Thank you amyyetta for you post. It has made thing a little clearer for me.

Me and my partner decided to 2 months ago to try for another baby and before i had the chance to wean myself off Citalopram 20mg we found out that i was expecting. So i decided to go cold turkey and i mean on everything...Smoking, caffeine and Citalopram. So after a few days of giving up everything, i started feeling like i was about to pass out. Eyes would feel like they were rolling to the back of my head and then brought back to reality with some sort of shock as amyyetta described. I felt like i was seeing things too. It has been about a week since this started and i have been to the doctors and had blood tests the lot and they still didn't have a clue what was wrong. But now i have read all the posts on here esp amyyetta (thank you again) i feel more at ease. I just hoping that it doesn't last for long as i need to get back to work.

Hi Guys,

I am new to this Forum but would like to get some feedback about Citalopram.

Been on 20mg for depression & anxiety, since July 2008 and have been fortunate enough to have not suffered too many side effects apart from the normal ones i.e tiredness, vivid dreams , loss of sex drive etc.

I am keen to come off them now although my GP doesn't agree. However i the last few days I have experienced a numbness/loss of sensation in my right thigh and groin area and wondered if this is a side effect of the meds. No pain just the numbness.

Its really strange. Has anyone else had this happen to them?

I have been taking 20mg of citalopram for over a year now, I cut down to 10mg every day and then 5mg every day for about a month now I've gone cold turkey for 5 days and I'm still feeling really dizzy and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. I don't want to go back on them as I'm pregnant so just wondering how long will these withdrawal symptoms last??

Thanks, Jen

PPS Jsut seen thsi is a very old thread. apologies for adding to it, but if this helps someone, well.....

Hogweed - think you would agree that being ON them was positive, it's teh getting off them that's the problem? and the problem is that the people creating it don't take it themselves so don't knwo what it actually feels like!

Anyway, hope I've helped someone....

You've probably all finished talkinga bout this now, but can I tell you how I did it? I've written this before ages ago on here and another forum and a couple of people found it helpful.

Essentially you need to do a little bit of planning and work out on a piece of paper the following:

1 - start taking the dose every 30 hours instead of every 24 hours do this for 4-5 days, as long as you don't have any symptoms. If you do, start really slowly, taking it every 25 hours then every 26 hours.

2 - Then take it every 36 hours (I just use these approximate figures because they slot quite well around sleep etc., they're not concrete) for a few days.

3 - Once you've got to taking them every 2 days (every 48 hours), drop the dose a little (to 7.5mg)I would do this for another 4-5 days before dropping further to 5mg.

4 - Once you get to 5mg start spreading them out further again but really slowly, so every 50 hours, 52 hours etc etc. In the end you can either start taking tiny bits of tablets, or just get to a point where you realise you ahven't taken anything for 5 days and realise you could probably stop!

tbh, I even used the oral solution at the end htis time, because I was pg. and I wanted absolutely no symptoms to deal with, but that was my second time fo coming off them. The first I just did this with the tablets.

I had literally no symptoms either time.

CAVEAT - this is MY approach, works wonders for me, my GP was completely happy with this, but I cannot take responsibility for someone else doing it obviously.

good luck.

hey just coming off citalopram i feel like im getting electric shocks in my head its so weird like little zaps ahh sorry this might make no sense finding it really difficult to concerntrate. It feel like im seperated from my body and my heads going to fly away everything looks weird has anyone else had this? how long does it last. I have come off on my own coz i didnt think my doctor would advise me to do this should i start taking them agin?? thanks

I am coming off citalopram after 3 years on it for PND. I was on 40mg day for at least 2 years (whose counting and leastI enjoyed the time).
For those who are worried about taking it, not everybody puts on weight or has horrendous side effects. I felt a bit weird for a week or so when I started but nothing worrying or scary and far better than wanting to throw myself down the stairs or stab kitchen knives into my arms.

Last time I saw my GP he said that for some people you just have to find the lowest dose that works for them and not worry about coming off the drug. Since then I have reduced slowly (over 5 months) and am now on 10mg every other day with no side effects so far.

Me: on 40mgs for aprox. 6 months, ironically on it because my GP told me to take it to prepare for getting off diazepam (in stages), which I still take at 40mg per day (6 years). I decided on my own to get off it because I recently reviewed the side-effects on the web, and realised I had some (like sweating). Plus, since I did not ever notice any assistance by the drugs, I wanted to see what my mind was like without them...

Going cold turkey. First day: No ill effects - Second/third day: pronounced tiredness, sleeping 48hrs, with 'breaks' from sleep of 15-45 minutes. Dreaming was much more interesting. - Now in fourth 'day': starting to gt a bit nervous (tempted to take extra diazepam) have a surfeit of energy, can still take small naps with the telly on. Best thing so far-My brain seems to be coming alive. I had not predicted this, as I said, I never noticed any changes to myself when I was on the drug.

I am curious to see what happens next.

I doubt this monologue will help anyone, but there are a mixture of experiences here, and I felt compelled (laugh) to share.

Thank you all for sharing -- Much better info than the medical sites...

Has anyone else used diazepam & citalopram?

Oh god Hogweed, *thank you so much*! I have been grinding and clenching my teeth constantly for the last few months and I had no idea why. I wake up with pounding head-, jaw- and face ache from doing it and my teeth hurt so much I can't bear to let them touch each other in the morning.

Hi everybody else, I have been on Citalopram for about six or seven months now. Due to not being able to get to a doctor recently I've been stringing out my prescription (20mg) by taking one every other day which has been fine, but for the past three weeks I have had a vicious migraine pretty much every third day. I get the whole aura thing and it's really causing me problems.

The thing is, I can't figure out if it's reducing the Citalopram or taking it that's causing them. Any ideas?

Also, for those who are getting dizzy, it definitely happens if I miss a dose - it feels like you're falling doesn't it?

Sofabelly
xxx