Coming off Citalopram

[JT69]

Hi,
I came off them by doing 20mg one day and 15mg the next day for about 1 - 2 months then did 10 and 15 then 10 and 10 then 10 and nothing then nothing.
Still got symptoms and feeling dizzy. Got to me last night and still feeling sorry for myself this morning but perservering (spelt wrong I think ha ha) as I know it will get better.
This site is so helpful as my doctor said the symptoms were in my head but reading things on here reconfirms that they are not!
K x

Hi,

I cannot believe the GP said the symptoms were in your head!!! Blooming Doctors...some of them just do not have a clue what they are talking about!! They should try going through what we do and see how they feel.

Anyhow read your other posts and sounds like you are coming through at last so well done...let it please continue for you.

Take care
Jo.

[mum to three]

Hi all, not posted for a while but would really appreciate some reassurance, i have been reducing my dose from 20mg for the past couple of months now and i am now on day 6 of taking nothing at all. My withdrawal symptoms are severe headaches (everyday) agitated, bit spaced out, slight tremor & dizziness, tingling sensation at the back of my head (lasts only a few seconds at a time) and silence is deafening sometimes if that makes any sense, its like a high pitch noise in my ears only noticed this at night in bed when the house is quiet. Thing is i can ride this storm if there is light at the end of the tunnel, but my gp is telling me that if i have any withdrawal symptoms then it means i should not be coming of them and it means i still need them. Any advice would be great. Also how long will these symptoms last ???
Take care all xx

[Saor]

Hiya Mum to three, I'm reducing myself from 20mg, currently on my 3rd month of 15mg and have another 2 weeks before I reduce to 10mg for another few months. I'm having minor side effects with that slight adjustment but taking it very slowly to minimize these. My doc said there will be some but it can be managed and it doesn't necessarily mean you are relapsing.

I'm just wondering how fast you came off them? Most have withdrawal symptoms coming off them though so you're doctor is a bit wrong in saying that means you shouldnt come off them?? Strange thing to say IMO.

[ke11yb]

Hi all my name is Kelly and i am new to the site, i found the site while looking for ways to come off citalopram. I am really upset to hear the problems that people have had coming of this medication. I started suffering with depression after having my second child which was not picked up on until a year later in 2007 i was put on 10mg and when i started to feel better a year later so i came off cold turkey which was okay for a few months then i hit rock bottom in the summer of 2008 which was awful. Having then going back to the doctors i saw a very special lady doctor which helped me through the hard times but i was put back on citralopram again this time 20mg. I have currently been on this now for over a year but having decided to try for a baby with my husband i read into it a bit more and was shocked at the health issues this drug has to a unborn child i would greatly appreciate talking to people for advice on how to come off this drug as i am not prepared to put an unborn child at risk. I feel strong enough to come off this drug and would love to hear other peoples ideas how to do it by using natural methods not drugs.
thankyou and good luck to everyone x x x

[JT69]

Hi

If you came off citalopram previously without any withdrawal effects you may be o.k The only thing I would say is 10mg is a really low dose so that may have been why. In my personal experiences with cit (I have previously taken it on and off for around 9 years) I have reduced the dose very slowly and weaned myself off that way and suffered no withdrawal effects. On 20mg I would probably start reducing to 10mg 3 times a week and then slowly reduce more. The main withdrawal effect I ever felt was zaps through the body, which can be reduced somewhat with a slow tapering plan.

Hope that helps you.

Good luck and I hope all goes well for you.

JO.xx

[bexy983]

Hi all, like many of you i found this site when looking up withdrawal effects of Citalopram as doc said i can come off them. Have only been on them for 6 months due to post natal depression (well hidden by me until i really could no longer cope) and general depression concerning my personal situation, started on 20mg and then up to 40mg after a month, stayed on 40 until i went to docs about 2 weeks ago. He gave me a months supply of 20mg and told me to take 20mg a day for a week, then 20mg every other day for 2 weeks and then 20mg every third day for a week and then stop. Also to go back to him if i have any probs.
Dropping to 20mg every day was ok, i'm now doing 20mg every other day and it is a nightmare. I'm all over the place, up one minute and floods of tears the next, i accidentally missed one and ended up going three days instead of two and i was a real mess, so angry and emotional.
I had been warned that coming off them is not pleasant by a friend and just to stick with it.
I really don't want to drag this out for months, if i'm going to feel awful i'd rather do it and know that for 6 weeks i'll feel terrible and then come out the other end. But i also work and have an 18 month old child and don't want to be a raving loony whilst coming off them.
These tablets have helped and made me feel normal (! in an out of body kind of way!) again but i really need to know if i am ok again or just relying on these tabs now. I don't want to take these for the rest of my life, i never needed them before.
However, they have a tendency to really knock me out once i get to sleep and waking up in the morning seems to take forever, also since dropping to every other day i've had the headaches etc.
From reading posts on here i'm going to try a week at 10mg and a week at 5mg and see how i go. I was going to go cold turkey but with having to go to work etc and reading how bad side effects can be i don't think its a good idea.
The only bad thing about being on these tablets, apart from coming off them, for me is that i don't know whether what i'm feeling is real anymore or are they just masking unresolved problems that i'm just putting off facing????

