Coming off citalopram. :(

My niece was told worse than that - stop straight away after 6 months on them!! She crashed the week after (went downhill I mean not crashed her car!). Ridiculous.

well my tablets are an oval shape and not very big, but i dont want to tempt fate by switching to another brand as this causes me so many problems, so am trying to get the peices to fit together, oh well i knew i should have got a blue peter badge!!!!!

its only day 2 on 5mg, but ok so far, mind you my hubby says am a bit snappy today, but i think he was just getting right up my nerves as i was trying to get ready this morning lol

will try the razor to see if thats better, but as hubby is a chef, he has some very sharp knives and has great knife skills so will see if he can get the peices even for me.

hope everyones doing ok, am now thinking that we all can and will overcome the citalopram battle, never thought i'd get down to 5mg in a million years

ms mac, i think it was soooooo wrong for you to come off within 2 weeks, but you've come this far and it shows what a strong character you are

Juliex

It's just shocking what I was told and I think she is a good doctor. This time she was SO wrong. I MUST be strong, because this is some fight and one I have to fight alone. If I had someone who cared and was beside me, it would be so much easier.

Hi I am new to this forum I have been on cit now for 3 months 4weeks on 10mg and 8 weeks on 20mg

Because I have been so up and down on them and cannot sleep she has decided to take me off them and try me on mertzapine but have told me to stop the cit until Sunday will I start to get withdrawal symptoms I am

So worried as I feel really unwell now anxiety no appetite this is why she wants me to change. Can anyone

Give me any information I would be so grateful I really hoped this medication was for me but for some reason

She will not increase it any further, I don't know wether it's because I cannot sleep since being on them and

Have lost so much weight. I went through severe side affects with both doses for nothing I really didn't want to go on any other medication because of the side affects again. So sorry for the long saga but I'm desperate at the moment.

Many Thanks Maria x

Marie, you won't get withdrawal symptoms, after such a short period on them. I've had to do that a few times when changing from one to another so don't worry.

Your doc. saw that they were not agreeing with you and, rightly, has changed them.

Back from the doc. and she wasn't very pleased that I mentioned I was on a forum. Not interested and couldn't comment on 5HTP and other herbal medication.

Has given me the number to call fro CGT to see if that helps my thinking. She wants me to stop thinking of taking pills to get better but, also, admitted that she was partly to blame for prescribing them.

Ms Mac thank you for your prompt reply, I just hope the other medication will work for me I just want to be me again and go back to work as I said I have been off twelve weeks now but don't get paid while I'm off.

I was so wanting the cit to work most people I know have been really well on them I just don't know why it

Only give me about a month of feeling better. Many thanks again.

Maria x

Good luck Maria. I hope you feel better very soon.

Hi ms mac

I think that all the gp's are so wrong about citalopram or that they have been given the wrong information via the drug companies. Am not making excuses for the gp's but they can only go by what they are told, and when citalopram first came out it was made to be a wonder drug for depression.

They said they were not addictive, which is partly true as they dont cause an addiction, but what they do is cause withdrawal symptoms called serotonin withdrawal, which is only now being recognised when coming off them.

I had so much trouble with the gp trying to convince her that when i changed tablet brands it was like i had never been on citalopram before and i got all the symptoms as if i had just started taking them. It was the pharmacist who worked this out for me.

I also think that there should be more support when coming off them, by people who are qualified and have gone through it so that the gp's understand what can happen, not just by the pharmaceutical reps who have made it out to be a wonder drug!!!!

What people seem to forget is that we are told when we start them that it takes approx 6 weeks to get fully established in our bodies, so then it must take the same amount of time to get out of our bodies, well that seems logical to me.

At the moment i feel that i am one of the lucky ones as am not suffering to much and am now down to 5mg, whereas when i have tried to reduce before i only got to 10mg and i suffered horrendous withdrawal symptoms and i did it slowly going from 20 to 15 to 10 over 4 months and i didn't work for me at all

Juliex

Hi to all in this forum

I have been on citalopram for over two years now, having tried everything else beforehand including CBT to treat me for depression relating to a previous employment issue that forced me to resign and relocate to another part of the UK to live. Its nothing bad but it was an attack against my integrity that forced me to resign. that's the background for the depression . This stems back to 2002.

Anyway I decided this week to go see my GP to discuss various health issues. I am suffering from a variety of problems but especially joint pain and serious fatigue. I am constantly tired. I have been diagnosed with high cholesterol too and was on statins until i stopped taking then New Years Eve.

