citalopram withdrawal and re-taking...

[joko]

my friend abruptly stopped taking his citalopram for well over week ( not sure exactly how long, could have been 2) he has gone a little odd...just like a different person... but is taking them again now...
how long before the drug gets back into his system and he gets back to normal??
is it instant or will it take a while...?

thanks

[Aprilis]

It can take up to 4 weeks. I find that they kick back in a lot quicker than that myself though.

[Bathsheba]

I'm guessing it will take a couple of days- but abrupt withdrawal is a very dodgy thing to do. I wish your friend the best of luck x

[weeal]

youve got to 'wean' yourself off drugs like that, theyre serious stuff, gradually reduce them fortnightly or so if coming off them

[Bathsheba]

Did your friend experience head "pings", like little electric shocks after a few days cold turkey? x

[joko]

he was just being lazy and hadnt got round to gettin a repeat prescription.

I dont know about the pings...he was very ill with a kind of flu thing so may have attributed anything like that to the flu...

aprilis...do you find its days or weeks?

thanks

[jen78]

It can depend on the dosage he is on as to the amount his system will react to the withdrawal. 10mg a day withdrawal can be very different to people on say 40 or 60mg.

SSRI's are notorious for withdrawal symptoms, such as the horrid head shocks as mentioned about. There is a lot about it on the net.

It will probably only take a day or so to get rid of any withdrawal effects but depends on the gap he has left as to when they antidepressant effect will kick back in. If a long while, up to a few weeks if it has left his system, if less then chances are less if the drug is still in his system.

[druiaghtagh]

It only took about a week for me to have them kick back in again, it was silly fo me to attempt a suden withdrawal. Downdosing is the better way

[Aprilis]

Hi again joko. For me it's just a couple of days but then I'm only on 10mg. I occasionally don't get round to getting my repeat prescription on time too and that's how I know.

I do have to say though, especially for other people that may come along and read this, that I am on a low maintenance dose that keeps me just on the right side of slipping back into a depressive state. In fact, quite often I can get away with only taking 10mg every other day. So really I'm not the best subject for comparison.

For anyone on a higher dose, as jen78 says, it would be quite different. A week without them for someone like me on 10mg and who doesn't suffer quite as desperately as some is not too serious, but for people on higher doses (who's symptoms are obviously more severe) the effects of suddenly stopping can be quite bad and it's definitely NOT recommended.

The head 'pings' that people speak of are quite common when people suddenly stop taking Citalopram. You can also be prone to a major 'crash' in the first couple of weeks too. It is ALWAYS wise to stop them gradually.

[Theland1]

If I miss my 40 mg Cit tabs, rockets go off in my head!
Whoosh!
Anybody around me will wonder why for a second or three, I look stoned!
Not a nice feeling!

[blueflame68]

i take 20mg every day it keeps me carm i thing there pretty good they work for me,now proszac there horrible...