Coming off citalopram. :(

Hi Linny! Just started this week. I take 20 mg a day. I'm going to take 15 mg 3 days and 20 mg 4 days. Each week I plan on adding an extra day until I'm 15 mg daily all week and then start shaving another 5 mg and so on. Keep me posted on how it's going for you. I wish you luck! Thanks and it would be nice to have a support system!

I am so so pleased to have found this forum I just knew that citalopram was making me big but nobody would listen to me. I had terrible anxiety from an horrendous divorce and refused any drugs for years and years until one day I thought life was too much of a burden and I had absolutely nothing to look formward to.... enter the DEMON DRUG.

Citalopram has helped me enormously I was delighted and wasnt bothered initially about the weight gain but 4years into taking this drug I am now very worried very worried indeed so I have decided to start shaving off parts of the tablet starting with 2 shaves for my first week three shaves for the second week and so on....

I am a little frightened because before I found this site and I am talking yesterday I was trying one day off 20mg one day on and on the day off I had some strange things happen in my head lol I can only describe it as my brain sort of fizzing, is that a brain zap??

Well with no sex drive whatsoever and no emotions at all I am looking sort of forward with a little trepidation as to what is going to be the outcome but anything has got to be better than feeling nothing.

My only hope is that the anxiety doesnt come back.

Hi all, I'm pleased to say its going well for me at the moment. I decided last week that instead of just trying 10mg it might be better to alternate between 10 and 15 each day. That was fine, and I had no real issues. This week I'm gonna go with the 10 every day and see how I get on. I'm so totally focused on getting off them, after numerous failed attempts, and I think maybe that's helping me too. Good luck to everyone, I think it's certainly a case of going slowly with these for it to be a success.

Hello, it's good to see so many people trying to get off the citalopram, I've been taking them now for

18months. Before I began on the drug my life was ok but my head was a mess emotionally, I also suffer from trichotillomania and I was borderline suicidal. I would find myself waking up sat bolt upright in the night

hairpulling and in the day time I would stand in front of a mirror pulling for anything up to 8hrs with barely a

break. Crazy right?? Well as you can imagine this had a serious effect on my confidence and anxiety. After

taking 30mg citalopram my life has literally flipped on its head.!! Its given me my confidence back, my ocd is

easier to manage as I can "snap out of it" unlike before.

Since being on citalopram my life has improved dramatically... I have proposed to my wife, got married, got

my dream job (lorry driver) and me and my wife have bought our own place. BUT...now is the

hard part...do I risk coming off them or keep paying £7 ish for many years and deal with it. Mentally the fact

That I've achieved so much with their help puts doubts in my mind. Hard decision..!! Please help me... should icome off and risk being an emotional wreck again or stick with them because of the massive improvement

they have made in my life?? By the way I'm only 23 years old, 24 in 1 month. So I do have age on my side..this could swing it for me. Thanks woody.

PROGRESS!!

Touch wood all is going well with my withdrawal. I started alternating 20mg and 10 mg every day and did this for three weeks and experienced minimal effects. I then went to 10mg every day for three weeks and am now alternating between 10mg and 5mg every day. I am so so pleased with how well its gone so far - I have never been able to get this far before. Maybe all the other times I had tried to come off I wasn't really ready but now I am. The only thing I will say is that I think that the drug actually made me more anxious. I have noticed that I am a lot more chilled and worry free since withdrawing? Weird hey! Still a way to go to get from 5mg to nothing which is the next step! I feel very very positive. Keep going guys!! xxx

Woody, you need to speak with your doctor if you havent already done so. It sounds like Citalopram has really worked for you and helped. Are you having any side effects from being on the drug? It sounds like you have done so fantastically well for yourself and you should be proud. If the main bug-bear is that you are paying £7.00 for them - I feel it is a small price to pay for your happiness. I would discuss the whole thing with your doctor and ask their opinion of whether or not you should withdraw, however the decision has to be yours. Do you feel ready to come off?

Just to give you an update - I'm completely free of citalopram and have been for months. I feel loads better now, and pretty much followed the reduction methods people are using here.

WOODY - I had to stop citalopram because the side effects were worse than the benefits. I would do what Linny suggests and talk to your doctor. It sounds citalopram has been good for you, and you don't want to come off them too quickly or that can undo the good it has done.

Good luck guys and keep smiling!