Any thoughts most welcome!!
Thanks
xx

[spiral]

bexy that sounds a good plan. I have just come off 20mg - i did one week at 10mg and then one at 5mg.
Many drs seem to be saying take a tablet one day and not the next etc - very bad idea as citalopram has a short half-life.
I barely had any symptoms coming of the way I did. Felt a little bit like my brain was full of static electricity for a few days but was ok. Just trying to get used to my own brain chemistry now - i've been very unemotional the 3 years i was on cita and suddenly i'm often very happy or a bit tearful! It's nice not feeling like a vulcan tho :-)

[bexy983]

Hi spiral,

Thanks for the words of encouragement, i'll let you know how i go. Hope it goes as yours did.

Bex

[ke11yb]

Hi all just a little update i work for a retired doctor who looked up all the symptoms of this drug and what happens when you come off them he has encouraged me to do 20mg one day then half the next for a week then next week 10mg each day then the week after 10mg every other day slowly but surely weening me off them. Like most the tablets did work to improve my mood but the weight gain was awful which put my mood down and also i have other symptoms such as lack of sleep which all affected my mood so when i get a headache or low mood i tell myself its the pills and i will get through it, going for a walk helps. Good luck everyone keep fighting it does get better x x

[Sox88]

Salve a tutti! Innanzitutto chiedo scusa in anticipo del mio inglese non perfetto! Sono stato molto sollevato a trovare questo sito dove ho potuto trovare altre persone con il mio stesso problema, dove in italia se ne parla davvero poco di questi sintomi di astinenza dal farmaco.

Hello! First, I apologize in advance for my English is not perfect! I was very relieved to find this place where I could find other people with my same problem in Italy where he speaks very little about these withdrawal symptoms from the drug.

Sono in cura con il citalopram e lo xanax dal agosto 2007 per un attacco di panico. Non ho più avuto ricadute e a inizio dicembre 2008 ho iniziato a ridurre i farmaci sotto la prescrizione del psichiatra. Partendo da 20mg di citalopram e xanax alla sera ho iniziato la mia diminuzione di 2mg di citalopram al giorno per 4 giorni per poi prendere tale farmaco un giorno sì e uno no per 3 giorni. Finito questo ciclo in totale assenza di questo farmaco ho iniziato a sentirmi male, nausea, mal di testa, vertigini e soprattutto le tremende scosse elettrice chiamate anche brain zap. Preso dalla paura ho sentito il psichiatra e mi disse che l'astinenza di questo farmaco non esistesse e se stavo male il motivo e che non stavo bene io e mi fece riprendere il farmaco subito ai soliti 20mg

Are being treated with citalopram and xanax by August 2007 for a panic attack. I have not relapsed and early December 2008 I started to reduce the drugs under the prescription of a psychiatrist. Starting with 20mg of citalopram and xanax the night I started my decline 2mg of citalopram daily for 4 days and then take this drug one day and go off for three days. When this cycle in total absence of this drug I started to feel unwell, nausea, headache, dizziness, and especially the tremendous electric shock also called brain zap. Taken from the fear I felt the psychiatrist told me that the withdrawal of this drug did not exist and if I was wrong and why I was not feeling well and had me take the drug once the usual 20mg.

Febbraio di quest'anno ho deciso di riprovare a toglierle a modo mio, affiancandomi con della psicoterapia una volta a settimana (iniziata a novembre 2009), partendo da 16mg ogni due settimane ho tolto una goccia ovvero 2mg, ed è andato tutto abbastanza bene. Lunedì 26 aprile sono sceso a 2mg (premesso che continuo a prendere tutte le sere 20mg di xanax) e venerdì 30 aprile ho tolto definitivamente il citalopram. Quasi in contemporanea sono comparsi di nuovo i vecchi sintomi, mal di testa, vertigini, nausea e scosse elettrice che giorno dopo dopo si sono sempre più intensificati. Fortunatamente al momento sono disoccupato (visto anche il mio prossimo intervento al ginocchio la settimana prossima) perchè proprio non riuscirei davvero a lavorare in questo momento, mi sento sempre stanco, sento sempre il bisogno di riposare e queste scosse che sento partire dalla testa mi preoccupano davvero molto. Ma perchè se ne parla così poco di questa astinenza? Io negli ultimi mesi sono stato benissimo, mai avuto attacchi di panico (preciso che ne ho avuto solo uno) ne stati di ansia, se dovessi togliere gli effetti negativi di questa astinenza potrei dire di stare bene, io so che posso stare bene senza questo farmaco ma è davvero dura farne a meno.

February this year I decided to try to remove it my way, siding with psychotherapy once a week (which started in November 2009), starting with 16mg every two weeks I took a drop or 2mg, and everything went pretty well. Monday, April 26 are decreased to 2mg (provided that I continue to take 20mg of xanax every night) and Friday, April 30 I removed permanently citalopram. Almost simultaneously appeared again the old symptoms, headache, dizziness, nausea and electric shock after that day have become increasingly intensified. Fortunately I'm unemployed at the time (since my neighbor knee surgery next week) because I could not really working right now, I'm always tired, very irritable and I always feel the need to rest and feel that these shocks from head bother me really. But because he speaks so little of this withdrawal? I in recent months have been fine, never had panic attacks (specifically that I only had one) they were anxious, if I remove the negative effects of this withdrawal could say feel good, I know I can be comfortable without this medication, but is really hard without it.