Citalopram withdrawl

[ems1987]

Hi guys,

Over the past few weeks i have come down from 20mg to 5mg a few days ago. For the past couple of days i have felt awful, really wobbly, spaced out and a little light headed. Is this because of the reduced dose?

Please let me know your thoughts as this is really scaring me!

[staypositive]

Hello, it could be well be something to do with it, I always thought the doctor suggested a gradual come down??

For example, if I wanted to lower from 40mg Citalopram to 20, I'd do it over the course of a couple of weeks and I think my doctor would advise that too

I don't know if that helps??

[staypositive]

Read your post again, you said over a few weeks so thats a good thing. Best thing I can think of is it to give it another couple of days, if you notice no improvements speak to your GP. Who knows, it might not be the right time for you to lower the dosage??

[kazbob10]

Hi ther, I would safely say this is a result of the reduction in doseage from what I have been reading. I have unwittingly been off my tablets, 20mg, for nearly 1 week, due to work commitments and having a shocking memory I have yet to get my repeat presciption and I must say the withdrawls I am experiencing are horrendous.

Severe headache, a hangover type feeling, low mood, no motivation, severe mood swings which have shocked me quite a bit, a speed like feeling like my body is on catch up wih my movements!!!, vivid dreams, anxiety, breathlessness, kind of mania feelings as well. I'm frequently haivng to take time out to just lie on te bed and calm my self down as I'm having heqrt palpatations also. I feel constantly tired and I'm speaking my mind....literally!! without really considering what I am saying half the time which isn't a bad things sometimes but as you can imagine on forethought is a bit of a shocker ;)... I'm hoping to get my script sometime this week and will not be leaving it as long again in a hurry.

Usually if i miss one dose I begin with migraine type headaches, shakiness although I'm not actually shaking!!!!

[JT69]

Hi guys,

Over the past few weeks i have come down from 20mg to 5mg a few days ago. For the past couple of days i have felt awful, really wobbly, spaced out and a little light headed. Is this because of the reduced dose?

Please let me know your thoughts as this is really scaring me!

Hi,

Yes definately due to withdrawal that you feeling as you do, you may want to try doing 10mg one day and then 5mg the next and so on. Having taken citalopram on and off for a number of years I always found the slower you taper the dose the less likely you will feel the withdrawal...I know this can be frustrating and takes longer but in the end it is well worth it.

Hope it goes well for you.
Take care
Jo

[Gina H]

OMG, I stopped taking 20 mg of Citalopram 6 days ago. I have been really ill, thinking that I have flu. Is there really withdrawal symptoms from such a small dosage of a tablet like that?

[JT69]

OMG, I stopped taking 20 mg of Citalopram 6 days ago. I have been really ill, thinking that I have flu. Is there really withdrawal symptoms from such a small dosage of a tablet like that?

Hi Gina,

Yes absolutely!!! You should of never stopped without reducing 1st and tapering off slowly...the flu like symptoms are that of anxiety and that is why you feel so ill. Did your GP advice you to just stop taking them without tapering...I certainly would of reduced to at least 10mg for a while and then even 5mg before tapering very slowly, in my experience citalopram caused horrendous withdrawal effects for me, so I always tapered very slowly and over a long period of time.

Hope you feel better soon.
Jo.

[mjp]

I have been on citalopram for over 9 years and have to say it helped me through some really rough times. Every other antidepressant I tried made me feel worse but I really needed help to live a 'normal' life. Naturally i think some people just have a brain chemistry that needs help...the same way that diabetics are helped with medication etc..
I was put into very early menopause to help beat breast cancer in my 30's and got through really well thanks to citalopram, as I am prone to depression anyway but fuddled my way through life without antidepressants up til then.
That's a brief history, but I would like to try see how I go off them now. I have been on 20mg and last few months did alternate 20mg / 10mg every day. After a few months of this, no problem, I cut down to 10mg a day .
2 weeks later and I have fuzzy head, vivid dreams, apathy and sometimes nausea/vomiting. I honestly thought I was in the throes of a new dreaded disease til I read this forum so am thankful for all your comments.
It happens to be 4am here as I feel so unwell I can't sleep.
A few months ago someone posted some info saying they cut down really slowly and they made a lot of sense. This is what I am going to try and probably suggest it to anyone else with bad symptoms.
It's a hard road, because to be honest at one stage in the future I won't know if I experience withdrawals anymore, or just experience being me who naturally has problems with seratonin levels......
A lot of us are probably in that grey area so it is hard to say really when symptoms of withdrawal stop. It's not so black and white is it?
Wishing you all well with your journeys and will post again soon to let anyone interested know if my symptoms subside. (if they do, I will stick on 10mg for a while... feel like I need a break before the next stage!)

