Coming off citalopram. :(

The doctor put me on 20mg for anxiety about 6 weeks ago after a mental melt down at Schipol airport but he bumped it up to 30mg on Monday.

I have to admit that I'm feeling bit better on the higher dose but I'm shit scared of getting off it again based on many of the posts I read on here.

Perhaps I should stop reading.

In august this year I began cutting down very gradually from 20mg to 15mg alternate days for 1 week then 15mg for 1 week , then 15mg alternate days taking 10mg for 1 week ,then 10mg a day for 2 weeks, the 10mg alternate days 5mg for 2 weeks, then 5mg a week for 2 weeks. In total it took me 3 months to come off citalopram in a controlled manner, I still got some side affects but nothing like as bad as what happens if you try to go cold turkey it almost never works from what I have read on this forum.

I honestly dont understand why anybody would want to come off cold turkey it sounds horrendous, it does take more discipline to taper medication more gradually but at least it gives your brain chance to remember how to make enough seretonin to keep healthy. The longer you stay on citalopram the greater the chances that your body will never be able to recover from the effects of ssri's like citalopram.

I have know been free of citalopram for 1 month, I have lost weight without changing my diet, I have more energy and interest in life and other people I don't feel exhausted all the time and am so glad I found the courage and determination to come off. I wouldnt have had the confidence to keep trying without the support and encouragement of people on this forum like gillian, kat, julie, Benny and others so thanks for all the good advice and for all the new people starting this journey do look at some of the earlier entries there is hope and it can be done if you have't been on citalopram for too many years. Best wishes to everyone and thanks again for all the help, Karen.

Well done Karen you have done so well :-) It's so good to hear there's light at the end of the tunnel!

I wish you all the best for the future, now you've done this you can do anything :-) xxx

Hi Gillian,

I just read your post about pill cutting and getting down to the small 1/4 cuts.... I been only cutting the 20mg pills and am down to 2.5mg which is only a 1/8 of the 20mg. I found the 1/4 cut was not hard to do and i would often wrap the leftover half (10mg) to cut the next night. The 1/8 cut is not so accurate but I don't worry about that too much and just take the piece that looks the best 1/8 size. Good luck to you all. I really advocate a slow reduction which i have been doing over months with minimal effects and yes i have more energy and enthusiasm for life too!. Citalopram did help me out of a tight spot.

also Gillian

I did have fatigue for four weeks when I dropped to ten mg. Prior to that I had been lowering my dose every two weeks but this turned out to be too quick for me so have slowed it right down to six weeks.

The other effect I had was last month when I dropped a dose I overheated like hot flushes for about three weeks. I am at the age for peri menopause but hadn't had any symptoms except irregular periods. The overheating has stopped all together now.

Morning everyone.

I thought I would give an update on my "cit"uation

Look, I'm smiling...so all isn't so bad.

In September, I spoke of my symptoms due to coming off too fast.

I have since gone back on to 10mg (well, 20 initially due to my confused mind). I steadied back out at that and then took myself to 5mg daily in early October. Yesterday, I went down to 2.5. I don't know if it would have this immediate an effect, but I am dog tired today! Even slept in for the kids' school...what a crazy rush to get them out on time!

I'm going to persevere though.

My husband made a very valid point, something I think we should all remember. There are always going to be levels of stress and difficult days in our lives. This is normal. We shouldn't be expecting to get to a state of constant bliss...that's just not Human. Life is full of ups and downs for everyone.

And to reiterate, exercise is key to a healthy mind. It doesn't mean having to pound the streets for miles, or slip into the lycra to join the trendy, skinny brigade at the gym...just get out and put one foot in front of the other (or one pedal in front of the other in my case).

"It gives me a sense of enormous wellbeing" (a prize for 1st to say what song that's from)

Come on people, we can do this!

Hi marbel Karen Christine

Somehow I lost ....follow discussion..

Am down to 10-5-10-5

Was going to 7.5-5-7.5-5

Slow slow is the key isn't it!

But I made such a hash of the pill-cutter trying to get 2.5 mgs I put the bits together and took 10mg!!

Will try again tonight

I am feeling irritable and mythered at times and hot sweats so is great some of you people are the same!

Company in misery..! .and can feel overwhelmingly tired which is weird when were reducing...isn't it?

