horrid time getting off citalopram

[Determinator]

well, my doc hasn't been much help. says this is normally easy to get off of but I'm having a total hell of a time. seems I'm not alone as there are other forums with posts like these:


Coming off Citalopram - No More Panic

I feel a debilitating brain fog and weight on my chest and spine. dizzy, confused and very agitated. not my normal bubbly self.

anyone here have experience with this? I feel so bad I'm scared to take much of anything but so uncomfortable I'm considering something if it's worked for others. grazie

[SKendall]

horrid time getting off citalopram

Det, I'm so sorry you are feeling this way. I'm on this a.d. also and it was recently reduced from 60 mg to 40 due to potential heart problems.

I haven't had the problem of coming off, but my daughter came off of zoloft and experienced much of what you are experiencing. She had to go back on it and reduce it by one half a pill every week and it took almost 3 months and she still had some of the effects. She will never take another a.d.

Just know coming off cold turkey will cause a lot of problems.

[startingover]

horrid time getting off citalopram

Hi Det and SK
I too had a horrible time coming off prozac. Brain zaps spacyness and confusion but what I couldnt take was the return of my depression. I came off really slowly, over a period of about 3 months, managed to stay off for 3 months then crashed. Twice. I can take just about any symptom except the depression. That terrifies me. I have halved my dose from 40 to 20 mgs per day but I am fearful I many never be able to come off this drug.

[Greg]

horrid time getting off citalopram

From what I have read, any antidepressant that has serotonin reuptake inhibiting properties can cause these problems. In other words, all the SSRIs and SNRIs can do this. I'd imagine some of the tricyclics could also cause similar withdrawal symptoms, the ones that work markedly on serotonin anyway.

Some people advise that switching to Prozac and then slowly tapering off that is the best way to get off these drugs. The idea is that Prozac has a far longer half-life than the others, so doesn't wear off quickly and cause as many hassles as the shorter-acting ones. Effexor and Paxil are two in particular that have a reputation for causing horrible withdrawals, but any of them can do it.

It's a bit ironic that only 10 years ago, doctors and drug companies were stressing how good these antidepressants were, and how superior they supposedly are to benzodiazepines for anxiety treatment. A big factor was their alleged lack of withdrawal symptoms, which was the reason benzos were being given such bad publicity. When it was finally acknowledged that all these new antidepressants (except maybe mirtazapine and bupropion) did indeed cause withdrawals, this was called a "discontinuation syndrome" rather than "withdrawal symptoms".

I have never been able to tolerate ANY SSRI or SNRI long enough to have to think about withdrawal symptoms, and I am now becoming grateful for that inability to tolerate them!

For people who still need something for depression but don't want to be on an SSRI or SNRI, maybe consider asking your doctor about mirtazapine, bupropion, non-serotonin tricyclics (desipramine, nortriptyline, protriptyline), or even MAOIs. I'm not a doctor, so keep in mind that these are just suggestions from a layman.

[Determinator]

horrid time getting off citalopram

wonderful stuff, thank you all. Greg I'd not heard of mirtazapine, very interesting indeed.

I'm really very unhappy that my doctors have been so nonchalant about the long term effects of this drug. I'm not sure I needed it in the first place. when I first sought treatment for AL abuse my doc at the time prescribed citalopram and his first rationale for why I should take is is because 'its dirt cheap'. his exact words. wtf? I'm just glad I still have some kind of choice in my medications, but really fear the future when inevitably this will be more centrally managed/regulated.

well, an emergency indulgence of carbs, 800mg of magnesium and 4 grams of omega 3's and i"m feeling better again. yikes, I hope I don't have another day like today or I may need to backtrack a tad as Lav suggested earlier on todays ABs thread.

if I find that I cannot resolve my darn brain without anti deps, then I'm sure I'll have to try something else, but my goal is to be drug free if at all possible.

tomorrow will be most telling.

thanks again everyone.

[spacebebe01]

horrid time getting off citalopram

Hi D, did you just stop taking them or did you reduce down on it. From what I have heard you should always reduce as the symptoms can go on for quite a while if you dont.

