to go cold turkey from citalopram

[LEMmingaround]

Been on this for nearly two years now. 20mg for anxiety and depression.

It doesn't work.

When i forget to take it for a few days i feel better. More energy. More motivated.

Never gone more than 3 days. But now i really don't want to take it. Looked at them a few times but i don't want it. Im generally ticking along ok but am scared to go cold turkey - what side effects to expect?

I've stopped cold turkey a few too many times. Side effects were that I felt lightheaded and nauseous for a couple of weeks. I was okay for a little while but then tended to have a relapse after a few months, so now I try to keep taking them no matter what (well it's sertraline now).

If you can bear it it's better to cut down gradually so take one every couple of days and then increase the gaps between doses.

Citalopram stopped working for me too. Now I'm having a big relapse while on the sertraline.

Stomach upset, dizziness, anxiety, headaches. Or you might not have any side effects. Why not speak to your GP first? They might want to reduce your dose a bit first before stopping or switch you to something else if it's not working for you.

I agree with Black, you should do it gradually.

I'm on them too and they do work for me, I wanted to stop as I feel so much better, but the Dr advised me to carry on over the winter, because of the drop in day light hours.

A friend of mine who went cold turkey had a bad relapse a few months after. Please take medical advice.

I went cold turkey on it after nearly 4 years. Doctor advised me to cut down slowly but being impatient and clearly someone who knows way better than the Dr I decided to ignore him. I did feel peculiar a couple of times but never had the jitters or anything. I was on 20mg too - which isn't really a huge dose. I guess you have to decide for yourself though - nobody should be advising you one way or another. :)

Its been 3 days and im ok just now. Not sure what the half life is

It's not recommended ask your doctor. I did 20mg 10mg every other for 10 days 10mg for 10 days and 10mg every other day for 10 days then stop. No relapse. Had a bit of wooziness but nothing drastic.

You need to go back to your GP and talk about your feelings about the medication and life in general.

You could also ask about CBT and mindfulness treatments.

Personally, I found medication very helpful and I now use (self-taught) mindfulness techniques to avoid a relapse. I didn't have any side effects coming off medication, but your doctor may want to wean you off with progressively lower doses.

I'd also recommend reading Sane New World by Ruby Wax.

Good luck!

Tbh if you've gone 3 days you might as well carry on! Just check your mood or get someone to do it with you!

I wouldn't advise going cold turkey. I got myself off this earlier this year by dropping dose to 10mg per day , then taking one every other day, then every other other day etc until eventually I was taking one 10g tablet once per week. It took a while but when I tried to stop sooner I felt like I had the flu.

I went cold turkey several months ago and the only side effects were headaches for a couple of weeks. I generally feel MUCH better now but I was also in counselling and I think that helped more than the coming off the medication did.

If it's not working, you really should go and see your GP. Are you in counselling or therapy or something else too, or jus the meds?

Ask the experts - go to your GP or psychiatrist. That is what they are there for.

But I wouldn't. Going cold turkey can have some horrible side effects.

DD did cold turkey on fluoxetine. It was awful :(

I didn't have any problems stopping cold turkey but I'd only been on it a few months. I was taking 20mg for anxiety

I was on 40mg (or maybe 60 - can't remember) and went cold turkey. It was one of the stupidest things I've done because I got very agitated & could not stop crying - with some medical advice I weaned it down instead and changed to sertraline.

(Now I'm on 300mg Venlafaxine MR which works really well).

I stopped cold turkey in june after 3 years on 20mg. Feel soooo much better. More energy, clear headed, happier. Highly reccomend it if you feel they are no longer working for you.

I am asking the experts. People with experience.

Oh god. I did this and it was a terrible mistake. Went back on it and slowly came off. Can't even remember it but the cold turkey episode was vile.

Didn't mean that to sound snippy. Will talk to my gp but its impossible to get appointment.

I would advise strongly against it, based on personal experience. The more gradual the withdrawal, the better - less chance of withdrawal effects and relapse.

You seem pretty set on doing it cold turkey, though.

I did cold turkey and my mood went a bit haywire - I crashed into a tearful mess - and I couldn't grasp why because I think my brain was a bit foggy - took my sister to tell me I was being a bit odd for me to realise. Have since done it gradually and carefully and it was much better.

So - up to you, it took more than 3 days for me to feel peculiar (was about 10 days) I didn't have any physical side effects though.
Good luck - hope it goes well for you whatever you decide to do.

Strongly advise against cold turkey - withdrawal can be awful. Cut down 5mg at a time over weeks.

It stops working because your body gets used to it - same thing with people taking more and more of an illegal drug because they don't egg same 'hit' anymore. If you speak to gp they can hopefully help you with something else.

Good luck

Egg=get

I had horrible cold turkey experience with citalopram - was vomiting, flu symptoms, shakes. Awful. Came off again gradually and it was fine

Thanks for the advice guys. Will pop a pill today :)

I used to get withdrawal effects (I get strange visual shivers) if I missed a day, but it had got to the point this year where I was getting them if I was just an hour or two late taking a dose. I've always reduced my dose in the summer and it was never a problem, but this year and last year it was really hard. It made up my mind that I want to come off them completely, but I've done it soooooo gradually - dropping in 5mg increments (chop the pills up) every other day and pausing on a dose once stable. So the dose each day would be...
40
35
40
35
(for a week or so)
then 35mg for a week, then
30
35
30
35
then staying at 30mg for a couple of weeks, and so on.

I'm down to 10mg per day now. To come off completely, the GP said to get down to the minimum possible dose and then take every other day for a while, then every three days for a while. She said that she had a patient who took one a week for a few weeks when weaning off.

I do have quite strong effects though, so you could probably do it quicker. Just don't rush it and end up back where you started, mentally!

I've been on 40mg for about 9 months now and I feel much, much better (no crying fits or suicidal episodes for about 4 months) but I've felt a bit down and shaky on the few occasions when I've forgotten my tablet. Winding down slowly sounds a lot safer.