Hi all, I am new here. I am a 48 yr old mother of 3 boys. I have taken citalopram on and off mostly on for about 15 years. Been up to 60mg and down to 20, for depression. I have always had concerns about we right gain and loss of sex drive and following a break through with a councellor I have been reducing my dose from 20 to 10 then 5 on alternate days. I am now off the tablets completely for about 2 weeks. My mood has been good and I feel emotionally very well.

On the other hand for the last 10 days I have had a really horrible sweet taste in my mouth and more recently I have been feeling nauseous, dizzy and getting a "spaced out" feeling. I feel like I am doing things in slow motion. Dr today wasn't much help took bloods to check for diabetes. I told her that I had come off citalopram but I have to say I didn't think that was the cause either....not so sure now. I really don't want to start taking them again do you think they could be the cause of my symptoms??

hi all, update. been fully off cit for about 3 months, after slowly cutting down and feel fine! still het moody and down now and again, but thats being human! not constant as it had been. deffo lost the bloated, water retention look i had on it and overall lost about 6 or so pounds

julie250.....yeah had the strange sweet sour taste, feeling distant, spaced out but it passes if you take it slowly. lots o luck.

I'm no expert but those symptoms sound like common withdrawal symptoms. The GP's arent really much use, I have seen a number of them and they all say that Citalopram is not addictive and you shouldnt have any symptoms. However, if you google it, you will find loads of results where people have experienced symptoms just like the ones you are having. If you have taken Citalopram for 15 years it will take a long time to fully get out of your system. My advice to you is to persevere with it - you have done so well to get so far. Just keep an eye on it and go back to the docs if you are worried

Thanks linnyM I am not going to go back to them I just hope I am strong enough physically and mentally to get through this bit now. It seems to come in waves and feels quite debilitating when it is bad.if my weight management becomes easier then hopefully that will keep me going. Will check in on here with my progress x

Hi guys, following your advice I have arranged an appointment to see the doctor and further discuss my situation. I am eager to get off them and having spoken to the wife who has supported me the whole way through my experience we feel now would be a good time to try as we are financially steady and in a good place as a couple. I will be taking on board what my doctor says and go from there. In the meantime I have reduced my dosage slightly to 20mg which is what started on. Im expecting a slight difference in feeling over the next couple of weeks. I will keep you all posted on my progress. This forum is great..!! Keep positive believe and don't forget to share your emotions. :-) thanks again.

Hi all

I have just stumbled accross this while searching the net for side effects to coming of Citlopram.

I have been on 20 mg for around 3 years and have been thinking about coming off it for a couple of months.

2 weeks ago I went away and forgot to take my tablets with me, although I was only away for a few days I decided this is the perfect chance to go cold turkey.

For the first week I had no symptoms wha soever and was really happy. 2 Weeks in and I am having trouble sleeping. (always been a bad sleeper but this is different), I keep getting splitting headaches which I can cope with but the worst thing is the feelings I keep getting. It is like my heart keeps fluttering as then jumps like when you have a fright..Is this normal, has anyone else experienced this.

I am also feeling a bit down today and very tired.

thanks in anticipation

Hi All im a mum of 2 kids, ive been trying to come off citaopram for 3 years, but am finding it very hard.

I dont know about other people but my side affects are numbness in the head, ringing in the ears, very tired mentally and physically, get upset stomaches. A'm on 10mls every 2 days, i also get headaches, even when ive slept i still feel like i havent slept at all.

I used to be on estalipram but doctors put me on citaopram as they couldnt afford the old one, ive never felt good on it, ive tried other antidepressants but still feel rough on them.

Does any one have any advice for me

Hi there. It's so good to hear that I am not alone with this problem. I started Citalopram 3 years ago when my husband was diagnosed with a brain tumour, he was only 52, and then subsequently died last year. This is my second attempt at coming off Citalopram. It was my life saver when I needed it, but now I need the control back in my life. The first time I tried to come off, I followed the GP's suggestion and cut it down over a month, but I hit rock bottom again, and had to go back on them again, at 20mg. This time, after much research, and speaking to people, I am coming off really slowly, and changing the dose up and down daily and gradually reducing it, in an attempt to confuse my brain into gaining control of the Serotonin levels again. This is only my first week, and its going okay so far. Reading all your problems with the drug has reassured me that I was not alone, and will help me to win.