Coming off citalopram. :(

Hi wick

welcome to the forum you've come to the right place

well it seems we have more in common than most, i've been on the little pills for 15yrs as well and i started to come off them at begining of march and am now down to 5mg so all good so far.

keep us updated then we can all share this wonderful journey with each other!!!!!

JUliex

Hi all

Julie and I have been posting for quite a few weeks now and nice to see so many have found this forum. When you are depressed, you feel so isolated so it's good to see that you are NOT alone with your feelings.

My story briefly, for Newbies:

Have chopped and changed from Citalopram, Sertraline, and Prozac over 13+ years and always felt I would never come off them.

The weight gain was what made me want to come off or I would still be on them, I know. Two stone (14 lbs.) was just too much and the doc. always just told me to exercise more as it wasn't the tablets to blame. That was until January when she changed her mind about that (must be some new reports).

She told me to come off over 2 weeks which was ridiculous and far too quick. First week or so I felt great then, wham, the withdrawal symptoms arrived bringing dizziness and muzzy head which I thought would never leave but, within a couple of weeks, they did.

I'm having to deal with a lot, at this time so haven't been in a good place but I know I would still be weepy had I been on Cit. Julie is right, we have to think and separate real depression from being fed-up or having problems to deal with.

I think having a placebo, whether it be herbal calming tablets to Omega 3, is a good idea because we have been so used to pill-popping to feel better. Often that didn't even help!

Doctors are prescribing them for far too long and keeping people hooked and thinking they have chemical unbalances etc., as I did.

This isn't going to be a short journey and it will be a rocky road but it's one I have to travel to be free.

Fingers crossed. Hope today is a good one for you all.

Good article on Care2 site about the benefits of Ginseng.

Welcome Wick ... .. seems we started shaving the tablets at the same time. Wanted to wish you good luck ... I think shaving is going to be the "new" phrase for coming off Cit LOL.

Have a beautiful day everyone

well sun in shining today, that always helps

like ms mac i totally agree that gp's are prescribing all these pills like sweets and haven't offered alternatives such as counselling and coping strategies. I also think that there is no followup to these pills and so many repeat prescriptions are given without the face to face consultation that we all so need.

I believe that i wouldn't have been on the cit for so long, or even maybe not on them at all if i was given bereavement counselling, and the reason decided to come off them is due to getting different brands of the tablets each month i had bad side effects when i had different brands like the first time i started taking them, if i could have just one brand ie the Bristol Labs brand then i would still be on them, as being emotionless suited me as i didn't have to think about anything i was just flat, on one level.

I am still feeling very anxious about totally stopping the cit, i dont feel ready for that at the moment, so staying on the 5mg for a bit longer. when i tried to quite them april last year wow, i couldn't cope with the withdrawals and i only got down to 10mg i was breathless, chest pains, full blown panic attacks, tingling in my arms, brain zaps, you name it i had them all, i stuck it out for a week, then i had to go back up to 20mg again.

Dont know what is different now, but have managed to get down to 5mg so hopefully i will be able to do it this time

i hope my journey helps others, but i can waffle on and write a bit of war and peace lol

I am waiting for the day when i can finally say am not on citalopram and am coping fine, and i do believe that this day will come soon

Juliex

I was prescribed Citalopram at 20mg for an initial period of 1 month and thereafter at 40mg twice per day. after 4 months I felt much improved and the dosage reduced back to 20mg per day. Within 10 days my mood had altered radically and I found myself catapulted into a high, euphoric mood state which precipitated a hypomanic episode lasting from February till mid May last year. In early March I was referred by my employers under emergency conditions to occupational health. The Doctor was not a psychiatrist but a general medical practitioner who suspected I was suffering from a Bipolar Affective Disorder and immediately referred me on for further assessment, fearful for my mental and physical wellbeing. At age 59 her main fear was that I would suffer a heart attack or stroke as a result of my heightened heart rate and dangerously high blood

pressure. I had never been psychiatrically assessed by a mental health professional but when I was examined and checked over several weeks a diagnosis of Bipolar II Affective Disorder was arrived at. I had amazing support from the acute care team. I believe the drug Citalopram and the withdrawal process was strongly to blame for my subsequent dangerous state. My GP will not confirm or deny my fears and my Psychiatrist is non-committal. Who knows? GG

Julie, what is 'sun'? Oh, I remember now - it's a big golden ball in the sky that radiates heat. I'm afraid Scotland hasn't seen that sight for such a long time and not even today.

