Hi there

I have been on citalopram for 4 years, during which time my drinking has gone from a bit excessive to compulsive...during the last two years I have attended AA, contributed to sobriety websites, and worked very very hard indeed to stop drinking. After a 3 month period of sobriety this year I have been feeling very well, although the cravings have been almost unbearable, and I have been eating cake and chocolate in industrial quantities. With the advent of spring I decided to cut my medication from 20mg to 10mg about 2 weeks ago, and I soon noticed a massive reduction in my cravings, to the point where being in control of my drinking suddenly seems quite feasible to me. An internet search on SSRIS and alcohol cravings brought me here.
Today I have cut down to 5 mg, and will come off entirely in 12 days. If this is for real, then I feel somewhat annoyed that I have been struggling with alcoholism caused by my medication. Of course the advice is to not drink when on it, but if a side effect is to get unmanageable cravings then this is not terribly helpful advice.
I do remember that I really wanted to drink like a fish from the moment I went on this medication, but just put it down to feeling less anxious, and I really did not care about doing so at all, until I started getting ill on a regular basis with it.
I am upset to have dragged my family through this, perhaps unnecessarily. Of course for a sufferer from depression, these issues sometimes get confused, and I strongly suspect that my observations may well be viewed with skepticism by the medical profession- craving is quite a subjective concept, after all. And of course the alcoholic buddies I now have think I am just looking for an excuse to drink again!! My periods of total sobriety have taught me that drinking excessively is a waste of time, and a depressant, so I suppose that is a very useful insight. But I certainly hope to be able to share a bottle of wine with my husband occasionally without feeling compelled to go on a binge.

I will report back on how I feel after I stop taking the meds completely.
Loobs