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2 years on celexa, not working anymore

Posted , 4 users are following.

ryan06165
ryan06165

Hello everyone! It started a few weeks ago. I was watching tv one night, and I had a panic attack out of the blue. I thought nothing of it and went about the next few days. Every single night since that first night, I've had anxiety all day, and at least one panic attack at night.

I have been on 20mg of celexa for 2 years. It has been a complete lifesaver for me. As soon as this happened, I started with some lifestyle changes. I started doing cardio again, I started taking my dog for longer walks, and I have been more conscious about what I'm eating.

I couldn't get in to see my doctor when this first happened, so I went to a walk in clinic. The doctor there prescribed xanax until I could see my doctor.

I got in to see my doctor two days after that. She said sometimes celexa stops working and that I have a few choices. I can increase, switch, or continue what I'm doing and see what happens. I also had an ekg done twice because I feared something was wrong with my heart.

I don't want to increase because the side effects are unbearable, as we all know. I don't want to switch because of the side effects again. So, I've decided to continue exercising and see what happens. I've also started eating healthier and started using an app for meditation.

That was two weeks ago. Nothing seems to be working. I am still having anxiety most of the day. Then, every single night, without fail, I get at least one horrible panic attack.

I am lost and looking for some insight.

0 likes, 13 replies

13 Replies

  • sanja1993
    sanja1993 ryan06165

    Posted

    Hi Ryan I went threw the same think went from 10mg to 20mg and I seemed to be ok on 20 than I started noticing my anxiety was slowly coming back, then the panic attacks started coming on, than slowly I didn't want to do anything any more, to the point my anxiety was running my life I no longer left the house etc. Went to the doc and she increased it to 30mg been on it for little over 5 weeks and I see some improvement no more panic attacks, still have morning anxiety, have the shakes appetite is on and of. But I pushed threw to keep my dose at 20 and it got so bad I couldn't not do it no more. My doc said it's easier to increase the does than go to a new brand of meds. I would go for the higher does, will be hard at the beginning but at the end hopefully it will pay off.

  • monica62597
    monica62597 ryan06165

    Posted

    I'm not a doctor but I was on Celexa for five years at 40 mg and it was a lifesaver for me I got weaned off during my pregnancy and everything came right back over a period of two years I tried to go back on Celexa and had a horrible reaction to it. I have heard that these can stop working sometimes over a period of time if I were you and this is my personal opinion again not a doctor I would up my medication and see how that goes before switching. I know lots of people have this happen and they end up switching or upping it.

  • monica62597
    monica62597 ryan06165

    Posted

    I am currently trying Prozac now after being off meds for over two years
    • monica62597
      monica62597 ryan06165

      Posted

      The side effects aren't as harsh as the celexa was this last time I tried the celexa but haven't noticed improvement yet!Six weeks in.First time on celexa all those years agoI went from another med that wasn't working and celexa worked in two weeks 100 percent!Wish I could still tolerate it

    • ryan06165
      ryan06165 monica62597

      Posted

      Dang! I hope it works for you! I tried increasing my celexa from 20mg to around 22mg (by cutting the pill) and I did that for two days. Those two days were horrible for me. My anxiety increased by 100% and my heart pounded all day.
    • monica62597
      monica62597 ryan06165

      Posted

      That is rough I know!If you aren't able to go up you may want to switch.Its not always fun to do all this I know but worth it if your better.

  • borderriever
    borderriever ryan06165

    Posted

    You have the option of trying another medication or return to Citalopram.

    Your Doctor has advised a different medication, I would go with that and see how you go

    You will need to ask yourself, we all need to take informed choices and sometimes we need to push one way or another. You also need to feel comfortable in your own skin, your GP is in partnership with you, you need to trust Her knowledge

    BOB

  • ryan06165
    ryan06165

    Posted

    Hello all, thank you for the quick replies. My GP switched me from celexa to Effexor xr without any tapering. I'm a little nervous, but so far so good. Today is day one, and I am a little jittery, had a small bit of anxiety, but I feel that this is the correct path.

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