Citalopram: switching from pills to liquid CAUTION (UK)

[Onmyway]

I'm putting this here because I didn't have that information when I switched and it did set me back. 

In the UK the citalopram liquid is more potent than the pills per mg. The packaging and the leaflet that come with it say so but it's easy to miss esp. if you are in withdrawal. This is also one of the most common drugs prescribed in the UK, so good to have this here for reference. 

 

The liquid formulation of citalopram is 25% stronger than the pill form. So if you were taking 10mg citalopram in pill form that would be equivalent to 8mg of the liquid. 

 

Based on this, I am going to do some math here to help with calculations with specific steps on how to get the right dosage of medicine and how to make the solution. Please don't use the dropper attached to the medicine, use a syringe for accurate measurement. Get yourself 10ml and 1ml syringes when you pick up your prescription. They often give those for free when you ask. 

 

Step 1. Divide your current dosage in pill form by 1.25

This is how many mg you will be taking in liquid form. 

So if your current dosage is in pill form 1.5mg citalopram, your liquid citalopram dosage would be 1.2mg 

 

Step 2. Now make the solution from which you are going to draw this amount. The UK version of the oral drops is 1ml = 40 mg which means that 0.1ml (small syringe)=4 mg.

 

Dilute 0.1 ml (1 unit on the small syringe) of the medicine in 40ml of water (4x 10 ml large syringe)

(I make 0.2 ml into 80 ml of water so it lasts me a bit)

 

Step 3: Measure your dosage multiplied by 10 in ml of the citalopram solution

So for 1.2mg liquid dosage you would take 12ml of citalopram solution from step 2 above. That means 10ml + 2 ml in the large syringe

 

Note: the form of the liquid citalopram may be different in other countries - read your leaflet. 

 

[bunchesofoats]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I only recently found that an oral solution exists (other than making one yourself or going to a compounding pharmacy). I'm curious what others' experiences with it have been. This is the only thread I've found so far mentioning it.

[Onmyway]

Hi @bunchesofoats, 

I have been using the liquid and it has been fine. It dissolves in water - I am at a very low dose now - 0.44mg liquid and so I dilute 0.1ml into 120ml and then take 13.25ml etc. I drop by 0.05ml 15-20 times a month because I go by how I feel. So each of my drops is 0.3% but they are more frequent. The concentration of my liquid is 40mg/ml 

 

We do not recommend such frequent drops even if so tiny if you have not been lowering for a while as you wouldn't know how you react and the effects may accumulate before you realize so I started doing this cautiously over time as I learned about how my body reacts and I am very careful with it. If I sense any withdrawal symptoms I stop tapering for a few days. If something stressful is happening in my life, I stop for a few days - I end up with 5-6% total drop over the month. This schedule has worked best for me. I do have waves but I am doing ok most of the time. 

 

Note, however that the US version of the liquid may not have that 25% bioavailability difference - please read the leaflet. From what I remember its concentration is also different but that may depend on the manufacturer. I would suggest that you stick to the same manufacturer if you start tapering. 

 

OMW