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Side effects from citalopram after nearly a year

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george_49631
george_49631

Hey all. Hope someone can help. I have tried searching everywhere online but could only find people suffering from side effects for around 6 weeks. I have been taking citalopram for nearly a year now and am slowly weaning myself off because my depression has gone and I feel my anxiety is under control. But thought my whole treatment I have had a strange side effect which is tension headaches which make me feel a little dizzy and also nausea. Some days it's not there at all and I feel great and then some days about an hour after I take my pill I can feel it coming on. It doesn't really feel like a headache because my brain doesn't hurt. But it just feels like there is a constant pressure in my head along with my ears. Like I said I'm coming off the meds but this has been thought the whole treatment. I am now on 10mg down from 20mg which I am really pleased about. Many thanks and happy mental health.

1 like, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • lois95799
    lois95799 george_49631

    Posted

    Sometimes it takes over a year for some of those bearable side effects to go away..I know it did for me .be careful with the iam feeling better with depression and the control anxiety.. Because you are feeling better because of the celexa...don't let it fool you...good luck

    • george_49631
      george_49631 lois95799

      Posted

      Thank you for the response. I feel I am doing a lot better as my anxiety came about around a year before my wedding during the planning stages whist on a business trip. The depression came as a result of the doctors nor myself knowing why I felt so terrible all the time (I thought I caught something in the Philippines) and after 6 months realised it was anxiety. Depression left after coinciding and hypnosis ECT but hopefully when I come off the meds completely I can cope smile I'm feeling positive.

  • leticia89168
    leticia89168 george_49631

    Posted

    When I came off of ciprelax years ago I had similar symptoms it took a few months to completely go
  • marsh23433
    marsh23433 george_49631

    Posted

    did you start coming off them by yourself or from your gp,if you start coming off on your own ,you may be suffering from withdrawal symptoms,if through the doctor you may find that you are trying too fast too come off them,i would then suggest you  go back too your gp and explain what is happening
    • george_49631
      george_49631 marsh23433

      Posted

      Nope with help from gp. It's not withdraw as I have had these symptoms through the whole treatment. Cheers.

  • shane23112
    shane23112 george_49631

    Posted

    Hi George, like you I have been on 20 mg of Cit for about a year. I would very much like to get off. Feeling very exhausted about 4pm every day ever since I started. I also have pretty consistent tinnitus since taking Cit. Any advice as to how to taper? Other question I have is what are the head zaps that people seem to experience when getting off this AD? Sounds frightening!

    Thanks!

    • george_49631
      george_49631 shane23112

      Posted

      Hi Shane. I would talk to your go about trying to get off the meds. If you are in the UK for some reason they say it's fine to drop 10mg a time. I ignored everything the doctors said after reading online about terrible withdraw so I dropped to 15mg for about a month and saw no withdraw effects at all. After that I dropped to 10mg and the only effect I'm really getting is mood swings. I have started to lash out a little sometimes and that's not me at all. So I usually apologize right after and explain what is happening. The brain zapped apparently are when you taper too fast. So as long as you are going very slow you shouldn't experience anything. But like you I get the ringing in the ears randomly but the main thing for me is the strange head pressure feeling. It also makes me feel nausea. Good luck

    • shane23112
      shane23112 george_49631

      Posted

      Hi George, I am in Canada. At the beginning of taking this drug my doc mentioned it would take a few weeks to eventually taper off. From what I read that is way too fast. I want the least side effects however long it takes. I need to be able to work, function etc. I don't understand why docs seem to know so little about these drugs. Confusing!

      Hope things continue well for you! Please keep posting if possible. Thx

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