12 weeks 10mg - anxiety worse than ever before
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hi guys, i'm 22 and feeling incredibly alone.
I'm on my 12th week of 10mg of Citalopram. (Second time round, I went off them for 6 months worked well for me before on 10mg too).
I started getting increased anxiety around week 8 - thought it was just a blip but its gotten worse to a point where I'm getting really dark thoughts of giving up.
I think i'm just so upset because it worked so well before and now i'm at the stage where I should be feeling some benefit (even just a bit) but I feel worse than before I ever started taking it. My chest pain caused my anxiety is constant and honestly unbearable. I'm trying so hard to keep busy and positive but I'm just so worn down. I just want this chest pain to go away it hurts so much I'm not present with anything. Seeing so many posts of people feeling even a little better around this time when i literally have never been more anxious and in pain is really hard to deal with. My life situation is not bad so i'm just so upset this is taking over.
1 like, 14 replies
f25660
Posted
The blip seemed to start around week 6 after a brand change from Accord to Soverign so I changed back and have been back on Accord for about 3 weeks now I think, - hard to keep track.
sun47 f25660
Posted
hi sorry to hear about your current troubles, it seems like it might be a good idea to now chat more with your doctor about how to proceed, for example he might think a dose increase might help, or consider switching to a different medication? hopefully you dont mind the idea of trying a different med if necessary? there's lots of effective anxiety medication available, i know its so difficult in the meantime trying to cope with that horrible feeling of anxiety, i hope you will feel better as soon as possible
f25660 sun47
Posted
But it worked great for me before so i don't understand. Back when i was 18 I tried every antidepressant and citalopram was the only one that worked.
sun47 f25660
Edited
ah ok i didnt realise you had tried lots of others in the past
im wondering, when you started the 10mg citalopram this time around, was it helping your anxiety at first do you think, and then your anxiety came back ?
katecogs f25660
Posted
Hi
I've just sent you reply to your private message. 12 weeks is quite early days on meds so you wouldn't be fully recovered yet ..... and second time around on meds can take longer. Never compare your journey on meds to anyone else's - its all personal and the meds will work for you in their own time. Some people recover quicker than others, some much longer - don't worry about anyone else but you.
K x
sun47 f25660
Edited
if she felt better at first taking 10mg but then her anxiety came back, and since 20mg is the usual dose for citalopram in adults, she may benefit from a dose increase. perhaps she could discuss it with her doctor
in the meantime if her anxiety is through the roof along with chest pains, her doctor may want to prescribe her something to help with that, such as propranolol (which she could take along with the citalopram)
ps. 12 weeks is a long time.... she should at least be getting some benefit by now, even if small. she's actually feeling worse though, and that's with a very low dose of the med, half of what they recommend to take in the included leaflet. if she was on a high dose of citalopram it might explain why she is really anxious (overstimulated by too much of the med)... but 10mg? that's very low.
if i was her i would speak to her doctor, there's no harm in discussing options, including if desired a referral to eg. the mental health team for further investigating her health condition
katecogs sun47
Posted
True, 20mg is the general recommended dose for adults and may find this will help, though if 10mg has worked before then I’m sure it will again.
Taking meds takes a long time for them to kick in and seems it takes even longer second time around. My first time took 6 months and was 9 months the next time.
So, though 12 weeks is a long time, its still relatively short in recovery terms, especially second time with meds. Generally small benefits start around this time (first time on meds) but they’re often overlooked as recovery as people expect small relief, yet its usually other symptoms ie sleep, appetite that may improve first.
It takes a long time for the body to start desensitising.
I suggested she first get the chest pain checked out (always best to rule out any pains) though am guessing its caused by heightened anxiety, and then feeling anxious about the pain itself. And agree - once the pain has been checked then get some medication for the chest pain, even maybe an antacid - as could be acide reflux (very painful). Anxiety gets the juices flowing in the stomach so could well be that.
K 😄
f25660 katecogs
Posted
my dr. want me to switch to prozac/fluoxitine. im so confused by it all.
katecogs f25660
Edited
I'd stick with what you're on for now - Citalopram worked for you before. Sometimes doctors are too quick to change their patients medicine - everyone underestimates how long this takes.
f25660 katecogs
Posted
yes i'm leaning to that too. Sometimes I feel googling and spending a bit too much time on these forums make me worse.
My family have gone for the week = lack of my usual routine/support/lots of time alone which I'm sure is hindering my recovery.
I'm going to give it a bit longer, get bloods done and message this forum again in a couple of weeks. Lets hope I can get through them!
katecogs f25660
Posted
Rule of thumb with this anxiety condition is to stop googling and looking things up. Everybody desparately searches for instant relief - but you can’t fix this overnight - and part of recovery is to stop looking because immersing yourself in this daily makes it worse. Actually doing the opposite and stop trying to fix ourselves it the path back. We can’t fix a broken bone anymore than we can fix anxiety - step out of the way and your body will fix itself. Its not easy, but its the correct route. The medicine will do this too.
The book link I sent explains this (referring to it as the backpack getting weighed down).
nathan29183 katecogs
Posted
ive been on fluoxetine now for 8 weeks after suffering from a real bad viral infection and just the past few days or so felt ive gone a little backwards. higher anxiety and jitters as like the side effects when i first started. is this normal and part of the recovery and something i will come through, like these blips i hear about its horrible feeling after feeling so well so well in recent weeks. need a little up lift from someone whos has gotten through this?
katecogs nathan29183
Posted
Hi Nathan
Going backwards (having setbacks) is absolutely normal when you’re recovering - it happens to everyone. It doesn’t mean you’ve relapsed but in fact it means you’re moving forwards / recovering. You can't recover without setbacks.
So yes, treat them as a necessary part of recovery.
They are horrible I know, but the best thing is to try to just allow all feelings and thoughts and not to fight them or head chatter with them. The best way to deal with all symptoms and thoughts is to just leave them alone and let them do their thing without any interference from us - no head chatter / analysis about each symptom - this actually is the natural way to recover, though the medicine will bring about recovery too - it just helps to not interfere too. Its called acceptance 😉
The more you fight, resist, avoid the more symptoms, thoughts will stick.
8 weeks on meds is early days still (different for everyone though I know). But generally you’ll be up and down all the way, though it gets less intense over time.
Recovery takes a long time so just try and go with what you feel and know that you will get there in the end. The meds will bring you out of this over time.
nathan29183 katecogs
Posted
thanks for your reply kate 😀
yeh i know im still early and could be a month or so yet before i feel the full effectiveness of the meds. just horrible to feel like this when you have been feeling so well and like you are getting back to yourself. i do think that this set back is no where near where i was before starting the meds so i will look at that as a positive. just hope it doesn't last to long and start to pick back up again ive only been back at work for 4 weeks, so small steps but hopefully moving in the right direction. its good to hear from someone who knows what you are going through thanks it helps