coming off citalopram

[sophie657]

Hi,

I have been on citalopram for about 3/4 years now and have decided to come off 7 weeks ago. I was originally on 20mg a day, then for the last 3 months went down to 10mg a day then cold turkey. I regret it now, should have gone down to 5mg.
Anyway, I have had the worst 7 weeks ever and just wanted to know what other people have gone through as I am so tempted to go back on them but really don't want to!
First of all headaches and dizziness - normal for coming off this. However after 2 weeks they went away then developed the worst acne known to man. Plus I have put on about 7kg. I have never had acne problems before and always maintained a normal weight and found it hard to go up or down in weight, so for me to put on 7kg I was quite surprised. I am assuming it is a hormone imbalance from coming off the pills, not sure how to correct it though?

As for my moods - i am very irritable about silly things. I don't want to go out and socialise. I want to sleep ALL of the time. I am very teary and dont want to do anything.
Has anyone else had a similar experience? How long will I be like this for? HELP, please!

[Britabb]

Hi Sophie. I've been on cit for ten yrs and I've no plans to come off them. I'm too scared of wat could happen xxx

[sophie657]

Stay on them! It's seriously been a dangerous and scary ride. I think I might go back on to 10mg as soon as possible :weep:

[Britabb]

I was on 20mg for 10 yrs upped to 30 mg 4 weeks ago ( had a relapse into depression and anxiety ) just starting to feel better now....I swear these pills save my life!!

---------- Post added at 22:10 ---------- Previous post was at 22:09 ----------

Get back on them, some of us need that extra boost!! Its the way we r made xx

---------- Post added at 22:12 ---------- Previous post was at 22:10 ----------

Sounds to me like your illness has resurfaced. And it's not withdrawal... I don't know but get to your dr and get help xx

[harasgenster]

I'm coming off Cit at the moment and my therapist said something very useful to me: "embrace the withdrawal effects". One big part of improving your capacity for stress/anxiety and being able to cope is to be able to ride through distress. If you can feel the physical distress of being dizzy but be ok with that - i.e. just remind yourself it isn't forever and go on with your life - you're doing yourself a massive favour in the long run.

I would personally leave it a few more weeks. Withdrawals, in some patients, continue for a couple of months before they disappear. You're off the pills now, well done. See if you can ride through this distress and observe it. Emotions naturally peak and then fade. Allow yourself to feel the emotion, let it peak, no matter how uncomfortable that is. You may want to put aside times for lying there and really feeling that emotion, and times for distracting yourself through socialising, or going out somewhere, or whatever it is you personally enjoy. Getting the right balance between distracting yourself from the discomfort so that you're still able to have your requisite amount of fun (VERY important!) and feeling and processing that emotion will pay dividends in the long term.

If you ask me, this is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn skills and awareness of your emotional self that will help you for the rest of your life :)

[T2711]

God, you're brave. I'm finding it so hard and I'm on 5mg. Couldn't even handle a day off them completely so had to go back to 5mg which seems to be a bit better. Weaning off slowly. Probably stay on 5mg until after Xmas and then drop about 1mg a week if poss.

If you can, I'd stay off them now you're off. I knew I needed to go back on because it was getting ridiculous for me, crying and really spaced out. I've got exams in dec so not a good time to be feeling like that.

Good luck!