I stopped citalopram too abruptly & worried now x

[Ell]

Hello x
I'm just wondering if anyone has done this before? I know i shouldn't have but I just stopped taking them just under a week ago.
I've been on them for about 6 months. I didn't really think they were working as i was still crying regularly and was a bit mood swing-y so I went to the doctor to talk about quitting. He just told me to double my dosage and packed me on my way!
So i was taking 40mg for about a fortnight and just had enough so i stopped. I'm feeling really strange and i think it's as a result of stopping...
I'm very dazed, often dizzy, crying a lot and overwhelmed by pretty much everything.
I now fully appreciate why you should ween yourself off them.

I'd love to know if anyone has done it this way and whether it works out ok in the end?

Thank you for reading xxx

[Jimbo]

Hi,

I would say the way you are feeling is probably because of stopping abrubtly. It is usually best to slowly taper off the dose but it won't do you any harm.

I would suggest going back to your doc and talking about it as it's best to change doses with the help and advice of your doc.

I did exactly the same thing and had a pretty rocky ride when I stopped suddenly, but I soon started another AD and the withdrawal effects stopped pretty much straight away.

Jim

[happyone]

Hi,

I stopped citalopram cold turkey style. Not an avenue I would recommend to anyone.
I had an increase in anxiety, in depression and physical flu like symptoms and tummy aches and nausea.
The physical symptoms lasted about a week. I have to tell you I felt suicidal in that week too however was able to rationalise that as a side effect, thankfully.
However, the anxiety and depression did not go, they grew and grew because I still had it and then I realised the citalopram had been working, at least for the anxiety.
After a trip to a shrink, he put me on 3 days of 20mg, 3 days of 40mg and then up to 60mg. that is what I am on at the moment and I have no intentions of coming off them in the near future.

Hope this is of some help.

Happyone
xx

[Ell]

Thank you Jimbo and HappyOne,
I felt really silly after i wrote my message as i scrolled down and read a lady called Sadie's correspondance re exactly the same thing, from the beginning of 2004. It sounded awful and i don't know how she is doing now but both of yourselves seem to recommend going back on to the medication... I don't know why but i just want to find a way of getting it out of my system and coping with life's ups and downs using exercise and B-vitamins.
I haven't felt suicidal, just weepy and dazed and like i said very overwhelmed. I seem to be sleeping ok-ish.
My poor boyfriend is kind of used to me being like this and that is because i wasn't really the twinkling angel for the six months that i was on the pills. that's kind of why i want to get them out of my system.

I may well go back to the doctor and ask him for an alternative, gentler way of quitting though.

I'm glad you both have found the right ways for coping, as Maya Angelou once said, a diamond is the product of a lot of darkness and a lot of pressure.

Thank you both again, i may well write again if things go drastically wrong or even if they go drastically right!

Much love
x

[groovygranny]

Hello Ell!

Sorry you and Jimbo and Happyone had such a horrendous time.

Just thought I'd offer the 'other' side of stopping Citalopram quite quickly.

I was on the maximum dose, 60mg, from the day I started it until the day I stopped taking it.

Although I was aiming for stopping it gradually before I returned to work, I stopped suddenly quite by accident!

I realised I had missed a couple of doses over the course of about a week. So I went to the doctor and he suggested cutting down gradually to see how it went - I went down to 40mg for two days, felt fine and so stopped it altogether...but wiith the understanding that if I suffered any side effects I would up the dose again and then gradually reduce it over a longer period of time.

I found I didn't need to do this, so didn't take any more and haven't since.

But I think it's sensible that I keep that option open.

I love the Maya Angelou quote - how very true!

[Ell]

Dear GG x
Thank you - i was thinking this morning how blinkered i had been writing in the hope that i would just get reassurance from someone that it would be ok. Obviously that's not the way life goes though and it was hard to hear that i have maybe done the wrong thing.

But i'm so glad that you had positive results, that's really reassuring and i am going to keep going with the abstaining. I woke up this morning having had a few strange, dark (but not actually really bad) dreams but then felt fine and really positive. Unfortunately some of the physical effects are back with me now - feeling rather sick, dizzy and dazed again but i'm going to try to confront it head on and get on with the day.
I still have some pills left but i think they take a while to get into the system don't they? So i feel like there isn't much point in taking one as it might give me the same side effects i had when i first started!!? So the effects of quitting and starting at the same time...I'm really not wallowing in self pity but observing from the outside looking in, i do feel a bit sorry for my poor body and brain!!!
I wish anxiety were as textbook as a headache and that we could just pop a side-effect-free paracetomol and it would go away!

Jimbo and HappyOne, i hope it doesn't seem as though i am disregarding your experiences, i'm taking heed of everything i read and learn and am so appreciative

Much love to you all
xxx

[Two heads]

Hi there!
Im sorry you are having such a rocky time with coming off your meds.
My advise to you would be to start taking them again and drop very,very slowly.
I have been taking them for over a year and have been dropping down since nov.At present im taking 1.25mg,yes i known hardly worth taking really.But i dont want to take any chances with all of the anxiety coming back.Im now at the point today as to thinking, is it doing anything for me now as its such a low dose?
I have had no sideaffects with coming off,other than maybe i havet got as much get up and go.In other words im feeling quite lazy again,ha ha!!
Please dont rush in stopping these meds,theres no hurry sweet.Nobody really likes taking meds but sometimes it just has to be.....
Good luck,and if you need anymore advise im hear for youxx

[Jimbo]

I wish anxiety were as textbook as a headache and that we could just pop a side-effect-free paracetomol and it would go away!

Jimbo and HappyOne, i hope it doesn't seem as though i am disregarding your experiences, i'm taking heed of everything i read and learn and am so appreciative

Hey Ell,

I wish there was a magic pill too, shame there isn't.

You are doing the the right thing for you, and stopping them imediately won't do you any harm, the effects will go away with time. Just take care of yourself and make sure you check in with your doctor if things get difficult.

I'm sure you will be fine. Keep letting us know how you are doing.

Jim

[Ell]

Hmmm since the good start, today has turned a bit horrible, i was feeling heavy headed and a little freaked out but had to go into town to do a few things. That sent me reeling a bit. I feel better now i'm back inside but still a bit jaded. It's strange, i don't feel scared outside, just incredibly overwhelmed and rabbit in headlights kind of thing. It really isn't as easy as i thought it might be. I think i will start taking them again, silly to be going through all of this due to a daft and naive sense of principal or stubbornness. As many of you say, there's no real hurry, i'll start again and come off them slowly... here's looking forward to those 1.25mg days yayyyyy!
I'm sorry to have been all me, me, me! How are the rest of you doing??
XXX

[Two heads]

Ell
Your aloud to be me, me ,me once in A while.Not that you are being really.You just feel rubbish at present and caut see much further than your front door.
The time since reduceing my meds has gone quite quickly so you will be down to 1.25mg befor you known it.
Im doing ok thanks,touchwood!!!
I think im going to stop my meds totally after the weekend,im fed up with chopping the tablet.Its so small now it flys across the room........
xxx