Citalopram withdrawal.

[Joscal]

Any experience from anyone who’s come off citalopram?

I was on 20mg for 6 months after a panic attack brought on by stress of an alcoholic family member and with the advice of my Dr I’ve tapered off to 10mg for the past month and am now 3 weeks into not taking it it all and having felt ok for the first couple of weeks I’m feeling pretty darn awful..tired during the day, really depressed, brain zaps, painful joints and just very down in general. (I didn’t feel ANY of these symptoms before just the panic attack)

I’ve read this is completely normal but I’d love to hear from those who have been through the same as my Doctor just told me to go back on them if I felt bad but I want to be drug free. I really do wonder if the Doctors understand what these tablets do to you as I’ve never felt this bad before!

Thanks in advance.

Edited by Joscal on Sunday 8th March 14:41

[mcelliott]

Joscal said:

Any experience from anyone who’s come off citalopram?

I was on 20mg for 6 months after a panic attack brought on by stress of an alcoholic family member and with the advice of my Dr I’ve tapered off to 10mg for the past month and am now 3 weeks into not taking it it all and having felt ok for the first couple of weeks I’m feeling pretty darn awful..tired during the day, really depressed, brain zaps, painful joints and just very down in general. (I didn’t feel ANY of these symptoms before just the panic attack)

I’ve read this is completely normal but I’d love to hear from those who have been through the same as my Doctor just told me to go back on them if I felt bad but I want to be drug free. I really do wonder if the Doctors understand what these tablets do to you as I’ve never felt this bad before!

Thanks in advance.

Edited by Joscal on Sunday 8th March 14:41

Ive been on them for about 4 months, have had all these side effect, also heard what you have described from many people when coming off them, can last for months.

[sociopath]

Personally I think you came off too abruptly. I had that the first time I came off them.

The next time I dropped from 40mg down to 10 mg over about 2 months then spent another couple of months going from 10 to 5 then 5 every other day, then 5 every 3 days etc etc.

Didn't have any withdrawal that time, and have done it like that ever since (I'm a regular !)

[Flumpo]

Might be a strange question but how much do you weigh?

40mg is the therapeutic dose for this medicine so you were on half the standard dose.

Did you have many side effects from it when you started? If you had a lot then you should probably expect some when coming off.

I have previously abruptly stopped this medicine and had no effects and another time negative side effects even after a couple of days.

The problem is everyone is slightly different with these medicines so it’s a bit unpredictable.

The best thing to do is speak to your doctor and if you have any suicidal or dark thoughts REMEMBER to speak to someone straight away.

I’ve been on this medicine for 14 years on and off and on solidly for the last 7. I’ve had periods with side effects and periods without.

Give me a pm if you want to talk about anything.

[Joscal]

Thanks folks, just to emphasise I’m fine just surprised at how bad I feel! When I first started on them I did have a lot of the reactions when I think about it so they must affect me pretty badly.

Forgot to add I’m 15 stone and 6 3”

[Flumpo]

Joscal said:

Thanks folks, just to emphasise I’m fine just surprised at how bad I feel! When I first started on them I did have a lot of the reactions when I think about it so they must affect me pretty badly.

Everyone is a bit different, but just remember that they are temporary symptoms until it gets out of your system.

You will be fine. At least you don’t have Coronavirus!

[Joscal]

Flumpo said:

Everyone is a bit different, but just remember that they are temporary symptoms until it gets out of your system.

You will be fine. At least you don’t have Coronavirus!

Ha I know in the big scheme of things it’s nothing! That’s the beauty of posting anonymously on here, it’s hard to raise these things when no one knows I’m on them..

Thanks again!

[sunbeam alpine]

Can't give you practical advice, but just wanted to wish you success.

[rossub]

Flumpo said:

Might be a strange question but how much do you weigh?

40mg is the therapeutic dose for this medicine so you were on half the standard dose.

Did you have many side effects from it when you started? If you had a lot then you should probably expect some when coming off.

I have previously abruptly stopped this medicine and had no effects and another time negative side effects even after a couple of days.

The problem is everyone is slightly different with these medicines so it’s a bit unpredictable.

The best thing to do is speak to your doctor and if you have any suicidal or dark thoughts REMEMBER to speak to someone straight away.

I’ve been on this medicine for 14 years on and off and on solidly for the last 7. I’ve had periods with side effects and periods without.

Give me a pm if you want to talk about anything.

Everyone is different I suppose. I started on 20mg, but fairly quickly cut down to 10. Been like that for 5 years now and it keeps things ticking along ok.

