Coming off citalopram. :(

Hi Tarn

I reported a few months ago to go to a lower dose if you have problems reducing. I did mean a HIGHER dose. Silly me. For example I reduced from alternating 5 one night and 2.5 the next to an even 2.5 dosage and didn't feel great at all. My pharmacist recommended to go back to the higher dose of 5, 2.5 ,5, 2.5mg for three months and I felt immediately better when I did so. She recommends to go back to the higher dosage you felt stable on for a good length of time, which for me was three months, before you begin reducing again. Just a tip to assist you when reducing slowly in order to avoid reduction symptoms.

Good luck with the slow reduction. Look at the long picture. Time passes and things change. It is such a bonus if you can avoid the reduction syndrome. Gillian has described in detail how a number of us are reducing without too many problems.

It's not nice to hear other people suffering the withdrawl symptoms, they will most def ease then go, but we do have to kick ourselves up the bum, and not just sit and be overcome by them, we have to go on even if we are struggling, if it feels the time us right to stop them. Then we will, a couple of people have spoken about the importance of exercise, and I couldn't agree more. Am now on week 4, cold turkey for me, it's been HELL!! It is for the mass, however one thing that has massively speeded it along is the cycling, I bike a very hilly 4 miles to work and from work 5 days a week, and just getting on my bike and biking my anger, or sadness out has been enough.

Am not suggesting suddenly we all start cycling, but anything that gets us motivated is a positive,

And trust me some days I thought fook it.. Am going to start taking them again, but I haven't, been so much to come off them.

I also had bad acid reflux the Renne did not help one bit, so I stuck half teaspoon white wine vinegar in a glass water and 3 days later all cleared up!.

The long term picture is the only way to look forward. Small steps, yes, but if you've come quite far then don't go back!!!!

Drs seem to happy to give the cit away so easily, maybe some cases just need some cognitive therapy.

Don't give up or give in..

Stay strong

Xx

Hello,

New to this group and happy to have found it. I have been on Celexa for almost two years as well as trazodone. I am hoping to go off the celexa but am worried about the anxiety attacks happening again.

I am just hoping to hear some success stories of ppl who have come off and regained their libido back as well as control over weight gain.

Thanks!

Hi Char1963, I've managed to get off celexa following advice from this forum, by cutting back gradually I avoided the truly scary side affects I had experienced when trying to come off 2 years ago and the panic attacks have not returned. I imediately lost 5 lbs in weight have so much more energy and motivation, go for it I wish you success, slow reduction works best.

Hi everyone, have been on 40mg for 18mths and decided to go the cold turkey way, stupid i know. Ist been 5days or so and i feel terrible, fuzzy head, muscle ache, tearfullness and just crap. Should i stick with it or what?

Anybody?

Hi ged43598 I was on 40mg for a year but am coming off slowly and even that is a nightmare! Think going cold turkey is very brave but are you expecting too much of yourself? I'm reducing by 10mg every two weeks. Why don't you try taking a smaller dose then reduce like me. Let me know what you think and why you have decided to come off them.

Julie

HI julie33343, thanks for the reply. I guess the main reason is because A. idont want to be on them forever and also even when on them i feel numb and during the day i get really realy tired. I drive for a living and its not good somedays when the tiredness kicks in. I have also put on about 2 stone which is not good. I just want to feel like me again without the drugs, do you know what i mean?

Yes ged43598 I know what you mean sounds just like me. So sick of feeling like this-so tired all the time and people find it difficult to understand. Worry that you coming off so quickly isn't good for you. Take care.

Hi ged43598, the symptoms you are suffering are normal, personal opinion is that you've done 5 days cold turkey, that's fab, if it was me I would continue with the cold turkey, but that's just me.

The symptoms do disapate after time, however if your symptoms are stopping you functioning properly the just go onto say 20mg.

I'm now 5 weeks, I get the odd fuzzy head, but it's just "light" and it doesn't last.

If you can continue cold turkey and having a especially bad day, just remind yourself why you've stopped, and give yourself some credit for doing an amazing job! Because you are

Try to do something you enjoy, and get some gentle exercise to, that helps enormously .

