Still unsure whether I should up my dose.

Thanks Debbie, I hope the increase continues to work for you.  I think it must speed up recovery but I don't want to go through the side-effects of changing dose.  

There are so many men that seem to have the same problem and women of all ages I'm not so sure it's menopause related.  I suffered with anxiety first time when I was 29 yrs. I think it's brought on by long term stress.

We've spoken before and I was interested to hear whether your increased dose worked. I hope things keep improving.

Anna xx

Let me know how you get on.  I went to the doctor but just said I was fine because I was too scared to go through the side-effects of an increase in dose, but if it speeds recovery it's got to be worth it.

Anna. From reading some of the posts in here awhile ago on this subject, an increase will not speed up ur recovery as ur body has to get use to the increase in meds. And the possibility exists for the side effects to be there also. But i'm no expert by any means. Ijts just what i've read in here. Good luck.

Hi Peter. I am also on 40mg but for 2weeks. Very sweaty and tired in the morning. Did you feel this and if so when did it improve? You say you have been on this dose for 3months.

Hello, I wish I could write a lot here as I think what we are going through deserves a lot of attention.

Firstly I have been to a phsychologist several times and that helped mostly because I now know many people suffer from "call it depression but I think it has many names and many forms" She told me that when you get the correct dose of medication you feel great and the side effects go away.

What I have done is go high on the meds, let it fix the moods and dreads, then when I feel better which 40 mg I think will do I will, after a few months slowly, very slowly decrease until I feel the blues again then stop at that dose for a long time.

As for the side effects I get a bit drowsy but not too bad after a month, I did get a dry mouth but not so much now, and now you mention it I do get the sweats a bit, I live in Canada so the winters help with that and I do not notice it much.

My advice is stick with what the doc says and when you feel better, then if you want very slowly reduce, but that should take months not days.

Hey I am no doctor, I think they are good at this and we must trust someone.

Thanks for the advice Katecogs.  How long do you think I should stay on the 20 mg to judge whether it's right for me?

 

Again everyone's different.  I recovered on 20mg - some people it 30mg or higher.

I'd stay on one dose for a good 3-4 months - if in that time you haven't felt even slightly better then think about increasing.  It can happen so slowly and recovery is often up and down too - so sometimes you'll feel like you're winning only to find yourself back down in that hole again.  That's normal.

 

Thanks for getting back to me.  I really appreciate your advice.  

Hi katecogs. I have been on citalopram for 12weeks now ( last 2 at 40mg) still having sweating and extremely tired in the morning. I take my meds at 6am and feel less tired about midday. Is there anything you can suggest I can do to improve this situation.

Hi Zoe

A lot of people do struggle on 40mg and find some adjustments to their dose helps sort out a few niggling problems.  Obviously don’t do this yourself - you need to speak to your doctor.

You’ve increased quite rapidly from the start - a larger dose doesn’t mean you’ll get better any quicker than you would on a smaller dose.  Whatever dose you take you’ll still get the side effects, still go through the same process, and it’ll still take the same amount of time.

Are you sleeping well at night?  Do you go to bed at a good time?  6am is quite early to wake up - are you waking then getting up, or go back to sleep.

Sleep with the window open a bit for fresh air in the room is good.  Going for a walk is quite good to clear the cobwebs - fresh air helps to clear the head and tiredness.  A hot shower followed by a burst of cold-ish (if you can bear it) helps to wake you up.  No caffeine.  And how about yoga - it helps you relax, can also be refreshing (depends on the exercises), is good for stress and a whole host of other things.  A class to start with or online classes, and then do some yoga in the morning.

Tiredness does wear off for most people, but you have had to get used to a large dose quickly, so I suspect your body is still settling.

K x

Thanks for that advice.

I set my alarm to wake up at 6, although to be honest I am waking before it goes off now. I need to be up by 7 to get kids to school. I am on sick leave as mo but am truing to keep to my work waking routine.

I try to get to bed by 9pm. My room is dark, I make the bed comfy and then I try to listen to a sleep story. I don't usually get to hear the end!

Do you think my dosage has been increased too quickly? my doc wanted me to change meds after 30 but I wanted to persevere.

Well you seem to be getting enough sleep with the hours you're keeping.  That's a bit concerning your doctor wanting to move you onto a different meds after 30mg so soon after starting ..... you've not been on them long enough ...... and even now at 12 weeks, its not long enough.

You have to give these meds a good 3-4 months ... even longer, and on the correct dose before you can judge whether they're the ones for you.  To change dose too often and swap from meds to meds chasing recovery is not the way to go.  These meds take so long to even make a small dent in your mood, so you need stick with it even if you can't see any change.

Some people make the mistake of chasing recovery - not giving one meds time to work, swapping to another, thinking the side effects aren't normal, increase doses to fight these, change meds again ......... and all the time the body is trying to cope with side effects and withdrawal and doesn't know if its coming or going.

You need to slow down, stay on one dose for months, put up with the side effects (you'll get them with each dose increase and you'll get withdrawal with each decrease), stop fighting, relax and let those side effects be there, step aside and let your body begin to heal.

It took me 6 months to recover on these ....... most people take around 3-4 months to even notice the beginnings.  Weeks is a small amount of time.  I wouldn't change meds.

You might find a lower dose will be better for the tiredness ..... we are all different though so we all suit different doses.  Maybe if the tiredness doesn't settle in another few weeks then talk to your doctor about a reduction.  Word of advice - be careful reducing if you do - maybe by 5mg or 10mg over 4 weeks at a time to avoid withdrawal symptoms.

It is trial and error getting your dose right xx

 

Are you stills on citalopram? How long for?

You appear very patient with your situation.

I think I was hoping that I could get all side effects over with while on sick leave and then just fall back into work as if nothing has happened. Do you work? Did you need time of when starting meds?

No I'm not on medication anymore - I came off Citalopram last year and have been meds free for 6 months now.  I recovered many years ago on these meds, stayed on them for years, reduced to a maintenance dose for more years and then spent a year withdrawing from them.

Yes I've grown to be very patient - over the years I learnt what anxiety is, how is stays with you and how to deal with it, as well as taking medication.  My son also had a breakdown 3 years ago and I helped him through it to recovery too.  He's also off meds now.

You could possibly get over the side effects before returning to work, but its best not to put a timescale on anything to do with recovering.  Just let recovery happen for you - if you start wanting to do things by certains times and they don't happen, you can end up frustrated and despondent ... adding more anxiety to an already anxious body.

I was working when I was ill, but when I started meds I was a stay at home mum with 2 small children which was incredibly hard.  I needed to be 'with it', up and about to see to them, active and playing with them.  I crumbled many times and just wanted to stay in bed all the time, but I couldn't.