Withdrawal symptoms- 30mg to nothing

[abigail2604]

Hi Everyone,

I'm new today and thought I would turn to fellow people with Citalopram experience!

I've been taking Citalopram for 2 1/2 years. 40mg/day at first and over the last year, down to 30mg/day. Originally it was to help with my depression and anxiety which stemmed from environmental and genetic issues. Last year I started a full time job which I enjoy very much, I'm now in a happy relationship with 2013 looking like a very good year!! I'm happier than I have been in a long time, and so my doctor advised to come off of them. I was surprised when she suggested March (so soon) and to go cold turkey, taking no more tablets anymore. My last tablet was on Tuesday (19th Feb) and I feel like I am currently having some sort of mental breakdown!!

By Friday I was extremely irritable, everyone getting on my nerves and being very short tempered. Saturday morning I had plans with all my girlfriends from work and was dreading going out- was trying to think of any excuse not to go. It's Sunday now and I haven't got out of bed yet. Uncontrollably crying and wanting to be alone. My poor boyfriend doesn't have a clue what's going on!!

I feel like I am back where I was 2 1/2 years ago, not wanting to leave the house, crying constantly and just wanting to curl up in bed. I thought I had left all of this behind and I'm so upset that I feel this way again!!

Keep trying to tell myself that I'm being silly and it works for like 10 minutes then I am overwhelmed with sadness and tears again.

Despite the emotional and mental feelings, I am extremely dizzy and struggling focus properly, have had headaches all week, and bad ones at that!!

This is all bloody ridiculous, I feel like a pshyco!! (< still able to make jokes though!!).

Just wondered if anyone else has come off Citalopram cold turkey or whether this is the worst idea ever???

N.B. I have made a docs appt for Tuesday to discuss this!!

Thanks everyone and I hope no one else is feeling this bad!!

Abs xx

[steveo]

Oh my goodness! DO NOT COME OFF COLD TURKEY! Especially from a dose as high as 30mg!!!

I was on 20mg for 11 years and it took me 6 months to taper off slowly and even then the side effects were horrible!!!!

DO NOT COME OFF COLD TURKEY!!!

[JaneC]

Abi, I totally identify with what you are describing, both from my own experience of cold turkeying off another AD (as advised by my doctor) and from what happens with my husband if he runs out of cit for a few days (he's on 40mg).

I honestly don't know if GPs are just completely ignorant or if they think it's worth taking a chance that people just might be fine.

You have 2 choices really, either tough it out if you feel you've already gone this far, or get back on the cit and come off gradually.

After about five days of hell with no sign of things getting better I went back on my AD and almost immediately felt fine. I then came back off it slowly with no probs x

[Bel8]

Hi Abigail,

:bighug1:

You must feel awful. I did not go cold turkey, but skipped a few reductions and rushed the process and it has been horrible for me, so can only imagine what it must be like for you.

I am on day 25 since I last took citalopram (was on 20 mg, reduced to 10mg ... then left a few steps out) and there are some better days than others but it still seems to come back (nausea, vertigo/dizziness, headaches and emotionally very sad and all over the place).

Like Jane said, you have 2 choices ... tough it out or go back on and try reducing more slowly. My psychiatrist also said I should not experience discontinuation syndrome, but thank goodness for NMP, I had some wisdom.

There is a post by psychopoet called "A survival guide to citalopram" that I found particularly helpful.

Whatever you decide ... based on everything I have read here ... it does get better at some point.

Bel8

[Sunshine77]

Hi Abigail, I had the same experience when I came off another SSRI last year, which I also did cold turkey. It took me back to a very dark place and I ended up on Citalopram as the other SSRI no longer agreed with me when I tried it again.

I am horrified that your doctor told you to do this?!??!?!?

My suggestion would be to go back and get a smaller dose and then wean off them, but I'm no doctor. Can you see a different GP at the same practice when you go back today? Yours sounds like a nutter.

