Coming off citalopram - anyone any experience of side effects

[yorkiemom]

I have been on citalopram 20mg since last August.
I am now taking 20mg every other day, as my gp recommended for a month.
Have only been doing this since last Wednesday and I feel very strange, pins and needles in my face, especially mouth, and generally jittery.
Juat wondered if anyone else had any experiences of this, and how long this will last.
thanks.

If you go to the depression board, there were several people on there covering this a while back - if it's not still live maybe to a search?

Anyway, yes, this was my experience, but I started taking it again as it wasn't the right time for me to be dealing with this...

Prior to this I've come off similar medication with my own method, which the GP said was OK, but you might want to check with yours. It was very slow, but I started by taking the tablet every 25 hours, rather than every 24, and did that for 3-4 days, before moving to taking it every 26 hours, and so on. Sometimes I'd stick at one stage for a few more days if life was tricky, or I just felt I didn't want to push it!

It takes a bit of planning, and an eye on the clock, but I found that method more or less symptom free. The reason it's so difficult this time is that I'm trying to reduce my dose, not stop it all together, for which this method won't work....

J

Message withdrawn

Thanks for your replies. I think I'll try and stick it out, I don't think there will ever be a good time to stop taking them completely, as my dad was diaginosed with pancreatic cancer in Jan, so like is pretty hard at the moment.
Thanks again, and I will try and find that rpevious post x

Oh Yorkie, now is so not the time to be coming off them....... seriously, will taking them for another3, 6, 9 months make you a worse person? Does your GP know the family situation? I doubt he would be happy with you coming off them if he/she knew...

Whatever you do, I'll be thinking of you.

J

PS When I said it wasn't the right time for me to be dealing with this, I just meant that I was also ill with other problems, which are now abating, so I would then try again.. and yes, there are definitely better and worse times to try and come off them.

tried to come off my ad's a month before dd got pneumonia ,i got awful panic attacks ,couldnt eat or sleep so had to go back on them but at a lower dose.
try again when things are a bit more settled

Hi there. I came off Citalapram sucessfully a few months ago. was on them for 8 months and I took it in my own stride to cut back the tablets. First starting cutting them in half, then quarters, then taking them every 3 days etc. I did feel very shakey, dizzy and had pins and needles as you have described. It doesn't last long though and i was very tempted to go back on them just because of this but I didn't give in! Good luck.

Hi, I have been on Citaolpram for over 12 months and have decided to come off them my dosage was 40mg i went down to 30mg for a month then to 20mg for month then 10mg 2 months, i have been off them for nearly 3 weeks and I am experiencing what I believe to be side effects, tinnitus and brain spasms i think thats be best way to describe it, this is now effecting my sleep.
Mandy

You may wish to google "SSRI withdrawal syndrome". Strange feelings, jitteryness, pins & needles, tinnitus, 'brain zaps' and a whole load of other things are really common withdrawal effects.

Most people can taper off this class of drug without too many issues but for some it is a bit of a nightmare and unfortunately a lot of GPs are shockingly ignorant about how bad the withdrawal effect can be in some people.

I stopped taking Sertraline (similar drug) over a month ago now and I'm still feeling 'odd' at times.

10 years ago I started to suffer SVT, my pulse went up to 240bpm, I also felt chest pain and the feeling of dread, which resulted in time off work and being refused boarding on a flight, I was prescribed citalopram which I had been taking since.
2 months ago I stopped taking it , cold turkey , since then I have been through a lot of feelings , one of which was feeling horny constantly, which has now worn off, ringing in my ears , which is slowly going away, mood swings and insomnia .
The insomnia is still ongoing , and the mood swings are slowly going away , but I feel a lot better, my doctor says it will take 6 months for it to leave my system , which is a very long time , but just to let people know , it will get better