How long do you take Citalopram for and how do you know?

Posted , 3 users are following.

Hi everybody. I was just prescribed 10 mg so I know it's too early to start thinking about life off Citalopram. I'm trying to view the pills as a helping tool to get better, along with the other changes I'm going to make.

I've read different posts about how some people have been on it for years. Some say they'll never stop taking it because it has made them feel so much better. Others have taken it for less and either weened off it or quit cold turkey. I read somewhere that the standard length of time to take it is between six months to a year...

How long do you take Citalopram and how do you know when it's time to get off Citalopram? Or is it impossible to really know either those answers? It's just trial and error basically? Does the doctor suggest getting off of them or do you make that decision yourself and go from them?

Thanks everyone. Good luck with your journies.

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Posted

    Hi Robynhood, 

    I don't take cit but have do take venlafaxine and mirtazapine and am in the process of weaning off.  I had a very bad protracted withdrawal from coming of Ven a year ago, having been on it for 12 years.  So, I've learned a lot since then. 

    I think your approach is a good one, to see it as an aid for the short term and to have a strategy in mind. 

    These drugs causes actual physical changes in the brain and the rest of the nervous system.  Start up side effects are caused by the newly created IMBALANCE of neurotransmitters.  The imbalance theory of depression has been debunked.  So, your nervous system's response to this imbalance is to push back and make changes to re-establish the norm.  These drugs block receptors so that serotonin remains in the gap between nerves longer.  So, the body begins to add more receptors to try to bring that level back to normal; it also slows down production of serotonin because there is too much of it in the nerve gap.   This is a simplification but you get the idea. 

    The longer you are on a drug and the higher the dose, the more of this remodeling occurs, such that when you come off the drug, there is that much more remodeling in reverse that must occur.  

    Doctors have their patients taper off these drugs much too quickly, and the body can't keep up with the drop.  Most "tapers" amount to a cold turkey as far as the nervous system is concerned.  When that drug is removed too quickly, those modifications exagerate the imbalance even further because now too much serotonin is being sucked up with all those additional receptors, and not enough is being produced because that feedback system had been shut down. Big withdrawal effects ensue, and those effects can go on for months, even though the doctor won't recognize WD beyond 6 weeks!  The longer you were on and the higher the dose, the longer it will take to come off.

    The withdrawal authorities recommend a 10% per month taper, and that is of the previous dose.  It doesn't matter that you were only on the drug for 6 months; the nervous system seems to be much slower about changing back than it was to adapt to the action of the drug.

    So, moral of the story is, don't rush up to a super high dose right off the bat just because the doctor says it is time to updose.  Go by how you feel.  If 10 mg is all you need to feel better, that's all you need, period - why updose?  If you do updose, know that you really will need to taper off as slowly as the 10% method, which is a harm reduction method geared towards keeping people comfortable and functional while tapering.  You may still experience some WD once off but it hopefully won't be as much a nightmare as a cold turkey will cause!

    • Posted

      Very informative, thank you! I'm supposed to see my doc in 4-6 weeks to see how I'm doing. The idea of increasing my dosage makes me nervous. We'll see how 10mg makes me feel.

      What made you decide to start weening off of them?

    • Posted

      I'd been on ADs for 20 years, just fell through the cracks and kept taking them thinking that I had a defective brain and just needed to.  But, I never felt like they made a great difference.  I now look back and realize, from what I've learned, that my down times while on meds were likely due to tolerance withdrawal.  The biggest reason is that my sex life had been trashed by SSRIs all that time, and at 50 I deciced enough was enough, that I actually wanted to enjoy sex like I had back before drugs.  I also realized that I was having some health concerns that are caused by long term AD use, such as bone loss from tooth grinding, unsteadiness, clumsiness - drop things easily and have trouble grasping objects, mental fog, extremely poor memory and also realizing that my motivation level has just been in the trash for years, as well as feeling flat, unable to get excited about anything, unable to truly FEEL. 

      I am looking forward to seeing who the real me is, and I have done work on the dysfunctional thinking that led me to drugs to begin with, so I feel ready to take the training wheels off.  

      Last of all, to see the great suffering that trying to come off these drugs causes, the withdrawal such as I experienced, that the changes that occur in the nervous system due to the drugs makes it so incredibily difficult to come off, I just don't want to continue subjecting my nervous system to these drugs!

      There's more, but I thought I better rein it in LOL!

    • Posted

      Haha I appreciate your honesty! I'm really nervous about the sexual side effects. Seems like everybody's sex drive gets totally annihilated. I'm hoping I'll eventually get off of the antidepressant, if I do other stuff to improve myself instead of just relying on the drug to feel better.
    • Posted

      Yes, upwards of 80% of people suffer sexual side effects from psych meds.  I think you're going to come out fine.  Lots of good self-help on the web.  Do web searches for CBT self help and guided meditations, good places to start. Good luck to you!

       

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