Switching over to Zoloft from Citalopram.

[LiveAboveIt]

Had a chat with my Psychiatrist today about all of the crazy cognitive side effects Ive been experiencing and he wants me off of them. Hes switching me to 50mg Sertraline and Im hoping it has less side effects for me because the Citalopram side effects were becoming unbareable.

Feeling totally drugged/spaced out on another planet, cant focus or concentrate, blurred vision, pressure behind my eyes, confusion and trouble thinking straight, constant diarrhea, trouble sleeping, no appetite and bad nausea, constant jaw clenching and migraines that dont cease with medication, higher BP, mania and mood swings that were not present before the medication, increased anxiety and intrusive racing thoughts, increase in suicidal ideation.

Especially once I began having slurred speech in moments and just constantly feeling drunk, spaced out, short term memory is non-existent. I regret that I was able to make it 40 days in but still couldnt continue as I seem to be only getting worse as far as side effects are concerned. The pills apparently just dont agree with me this time. The first couple times I was on Citalopram I didnt have half of these side effects. :/

Heres hoping the transition from Citalopram to Sertraline is smooth. He told me to discontinue the Citalopram and start on 25mg of Sert for 4 days and then switch to 50mg. So Im really hoping this is the way to go and I dont have to deal with much withdrawal.

[Jem21]

Hey Live, I'm so glad you have something sorted. My doctor suggested sert for me to try so I may try that once I've tapered down!
Wishing you all the luck in the world - and don't abandon your cit family for the sert section ;-) x

[LiveAboveIt]

I wouldnt dream of it, Jem. You guys have helped me through so much. I have read about a ton of people switching from Cit to Sert easily and doung really well without crazy side effects, Im hoping for the same outcome. I will let ya know how it turns out.

[MyNameIsTerry]

There will be a cross over in the active drugs here and that should help you switch over so that it won't feel like a withdrawal since the Cit will be reducing whilst the Sert is building.

They are slightly different but since they both primarily work on Serotonin, they should support each other without you feeling too much of a dip.

Just a tip though, you will have to reach steady-state for the Sert and this takes about a week. With you tapering up that will mean a week from the 50mg for that dose to become stable but the 25mg will be at least earlier.

[Bramwell1]

Had a chat with my Psychiatrist today about all of the crazy cognitive side effects Ive been experiencing and he wants me off of them. Hes switching me to 50mg Sertraline and Im hoping it has less side effects for me because the Citalopram side effects were becoming unbareable.

Feeling totally drugged/spaced out on another planet, cant focus or concentrate, blurred vision, pressure behind my eyes, confusion and trouble thinking straight, constant diarrhea, trouble sleeping, no appetite and bad nausea, constant jaw clenching and migraines that dont cease with medication, higher BP, mania and mood swings that were not present before the medication, increased anxiety and intrusive racing thoughts, increase in suicidal ideation.

Especially once I began having slurred speech in moments and just constantly feeling drunk, spaced out, short term memory is non-existent. I regret that I was able to make it 40 days in but still couldnt continue as I seem to be only getting worse as far as side effects are concerned. The pills apparently just dont agree with me this time. The first couple times I was on Citalopram I didnt have half of these side effects. :/

Heres hoping the transition from Citalopram to Sertraline is smooth. He told me to discontinue the Citalopram and start on 25mg of Sert for 4 days and then switch to 50mg. So Im really hoping this is the way to go and I dont have to deal with much withdrawal.

That's pretty much how I was eight weeks in with Citalopram. I had to go cold turkey off the drug on my, and the emergency doctors instruction which, believe me isn't fun, but at least I aim to be drug free in my system very soon - I hope!

[LiveAboveIt]

That's pretty much how I was eight weeks in with Citalopram. I had to go cold turkey off the drug on my, and the emergency doctors instruction which, believe me isn't fun, but at least I aim to be drug free in my system very soon - I hope!

I have to say that over the last two days I have decreased my dose of Citalopram down to 10mg and while I did notice some withdrawal-like symptoms I've also noticed that today my BP is lower and my anxiety is also much lower. It feels like I'm less obsessive or maybe it's just easier to dismiss painful thoughts.

