hopeandlove: tapering citalopram after only 2 weeks

[hopeandlove]

I should have read this site before I started taking citalopram

I have taken citalopram for 9 days at 20mg, 5 days at 15mg which was ok, but stupidly took at 20mg again on 15th day.

Day 16 am back at 15mg, feel ok.

I know most people have been on drugs a lot longer than me on this site and I have found the testimonies and experiences very moving and helpful.

I would like the benefit of your experience to suggest how I taper safely off from citalopram, prescribed for extreme anxiety, but I feel I want to deal with this without drugs.

If I can wean myself off before a month is up that would be great, but is that safe. too scared even now to go cold turkey.

Thanks

hopeandlove

Edited July 19, 2016 by scallywag
tags added

[SquirrellyGirl]

Welcome hopeandlove, 

 

I am so happy that you found SA so early in your journey on meds! You may not know how lucky you are!

 

Generally, for short term users, we recommend taking as long to come off as you have been on.  If I were you I would step down in reverse of how you went up.  I will double check with the mods but at just a touch more than two weeks on, you should be able to come off rapidly without trouble.

 

What was the reason for starting cit?  Depression, anxiety, ?  There are so many risk-free methods of dealing with these, and many are discussed in this link:  Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

 

Though that thread was started with withdrawal in mind, the techniques are applicable for anyone.

 

SG

[hopeandlove]

Thanks squirrellygirl

I am on day 17 now,  but feeling pretty wierd spaced out and dizzy. I had a strange sensation where I could not hear properly last night and the room swam.

I went straight in at 20mg 1 -  f9 days,  days 10 - 14  15 mg, day 15 -  20mg, day 16 - 17 15 mg.

It was prescribed for extreme anxiety.  I want to get off them asap, but feel I need to taper.

Would like mods response. I am still anxious and the links about alternative ways of dealing with things was brilliant,  at present, find walking helps. Making sure diet is good too. I do not believe the pills will help me, they have made things a whole lot worse.

Should I go straight to 10mg, when and for how long? Or should I try 12.5mg for a few days.

From research it is really important to get taper right, so any advice from you and or mods would be so grateful for. I do not want to have prolonged withdrawal.

I am planning to dilute 20mg tablets in water to refine the doses - as I have read about others doing on this site, at present cutting 20mg tablets with pill cutter.

Hope to hear from you soon

hopeandlove

[JanCarol]

Hey hopeandlove -

 

In order to refer your information properly, it helps moderators (and other members) immensely if you please put the detailed information in your signature:  dates, dosages, and when all changes were made.

 

Please Put Your WIthdrawal History Into your Signature

Complete your Signature from Phone or Tablet

 

So are you on 15 right now?  3/4 of a 20 mg tablet?  Please stay at that dose until SG or someone gets back with a definitive answer.  "Bouncing" your dose will make it harder to come off.  3 KIS's Keep It Simple, Slow, Stable    Normally we taper here at 10%, but since you just started this month, you may have the opportunity to get off sooner.

 

You may be able to taper again in a weeks time to 1/2 tablet, if you do not develop symptoms of withdrawal.  If you do have symptoms of withdrawal, you will need to slow it down.

 

Additionally, it is vitally important - if you are removing the drug, you need to put a strategy in place to manage whatever it was that sent you to the doctor to begin with.  In your case, anxiety.  I highly recommend http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/10964-the-dr-claire-weekes-method-of-recovering-from-a-sensitized-nervous-system/

 

We also have a lot of members who use EFT:  http://www.emofree.com/

 

I am a fan of mindfulness:  Mindfulness and Acceptance

 

Here are three tools which might help you as you come off the drugs, and beyond. 

 

I have a number of techniques, I call my "toolkit" to help me when I rev up, or go dark, or - (insert state here).  Sometimes I reach for the nearest tool - a Facebook game - sometimes I go for a walk, sometimes I take a magnesium bath to calm down.

