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Just started 5 mg of Citalopram.....scared!

Posted , 33 users are following.

Misdameanor22
Misdameanor22

I have been prescribed Citalopram for general anxiety and mild depression by my doctor. The past few months I have had anxiety and depression that I just cannot shake, and I thought I could handle it without meds but alas here I am. Initially he gave me 50 mg of Sertraline, but I had to stop after 1 dose because of insane side affects; insomnia, scary thoughts, absolutely no appetite, shaky-ness and overall feeling drugged out. My husband was scared to death for me and we decided that I would not take another pill of that. My doctor agreed that I am extremely sensitive to SSRI's, and trying another option was what will be best for me.

I have decided to ease into the Citalopram, and have taken 5 mg about an hour and a half ago. I feel very calm, a little zoned out and sleepy. Is this normal? This morning I was a basketcase of nerves, pounding heart, etc. Could it be a placebo effect? I was so incredibly scared to take even this small amount so I don't really know how my body is going to react. Any comments are appreciated!! :-)

1 like, 114 replies

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  • anne2953
    anne2953 Misdameanor22

    Posted

    Hi Misdameanor

    This is totally normal, some side effects are not even real they are due to the anxiety tricking us, persevere as your body will need to adjust, I was like you terrified to take cit now I believe I wasted 3 months of my life been too scared to start them, I am on 40mg now and feel great, no anxiety, depression, panic attacks nothing, except maybe a bit sleepy at times but I relish that as for a long time I could not sleep and used to walk the floors at night, now thats gone too, thanks to Citalopram. so be strong you will get there, good days and bad days buit rememver every day is a day closed to feeling good again.

    Take care and join Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram? forum you will be welcomed there by loads of folk in the same position as you, great support there, if you read back to the posts in October you will see my story there. Hopefully that will show u how I got better.

    Take care,

    Anne smile

  • louise1974
    louise1974 Misdameanor22

    Posted

    Hi Misdamenaor

    The day I took my first Cit 10mg I was seriously quite sleepy and zoned out by no anxiety or anything.  A lot of what you experienced with Sertraline is the anxiety anyway like Anne says.  Unfortunatley alot of these meds genuinly do raise your anxiety levels and that is something you have to ride out a couple of weeks before you calm down again.  I am on week 6 now of 20mg of Citalopram and feeling much better.  Not back to normal yet but certainly there is no comparison to how I felt before starting this.  I did go through a couple of weeks of being s**t scared (pardon my french) with raised anxiety levels but it does calm down I PROMISE.  A lot of walking when you feel your worst and deep breathing and keep telling yourself you will get there.  I'ts not an overnight fix certainly but in the long term it's helping you to a much calmer way of life.  I still have the insomnia, at the beginning I got the panic, raised anxiety, scary thoughts are normal, no appetite etc, unfortunately you have to feel worse before you feel better but please don't worry, what you will experience is normal for this tablet and it really does improve.  I think the worst side effects seem to last 4-5 days before it starts to calm down.  For me the longest lasting one is insomnia which I hope will calm down shortly.  But to be honest my mood is improved that much that I am coping with this.

    Good luck and keep posting here and reading others so you feel you are not on your own.

    Louise xx

  • julie21804
    julie21804 Misdameanor22

    Posted

    Hello persist with them if you can my name is Julie I am 50 and been on citalopram for three years the effects of the meds at first is a bit extreme for me that was shakes scared diahorea head bad  but the long term affects are good calm being able to function too be honest tried to come off but no chance so I stopping on them because if being off them means I am scared n panicky all time I'd rather stay on them n feel better I on 20mg and stayin on this now calm n functioning occasional flip but you have to help yourself too cbt does help n a lot of telling yourself you will get through n be strong for you and your health , I go on walks helps n put on loads wright but rather be fat n sane ! Hope this helps you it's a long hard struggle . Xx jools
  • elizabeth20203
    elizabeth20203 Misdameanor22

    Posted

    Hi I would try sticking with the meds as it takes 4-6 weeks to stabilise in your system. Your on a low dose so side effects may not be to severe. I am on 20mg into my third week and starting to feel better. I had some severe side effects for a couple of weeks but i am now glad that i was encouraged on here to stick with the meds. Have you tried taking in the morning instead of at night, i found by switching from night to morning as helped with my sleeping and i don't wake up with the panic attacks like i did. Hope this helps. Keep in touch with this forum as lots of people can encourage and support you. 
  • Misdameanor22
    Misdameanor22

    Posted

    Thank you so much for all of your kind thoughts! I am now on day 4, and moved up to 10 mg. I find that I am feeling really positive sometimes, and then BAM! I go back to feeling anxious and scared. My husband has been very supportive and he is my rock for sure. I do not know how people do this alone!! I'll keep everyone posted and I would love to hear how everyone else is doing as well. 
    • elizabeth20203
      elizabeth20203 Misdameanor22

