5mg of Citalopram: 4 weeks in
Posted , 4 users are following.
As with many people, 2020 has gotten the best of me. My battle with anxiety started back in March and has continued since. Started with heart palpitations that continued to fuel my health-related anxiety. I decided to bite the bullet and start an SSRI. My doctor recommended I start Citalopram because he has seen lots of success with people my age (25 year-old male).
I started on 10 mg for about three days and my side effects were awful... nausea, headaches, dizziness, constant worry, and many "panicky" episodes (heart pounding, chills up my arms/back, feeling as if i was going to faint). It was so bad and honestly the worst few days of my life. Doctor told me to cut back to 5 mg to help my body get used to the medicine and help diminish the side effects.
Fast forward to today... I have now been on the 5 mg for four weeks. I know this dosage isn't a whole lot, but my anxiety has improved SIGNIFICANTLY. Of course i still have my moments, but i truly do feel a ton of improvement with my anxiety.
I have two challenges I'm facing and hoping to get some help from you guys:
(1) I am experiencing some headaches in my sinuses and sometimes in the back of my head. I also am having significant discomfort in my ears (mainly my left). It's more of a pressure sensation and fullness. Has anyone ever dealt with this when starting out with citalopram? If so, is this just another side effect that will get better in time? I really do not want to stop taking the Citalopram since i do believe it's been helping my anxiety, but i also want the ear issues to go away.
(2) Has anyone ever been on such a low dose of Citalopram over an extended period of time? I want to get the full effect of the medication but i also do not want to have to take more than i need. I do think the 5 mg has been helping me significantly with my anxiety. Should i increase my dosage at all to 10 mg? If so, when? I am a bit nervous that doing so will bring on more side effects and rough days. How has everyone's experience been with increasing your dosage?
Thank you so much for any feedback!
0 likes, 5 replies
Hope3578 caleb83326
Posted
Hi, I also experienced the headaches and ear fullness during the first few weeks. I am on 10mg and it was horrible at the beginning, but it did get tonnes better. 5mg might be OK for you if you are experiencing improvements in your anxiety, so maybe just stick it out.
caleb83326 Hope3578
Posted
@Hope3578 thanks for your response! Do you remember how long the headaches/ear fullness lasted? Also, how long have you been taking citalopram? have you had to increase your dosage at all?
Hope3578 caleb83326
Posted
It was probably around 6 weeks and the headaches eased and the ear problems got better.
I've been on 10mg now for around 7 months and haven't needed to increase, even though this is my second time on the medication.
caleb83326 Hope3578
Posted
@Hope3578 i'm a little over week 4 and my ear problems are making me want to give up it. not sure what i should do, but it's nice to hear that it cleared up for you. How are you feeling on the citalopram now?
Hope3578 caleb83326
Posted
Might be worth speaking to your doctor who maybe able to prescribe you some decongestant nasal spray which helped me.
Honestly, I feel loads better, but what with this crazy year I do still have blips and feel like I'm doing most of the work in my recovery (which is probably a good thing).
I was on this medication for 18 months before and then came off no problems at all, off for a year and then this pandemic hit and my anxiety got really bad again because of the fear and the unknown at the beginning of all of this. I still am concerned with the situation, but now I have more understanding so I freak out less lol. I would advise sticking with it for atleast 8 weeks before giving up, because the first few weeks are horrible and make you question whether you can carry on because you feel like it won't get better. But it will. You have to just push on through and just accept you feel off atm and gently carry on.