It’s time to try and come off Citalopram
Discussion
Having been on citalopram for a few years I’ve made the decision to try and wean myself off them.
I’m slowly going to reduce my dosage from 30mg having sought advice from my GP over a couple of months.
Anyone any experience of reducing and tapering off altogether and what I might expect?
Wish me luck!
Cheers all…
I’m slowly going to reduce my dosage from 30mg having sought advice from my GP over a couple of months.
Anyone any experience of reducing and tapering off altogether and what I might expect?
Wish me luck!
Cheers all…
My wife has done it recently. She was on a smaller dose for anxiety.
She reduced her tablets from one a day to half a day, then half every other day, then stopped altogether over a couple of months.
If you react like she did you WILL have very dizzy spells and come over randomly all feint, these have reduced in frequency. For a little while you'll have mood swings but generally these taper off.
Generally though she's not been too bad. Good luck. Do what you feel is right.
You will feel worse for a period, but that's just your body finding the new normal.
If you feel terrible long term then you may need a small amount to keep ticking over
She reduced her tablets from one a day to half a day, then half every other day, then stopped altogether over a couple of months.
If you react like she did you WILL have very dizzy spells and come over randomly all feint, these have reduced in frequency. For a little while you'll have mood swings but generally these taper off.
Generally though she's not been too bad. Good luck. Do what you feel is right.
You will feel worse for a period, but that's just your body finding the new normal.
If you feel terrible long term then you may need a small amount to keep ticking over
This is the Royal College of Psychiatry guidance
https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/ment...
https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/ment...
mcelliott said:
Been on it for about 3yrs, did try to taper off but my anger really sparked up big time, will try again at some point, the thing is I get zero side effects from the drug so staying on it is no biggie really.
I'm not surprised you get angry living in Guernsey, living with those cars...I've been on and come off citalopram several times over the years.
My advice is think about how slowly you want to taper and then double it.
I generally take at least 3 months sometimes much longer, and vary it depending on my response as its never the same, and be prepared to up it again if the withdrawal is too much.
From 40g I would go 40-30-20-15-10-5, and not have less than 2 weeks between each change, sometimes longer. The tablets are fairly easy to cut in half, and the drop from 40-30 is generally easier than the 20-10
My advice is think about how slowly you want to taper and then double it.
I generally take at least 3 months sometimes much longer, and vary it depending on my response as its never the same, and be prepared to up it again if the withdrawal is too much.
From 40g I would go 40-30-20-15-10-5, and not have less than 2 weeks between each change, sometimes longer. The tablets are fairly easy to cut in half, and the drop from 40-30 is generally easier than the 20-10
Edited by sociopath on Monday 6th February 21:53
Just thought I’d update this thread if anyone is interested.
Sadly my tapering off didn’t go well and after being off the meds for a few weeks my anxiety came back with a vengeance and I’ve had to concede and I’m now back on them again and will remain on them.
There never has been any rhyme or reason as to why I suffer debilitating anxiety having had numerous tests, counselling and the like. It’s just in my make-up and without the “crutch” to level me out I struggle to function normally and now accept that this is me.
Citalopram for me is a life saver.
Good luck all on your journeys. If you know you know!
Sadly my tapering off didn’t go well and after being off the meds for a few weeks my anxiety came back with a vengeance and I’ve had to concede and I’m now back on them again and will remain on them.
There never has been any rhyme or reason as to why I suffer debilitating anxiety having had numerous tests, counselling and the like. It’s just in my make-up and without the “crutch” to level me out I struggle to function normally and now accept that this is me.
Citalopram for me is a life saver.
Good luck all on your journeys. If you know you know!
MGZTV8 said:
Just thought I’d update this thread if anyone is interested.
Sadly my tapering off didn’t go well and after being off the meds for a few weeks my anxiety came back with a vengeance and I’ve had to concede and I’m now back on them again and will remain on them.
There never has been any rhyme or reason as to why I suffer debilitating anxiety having had numerous tests, counselling and the like. It’s just in my make-up and without the “crutch” to level me out I struggle to function normally and now accept that this is me.
Citalopram for me is a life saver.
Good luck all on your journeys. If you know you know!
Vert similar to my experience, I'm happy to stay on them forever as they give me a strong foundation to work from and with almost no adverse side effectsSadly my tapering off didn’t go well and after being off the meds for a few weeks my anxiety came back with a vengeance and I’ve had to concede and I’m now back on them again and will remain on them.
There never has been any rhyme or reason as to why I suffer debilitating anxiety having had numerous tests, counselling and the like. It’s just in my make-up and without the “crutch” to level me out I struggle to function normally and now accept that this is me.
Citalopram for me is a life saver.
Good luck all on your journeys. If you know you know!
sociopath said:
That's not a very long tapering of period tbh. My tapering off has generally been between 4&6 months.
I'm not saying it would have prevented this, but next time, really give each drop a good while to settle in.
And good luck.
Thank you. I'm not saying it would have prevented this, but next time, really give each drop a good while to settle in.
And good luck.
To be honest i’ve tried a longer tapering period previously and again to no avail. This time was on doctors advice and I did question it however I’m again back to square one.
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