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Misc How to lower dose of anti-anxiety?

F

filter2700

Greenlighter
Joined
Feb 21, 2012
Messages
47
Doctor put me on 40mg of citalopram. It's worked great, and I've been on it for about three months. I feel a lot less anxious, normal, calm, I've read this is a pretty high dose, and I find I can be a little too carefree sometimes and lethargic. I'd like to stay on this, but how should I go about lowering my dosage to 20mg daily instead of 40mg? Just start taking 20mg? Or should I do 30mg for a week or two, then 20 mg? Whats the best way to go about this without nasty side effects? Thanks.
 
Ask your doctor about it before you start messing with medication doses. A lower dose may not always work as well as a higher one, and if it's working for you currently it is probably not a smart idea to introduce the possibility for trouble.

If you do decrease your dosage you want to make any changes slowly, and only reduce the dosage to the point where side effects are tolerable - don't assume it's going to be 20mg, it may be 30mg or you may find 40mg works best. Everyone's body chemistry is different and you can't really tell ahead of time what dosage will work and what will not.
 
I was on 20mg citalopram daily and quit cold turkey after 4-5 months. I knew it wasn't the most sensible thing to do but I got sick of the side effects.

For 2 weeks after discontinuing it, I thought I had a mild cold. Recently I found out that this is actually one of the symptoms of SSRI discontinuation syndrome. It's probably better to taper.
 
Always better to taper. When I quit it, I got brain zaps that toppled me to the floor. SSRI wd isn't that bad compared to others for me but I have never been able to tolerate them for any extended period of time. Don't cut your dosage in half. If you want to get off of it, do it the right way and make small cuts every 3-4 weeks, like 10-15%. I don't have any trust in doctors anymore, most I've dealt with are batshit crazy, esp. drug happy shrinks. Do it slowly. You never know how sensitive you are to WD until you go through it. For some people it is hard, others, no big deal. You need a mg scale to do it correctly.
 
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