Can you stay on antidepressants for life?

[mumofthreesmallmen3]

ive recently started to take citalopram mainly for anxiety which I guess also caused me to feel low, I don't think I have depression but sometimes low mood.
Bit of background info I've always been shy, was painfully shy as a child and believe its hereditary as my dad also has a quiet and lnervous personality and so did his mum. I have become better socially as the years have passed and day to day stuff is ok, always have had trouble with groups and generally speaking out.
Since starting the citalopram I've been feeling great, I feel really relaxed inside, my anxiety has greatly reduced, I find it ten times easier to interact, almost as though my self esteem and confidence has shot up, I'm happier in general and feel like I can cope a lot more.
I'm wondering if when I come off this med will all my anxieties come back?
Can you stay on it longterm or for ever?
Do I have low levels of serotonin and that's what caused the anxiety?
Does the drug need to keep being upped to get the same results do you build a tolerance to it?
Any ideas appreciated

[ineedamoreadultieradult]

Place marking as I was wondering the same thing.

[mumofthreesmallmen3]

Are you taking it too? Have you found it's helped?

[Bauble16]

My mum's been on them over 30 years so yes.

[clarr]

People have different experiences about tolerance levels over time etc, some people come off it and feel worse again, others stay well after coming off the medication.

It is perfectly safe to stay on it for life, though. Sometimes things happen that mean it is no longer safe/appropriate to take it though, for example if you were to develop another medical condition that required medication that interacted with your particular antidepressants badly, or if you became pregnant, some antidepressants are considered safer than others so your doctor would advise you.

[JustKeepSwimming24]

I'm taking it for the second time, I'm feeling the same way you describe! More confident, happier, calmer. Better able to cope. I took it for 12 months 3 years ago. My depression/anxiety came back after 2 years off the citalopram ☹️ just started back on it in November. The GP said after 6 months We will start to think about coming off it!!! 😨 surely it's not long enough. I'm scared of relapsing again, the side effects in the first few weeks have been horrible I don't want to be coming off them then going back on them a 3rd time..I'm wondering if I can just stay on them too.

[Haggisfish]

I think you can, yes.

[Twinmummyjojo]

I've been on citalopram for nearly 7 years, with no end in sight. I have bipolar and this is to combat my depressive side. I was on 40mg initially and have weaned (with docs guidance) down to 10 mg. I have been on an anti depressant since I was 17. I have known people be on them all their life. It all depends on what your mental health is like: if you have a short term issue then they can be a real help to get you back to feeling yourself. If you have a so called personality disorder like I do I t can be a bitter pill to swallow knowing you will be on them for life but I appreciate everything they do for me

[mumofthreesmallmen3]

I guess mine is a long term issue as I've been an anxious person generally since I was a small child, and with taking this a lot of my anxieties are gone. What side effects did you get, I know they said it takes a few weeks to start feeling the benefit but i found I started feeling less anxious after around 2 days, could it be a placebo effect or can the medication actually work that quickly? Didn't have too many side effects either, day1 my heart was pounding and a couple of headaches that's all, honestly feel great, feel good about myself, confident, not nervous, more social etc strange how a pill can do all that x

[sweetkitty]

I've been on and offfor near on 20 years have decided I have something wrong with my serotonin levels and have accepted I need them for life probably.

[JustKeepSwimming24]

Side effects I've had this time round are constant nausea, I was violently sick just the once thankfully! dizziness, fatigue, random twitching, headache, sore mouth, no appetite at all I've lost about half a stone, still not got my appetite back after 4 weeks.. increased anxiety. it felt a lot like a bad hangover for the first 2 weeks although despite all this I also felt a bit of an improvement in my mood after the first couple of days of taking it.

[dangermouseisace]

I've been mainly on AD's for nearly 20 years.

I found that when I'd been through a 'good patch' for a while I got more confident in how I could manage life which in turn made me happier/lost the anxiety about situations as I knew I could cope, so no the drugs didn't have to be continually increased. I even managed to come off them for a little while before I had kids and ended up with PND!