mabel lily Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 When I went to the GP he said that it wasn't hormonal and nothing to do with the menopause. I have spoken to a friend today who has similar sweats and her GP told her it was old person sweats and she's only 60! What is classed as an old person I ask myself. Anyway it is absolutely awful having to go through this several times a day, I wish I could get it sorted but apart from stopping the tablets I cant see an answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xsjado-man Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 First off all am i glade i came across this forum, second im really sorry for any spelling mistakes. i had a read through some of the post and can relate to nearly all off them, im so confused tho as from the age of 15 i was put on citalapram at 20mg for anxiety/panic attacks. wasn't long till i was on 60mg im now 28 and iv been on all doesages much like a yo-yo iv gone down to 10mg,20mg and im currently on 40mg as iv been told they dont do 60mg anymore. the reason iv been on low and high dosage is because iv tried to come off them so many times but each time i do i start to feel angry very snappy and really moody for no reason i know thats not me. tonight iv been off 40mg for a week as iv forgot to get my medication and i just feel soooo angry for no reason, i will be taking them again tomorrow (thank god) but i really really do want to come off them they have not stopped my anxiety/panic attacks at all but im scared because i was such a young lad when i went on them i don't no who i was before them so i find it hard to think oh ill be me again maybe the medication is me? i was really interested in a certain post that i will paste to this as i feel i can benifit from it and just felt like i should sign up to say thank you and good to see other people are as angry and confused as me when coming off them lol. i think my plan will be to get back on them in the morning and start in the new year to take myself off after seeing how people do it i will try 40mg, 20mg, 40mg 20mg for about 3 months then if that goes well ill go 40mg 20mg, 20mg so fingers crossed...... Thanks again USER ANXIETY: Hello, Just to add my experience with Citalopram. I was having severe panic attacks and depression 3 years ago in October. I was so against going on medication and resisted at first and then succumbed due to not being able to cope any more. As I said I had been on the 20mg Citalopram for 3 years, I attempted to come off them before but noticed I was becoming very snappy and short tempered to decided I wasn't ready. I think one of the points to make is to not put too much pressure on yourself, the way I see it some people attach a stigma to taking anit-depressants however if you were a diabetic you wouldn't think twice about taking insulin, it is a chemical inbalance and nothing to do with your strength of character. 10mg tablets are available however I did not want to see the doctor to reduce my dosage as I wanted to have the option to increase / decrease my dosage depending on how I felt. I decided to break my 20mg tablets in half and have half a tablet a day (10mg equivalent). I did this for about 2 - 3 months and then realised I had been forgetting to take them everyday so came off them completely. I have been off them for about 3 months now and did go through a stage of feeling severely dizzy but persevered and now the dizziness seems to have gone. I still suffer from anxiety, however it is not any worse than when I was on the medication so I have decided to continue. When I started getting panic attacks I went to see a councellor which did not help me in the slightest so decided to take things into my own hands and saw a hypnotherapist which I found really helpful. I seem to find myself at a bit of a plateau now and don't seem to be making any further progress so am considering a trip to the hypnotherapist again to see if that gives me a boost. In the meantime, as much as it scares and phases me, I keep trying to push myself, when you do something that terrifies you, it seems to make other stuff seem not so fearful. I hope this may help some of you. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saffy Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 Always, inform your doctor if you want to come off any long term drug. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mdagar Posted February 8, 2013 Share Posted February 8, 2013 The reasons I want to stop taking Citalopram are: the cost and drag of having to get them every month, tired of taking daily medication (first started anti-depressants before the millennium), hate waking up drenched in sweat with soaking wet pyjamas and duvet, peeing takes too long ... I'm not depressed anymore, but just as anxious with or without tablets (I think). I've been taking 20 mg every other day for a few months, but sometimes can't remember if I've taken one or not so have occasionally taken 2 in a day, and forgotten several days in a row. if I start feeling crap I take 20 mg daily for a few days, then back to alternate. i've tried 10 mg daily a few times, but get the sense it's not doing anything. although citalopram does seem to help me not to get depressed, I don't think it eases anxiety at all, and that was what I mainly presented to the GP. Once a doctor gave me a few Valium to help with anxiety when starting anti-depressants again, and it was the best thing ever. A friend has suggested beta-blockers for anxiety, but I haven't tried them yet. Another friend is resisting them and using St. John. Last time I spoke to GP he said why stop taking them? No proven harm for long-term users. I find it hard to believe it doesn't have any harm, but even so I'm sick of being on them (lately a lot of headaches and feeling sick in the morning) and don't want to need them forever. It is difficult to come off them because it can backfire if not done VERY gradually, which requires a lot of patience. I haven't had any weird dreams but if I miss more than 2 days I become angry and tearful. If i take them every day I get horrible sweat and headaches, so for me it's a confusing muddly annoying path of constantly adjusting dose. may try getting some 10 mgs and alernating them with 20 mgs (can't be bothered to break them in half and save, but could eventually maybe be on 5 mg). I think this process could take years, and I wish I'd never started it. In the late 1990s I went to the doctor some months after I'd become a single parent and a working mum, and I found myself unable to stop crying in the evenings and get to bed. She prescribed Prozac and since then I've never managed to come off anti-ds without relapse into tearful inertia eventually (it can take a few months) I agree with the person on 40 mg who said why stop if they work? But I am bothered by them and they don't help my anxiety and I don't want to pay for them