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From: Gerry
Date: 26/09/03
Time: 00:08:20
Remote Name: 211.26.122.61
I too have been on Cipramil for a few years now. I did cut the dose to half a tablet a day and felt OK. However, if I tried to stop altogether, I had transient 'dizzy' spells, lasting a second or less but which were quite frequent. If I took half a tablet, they disappeared within an hour, confirming it was the lack of the drug that caused them. I wanted to get off them as I felt I didn't need them but this side effect was a nuisance and laziness, maybe, saw me taking half a tablet every other day. At the same time, I was also experiencing fatigue, something I didn't connect with the Cipramil (nor did the doctor mention it as a cause when I told him) Blood tests showed nothing abnormal and so I began to think I wasn't getting enough exercise etc. My levels of anxiety increased recently, for now apparent reason and I found myself waking early (something I knew was a symptom of depression). The fact was, I didn't feel depressed, in fact, I began to wonder if I ever really had been or if it was really just anxiety I had. Anyway, the doctor suggetsed I go back to one tablet a day, increasing to one and a half after a few days. The result, after a week is that I now feel totally exhausted, especially after lunch (something I was putting down to high carbohydrate levels and lack of exercise) and I have to sleep, sometimes for as long as two hours. I wake feeling OK but not energetic or refreshed, just not as tired as I was. I've now realised, since reading various reports, today, that it's the Cipramil taht is causing this lethargy and fatigue and that the symptoms have increased greatly with the increase in dose. I now intend to go back to where I was, get through the 'dizzy' period and stop them altogether. I should have realised before, in the sense that I had noticed that, on the day I didn't take half a tablet, my fatigue seemed lessened. However, I began to think that that was a psychological or 'placebo' effect and ignored it really. From what I've read, doctors either suggest that these are a 'magic bullet' and long term use is totally safe, or are more cautious in the length of time they are used. Either way, the withdrawl symptoms are certainly there and I wish now that I had never started them. I have had other anti depressants, Prozac, Zoloft etc but never had these side effects with them, nor the inabilty to stop reasonably easily. My advice would be, if your doctor suggests Cipramil, weigh up the benefits and disadvantages carefully before you start.