Advice on changing from Amitriptylene to Citalopram please

[Anxious mum]

I've been on Amitriptyline for at least 10 years. I'm currently on 60 mgs but I find they're not helping me much. I suffer from anxiety particulary over my 17yr son. I get so worried when he's out I'm always ringing him and texting him to find out where he is. This is getting very annoying for him!!! I also get very depressed and find mixing with people and being able to concentrate at work very hard. My GP has suggested I start taking 10mg of Citralopram and reduce to 50mg of Amitriptyline, do this for 2 weeks them go on 20mg of Citralopram and reduce the Ami by 10mg a week. I'm very scared of the effects these 2 drugs will have on me and will I get withdrawell as well as side effects from the Citralopram!!! Can anyone give advice please.

[pammy1944]

the way you are with your son is a perfectly normal reaction from a mum .......dont worry about that . if you come off amit then do it very very slowly...i took 6 months to come off 10 mgs a day which i had taken for 12 yrs . good luck x

[kibbutz83]

Hi Anxious mum, I sympathise with you hugely... I too have a 17 year old son. As soon as he walks out the door I start to worry. If he's out and I hear a siren I'm totally convinced he's dead. I also text and phone him more than he would like. He's recently come back from a week travelling around the country by train, on his own :( At one point while stranded in Durham he was mugged, and his phone was stolen... I was FRANTIC with worry cos the line was dead! The police had blocked it... My son has no fear, and likes climbing to the tops of cliffs and cranes, to take photos (his hobby). I'm taking venlafaxine at the moment and am addicted to Zopiclone... but without these I would probably have to leave home and let my son get on with it! He wonder's why I worry so much :( I can quite honestly say that I think the stress is probably doing irreversible damage to my body. But I can't lock him up (can I?)
Could you not wait till he's maybe 30 before you come off the meds? My psychiatrist wants me to change to a different ad :( I would say give it a go, but if you feel unable to cope, and your anxiety is unbearable, just start taking it again. I don't think our doctors can force us to change to a different med can they? Do what feels right for you, and good luck