Good luck all

Hi all- I've been following these discussions for a while after trying to come down I unsuccessively from 20mg to 10 ...now back up to 20mg...I've been taking 5htp 100mg once a day...it's made such a difference after 2 weeks. I'm beginning to lose weight and feel less tired and more active!! Maybe staying on this combined is the way for me. Perhaps it's a way of taking them both without the nasty sided effects.?

Hi Gillian

Well done on keeping going lower, I have annoyed myself and gone back to 10 and now wish I hadn't as I feel terrible at the moment , a lot worse than I did on 5,, hardly any sleep last night. anxiety and upset tum, I'm presuming it is all to do with higher the dose as it is a lot worse than when I went on cit in the first place.

Hi Everyone,

It's been a good month or two since I came off cold turkey.

I wouldn't recommend this approach to anyone, but then again, I wouldn't say that any approach is easy judging by this forum thread.

Here is the fact of the matter:

Citalopram probably totally saved you when you needed it to, it did me. I was disappearing down the rabbit hole and this drug changed everything for me.

Because it was so great I stayed on it longer than I had originally planned. The ONLY reason I came off it was for reasons which had very little to do with mental health. For me that was weight gain and low libido. I think that quite a few people come off it for similar reasons.

So ultimately the drug was still doing a very good job of keeping me stable and content.

I guess what I am saying here is that there is NO EASY WAY to come off this drug. It is going to suck donkey balls no matter which way you go about it. No matter whether you're shaving pills with razor blades or flushing them down the loo.

BUT

I did it the complete wrong way and I am feeling sooooooooo much better now. After a terrible transition of course.

You feel really raw at first, for me it was like someone peeled off all my skin, rolled me in salt and then sent me out to negotiate public transport in rush hour. Cue the panic attacks, the feeling hopeless and terrified that there is and never was anything but this feeling.

Once that initial feeling starts to dial down a bit you end up with a different sensation. Music. It's awesome again. Movies make you cry, in the good way. When you laugh, you really laugh.

Someone up there said exercise. Yes, yes, yes. Don't do it for your body, that'll come later. do it for your brain. Your brain will thank you for giving it something to tend to other than freaked out serotonin levels.

Also, if you are in a position to look into this kind of thing, Mindfulness Meditation is great. Also, talk therapy.

Hope the above helps and good luck to you all.

Once that initial feeling starts to dial down a bit you end up with a different sensation. Music. It's awesome again. Movies make you cry, in the good way. When you laugh, you really laugh.

I so relate to this

Well done Caroline x

Hi all thanks for all your posts they have been rather helpful as i was freaking out abit as i first saw all the things on google about how bad it is to stop cold turkey haha , i stopped taking my citalopram 20mgs 4 days ago, i was almost out of script so i saved a few and then for the weekday till i could reload, but i actually thought last night in bed that this is the end of the road for me and my happy pills, i actually feel happier these past four days than i have for a long time on my pills, i started getting body zaps and dizzyness today hence why i googled and came across this forum (google can be a scary thing haha) but im determined to see the back of my happy pills dependence , will keep you all posted on how i go, Peace xx

Hi everyone,

I have posted a few times about my experience of cutting down.

I cut down from 20mg to 10 for two weeks.

Experienced unpleasant symptoms.

Brain zaps, flu like symptoms for days, tiredness, ibs.

Then reduced from 10mg/5mg alternating days for two weeks.

I experienced brain zaps just one day and for a couple of days flu like symptoms.

This week I have reduced to 5mg everyday and plan to do this for 2 weeks.

This forum has been a great guide and support. Otherwise I wouldn't have the

patience to reduce over many weeks.

I am keeping a vigilant check that the black dog doesn't return.

This is my main concern coz in the past it has crept up slowly.

I have made some major lifestyle changes in the past year while I have been on

20mg. One of them is joining a bushwalking club. This inspired me to exercise

during the week like walking and riding so that I could keep up with others in

the club on long walks. It makes me feel so good so I keep doing it.

More energy on reduced medication. No more nausea and feeling a bit brighter

All the best to you in managing your mental health.

hi all im now on 10mg having reduced from 40! Always find the first few days hard Doc wants to put me on mirtazipine or something but not liking reviews. Anyone know anything? Very confused :-(

please can someone advise if they have dermatitis which they believe may be caused by citalopram ?

i have dreadful facial dermatitis hence coming off the citalopram suddenly