Swapping off citalopram...

[teej]

I said I'd check in after going to the doctor this morning so here we are.

Basically after a long chat regarding the options available to me I had two options: move up to 30mg of citalopram or move over to Sertraline with immediate effect.

Doc was convinced that Sertraline would be a better treatment for my anxiety and would be better tolerated. He was concerned that I keep crashing so badly and am still suffering the side effects of the citalopram on and off.

So sertraline here I come... interestingly when I cashed in my script, my friendly pharmacist also said he was in preference of sertraline.

I'll keep posting in our citalopram section though. You guys have been invaluable help and support for me in a difficult time and I wish you all well with this medication.

I'm going to pop over to the sertraline section now and make even more new friends!

[clare_201086]

welcome to the sert group!! keep us posted

[teej]

Thanks! Will do! I'm a prolific poster in the forums so watch this space. :D

[clare_201086]

i will do :)

[TooMuchToLiveFor]

Hey Teej!
Glad to have ya with the Sert gang! Been on somewhere along nine weeks. Happy to share any of my experiences. :)

[TRISTAN]

Good luck dude , keep in touch x

[teej]

Thanks guys!

Good luck Tristan... I'm so pleased things are looking up for you.

[TRISTAN]

Thanks teej x

[NorthernGeek]

Hope sertraline works better for you & let me know how you get on.

I've been on 40mg citalopram for over a month now & whilst it has helped a lot with the intrusive thoughts, things still aren't improving generally. Last time I saw my doctor he was talking about potentially trying an even higher dose, but I am concerned about the health warnings associated with going above 40mg.

If sertraline works well for you, I might ask him about it when I see him again in a few weeks time.

[teej]

Hiya NG,

Well so far the switch has been seamless and if anything I'm feeling miles better than I have done in an age - I seem to have shaken the horrible side effects of the citalopram and I'm just feeling fairly normal. Still feeling quite tired but I've never managed to get on top of the sleeping issues. I'm going to mention it with my new GP when I go for a review.

I had a very stressful evening last night and managed to come through today without entering a massive blip... :yahoo:

I was sceptical and it's still early days but so far so good!

I can associate with what you're saying about the citalopram though. It worked for me to an extent but when it didn't work it was catastrophically bad and I never felt "right" on it.

[cmc46]

Hi teej, I'm pleased to hear that so far things are going well for you, I have to see my GP tomorrow and to be honest I just don't know what to tell him, mentally I think I am feeling more positive but the last few days I just haven't felt right physically, well if I'm honest I haven't felt right since going back to 10mg and then to 20mg which in all was 8 weeks ago, I just keep thinking that it will happen as it did before but as time goes on I am having doubts, I have had a really bad headache a lot of the time, tremors and a feeling of thudding right through my body, whether it is the side affects I just don't know or whether it is just a coincidence, were you feeling like this, the mornings are the worst, I am dreading tomorrow and what he is going to suggest, I always feel a bit let down when I have been there and feel I haven't really got through about how I feel, when I went a fortnight ago I wrote everything down about how I was feeling, he just said very interesting come back in two weeks, so that is tomorrow. Hope things get better and better for you now.

[teej]

Hi Cmc...

You're pretty much describing my own experience. Mentally I was mostly feeling okay but I had on/off tremors continually, kept getting sessions of derealization, anxiety and the mornings were horrendous too - feeling intense anxiety when I woke.

It'd all go off for a bit, I'd feel fine and then it'll all come back again but in reality it was a weekly cycle of getting all the side effects back again.

When I mentioned this to a new doctor he pretty much instantly said I need to come off the medication if I'd been like this for 2.5 months. I was a bit scared but he was really nice about it.

I stopped taking 20 mg citalopram and the next day started 50 mg sertraline and all the side effects abated almost from day one. I've felt very calm and relaxed since then.

Like I say - only side effects I have are problems going to the loo in the morning but I've taken lactulose and that's cleared up, waking early in the mornings (but no anxiety when waking - I'm just awake), and problems in the bedroom department - mostly that it seems I could take part in a marathon if you get my drift. :D

[cmc46]

You certainly sound a lot better for making the change teej, that is the one thing that worries me is getting bad side effects all over again, but by the sound of it yours aren't that bad, I don't think I could stand another 8 weeks like the last and wondering when I am going to start to feel better.:)

[teej]

You're only two weeks off when the doctor switched me.

Like I say - I've had zero problems switching so far.

[cmc46]

Yes I would have thought something should have started to happen by now, I don't suppose I ever thought I would have a problem as I didn't come right off of them but was down to 5mg so I presumed because they were still in the system it would be fine , how wrong could I be, I will see what he has to say in the morning.

[teej]

I wish you every luck. Let me know how you get on.

[cmc46]

Hi teej, just to let you know that I have just come back from seeing my GP, at first he said he wanted me to increase the citalopram to 30mg, as I am over 65 I asked if it was OK to do this as I thought the highest dose was 20mg for any one of that age, anyway I ended up saying should I try something else which in the end he said I should, so he has cut down the citalopram to 10mg with 15mg of mirtazapine at night, I don't think this is a SSRI just an anti depressant so now I am worrying about withdrawal symptoms of cutting down the cit by half which I didn't ask him about. Hope you are still doing well.