Awful effects from messing with Citalopram dosage

[portugalthecam]

Hey all, having a really difficult time and looking for some support. I'll try and keep this short..

So I have dealt with anxiety disorder for about 10+ years, and luckily I was stable on 40mg of Citalopram for several years. So much so that I thought I might not need meds anymore.

Well, my doctor had me go down from 40mg to 20mg over the course of a month, then 20mg to 10mg within another month, but then a couple weeks into 10mg I wasn't feeling well so I decided to go back to 20mg for a week, but then I REALLY wasn't feeling well, so I went back to 40mg, which is where I've been for about a week now.

Needless to say, I wasn't aware of how messing around with the dosage so much within such a short span of time would screw me up, and my doctor wasn't any help.
Primarily, I have been having awful insomnia, which I have now noticed is a side effect of Citalopram. I have tried helping with both Ambien and Xanax (not at the same time) but am still only getting 3-4 restless hours of sleep each night. I know I need to stick it out for a few weeks (hopefully not too much longer than that) for my system to stabilize on 40mg again, but I'm still scared, and I feel awful.

I would appreciate any advice/support I can get. Have any of you had similar experiences? Thank you so much

Cam

[panic_down_under]

Needless to say, I wasn't aware of how messing around with the dosage so much within such a short span of time would screw me up

The taper seems to have been reasonable and the fact you were doing okay for several weeks at 10mg suggests withdrawal wasn't the main factor making you feel unwell.


Primarily, I have been having awful insomnia, which I have now noticed is a side effect of Citalopram. I have tried helping with both Ambien and Xanax (not at the same time) but am still only getting 3-4 restless hours of sleep each night.

Ask your doctor to prescribe a small dose, 25-50mg, of immediate-release trazodone (Desyrel). While a pretty good antidepressant in its own right, these days trazodone is mostly prescribed for SSRI induced insomnia. At doses below around 150-225mg it acts only as a very sedating antihistamine so won't affect citalopram. Unlike Ambien and Xanax, tolerance is not usually an issue, however, be aware that it becomes less sedating as doses increase, so taking more than 75-100mg is counterproductive.

[portugalthecam]

Thank you for your reply and advice. My new psychiatrist prescribed me Trazodone, so I'm going to give that a shot. I tried it a couple nights ago, 50mg, and it seemed to only help a tiny bit, but I will try it again, and possibly go up to 75mg. I'm just hoping my brain levels out soon. Thanks again.

[panic_down_under]

My new psychiatrist prescribed me Trazodone, so I'm going to give that a shot. I tried it a couple nights ago, 50mg, and it seemed to only help a tiny bit, but I will try it again, and possibly go up to 75mg.

Try taking only 25mg. Trazodone is a biphasic med which acts only as a sedating antihistamine at low doses switching to an antidepressant at doses around 150-225mg. It becomes less sedating as the dose increases.

[Olumide]

Hi,
I would like to know if citalopram has worked the second time around for anyone and how long it too for u to start feeling better . I was on it for 3 years and it worked great. I weaned of it while I was pregnant. After the baby I suffered a lot of redrawals and became very depressed and anxious. I would like to go back on it again but would like to know if it has worked the second time around for anyone or if u had to switch if it didn't and what u switched to that worked?

[panic_down_under]

I would like to know if citalopram has worked the second time around for anyone and how long it too for u to start feeling better

While there is evidence antidepressants can become less effective each time they are stopped and restarted, there is a very high probability citalopram will still work for you again. Citalopram and the related escitalopram seems to be the SSRIs least likely to stop working. Antidepressants typically take 3-12 weeks to produce an improvement.


I weaned of it while I was pregnant.

You probably didn't need to do that as the evidence SSRIs cause birth defects isn't strong. The exception is paroxetine (Paxil) which should be avoided. However, sertraline (Zoloft) is considered the safest SSRI to used during pregnancy and if breastfeeding so if you are planning to have more children then maybe it would be a better option than citalopram. I suggest you discuss this with your doctor, gynecologist and obstetrician.