[Paul Dishman]

Flumpo said:

Might be a strange question but how much do you weigh?

40mg is the therapeutic dose for this medicine so you were on half the standard dose.

.

No, 20 mg is the standard dose, 40 mg is the maximum dose. I've been retired for a few years now, so I checked the BNF

https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/citalopram.html#indic...

[Paul Dishman]

Joscal said:

Any experience from anyone who’s come off citalopram?

I was on 20mg for 6 months after a panic attack brought on by stress of an alcoholic family member and with the advice of my Dr I’ve tapered off to 10mg for the past month and am now 3 weeks into not taking it it all and having felt ok for the first couple of weeks I’m feeling pretty darn awful..tired during the day, really depressed, brain zaps, painful joints and just very down in general. (I didn’t feel ANY of these symptoms before just the panic attack)

I’ve read this is completely normal but I’d love to hear from those who have been through the same as my Doctor just told me to go back on them if I felt bad but I want to be drug free. I really do wonder if the Doctors understand what these tablets do to you as I’ve never felt this bad before!

Thanks in advance.

Edited by Joscal on Sunday 8th March 14:41

If I was still working, I'd send you back for a chat with your GP

[Joscal]

Paul Dishman said:

If I was still working, I'd send you back for a chat with your GP

I’ll see what this week brings, although he’ll probably just tell me to start back on them. I’d rather not having got this far.

[drmike37]

That is a super quick dose reduction. It takes at least three months of really gradual tapering. If withdrawal is a big problem, try taking half a tablet, then after a few weeks go to half tablets every other day. Go very very slowly and you have a better chance. And make sure your significant other knows what you’re doing as you will get moody.

Don’t be afraid to take a step back up the dose if you need to.
Good luck.

[Turn7]

Been on it for years.

Its nasty nasty stuff to get off.

The taper needs to be way longer than any suggest.

I was on 10mg for years and have been on a reduction to 5mg for about a year now.

This summer, I plan to drop to alternate days of 5mg and then go from there I think.

[xjay1337]

I went off them over 2 to 3 months.

Went from daily, to every other day etc.

I didn't feel or notice any withdrawl or anything. But of course that's just my personal findings.

Did you consult with GP about a longer period of lowering the dose? Always a good idea.

If your GP just says go back on them, maybe speak to a different doc.

[Joscal]

Thanks for the comments folks. I did exactly as my Dr said and cut down to 10 mg after Christmas until early Feb then just stopped. All that he said was if I felt bad to start taking them again, no suggestion of tapering for longer or anything like that. My last tablet was the 9th Feb so I’m off them for a month today coincidentally.

If there’s no improvement today I’ll book a call.

Thanks again for the input it really helps.

[Lemanandbeyond]

I reduced over a period of 12 months, I had been on them for 10 years though. I didn't really get any major symptoms apart from feeling tired and a bit low on occasions but I did it very slowly and over a long period, this was my doctors advice.

Dose was 30 mg reduced to 25 for three months, 20 for two months, 15 for 2 months, 10 for 3 months, 5 for two months.

Its been 3 years off them now and all is good.

All the best,

[toasty]

I've been on 20mg for going on ten years now.

I did come off for a while after cutting down to 10mg for a bit. No side effects apart from gradually slipping back into my old irrationally irritable ways.

Off the Citalopram, every little thing irritates the hell out of me and I'm prone to stressed outbursts which do my marriage and career no favours.

I probably should try and cut back down to 10mg again at some point.

[lost in espace]

Oldish topic, but trying to come off these completely hate taking them.

Was suffering from anxiety as a self employed person, however all my work disappeared in March and have a new job which is post working day stress free unlike my self employed work. So no more anxiety.

Prescribed 20mg in January, but really don't feel the need for them now. Slowly coming off over them from March when things got a lot better, to finally taking none, but I have a permanent fuzzy head and sort of passing out feeling which is on a 5 second repeat. Not quite sure if this is withdrawal symptoms or not. Also tired and forgetful.

I have a 3 week holiday from work now, just keeping trying the cold turkey and not driving until I feel better. However I might have to go back on them again, I was taking the odd 1/4 of a tablet that did stop the fuzzyness.

Knowing what I know now, I would never have agreed to go back on them, I am convinced my improvement was also linked to having someone to talk to about my parents early deaths.

[Turn7]

Really, really, do not rush coming off this stuff. Trust me. Especially from 20g.

You need a long slow taper, so 10,5 then alternate 5 etc///

Ive been at the point where i felt, fuk it, thats me done with this, and then in 6/8 weeks, the darkness descends again....

And, then gets worse for a short time when you up the dose....