Hope you are feeling a little better whatever you decide to do, I really feel for you and send you a big :hugs:

[Bel8]

Hi Sunshine,

My psychiatrist and I talked about me coming off citalopram at the end of last year and after chatting to my psychologist about it, we agreed that I was ready. I had made some lifestyle changes (like 8-5 job - old one was 15 hours a day and weekends), have been in counselling for over a year now and have developed more healthy coping mechanisms.

My psychiatrist did not want to take me off it last year because it was near Christmas (unhappy time of year for me) and so it started going off about six weeks ago. He also said I would not experience any withdrawal, but to be safe I should drop to 10 mg for a week and then take 10 mg every alternate day for a week. He was so wrong. 26 Days later I still feel sick most days, although there are a few days that have been better than others.

I got frustrated with feeling sick all the time so skipped the alternate days ... BAD IDEA, if anything I should have taken it slower, much slower. My psychiatrist is a really great guy ... like a polish Santa, but I have to wonder why he thought I would not experience any withdrawal.

Maybe he was trying to be optimistic so I would not imagine any withdrawal symptoms, but I do feel like he could have warned me. If not for NMP I would not have known what hit me.

I am going to see my GP today to make sure it is just withdrawal and that it is not something else.

I have my GP, a psychiatrist and a psychologist (all different people) LOL, although I don't have regular appointments with my psychiatrist anymore.

Bel8

[Bel8]

Hi Abigail,

Been thinking of you ... How are you?

Bel8

[Rachy-Rach]

I did cold turkey from 10mg and I would not recommend it to anyone. It's down right cruel. Continue to take a full dose to relieve the symptoms and ask for a doctor who can give you a proper regime. Cold turkey is asking for trouble. It is recommended that you should not reduce your dose by more than 20% at a time. So your next stage would probably be 25mg as this is a 17% reduction from 30mg. Maybe take that for a month before dropping down to the next stage. Either way you should not just stop taking it and it is highly inappropriate for a doctor to tell you to do so. Good luck x

[little wren]

Definitely taper off them - do not go cold turkey off ssri's. There is a discontinuation syndrome that is well known. Perhaps some people can come off with no problems - but if you've been on a high dose or taken them for a long time it really would be better to taper. x

[NoPoet]

Your doctor is an idiot who should spend more time studying medicine than playing golf.

Go back onto your original dose. You might want to speak to a pharmacist first, so for example you can ring your local Boots store and speak to one there.

It's difficult to judge whether these are withdrawal effects or a relapse without knowing more about you. If they started very quickly and immediately became hard to bear, they're likely to be withdrawal effects. If they came on very gradually and continue to gather in strength, it's probably a relapse.

Withdrawal effects tend to start resolving themselves within several weeks, so you may notice that your mood starts to stabilise and you become more interested in the world around you. In the meantime you will get all kinds of weirdness and it'll seem you're back to square one, but there is hope. By the way, if you jump back to your full dose and the symptoms start to disappear quickly, they were just withdrawl symptoms.

A relapse comes about when your core problems aren't fixed, or when you haven't developed effective coping strategies. The shock of going cold turkey causes physical and emotional symptoms that trigger negative schemas (belief and thought processes) and trigger horrible memories. Sometimes the memory of our suffering is enough to bring on a severe bout. If you're relapsing, go back on the medication at your normal dose.

Whether it's a blip or a relapse, I recommend you think about what you are actually experiencing: what you're thinking (and what beliefs you hold that are generating these thoughts), what you're physically feeling, and pay attention to where in your body the symptoms seem to come from. It doesn't actually matter where they come from, it just helps you to understand and recognise the sensations so they don't just seem to come out of nowhere and don't seem like some evil, unknowable force.

No matter how recovered you think you are, coming off medication is a "live-fire exercise" which will test you. This experience, as horrible as it is, has got a lot to teach you. In effect, the illness has given you some of the keys to its ultimate defeat, so learn from this. Keep going, it won't be this bad forever.