View Full Version : Tried to come off but couldn't.
Hi all, I started on citalopram 10mg in July 2012 then after 2 weeks went to 20 and stayed on that till last April when I started to come off, managed to get down to 10mg easily but stayed on that dose for 5 months, eventually at the end of September I decided to go down to 5, stuck it out for 2 months but didn't feel right so the GP said I could go back to 10 which I did just over a week ago and I feel absolutely terrible, nausea, shaking, can't sleep and diarrhoea I thought seeing as it was just a 5mg jump it wouldn't be too bad, has any one else experienced this and were you OK after a bit?
I accidentally doubled my dose last weekend (just one dose - I went from 20mg to 40mg) and had an unbelievably bad 3 days with side effects.
I missed 10mg last night too (I take my 20mg as 2 x 10mg beginning and end of the day) and have woken up feeling like utter garbage this morning (woke up early panicking).
So I think these things are quite powerful, and have a different range of side effects on different people. I'm coming to end of my first pack of 28 x 20mg of these things and with the exception of 5 days I have not felt quite right in some time. :weep:
So whilst I might not have answers, you're not the only one in this position.
Yes I know that there are a lot of us coping with it in different ways, sorry to hear that you have only had 5 good days, I know I think about every little niggle I get and try to analyz it
it just seems to dominate my brain at the moment, it is a very powerful pill and to think that missing one dose or doubling it or just taking 5mg more can make such a difference is unbelieveable. I do hope things get better for you, they did for me first time round and I just wish I had stayed on the higher dose longer.
I think the serious side-effects will dampen down a progressively over the first few weeks. I had terrible problems with nausea, no appetite, trembling, sweating and the diarrhoea in the first couple of weeks. My doctor prescribed me a benzo (chlordiazepoxide) to try and mitigate the side effects. I ended up having 3 courses of that just to cope but all of that seems to have settled down now and had done in two weeks (only I went and screwed my dose up).
My problems now just seem to be that I'm just constantly worrying and ruminating about everything far above and beyond what I recall I ever used to. How long did it take on your first course of this drug for them to kick in?
It took about 6 weeks if I remember rightly, I remember going to see the GP late August and he said he could tell I was a lot better, I started them mid July, but I must admit at the time it seemed a lot longer, it was as though it would never happen but it does but it happens very gradually that you don't really realise until you suddenly find that you can cope with things a lot b etter, I know when I was on 20mg for the 8 months the anxiety would occasionally come but I could shake it off and not dwell on it. I hope you start to feel better soon.
So looks like I'm going to have a citalopram advent calendar this year then along with a lot of other people. It suddenly occurred to me this morning why I'd been given a 56 x 20mg initial course of the drugs... logical I guess!
Hope your side-effects are starting to die down though. My sleeping patterns are quite messed up still though even a month in.
Thank you for letting me know about the 6 weeks though. Gives me some hope, something to look forward to in a way!
Citalopram is a very powerful medication. Both times I came off it I experienced considerable panic and agitation around 7 weeks after stopping. The first time I was only on 10mg for 6 weeks. The second time, which was this year, I was at 5mg. In the last week I've experienced panic and agitation feelings, even though I switched to 5mg of fluoxetine. I know it is withdrawal related as I'd never had these kind of symptoms pre-meds.
The best way of coming off this drug is via a very, very slow taper. Probably one much slower than your Doc would suggest. Like 10% of your previous dose every 3-4 weeks, just to be on the safe side.
Some people seem to be able to come off no problem though.
Oh no, sorry to hear that Christine! Hope you're feeling better. Honestly, if I can do it, you can!! I know what you mean, it becomes such an important part of your life, it's like we're obsessed! It will get better and if you just stay on the dose until you feel stable (ish) then drop down to 7.5mg next time, I really think you won't get such bad side effects from the drop. It's crazy how such a small reduction can make such a difference, but I really feel so much better dropping around 2.5 when coming down from 10.
Going from 10 to 5 was probably a mistake, it was for me, I found it so hard. When I eventually felt ok on 5 I dropped to about 3 - I used a pill cutter so not too accurate! Then I gradually started to make them smaller every couple if weeks. I know it's early days but I feel ok and I've even drug free for 4 days now so fingers crossed. I will have to have really bad side effects to go back on now! Haha, feel a bit sorry for my husband as I have been an absolute nightmare even on the 3. He did say that if I carried in he would leave me but at that time I was thinking that was a pretty appealing option as I hated everyone around me!
Don't worry, you will be fine and you can do it! It's hard but it's worth the fight and I would completely ignore any doctor that says it's fine to go from 10 to nothing because that is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! Maybe it works for some people but certainly not for me!!!
Hope you're ok! Let me know how you're getting on :)
Hi T2711, I am so glad things are going so well for you, I'm sure now you are off of them you will do really well, I just think it wasn't the right time for me and I shouldn't have even tried it, I don't know if I told you before that my Mum who is 93 lives with us and she has short term memory loss which can get a saint down. For some reason I have felt really bad on 10, I thought it would be just a case of going up from 5 and I would be the same as I was before but it hasn't worked out like that, the GP even wants to me to go back to 20 as the last 2 weeks have been dreadful, I think it has been worse than when I went on them first time around which I can't understand, I just hope it gets better as it did last time. I really hope you stay feeling good and life gets better.:)
Oh no.m, no wonder you're finding it difficult! It's so hard to come off even when you're in a really good place so I'm sure it's nearly impossible if there are any things adding to your anxiety :(
Do you think you're finding it better as time goes on on 10mg or is it staying the same? Maybe you should go up to 20mg. There's no point putting yourself through hell just to come off.
