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Long term use of citalopram (20+ years) and trouble tapering off

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LGM88422
LGM88422

I have been on 40 to 60 mg of citalopram for over 21 years. I was a teenager when I started so I suspect that my body developed with the drug in my system and maybe now doesn't know how to go without.

I went down to 40mg a few years ago. Last year I went down to 20 with the goal of coming off completely and replacing with buproprion. The tapering went ok but I cannot seem to tolerate anything less than 10mg. As soon as I try to go below that I have debilitating headaches and nausea, exhaustion and weakness.

Last year we decided to stop trying and stay at 10mg for a while. My doctor again wants me to try coming off. He gave me strong nausea medicine but it is only day two and I can't function.

Does anyone have experience with trying to come off citalopram after 10 to 20 years of use?

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2 Replies

  • aaron22529
    aaron22529 LGM88422

    Posted

    I've been taking citalopram for 2+ years and have been struggling to come off them. I've cut my dose but I feel so weak some days I can hardly stand, I get an electric shook feeling in my head plus I can't sleep. So I can imagine it's really hard considering the amount of time you've been taking them. I suppose your body becomes dependent. I hope you manage to come off them and start feeling better 😁

  • katecogs
    katecogs LGM88422

    Posted

    Hi

    Yes I came off Citalopram after 20 years.

    You really need to go very slow and by a little amount each time.

    It took me a year coming off 20mg and I didn’t have any withdrawal effects at all - unlike a previous time when I tried to come off by halving each time.

    So I went from 20 / 15 / 10 / 5 / 2.5 / 1.25mg to 0

    I stay on each reduction about 4 weeks (or longer) before reducing again. I got to 5mg and decided to stay on that a while before starting again.

    I bought a pill cutter / crusher and cut my 20mg into 4 making each piece 5mg and took them that way. When I got down to 5mg it was too small to cut further so I crushed it and took the powder by dividing it.

    When I reached 1.25mg I then started taking it every other day for a few weeks, then every 2 days for a few weeks, every 3 days, 4 days etc etc until I was taking it once a week. Then I stopped.

    If you do it too quick your body won’t have chance to adjust before you reduce again. Just take your time.

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