Coming off citalopram. :(

Julie, just be prepared to have a few 'off' days. We have both been taking pills for such a long time. I, too, needed them, at the time and like you feel let down by the medical profession for prescribing them for so long. I did, eventually, have to see my doc. every two months to get the pills, as they took them off repeat prescription.

Things went wrong, in the house (having to deal with a water leak, insurance plus lifting flooring myself) so yesterday was spent in tears but, I have 'pulled myself together' and dealing with the matter. If I had been still on Cit. I know I would have felt suicidal. I feel my emotions are more controllable.

Hi Julie,

It sounds like you've had a really tough time, thank you for sharing. I hope i haven't brought back any painful memories. Really sorry for your loss. And good luck for Monday.

Craig

@ craig

thanks for that, and no its fine you havn't brought back any bad memories, time is a great healer, you learn to cope, we all have things and times in our lives that are horrible but in a different ways, but we have to move forward, we cant stand still much as we want to!!!!and if a little tablet takes the pressure off then so be it, if i had the choice again yes i would definitely take the citalopram, but i would have like more reviews and monitoring of the medication, maybe referrals to other therapies which could help such as counselling, CBT, etc

@ms mac

wow i cant believe that the same tablets has such different effects in ppl, i had and still dont have any emotion, i cant remember the last time i cried, i never felt suicidal on the tablets which is a very good thing!!! but thats the problem i suppose i didn't and still dont feel anything, i can laugh at a joke, and i seem normal on the outside, but on the inside am just totally flat, i am getting some tummy flips or butterflies but they are few and far between, i really hope that changes, although my mum used to say to me as a child the more i cry the less i would wee as my eyes where always leaking so maybe i dont have any tears left lol

i am trying to mentally prepare myself for several up and down weeks after i stop taking them, and i keep reminding myself that my brain needs a chance to heal.

Juliex

Julie, I just thought it was my depression that made me the emotional wreck I was but I think, now, it was the mediation. Who knows? Maybe my brain didn't like being overfed that hormone and reacted like that - who knows, again? All I know is I'm coping BETTER so I hope that gives others encouragement.

I would love not to cry because when I start I can't stop and it's very embarrassing when it happens in front of strangers.

i know what u mean ms mac, but crying is such an emotional release, and i always thought that you are better after a good cry,

i used to think that i developed a coping mechanism and put up a barrier like a protective bubble and thought that this was good, but now after all these years i realise that it was the tablets which made me flat, not me and am hoping that the old me will come through soon.

Infact i cant even remember what the old me is like, i asked my daughter the other day (shes 27yr old) if she remembers what the old me was like, and all she said i used to laugh and smile a lot but also shout at her when she was naughty and that when she was a teenager she liked the tablet me as she could get away with murder as the shouting at her stopped, but so did me being happy, she said that we still did fun things together, ie, go to the park, beach, theme parks and zoo's and on holiday but although she remembers we all had a good time, she doens't remember me smiling and being happy even though i joined in.

Hi all hope ur ok? Im new to this forum so heres my story, I started cit on xmas eve and after awful side effects I had a couple of good weeks then I went from 10mg to 20mg and the side effects came back really bad, but I then came thru and had a few okish days but the last 2 weeks have been hell, I feel breathless, anxious all the time, tearful and just not with it so after battling with the drs who have referred me to a psychiatrist and tried me on beta blockers and anti pschiotic tabs (which I tried once and never again) they have changee me to fluoxitine to start straight away so took my last cit yday and my first flu today, has anyone else had any of these side affects with cit and done a straight swap onto another a.d?thanks cara xxx

My cousin finds it hard to cry too and thinks it's healthier to do so. She has been on antidepressants for about 15 yrs. and last time I spoke to her, she was on Citalopram. She will never come off them because, as she says, she has 'clinical depression'. I, and many others, have been told that and have come off them but she is a hypochondriac!!!!

I don't know what the future holds but hope I never need to go on antidepressants again but never say never. I will be very careful and only go on them for a short period - if needed.........

Hi Guys and Girls...

I'm new to this forum...and despairing a bit at the moment...

I started on citalopram 20mg 3 years ago.....went up to 40 after 3 months for 6 months until I started feeling better and went down to 20....then 10....was on 10 for 1 year and did the whole every other day then and every 3 days.....then i stopped.... feeling I was ready.

I'm now on my 7th day after stopping and i'm in a mess....mood swinging....despair to elation....tears to joy....insanely dizzy and unable to control my body temperature....my sleep is ruined by terrible dreams so I feel i'm not resting at all....I'm stubborn and strong willed and desperate to successfully get off this medication.....