As a result of seeing the GP of which I have to say although he is a good Dr I left feeling very demoralised. I have put on over a stone in weight since being on the Cit,alopram (Cit) although I do not have a sweet tooth at all and I walk my two dogs daily as well as long walks at the weekends when I have more time. My GP suggested my joint pain was probably arthritis which i have some in my hands and suggested that my weight and exercise would be the cure for the pain. I havent had a weight issue until I started taking these tabs but I thought maybe it was because of the statins too.

So I told him I wanted off the Cit. I have started now to take half a dose for two weeks , so from 20 mg to 10 mg then I am to do same dose every other day for a further 2 weeks.

All I can say is that right now it feels like giving up smoking, like I managed to do some 15 years ago, but the irritability and headaches have already started within three days!

I am a 52 yr old Male with a Wife and Family who are now getting a grumpy , tetchy man to live with. Well grumpier I am really hoping that this will be short lived and that I will get through it and out to the other side. What has become apparent is the lack of knowing about weight increase as a result of the tabs. I had tried to eat sensibly but it still keeps staying. Do you all get headaches just at the back of your head at the base of the skull where your neck finishes? these are the ones that have troubled me on and off throughout taking the medication. A weird sensation it is unlike any normal headache.Still painful though.

I have held off the statins although that is probably another discussion in another forum but I thought it best to wait to see if no Cit would stop the aches and pains.Does anyone else find they are clicking knees , elbows or ankles? The fatigue has been overwhelming, I used to be a night owl but now look at the clock in the evening wishing the time to fly so I can get into bed. Weekends are the same , I get up take dogs out then back into bed for another two to three hours sleep. Most unlike me. I am not going to try any herbal or other substitutes just yet but try and drive the demon out of me over the next few weeks. Any encouragement or advice through this forum in the meantime would be very welcome.

Thanks.

Hi Fitch

Today, when I saw the doc., she said I could have done the withdrawal over a longer time. I told her I did what she told me to do but that was too quick.

I'm taking a day at a time. The fatigue I had, when on Cit., was unreal but I didn't even blame the medication. No wonder I put on so much weight! I would have to throw myself on the couch and within seconds would be fast asleep. Not so, at night though - I had insomnia.

My doc. says if the placebo effect of herbal tablets work, then she doesn't mind.

I didn't have the pains that you had but we are all different.

I have provided this link to Wikipedia's description of Seratonin Withdrawal if I am allowed to post for others benefit?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SSRI_discontinuation_syndrome

Hi Ms Mac

Thanks for the speedy reply to my post. I have noticed it seems to affect you ladies more than us fellas . I do hope its not us causing the problem's

One thing that's important in all of this is a sense of humor and being able to smile. Something Citalopram cant give us! well not in a tablet form.

I intend to push forward with the goal being off the tabs. I am accepting that mood swings , irritability will be the norm for a while and as such have prewarned the family. I am just hoping that the "real" me will be back without the depression at the end of it. I am fed up being cotton woolly in the head and although Citalopram was sold to me as a drug that still enabled me to work full time, I have to admit that my thoughts and memory have been affected over time. My short term memory is hopeless.

If anyone feels strong enough and wants to try the quitting, I am happy to buddy anyone over the next month if that helps, I cannot promise longer than that as I do not know how long it will take but like I said I am determined to get off this drug.

Hope you will not mind my long epic postings but that you might find some connection from them yourselves.

Onwards and upwards let's keep positive

I'm just realising who the old 'me' is. I'm a naturally fun person and when I tell people I suffer from depression, they are astounded but so many comedians suffer too. The tears of a clown, I always say.

It's so easy for doc's to prescribed pills because there is not a lot of other help available.

I went through a lot of trauma and really had post traumatic stress syndrome so I really did need medication. I'm surprised I'm still here. I'm a very emotional person but I have an inner strength too.

Take care all - and chin (s) up!

Ms Mac I strongly identify with your last post and loved reading it. I have just finished taking citalopram after 6 years of using them to help balance my mood during trauma counselling and I too feel like I am just realising who the old me was buried underneath a lot of sadness. I am so much more confident now and citalopram did help me through that phase of my life. I am also glad to read others have experienced dizziness as a side effect of stopping antidepressants as I wondered what was going on!

Love and hope to all x x