Citalopram Withdrawal please help

[b234]

Hello,

I tapered down from 40mgs of Citalopram to 0mgs over a span of a year. I took my last dose of 2.5mgs 14 days ago. I have been suffering the whole time getting off of this medication. I took it for about 4 years and it never helped me very much. I still had panic attacks and generalized anxiety. I started getting off of it due to the gastro problems it caused me.

Every time i cut down this medicine I got a plethora of withdrawal effects. Here is a list of symptoms I have dealt with.

Brain Shocks
Stiff jaw (SO bad I can't chew as well and swallow)
Tension all over body
Dizziness
Light headed
Headache
Stiff neck
Twitching muscles
Extreme fatigue
Muscle pain

Like I said I took my last 2.5mg dose 2 weeks ago and it has been pure hell. The worst symptoms I have is the fact that my jaw and neck are extremely stiff and I can't chew for long without it tensing up.I just want to know how many people have dealt with this kind of thing during withdrawal.

Could the jaw thing be stress and anxiety related or have others had this during withdrawal?

[yellowrose]

Have you checked up with your doctor yet? Its quite shocking you can withdrawl from an SSI. But I guess anything is possible. I get conserened I will withdrawl from clonazepam (which is easy to get withdrawl symptoms from that one). Just make sure its not anxiety ....anxiety seems to cause all kinds of odd sensation.

[iamspartacus]

looks like youve got a right mixed bag of symptoms here. the brain shocks, dizzyness, lightheadedness and headaches sure look like candidates for ssri withdrawal and these will probably peak after 3 days after a cut in dose. as for the other symptoms, they are very probably anxiety related. there are a plethora of ssri withdrawal sites on the net. i have used them in the past, however, be warned, going on sites like this is more harm than good for your anxiety levels as they do a pretty good job of scaring the crap outta you without providing any useful remedy for the problem. your symptoms for the most part seem anxiety related, and because you have been tapering so damned slowly, you are now so accutely aware of your symptoms that they can and will be blown out of proportion by your anxious mind. i came off long term benzos last year and got myself involved with benzo withdrawal sites. while initially helpful, obsessively looking on these sites only served to fuel my anxiety, panic and depression to an extent where i couldnt function. the only way i have been able to move on from this horrible time of my life, was to treat my symptoms for what the were, anxiety and depression. i know how horrible your suffering has been, but anxiety is a strange illness. you have to practice pretending it isnt there, and the more you do this, the more it will subside. the less cognitive focus you give it, the better.