switching from sertraline to citralopram diary

[micheal88]

Hi. You may have seen from my previous posts that I was active many years ago. I made a post about my experience starting sertraline.

The good news is the sertraline allowed me to live a pretty normal life for 4-5 years with a few bad days and patches.

However it pooped out around 2 years ago and started causing problems a year ago. I have been doing all I can to try and get through it withought changing meds and by upping my sertraline dose. yet nothing has helped and as I have reduced the dose I have got worse and worse.

So from tomorow I will be slowly switching to citralopram and will record it all on here in the hopes that someone else who is in a similar position can see how it works out for me.

I am also still tapering of mirtazipine which Is causing me problems so I will try to distinguish which side effects are from what drug as we go.

At this moment in time. I am a nervous wreck, I cannot think straight, don't want to do anything, ringing ears and body tension, depression, irrationality, poor vision, weird head sensations, weird thoughts, overactive mind, weird dreams, feeling sick, headaches, sensitivity to light, stress, addictive personality, restless legs, making bad decisions, body aching and feeling flat aswell as fatigue.

I am hoping citralopram helps me to get back to normal again. Then maybe I will try and come off then gradually rather than staying on them untill they cause problems like sertraline.

So I am on 75mg sertraline and 3.5mg mirtazipine. Tomorow I am going to take 50 sertraline in the morning for a week and 10 citralopram on the evenings. Then 20 citalopram and no sertraline.

wish me luck guys will keep you updated.

[micheal88]

DAY 1
50mg sertraline in morning.
5mg citralopram on evening.
went to bed.

DAY 2
50mg sertraline morning
5mg citalopram evening.
Same depression and anxiety with a few bad moments.
Some points had hints of feeling normal not sure if this is placebo. I am scared about the change but just getting through it.

[micheal88]

DAY 3 AND DAY 4

Had moments of anxiety and moments of a little joy. I do feel better overall and more relaxed less stressed. Feel more energy but sometimes tired and still having headaches. don't really feel normal and feel a little out of it.

so far so good. maybe because I am switching rather than starting ssris fresh it is going easier.

[micheal88]

DAY 5
Bad anxiety day today
DAY 6
Good day today felt a little bit more normal.
DAY 7
suffering with bad anxiety today and stress full sleep last night.

still on 50 mg sert and 5mg citalopram

[micheal88]

Now on sertaline 25mg citalopram 10mg

DAY 8 DAY 9 DAY 10

Awful anxiety and bad feelings. Although some good moments. just want to feel back to myself. feel crap and no energy. weird dreams.

---------- Post added at 20:55 ---------- Previous post was at 20:51 ----------

I have noticed I have been getting things done. Like simple tasks ... cleaning car or tidying up my house etc.

[micheal88]

DAY 11 DAY 12 DAY 13

Terrible anxiety. head aches dizziness. Could be sertraline withdrawel or start up of citalopram.

DAY 14

Felt little bits of normality today. Feels like improvement.

[micheal88]

DAY 15 16 17 18

I have had days when I have started to feel normal. depression has improved but anxiety has not.

taking 25mg sertraline every other day
citalopram 10mg a day.
3.5 mirtazipine every other day.

[micheal88]

DAY 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

sertraline 25mg every 2 days
citalopram 10 mg

had a good few days. sometimes I feel a bit over excited maybe and sometimes really low. very anxious on days 24 and 25. I have been improving definitely. still a long way to go yet .

weird dreams have got less and sleep is improving.

[micheal88]

DAY 26 27 28

citalopram 10mg
sertraline 25 mg every 3 days

Feeling bad withdrawel. back ache head ache ears ringing. weakness. weird thoughts. hypersensitive. however still points where I feel normal ish. 10 percent of the time. which is good.

[micheal88]

day 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38

Had some very good days when I have started to feel normal again. overall good improvement but still some bad days where I feel back to square 1.

citalopram 10 mg
sertraline 25 mg every 4 days

[panic_down_under]

[U]citalopram 10 mg
sertraline 25 mg every 4 days

You're taking 25mg sertraline only every fourth day? This is crazy. :ohmy: You're making withdrawal much harder, not easier. What you're doing is almost completely eliminating sertraline from your system and then reinstating it, over and over. If a doctor told you to do this then get a new one, asap, because this one is incompetent and/or an idiot.

[micheal88]

Week 8

Feeling so much better now. Starting to feel normal again

---------- Post added at 18:41 ---------- Previous post was at 18:37 ----------


You're taking 25mg sertraline only every fourth day? This is crazy. :ohmy: You're making withdrawal much harder, not easier. What you're doing is almost completely eliminating sertraline from your system and then reinstating it, over and over. If a doctor told you to do this then get a new one, asap, because this one is incompetent and/or an idiot.

I understand what you are saying. But for me personally it helps

[snowghost57]

I think its great you are sharing your experience. Hope the new medication works well for you.

[sun43]

hi micheal good luck and good for you that your transition to citalopram is going well

my story is similar; i was on sertraline for a year or so (50mg for a few months and then 100mg), and i found it worked ok at first, but then i had 2 problems which were making things very difficult. the first was very bad restless legs, unbearable. and the second was the vivid over-dreaming, which i found distressing, especially because if there's one thing we need it's a good nights sleep

when i tapered off sertraline, i noticed my restless legs went away fast, and also, so did the vivid dreams.

i am currently taking citalopram 20mg and have been doing so for a few weeks (started at 10mg). i dont have any restless legs which really is a huge relief, and also, my sleep is better, i would say i do tend to start to over-dream if i stay in bed too long, but anyway for me the vivid dreams are certainly decreased and due to that im finding myself less tired in the daytime now which is great

the problem i am having is terrible morning anxiety, which seems to be common amongst others also (not just with citalopram but with those who are taking other ssri's also). my stomach is a little upset during the first half of the day and overall i tend to feel better towards the evening, but overall dont feel so good during the day (perhaps a kind of hangover from the morning anxiety).

anyway, nice to read a positive story that you are doing ok, so good for you