Can anyone tell me how long this might last? Anybody found anything that helps alleviate the withdrawal symptoms.....I see going back on them as defeat.....

Thanks for taking the time to read this.....

Hi Ben

I felt fine for about a week, after stopping them, then the withdrawal symptoms started. I thought the dizziness and muzzy head would never go away but they did, after another couple of weeks. It was horrible but I knew I had to persevere and that it was the medicine leaving my body after so many years.

I'm like you, strong and determined and don't want to go back on them. I still have my good and bad days but I had them taking the tablets!

I've had a few problems, especially this past week, to deal with but I'm getting there with no pills. Mt friends and family are so pleased that I am off them.

Keep going but I think, like me, you came off them too quickly.

You WILL make it, though so good luck and keep going but if you feel you have to take an odd pill then do so.

S

Hi all,I have been on citalopram now for 25 yrs,I stopped them cold turkey 6weeks ago and have been to hell and back,and still am ,still get brain zaps dizziness fuzzy head bad dreams etc ,I have good days and bad days ,but the intensity is now starting to ease and the worse part now is insomnia but doc wont give me anything for insomnia,so now with no sleep it makes the side effects a lot worse the next day but I am a fighter and know I will get through this just taking one day at a time,I am not a young man but hope this will help people on this forum come to terms with stopping this drug,good luck to you all.

If your doctor won't give you anything for the insomnia, which personally I think he should!, then the best thing I've found is Tart Cherry. I'm in Christchurch and with three years of nightly, maybe tonight, maybe not, earthquakes just about everyone suffered from insomnia. Word of mouth had everybody trying Tart Cherry and/or Rescue Remedy. It didn't work for everyone and some people needed meds (they're the ones now trying to get off them...)

Tart Cherry has natural Melatonin in it which helps your body realise that it's time to go to sleep. You need to take it about 1-2 hours before bedtime for about 2 -3 weeks before you will know if it is going to work for you. Sometimes it will work within a few days but it does take longer for some people. It takes a while for your body clock to start to be reset by the Melatonin in your system. I mostly use it now because my bladder isn't what it used to be so I usually have to get up most nights. If I take Tart Cherry I'm able to get back to sleep almost immediately

You can get Tart Cherry as a liquid (must be kept in the fridge) or in tablet form. I find the liquid form a bit more effective but they both work.

As for the other withdrawal side effects. I'm pleased to hear that you're now through the bad patch.

wow nezza 25yrs is a very long time, i thought that ms mac and myself were bad at 10+yrs lol

have you tried omega 3 oil for the brain zaps, its supposed to help with the brain zaps, well it does for me i take one morning and evening, but you can take up to 6 capsules a day, research it on the internet.

i just buy the cheap supermarket brand when i go shopping, i am on 5mg cit a day and have been withrawing from 20mg for approx 4 weeks and will be stopping next week and have minimal side effects, but thats just me though and everyone is different.

i do think you need to see your gp and tell him that you are having a difficult time, maybe he can provide somthing in the short term, some have suggested taking prozac for a few weeks as this has a longer half life and is easier to come off than citalopram, i havn't tried this route so cant comment

Juliex

Yes, 25 yrs. is a long time and I thought that would be me.

On the Cit. or off it, I'm now, not a good sleeper so I take a very small dose (third or half of 2 a night) of Nytol. Tart Cherry isn't widely available here but I see that you can get it on the Internet. Never tried it.

I know what some GP's are like - mine would never prescribe a sleeping pill either. Crazy that they are happy to prescribe Cit, and others for life! That makes me extremely annoyed.

well I spoke to soon,last night was the worst night I have encounted so far ,after finally falling asleep I woke up with really bad brain zaps and nightmares ,I really wanted to take a cit but decided against it,so I had a cup of tea and zaps started to ease ,went back to bed slept 1 hour and woke up again with damn zaps,so decided to call docs today to get something to help with these horrid side effects ,Feel like a wreck this morning but will think positive and take one day at a time,another reason I need to come off the cit is that I was recently hospitalised with hyponatremia which the doc said was caused with the citalopram I was severly dehydrated due to low sodium in my blood and dont wish to feel that ill again,thank you j

Nezza, now, I sleep when I can and can do that because I am retired. I just can't function with little sleep. The best thing to do is get out of bed. I usually have cereal because I get night-starvation as I call it. Sometimes, I stay up for about an hour and a half until I feel tired again.

My doc. wouldn't admit to a lot of the side-effects of SSRI's including weight gain but now has. You were a long time on medication so like any drug won;t take overnight to feel well again but you CAN do it and I know you will.

Here's to better tomorrows, everyone. We all deserve them.