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Switching from citalopram to venoflaxine.

Posted , 3 users are following.

sarah24378
sarah24378

Hi all

I am on my second day of ven 37.5mg. I was on citalopram for over 5 months and I felt dreadful. I tapered quite fast to 10mg of cit stayed on that for 2 weeks then the next day started the ven.

I feel okish but am getting very dizzy. Am I likely to withdraw from the cit whilst starting the ven ?

Has anybody done this switch and how did it go for them ?

I have a baby to look after so this is really hard.

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • jonesfia
    jonesfia sarah24378

    Posted

    Hey Sarah

    Have you had any other symptoms? Sweating, shaky, etc?

    Don't know about cit but dizziness is a common side effect according to Dr Google, and it also appears to be a bit rough on most people if you read the user forums.

    I take ven, and the dose you are on is very low, so unlikely to be that (I take 300mg). Did you reduce the cit with health professional supervision?

  • james22918
    james22918 sarah24378

    Posted

    Hi,

    Yes I've switched from citalopram to Venlafaxine recently after citalopram stopped working for me. My doctors made me come off citalopram fully for one week before starting Venlafaxine as they said you have to wash it out of your system first but tbh I didn't have any side effect when coming off the last 10mg of citalopram except for feeling more anxious as I had nothing supporting me.

    I know it's not what you want to hear but everyone is different in how they react to coming off or going onto a antidepressant, so you might be lucky and have no side effect from coming off citalopram. You have started Venlafaxine now, so I would guess your doctors would just say carry on but it's worth giving them a call to check or check with a pharmacist.

    I'm on my second week of taking 75mg of Venlafaxine and everyday is different with different side effects and slow progression. However my concentration is improving I do feel that it's helping me now, but tomorrow can be a different day and I can like you be posting for reassurance but I know that it's just the tabs and once I get through the side effects thing will start to get better. If they don't then it's onto the next one but I'm hopeful they will work.

    I'm just waiting for the time where the days become better and more routine. Also some people freak out whilst taking a anitdepressant especially a new one, I had a bad time initially going onto citalopram many years ago so I think I was mentally ready to experience bad times whilst going onto Venlafaxine. but remember for some people (myself included) you feel worse before better. I had nausea then headaches then heightened anxiety and dizziness but then have caught myself dancing in my kitchen randomly to music, which I haven't done in a long time. So I'm guessing they are doing something.

    I hope this helps.

    Thanks

    James

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