Is this a withdrawal symptom?

I’ve had to come off my meds cold turkey. I’d been on 10mg for 3 and a half weeks and upped to 20mg for maybe a week and a half, two weeks.

Anyway, found out I’m pregnant. GP told me to come off on Monday. This is day 4 and I’m have terrible loose stools and urgency to go. Could this be related?

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Originally Posted by Hopefulmi

I’ve had to come off my meds cold turkey. I’d been on 10mg for 3 and a half weeks and upped to 20mg for maybe a week and a half, two weeks.

Anyway, found out I’m pregnant. GP told me to come off on Monday. This is day 4 and I’m have terrible loose stools and urgency to go. Could this be related?

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Congratulations :emot-woot:

I probably is a withdrawal symptom. The gut makes and uses far more serotonin than the brain and can be more affected by SSRIs initially and when weaning off them. Given the short time you been on citalopram the symptoms should resolve within a few days. Meanwhile, over-the-counter remedies containing loperamide (Imodium) are usually effective for diarrhoea, but check with your GP, or pharmacist before taking it.

Whether you need to come off citalopram because of the pregnancy isn't clear-cut. The only SSRI with strong evidence for causing birth defects is paroxetine. There are good arguments for staying on ADs as maternal anxiety (also) depression may affect the fetus too, both short and long term. Should you need to go back onto an AD during the pregnancy then sertraline is considered the best SSRI, especially if planning to breast-feeding as very little, if any, of the med is expressed.