I hope that helps a little

Xx

Hi kat99794, Thanks again, i think i am going to continue with it and with the advice here i will do it, RTeally good to have somewhere like this coz it does hepl, thanks again

Sorry for the bad typing by the way

Hey ged43598, this is a great forum, I think for me it was a god send to see that I wasn't the only one going through crap.. And I saw some people had worse symptoms than me.. And the collective knowledge is immense.

Can't stress enough how hard it is though, and on the down days it can be exhausting, and if you do need to go on a lower dose then do that, just reduce them gradually, it doesn't mean you've failed at all, just means your body isn't quite ready for complete exclusion of the cit..

The bad days get further apart, the good ones get closer together..

Stay strong

Xx

First off, thank you so much to all of you brave people for sharing your stories. To go on anti-depressants/anti-anxiety prescription is such a brave step - and to come off even braver.

My story starts 8 years ago when a close friend committed suicide (7 years after her husband). The terrible thing is they both sought advice from a GP who immediately prescribed them with anti-depressants. What happened (and this outcome strangely was reported in Time magazine shortly after my friends death) is people expect the drugs to be a quick fix - when they don't see an overnight turnaround in their mood/ feelings, they get even more disillusioned and take their lives.

So for those of you who have been to really dark places - you have come along way if you're reading this now and that is the biggest thing to be thankful for. And what I have to remember is throughout all of this you still have a choice. One of the biggest choices is to either cultivate feelings of despair (not fun) - or turn your thoughts to something more positive - like everything in your life you have to be thankful and happy for. A great book to get you into this mindset is 'The Power of Raargh' by Keith Holden! Seeing a psychotherapist or any natural healer is also the most amazing support system - but reading a motivating self development book means its at the tip of your fingertips anytime you need a boost. And exercise is incredible for me - boost your endorphins and makes you feel you've achieved something (even though I'm sitting here still in bed putting off a run)!!!!!!!!

5 years after my friends suicide, 2 job redundancies, 1 relationship breakdown I realised I was super tired of being dark and needed something stronger than St Johns Wort and a boost to my reading/exercise/therapy regime.

Wow - what I realised was that I probably had been prone to depression all my adult life and the recent events had just made me address it. I was very very anti GP prescribed drugs - but I was thankful they made me see what a more emotionally balanced and rational mindstate I could achieve. One of my big things is guilt too - when my friend told me she had sought GP advice and was taking medication I was angry she hadn't tried therapy or natural therapies first. I could have been more support to her. What upsets me the most is GPs do not consult with the patients support network and do not advise therapy in conjunction. With this overarching treatment plan I am sure we wouldn't have so many people on this forum! We still need to do alot more work in the community. Here in New Zealand we have a very high rate of suicide and fortunately organisations are trying to do something about it - we have an All Black rugby legend Sir John Kirwan who fronts http://www.depression.org.nz (for some reason its down today) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o5pLPVnl-4 and this one for youth http://www.thelowdown.co.nz/

Anyway, thanks for listening, I clearly needed to get this off my chest! So, the doctor (knowing my adversity to drugs) prescribed me with 20mg at first. From what I can see from your stories - this is a low dose. And this was great for my moods, but terrible for my sleep and my headaches. About 3 months after I started chopping the tablets into 10mg and this suited my body much better - my moods were balanced and better sleep - not too many headaches. What I didn't realise til reading this forum is that the meds cause weight gain - so I've been beating myself up for putting on two dress sizes in the last 3 years while on it (and yes when you've always been a certain weight - 2 extra sizes is cause for despair - you feel really unfit and unhealthy plus the money spent on upsizing your wardrobe is not cool).

But time to take another bold step in my life - I've met the most beautiful man and we're being married in March next year. He has only known me on citalopram and hasn't seen the 'real' me who experiences and exudes fun and is passionate and motivated. I'm hoping reducing my dose gradually will bring some of the genuine me back - minus the extreme mood swings - and I can actually start 'feeling' again. Of course life is a rollercoaster and we have to be kind to ourselves when we feel like we're on a corkscrew - but know when to slow down and get off!

So this week I have been following your advice and taking 10/5mg alternate days. So far so good. I had previously tried to eliminate one day a week - which was on a Friday but noticed I was alot grumpier with my partner over the weekend - so clearly the dose reduction v dose exclusion is a much better plan for me.

Thanks once again for your inspiration and I wish you all the very best for a happy and drug-free life!!!!