Dizziness on discontinuation of Citalopram... what do to?

Brendab: Yes, those are absolutely withdrawal symptoms. It's just one of those things you have to deal with when you go off cold-turkey. It only takes 2 weeks for the drug to settle into your system, so anything over that is going to have withdrawal symptoms. If you have had these for 3 weeks, they'll start getting less and less now. Should only have them another week or two. Sorry you're having to go through it, but it DOES get better.

Bill

Thank you bill, nice to know there is a reason for feeling this way! Just knowing what's happening helps me cope. Good luck tooth rest if you.

Sorry good luck to the rest of you, this autocorrect is rubbish!

Wow. Now I know why I've had vertigo, nausea, brain zapping, dizzy feeling the past week. 47 yr old 2 year user of citalapram here. Tired of sexual side effects of the drug so when prescription ran out I stopped cold turkey. It is worse late in day as I've read here. When i say brain zapping I mean its like briefly falling asleep for 1/2 a second over and over throughout the day. Scary at best. Thought i was having a stroke. Hope it tapers off in coming weeks. Normal sex/arousal has returned nicely. Last experience with withdrawal was coming off the hydro years ago. This is physically worse. Would've never started this med for a little anxiety if i had known all this. Good luck to all.

Lee: Yep, they are a very odd experience, but it does get better and eventually completely dissipate, so hang in there!

Bill

I have been taking 40mg for a month and i feel so shit!
I feel low and down and i just dont see the point of this medication.
I feel dizzy,blurred vision head is constantly hurting.
I was on 20mg for 2 months altho i was tired i was not feeling as bad as this.
on the 40mg i am sleeping 15 hours a day and still thats not enough. I can not concentrate

Jay: Most likely you're having issues not related to serotonin. These medications only help folks with a serotonin imbalance. I would strongly suggest you talk with you doctor and tell them about your reaction to the medication.

Bill

I've been weaning myself off of Citalopram for the past month. I started at 20 mg and went down a 1/4 of a pill each week until this week when I finally stopped completely. I've been extremely dizzy and it worsens in the afternoon. Can anyone confirm if this is something they've heard of? I know that I've had sideeffects before when I've "missed" doses, but, after weaning myself off for a month, I'm a little freaked that I'm dizzy now and wasn't for the rest of the "weaning" process. Any reassurance or even just a confirmation that this is what anyone else has experienced would be great...:S

You can be absolutely assured it's complete normal. By weaning yourself off of it, you have avoided several of the more severe side-effects (the brain zaps, nausea, etc). So just work through it and you'll be fine. You have casual dizzy spells for a month or two, but they'll get more and more infrequent and mild until you stop having them entirely.

Bill

Freaked Out wrote:

I've been weaning myself off of Citalopram for the past month. I started at 20 mg and went down a 1/4 of a pill each week until this week when I finally stopped completely. I've been extremely dizzy and it worsens in the afternoon. Can anyone confirm if this is something they've heard of? I know that I've had sideeffects before when I've "missed" doses, but, after weaning myself off for a month, I'm a little freaked that I'm dizzy now and wasn't for the rest of the "weaning" process. Any reassurance or even just a confirmation that this is what anyone else has experienced would be great...:S

I was on 20MG for about four months. Quit cold turkey. Felt awful with dizzy, headaches and body aches for two weeks, but was able to function. Now I have crazy anger and rage and can't control my temper. I wanted to go back onto the medication to feel good again, but after reading everyone's troubles with the medication I am going to stay off the citalopram. Looks like the longer and higher doses you take, the worse the withdrawal symptoms. Good luck everyone.

Lindy: The anger is most likely rooted somewhere else. Not sure why you went on them in the first place, but I would discuss that symptom with you doctor. I haven't heard of anyone having that reaction other than the agitation of dealing with withdrawal effects.

Bill

I posted something out here about a week ago which has now disappeared (I did see it on here at the time) so maybe some data was restored from a prior backup that did not have my comment. Anyhow, I said I had been so happy to find this discussion out here. I was beginning to think I was extremely ill or about to be!

I was on Citalopram 40mg for about 3 months and it was not doing much (so it seemed like I could just stop taking it no problem! WHOOPS!). In the past (2008) I was on Prozac about 2 years and once I got used to it I found it extremely helpful; however it had quit working. Stopping taking IT suddenly was no problem though.

This time, starting in about 24 hours after discontinuing it, and proceeding to get worse for the next six days, I got all the symptoms mentioned in all these posts: dizzy, zapping sensations, nausea, flu-like symptoms, temperature and blood pressure fluctuating wildly. Also, alternating anger / frustration and just complete depression and negativity.(Good heavens, all I had in the first place was a lot of anxiety, and some mild depression occasionally, before all these SSRI attempts. There have been several other -- very brief -- ones too; beware ob-gyn Rx samples and misdiagnoses of thyroid and change-of-life medical problems as mental issues!)

After I read some of the postings out here, I tried taking 5mg after one week of nothing at all, and the first time it helped tremendously and I felt great for probably 20 hours or so (slept well and all!). Dizziness returned and when I tried 5mg a 2nd time, no improvement, and came to feel worse than before as time went on.

I have pitched out the whole Rx bottle and determined to just make it through this. Actually the only thing remaining is the dizziness, which is not fun, but the BP and temperature and flu-like stuff has subsided.

I am quite certain I had NO flu or disease or virus whatsoever, and that it was entirely the discontinuation of Citalopram that caused those symptoms.

Good luck, everyone, hang in there, and keep on keeping on through it! By the way, I have increased my fish oil supplements and am considering inositol supplementation although that is not my recommending or suggesting anything for anyone else, just what I will be trying myself.

