Painterpants18: how to taper off citalopram

[Painterpants18]

Curious about success in self tapering off of Citalopram.

[ChessieCat]

Hi Painterpants and welcome to SA,

 

Thank you for creating your drug signature.  Is citalopram the only drug you have taken?  Are you taking/have you taken any supplements?  If yes, please add extra information.  We like to have the drug history of members in order to give the best suggestions.  Please remember to update it whenever you make a change so that it remains current.  Thank you.

 

Many members are having / have had success tapering off a wide variety of psychiatric drugs following SA's tapering protocol.  I'm successfully tapering Pristiq and I'm now down to 0.5mg after being on 100mg.

 

SA's recommends tapering by no more than 10% of the current dose (hyperbolic taper, not linear) followed by a hold of about 4 weeks to allow the brain to adapt to not getting as much of the drug.

 

Why taper by 10% of my dosage?

 

If the drug is removed too quickly we can experience withdrawal symptoms because the brain tries to regain homeostasis:

 

Dr Joseph Glenmullen's Withdrawal Symptoms

 

This topic explains how to get the dose you need:

 

Tips for tapering off citalopram (Celexa)

 

Here's the link to the search I did for citalopram and Celexa (they may be the same results) in the Success stories forum:

 

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/search/?q=citalopram&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=28

https://www.survivingantidepressants.org/search/?q=celexa&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=28

 

This is your own Introduction topic which is the best place to ask questions about your own situation and to journal your progress.

 

There is a link to a recent interview with SA's founder in my signature (45 mins).

 

And a message from her:

 

On 11/7/2020 at 8:23 AM, Altostrata said:

 

One of the things that's very important to each person here is knowing that healing is possible. Please don't just go away when you feel better! "Pay it forward" by updating your Intro topic with your progress and come back to post your success story when you are finally clear of all those awful symptoms.

 

Nothing is more valuable to the community than seeing how recovery happens. You have lots of people hoping you'll get better. Please let them know when you do.

 

 

[Painterpants18]

Hi ChessieCat,

thank you for your reply and all this info. 
Your question about supplements, do you mean other psych medications? The answer is no. 
 

[ChessieCat]

You are welcome.

 

I meant psych drugs AND supplements.  Some people take things St John's Wort, 5htp, gaba supplement, nootropics, which can interact with psychiatric drugs.

 

There are lots of topics on SA.  The easiest way to something is to use a search engine and add site:survivingantidepressants.org to the search term.

 

and/or

 

check out the links in Post #1 of these topics:

 

Important topics in the Tapering forum and FAQ

 

Symptoms:  Important topics about symptoms

[Painterpants18]

OK, only a few vitamins and fiber. Is that important to add to my signature?

 I will spend time reading and becoming familiar with the resources on this site.

FYI the Dr. Horowitz info seems unavailable.

I’m most appreciative of your guidance thank you 🙏.

[ChessieCat]

2 hours ago, Painterpants18 said:

OK, only a few vitamins and fiber. Is that important to add to my signature?

 

No, we don't need those.  Thanks.

 

2 hours ago, Painterpants18 said:

FYI the Dr. Horowitz info seems unavailable.

 

Would you please tell us what link this was so that we can update or delete it?  Thanks. 

[Painterpants18]

9 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

 

No, we don't need those.  Thanks.

 

 

Would you please tell us what link this was so that we can update or delete it?  Thanks. 

Can’t seem to locate it now but will let u know if I do.