Coming off citalopram. :(

mrs Mac ...what would you think if one of us wrote 'too sore to let them touch me' ? If it's that bad maybe you should have a try and let them check you over ?

I have a black lab, she's not left my side for the last 24 hrs, she's been pressed against me whenever I've been still....in bed too. She's a love. I giggled at the thought of you, the dog and the hills yesterday Julie ! Over the winter I fostered kittens ..it was such a good thing to do, for them and for my state of mind too...I've decided when the clocks change for winter each year I will foster. That way I still get to have the back door and windows open during the rest of the year. Additionally, I love them, but know I'll be saying goodbye when my job is done, so it's not sad handing them over, it's happy. Replacing sunshine for kittens doesn't sound like a bad deal for 5 months of the year.

I am actually going to talk to my GP about what is discussed here about withdrawal etc. I will bring up the fact that we are often given different brands too, that's something I never broached with him.

I'm gonna take a break for a while and sign back in next week ....... Keep going !

I did work for the CPL and think I will foster cats and kittens too when I have a few months free.

If I'm still sore on Monday, Rosie, I will need to try to get an appointment. That's the problem here - getting an appointment that isn't 4 weeks in advance.

I'm taking a slight back seat too but will reply when I see anyone in need of advice. Holiday in 4 weeks time

hi everyone

just had a blonde moment (no offense meant to blondes lol) but why is it that we accept when we are told that when starting citalopram that it takes a approx 2 weeks to get into our systems and that we will feel like crap throughout this time, and approx another 4 weeks till it starts working.

then when we are at the time of stopping the citalopram , we want a quick withdrawal period, without many symptoms, so by my recognition, that's at least 6 weeks for it to come out of our systems

dont know if people are the same as me, but i can handle the initial 2 weeks when i feel like crap, and am prepared to wait till the little pill starts to work, but i get so worried and anxious when i get to the withdrawal symptoms, yet i can cope fine at the start of the medication

sorry for the ramble, but does that make sense to anyone else, or is it just me who understands it lol

Juliex

I've just started taking this yesterday so I'm only at the research phase of what I might feel when I'm try to come off it but if it takes 6wks to start working I'm gonna give it at least 12wks to get off it.

Yesterday was fairly intense in terms of what I felt in my head. The diarrhea was expected and they've both settled down a lot today but I almost felt like I was on some mild ecstasy yesterday. I'm feeling a new sense of calmness today which is quite welcome. The intensity and calmness are unexpected after the doctor told me it would take 2-4wks to start taking effect so if that's been the first day or 2 it's going to be interesting getting to the last day but I'm thinking it's basically just going to be a long hangover that hopefully serves a purpose.

Hi g

please dont look on the posts as negative, we are all different and have had different experiences of this drug, its not one size fits all. I found citalopram wonderful when i first took it, it was what i needed at the time, or more what i thought i needed.

Like yourself at the moment, it gave me a sense of calmness and took away my emotions so i was flat and felt nothing, which helped my cope with life and to carry on with what i called normality, my daughter died at 9yrs old, and although it was what i needed at the time, i now believe it stopped the grieving process for me.

For 15 odd years it did its job, i could function, live and get on with life, the downside to this was i was emotionless and flat, i couldn't cry, feel sad, feel happy, feel excited, i had just one emotion nothing. oh i still laughed at something funny, i went through the motions, but i was just at one level, and i thought this was fantastic, it was what i needed to get me through a very traumatic period in my life.

Fast forward to today, i am 46yrs old, newly married to a wonderful husband, my life is in a different place and its time to come off them, i want to feel me again, but after 15yrs i dont think i know what is me anymore.

Would i take them again if a needed to, dam right i would, although its not a miracle cure the gp's want us to believe, but i do think that it needs to monitored more closely and go hand in hand with talking therapies.

Depression/anxiety/ panic attacks etc, is a very real and lonely illness and only someone who has experienced it can understand, if you break a leg you get it fixed and plastered, chest infections need antibiotics, depression need a mixture of anti-depressants and support, its no difference from a physical illness.

So just take one day at a time, if it works great, but if it doens't then find somthing which does work, dont struggle, go back to your gp/psychiatrist and tell them its not working you only get one chance in this life and if my daughter taught me one thing before she died, is to grab life by both hands and give it a bloody good shake.

You dont want to be like me and ms mac and all the others who wake up one morning and think gosh where have the last15yrs gone, accept the help offered but dont be labelled and put in a box and left to struggle on your own, the is only one person who can help you and that is yourself.