Jan: You are correct about the flu-like symptoms being the medicine. That's quite common as you're coming off the medication. The dizziness and any other symptoms you may have will go away just as the others did. I hope that you're fine without the meds and have success with whatever alternate method you have for dealing with the anxiety. Best of luck to you!

Bill

(QUOTE who="Bill")Brendab: Yes, those are absolutely withdrawal symptoms. It's just one of those things you have to deal with when you go off cold-turkey. It only takes 2 weeks for the drug to settle into your system, so anything over that is going to have withdrawal symptoms. If you have had these for 3 weeks, they'll start getting less and less now. Should only have them another week or two. Sorry you're having to go through it, but it DOES get better.
Bill
Been on Citalopram for over 10 years. Life is good and decided needed to go off. Was only on 10MG a day which I was told was hardly a theraputic dose. Am certainly having all the withdrawal symptoms described. Having gone off gradually they are not too bad but will be glad when I am over them. So good to know that I am not alone. Just would like to kno0w how long I can expect withdrawal symptoms to last?
ne
. Just want to know how long I can expect this to go on.

Lee: It doesn't really seem to matter the dosage you were on. You were certainly on the minimal amount. Standard start is 20mg with a high dosage of 80mg, so you were on the very lowest. Since you were on it for 10 years, I would say you'll be symptomatic for probably 3 months. That's before you don't have any further withdrawal effects. The first month to month and a half is the worst. The brain zaps, dizziness and disorientation can be very scary, but they are normal, and they will pass, so don't fear them, just work through them. You can take a single dose if you need to get through a day, but it will simply lengthen the time to full recovery. Good luck to you and if you have any other questions, feel free to post on here!

Bill

I was taking 20mg for 5 years and although it aided me through my roughest patch of depression the withdrawl has been very uncomfortable so far. I have mind surges, confusion, endless tears and the worst vertigo ever. My doc wants me to switch to Effexor but first I am going to try St Johns Wart and fish oil. My new psych is a huge advocate for a natural approach however if SSRI/ SNRI is necessary, I have no arguments there. I truly believe that depression/anxiety is hereditary because most of my family (both sides) has it. I am hoping that my case is moderate even though I have been diagnosed in the past as severe. It is very hard to trust doctors, especially since many of them do not take the time to hear you story which could be due to enviromental or traumatic reasons. This is why I have found it is essential to be in therapy with the use of anti-depressents. I switched down from 10mg to 20mg for a week and still experienced the withdrawl syptoms that the forum has been speaking about. I wish all of you the best of luck in finding inner serenity :)

i stopped taking 20mg of citalopram last week(just stopped)am now suffering with severe dizziness and feeling sick.......cant cope as got 4 kids and a house to run and also work near enough full time......if i start taking them again will the dizziness stop straight away???

sarah x wrote:

i stopped taking 20mg of citalopram last week(just stopped)am now suffering with severe dizziness and feeling sick.......cant cope as got 4 kids and a house to run and also work near enough full time......if i start taking them again will the dizziness stop straight away???

Hi Sarah,
I am in Nottingham too and I did that the first time I wanted to come off them - Yes, if you start taking them the dizziness stopped with me almost the same day. I definitely recommend staying on a low dose if you have so much going on as they do help but my children are young adults and my life has changed so much i was merely fearful of the bad withdrawals. I am now a good few weeks off them as seriously and honestly I feel amazing - yes, I get tearful when the shit happens but that is life - I am not suicidal nor do I feel I cannot cope. I am sooooo glad that I weaned myself off them gradually - i took longer than my GP recommended too.

Hope that helps. See your GP and have a chat and get a therapist appointment too - the two hand in hand worked for me...

GOOD LUCK

Kerry xxx

Weaned off in Feb. every othr day 20 mg..after approx. 2 wks. was off...felt fine...about a month later I started having symptoms of nausea, dizziness, etc...can't shake them...help...I am thinking of going back on citlapram....

CAB wrote:

Weaned off in Feb. every othr day 20 mg..after approx. 2 wks. was off...felt fine...about a month later I started having symptoms of nausea, dizziness, etc...can't shake them...help...I am thinking of going back on citlapram....

Hi CAB
My GP suggested I weaned myself off that way however I chose to do it over a longer period of time with smaller doses and it was very gradual - I got a pill cutter and cut the tablets in half, then half again, then half again until i was left with 5mgs bits - i got it right down to taking these 5 mgs pieces every 3 days then 4 days then 5 days then stopped - I have suffered nothing bad at all -
In my humble opinion, I am now 'feeling' lots of emotions that were numbed for a few years so the emotional pain i have could be deemed to be depression however I am choosing to work through the pain and grow from it as I will always have it there in the background just waiting until I am drug free... for me, it has been the bes thing - I am a recovering alcoholic with over 3 and a half years sobriety and I am using my 12 step program to deal with the emotions along with a trusted therapist. I now know I am on the right path. I also know that for clinical depression Citalopram was a very good drug however I feel it needs close supervision with a start, a middle and an end to the course - it has been my experience that I was put on them and then just left to get on with it... I did not want to be on prescription drugs just for the sake of it.

I only wish I had been warned of the weight gain and withdrawals prior to being prescribed it. I still would have taken it but maybe not for so long and I would have not have been so down about my change in body shape....

My recommendations are: Take it if you need it, keep in touch with your GP ALL THE TIME, seek a therapist alongside the drug to work through the issues and when you come off - WEAN, WEAN, WEAN with patience and time... your depression did not occur over 2 weeks so clearing it will not be a quick fix... any quick fix in life seems to be a temporary one that is followed by something longer and probably worse....

Wishing you serenity.