 

Oh yes!  Sorry for so many links, but many people find Magnesium and Omega-3 fish oil extremely helpful to help with tapering, withdrawal, and general wellness.

 

Please let us know how you are going.  Please stay on the same dose you are on, for now.  Be patient, and be kind to yourself.  If this is done well, you may be able to walk away with no trouble at all.

Edited August 19, 2016 by JanCarol
fix link

[hopeandlove]

Thanks for good advice

I will hold at 15 mg for now - will try to dissolve in water with syringe for more accurate doses

Extreme anxiety was reason I was prescribed. I think my jumping back to 20mg on Monday messed up my taper. I feel sick now, but less dizzy so maybe these are phases as explained. 

I would like to know what to do if my symptoms do worsen - go back to 20mg which I dont really want to do, or keep holding at 15 mg. I have never felt good on tablets and want to explore alternatives and be drug free asap, but want to do it slowly.

I feel sick as I did in first week of taking citalopram.

[SquirrellyGirl]

Ok, the recommendation is to fast taper 25% per week, so if you spend a total of 7 days at 15 (we won't count the one day at 20), then do the next 1/4, dropping to 10.  If you feel you are experiencing withdrawal, then stop cutting and come back here.  Withdrawal would mean that your nervous system did do some remodeling in response to the drug, so a slower taper would then be recommended.  It may just be a matter of holding at that dose and waiting to feel stable before resuming if the symptoms are tolerable, not that you were ever stable on this drug....  If the symptoms are very severe, it might be necessary to updose slightly, but not all the way up to the previous dose since you will be cutting by larger amounts...maybe just 2 mg to see if symptoms are lessened.

 

You will really need to listen to your body on this; if you feel like the wheels are coming off the bus, then hold, don't continue tapering, and then cut by less the next time.  We'd hate to grind you down to 10% cuts when you have been on the med for such a short time, but your nervous system will tell what it needs ultimately.

 

Keep us posted!

SG

[hopeandlove]

Thanks squirrellygirl,  so I have taken only 10mgs today I will let you know how I get on.

Do you have any advice about how to dilute citalopram in water. I have tried a test and the tablet I have does not seem to dissolve without bits. I cannot get liquid form and 20mgs hard to cut up in smaller pieces

I am rather scared. I will watch out for side effects and get back in touch.

[AliG]

Hi Hope & Love. For some reason my links are playing up , but if you go to Tapering- How to make a liquid from tablets or capsules , it should  give you all the information that you need.

Ali

[scallywag]

Here are the threads about making your own liquid that Ali mentioned:

 

Making a liquid from a tablet or capsules

Using an oral syringe

And lucky you, another citalopram taper-er put together detailed instructions: Making a Celexa (citalopram) solution
 

[AliG]

Thanks Scally.     Appreciated !

[LexAnger]

Hi hopeandlove,

 

My fingers crossed you will escape from the Ssri hell with your life untouched by the evil.

[hopeandlove]

Thanks for all your comments and support

Second day drop to 10mg citalopram. Feel tired, sick, dizzy and spaced, not a good day today but hoping it will pass and will hold at 10mg for a week and make a further drop then as Squirrellygirl suggested.

Can I ask once again about water solution, as I have prepared one in case I need to refine my doses, or updose if it gets worse. But the solution appears to have white bits in it.  I am guessing as Rhiannon helpfully says that I just mix it up and take 2.5ml - have dissolved 10mg tablet in 10ml of water, so guess i take 2.5 ml if I want 2.5mg of tablet (if I updose from 10mg to 12.5mg) I am not there yet, as these symptoms are not great but tolerable.

Any advice re water soution would be great.

hope and love in your struggles

[SquirrellyGirl]

Some of the fillers/binders in these meds are not soluble and so won't disappear in your solution. Citalopram is soluble in water at 4 mg/ml or less, so at 1 mg/ml, you should be ok.  I'd shake and measure quickly just to be sure.