      Posted

      Hi, i spoke before to you. I did i start to feel better until yesterday that is then i started to feel really awful again, i rang GP today as the side effects were getting intolerable and i asked the GP if i could reduce my dose from 20mg to 10 mg. So yes some days are better than others. I feel better today for taking the lower dose.  
    • Misdameanor22
      Misdameanor22 elizabeth20203

      Posted

      I'm glad that you are feeling better today then yesterday. I think it's so crazy how our bodies all react so differently! My doctor wants to up me to 20 mg to really get the benefits, but I admit I don't know if I'm ready to do it yet. What kind of side effects did you feel on 20 mg and how long were you on that dose? 
    • anne2953
      anne2953 Misdameanor22

      Posted

      hi 

      I had no side effects on my increase to 20mg and none on my increase to 40mg sometimes its the anxiety tricking us into thinking we are getting worse side effects but your not, I promise u need at least 20mg to feel the benefit then soon life will be back to normal. persevere and stay strong you can do it, a day at a time xxx

      Annesmile

    • Misdameanor22
      Misdameanor22 anne2953

      Posted

      Anne you are such a motivation! I really appreciate your positive comments and encouraging words. I do believe that my anxiety tricks my brain and body sometimes and makes me feel worse then I really am. Feeling pretty confident now to take the next steps cheesygrin
    • anne2953
      anne2953 Misdameanor22

      Posted

      well done Misdameanor your positive attitude will help you get there, I do know now looking back that a lot of it was my anxiety but I didnt know at the time, I can see it all clearly now and wish someone had told me, so I could deal with it better, I was a total wreck but just scared of everything couldnt even watch tv... I knew it wasnt right as had never felt like that but now I am able to look at the last few months and know I could deal better if I ever got it again, however dont ever think I will come off cit, as never want to go back there lol

      So good when you see the light, and it just keeps getting better, so I promise you will be grand in a few weeks, think how much you have already suffered up to now so you are well on your way to been normal again. I am happy to help you get there, as I wish someone had told me. But saying that I did get support from some amazing folk just no one whom had really come out the other side, we were all just comofrting each other which got me thru it knowing I wasnt the only one. xx

      Stay strong 

      Anne smile

    • elizabeth20203
      elizabeth20203 Misdameanor22

      Posted

      My side effects were severe, not sleeping, increased anxiety, no appetite and restlessness and panic attacks. Only been on them 3 weeks but think i should of started on 10mg then increased, instead i started on 20mg and down to 10mg, coping better now. Everyone is different so i would go with what your GP recommends.
    • Misdameanor22
      Misdameanor22 anne2953

      Posted

      Hi Anne,

      It's now my 5th day, and I have upped to 15 mg of Cit this morning. It's crazy how much anxiety I had about taking the new dosage, but I am feeling okay right now. I find that my mornings are terrible but once lunch time comes around I start to feel more like myself, and the evenings are great with my hubby! I really hope that this med works for me, because I was like you in not knowing that my anxiety had really taken over my life that much! It really does impact a lot of the daily things I do but I just coped with them because I thought it was normal, which it totally is not. I'm trying to repeat positive mantra's and tell myself that I will be ok. I always try and visualize a peaceful situation if I start to get anxious; either a tropical beach with my toes in the sand or my wonderful hubby's face! Sounds silly, but it really has been helping me through the rough times.  

    • anne2953
      anne2953 Misdameanor22

      Posted

      yes it will be a massive help to you, I was ttending reiki sessions but it was really expensive £55 every few days, so I went and did a Reiki course and now practice it on myself and whomever fancies it, so relaxing as is the reiki music, I also did tappin (EFT look it up) for a while but that was another £55 a week but I was trying everything I could to get better, then my CIT kicked in and I felt better I stopped the tapping sessions as I could now do it myself, (the tapping helped as I had just lost my Mum and wasnt coping well with that either, the tapping really helped me grieve and face stuff)

      Think I had forgotton all the stuff that effected me, was afraid to sleep in the dark too, thats gone now lol was terrified of getting water in my ears in the shower (how ridiclous lol) I got tinnitus with my anxiety that has never went away, so maybe thats why I was anxious in the shower. I could go on and on, but I dont want to put ideas to your anxiety, all my fears have gone now thankfully.

      Keep up the good work xx

      Anne smile

    • amie99771
      amie99771 Misdameanor22

      Posted

      I know your post is old but this is what I am dealing with right now. I wake up miserable and then as the day goes on I start to feel a little better by evening I feel like myself and then it starts over again the next day. I have had the full effects of citalopram and was feeling great but got scared and thought that I shouldn’t depend on this medication for a long time so I tried to wean off. Here I am starting over again with The same feelings and starting the citalopram over again going through all of the side effects again. I am wondering have you ever tried to wean off or are you still on them?

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