indefinitely. Doctor said 6 months initially this time, which was about 3 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Princessdp Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 Hello there everyone, I have read all the posts and I'm glad I'm not alone on coming off these tablets and feeling the way I do... I have been on citalopram for 7 yrs now and i have been uping my dosage over the years to finally being on 40mg a day. People are right about there being no biggy talking a tablet every morning but for me I felt I was just increasing it every couple of years as my body was getting use to it... It wasn't really doing anything for me and Paying for them and having to get them every 30 days was a mare. I was in a career that was very stressful which i have just given up and I am on my own with 2 young children and I feel I need to take stock of my life and face life without being on these tablets... I'm just not happy on them and my issues and strains are still there. So in Dec 2012 I decided to start coming off them, I have been coming off them relatively slowly and for the last 2 weeks I have been taking a 10mg tablet when I feel the head zaps are coming on to much, however this wasn't working and it has taken its toll on a relationship I had as my partner and I have have decided I need space to get these tablets out of my system totally... I am soooo angry and snappy, the head aches are horrendous and the head zaps make me feel I'm just about to pass out... The sickness and then the craving for something sweet, no energy and just wanting to sleep... I sleep all day and then I'm awake all night, which is so not like me, I'm in bed asleep by 10pm, I don't feel depressed, I have anxiety but to help with all this I have started taking St Johns Wart and I have CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) starting in 2 weeks... I just want to know these head aches, head zaps, sleep disorder will all go away... I want to face my issues not hide behind them anymore, the tablets where changing me as a person, I was so bubbly and happy, but the tablets suppressed all that and it was like I had no emotions anymore... I just want me back... I hope I'm near the end of all these symptoms... It's so hard. x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goddess Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 I had no problems coming off it. I was on 60mg/day for ten years and after reading the report in The Telegraph regarding the heart risks I decided I wasn't taking it anymore. It made no difference anyway. I weaned myself off it over a 6 month period by dropping down to 40mg, then 20mg, then alternate days etc. and now I'm free of it. I feel no different. I had no side effects whatsoever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plain Talker Posted February 12, 2013 Share Posted February 12, 2013 I had no problems coming off it. I was on 60mg/day for ten years and after reading the report in The Telegraph regarding the heart risks I decided I wasn't taking it anymore. It made no difference anyway. I weaned myself off it over a 6 month period by dropping down to 40mg, then 20mg, then alternate days etc. and now I'm free of it. I feel no different. I had no side effects whatsoever. My cardiologist said that, due to my heart problems, and the fact that Citalopram can cause arrhythmias, I should come off it, as soon as practical and I was swapped to Sertraline. I didn't find it easy when my doses of Citalopram were reduced, and the final couple of weeks, before I could start on the Sertraline, was very hard. (I had to wean the Citalopram down, and be clear of it from my system before I could start the new one) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenjenz Posted April 8, 2013 Share Posted April 8, 2013 I'm really pleased that I came across this thread - admittedly, I haven't been able to read all of the posts but the earlier posts have been quite reassuring to read because it helps me to understand it's probably normal to be experiencing the withdrawal symptoms that I am right now. I'm in the process of reducing my Citalopram dose from 10mg a day to 5mg (by chopping the tablets in half - I hope this is an effective method because I'm not even sure if you can get 5mg tablets of Citalopram in the UK?). I began reducing my dose about a week and a half ago and over the past couple of days I've really begun to notice some withdrawal symptoms - general tiredness, increased anxiety, occasional 'head zaps' and getting really upset - and even a little paranoid - about things I wouldn't normally get upset about. Because 10mg is such a low dose anyway, I really didn't think reducing this further to 5mg whilst I weaned myself off would be a problem. It's possible that I may be a little hasty since I only reduced my dosage just over a week ago, but I'm worried that these symptoms will last. Because I'm beginning to feel like how I did before I went on Citalopram, I'm also so worried that I will need to rely on these tablets to cope, which is an awful thought!! I'm determined to stick with lowering my dose and not resort to going back to my full previous dose just because I feel I need it. Any positive stories from people who experienced withdrawal but came out the other side and don't need the tablets any more would be so much appreciated right now :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sam_ Posted April 11, 2013 Share Posted April 11, 2013 ... Any positive stories from people who experienced withdrawal but came out the other side and don't need the tablets any more would be so much appreciated right now :-) Hiya, I was on 20mg per day, and came off them 'cold turkey' in one go (because I'm a stubborn bugger) two months ago. Had some pretty definite withdrawal symptoms (tiredness and dizziness were the worst ones for me), but somewhere in the last couple of weeks they've died down and gone away - I'm all good now! Stick with it - I'm sure you'll be fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenjenz Posted May 1, 2013 Share Posted May 1, 2013 Hiya, I was on 20mg per day, and came off them 'cold turkey' in one go (because I'm a stubborn bugger) two months ago. Had some pretty definite withdrawal symptoms (tiredness and dizziness were the worst ones for me), but somewhere in the last couple of weeks they've died down and gone away - I'm all good now! Stick with it - I'm sure you'll be fine Thanks for your reply! I've finished a strip of 10mg tablets cut in half to 5mg, so for the last five days I have stopped taking anything at all. I'm feeling pretty tired, irritable and the 'head zaps'/dizziness feeling is driving me nuts, making me more irritable! I'm determined to stick with it, I just want it to go away soon! I'm not feeling anxious anymore though, which is always good! :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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