Am only on day 3 of stopping the cit, and my head is starting to clear, it feels good, yes its early days, but i like the feeling of being able to think.

oops, sorry for the long post, hope i've not put you off or bored you to death lol

Juliex

Glad you're doing well, Julie. You don't know what it is, but you do feel a difference. I feel more in control of my emotions.

G - Just go with the flow. Take it until you feel better and no longer would be my suggestion. Don't be like Julie, me and others and have the doc. dish them out for many, many years.

I was 13+ years on different SSRI's and was told to come off them withing 2 which wasn't good at all but I'm still here!

Thanks for your replies. I've been dealing with my depression unmedicated since I was 16-17 so that's about 15yrs now and while I'm not the most depressed I've ever felt, I've reached a point where I felt I couldn't deal with it myself anymore.

I've always felt flat so I don't think that's going to be a major challenge for me and after the intensity of yesterday I've finally found myself feeling "ok" for the first time in a long time. My doc said I'll be on an initial 6mth period and that currently sounds fair. I don't like taking anything unless I have to but it's been the next logical step to me and I've already started to see the benefit so as long as I'm feeling ok I'm planning to follow your advice and take it as it comes

You just might benefit, g, from being on and off it for short periods and not like me and being on them continuously for 13 yrs. I just hope you have a good doctor who just doesn't dish these pills out for years and years. Don't let them do it to you!!!

I hope they make you feel better and I also hope you deal with the reasons why you are depressed and get help for that. I only got counselling which was a complete waste of time. CBH (not GBH! ) should be easily available.

Down to 7.5mg for 10 days now and so far feeling really good. Had usual "blip" on dropping 2.5mg on day 5, but not as severe, just a strange fluttery feeling in chest at night and mildly grumpy. Cant believe how much better I feel on this lower dose, its as if everything has become sharper and I can get excited over small things again. Shows how Cit dumbs everything down, didnt like the "flat" feeling that goes with it.. Going to drop again to 5mg in 2 weeks time if everything is ok.

Glad to hear you're doing well Bday. i've lots of stress, at the moment but not even thinking that Cit. would cure that as I know it won't.

Hi Everyone... .. it has been a couple of days for me but boys oh boys, did I ever had an eye opener.

On Thursday last, went to see my doctor to talk about coming off Cit. This was a new doctor for me, and he is sooooo young omg, and a bit groovy (when I said this to my 15yo son he said "mom, you are So from the sixties" hahaaa. I got a good laugh out of that, but it is true indeed I am from the sixties

But anyways, I mention to my Doc how i was shaving the pills etc etc.. When i was done talking, his first reply was " I Hate Medication" .... needless to say I was very suprised lol. I told him the he might rethink his profession LOL.. but what He told me surprised me so much. He said this: "Cit is only to be taken at the most 9-12 months and that is it. Then the issue should be evaluated etc etc. People are overmedicated and the only reason why is because they make big money of it. Pills like Citalophram especially. It is all syntethic etc etc. I hate that crap "........ and i am literally with my mouth open. i did not expect that from a doctor, but i liked him immediately because he is very very right !.

I have been on Cit for close to 7 years. He said that I will get withdrawals, but that he will help me to minimize that and gave me a perscription to lower the doze gradually. I have this for a year !!!! ... Do to this with the minimum bad withdrawals, that is what it takes. I think, for me own feeling, I might go a bit faster then that. I have gone now from 20mg to almost 10 in lest then 3 weeks and I feel really great.

I'm going through a very emotional time in my life right now, but there is always something, and the best part of it all.... I Feel Real Emotion ... Real, not syntethic ... Did I need them at the time? Oh yes, you bet your bottoms,...

Good luck to everyone, and don't forget to smile

Oh, Maria, I wish i had that doctor!!!

We are guinea pigs and lining the pockets of the big drug companies. They are making us ill! I, totally, agree that if these pills are needed for a long time then the root cause has got to be addressed. It's terrible to be given a prescription and be told to come back in 2 months. Left to deal with your own misery. Not enough money is being given to mental health.

Totally agree with you Ms Mac !! .. totally ....

and yes, I consider myself very lucky with this new doctor for sure :D

How are you Doing Ms Mac ?

Wee bit emotional, Maria, due to a quote for a new kitchen. Kitchen a mess because of a leak. Finding it a lot to deal with on my own.

I have gone to the same doc., in the practice, for about 15 years so it's hard to change. She's 51 but we have other much younger ones. I do think, though, that she is a good doctor but very strong-minded with everything.

I just read you had/have a lot of stress ... I am glad you are not holding on to the Cit and I really hope that everything will be okay with you pretty soon !!