9 weeks
Posted , 3 users are following.
hello! i am new to this forum and am looking for some help. i have been on citalopram for years and in the beginning of Feb i made a mistake and stopped taking them cold turkey. i was off of them for roughly 1.5 weeks. i felt the anxiety come back and restarted at my previous dose of 20 mg. three weeks after restarting, i met with my doctor and informed him of my stupid mistake. he is a great doctor and told me what i was experiencing was my own fault , to which i agreed. after 5 weeks he increased to 40 mg which since then my anxiety has not gotten better. i have been on the 40 mg dose for 4 weeks now and am wondering if it will get any better. i know with each dose increase you have to give it between 4-6 weeks for efficacy to kick in, so am i on my way or am i screwed? the negative thoughts are frustrating and the thoughts keep telling me i am never going to be the same again. looking for care and reassurance for anyone that has been here before! God bless all of you!
0 likes, 6 replies
GraySeal Guest
Edited
Dear Seth54458,
Hard as it is, don't give too much attention to the negative thoughts - you WILL feel better in time. It's so hard that these meds take so long to kick in. I mean if you take a blood pressure medication, you can measure its affect the next day-we have to wait so long to know how its working.
I take it for depression mainly, though also have anxiety. Here's my decades long experience with it: I tried 3 other SSRI's before I settled on Citalopram as having the least side effects (insomnia). I was on 30 mg for many years and then had a crisis a couple of years ago, where my world fell apart. I wanted some anti-anxiety meds but the Dr. increased my Citalopram to 40mg. It helped but also hurt, because my sleep was affected. After the crisis, I developed Chronic Fatigue and wanted to experiment going off the citalopram to see if that was a factor. I slowly weaned off it to nothing. I was OK for weeks then depression hit big time. I tried another SSRI but it was horrible, so I went back on Cit. starting at 10, then to 20, then to 30. It took me maybe 8 weeks to feel better. Someone on this forum suggested having a spreadsheet diary to track doses, mood, sleep, side effects, etc. and I found this extremely helpful in figuring out what worked for me. I quit coffee, which helped. I still take a med drop to 20 mg a couple days a week (with dr. approval) to get some good sleep and my mood is good. I feel good most days.
My advice: try to diary to keep track. Communicate with your dr. regularly. (My insurance lets me email my dr) Don't give up trying until you feel better. You are worth it.
Guest GraySeal
Edited
wow, such encouragement! i have an appointment with my dr. this week for a followup. the negative thoughts are just horrendous. i wish i had never went off for that short period! i keep kicking myself for doing it, but realize that i cant doing anything about it now. i am hoping within the next two weeks that my body settles and the meds start kicking in. thank you for the post!
Guest GraySeal
Posted
good morning grayseal,
so....basically everything i am feeling is a result of the meds still needing several more weeks to settle at the current dose?
GraySeal Guest
Posted
Good morning Seth,
In answer to your question, I don't know. It's hard to know with this stuff, which makes it so challenging. I was a complete mess while I worked it out. Luckily, I had a good friend encouraging me to do simple distractions like adult coloring books, simple video games, and mindfulness techniques to get through the rough patches. I took a mindfulness based stress reduction class, and that helped. Mindfulness helps in realizing that the negative thoughts are just thoughts - not permanent, not reality. It helps to get out of your head and more into your body with yoga or some exercise. Getting on the right medicine at the right dose can help with the negative thoughts, but only you and your doctor can decide what that is. I'm glad you get to see your doctor this week. I don't know how it is for you, but my dr. visits were only 15 minutes. I would prepare for the visit by writing a list of things that I wanted to discuss. Think of questions to ask the doctor, like the one one you just asked.
I wish I could be more help than that.
Good luck and write anytime
Guest GraySeal
Edited
thanks for the response! it makes since since everyone is going through stress right now due to the lockdown i know a majority of my anxiety started because i sent my nervous system and brain chemistry into shock by going cold turkey. so, the negativity is anxiety based stress and once the meds settle, i am positive that my relief will come. still upset with myself about going cold turkey and not tapering, but nothing i can do now to change that. thanks for the kind words!
GraySeal Guest
Posted
You're welcome. Take good care!