Coming off citalopram. :(

I just need to have a life where I feel loved, wanted and get pampered - then I will be fine - as long as I am physically well too.

Love this ms Mac. also very important to remember I don't have to wait for anyone else to give me these things - I can give them all to myself.

Thanks tigertea and Ms Mac, you're both positive and I guess that's all anyone needs when feeling like this. I can't wait to have 'me' back, it's so much nicer than Citalopram 'me'.

And as for weight gain, blimey, I thought I was putting it on without trying, but after reading the forum I see I'm not the only one so maybe weight loss this year too, I think 2014 is going to be a good year!!

Tiger, my problem is, I can't give those things to myself.

Minnie, my weight has now stabilised and have kept 6 lbs, off. Now for the rest! Oh, it will be great to like what I see in the mirror again.

Here's to a great 2014 - I, too, feel it's going to be a better year.

I've just found this thread from googling "side effects stopping Citalopram". It is comforting to know I am not the only one finding the process disturbing. I've been on it for about 7 years after severe pmt - started on 60mg and been on 40mg for about half of that. I've never been very good at taking it every day - i probably miss a day or two every week, plus I am not convinced that it is helping me after reading research about placebo effect. Plus, I hate having to visit the gp every 3 months and having to confess that I still drink too much when I know I shouldn't drink at all.

I too am feeling teary - can't believe that I had to jump into the shower the other day so my husband couldn't see my huge surge of emotion when I heard that Bob Crow died - I loathed the man! I am also getting a strange clicking in my head - it is difficult to describe. I'm just going to try and stay on top of these weird feelings and ride through it, confident that it will pass and then I will get to see what I am really like without this drug.

Good luck everyone.

Sorry, Allison, but I had to laugh at the drinking bit - do as I do and lie! Never admit to going over the recommended units - unless you have a REAL problem.

The pills definitely made me more emotional, although I didn't realise that and blamed it all on my depression.

I can, honestly, say, 5 or so weeks on that I feel SO much better without them and more in control of my life

.

Hi Allison, yes keep on going and don't give in to the weirdness, I had strange things going on in my head too but there going off now. It makes me wonder what exactly we've been taking, it's frightening to think that something so tiny can make us feel this way but I reckon we've all made the right decision.

Emotions are definitely not so "over the top" today on day 9 and life definitely feels better. I hope the PMT is ok this month without the tablets, but if you're struggling we'll be on standby for the PMT days, good luck

Hi Allison, my main reason for being on Citalopram off and on for years was SEVERE PMT. I think they now call it PMDD. Fortunately when my Gyno was fixing other things I was able to convince him to remove my oovaries. I figured that as I was 51 at the time it should have all stopped by now anyway Best thing I ever did! Not that I would recommend it as I now have to take HRT's for life which can cause problems of their own.

I found that the main problem with taking Citalopram for PMT is that in fact you actually only need it for (in my case) two weeks out of every four. The problem with Citalopram is the long half life so you can't just take it for the weeks that you need it. There must be a better drug with little or no half life that you can take for the PMT days. Research into it was so sporadic and sometimes downright unhelpful 40 years ago that I gave up looking for a solution. Things have probably moved on from there now. If I was you I would start doing some research and being pro-active in trying to find a different solution to PMT. Bad PMT can be VERY difficult on your husband, kids and extended family so don't give up there MUST be something out there but Citalopram isn't it.

Hi everyone

well am still hanging in there and have reduced from 20 to 5mg of cit over the last 4 weeks and so far all is going well with not to many withdrawals!!!!

As i have mentioned before the cit made me emotionally flat and i havn't cried for several years or felt any kinds of emotion really.

Well today i hurt my knee and my hubby was being nice to me and my eyes welled up and i felt like i wanted to cry but didn't quite make it, but this was such a good feeling, yeah i was glad i nearly cried lol

Am going to stay on the 5mg for another 3 weeks before stopping them due to the fact my husband has an 12 day stretch at work with no time off (hes a chef at a well known football club!!!) and there are quite a few functions on, and i dont want to take the chance of the withdrawals creeping up on my when i am on my own in the house

keep up the good work everyone

Juliex

You too Julie.

I'm the exact opposite - I'm managing to control the tears.

how do i opt out for this thread?

Im receiving too many emails from this thread

when you receive an email telling you about someones post, at the bottom of the email click on the link update your email preferences and it will take you to your profile page.

click in the right hand side under notifications.

Juliex

Thanks minnie, julie, msmac and phillipa - your posts are good to read.

I found out that the weird sensations in my head are called "brain zaps" - how bizarre is that! They seem to be getting less frequent and today when i heard about L'Wren Scott I thought, oh no here I go again, but I didn't, so that is progress.

Sorry, I meant PND (post natal depression), not PMT, though I get that too! Bloody hormones eh.

Msmac, your post made me chuckle - I am a terrible liar, so when my gp asks how much I am drinking I am an open book, though I don't tell her the exact amount I tell her it is "too much". I think she finds me exasperating.

Hope you all have a good day.

Allison x

The other way, Joy, is on the emails which give you the option to stop following the discussion.

Allison, I'm not, usually, a liar but I would just say about 15 units a week. I'm back to that, but was well over, in the past. I realised that it made my depression so much worse and took control of that, too.