Advice please. Been taking Citalopram for nearly 2 months now and need some advice
Posted , 3 users are following.
hi all, hope you're all doing wel my name is Tom
so just before Christmas last year (2021) i had an episode of depression, panic and anxiety, it was that bad i reached out to the Samaritans and feeling like i wanted to cry. Anyway i found the courage to ring up my doctors late in the afternoon and the lady on the phone asked if i wanted a doctor to call me back that day, I hesitated to say yes because well i don't know actually. Doctor phoned me back and he booked me in to see him and to cut a long story short he put me on Citalopram. I've been taking them for nearly 2 months now and i don't feel like they're working. I was thinking to myself of maybe upping my dose slightly and just wanted some advice really. like how do i go about it? do i ring my doctor up and ask him to up my dose as i feel it will help me. thanks for taking the time to read this and it would mean the world to me if someone got back to me.
bye all!
0 likes, 8 replies
lisa4282 tom61328
Posted
You need to talk to your dr if you feel the meds aren't working. I have been having terrible symptoms for 2 months now almost everyday all day. My dr switched me to citalopram/topiramate and I am still on xanax. I don't think it's helping that much. I told her on our last zoom call and she upped the citalopram. Still don't feel great. I have a journal and I write down my symptoms each day as well as my blood pressure/heart rate. Do not feel uncomfortable talking to your dr and if he doesn't help you find a different one.
tom61328 lisa4282
Posted
Hi Lisa, thanks for your reply. thats reassuring because i don't like asking or talking much. my dog had to be put down last week and ive been in bits today so going through some bad things at minute. ill wait and finish this last packet of citalopram and if i feel its not helping ill ask my doctor.
thanks for your help
lisa4282 tom61328
Posted
So very sorry about your dog. It's so hard to lose a fur baby
tom61328 lisa4282
Posted
yeah he was my best mate, my brother essentially and i miss him dearly i just want him back. i was already struggling and that happened so yeah hopefully i can come out of this
TaraLin tom61328
Edited
Hi Tom,
Just saw your post and thought I'd chime in and say that I've been on Citalopram for 7 weeks (for anxiety) and it's been a really tough road for me as well. I've been told that it can take them a while to work and that 20mg is the standard therapeutic starting dose. I wanted to be successful with less, so I've been on 15mg until today, going up to 20mg. I've heard that if you have gone on and off an antidepressant recently it can make the adjustment period longer as well, which is the case for me. I'm hoping and praying it kicks in soon because this has been an excruciatingly long journey. You're not alone!
tom61328 TaraLin
Posted
hi Tara, thankyou for your reply. im so glad i found this platform and has reassured me that im not the only one with these issues because i truly believed i was the only person feeling this way and i didn't know how to express my self.
the only place i feel safe at the minute is in my bed, i tried going downstairs, making a cuppa but i just cant settle. its a little daunting asking my doctor to up my dose but i suppose im going to have to. I sincerely hope they help you get back on the road because i know how tough it is right now.
bye for now !
TaraLin tom61328
Posted
I think I understand the "not feeling safe" ... I think of it more as a really unsettled uncomfortable jittery feeling, like I can't relax or feel confident with my daily plans. I just want to hide out in my house and wait for it to pass. I find that the best thing for me, if I can, is to force myself to go out, even if its for a quick errand or two or a walk. This personally helps me to feel a sense of normalcy, that I'm pushing through the healing process. I have to constantly remind myself that this is the brain adjusting, that's all. They are all side effects of that. I am well, just breathe. Sometimes I'm so unsettled I want to cry, and that brings a little release. Sometimes I lose hope, but I keep coming back to the many, many, many posts on here and reviews that reassure me that this medicine does work, it just takes time. I also know that this medicine has worked for me before. I want to question it constantly, - "what if something is wrong, what if it won't work for me this time?" but I have to force those thoughts away. It WILL work.
tom61328 TaraLin
Posted
i managed to pluck up the courage and phoned up my doctors today to ask to speak to a doctor about my prescription and a doctor is going to give me a call on Thursday so i hope all goes well. And yes when i first started to take this medication i did start to go for more walks but didn't really help me. I do go to Tesco to by a few bits every afternoon including alcohol (i know my doctor tells me off too lol) but ive got in the routine as im just waiting for the medication to work. after i come back i run a bath with bath salts as it helps to relax apparently and then ill chill out on my bed with my lamp on. its like my safe/happy place then at like 9pm ill go downstairs and watch cooking programs but that's just how i'm trying to manage at the minute. ive just got this insane amount of fear that i don't open up because i dont want to scare anyone. ive been on citalopram before like 2 years ago and i didn't know what to expect then and my anxiety wasnt as bad as it is now but been on them like 6-7 weeks and yeah hopefully my doctor ups my dose if i tell him they're not working. I cried yesterday because my dog got put down and i don't ever cry because i dont like showing emotion. it's been tough but hopefully upping my dose will help, the thought of changing a different tablet frightens me and im pleased im talking to someone who can relate so thank you for sharing your experience.