Citalopram Withdrawl, when does it end?

[Alan S]

Hi All,

In July 2012 I started on Citalopram ( Drug was either Cipramil or Ciprager) for generalised anxiety disorder, I took 10mg once a day for the month of july, the doctor then upped the dose to 20mg to be taken once a day in August and I continued on this until September 2013. In September, I decided I wanted to start coming off the tablets so after discussing it with my doctor he reduced the dose back to 10mg once a day. I took this for the month of September and still felt good so when I went back at the end of September he gave me another perscription for 10mg and told me to take 1 tablet every second day (eg. Take 1 Monday, nothing Tuesday, 1 Wednesday, nothing Thursday etc..)

I took my last tablet on the 4th of December, I was fine for the first week, I experienced no real withdrawal symptoms, however around 6 days (I think it was the 11th of December) after my last tablet I was hit by hypersomnia/fatigue, I spent the best part of 2 days in bed as I didn't feel like I had the energy to get out of bed. This only lasted 2 or 3 days before it reversed into insomnia, this insomnia lasted about 6 days, which was a period where I was lucky to get 3 - 4 hours sleep a night. Thrown in with the hypersomnia/insomnia were mood swings, slight nausea and dizziness and the ocassional tremble.

I seemed ok for a few days after the insomnia cleared up, however Christmas Day, I started to feel quite poorly, I just presumed I was getting a dose of the flu, or a cold or something seeing as it's winter and all, however It's been a week now and I'm not sure, I haven't really gotten better or worse but I still dont feel like myself, I'm quite tired, I'm sleeping at night but it feels like I havent been sleeping at all, my mouths constantly dry, I'm "spacing out" regularly, my stomachs been at me on and off, my vision seems to be after changing though I can't really describe how and to be honest I feel like I could happily spend a few days in bed without moving.

Tomorrow will be the 4th week I have been free of the tablets, I'm just wondering can anyone relate to the timeline of the withdrawal symptoms I'm having? In other peoples opinions is it still withdrawl I am suffering from, or do I actually just have the flu or something ( I'm aware I should go to my doctor and discuss this with him aswell, however he's off during the xmas period and won't be back until Friday).

Any comments, suggestions or advice are much appreciated!

[Malco2742]

Hi Alan,
I recently tapered off of Citalopram and I experienced withdrawal symptoms very similar to what you are describing. I started at 40mg and tapered down to nothing over a 4 month period starting in July 2013. I took my last pill in early October and it has been an up and down struggle since then. For me I had a bit of a delayed reaction before experiencing the worst of the withdrawal, something like 2 weeks before it really kicked in (i'm assuming that is when the last of the Celexa left my system). Hang in there, it DOES get better in time, but it could be quite a while, maybe as long as two months for me personally (everyone reacts differently of course).

Exercising 6 days a week and eating nutritious meals consisting of a small portion of healthy protein and a small portion of carbohydrates every 2-3 hours helped to regulate my blood sugar which helped with my extreme fatigue and brain fog. I also experimented with the following natural supplements/vitamins to help my returning anxiety:

- Cortisol Manger by Integrative Therapeutics
- Natural Calm magnesium
- Ashwagandha Extract
- High quality Multivitamin (not One a Day or Centrum, find something better rated)

These things did seem to help ease my anxiety a bit over the course of 2 weeks or so (although certainly not completely). Be extremely careful when trying new supplements, take them very gradually (I got sick to my stomach and puked after taking Vitamin B6 and Zinc one morning). Do lots of research ahead of time before taking anything new.

I'm on my way out the door, but I'll check back as soon as possible - I feel your pain, I went through the same thing very recently (still working through it now!).

[Dahila]

years ago I was on it and when I was off it took well over 2 months to feel better. The same signs of withdrawal as yours.

[Alan S]

Thanks for the replies Malco & Dahila! , I was expecting withdrawal symptoms when I when I came off the tablets, however I wasn't expecting them to come and go for a few days and then hit me like a train, although I must say so far the withdrawal has been more of a discomfort and annoyance than something unbearable thankfully.

[Dahila]

The meds are about two month or more in your system, it will pass, for me the insomnia was the worst, like 5 nights no sleep at all, maybe one hour in a day, or so.....

[Alan S]

Did either of you have any symptoms affecting your throat? My throat seems to be very dry and I get the sensation of there being something caught in it and the feeling that its quite rough or coarse or something?

[Malco2742]

I have been experiencing some very bad dry mouth and a sense of constantly being thirsty since I tapered off, but I have not specifically felt any difference in my throat. I wonder if somehow my blood sugar has been thrown out of whack, since excessive thirst is a symptom usually associated with the onset of diabetes. It seems like everyone experiences different symptoms when starting/stopping Celexa so it's not surprising that we are encountering different symptoms. Hang in there! I'm meeting with my GP today to discuss some of the ongoing symptoms I've had since stopping the Citalopram and I will let you know if I find out anything helpful (although I'm not expecting it, I haven't had the best luck with GP's being very knowledgeable about the specifics of anxiety or anxiety meds).

[Alan S]

Yes I can relate to that, looking back on it my GP actually gave me very little information about different treatment options for anxiety (be it meds, counselling or anything else) , it was more of a case of going into the GP - "Hi Doc, I've been getting panic attacks" , "No problem Alan just take these and it will be fine".

Today's been the first day I am openly aware that feelings of anxiety have returned, I realised it this morning when I was on a cigarette break from work, it's all fine when I'm kept busy and working but Saturday should be an interesting day when I have nothing to do but relax.