Hey everyone, I posted a question rather like this last year, but asking if anyone had NOT had any side effects whilst taking Citalopram. I had loads of replies.
Now its time for me to come off it. And, I have surfed the web and found all sorts of bad things have happened to people trying to wean themselves off... which makes it a slightly unappealing thing to do, BUT I thought that maybe there might be someone somewhere who has something good to say about coming off the pills slowly.... reducing the dose over lets say 3 months or so.
Would love to hear your thoughts, ideas, offers of how to make it better etc.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Thanks
M x
Hi m
I've been on it for 4 months with no improvement - got worse a thusly, anxiety, dreams etc so dr weaning me off over 3 weeks! Feel better already, sleeping better and no so panicky or anxious. Teary a times but wondering if I should try another or just try to get my own self thru.
Good luck though. Hope you don't have too much trouble
A
Hey Ann!
Wow!!!
3 Weeks???
Fantastic!
This is day 5 of cutting my 40mg in half, so am only taking 20mg. I feel ok so far... I seem to remember it was about day 10 that the feeling of Citalopram helping me started to kick in, so am expecting something (or nothing hopefully!) to happen then... We shall see...
Good luck to you too.
M x
I have been on Cit for some five years now, but after getting really terrible sweats and feeling more and moretense, decided it was time to come off this. I spoke to my Dr who told me to reduce this to take one. This has now happened and I have not had any for about three days now. I am not so tense, but I am itching all
over, which is dr.iving me mad. My face fees as though the skin is burning. Any advice. P
I've been taking 40mg citalopram for maybe 6 years (off and on, mostly on). I've recently (3 weeks ago) begun weaning myself off by halving the dosage and I feel terrible. I know your question is if anyone has come off without side effects but guess I just wanted to comment as I have felt pretty alone in this process so far! Initially I was really itchy at night- I have been taking a liquid B vitamin for this and it has helped tremendously. I've been feeling really tearful and sad, having cra-zy dreams and have been in bed or extremely sleepy and flu-like for about 10 days. I am going to see my doctor this week just to check in as surely coming off shouldn't be this horrendous.. It's enough to make me want to go running back to 40mg but I am determined to get off them. How are you going? Aloe x
Aloe- thanks for replying. I will get some b16 to try this for itching. I too feel sad, but not tearful - yet? Like you, I could sleep clock round and just want to stay in bed. I have no interest in doing anything an I am due to
Se dr this Thursday. I am determined not to go,back on tablets, it has to get better soon. Let me know how you go. Keep strong.
Hi there
I have only been on 10mg so perhaps not a perfect comparison, but I have come down to just one tablet every week and will soon stop altogether, and so far so good. I came off VERY gradually on the advice of my doctor - 6 tablets for 2 weeks, then 5 tablets for 2 weeks, etc. I have had the light-headedness when I'm 5-6 days without a tablet but having read other people's comments I'm pretty confident it will pass eventually. It's a slight dizziness - notice it when moving around but not when sitting still and working/watching TV etc so not too bad. Have noticed my emotions returning to their normal strength which I think is a positive thing. No problems with mood or sleep yet.
Hope that's helpful - obviously different for everyone but I'm doing OK. Definitely recommend doing it very gradually and not being alarmed if things feel a bit weird when you get down to very low dose.
Good luck x
Hi KY127, have come off them within 3/4 weeks, found it difficult, but feel as though have turned a corner. I had a bad take and took another tablet but felt worse. So stayed of them. Had a couple of rough weeks but feeling bit better now. Thanks for asking.
Day 5 of going off 20mg to 10mg. And still counting. I am so pleased to find folks going through the same things, not only the symptoms but also the hard choice if or not to go off these. I've been taking CP for 5 years now....
Day 5 of going off 20mg to 10mg. And still counting. I am so pleased to find folks going through the same things, not only the symptoms but also the hard choice if or not to go off these. I've been taking CP for 5 years now....
Day 5 of going off 20mg to 10mg. And still counting. I am so pleased to find folks going through the same things, not only the symptoms but also the hard choice if or not to go off these. I've been taking CP for 5 years now....
I've found a lot of these replies both helpful and scary.
I have been on 30 mg Citalopram for 6 years, initially to cope with major work-related stresses, as I am not naturally depressive. I weaned myself off gradually over 8 - 10 weeks and finally had my last tablet about 5 weeks ago. After a couple of weeks of being 'clean' I started with occasional black moods and insecurities, and at other times snappiness and aggression, all these things being so out of character for me. This has gradually got worse so that I am currently having black moods daily, inability to cope with the smallest of challenges/decisions, general lethargy, all over itching, occasional sharp headaches etc. These symptoms are ironically worse than the original ones that caused me to go on Citalopram!
Whilst I appreciate that everyone is different, does anyone know how long these withdrawal symptoms generally last after stopping the meds?
It is comforting to know that I am not going off my head (as I started to think) though if these black moods and depressive feelings last indefinitely, there could be an argument for re-starting Citalopram which would be a great shame.
