Citalopram withdrawal

[squiggler]

I've just started weaning off citalopram after a year of taking them. Reduced from 20mg to 10mg for 4 weeks without many side effects and stopped completely a couple of days ago. Feeling absolutely fine mentally but since stopping them I've been having 'brain zaps' and feeling really sick.

I've done the ssri withdrawal thing before and remember a few 'brain zaps' but nothing like this. Has anyone found anything to help with the withdrawal side effects?

I'd say you need to do it more gradually, although I've been on it a lot longer than you. I've been weaning off Citalopram for the last few months. I was on 40mg and am now down to 5mg/10mg. I've been on it for around ten years and always used to reduce my dose in the summer so that I could increase it again in the winter, when the lack of daylight makes me feel worse. The last few years, though, it got increasingly difficult to reduce the dose in the summer, and I felt that they were generally not as effective. It used to be that if I missed a dose, I'd realise the following day when I felt a bit odd, but then the last year or so if I missed a dose I'd be getting little brain shivers within a couple of hours. I decided I wanted to come off but knew I'd have to do it very gradually.

I started back in August, reducing from 40mg 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 5/10mg per day now. So...
5
5
10
5
5
And so on.

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. She told me to take Propranolol (a beta blocker) to deal with my anxiety, which I've been feeling really acutely through the withdrawal. I've been feeling sick quite often too.

Maybe do it more gradually?

Thanks Crabby, that's really helpful, it sounds like you've done a great job of managing to lower your dose.

I get the winter / summer difference, it's funny how much difference a few hours of sunlight can make. I'm trying to get off them now because I've gained tons of weight since being on them and I'm trying to get fit for an event next year. Possibly not the best timing though although I'm hoping praying that the exercise might help with the winter months.

Slowing down and doing it more gradually does sound like a good idea. I have the tablets in 20mg form so they're pretty easy to break in half for 10mg doses. Might see if I can cut them into quarters or get some 10mg from the doctor to make it easier to do the smaller doses.

No worries squiggler, glad to be of help. I've found that it's no easier to halve the 10mg tablets than it is to quarter the 20mg ones with the brand I use (Actavis). They're slippery little buggers loses count of the amount that have pinged off into infinity during the cutting.

I hope you manage to get off them ok. It's not going well for me at all tbh - my levels of anxiety are absolutely sky high at the moment and I can feel myself sinking into depression. I assume it's a combination of reducing the dose and the lowering light levels (despite having a daylight lamp).

The weight gain is a bugger. I think exercise absolutely will help with your mood. Good luck!

I remembrr taking an antihistamine to help with withdrawal but I think that was for dizziness rather than brain zaps? It was whatever drug is in Nytol in the UK (it's a different drug in the US). Have a Google and see if you think it could help...