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EnglandGirl: Tapering off Citalopram


EnglandGirl

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Hi, 

I am new here and thank you for this forum and all your input and personal experiences. I am looking to come off 30mg of citalopram and have been on various antidepressants for 11 years I have also done CBT. I am interested in UK stories and how the NHS has helped or if you needed to seek further help rather than just your GP.

 

Thanks in advance 

Edited by manymoretodays
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  • manymoretodays changed the title to EnglandGirl: Tapering off Citalopram
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Hello, and welcome to SA.  We are a volunteer-run community of people who have been or are getting off of psychiatric drugs.  I can help you with advice on how to safely taper off citalopram using a harm reduction approach.  I'm not from the UK, but many of our other members here are.  I'm very glad you found us before you started tapering.  I will say that very few doctors know how to safely get off of psychiatric drugs.  If you follow our approach, it will take lots of time, but you should still be able to live a decent and normal life with minimal to no symptoms while you are tapering.

 

Can you please give us specific information in your signature about your drug history for all drugs and supplements you are on and have been on, especially for the past 18-24 months?  Please read the link below for instructions.  

 

How to List Your Drug History in Your Signature

 

Here is some important information about how these drugs actually work.  This explains why we get symptoms from going off of these medications, and why it's so important to taper slowly and carefully, and be very cautious about changing our doses: 

 

How Psychiatric Drugs Remodel Your Brain

 

 

Tapering is best done extremely slowly, and we generally taper by 10% of the current dose no more than once every 4 weeks, so that the reduction becomes exponentially smaller.

 

 Why Taper by 10% of my Dosage  

 

Tips for Tapering Citalopram

 

To calculate your first reduction, you want to reduce your current dose by 10%.  10% of 30 mg is 3 mg.  Subtract 3 from 30, and you get 27 mg.  Another way to do it is to multiply your current dose by 0.9.  30 x .9 = 27 mg.  The link above "Tips for Tapering Citalopram" will give you methods for measuring the non standard dose.  Feel free to ask us any questions.  Good luck, and let us know how it goes. 

Please do not private message me.  Only tag me for urgent questions about tapering and reinstating - thank you.  

 

***Please note this is not medical advice.  Discuss any decisions about your medical care with a doctor who understands psych meds and how to withdraw from them, if you can find one.

 

Lexapro   Started Apr 15 2010 - 10 mg;  started taper August 2017, recent taper info: Apr 2 '20  0.18 mg; Jul 16  0.17 mg, Aug 23  0.16 mg, Oct 7  0.15 mg, Nov 8 - 0.14, Jan 16 '21 - 0.13, Feb 7 - 0.12, Feb 22 - 0.11, Mar 26 - 0.10, May 21 - 0.09, June 15 - 0.08 Aug 16 - 0.07, Oct 6 - 0.06, Nov 21 0.05, Dec. 17 0.04, Jan 14 '22 0.03, Feb 19 0.02, Apr 18 0.01, May 15 0.005,  Jul 8, 0.00.  Psych Drug Free as of July 8, 2022!!  Woohoo!!!

other meds: Levothyroxine 75 mg

magnesium in small amounts at 4 AM, before bed

suppl AM: fish oil, flax oil, vit C, vit E, multivitamin, zinc

suppl 8 PM: magnesium 350 mg, extended release vitamin C, melatonin 2 mg

 

Paxil 2002 - 2010, switched to Lexapro 2010 

Trazodone 50 mg. 2002 - 2019, fast tapered in 2019 

Xanax 0.5 mg as needed 2002 - 2019, up to 3x weekly 

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Hi @EnglandGirlI'm from the UK and if I'm being honest the NHS have been awful. My Dr and mental health practitioner don't acknowledge withdrawals at all, they think it's just a return of my previous condition but what I find funny is my previous condition was social anxiety and I don't have that at all no more. I now have health anxiety because since coming off I have been left with loads of physical symptoms.

 

I went to my Dr Feb 22` to ask for CBT because my medication 40mg citalopram wasn't working as well, I was finding work really stressful but he said okay I'll give you an appointment with the mentle health practitioner. When I saw him I explained I wanted referred for CBT as it helped me 10 years ago when I started the meds, he said no we will swap your meds first as that might help. I had no knowledge about tapering so just followed his advice. I was told to taper 40mg-0mg in 10 days and start mirtazapine and things just got really bad quickly. Switched back to citalopram then to sertraline and that's when I had enough and went CT 9 months ago today. I've been back numerous times since and they say all the ADs are out of my system so can't be withdrawals. I told my GP well doesn't the term withdrawals mean when the substance ain't in your system anyway and that's why you get the symptoms. He just laughed. I wish I never went to see my GP at all last Feb now. 

Citalopram 10mg sep14-nov14,

cit 20mg nov14-jan15,

cit 40mg jan15 -jan22,

tapered cit 40mg-0mg in 10 days.

mirtazapine 15mg then 30mg jan22-Mar22,

tapered in 1 week.

citalopram 20mg apr22- may22( had a reaction this time, hives everywhere),

no taper cold turkey 

sertraline 50mg then 100mg may22-nov22, tapered in 2 weeks.

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I agree with @Tigz91NHS are awful. They will be no help to you in this situation. They haven't got a clue what they are doing 

2015- Jan 2021 20mg Citalapram

Jan 2021- April 2021 Sertraline (CT)

June 2021 - Fluoxetine & Trazadone

Oct 2021- Trazadone to Quitiapin 

Oct 2021 to June 2022 switches Duloxetine then paroxatine then Venlafaxine.

June 2022- venlafaxine for 5 or 6 weeks at 37.5 twice daily. Upped for one week to 75mg twice daily but caused panic attacks. Dropped back down to 37.5 twice daily. Panic attacks stopped. 

1 week- 62.5mg 1 week- 50mg 1 week- 37.5mg 1 week - 25mg 

ANTIDEPRESSANT FREE SINCE JULY 22ND 2022!! 

18/05/23 - 01-06/23 doxycycline for a rat bite 

Taken propranalol since 2015. 80mg.

21/11/22 76mg. 28/11/22 72mg. 05/12/22 68mg. 19/12/22 64mg. 27/12/22 60mg. 02/01/23 56mg. 09/01/23 50mg. 16/01/23 47mg. 23/01/23 44mg. 29/01/23 40mg. 05/02/23 38mg. 12/02/23 35mg. 19/02/23 32mg. 25/02/23 27mg. 04/03/23 25mg. 11/03/23 22mg. 17/03/23 19mg. 24/03/23 20mg. 05/04/23 18mg. 11/04/23 16mg. 17/04/23 14mg. 27/04/23 20mg. 19/06/23 19mg. 25/06/23 20mg. 04/08/23 18mg. 11/08/23 17mg. 16/08/23 16mg. 25/08/23 15mg. 01/09/23 14mg. 08/09/23 13mg. 15/08/23 12mg. 22/09/23 11mg. 29/09/23 10mg. 19/11/23 9mg. 26/11/23 8mg. 03/12/23 7mg. 10/12/23 6mg. 17/12/23 5mg. 24/12/23 4mg. 31/01/23 3mg. 07/01/24 2mg. 13/01/24 1mg. 19/01/24 0mg. DONE! 

 

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