What happens when you stop taking Citalopram

I have stopped cold turkey taking 20mgs of Citalopram. Now it's my 6th day. What happens? I am feeling okay? I just feel a little light headed? What are the dangers?

Olga wrote:

I have stopped cold turkey taking 20mgs of Citalopram. Now it's my 6th day. What happens? I am feeling okay? I just feel a little light headed? What are the dangers?

I am tapering off; first I halved my pill of 20mg; then 1/4 of the tablet. I am experiencing light headedness. Dizziness. Brain shocks- they feel like short circuits. Also disoriented at times. The dreams are very strange, short ones, long jumbled ones. Some very odd, some scary. I take walks or dance if possible. Any form of exercise has helped. I took Benadryl for allergy the other night and all the above stopped for a night. It was nice to sleep for a while without all the action.Please see your doctor first. If you are doing o.k. thats good. But there is always a risk of depression getting the best of you, when you least expect it. Something could trigger it. Please get your doctors advice. I did and I am getting through this. Its hard because I have been on Zoloft then citalopram for twelve years. I am having such withdrawals. But it is getting better day by day. Ask your Doctor to explain a drugs half-life. Take care.

I'm 15, and I've been taking Citalopram (Celexa) for about 9 months, and didn't notice a change until I stopped taking it. I started at 10mg for about 3 weeks or so, then started taking 20mg. Since I figured it wasn't making a change, I talked to my doctor and they lowered my dose back to 10mg for a week or so until I was completely off of it. I've been off of the medication for approximately 3-4 days now, and I've been light headed, dizzy, and have had "brain shocks". It's really uncomfortable, and my mood has been very touchy.
What do I do?

I have slowly stopped taking 10 mg of Celexa over the last 3 months and the most noticeable side effect has been memory loss, and a loss of words. So often I can not think of the word that I'm trying to say. Also, my short term memory is horrible. Someone will ask me to do something, and I will forget to do it within minutes.

I'm a recovering addict alcoholic and latly been edged by my wife to take medication for moodswings. My therapist recommended thinking about Celexa and I'm just flat out scared of anything at this point that will put my sobriety on the line or make me more incline to be suicidal or whatever. It's seems that I drink to much caffeen so not sure how this is going to play out with my Ferrari brain.
Has anyone else been here? Not sure if being on antidepresents will help me or not.
AAA

I don't know if I have the flu or went pretty much cold turkey on citalopram, I would forget to take then, I feel pretty bad, for a week now,

Never just stop taking this stuff you will want to kill yourself! Its been 2 weeks since I have been off and I don't even feel like Im controlling my life, I have no drive to do anything, I see stuff, hear stuff, my head does this weird twitch feeling, I cry, I can't have sex, I hate everything around me. Better yet, never get on any SSRI!!

Hi I stoped takeing citalopram now I have problems going to sleep at night is this because I just stop takeing it?

I ran out of citalopram 4 days ago..I am experiencing brain shocks, but am jst trying my best to relax wen it happens. I did vomit today and if I hav a cigarette my head spins and I almost pass out. I am havn trouble wit slp, but even wen takn the pills I hav seriously contemplated suicide regularly

suezz.....i dont think you should have stopped taking the medication as quickly as you did because you will have side effects. They will pass in time but its never good to stop suddenly. You would be better to get more from your doc and taper, very very slowly over a couple of months at least! Even when I stopped slowly I still got brain zaps for a while and generally felt anxious and out of sorts.
How long were you actually on citalopram anyway? If it was just for a short time, then the suicidal thoughts can be worse at the beginning but almost always go away after a few months. Its a drug you NEED to take for quite a long time to get the full benefit. No one wants to take anti depressants but they are necessary to a lot of people and there is no shame in using them. Some people are just more sensitive than others.
Hope you feel better soon.

I have stopped taking my 20 mg of citalophram daily and i am also experiencing brain shocks....scary

Bad side effects, highly irritable and tired. Good side effects hopefully will be to lose this weight ive gained from it and get a sex drive back! This stuff sucks!

I was prescribed generic celexa at 20mg a day to start. I took it for less than 1 week. Myself and everyone around me noticed I wasn't myself, therefore stopped taking it altogether. I am just curious and wondering if being on it short term and quitting cold turkey will have the same "side effects" or "withdrawal" symptoms as being on it long term and tapering off or even going cold turkey. Can someone answer asap.

i think its good to stop these drugs.my experience is also very bad. normal you should stop slowly but if you took the drug only few times - cold turkey or
20 15 10 5 0 what the better way is this is the question? good luck and go off the drug!!!

I have been off Citalopram for several months and I went several months w/out having brain shocks. Now they are back in full force....it's driving me crazy. Did this happen to anyone else? I don't want to go back on it ..... what should I do???

jjj wrote:

I have been off Citalopram for several months and I went several months w/out having brain shocks. Now they are back in full force....it's driving me crazy. Did this happen to anyone else? I don't want to go back on it ..... what should I do???

I have beenon Citalopram for 10 months 60 mg I have cold turkey coming off. I'm on way to much meds I have been having bad headachs now I no they are brain zaps it Sks. I have stopped all my meds now and dont know what to do go back on or since I'm off now just stay off? no sleep ..

So I stopped taking it. And I'm so depressed now. I am crying. And I haven't had sex. This is the worse feeling. I'm back on now. I wasn't tryin to stop it but I just couldn't find motivation to do anything. I feel a little better knowing that I am not going crazy that it's the meds. I'm back on. I won't do cold turkey again.

I'm doing night shifts atm and have forgotten to take citalopram for 3 days running, i'm gonna just go cold turkey as I hate relying on something to complete me. I have noticed waight gain also, has anyone else experienced this??

I just read an article about AAS Antidepressant Apathy Disorder. It talks about feeling like you don't care about ANYTHING! I feel completely empty. I don't care if I get out of bed. Am I depressed or do I have this Antidepressant Apathy disorder. I switched from 150mg Effexor XR to 10 mg. Citalopram then upped the dosage to 20 mg. After being on 20mg. I feel a profound sense of apathy. I was suicidal, now I don't even care about that.....I need help. I have an appointment for medication management in December. I think I might decrease the dosage. I can tolerate the anxiety and depression much better than the utter emptiness. Any positive comments would be appreciated.

Celexa made me not care either. I didn't notice it until I skipped a few doses. Unfortunately I was on it for 6-9 months. I don't know exactly how long. That time is a blurr. I don't know what happened. I was tired and I didn't care about anything. Same thing everyday. Get up struggle to function, everything was a chore. Even walking 3 extra feet to throw away a wrapper or something. Terrible Terrible time.

If my house caught on fire I could care less. I was "happy" to not feel anything. I gained a lot of weight too. About 2-5 lbs a week. My doctor said it was not it, but now I switched and I feel better so I am hoping I can loose it.

I am taking Wellbutrin now, it has only been two weeks and I don't know if it is the wellbutrin or not taking celexa but DAMN I feel good. More active, when I see my children I respond to the smiles on their faces.