To want to announce I'm finally off of ...

[DragonBone]

Bloody antidepressants (citalopram) after a 10 year stint !

Started taking them soon after my youngest son was born - he's amazing and in his final year of primary school now.

I've tried a few times over the last cpl years to come off of citalopram- but the withdrawals had been horrendous- I don't know whether it's been a mind over matter thing but this time I've actually done it ! (And i feel so proud of myself )

10 days without them and I feel like a mist has been cleared.

Feeling better for sure !

(Thx for reading what is likely the most boring thread on here 😆)

That's such amazing news OP, well done you!!!

Congratulations! I found coming off Citalopram difficult too. I used to get a strange brain zap feeling if I turned my head too fast which was just awful. It was definitely challenging getting through it so I salute you.

YANBU! It's been 22 months since I've been on anti depressants and I'm so proud of myself! 9 years of anti depressants and I'm actually ok now without them. I'll never be free from mental illness but I am coping and happy and genuinely don't feel depressed.

The first 2 weeks are the hardest so you're doing amazingly and clearly are ready.

It's very unboring and very amazing

Very heartwarming to read so many replies and similar experiences- thankyou all - stay strong x

It wasn’t just running. It was getting to a place in my job where I’m happy and settled, and my youngest going to school so I had some “me time”, and all sorts of things that just came together. This time I managed to stop taking them.

Well done you, glad you're feeling well. Makes such a difference to have a good doc that will sit and talk. Thank you for sharing your news and giving others hope that nothing is forever. Hope your good feelings continue

Not boring at all! Well done :) I came off them after a few months as I had bad side effects and it was bloody hard so can't imagine how hard it would have been after 10 years. You do right to be feeling happy with yourself x

I know this is an old thread, sorry, but I'm about to wean myself off duloxetine capsules (60mg) and wondered if anyone did this quickly. What's the best way to go about it? I've read some horror stories online

Please do not ever come off citalapram without your doctors full support. I was on 40mgs a day, ran out and thought no probs I have docs appoint next week so will get some more then. 5 days, I had a complete breakdown and am still on 40mgs 2 years later☹️ Reduction has to be closely controlled!! Well done if you feel strong enough to get off them, you've done a great job and worked hard. I wish you luck, but please be careful. 💐

Well done. I've been on ads 20 years. I'm going to try stopping too. You've inspired me!

Go OP!!

Oops... old thread!

I came of duloxetine cold turkey when I found out I was pregnant. I do not recommend it.

I had 'brain zaps' for about 5 months which were awful. Anytime I moved my head I felt like I had an electro shock in my brain.

Honestly would never want to do that again. My mood was ok, but that side effect was absolutely horrible. I had to as the amount of medication I was on would have been very harmful, but still...It was horrible.

I have come of anti depressants many times, definitely do it gradually. The brain zaps were horrific.

Well done op 👏👏can I be nosey and ask do you regret ever taking them or do you think they actually helped
If you went back in time you you take them ?

Well done OP! Whenever I have forgotten to take mine, or run out or whatever I feel so sick, and the brain zaps! So good work, I'm glad you're feeling proud. I've been swapped to sertraline during pregnancy, don't know if I need to swap back.

I've tried weaning off in the past but it isn't the side effects that have stopped me, more the way my personality reverts back to who I was prior to them. Sad to say that I am a far easier, calmer and more pleasant person to be around when I am medicated. Maybe when the kids are older I'll try again.

I'm going to try weaning myself off them because I can't cope with the side effects although they've helped a lot with my chronic pain.

Anyone had problems coming off citalopram? I've been on and off this drug for about 9 years. Over the last few months only took them every other day or every third day. My last one was around 10 days ago and I feel like I'm in hell.

Hi Flossy, yes coming off citalopram was an absolute bitch for me.
However it is doable. But I was being given the wrong advice. One doctor told me to come off my dose within two weeks and I would be fine. Yeah right!

It would throw me into a horrific depression. I wasn't even depressed, I took it for severe PMT.

Anyway, I did it again when I got pregnant Id switched to Sertraline a few months before (hate Sertraline, citalopram is so much better) and I cut down slowly over 5 month period.
The trick is to do it very very very slowly.

What dose are you on and I will give you an example.

@Flossy1983 yes I had terrible problems. I managed to finally come off it but I had to drop the dose down in stages. Finally I had Citalopram in liquid form and used a minimal amount of drops which I weaned off. This helped me go between doses when I was having any withdrawal symptoms. Just dropping down and going every other day and then stopping did not work for me. It was horrendous. Ask your GP about the liquid version and don't be afraid to say you can't handle the withdrawal. I wish I'd read a thread like this when I was coming off, I thought it was just me and that I had to push on through! Good luck 

I was on 20mg. Day 9 with none now. Its hard going. Feel like I'm going insane at times

@Russiandwarf that's exactly what I'm doing. Don't know if i can get through tbh

Great news

@RememberWhenRibenaTastedNice, can I ask why you hated sertraline? Thank you.

Well done! I firmly believe that for most people, anti-depressants are the worst thing for them. Living in a fog not feeling anything is not the answer.

@Flossy1983 so when did you start to cut down your 20mg? And you say day 9 that means 0mg for 9 days?

I think if you ride it out things might improve, for me I couldn't handle it. I ended up going back on the 20mg.

The key is to definitely do it slowly.
So my equivalent was to go from 20mg to 0 over a 5 month period.

It takes 2-3 weeks for it to get out of your system. So I would stay on a reduced dose for 4 weeks so I knew I was completely down before I reduced again.