I'm annoyed that only when I told the doc. that I was coming off the pills was when she told me about CBT. I should have been given that a long time ago instead of many session of useless counselling. I was suffering from Post Traumatic Stress because of an incident on the eve I cremated my mother.

There is not enough funding for mental health on the NHS.

Keep taking your 5 mg., Julie as you're, obviously, not ready to completely quit. Don't force yourself, just for the sake of it. For all the good it's doing, anyway, you ARE off it.

GG, they will admit to nothing for fear of a lawsuit.

It MUST do something to the brain when it's fed hormones every day and maybe hormones it doesn't even need! That, is now, my concern.

Please see my post earlier today. I ought to have mentioned that my original diagnosis was for work-related stress and anxiety. Bipolar was only identified at the later stage after referral when I 'lost the plot' in work and had to be taken out of the workplace. I don't believe I ever suffered from depression and I should not have been prescribed Citalopram in the first place. My body is proving resistant to anti-psychotic drugs and now I have developed Steven-Johnson Syndrome as a result. HELP!!!!!

OMG! I have just looked that up and it is HORRENDOUS! You poor soul.

I'm retired but remember the work-related stress so well. Glad I'm out of it.

Stephen Johnson Syndrome is related to the anti-psychotic Lamotrigine and is not necessarily likely to be a side effect of Citalopram so please don't panic if you are currently taking Citalopram which is a completely different type of medication. I believe the real issue is the original diagnosis of suffering work-related stress when in fact I'm Bipolar and most probably have been since childhood but was never identified as having mental health problems. My background, a childhood in the care system, parentless, subjected to habitual abuse by care workers (no-care workers!!) followed by foster homes, being denied further education and having to work constantly to support myself have all contributed to my current state of poor mental health so I don't want any of you suffering from real depression to worry abut developing SJS from citalopram usage.

Oh, GG, you so deserve some real happiness, after what you've gone through.

I have real happiness. I have a wonderful husband who is caring for me and helping me to cope with the bipolar symptoms - even though he finds it frightening having to deal with the hypomanic phases. I mention the past only as information because Bipolar sufferers are typically drawn from this group of deprived, socially maladjusted children who often drift into crime or otherwise fail to establish good adult relationships and can't sustain jobs or find stability. Getting the correct diagnosis, instead of just the usual blanket response of 'depression/anxiety' was actually the start of my current journey towards finding effective treatment. I can survive most things and I've survived a lot worse than this so onwards and upwards and God help the medical profession when I get back to where I need to be. I jest, my machete is a bit to blunt to be chasing doctors around a secure ward.

I'm so pleased to hear that you found happiness with your husband GG. Something in common with Catherine Zeta Jones.

Hi everyone,

Back from hols a few days ago. Fab time but very tiring. India certainly makes you think. Awful lot of poverty and some very sad sights. Glad to be home, but very glad I went.

Seemed to be ok whilst away, was worried I would get very anxious after dropping dose to 10mg, but was mostly ok apart from a little paranoia at times. I suffer from social anxiety a bit, but managed to tell myself its just anxiety/ocd and got over it.

Glad to see everyone is doing fairly well. Julie, I would definitely keep dropping at a very slow pace. If you think about it, dropping from 5mg to 0mg is in fact a 100% reduction and if I were you, I would try and go to 2.5 or even 3.75, then 2.5, then 1.25 then 0.

Going to docs on thursday, not my usual one, so hope she is understanding about me dropping slowly. Want to try 7.5 for a month, then 5 for another month.

Best wishes to everyone, xx