3 weeks down, 10mg Citalopram. My experience.
Posted , 14 users are following.
Hi to those of you on this journey with me, just thought I'd start a little thread and update you all over the next few weeks on how I am finding the first few weeks of my second citalopram journey.
Ok so, first day as expected within a hour or so I had almost instant diahoreah and my stomach felt a bit iffy. This continued for the next week and a half, very mild nausea and diahoreah but my mood and anxiety had improved as did my sleep and my appetite.
After 12 days I started to experience heightened anxiety, insomnia (not being able to go to sleep and waking up sweating) morning anxiety, extreme tiredness and nausea, continued diahoreah, headaches on and off, feelings of uneasiness and general low mood. (naturally) this lasted for 7 days. Then yesterday I woke up and the tiredness and nausea seem to have lifted somewhat, although still not back to my full energetic self just yet. Still no appetite but able to eat without feeling sick now.
Sleep still very hit and miss, lats night woke alot with sweaty palms, nausea and anxiety, but again don't feel as exhausted.
Every morning, is a challenge to get out of bed, I think the feeling of dread on how the day will pan out is ultimately the hardest. This is also due to the current situation we are in though, that feeling of groundhog day. Not working, kids home and not alot of distraction.
Heading into week 4 today and will keep you all updated. I do feel like my overall experience on citalopram the second time around has been a bit more challenging due to the side effects being much more prominent, but, its always important to remember even on those days that we feel like we're never going to feel normal again, feeling hopeless and exhausted that it will eventually improve and we will be fighting fit again. Physically and mentally.
2 likes, 81 replies
Hope3578
Edited
Over 3 months now of 10 mg Citalopram and i can definitely say they have worked. Still get Mild anxiety, sleepless nights once in a while and tiredness, but that is just life when you're a single Mum to 2 children in lock-down (Kinda) I've had them both home and not worked since the 23rd of March and boy am i missing normality...
The first few weeks are rotten on this medication for a lot of us and i dont ever want to go back there. I have made many life changes and still more to come, but ultimately i want to live as much of a anxiety free life without medication, although, i am not in any rush to stop taking them just yet.
Cutting down on Alcohol, eating better, exercise and CBT are all really good ways of managing anxiety better, so please all do give these things a try if you can.
k93282 Hope3578
Posted
hi,how is everyone doing now? I'm 3 weeks in on my 3rd time and really struggling with the side effects. Nausea is awful. Just looking for a bit of positivity x
angela39244 Hope3578
Posted
Glad you are doing well, I am also 12 weeks on 10mg and although much better I still get bouts of mild anxiety but I dont want to increase my dose I also want to come off it when possible
Hope3578 k93282
Posted
Hey, I'm in a bit of a blip atm I think. First one in a while actually. I've been on mine 5 months or so now, overall I'm OK, but think I am just going through a readjustment period due to starting college and having a new schedule etc... I don't miss the old days of nausea I have to say, but it does ease I promise. Time and patience and acceptance is my best advice. Its OK and you will feel better.
Hope3578 angela39244
Edited
Yes I'm 5 months in now and also still get bouts of anxiety, but they are definitely less severe and manageable. Its totally normal to still react to certain challenges you may face in the future even whilst on citalopram, the key is to learn not to react with negative thinking, which is probably one of the hardest things to do and I don't know anyone at all whose mastered this yet.
Geofferz Hope3578
Posted
Hi Hope...On 10 mg nearly a month...Nausea headache gone but no kick in effect yet...Will it do its work eventually.??
Geofferz Hope3578
Posted
Hi Hope...Been on 10 mg for 27 days...Nausea headaches gone but no positive effects...Will they kick in eventually.??
Hope3578 Geofferz
Posted
Hey, yes they will start to work, I started to feel the proper effects of the medication around 3 months, but my appetite and sleep started to improve around 6 weeks in. It unfortunately does take a long time for this medication to fully work, and some people it takes much longer than others, some sooner. But ultimately you have to just trust the process. Every bump in the road that you may or may not get during your recovery is just another step closer to feeling better again. Thankfully you sound like you're over the worse of the side effects now, the medication will just start leveling out over the next few weeks.
anne13145 Hope3578
Posted
hello hope and everyone,
I'm not too good at writing posts but reading your experiences have helped me a lot.
I was on 5mg for 2 weeks and now have managed to take the whole 10mg dose and have done for 19 days now. after about 10 days on the 10mg I did start to feel a bit more normal and clearer headed. but unfortunately now I am feeling awful again like I did when I first started the 10mg. really anxious and in and out of panic, really agitated, feel so foggy and like I'm going mad, suffer with vertigo anyway and it's like I'm constantly tripping out. my eyes are so blurry and flickery it's just awful and I am so scared this is happening so bad again when I have been on them quite a while. any advice or words of encouragement would be greatly received.
hope you are all doing well 😊
Geofferz anne13145
Posted
Hi Anne...I think the key is Patience...Give it Time to adjust to your body Anne.😉
Hope3578 anne13145
Posted
Hey Anne. It's common around the 10 day mark for you to start feeling like that actually. It's like your body/brain is just levelling out and this is where you'll experience the side effects. And yes, you can experience the side effects over and over again with each increase in dosage. My advice is to stay on 10mg now and just plough on through these next few weeks. They will feel rough, but it just proves the medication is doing its job, it's getting into your system and your system is just trying to figure it all out, hence the increased anxiety and other symptoms. I felt exactly the same as you during the beginning but now I'm back to my old self again. You will get their to, but you have to be a solider just a little while longer.
anne13145 Geofferz
Posted
hi Geoff. thank you for your reply. sorry it's taken me a few days, been so bad that I haven't been able to read let alone type. the last week has just been hell and am really struggling. this evening is slightly more manageable so fingers crossed. 🙂
anne13145 Hope3578
Posted
hi hope. thank you for your reply. I'm so glad to get some words of encouragement, and to know that I'm not all alone in this. sorry it's taken me a few days to reply the last week has just been hell! was so close to just giving up but really need to get back to some normality so I can be there fully for my little boy. feel like ive not been apart of his life properly for the last 2 years I've been ill. I do hope this works and the side effects go as just would like to have some sort of a life again, as dam.. 2 years of this has felt like a life time.
Geofferz Hope3578
Posted
Hi Hope...Will it kick in soon??...Nausea Tummy rumbles gone but still feeling anxious after 4 weeks on 10MG.
Hope3578 Geofferz
Posted
Give it a couple more weeks. Try to accept that you feel a little wobbly and unwell right now and gently carry on. It does work eventually.