Sorry to hear it's not going too well, good luck xx
Hi T2711, Thanks for replying, I have taken 15mg today and feel worse than ever, I'm hoping it will get better over the next few weeks, trust it to be right on Christmas, I can't remember feeling this bad before, what worries me is that I might go through this and it might not work, my GP seems pretty certain that it will work again, if only I had not tried to come down to 5 but then we live and learn don't we, if it works this time I won't be in such a hurry next time to get off of them xx
harasgenster
14-12-13, 16:42
Hi CMC, it's not easy to come off Citalopram if you get bad withdrawals - I get nasty ones too and have struggled in the past.
I'm completely off them now, and although I haven't been feeling well, to me it's completely worth it. For me I really wanted to get off them as I've been on and off pills since I was 14 years old and just want to know what's it's like not to be under the influence! Try to remember why you're doing this - what is the reason for you to want to come off them?
The withdrawals continue for around a month after the last pill on average. Maybe you could work out what date that is and put it on your calendar? It helps to be able to count down how long it's going to last, because then you can maintain perspective. My last day of withdrawals - if they last the month - will be January 7th, which is great because I'm starting a new job on Jan 6th so I should be all better by then!
It's uncomfortable, but you can deal with discomfort. I'm lucky in that I am still quite young and do not have children, so I don't need to worry about being ok for them or anything. I've completely let go of all responsibilities apart from work to take care of myself, which has helped a lot - not feeling guilt over 'not functioning', which I usually would. That's a lot of what made it harder for me in the past. The thoughts of 'I feel so ill I can't....' If you feel so ill you can't do something, then just don't do it. Who cares? It's short-term, you can get back on things in a few weeks time :)
Also, if you're coming off meds it's presumably because you're a lot better? Withdrawals are inevitable if you're sensitive to the medication, it's going to happen. This is a great opportunity to show that you can cope with feeling unwell. I think in some ways we're sort of lucky to have the withdrawals, because we can try out all of the skills we've learned and how to put things in perspective, and how to deal with panic attacks and depression etc. I feel like once I've gone through the withdrawals I will have built up a bank of evidence that I can cope with feeling bad, which will stay in my memory forever and make it easier next time something unpleasant happens in my life. Unpleasant things are going to happen in our lives, everything isn't going to be ok all the time, we won't always be happy and sometimes we will be anxious, but none of that matters if you know you can cope with it.
Thanks harasgenster, I just didn't feel ready this time, GP wants me to go back on 20 then back to 10 and then we shall see, but I will be sure I'm ready next time.
I don't know if this helps, but about 6 months ago I weened myself off paxil. The doctor gave me instructions on how to do so but I decided against these and did it on my own. I went to the chemist and got myself a pill cutter. Each week I cut the pill a little bit smaller and smaller and smaller. I think I managed to cut 1 pill into 26 pieces. But it worked. It took 2 months, but I got there.
Hi Sedaw, I tried but once I got down to 5mg I felt I wasn't coping very well, as you can see from your thread I am now back on 20, I think I should have stayed on them a bit longer, I will know next time.
Hi Christine. Oh dear, hopefully it'll improve before Xmas! I have to agree, it's bad timing. After all of my positivity being off it, today has been pretty bad, a week after my last tablet. I have been in the worst mood, taking it out on my family and husband, I just feel so angry and so upset. Really feeling sorry for myself today! Praying it'll get better. It's all very well saying we're lowering the dose or coming off completely but you tend to forget the despair you feel when you're actually doing it.
I actually think I will be staying at home on Christmas Day feeling sorry for myself. I can't even really be around people right now, just want to stay in bed. I have to admit I do get up and go to work and once I'm there, I put on a brave face but when I get home I just eat and eat to make myself feel better. I'm definitely with you at the moment, let's hope we both feel better soon!
Hi T2711, I'm so sorry to hear that things are not going well for you, I do hope that you will be feeling better before Christmas and can enjoy it, we have a houseful this Saturday I'm not looking forward to it, I started on 20 today and just hope it works, I feel fine now in the evening but the mornings are awful, wonder why that is. Do you think you will go back on it? I hope you don't have to now you have managed to come off completely and I hope things soon get better.
Really don't want to go back on. I'm going to try really hard for the next three weeks to stay off but if I'm not feeling any better, there's no point suffering. What's really getting me down is my weight. I've been told by the dr that I have to lose 4 stone before I will even be considered for fertility treatment. I just feel so disappointed with myself that I've let it get this far. I feel like I've just woken up and realised how much I have to lose! I think that knowing how much work that will take is really getting me down. I'm not sure, I think it's a combination of coming off citalopram and my weight. I'm hoping that being off the citalopram might give me the boost to lose the weight.
Hope 20mg goes well, hopefully you'll start to feel better after a couple of days taking it :) fingers crossed for you. Full house sat does not sound fun if you're not feeling yourself but hopefully you'll be better by then!
Maybe now you have come off the cit the weight gain will go down, I was lucky as I didn't put that much on but I had lost so much weight before going on citalopram that I went back to what I was before so I didn't mind, I hope you are able to cope without it and manage to lose the weight, I am very lucky I haven't got that problem.
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