Are these signs?

[SmokedGlass]

Hi all
I have slowly stopped taking Citalopram over the last 3 months with help from my GP
Was on 30mg for 6 years and for the last year I felt the time was right to come off. They have worked brilliantly, everything was so much clearer and I felt my old self had returned. I’ve just felt normal, happy and content

Recently I’ve been having feelings of lethargy, laziness and ‘can’t be bothered it is’ most days, which is not like like me
I’m a busy woman with many interests and friends and these feelings are worrying
My doctor said to lower the dose steadily over time and if I felt things were not feeling right, to resume and try again at a later stage
There was no rush to do this

Please don’t tell me that depression could be slowly rearing it’s head again, I’m concerned it is and that maybe I should not have stopped altogether but lowered the dose and gone from there
I’m worried I have rushed it through

Has anyone else experienced these feelings after stopping the medication?

• that should say ‘can’t be bothered itis’

Which is happening more often than not recently 😥

Hi OP sorry you're not feeling good. I can't quite tell if you have reduced the dosage or just stopped as your post sort of suggests both.

How long since you last took any meds now? Are you on any other medication?

Why not think of ADs as a maintenance medication? If they help you to stay well, then taking them long term is a good thing.

Sorry, does sound a bit of a muddle

I have finished taking the Citalopram. In July I went from 30mg a day to 20mg, which I took for 6 weeks, then went down to 10mg a day, which I then stopped after another 6 weeks
I have not been taking anything at all for the last 6 weeks

When I write it down like that, it doesn’t look very long from deciding to stop then actually stopping does it?

@ChaChaCha2012

That is precisely what my GP said, I just thought now I’m feeling ‘normal’ or so I thought, that in the long run it would be better to come off completely

Perhaps being on them for 6 years has made it harder to wean quicker than I thought?

There's no right or wrong in my view, it's just finding a baseline that works for you as everyone reacts differently. It sounds like you might need some medication to get a better balance. In your shoes, I would discuss with your GP about sitting at 10mg for a little while and see how that goes rather than dropping off completely. A therapeutic dose for mood maintenance.

How would you feel about that? What made you want to stop?

Sorry just read your last post. I think that often it is the medication that is helping you to feel 'normal' and many people get stuck believing that being 'better' means being off meds.

Citalopram improves energy levels and feeling of well being by balancing your brains natural serotonin levels, so without it, and without a natural increase to your serotonin levels you could start to feel lethargic and low.

@stealthmama I think you are so right
I wanted to come off them as I had been taking them because of a divorce
It certainly helped me through the lows, I felt absolutely ‘normal’ after 6 years so thought if I were to come off, perhaps my previous state of mind would have been re-instated but it doesn’t feel like it

I was always a happy person, but the divorce knocked me for six
I suppose I was hoping that as so much time has passed that any depression and anxiety had been worked through by taking Citalopram, obviously it’s still under the surface
I wonder if I’ll ever get back to being and feeling the person I once was

I’ve requested a GP virtual appointment for Monday
I think I ought to restart on a lower dose
Thanks for actually confirming what I had been thinking

I am here at the moment. Been on 20mg for 4 years tried to stop once but found the side effects so bad I re started. I am in the process of stopping again so cut from 20 to 10 no problems then went to 5, then 5 every 3rd day. I found this difficult I felt as you describe and decided to go back to 10 and stay there. I see it as someone up thread said as a stabiliser, I feel good on 10mg mood lifted, but not the tiredness I had. I think now is a difficult time to stop due to covid too.

My GP told me that failed attempts to stop make subsequent attempts much harder. Also you need to know the difference between withdrawal symptoms and signs of depression returning. I read a very interesting article on Royal college of psychiatrists website which outlines the difference. I also struggled with awful brain zaps.

I really wanted to stop citalopram but realise it benefits me to stay on this low dose.

@Rupertpenrysmistress
To stop taking Citalopram completely was a decision that I arrived at naively, thinking it was just a case of winding down, then just stop

I’ve listened to what you’ve all had to say and it makes a lot of sense
To maintain my well being and stabilise my feelings, I think in the long run, taking a low dose is a good plan and a sensible way of approaching it
Many thanks

I'm on 10mg and it lifts me enough but I still have feelings to work through. Also to bear in mind this time of year- getting dark now.

Just an update
I had a talk with my GP this morning, we discussed taking a low dose as an ongoing maintenance plan
I’m restarting on 10mg tomorrow to see how things go, then in the New Year I will talk with her again
Thank you all