Coming off citalopram. :(

Sorry msmac, I didn't mean to be rude. Yes, I am well over 15 units and am well aware that it is not helping me one little bit. I don't need my gp to tell me that, which is why I hate those appointments. However, it is one step at a time for me - first I want to get through this withdrawl from Citalopram, then my next challenge is to cut down on the chardonnay. I don't feel up to tackling both problems at the same time. I'm looking forward to finding out who I actually am, after all these years!

I didn't take it you were being rude Allison - just meant, even although, I don't lie, I don't tell my do. the 100% truth.

I just wrote to a very special someone that the old me was coming back. He has had to endure many a back-lash but is still there, in the background. He could, easily, have walked away.

that's great to hear that you are doing so well msmac. My husband has endured 7 years of me being on andoff and deserves a gold medal!

These people really do deserve a medal. I lived with parents who suffered from depression too so it's in the genes.

my hubby deserves more than a medal, he actually married me when i was on the cit lol

but, he was very anxious about me coming off them as he didn't want any confrontations and hes a very quiet and laid back chap

i told him, that that wasn't a reason to keep me medicated lol

Juliex

ps, went to the gp today, and all is well, cant believe i finally had an appointment where i came out without a prescription for tablets lol

I was the same, Julie. Usually she tell me to make an appointment for 2 months time but this time it was 'come and see me if you need me'. Very strange feeling.

That is fantastic Julie and MsMac - I imagine it feels very liberating to be told that!

I agree about long suffering partners deserving more than a gold medal. I met my hub nearly 20 years ago when we were in our early 20's and warned I him that I had problems - but at that age, being sensitive and unpredictable is more endearing than when you are in your 40s. He obviously loves me very much because he has stuck by me even though I can be the most challenging, closed-off and obnoxious person at times. I would have left me about 19 years ago.

x

Now I can stop labelling myself. I need to start thinking differently and be more positive. This might be the hard part now, knowing we have to stand on our own two feet. I'm still taking it one day at a time and today I'm fine.

Nice that you have a loving and supportive partner, Allison; half the battle.

Don't want to be a board-hogger and put new people off who are in the early days of withdrawal so stepping back a bit.

Husbands, children and my family. HOW DO they put up with me? I often wonder... I'm just sooo grateful that they do

I have to say that my hubby is a saint!!!!! although one day his halo is gonna slip down and choke him lol

I have been awful today, everything he did got on my nerves, i seriously wanted to strangle him and to be fair he hadn't really done a thing, it was just me.

Am still on 5mg and am doing really well, have got another 2 weeks on the 5's then going to stop due to the fact that am cutting 20's into 4 to get the 5 and i dont think that i can cut them any smaller without them crumbling

So 31st march is D day, looking forward to it but very apprehensive, have found a website called the road back from antidepressants and it states that omega 3 is great for the brain zaps, so as i already take 1 capsule, i will double it up when i finally stop

chin up everyone

Juliex

Julie

I am using the 10 mg tablets my GP gave me whilst I reduced...

Easily cut using a cheap pill cutter into 5 mg then I just move it round and chop again into 2.5mg

Admittedly it's not a perfect science and could get like 2.8 mg lookalike but no worries

So is easy

It's taking me a lot longer than you to reduce

I am on 2.5mg every other day now allowing half life of the drug stability to kick in there

Someone kindly told me their pharmacist has said stay on 2.5 for 3 months then stop

But this slow slow way feels more comfortable to me

Re husbands...yes I often want to kill mine too! But is it withdrawal or husbands in general!

Julie

I was doing this because I was thinking the half life carried me over but my support buddy discussed maybe this won't work due to altering levels and 2.5 for 3 months as recommended by her pharmacist may indeed be better ....then stop

Wether I can 1/8 th them is debatable !

But I would still get 10 mg tabs and a pillcutter if I were you

I wouldn't stop cold at 5 mg.

no no no!

hi gillian

the problem i have is that some of the brands of citalopram dont agree with me, my pharmacist says its either the fillers or the coatings on the tablets, when i was getting a different brand each month, i was ill for approx 2 weeks, then i would start to feel better, eventually the pharmacist worked it out that it was like starting on citalopram every month where it take a few weeks to get into your system.

the brand which works for me is the Bristol brand, but, pharmacist cannot guarantee that he can order me this brand every month which is why i decided to come off them as i couldn't cope with the side effects every month. The pharmacist even emailed Bristol labs themselves to see if he could order them direct, but they had a supply problem and he couldn't, and as i was feeling soooo ill with with yet another brand Sandoz this one was horrendous i was vomiting 3 to 4 times a day as well as all the other side effects, flu like aches a pains, cough, muzzy head, headaches to name but a few!!!!! I now felt that enough was enough and it was time to quit.

The reason i have reduced them this quick is that the Bristol brand if fantastic for me and i get very few side effects from them, but the pharmacist can only get the Bristol brand in 20mg from his wholesalers, hence me cutting the tablet into 4 lol i have reduced from 20 to 5 in 14 days, with minimal side effects, infact it feels as if i am on the 20's still, have only had 2 days where i didn't feel right but it was only for a few hours a day.

And as previously stated i am staying on the 5 till 31st march only because my hubby has a couple of weeks work without a break due to functions (he is a chef) and i dont want to stop taking them whilst i am on my own in the house, for support reasons mainly.

I am very anxious in stopping them as they have really helped me over many years after the death of my daughter, without the pills i dont know what would have happened to me, so yes they did work, but now's the time to stop.

Sorry for the long post, hope i've not bored everyone to much lol

Juliex

Hi All

I have been on Cit for a year now I started on 20mg last March then got bounced up to 40mg in June last year because 20mg wasn't strong enough. It has really helped me and I got some counselling as well as making changes in my life so I am now in a much more positive place.

I have had side effects - the tiredness being one that has annoyed me most.

So I decided last month to start coming off the Cit. My doctor agreed that I was in the right mental state to do this.

So I reduced from 40mg to 30mg for two weeks and I was fine - did not experience any differences in mood was a bit more tired than usual but I traveled a lot during those weeks so I think the tiredness had more to do with that.

Last Friday I dropped from 30mg to 20mg and the difference has been a lot greater. The tiredness is extreme, I am dragging myself out of bed everyday and at the weekend had to have naps in the afternoon to function.

Saturday night when I should have been in a good mood (because Ireland won the 6 nations ) I was the grumpiest person ever, got really stroppy then really emotional and paranoid crying over nothing.

Sunday was similar although I managed to not cry until late that night.

The paranoia has kicked in majorly this week and is accompanied with anxiety.

I am hoping that these are all temporary effects and my plan is to stay at 20mg for the next month to then consider dropping it further, eventually coming off it completely.

It was really great to read I am not alone with my struggles so thanks to everyone who has posted here!