OMFG- trying to wean myself of Citalapram and its hell!

[Tras]

I have been on 10mg of Citalapram for 8months now and feel ready to come off. Followed my G.P's advice and dropped a tablet every other day but have been feeling absolutely horrendous for the past 4days. I have been dizzy, really sick, weak, tired, heart palpitations etc etc. Have decided to try and go a bit slower ie 10,5,10,5 but still feeling crap.

Has anyone else experienced this and if so, for how long? Cant understand why I feel so bad as my Dr said I should be fine because its such a low dose.

Any advice would be welcomed!

Hi Tras I'm no doctor, but from what I've learnt about coming off psychiatric meds, it's generally not a good idea to do tabs every other day. I've heard this is because it can cause the amount of the drug in your bloodstream to peak and then drop over and over again. It depends on the half-life of the drug, the extent to which this happens, so for example prozac has a very long half-life so it is unlikely to matter if you go to a tab every other day. Citlopram however, may be different.

The best way is to reduce by small measured amounts and to do it as gradually as you can. E.g. 2 weeks at 9mg, 2 weeks at 8mg, 2 weeks at 7mg. I know it's difficult to cut the tablets accurately. I got a pill cutter from Boots (only about £2.50 I think) which helped. If you still find it really difficult to cut down you may be able to request the drug suspended in liquid form (but they are usually reluctant to do this).

The most important thing is to do it really slowly, also to look after yourself by eating really healthily, taking exercise etc.

Hope this helps

My husband did this and it had the same effects. I went on the internet and found this link www.antidepressantsfacts.com/taper.htm which was the most useful and really did work. I was so worried when he tried the gp's way, which was every other day, because he went back like he was before he took them. After some research from me, he tried reducing by small amounts, letting his body get used to it and then reducing again. It took a while, but it was painless. I think he was on 20mg, went down to 15, then 10, then 5, then 2.5 (bought a pill cutter), then stopped. Ideally it should have been more gradual, but those pills are tiny and hard to get the dose accurate at smaller levels.
Good luck.