Support much needed!

[nervousnikki]

Hi all

I have been on citalopram for 2 years now and am feeling great. I still have occasional blips but i can rationalise most of my anx now. i have not had a panic attack for a year but still fear them. i have had CBT and found it amazing, it gave me control of my own thoughts.

Now i'm setting myself a new challenge and to be honest i'm a bit frightened. I'm seeing my Dr tomorrow to come off citalopram. I'm hoping my CBT will help me recongise the withdrawl symptoms and cope with it. But i have reacently read a lot of post on here that say it is horrible and thats really knocked my confidence.

I'm determined to do this cos how do i know if i can cope if i dont try! Has anyone withdrawn successfully?

Advise would be oh so welcome.

nikki

[suzy-sue]

Hi Nikki ,the best way to do it is to very gradually cut down by 5mg a time ,until it has stabilised 3weeks or 4 is average ,if earlier all so well and good .then continue until you get to the last dose .It will take about 3weeks for you to feel ok after that ,but you still may get the odd day when you dont feel so good .Taking a good omega3 supplement helps ,and a good healthy diet with plenty of water .Im sure you will be ok .We will look out for you to offer plenty of support ,in case you need it . Its nice to hear it has worked for you and you feel better .Take care Sue x

[nervousnikki]

ok so i went to dr. he agreed that i could a
start to reduce my meds. said to take 20mg one day and 10mg the next for a month, i smiled and agreed.

When i got up the next morning i couldn't do it. i have read too much now bout the withdrawl symptoms and i just cant do it. i'm so scared bout going back to panic attacks. oh the ups and downs of a week. i just kept repeating to my partner that i'm scared just so frightened. i felt like a little kid again.

This morning was 50% better but still cant reduce meds. been on citaloprm for 2 years this seems like such a long time, is this ok?

[chantelle]

Hi there, I had depression 18 months ago & was on citalopram. It was awful to start with but a real life-saver!!!!! I weaned off over 6 weeks and had no side-effects. However took depression again (think I should have stayed on citalopram for a bit longer than I had), and locum GP gave me cipralex. I've been on it nearly 5 months and am still toying with the idea of changing back to citalopram as they work so slowly in comparism. I don't think 2 years seems excessive BUT I also know a friend who successfully weaned off citalopram so go for it!!!!!
Good luck and take care

Chantelle

[honeybee3939]

Hi Nikki

I took Citalopram for around 10 years off and on and have been med free now for around 2 years. My advice is to do it very slowly as i learnt over the 10 years of trying to come off them i did it too fast, i tried to stop them over weeks rather than months. When reducing Citalopram i never had any side effects my problem was that 6 month later the anxiety returned .

Anyway if i was you i would try and reduce and do it very slowly maybe do it over a 3 to 6 month period. Maybe 20mg then 15mg then 10mg then 5mg.

Hope that helps

Andrea
xxxx