I have been on 20mg of Citalopram since January this year and really want to come off it now. Last week I missed a couple of days by mistake and today I have purposely not taken one. So I am almost down to every other day. I am going to see my doctor tomorrow to get proper advice on how to do it but already I am feeling a bit sharper, less paranoid and more clear about my thoughts. I wish I had tried to get myself through the depression without the tablets now, but admit I was very down after my husband left me after 20 years together so maybe I did need them.....anyway I am interested to know how anyone else is getting on with coming off these damned things!
Lizzy - all the research I've done recently indicates that you should never try and stop too quickly. Unfortunately it seems that some doctors aren't aware of the side effects so I wouldn't necessarily rely on what the doctor says if he just suggests you stop.
Most people seem to cut down very gradually in 5 mg stages, and when they get to the last 5 mg they then take it daily for a week or two, then every other day, every third day etc. to make the process really gradual. Even having cut down gradually I am still getting side effects (see above) though frankly many people report far worse side effects when they've cut down too quickly.
However you do it, good luck with it and take it gradually.
Lizzy . I did the same, dropped down to one every other day, then one every two days then forgot where I was. Dr knew cos I told him. Like you I feel,sharper, not so tense, clearer on my thinking. Won't go back on them again. Richard240: because you reduce them gradually the meds still in your system, so it will still crave it. Found better to come off them quicker but everyone is different. Good luck people .
Lizzy . I did the same, dropped down to one every other day, then one every two days then forgot where I was. Dr knew cos I told him. Like you I feel,sharper, not so tense, clearer on my thinking. Won't go back on them again. Richard240: because you reduce them gradually the meds still in your system, so it will still crave it. Found better to come off them quicker but everyone is different. Good luck people .
Hey everyone,
Coming off cp is probably a very different kettle of fish if you are on a 'low' dose (20mg is considered 1/2 an adult dose) compared to a 'full' dose of 40mg taken over a long period of time. My mother went on cp after her marriage break-up, she was on 20mg for about 6 months and managed to come off them easily. (I think it helped that she had just met someone and was pretty much beaming with love at the time and i really believe that had a huge effect on her recovery). As many of you have said above, everyone is different however, slow and steady would seem to be a much better option as we are talking about coming off of a serious drug here. Not many people really comprehend this, and not enough doctors are forward-thinking enough to really explain this to their patients.
A few days after I wrote on here about halving my dose I took a turn for the worse, fell into an emotional pit and became suicidal (in hindsight I realise the only times i've gotten that bleak are when I've tried to come off cp too fast). Thankfully I am in therapy so my counsellor has seen this happen with other clients. Her advice to me was to try and understand that for years my brain has been relying on these drugs, it hasn't had to do much producing of serotonin on its own and it is very dangerous to take away the help it has relied on for all this time too fast. Its like pulling a chair out from under my poor lil brain as it goes to sit down! I went back onto my full dose of 40mg, let things settle for a while and few weeks ago went down to 30mg. Feeling fine. No symptoms. Planning on getting to 20mg in a month.
I have begun thinking that in regards to my mental health there is no such thing as 'too slow'- there is everything to be gained by taking your time. Anyway, hope this may help someone, or at least keep the dialogue going.
Good luck to all of you, we can do this!! Aloe.
also, Richard how long did you leave between each 5mg decrease? Maybe go back up one to get evened out and come down after a month, maybe even longer. That's what I'm planning. Keep in touch, hope you're feeling better
Hi Aloe - I came down from 30 mg to zero over about 10 weeks. I came down from 30 to 20 fairly quickly with no side effects, then took a couple of weeks for each 5 mg drop thereon. Then I went from 5mg to zero over a month by increasing the days between them.
Thank you for your comments, last Sunday was my worst day and I am actually starting to feel better!
Frankly I needed CP to help with some life-changing major stresses that are now largely over. I would say that it was a very effective and valuable support when I needed it, so no regrets for being put on them.
I had wondered at one stage whether I might need to stay on them for life and if that had been necessary, I was ready to accept it. Hopefully it won't be necessary now though.
The important thing to my mind is that you shouldn't beat yourself up about taking them because if they enable a better quality of life and greater stability, they are doing what they should. It is however equally important to try and change the issues that cause the stress - if possible, and to that end CP can give huge support while you do.
Good luck to all.
Hi Everyone... Me again - M68 - the starter of this thread.
I thought I would share with you things so far....
Am still in the process of coming off Cit - i went to my doc after decreasing my dosage from 40mg to 20mg. After about a week I thought I had better go see her as I was gettting very teary and short tempered again.
She immediately told me that I was going about coming off them all the wrong way! She suggested that I keep to the original dose of 40mg, but just skip taking it one day a week. So, for example I skip Sunday for two weeks, then the following week I skip Sunday and Wednesday for two weeks. Then Sunday, Wednesday and Friday and go on like that until eventually I will just forget to take them and I will then be "off" without even realising. Am now in Week 3 of the docs regime, and feel fine and have even forgotten to take some in the week too! Am hoping that this will continue!
Good luck to everyone. Will let you know how it goes....
M x