 

I hope your symptoms settle a bit before cutting again.  Please let us know how you are doing before you make the next cut :-)

 

SG

[hopeandlove]

Hi

Just to let you know my progress

Day 4 at 10mg and I feel generally ok, a bit spaced out and slow but have felt like this entire time I have been on drug.

So hopefully this will pass when I come off completely

Am on course to drop to 5mg after 3 more doses at 10mg

Thanks for support

[hopeandlove]

So still at 10mgs day 6 (day 23 in total) and ok, worse in morning, sick dizzy and spaced out and shockingly tired, still planning on cutting after day 7 to 5 mgs....

[mammaP]

Hi Hope, when do you take the citalopram?  Do you feel worse AFTER taking it or worse BEFORE taking it?  Is this worse than it was before you started tapering? You need to keep notes, like a diary of how you feel during the day and when symptoms come and go so it can be pinpointed whether it is the side effects or withdrawal that is causing symptoms. It really helps to look back over the notes to see patterns emerging.

[hopeandlove]

I feel better as the day goes on, as I have done since i started taking citalopram.

When I feel bad it is similar to how I felt in the first week

As I take pill in morning I guess I feel better after taking it, so this is still side effects rather than withdrawal, but am not sure.

I have taken 6 lots of 10mgs . Am scared of cutting to 5 mgs, am planning to do this either tomorrow or Thursday - would like some advice on how I should prepare and what to expect

Thanks Mamma P

[hopeandlove]

Hi

I have cut to 5mgs today, after a week on 10mgs and so far feel fine.

I feel I have been pretty stable, with some sickness and dizziness (I have an ear condition so suffer from dizziness anyway)

And lethargy, a combination of symptoms I have had since I came on citalopram

 

But today felt ok on waking, and have felt ok since then. Taking the 5mgs has not destabilized me yet.

 

To answer Mamma P, my symptoms have always improved as day has gone on. But have had spells of sickness in the afternoon - possibly due pill in the morning. Today I feel a distant lethargic feeling, slow, but otherwise ok.

 

Fingers crossed for me

 

hopeandlove

[Dan998]

Good luck hopeandlove. You are doing the right thing getting off citalopram before it has a chance to get its teeth into you.

[Altostrata]

hopeandlove, please let us know how you're doing as the week goes on.

[hopeandlove]

Hi

I am now on day 4 of 5mgs. I feel more alert and have more energy but no where near back to normal. However  still wake up feeling awful, anxious, and this morning I felt sick.  I did not sleep so well last night, but I have been trying to walk a lot during the day and yesterday walked less so wonder if it is because of that.  I wonder if the 5mg is giving me a boost and how I feel on waking is withdrawal, or is it to do with the havoc played with blood sugar levels, because feel better after eating.  On the whole it is going better so far than I thought it might at the moment. I am still planning to drop to nothing after day 7 at 5mgs as per advice from squirrellygirl.

The reduction from 15mg to 10mg was harder for me. I had terrible heart burn. In general my hunger or lack of it (had both symptoms) no longer feels like my own, but driven by drug. Today I am neither sick nor hungry (apart from this morning) but feel un-nerved by by stomach.  I have had acid reflux in past and do not want to have it again, another reason to come off this drug.

I am being very careful what I eat and drink. I have also started taking a small amount of magnesium, and have been suggested to take krill oil a very high potency fish oil and also gynostemma tea. No coffee or alcohol. Last night I cooked a meal for friend and had a pleasant evening, a first since being on this drug. 

hopeandlove

[SquirrellyGirl]

Overall it sounds good.  You will need to really listen to your body as you go.  These drugs are so powerful and some get their hooks into us pretty quickly, so it is hard to know with a fast taper after short term use where the line is between going ahead and perhaps needing to switch to a slow taper.

 

You are doing a great job of tracking things, Hope, and I think attitude-wise you are in a really good place to succeed!

 

SG

[hopeandlove]

Hi

Wanted you to know that it is now 31 days since I came off citalopram on the taper you recommended.

