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Citalopram

#1

skinnypie , 07-06-2012 12:27 PM

Hi everyone, I have been on citalopram for over 10 years. Almost three years ago I had my meds increased because I suffered very badly with mental health problems and spent two months in hospital.
I haven't been to see my psyc doc in over a year and have occasionally needed a vailum but probably only 10 in the past year. I'am strongly thinking about lowering with a view to coming off citalopram. Now Im eating right for my body and mind, losing weight and exercising I'am feeling good aabout myself and want to give it a go. But I'am so scared. Not scared I will fail but scared of the side affects and if I put on weight. Any advice or words you could give me I would ve very grateful

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#2

Kikie , 07-06-2012 01:47 PM

I am also on Citalopram 30mg daily, for about a year now, and I'm not being followed by a doc or anything. So when my prescription expires in 4-5 months, I will be easing off of it very gradually to avoid side effects (or reduce them at least). First, you have to be sure that you are ready to go without it. I know it personnally scares me a bit because taking it creates a sense of security for me.

If you think you are ready to do it, I strongly recommend against quitting cold turkey. Apparently the electric shocks you feel in your brain drives you litterally insane (one of my friends tried that). When I started on Celexa, I took 10 mg for one week before upping the dose to 20 then 30 mg. To ease off, you can follow the same pattern, taking off 5 or 10 mg at a time for two weeks or even slower if you wish. I don't know your dosage, but in my case I would do 30-20-10-5-0. I guess you can judge with how you feel. It is important to keep the drug levels stable in your blood to reduce withdrawal effects.

The most important thing to remember is to trust yourself. If you can pay attention to how you feel, you will be able to ease off pretty smoothly. There will possibly be some side effects. Some people have them, others don't. The smoother you ease off, the less side effects you likely will experience. You just have to hang in there, just like when you started on the medication. You might experience some dizziness, anxiety, insomnia, nausea, etc.

As far as I know, there should not be any weight gain by coming off Citalopram. It is one of the ADs with the least weight-related side effects. Since weight gain or loss is a symptom of depression, "fixing" the depression might cause weight changes. If anything, the drug initially may cause to lose the weight put on by the depression which then turns into a gain side effect after a while. It's been proven that it puts people at risk of weight gain in the long run. I lost 5 lbs in the first month on Citalopram because of nausea and reduced emotional eating, then gained 15 in the next 9 months, for a net gain of 10 lbs. However, I have never read that it may cause consistent weight loss in some individuals. Thus, stopping the drug should not affect your weight upwards if you are emotionally stable. Just watch the cravings.

That is pretty much all I have for you, hope it helps, and good luck with the tapering off!

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#3

skinnypie , 07-06-2012 02:36 PM

Thankyou so much for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it.
Well done on your amazing weight loss. I have been doing some research on the internet on it but of course you only get the negative side of the story instead of the positive one. I think I might give it a few more months and if I still feel like how I do now, positive and relatively anxiety free I will go for it. Your right I've got to be sure and I think in my heart at the moment i'm more unsure. I will know when the time is 100% right.

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#4

Marchmallow , 07-06-2012 04:24 PM

I'm on Citalopram too - I switched to it fter being on Fluoxetine for a year and that stopped working. I'm on a quite low dose I think at 10mg, but i share the fear of coming off it. In my case because I do not function at all when my depression is in the driver's seat. I quit four college courses because my brain just would not function for studying or doing anything that required attention paid to it. I've just finished an access to uni course, which I'm starting in September, and even though I feel pretty well lately I'm not coming off it in case I screw up my university degree!!

As for the weight problem supposedly caused by antidepressants, I started to lose weight steadily when I went on Citalopram because of my incresed motivation to change my lifestyle. So, I wouldn't say that you coming off it would necessarily facilitate weight gain, unless you have a depressive relapse which causes you to comfort eat or lose interest in your diet and healthy lifestyle - which can happen. But if you don't forsee that as a problem, then it would certainly help your wallet to come off the meds!! Good luck with whichever you choose.

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#5

skinnypie , 07-07-2012 04:22 AM

MARCHMALLOW - thanks for your reply. Yep I can fully relate, when my depression is in the driving seat pretty much my whole world goes to pot. I had to quit uni and lots of jobs in the past. I hear you about saving money. Presciptions are so expensive and they keep going up. x

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#6

graceandbalance , 07-09-2012 12:39 PM

I have recently stopped taking lexapro (which is very closely related to celexa) and it took me a long time to get off it, even with the supervision of a psychiatrist. I got down to 5 mg and then tried stopping, and I would get these nausea/dizzy spells that were very unpleasant. I waited a month and they were still happening. So I tried going down to 2.5 mg(liquid form) and then stopping. Same thing. 1 mg and then stopping. Same thing. I got down to a dose of 0.125 mg, feeling fine, but when I cut that out, I still felt sick. My psychiatrist finally recommended that I take a very small dose of prozac for a couple of days, because apparently that acts over much longer times and it helps to get off lexapro/celexa. That solved the problem right away, and I've now been off lexapro for 2 months without any sickness.

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#7

maezy1 , 07-22-2012 06:32 PM

TAke it very slow coming off of the citolopram. Im on it and was able to lose 50 lbs because I was "normal?" mood and had motivation. the side effects coming off are difficult. I wish you well and keep posting

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#8

ilidawn , 07-25-2012 04:42 PM

Thank you so much for this thread! I'm on the maximum dose of citalopram and have been worried about how or if I could ever get off it someday. I've experienced the electric shock once when I first started and it was absolutely horrible! I couldn't do anything but double over and wait it out (felt like an electric shock I'm my brain that lasted a few minutes before I could move again). I have hope now that as I start feeling better and work through the emotional damage I will be off it someday.

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