Anxiety, cold turkey and pregnancy - oh my!

[Mooana]

Hi guys,

I'm new here and I guess I'm looking for a bit of support.

I've recently found out that I'm pregnant with my 2nd. I have had anxiety problems for years and most recently have been on citalopram 40mg for around a year.

My DD was born 18 months ago with a physical anomaly and, while I have been assured by many consultants that it wasn't related, I can't escape the fact that I was on 20mg of citalopram throughout my pregnancy.

As soon as I found out I was pregnant this time I went cold turkey. I know it's a terrible thing to try (especially from a fairly high dose of 40mg) but for me it was non negotiable. I'm very nervous about things going wrong again and I have to make sure that I've done everything I possibly can to avoid that.

The downside is the side effects.... and it's difficult to tell what is withdrawal symptoms and what are pregnancy symptoms! My moods.... OMG my moods! I'm crying constantly, fiercely and uncharacteristically angry and incredibly twitchy. I'm also having some fairly nasty dizzy spells, which last for seconds but are coming thick and fast and causing tingling lips etc. Not great fun - but I didn't feel I had an option to come off slowly given my previous experiences and while I feel rubbish I've no intention of going back on it.

I had some spotting yesterday and ended up in a complete and utter panic about it and was convinced that I was having an early mc. I didn't sleep all night and when I napped today had the most unsettling nightmares. Things seem to have calmed down on the spotting front now and my GP was very reassuring on that front - apparently it's normal to have more twinges and spotting with subsequent pregnancies.

I've got some other personal issues going on as well so things are all in all just feeling very tough. However, underneath all of the above I'm SO happy to be pregnant. It really is wonderful news! I'm also not sure why I'm posting, other than I'm in the secret stages and my use of medication is also largely a secret! I had planned on telling more people about the pregnancy, but given the spotting I now really don't want to until I'm out of the woods a bit more.
I also wondered if anyone else on here had done similar and gone cold turkey off a fairly high anti anxiety dose and how long they felt awful for? I'm trying to work out if this is a temporary adjustment stage (days, weeks, months?!) or if this is it now!!

Thanks all

I went cold turkey from citalopram, but it was 10mg.
The withdrawals lasted about 3 weeks, had tunnel vision, constant headache, fatigue, I felt like I had the flu but without the sniffles.

I am so relieved to see your messages. I have been on 20mg Citalapram for a while and currently 7 weeks pregnant.
I am trying to come off slowly - took it every other day etc but I am feeling the withdrawal in terms of headaches and dizziness. Took me a while to click it was withdrawal as thought it was pregnancy symptoms! Whoops! Going to try and go slow with coming off but I just want to be off it.
So glad to know I am not alone!

Good luck with your symptoms. I was prescribed citalopram in my second trimester but didn't take it. Did lots of research, talked to friends who have been on antidepressants. Feel like I made the right choice. I was trialing setraline in the first few weeks of pregnancy. That was a disaster,set me right back and gave me insomnia and agrophobia and worse... so I didn't want to just try a new antidepressant prescribed by a consulatant who didn't even speak to me. I'm on a low dose anti-psychotic now which seems to be working well. Im reluctant to increase the dose though due to side effects. So far, no defects on any of the tests but...

For anyone worried, I spoke to a consultant about taking citalopram during pregnancy, she said that the risks are heart defects and pressure in the lungs at a later stage during pregnancy. But she said in the hospital that I'm giving birth at, with the thousands of women coming through the doors taking citalopram she's never seen it happen.
Some of the women being on a very high dosage.

I used to take 40mg Citalopram daily, and had a chat with a few medical folk when I decided to start a family. Everyone said it was totally my choice whether to stay on the pills or not...I was told there is a risk of problems with the baby, but it is very, very rare, and frankly, the risk of having a very poorly mama because she's not on medication could be greater.

I actually decided to come off the pills, and yes, withdrawal was horrible!! I was very emotional, and so dizzy. It really didn't last long though. Interestingly, that was 4 years ago and if anything, I feel better without the drug. I'm glad I took the leap after 10+ years of usage.

Hope you feel better soon x

Thanks for your responses everyone - it's so great to have a bit of solidarity!

This morning is day 5 of cold turkey and it's the first day I've started feeling marginally better. Less like I've been hit by a train with exhaustion anyway! It's my first day of not falling asleep as well when I put my toddler down for a nap!

My moods are seriously up and down, but I'm having more and more ups!

@SkyLucy thank you for your shared experiences! I'm so pleased to hear it didn't last that long and that you're still feeling better off them! I'm so hopeful for the same, so far so good!

@LemonMuffin I've spoken to a few consultants too and agree with you. Incredibly rare, and it seems that the biggest worry about citalopram and pregnancy is that they simply don't know enough. Which isn't the same as seeing terribly results!

Deep down I don't think my LO's anomalies had anything to do with the citalopram whatsoever. It was a decision made entirely for my peace of mind and I'm pretty sure, if I'd had no issues with the pregnancy last time, I'd not have come off so abruptly this time.

It's such an intensely personal decision which makes it all the harder to make for everyone. Wouldn't it be nice if it was a little more clear cut! Choosing between mythical and potential risks and a certainty for extreme anxiety and depression is not really a choice at all!

Any tips for me? I'm struggling with dose of meds after it coincided with a death in the family. Got severe anxiety with nausea and headakes which are triggerd by anything I do to avoid silence and silence. Day is OK with my husband and dog but panicked when my husband walked him. He's an amazing dog, wish I lived in America so I could register and train him as a service dogs. Shame I can't take him shopping...

Hi @Lyra2018, I'm so sorry you're going through such a challenging time. It sounds quite upsetting and painful enough without the anxiety on top. Have you spoken to your GP about how you're feeling?
If you're pregnant they might not want to increase your dose, although certraline is commonly used in pregnancy. With my first pregnancy I had similar issues and they didn't want to increase my dose as it wasn't "baby friendly", but I was referred pretty rapidly to my local counsellor and was also offered CBT, so it's definitely worth asking.
They were extremely worried about me getting PND and other mental health issues post partum, I ended up under a consultant for the rest of my pregnancy. But fwiw I have never felt better, happier and calmer than I did in the first six months post partum. So it doesn't always follow the pattern you might expect and try not to let yourself worry about how you'll be in the future.
I'm so glad you have a service dog, I have one too, he's just amazing when anyone is upset. I was having a panic the other night and climbed into bed and spooned me!
Wishing you all the best and sending hugs xx

thanks moonana. I have good relationship with my GP now (didn't have much heath issues before GP), the GP I saw for last episode 2 years ago I did not like as much as I didn't feel properly listened to, I had a 6 month course of olanzapine without much else support. I felt brilliant when I came off so am very anxious about taking any psychoactives. I was on no medicine when I was pregnant, trailed setraline from good GP which made anxiety and depression a lot worse. Then the obstratrision prescribed citralapran at 12 weeks, which I researched and decided against. Then anxiety increaed and I was reffered to a pschartist who but be on this qu someting, a better antipsychotic than olanzapine, it's both a mood stabiliser and antidepressant. Every set back is so hard because I've worked so hard learn and be autonomous (both a blessing and a curse from my training). I always feel worst in the night and early mornings best after lunch. I don't get up in the night to pee on the new medicine, so my headakes are probably partially dehydration, even though I drink as much as I can to get to sleep, baby needs lots of fluid at the moment. Just got to wait till tommorow before I can talk to a doctor and lots of my heath professionals are on annual leave for Easter now...

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