My story was complicated by the fact that my family insisted that I take it at a time when I could not resist, too complicated to go into here, and I have had a lot of other support but it has been very tough.

My withdrawals have been nausea and tiredness, now mainly tiredness, and a wired feeling in my head, not exactly zaps. I absolutely cannot drink alcohol (makes me feel v ill the next day) Sleep has been patchy at times but have taken a herbal remedy called asphalia. Am struggling with the exhaustion, it goes up and down in the day but am nowhere near pre citalopram levels in terms of energy. I am returning to work in two weeks which is a source of anxiety but overall am doing far better than I imagined. I believe and hope I have got off lightly, even if I am not out of the woods yet. These are awful drugs and I am blessed I was on them for a short time and grateful for this site which gave me confidence to taper off. I am contemplating taking 5htp and wonder if anyone has experience of this?

Many thanks and good wishes

[hopeandlove]

Think I should add that I am also meditating (not quite enough) and have a fantastic source of support from friends and a counsellor whom I see every week and can speak on the phone with....essential for me as I suffer from acute anxiety. So no I haven't yet put enough in place to make the life changes to support me. But I have certainly been changed radically by what has happened. Thanks hope and love

[scallywag]

hopeandlove, Thanks for posting and letting us know how you're doing.  I'm glad to read that things are steadily improving for you.

[SquirrellyGirl]

By your signature you are still on citalopram, hopeandlove?  If so, no, do not take 5-htp.  The combination can cause a dangerous serotonin toxicity called serotonin syndrome.  

 

I took 5-htp while in withdrawal from Effexor but it did not stop withdrawal in any way.  Personally, I feel it likely confuses the nervous system.  If you are supplementing serotonin through 5-htp, then the nervous system may not up-regulate its own production, which is what it needs to do as the drug is reduced or once you are off of it.  In that respect, perhaps it slows healing.  

 

The chemical imbalance theory has been disproven.  There is no proof that low serotonin is the cause of depression, so why raise it?  In fact, some depressed people are found to have too HIGH serotonin.

 

SG

[hopeandlove]

Thanks SquirrellyGirl

I have updated profile, as you will see I am off Citalopram since June 6th.

I will not take 5htp - I do not want to mess around with serotonin levels at the moment, my main issue anyway was and is anxiety.

My current withdrawal symptom remains exhaustion and nausea (much less now unless I drink, but I do need to eat regularly)

I also have disturbed sleep and a kind of zinging intermittently in my head. Also bruising and breast pain - as you all know this drug gets into every part of body.  Some of my tiredness may be due to the original crisis that precipitated the drugs, but it feels more related to the drugs, especially the way I feel when I wake up, which is lethargic. It helps to push myself to do things.  Not back to where I was but not too bad either.

Thanks for all your help

hopeandlove

[hopeandlove]

Nausea at the moment my worst symptom comes and goes throughout the day and wonder how long it will go on for.....

[hopeandlove]

This is day 49 off citalopram

I am still not back to normal. I feel sick on and off, triggered by not eating, eating....having the occasional cup of coffee or glass of wine.

I feel spaced out. I do not have head zaps but more like shivers....seems to come and go, am aware of it esp if I am tired.

However am functioning.

Am grateful for the support I received here.

There are awful drugs.

[KarenB]

It's pretty rough isn't it?  Have you noticed any slight improvements since being off? 

[hopeandlove]

Definitely a lot better being off, but not back to normal.  At the moment the worst thing is tiredness, and the feeling of electricity in my brain....but otherwise I am doing well!

[hopeandlove]

I am now 11 weeks off cit. feel much better. Almost normal.

[hopeandlove]

Almost normal but still affecting hunger and blood sugar, cannot fast, sexual feelings, periods of intense irritability, all improving but these are vile drugs

[scallywag]

Improvement is good. It will continue.  Thanks for posting -- it's encouraging for us all to know that symptoms improve and people get better.

[andy013]

How are you doing now hopeandlove?