Good luck X

[Gina H]

Hi guys,

I am also so very happy to have found this place.

I have had depression for years but never found a medication that could help me. Mostly because I am also an alcoholic. I could not give up booze long enough to let the meds work and the combined effect of new meds and alcohol withdrawal was a beast.

Anyway, been sober now for almost a year (310 days) and have been on Citalopram 20 mg a day for over 6 months. I moved house, changed docs and could not get a new script for the meds so when they ran out, that was that.

I had no idea that I would have withdrawal and it all makes so much sense.

I have had nausea, dizzyness, aches and pains, sweats and chills. All flu like stuff. Been off the med for a week now (I think).

I have no idea whether to go back on them or whether or not I may be through the worst of the withdrawal symptoms.

Please keep posting everyone. There are alot of us out there!

love from Gina

[mjp]

Hi again

Yesterday I almost gave up and upped my dose again...but I got through a bad patch of nausea and headache. Than I slept beautifully and woke up feeling quite 'normal'.
So if you are keen to try give it up , it is definitely worth trying to ride out the storms as I really feel I am over the worst of it...fingers crossed.
I still have to SLOWLY taper off the 10mg I am now on.
However, i am no expert but if you are REALLY feeling bad I would suggest going back to the dose you felt comfortable on, and tapering off a lot more slowly. Why go through unnecessary hardship? I'm sure if you are on this site you have had your fair share of anguish so don't be hard on yourself.

Also, a question for any ladies out there (sorry guys) . do you feel that this medication affects your hormones? I don't mean the obvious sex drive thing . I was reading a thread somewhere and can't remember where now, but the girl said she had an unusually heavy and long period while trying to come off her citalopram. I have been in menopause since 35 because of breast cancer treatment, but have been experiencing really weird period style cramps since lowering my dose.... Just wondering if anyone else notices this? The type of nausea I feel also reminds me of the morning sickness I had (which was more of an afternoon sickness) when I was pregnant 12 years ago. Starts at a similar time of day and feels better if I eat a bit... and I am definitely not pregnant.

Until next time

X

[Gina H]

I definitely have experienced what I would describe as morning sickness nausea since I stopped taking citalopram and have had the usual tampered down libido while on it.

Unfortunately for me, the citalopram never really took away the sadness and tears that I have experienced during years of depression.

I am seeing my GP tomorrow and I must confess, I am still tearful and sad so may have to return to the meds.

But as the meds never really took that away, not sure there is much point. Nor has any med ever taken away that sort of hopelessness or what's the point feeling.

I have come to accept that I am just an unhappy person, a deep seated unhappiness that cannot be cured, a terminal melancholy I suppose.

This is day 8 with no meds at all and I suppose the only symptom snow left are the original "mind racing" and sleepessness that I started the drugs for originally so not really sure what will occur tomorrow at the GP.

Will let you know.

[mjp]

Gina

Hope all went okay at the docs. i don't believe you are just an 'unhappy' person ,,
I'm sure you are having problems with happy chemicals in your brain at this point of time. i have a friend that is fine on the right dose of meds but miserable without them.
This forum we are on is about withdrawing from citalopram, but part of that could be, are we ready to withdraw yet. Also, some people need a bit more than 20mg,... for instance someone on this site mentioned that 20mg didn't work at all, 40mg spaced them out, but 30mg was just right. Sounds a bit like the story of the 3 bears!
So maybe you are not ready to come off just yet, but need to experiment with the dose...then when you feel better and after a good few months, you can start to try taper off again...VERY GRADUALLY.
A lot of people do complain that it is hard to come off the drug, but there must be a reason why they went on in the first place,,, I for one was not functioning well at all when I initially went on them, and didn't realize how bad I had been until the drugs worked and made me feel 'normal' again.
Yes it is hard to withdraw and that's what brought me to this site, but looking back I would still have taken the citalopram at the time even if I knew this, because it helped go back to a normal life when I really needed it! And the depression and anxiety was much worse than the withdrawal effects (even though they are bad).
You are definitely not alone in the way you feel, and I honestly believe you will feel better with the right treatment.
Hang in there :)
M

[Gina H]

Hello everyone,
I finally did get an appt with my GP.

I would not have come off the Citalopram had I not run out of the prescription and I did make the old surgery and new surgery aware that I was going to run out of the drug if they did not get me an emergency prescription and in the end, I just gave up and hoped for the best.

I had no idea that I would feel so badly if I came off nor was I aware of rebound depression.

Anyway, finally got my new script at half the dose but am going back to see GP again and will ask for the old dose as I am not better yet.

Now that I know more, I will be more careful.

Citalopram has really helped me and I would rather be on it than off it.

Thanks for all your support.

Gina X