Advice on coming off citalopram safely after long-term use

[BunnyWabbit2000]

I've been on 20mg citalopram for 5 years. I don't want to be any more. I'm putting on weight and I want to be free of them
I called my GP and he was useless he just said skip alternate days but everything I've read says don't do that.

Any advice from people who have done it? Thanks.

You have to go very very slowly! Move down to 10mg on alternate days for a few weeks, then 10mg a day for a few weeks, then 10mg every other day for a few weeks. I did the above for 2 weeks per stage and felt awful when I fully withdrew so go very slowly is my advice. Plan for it to take a few months. Good luck!

Thanks. Stupid question but can I cut them with a knife???

For reassurance, although some people have genuinely difficult experiences when coming off anti-depressants, I think it is more common for the effects to be mild-to-non-existent.

Whenever I have come off them (including sometimes citalopram) the worst effect has been just the very mild 'slidyness'/dizziness that you sometimes get when you forget a dose or two.

Perhaps the gp was being a bit lazy (or cost conscious) in not prescribing the 10mg to aid tapering, but the likelihood is that you would be ok following his/her advice. Do ask for the 10mg if that feels safer to you, though (and if the 20g don't have a slice scored in them to aid splitting)

I cut mine with a knife when I was cutting down and GP wouldn't prescribe a lower dose. ,(That was around 20 ears ago.)

Just to add, the half life of citalopram is 35 hours, meaning you shouldn't feel the effects of a sudden withdrawal if you skip alternate days.

You can get pill cutters on Amazon. I've been on citalopram and TBH I found it the easiest to come off. Sertraline however was a nightmare!

I'd always drop a dose when there's nothing stressful in the next 2 - 3 days just in case but otherwise found it okay.

I have reduced from 40mg to 25mg.

I used a pill cutter and went down by only half a tablet each time.

I stayed at that dose for a couple of weeks before reducing again.

I had no side effects

I've struggled for years to get off them. Currently on 20mg, have been down to 10mg, and there is a liquid version to get lower (difficult to get prescribed). I cut 10mg in half for months, but the brain zaps were unbearable, and after consulting with my GP, we decided on a quiet life to stay on 10mg, a non-therapeutic dose. Which I did.