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How long until it's out of my system?

Posted , 5 users are following.

Lydelle
Lydelle

Having taken 20mg of citalopram for at least 8 years, then increasing it to 40mg over a year. I was told in October to cut down and stop completely. I have now been drug free for 9 days. How long until it's completely out of my system?

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  • dave2002
    dave2002 Lydelle

    Posted

    Hi

    I have been asking the same quetion aND in this forum i have raised a similar questio the post is titled "Trying to get to the Bottom of CItal Withdrawal Longevity" i have had several replys which are far from conclusive but you maybe able to gain something from them.

    According to my GP the effects caused by the drug should be out of your system in a few days. That is the good news. The issue how your body / brain reacts to the result of the drug being withdrawn from the systems, not dissimilar to giving up smoking with the resultant loss of nicotine.

    From my understanding Cit has an effect on the amount of seratonin in  the brain. once the drug is discontinued there is a void which is it be filled and from what i have read on this site and others there are no real defined parameters as to how an individual reacts. Some people have no withdrawal (I have a female friend who was on Cit for 6 months and had no withdrawal symptoms) While others appear to suffer have being exposed to the drug for a relatively short period.

    I had quiet sever side effects from a small dose over a short period. I gave up taking them on the 22 Dec 2014 the GP informed me that I would be back to normal by Xmas day. now 47ish days later I am getting closer to normal.

    For me there appears to be a two step forward and one step back approach to improvement where i get a significant improvement for a few days the this platau's out and i then regres slighty and then te cylce begins again.

    Having said all tha as i said earlier depending on  a number of factors we are all different and peope appear to consider from no side effects with anything up to three months to be conpletely clear.

    I hope this helps

     

    • Lydelle
      Lydelle dave2002

      Posted

      Blimey, I feel so naive. I truly thought I would be given a definitive answer. Sounds like I have come off very lightly so far.... fingers crossed I make it to next appointment on 19th without major incident.

      Thank you so much for your interesting reply.

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