Coming off Citalopram any advice
Posted , 7 users are following.
I have been on antidepressants for 20years and now feel the time is right to reduce the dosage.I have manage to go from 40mg to 10mg over a period of time but it's the last part of the journey which l am unsure about going from 10mg zero. Any advice would be a blessing.
0 likes, 7 replies
isobel06109 Jennyann
Posted
Isobel
betsy0603 Jennyann
Posted
kari69909 betsy0603
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betsy0603 kari69909
Posted
I went through a horrible protracted withdrawal from Effexor that lasted from soon after I got off last September through to June of this year. I didn't realize it was withdrawal because I had done a fast taper, and didn't experience bad effects right away. The effects I did have at first I attributed to menopause, so I blamed them on that (heavy sweats, concentration and memory problems that got extreme, a tingly skin sensations that I thought was some weird version of hot flashes, heart palps, increased pulse, etc). Months out I started to have the worst anxiety and insomnia I had ever had, before or during meds, and anxiety was NOT what my original complaint for going on ADs.
I reinstated in June after going on mirtazapine which pooped out pretty quickly. Within one hour of taking that first 37.5 mg dose, I was dramatically better, and that is a sure sign of dependency, that the drug fixes you right away, when normally it would take a month for an AD to really affect you.
So, now I am stuck with having to get off of both, and I am focusing on a slow taper of mirtazapine for now because of the weight gain it has caused. My p-doc thinks I am being extreme for insisting on doing the 10% taper, even called it OCD! He says if the symptoms last longer than 6 weeks, then it is "something else." My extremely protracted Effexor WD proves him wrong, and if you go to the withdrawal forums online, you will find many horror stories like mine, worse. It really is mind-blowing that these doctors prescribe so easily without any understanding of how profoundly these drugs affect the nervous system, making them possibly quite difficult to get off.
kari69909 betsy0603
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mrself Jennyann
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Weight gain ,
And an odd one really sore heavy breasts like u can get with some contraception pill .
Has anyone else had the above ?
X
katecogs Jennyann
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Ive been on these meds for a similar time and have come off these before. I restarted the meds only due to a stressful family illness a year ago, and have now again reduced again ready to come off them again next year. I'm now on 5mg, having reduced by 5mg at a time - this way I had no withdrawal effects unlike the last time. The next reduction will be taking this 5mg every other day until I feel no withdrawal effects, then every 2 days and so on until I stop.
Buy a pill cutter and cut the last 10mg up. I cut my 20mg tablets up and reduced that way.
One thing I noticed last time I came off these meds was that I could cry for England! I wasn't depressed, but just found the tears would come even if I saw a squashed bumble bee!!
When you're off Citalopram try a natural SSRI called 5-HTP which needs to be taken with l-tyrosine. Both can be bought from Holland & Barrett (if you're in the UK) and you need to take them both. Read a book called 5-HTP The Natural Way to Overcome Depression, Obesity by Michael T Murray ........ it's a really interesting read.
You need to be off SSRI's completely before starting 5-HTP as they must not be taken together.
I took these for a year when I was off Cit with good results, and will start them again next year when I'm back off Cit. There are no side effects either and you can and start/stop these anytime, unlike Cit which has to be withdrawn slowly.
K x