that I have are so bad I cannot even eat because I feel like my throat is closing. About 6 months ago all I could eat for a week was yogurt because it was the only thing I didn't feel like I was going to choke on. My dr gave me clonzapam .5mg to take when I have the attacks. Seriously I want these attacks to be under control. I hate them and I feel like my OCPD is controlled to a point that I can deal with it positively. I have learned ways to deal with it from group therapy and one on one counseling. Now I am just having problems with the anxiety. I hate Cit, it is the worst drug a dr. can give a person without fully counseling them on it. Instead, they just say to take this pill and it will help you. They don't tell you that it is hell to try to get off of it.

I forgot to take it last night for the first time in a couple of years and by 6pm tonight I was starting to feel horrible. How can I get off this crap?? I've been on it so long, is it even possible to be normal when I am completely off it?

Hi, I know some of you have gone back to 10mg for a while after being on 5mg , how did you find this did it help and did you have side effects? I just wonder as I have not been doing too well on 5mg, I have now been on it for 5 weeks and my stomach has started to get really upset plus headaches almost every day and feeling dizzy, and I went to see the GP this morning and he has told be to up it to 10mg for about 5 months, I just wonder how those of you who have done this got on. Thanks

Hi All,

It's day 8 of cold turkey. I was on 20mg and now nothing.

It's not good. I think the recommended gradual decreased dose is the way forward unless you can afford to feel incapacitated for an unforeseeable amount of time. I'm dizzy, dizzy, dizzy. And I feel starving all the time. I'm up and down emotionally but not yet super down. I'm tired from the weird zaps and twitches. That's the bad.

The good is I have miraculously lost 4lbs from doing nothing. I have also been googling Tryptophan.

It's a naturally occurring amino acid that is generally present in most super healthy foods. It is known for it's holistic properties in general but it is specifically known for this one thing it does better than all other things.

It actively and naturally encourages the body to up it's seratonin production. Not only that, it has been studied and shown to augment the effects of SSRI's.

So, for those who are decreasing their doses, up the foods containing Tryptophan and this will ease the withdrawal symptoms. For those who have leapt before looking like me, get thee to a sushi restaurant and gobble up a seaweed salad.

From Wikipedia:

Tryptophan is a routine constituent of most protein-based foods or dietary proteins. It is particularly plentiful in chocolate, oats, dried dates, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, red meat, eggs, fish, poultry, sesame, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, spirulina, bananas, and peanuts.[16] Despite popular belief[citation needed] that turkey has a particularly high amount of tryptophan, the amount of tryptophan in turkey is typical of most poultry.[17] There is also a myth that plant protein lacks tryptophan; in fact, tryptophan is present in significant amounts in almost all forms of plant protein, and abundant in some.

Tryptophan has shown some effectiveness for treatment of a variety of other conditions typically associated with low serotonin levels in the brain.[23] In particular, tryptophan has shown some promise as an antidepressant alone[24] and as an "augmenter" of antidepressant drugs.

Your doing fantastically well!! Caroline, am on day nine/ten can't remember also cold turkey.. Feeling ya pain with the dizzy spells, hopefully they'll ease soon, am not hungry at all though.. Sickness not great for me. I tried previously reducing 60-50 day on day.. I think any kind of reduction presents it's self with withdrawal symptoms.. I'm finding that if I work relentless then I can sleep, but again that's presenting exhaustion and grumpiness. I'm taking Vit c and b complex with b12 as b12 if a lacking vit in depression.. Crap day for me today though really sick this am and off work with lethargy and a rotten headache. I am glad I was on the tablets, they helped me when I needed it. These symptoms we are all going through just that. I know my body will return to normal eventually. We all need to hang in there. Am glad for this forum to know I'm not imagining the symptoms.

Xx

Cmc

I wud be interested to know too......was thinking of dropping again but I feel am getting irritated and not so calm. I wonder if I wud be better on 10-5-10-5 as it evens the dose levels

Am not really wanting to go to 10 daily

Caroline

Thanks for tryptophan Info

That's true and Iposted a link to foods that boost levels maybe cple weeks back but that reinforces it

I love sushi!

Hello

I have just joined this forum as I am desperate for advice. I am on day 8 of not taking Citalopram and feel so ill I I don't know what to do. I am at home with 2 small children and can't even leave the house. Do I carry on cold turkey or do I take citalopram and get off them slowly. I have never known anything so bad... flu symptoms dizzy fog tiredness emotions all over the place. I hurt. What should I do? If I take one will I feel better or worse. Help please x

Hey Dreamlina,

You need to try and figure out whether you are experiencing side effects from going off the drugs or if you are having a return to the reasons you started to take them in the first place.

As far as side effects go, I had all the ones you have described. Including a few brain zingers as well.

I am now on day 11 cold turkey and I have up Tryptophan in my diet (seaweed and dark chocolate, yum!) and also started taking a low (temporary) dose of Stemetil to combat the feelings of vertigo. I feel a billion times better.

Stay strong, you are not alone.

Thank you so so much. Definitely side effects. I started taking them for post natal depression so am fine now. Almost 2 years on. Just wondering how long it will take to go or if I would be better starting them again? My doctor gave me Cyclisone which helps a little. I just can't do anything anything physically.

Thank you so much for replying and well done to you. X

I don't know why anyone goes cold turkey

That is why your problems are happening

Is that what your GP told you?

You have to do this very very slowly

I started reducing July 8th and am still doing so

Cyclizine is just an antiemetic...stops you being sick

I am quite appalled he has dealt with it this way

I agree with Gillian- it's not a race- there's no need to go cold turkey- slow reduction is the key and I'm even finding that difficult. Why would anyone want to suffer headaches, brain freezes, aches, emotional times if they don't have to!