18 weeks on citalopram

Hi Brye, have you tried cutting down rather than raising the dose?   I tried It with some good results & every now & then, even miss a day, I’m afraid everybody Is so so different with tolerances & side effects, that it’s better experimenting, rather listening to Doctors, that don’t seem to have much time for you these days.

You have good advice from a few people with cits experiences Brye, so it seems like you have taken the 1st step to take control of self dosage, as you said you feel better when you skipped a tablet .  Next time Instead of taking a full tablet after skipping, try half one, It seems to do the trick with me,  I know you have had problems previously with  ssri’s I have also, but the cits Is the one I have had the most benefit from, so hopefully If you persevere, It will work for you also.🤞

Thanks for all your replies....I know these drugs are different for everyone, I wouldn't want to go any higher than 20mg. I'm going to try with 10mg and see how that feels. How will I know if it's the right dose?

Your 8th medication in just over a year?  I think that might be where the problem lies - you're not giving these meds the time they need, and to keep starting one meds and swapping to another you're getting constant side effects and discontinuation effects so your body doesn't know if it's coming or going.

These type of meds take months and months, not weeks, and people often don't notice recovery starting because they expect to just start feeling well.  What often happens is that you'll get a complete mix of side effects slightly easing, maybe some good days or just hours feeling good mixed with bad days, plus every morning will still be awful.  You wont just suddenly start feeling well ......... this happens so gradually.

Throughout recovery you'll probably get setbacks - this is where the symptoms come back.  It's normal and doesn't mean you're ill again or that the meds aren't working - it means the meds are working.

So you have to work with all those nasty feelings present - and just play the waiting game.  Increasing your dose won't make recovery happen any quicker and won't stop the setbacks - they happen whatever dose you take.

Some people chase recovery by hopping from one meds to another hoping for a quick fix, but just never respite from it all because they don't give the meds the time needed.  Stick with one meds.  It took me 6 months to recover - it can take longer for some people or shorter.  Everyone's different.

K x

Hi guys yes my 8th med since Jan 2017, I have never had this sort of medication ever, the doctors kept changing my dose and changing meds. I'm so angry for what they have done, this is the longest I've stayed on 1 med because I wanted to give it ago, even then the doctors tried upping from 20mg to 30mg but I said no. I'm going to drop dosage to 10 to see if helps me. I would love to have my energy and concentration back, I've felt very lazy on 20mg so hoping this helps.

Many thanks for all your advice

You don't have to listen to the psychologist. When I tell them what s going on with side effects we usually end up going with me feeling on it and I got pretty screwed up after some bad advice from a locum Dr. Question are you sleeping right? Drinking too much caffeine or alcohol? Have you had anything bad happen in your personal life recently? Remember anxiety isn't all about the meds and my initial recovery was stunted basically by poor lifestyle choices. I've relapsed (stress out of my control) but I am confident in the tomorrow. Take care