3rd time on citalopram help
Posted , 5 users are following.
Hi
I'm now on my 3rd round of citalopram. I was on it for years in 2014 then came off in 2019, back on in 2020, came off a year later and now im back on in 2023.
The first and second time i went on it, the trajectory seemed to be straight up with no side effects. This time, I'm 3 weeks in and I'm up and down like crazy.
At first I felt great after a week, then after week 2 I took a nosedive and was straight back to the beginning with my anxiety symptoms; shaking, nausea, being sick, no appetite.
After a few days it started to be only the mornings where my anxiety symptoms were at their worst and then would ease during the day. By bed time I am usually feeling absolutely fine but it feels like my brain is resetting every night and I wake up back in square one.
Is this normal?!? I know I'm not even 4 weeks into the medication and that it takes time but it frightens me that it's worked perfectly for me in the past but this time it's so different.
I started on 20mg and that's the dose I've been on every time I've been on citalopram. I also do daily meditation, journalling and have started yoga.
Please reassure me that what I'm experiencing is normal!
0 likes, 4 replies
matthew42774 fiocat
Posted
Hi Fiocat,
I am on Week 5 of an increased dose going up from 20mg to 30mg after a relapse over christmas. I am very similar with lots of ups and downs. I definitely am worse in the morning the reset is a good description and kind of makes you dread bed time doesn't it. I remember it being the same the first time I started citalopragm back in Dec 2008 but can remember how long it lasted. From what I remember and what I have read on here it is totally normal. All the best
SubEkAll fiocat
Posted
i am on my second time and my side effects have been severe both times. i am not pleased that i stopped and now have to endure and try and survive this again!
MNLM fiocat
Posted
i am also on round 2 and cannot remember feeling like this prior.
my morning anxiety has now shifted to evening after 7 weeks.
its simply awful feeling like this isn't it!
i just keep telling myself they worked before.
like you I'm keeping notes I'm doing lots of mindfulness and playing tennis!
we are doing everything right that im sure of it will just take time.
best of luck
Stacyschott fiocat
Edited
Good evening,
I start on week 4 of 20mg for anxiety tomorrow. My anxiety manifests in obsessive thoughts, usually revolving around my health. This year, I could feel a slight onset of 'not feeling quite right' at the end of January. I was feeling depressed and I was having knots in my stomach, sweating, restlessness, feeling that hot heat all over your body as you start to panic.
To preface, this is not the first time on this medicine for me. I was diagnosed with PPD after the birth of my son and was put on 10mg of Celexa (here in the States, aka Cit). That initial period of anxiousness was my first major experience with mental health, although I had experienced it before in my life and never knew was it was.
Silly me, i came off the meds about a year ago because i felt so good! I have not had a setback since late 2021 and now I have found myself in another one.
I was working in a very toxic work environment which i believe led to this anxious episode. I did an intake and got all my meds from Hers, since the wait at my doctor was several weeks. I was happy that they put me back on meds that I had previously been on and have worked for me in the past.
I have found that journaling this time around helps me a lot, especially while I can track how i am feeling.
I also take the meds coupled with counseling as well, i have been with my counselor for 7 years and he has seen me through many anxious episodes that i have always come out of. I was feeling so low at the beginning of February and started my very first pill on Super Bowl Sunday. I was feeling depressed, hopeless, lethargic, weepy, etc. Over the last few weeks I have noticed that my appetite has improved somewhat, I do not cry as much, my mood is better and i honestly thought I was never going to feel better. As things were starting to lift, I had a flashback to a previous anxious episode where I struggled after a family member of mine passed away from cancer.
Now, I feel like I am back at square one and that I will always have the thought of 'What happens if I get sick and die just like her? Worst case scenario.
I know this is a book at this point. As I said I am barely on week 4, and although I have noticed improvements, my intrusive thoughts are still there. I feel like it's pointless and I don't know if I am ever getting out of this situation. I try to gather hope from reading, but I feel like I lose all my logic when I go through this.