Thinking of stopping Citalopram 10mg - any experiences with tapering down?

[irene88]

Hello! I'm 20 weeks pregnant and thinking of stopping Citalopram 10mg to prevent baby girl from getting neonatal withdrawal symptoms, but I'm happy to go back to it if I feel my mood/anxiety dwindling.

A bit of backstory: I started taking Citalopram for the first time back in 2017, when I had my first relationship OCD crisis. We didn't know it was OCD for a very long time, but the medication helped. I did stop taking it once and symptoms came back in full force, but I was also going through a tough personal time and was undiagnosed. Fast-forward to Jan 2020, I finally met a therapist who diagnosed me with OCD, recommended I take Citalopram for a bit and we worked together for about six months. I stopped treatment with him more than a year ago and I haven't relapsed since. I get the occasional negative thoughts but for the most part I'd say I'm stable.

I'd been on 20mg until July 2021, when I decided to taper down to 10mg as I felt I didn't need what to me was a high dose. I tapered down gradually in the span of 4 weeks and was absolutely fine. No side effects. It was also summer though, and I wasn't pregnant.

Pregnancy has been mostly ok, except for occasional worrying about eating something/doing something potentially harmful for the baby. In order to prevent an OCD spike I decided to continue on my meds, but I've been quite stable throughout the entire pregnancy so I'm considering tapering down further and potentially stopping altogether. I know neonatal withdrawal is not the end of the world, but I feel a bit bad for my daughter having to go through a stressful/traumatic time in her first days of life if that's not necessary. If OCD symptoms (or depression) show up again, I will go back on them.

Has anyone tried slicing their tablets into halves or quarter sections? I think that should work but would like to hear about other people's experiences. In the past GPs and psychiatrists have recommended I stop cold turkey (without even asking about symptoms????) so I really don't trust their judgement or methodology.

I halved the tablets and then went to every other day, every 3 days. I was ok but I also hadn't been taking them for that long. 10mg is a very low dose so I wonder if that's why they mentioned cold turkey but I would go for the gradual withdrawal if you are worried.

I came off them gradually too. Split the tablets in half for a few weeks before coming off them completely. I do recall being told that I needed to be on the for a minimum of 6 months though. I would definitely speak to your GP though, even if it's just to

sorry - posted that halfway through! ... even it it's just to keep them abreast of your plans.

I did the same in early pregnancy, halving the dose then going to every other day. I was on 20mg, but the principle is obviously the same. I didn't have any withdrawal issues as far as I remember. I also had a locum Dr who didn't know me from Adam tell me very brusquely over the phone to stop taking the pills immediately, but the midwife was far more sensible understanding. I think some Drs just have a philosophy that any medication in pregnancy is a complete no-no.

By the way, I was on citalopram for anxiety, and have not had any particular resurgence of symptoms after stopping the pills, including no sign of pnd which I was worried about.

For anyone checking out this thread for advice or other people's experiences, here's an update from me:

I've been cutting a few 10mg tablets in halves and reducing the weekly dose. I was starting from 70mg/week, so then went down to 65mg, then 60mg, etc.

All was going fine until I hit 55mg and some of my previous neurosis came back, alongside contamination OCD. I was to extend the 55mg for another week, but then the anxiety subsided naturally (well, with CBT work) and fell down with a terrible cold which brought the anxiety down to 0 (too exhausted and ill to worry about anything remotely irrational) and have continued reducing the dosage.

Currently 50mg, will come back with an update in a few weeks.

Good going , OP, glad it's going well so far. Good luck!

I went every other day and was absolutely fine. There was the odd day I felt a bit dizzy but nothing I couldn’t deal with. Just remember it’s a very low dose anyway and you can easily go back on.

And it was every other day for 2 weeks before stopping (I spoke to GP first though as she knew me best).