I have been on AD's for a long time and am taking citalopram now but have never managed to come off them

Good luck

[Ne/Neva Eva]

horrid time getting off citalopram

Hi, Det.

I think time is the key to this quandary. (I don't have recent personal experience with this one, and like Greg, this is just a response from the reading I've done about ADs and other meds that docs use to treat people with our disease...Anyway...)

So the key is to get the brain pumping out, and using up, the chemicals that the medication has been manipulating. Serotonin is surely a big part of it, but there are some other ones that no one really understands.

I know you know the value of food, in terms of overall health and well being. Things that influence those brain chemicals may have a bigger role than we currently understand. (I know I don't have to explain all this, since my understanding was greatly influenced by some of the links you have posted.) Chocolate/carbs/coffee etc...They definitely have something to do with it all! (imho. sort of. the scant research there is backs this up a bit.)

There is also exercise. And sex!

The time factor cannot be underestimated though. If you are already off of the drug, and don't want to take more or get back on it and taper down, please look to managing your stress levels! Those hormones (etc) can send the brain chemistry into topsy-turvy land, and if your chemistry isn't balanced, then well...ugh.

It's really not any different than feeding your body to manage these things, ya' know? And using things--tools like medication among other things--is not "cheating". It's simply managing your health for long term success. The suggestions that Greg mentioned are sound, and he has spent a lot of time looking into it! I would add that gabapentin/neurontin might be a really, really good option. That would be my first go-to medication were I faced with depression again. EDIT: I specifically mention this one since it seems as though it has multiple positive effects, particularly for people with alcohol/addiction chemistry. This is, for sure, my own opinion. It is not backed up (yet) by much, if any, research. But there are a lot of positives to it, and it seems much more balanced than ADs.

Good luck and please touch base about it, will you? It's interesting, but probably also good to note since so many of us are on/have taken SSRIs.

[sunshinedaisies]

horrid time getting off citalopram

Hi there det - I too was on citalopram - and was on 60 mg. My doc took me down to 40 'cos of the potential heart problems then decided to take me off it and put me on Lexapro. She didn't wean me off - just took me off 40mg and only put me on 10 of Lexapro. For nearly a month I felt awful - was having major head rushes, just felt totally out of sorts - just didn't feel well - the whole lot culminated in me talking at work one day and my speech coming out nonsense - they thought I was having a mini stroke. Took me to hospital where they kept me in and did all manner of tests - I am amazingly healthy - no stroke - so it was the withdrawal from the Citalopram...... has your doc got you weaning off it? Please tell me she has.......It took about another week after that before I felt okay - so I suppose it took at least 5 weeks after i came off of it for me to feel okay. I then decided to wean myself off the 10mg Lexapro - and took four weeks to do it. I did not connect the coming off of Citalopram with the head rushes and not feeling well - everything was too vague with the not feeling well to put a finger on, plus I was on the 10mg Lexapro and my doctor had said there wouldn't be a problem - HA! If I could do it all over again.....all I can say, is wean yourself off very slowly.

I wish you well my dear Det - like you, I too want to not have to take these tabs....... and so far, the depression is keeping away - well, the deep 'cloud over me' - depression is anyway - let us know how you are doing - if need be, go back on them - and come off them a lot slower....

Hugs, sun

[spacebebe01]

horrid time getting off citalopram

I am wondering that if you havent been off the for long it may be worth starting to take them again and reducing, I know this is a pain to take so long to stop taking a med but my concern is that by stopping you may start feeling ok in a bit but then it will come up and bite you in the bum later down the line. I dont think you said what dosage you have been taking or how long you were taking them for but, you want long term benefits from what you are doing and that may take a little while.

When I have run out of SSRI's or forgotten to take them for whatever reason I have ended up in a right mess. You could be lucky and be ok. You say you dont think you had depression in the first place, in which case you wont at least wont have to worry about the return of that.

I cant see that diet, excercise whatever would make much difference here to the long term withdrawals, although will definately make you feel healthier and better in yourself.

