Citalopram withdrawal help

[ROGUE1930]

Hello!

Been taking 20mg of citralporam for about 3 years, more on and off. I decided to give it up and slowly went cutting it down to 10mg.

My last pill was about 5 days ago and I've been bad since then, crying spells, tight chest, arguing with myboss at work, not sleeping, fatigue, all the fun things. I know its just the pill leaving my body but I'm struggling.

What helped you when you were withdrawing? Ive been eating healthy, exercising etc in the run up but I can't cope.

I went to the doctor today and she prescped me melatoninan, and citralopram 10mg.

I got to work, nearly started crying again and caved in and took half a pill, so 5mg. Feeling like a failure, and like I haven't even been able to cope coming off the pills and gone back on them. Do you think that 5mg will affect my withdrawal? Would it b better to not take it again or take 5mgs and cut that down to every 2 days before trying again?

She also gave a prescription of some pill called BETIS for my anxiety to take right now but she didn't give me a hand written prescription but a printed one, which means I can't get it. (I live in Chile) So that set me off crying as well.

Sorry for the depressing post. Just looking for some advice.

Thanks

[crijbragg]

Hello!

Been taking 20mg of citralporam for about 3 years, more on and off. I decided to give it up and slowly went cutting it down to 10mg.

My last pill was about 5 days ago and I've been bad since then, crying spells, tight chest, arguing with myboss at work, not sleeping, fatigue, all the fun things. I know its just the pill leaving my body but I'm struggling.

What helped you when you were withdrawing? Ive been eating healthy, exercising etc in the run up but I can't cope.

I went to the doctor today and she prescped me melatoninan, and citralopram 10mg.

I got to work, nearly started crying again and caved in and took half a pill, so 5mg. Feeling like a failure, and like I haven't even been able to cope coming off the pills and gone back on them. Do you think that 5mg will affect my withdrawal? Would it b better to not take it again or take 5mgs and cut that down to every 2 days before trying again?

She also gave a prescription of some pill called BETIS for my anxiety to take right now but she didn't give me a hand written prescription but a printed one, which means I can't get it. (I live in Chile) So that set me off crying as well.

Sorry for the depressing post. Just looking for some advice.

ThanksIts very dangerous to cut back that fast. You need to taper very very slowly. 5-10% every two weeks.

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[ROGUE1930]

Thanks, I don't knwo how to get pills smalled than 10mg. Also doesn't help living in Chile where the private system means you barely see the same doctor more than once

[panic_down_under]

Its very dangerous to cut back that fast.

Why?

[lior]

Hello. So sorry to hear about how you're feeling.
If you feel this way, you weren't ready to come off them.

There's lots of different ideas out there about the right way to taper off. 5-10% tapering isn't normally necessary with citalopram as I understand it.
I tried to do alternate days of different doses - 10mg and 20mg - some doctors recommend that and some say it's dangerous. So it's hard to know what's right.
On some pills, the drug is not evenly distributed across the pill, so if you cut it in half, you might not be actually getting a half dose.

You are not a failure for not coming off them. I had a similar experience of being upset and frustrated that I wasn't able to come off them a few months ago. I went back up to 20mg and I was better. Now I'm on 10mg - I went down when the time was right, about a month ago. It's always about when the time is right. Maybe the time is just not right yet.

10mg is really not a lot at all. Some places even give you 10mg citalopram for PMS! So don't worry about taking the whole 10mg pill. 5mg might not do anything at all, and what you're trying to do here is stop these side effects, which are too big - the 5mg might not help. You could stay on 10mg for a month or two, then go back to the doctor to review. I promise you, 10mg is not much. It's not worth feeling this horrible and anxious, is it?

I'm not a doctor so I don't really know, but all this is what I would tell myself :)

Why does it make a difference if it's a printed prescription?

[panic_down_under]

Hello!

Welcome to No More Panic, :welcome:


Been taking 20mg of citralporam for about 3 years, more on and off. I decided to give it up and slowly went cutting it down to 10mg.

My last pill was about 5 days ago and I've been bad since then, crying spells, tight chest, arguing with myboss at work, not sleeping, fatigue, all the fun things.

So you stopped by reducing the dose from 20mg to 10mg for a while then stopped taking it completely 5 days ago? If so, how long were you on 10mg? Also, how soon after taking the last dose did the withdrawal effects begin, the next day, or several days later?


Do you think that 5mg will affect my withdrawal? Would it b better to not take it again or take 5mgs and cut that down to every 2 days before trying again?

I think you should take 5mg for a week or two, maybe another week at 2.5mg and then stop.


She also gave a prescription of some pill called BETIS for my anxiety

I haven't been able to find anything about this medication.

[Lulu1960]

I'm in the USA ..and according to my phychiatrist ten milligrams of celexa is considered a theraputic dose...

[panic_down_under]

I'm in the USA ..and according to my phychiatrist ten milligrams of celexa is considered a theraputic dose...

The minimum recommended dose, even for children, the elderly and those with liver impairment is 20mg according to the U.S. monograph (https://www.drugs.com/pro/citalopram-capsules.html):


Initial Treatment

Citalopram should be administered at an initial dose of 20 mg once daily, generally with an increase to a dose of 40 mg/day. Dose increases should usually occur in increments of 20 mg at intervals of no less than one week. Although certain patients may require a dose of 60 mg/day, the only study pertinent to dose response for effectiveness did not demonstrate an advantage for the 60 mg/day dose over the 40 mg/day dose; doses above 40 mg are therefore not ordinarily recommended.

Citalopram should be administered once daily, in the morning or evening, with or without food.

Special Populations

20 mg/day is the recommended dose for most elderly patients and patients with hepatic impairment, with titration to 40 mg/day only for non responding patients.

No dosage adjustment is necessary for patients with mild or moderate renal impairment. Citalopram should be used with caution in patients with severe renal impairment.

Taking sub/borderline therapeutic doses for extended periods may increase the risk of med poop-out by interrupting the neurogenesis process.

[Lulu1960]

The information at drugs .com/us monagraph is not a substitute for medical advice .always consult your doctor/phychiatrist...and my doctor says 10 is sufficient even 5 milligrams might be sufficient....

[ROGUE1930]

Thanks for the advice! New to forums and don't know how to indiviually reply to a comment.

Lior, thanks for making me feel better. Amd the printed prescirption thing, thats just some rule they have in Chile, prescriptions for controlled drugs need to be hand written.

I caved and took half the 10mg tablet and I think it has worked a wee bit, so will stick with that, then down to every second day. It's hard doing it in a country which doesn't have the best medical system. I had been reading up a lot, started exercising, eating well, stopped drinking alcohol and ging from 20mg to 10mg in the 3 months before my last pill but just got a bitfreaked out about the withdrawal effects.

Thank you guys!

[lior]

Pleasure. I hope every day just gets better for you.

You can see that even on this thread, people have different information about citalopram.

You don't have to see it as 'caving'. It's not a weakness to be taking these drugs, or taking more of them. I see it as a strength, myself. You recognise that something needs to change, and you take that action to help yourself. That's strength. Not weakness. It's not caving.