The first day on 10mg, I didn't hardly notice a difference, still felt pretty terrible. It wasn't until mid-day on the second day that I noticed myself feeling a little less anxious and I already appear to have more mental clarity, my short term memory also appears to have improved somewhat.

On 20mg, my BP has been at around 138/94 for the last few weeks or so, which is quite high for me. After lowering the Citalopram to 10mg for two days, my BP is back down at 122/82.

Now I'm contemplating if I should switch to Sertraline at all, considering the improvements I have noticed after reducing my dose of Citalopram. Is it possible that 20mg was just too high of a dose, or is this normal and short-lived with reducing a dose?

I'm hoping this sticks around.

[Jem21]

It's hard to say Hun, I guess only time will tell. See what your doctor says!

[R1CH]

I have to say that over the last two days I have decreased my dose of Citalopram down to 10mg and while I did notice some withdrawal-like symptoms I've also noticed that today my BP is lower and my anxiety is also much lower. It feels like I'm less obsessive or maybe it's just easier to dismiss painful thoughts.

The first day on 10mg, I didn't hardly notice a difference, still felt pretty terrible. It wasn't until mid-day on the second day that I noticed myself feeling a little less anxious and I already appear to have more mental clarity, my short term memory also appears to have improved somewhat.

On 20mg, my BP has been at around 138/94 for the last few weeks or so, which is quite high for me. After lowering the Citalopram to 10mg for two days, my BP is back down at 122/82.

Now I'm contemplating if I should switch to Sertraline at all, considering the improvements I have noticed after reducing my dose of Citalopram. Is it possible that 20mg was just too high of a dose, or is this normal and short-lived with reducing a dose?

I'm hoping this sticks around.

20mg is considered the therapeutic does if there is such a thing. 10mg is low.

What is important here is consistency, with drug and dose. When I switched to sert, because I thought citalopram was poisoning my body I had the same issues but everybody is different.

You should make a plan and try and stick with it, I know its hard. The amount of times I have had plans and ended up with Plan Z.

if its any consolation I'm on day 11 of Cit and am feeling lousy to say the least. I've had a headache for the last 2 days, foggy head and my cognitive functions are suffering. I tried to put unleaded petrol in my diesel car yesterday (lucky the nozzle didn't fit), went to the supermarket for 2 items and left with 1. I was wandering about like a lost sheep. I feel emotional and feel like this is never going to end!!! Uggghhhhhh


Rich

[MyNameIsTerry]

I have to say that over the last two days I have decreased my dose of Citalopram down to 10mg and while I did notice some withdrawal-like symptoms I've also noticed that today my BP is lower and my anxiety is also much lower. It feels like I'm less obsessive or maybe it's just easier to dismiss painful thoughts.

The first day on 10mg, I didn't hardly notice a difference, still felt pretty terrible. It wasn't until mid-day on the second day that I noticed myself feeling a little less anxious and I already appear to have more mental clarity, my short term memory also appears to have improved somewhat.

On 20mg, my BP has been at around 138/94 for the last few weeks or so, which is quite high for me. After lowering the Citalopram to 10mg for two days, my BP is back down at 122/82.

It's about half life. Cit is 35 hours so missing a dose isn't as painful as that Ven you've been on before. So, when you start to withdraw you won't notice much of anything at first and then it starts to hit you as that % in your blood plasma is dropping.

So, that first day wouldn't count for much and really day 2 but after that it would be under 50% and it would get more apparent. It's a good sign really, it could be an indication that 20mg was just too strong on this med. The trouble is going to be if 10mg isn't enough for your anxiety, which then may mean the switch.

R1CH - I remember going on Cit. The second week was tough but I found it weakening into week 3 so hopefully you may see some respite soon?

[LiveAboveIt]

So, what's the best way to switch from Citalopram to a new SSRI? I've read people mentioned they were told to take both the Citalopram and the new SSRI for a week and then discontinue the Citalopram, or to be completely drug-free for two days and THEN start the new SSRI.. And some people just completely switch over the new SSRI in place of their old one.

My Psychiatrist didn't really mention a specific way to do this, does it matter? Is there a safer way to make the transition?