News0 min ago
Coming Off Citalopram
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Has anyone here got any experience of this? I was on 20mg due to reactive depression (not clinical depression) I quite often forgot to take the tablets. I have been taking 10 mg for the last week or so but I still forget to take them which I personally take as a good sign because if I felt terrible, I would remember that I need them. I haven`t taken one since Thursday (forgotten again). A friend of mine told me that it takes 2 weeks for the drug to leave your system. So how do you wean yourself off them without asking the GP ( who probably wouldn`t know because he doesn`t know me)
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I've only just started this.
2016 was the most shocking year of my life. It started with an unexpected breast cancer scare, which saw my mother walk out of my life because she couldn't cope with the idea of me having cancer. This was followed by an ectopic pregnancy which caused a big internal bleed and nearly cost me my life. To add insult to injury my beautiful dog died unexpectedly a week before Christmas.
In between all this I've battled insomnia, depression, self-loathing, anger, hatred, foggy brain, ibs, memories of domestic violence throughout my childhood and debilitating breast pain. Everyday I feel like I'm facing an uphill battle.
I started Citalopram for the second time on Christmas Day after waking up and seeing my amazing OH with 3 vertical scratch marks down his right cheek (and I don't even remember inflicting them)
2016 was the most shocking year of my life. It started with an unexpected breast cancer scare, which saw my mother walk out of my life because she couldn't cope with the idea of me having cancer. This was followed by an ectopic pregnancy which caused a big internal bleed and nearly cost me my life. To add insult to injury my beautiful dog died unexpectedly a week before Christmas.
In between all this I've battled insomnia, depression, self-loathing, anger, hatred, foggy brain, ibs, memories of domestic violence throughout my childhood and debilitating breast pain. Everyday I feel like I'm facing an uphill battle.
I started Citalopram for the second time on Christmas Day after waking up and seeing my amazing OH with 3 vertical scratch marks down his right cheek (and I don't even remember inflicting them)
Disclaimer:
The folloing is only the result of some googling. That can be dangerous with medical matters but, in this case, all web sources seem to agree with each other. (I've cited some of those sources below). Decide for yourself whether it all makes sense to you!
Citalopram has a half-life of about a day and a half. i.e. a day and a half after you stop taking it there will be only half a dose left in your system. A day and a half later that amount will again have been halved (so there's only a quarter of the original dose left) . . . and so on. So it will only take a fairly short time for the amount left in your system to get down to a negligible amount.
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Because the drug clears from your body fairly quickly, some people suffer withdrawal symptoms:
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In such cases it might be better to switch to an alternative drug first, with a longer half-life, with Prozac (fluoxetine) being the most likely choice:
http://
The folloing is only the result of some googling. That can be dangerous with medical matters but, in this case, all web sources seem to agree with each other. (I've cited some of those sources below). Decide for yourself whether it all makes sense to you!
Citalopram has a half-life of about a day and a half. i.e. a day and a half after you stop taking it there will be only half a dose left in your system. A day and a half later that amount will again have been halved (so there's only a quarter of the original dose left) . . . and so on. So it will only take a fairly short time for the amount left in your system to get down to a negligible amount.
https:/
Because the drug clears from your body fairly quickly, some people suffer withdrawal symptoms:
http://
In such cases it might be better to switch to an alternative drug first, with a longer half-life, with Prozac (fluoxetine) being the most likely choice:
http://
I`m sorry to hear that NoM. Hopefully Citalopram will help you. I was told that it can take anything up to 8 weeks to get into my system but it was much quicker than that. The GP told me that it is one of the most widely prescribed drugs. That made me wonder what is so wrong with modern day society but I guess that is another question
-- answer removed --
Next door neighbour was on it some years back after she worried about her brother's marriage breakup. She said it did her good however when brother met a new partner she came off it and said she still felt good.
I used to be on anti-depressants but took myself off it as I didn't feel any better. Am still off them - I do think it depends upon a person's outlook on life - I sometimes don't think pills do the job but that's my own personal opinion.
I used to be on anti-depressants but took myself off it as I didn't feel any better. Am still off them - I do think it depends upon a person's outlook on life - I sometimes don't think pills do the job but that's my own personal opinion.
Thanks for the further replies and thanks Buenchico for the links. I know you`re not supposed to suddenly stop taking the drug which is way I was wondering how to wean myself off. I think it must be coming out of my system because I`m getting hungry again (it seemed to kill my appetite) and I`m a bit irritable but hopefully that won`t last.