[Ne/Neva Eva]

horrid time getting off citalopram

spacebebe01;1336177 wrote:

I cant see that diet, excercise whatever would make much difference here to the long term withdrawals, although will definately make you feel healthier and better in yourself.

They affect the same brain chemistry as antidepressants! What's more, moderate, regular exercise has been proven to be more effective than antidepressants! In several large scale studies!! Interesting, isn't it? (And almost enough to motivate me to get off my backside and do something about it. :H)

[Determinator]

horrid time getting off citalopram

SpaceB, Neva, Sunshine, thank you all for the very thoughtful posts and wisdom.

I had been on only 10mg for several months now and it's really hard to split those pills smaller than 1/4 (they are 40mg pills) so i did every other day for a few days (perhaps too few) then quit altogether on Monday. yes I had thought very hard about maybe backtracking a tad (especially yesterday when I was hurting so bad) but thankfully today has been a couple shades more tolerable. whew!

Neva, your so right, I respond very very well to both exercise and sex related endorphins as well as even simple silly things like watching a comedy. i can feel a flush of stress relief pass over me with every laugh.

you also reminded me about a great Twinlabs product I used to take some years ago called GABA plus (although I'm sure there are so many good ones out there).

Sunshine, no my doctor was really unhelpful on the subject of desisting the use of this drug. I too had some total 'brain-fart' moments in the past few days and have had to cancel all my normal fun weekend plans with friends. it's so hard to explain this to them as they are not 'in the know'.

thankfully I really enjoy researching this stuff. a hobby driven be necessity indeed.

well, if this truly is the 'other side of the hill' I'll be most grateful. I'll stay in touch in case anyone else is going through this. there appears to be light at the end of the tunnel

thanks again everyone xxxxx

[Wally22]

horrid time getting off citalopram

I weaned myself off of citalopram and wellbutrin. I was taking 40mg of citalopram and I don't know how many of wellbutrin.
I didn't reduce the dosage, I lengthened the time between doses. First with the wellbutrin and then with the citalopram.
I can't say I had any difficulty with this method. However I did know in advance that you should never stop cold turkey. It started when I would forget to take my pills for a day and found I could do that without any bad side effects. So using that knowledge I just gradually tapered down.

[RedThread12]

horrid time getting off citalopram

I stopped 100mg Zoloft/day cold turkey. Not sure I'd recommend my method, but I wasn't even trying to quit. It happened when I was titrating up on baclofen, and then started taking mega-doses of L-Glutamine, along with other neurotransmitters - GABA, L-tyrosin, Taurine, 5htp, and vit B6 in the form of p-5-p. As I got regular with the supplements, and was having spectacular results with the baclofen, I just quit taking the Zoloft. I remember noticing what I guess people call a "brain zap," and thinking, "wow . . . this might be connected to not taking the AD." But I had so much else going on at the time that I didn't find it disturbing. I actually remember having "brain zaps" when I was virtually passed out from drinking, as well.

There are a number of "calming" neurotransmitters that support the natural production of seratonin . . . tryptophan is one, as well as GABA and 5htp. When I started loading up on those, the AD just went away. Glad that today is better. You may have actually done it!!! And it might also be helpful to look into those supplements that boost seratonin, at least for a while. Good luck!!

[LibraryGirl]

horrid time getting off citalopram

I quit zoloft cold turkey a long time ago, and it was pretty scary. I started taking lexapro after that and stayed on it for over 10 years. I did kind of titrate down, but ultimately didn't refill my prescription in the end and suffered until I felt "normal' again. I still feel like I need something because my emotions are all over the place sometimes. I cry very easily and get irritated at the drop of a hat, and start raging sometimes (a few times a week!). This is unacceptable.

So, if anyone knows, should I think about hormone replacement (I am 48 yo) or one of the alternatives to SSRI, or does it matter as long as it works, lol? Thanks in advance!

Lg

[Determinator]

horrid time getting off citalopram

Librarygirl my best advice would be to seek a respected "functional medicine"
Practitioner. Perhaps you could get a referral from Chris Kresser if youre
In the US