Help coming of citalpram?

Question

I have been on these for 18 months 20mg and now feel fine and have been to the doctor and asked to come off he has suggested i take 10mg for 3 months then see him again, I am worried I will get side effects reducing the dose. Anyone got experiences I would appreciate.

I dont want to undo all the good work etc.

Answer 1

I was on them for over a year for anxiety and depression, worked for the depression and made me feel a lot more confident, but felt like i was crawling out of my skin. Anyhow came off them cold turkey which was stupid, got head shocks, momentary blackouts, i looked completely insane laughing to myself for no reason. I went back on them and tapered off cutting the tablets into quarters e.g. taking 3/4 tab for a few days, then down to half... so after a month + i finally got off them completely. Now i'm getting what seem to be panic attacks and depression, i feel like i'm cycling or something, this is 2 years down the line, although i've been feeling a bit off for a while, i think eventually you go back to how it was unless you have purely gone on the tablets for a bad period in your life like a divorce, if you have an actual i dunno "chemical imbalance" then it will not last.

Answer 2

Hi I have been on citalopram for 3 months and I am feeling heaps better so glad you are, I have a friend who has been on this drug the same length of time as you, he has been coming off them for several months and has now stopped altogether, he has had no side affects and feels great, hope this helps good luck.

Answer 3

You should listen to the doctor. The best way to stop taking medication such as citalpram is to do so gradually, that way you will not get side effects. Dropping them off immediately could well lead to unpleasant side effects.

Answer 4

"Now I feel fine" I 've been that way before, and then when I got off the drug, I was no longer fine.

Answer 5

Hi, glad to hear that you are feeling better. Most of the types of drugs in the Citalopram group can cause some people very bad side effects when coming off. I am one of those who every so often needed an anti-depressant.

I use to come off quickly when everything seemed to of settled down, but for weeks after but head would buzz, like it had just had an electric shock. To get over that effect, I now reduce medication by 1/8 at a time every five days. This has two positive effects, firstly, no side effects and secondary if my mood starts to drop, then I just raise the dosage up slightly.

An optimistic note! I am having one of my longest spells (18 months)without any drugs. I am having some psycho-dynamic body psychotherapy. For the first time in fifty years, I feel I'm more in control of my depression. So even long term issues CAN be resolved, its just finding the cause and then the correct treatment.

Best wishes

Answer 6

I was taking Citalopram for about 6 mths before I fell pregnant with my son. I started to feel better so had started taking them every other day so by the time I went to the Dr (about my pregnancy) I had just stopped - she said this was fine.

I didn't;t have any side effects when I went down to every other day or when I stopped completely but whatever you choose to do, do it with the support and advice from your Dr.