Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram?

Hi Simon

Sorry to hear you are feeling so bad. So many of us have experienced the same and struggled for a while until the side effects subside. Try to take it day by day and give yourself achievable targets and not expect the side effects to go too quickly as it seems that a 2 to 3 week timescale is pretty normal.

Hang in there

Hi Loulyn77566,

I'm sorry you're going through this. Stay positive and wait it out, and you might have a really positive outcome. I started taking citalopram 3 years ago, and for the first 2 weeks I had severe symptoms. I kept at it though, because I felt no symptom could be worse than the consuming anxiety I had been dealing with. I woke up in cold sweats, spinning from strange nightmares that were much more intense than I'd ever had. I constantly felt like I was on a boat, slightly tilting, always feeling seasick. This was at the 10mg.

But the good news (hope it cheers you up), is that after 2 weeks I felt absolutely normal. Another important bit of info- my doctor never raised my dose. He was confident that after time 10mg would be enough, and it has been. I never have panic attacks, I never have frights during the night, and I don't dwell on things as much as I used to. Overall a very positive change. I hope this helps you look at the bright side :D

Only fear I have is every going off. I have tried once or twice, and after a few days I find myself feeling slightly dizzy and anxious. This med worked for me, but I don't want to be on meds forever.

-natty

I want to thank you all for all your works of encouragement. I browse through here a few times a day and it does help even though each person is different.

I was prescribed Cit about 4 months ago i took one 20mg pill and got sick said nope no more. well my nervousness is ruining my life i have it 24/7 but no depression yet,Again dr told me to take the Cit but i was so scared of what the side effects ect might be so i waited for a few more months.

So 10 days ago i started at 5 mg that is all i could make myself take I have had a little nausea and get some nervousness at about 5-8 every night and i take the cit at 730am. I also take 0.25mg xanax 4 times a day with the Cit hoping to get off that with the help of Cit.

I have been feeling alot calmer the last week not sure why since they say Cit does not help for 6 weeks and not at low doses so idk.

Any advice from anyone who has started this like me and on xanax would be great

Again thank you for all your help

hi all , hope you are all having a good day.

my update for the day I'm on day 34 at 20mg. I have to say the last cpl of days sleeping is becoming all I want to do, I wake up with no shakes and feeling quite normal by lunch time I'm tired, shaky and full of negative thoughts. this however seems to pass by bed time. I seem to swing between mild panic and excitement (for what reason I have no idea). we are having a quiet wkend in with the kids, playing in the garden and BBQ but this gives me time to over think about how im feeling. feel like im stuck in some kinda weird loop. I JUST WANT TO FEEL NORMAL !!

ally xx

Hang on in there Ally. On day 37 and feeling very low. On my way to a mates stag do which I really don't feel

like. Normally I'd be looking forward to it. As you say I WANT TO FEEL NORMAL

Rant over :0)

Take care

Mike

Thanks guys for all your words of encouragement

Thanks Natty, you're right about the consuming anxiety being worse than the, hopefully temporary side effects we're all going through at the mo. I shall hang onto that I'll have completed 4 weeks tomorrow though and it does get a bit wearing, all this waiting. Best to try and keep busy I think. I'm back at work Monday after a long absence. I love my job and am looking forward to going back but today for some reason the doubts and nerves have kicked in and I'm thinking will I be able to disguise any bad -ish side effects I might have while I'm there One thing though that I have noticed is that when I do get anxious about something now (nearly always my health which isn't bad, just all in my mind) then I'm now quite quickly able to shrug it off whereas before I would go through the cycle of lump in throat, sharp stabbing pains in chest and not being able to get a breath so that's a result It's just that today, these things have come back to a lesser degree and I think I'm hacked off because I thought I had shelved them But hopefully it's just a hiccup and things even out again. I can completely understand about not wanting to be on meds forever too but it's great they're making you feel well now and it would be fab if I could stay on 10 mg like you

Ally, normal will be awesome when it finally arrives, hang in there

Rick, believe me, dentists are mega cool!

Paul, hope your stag is going well, pretend it's one of the other guys stag night and relax and have fun

Everyone else, have a chilled out weekend, hope yours is more exciting than mine .... Ant & Dec & a takeaway, lol

Loulyn x

Evening all. Had another up and down day. Managed to go out for a sauna and went to a tai chi class. I then went to see my friend and met my husband for chips, although I could only eat on one side of my mouth cos of my broken tooth. I still feel really out of it it's so rotten. I wonder how many of us anxiety sufferers say we just want to feel normal again. I know I do.

Rick thanks for the tip about anaesthetic. My tooth has been bad for a while but the dentist said it was ok. Btw one of my feel good songs is Little Green Bag. I find it gives a bit of a swagger!

Loulyn I'm watching ant and dec too! X

Hehe Matilda, you, me & a few others no doubt, I must be getting old, Saturday nights are bidey-in nights these days, nice to know I' m not alone

I'm chancing a small wine spritzer just now, not much of a drinker but feel tense tonight especially around the jaw First time I've had alcohol since stating cit, hope it's ok.

Do you find the tai chi relaxed you? It's something that was recommended to me by a nurse in the hospital, I'd like to try it.

Hope your mouth heals up honey & your smiling again soon

Loulyn x

Thanks loulyn. I enjoyed ant and dec, even sang along with bring me sunshine at the end! Decided not to be really rock n roll and watch The Cube as well!

Tai chi was good, also did some Chinese self massage which was different.

Thankfully my broken tooth is at the back so at least nobody can see it. 😊

Me too Matilda, although I'll get my bits & pieces done now then watch it on the catch up channel

Can I ask you if you had any trouble going from 10 to 20 mg? That's something else I might have to do.

Cheers honey,

Loulyn x

To be honest I am still having problems loulyn. Shakes and sweats like you wouldn't believe. My appetite is back though and my stomach has now settled. I've been 20mgfor 29 days. Third time for me and. Think this is the worst one. X

evening all and I'm in tonight too.... please dont watch The Voice... dreadful stuff, Ant and Dec sounds like it would have been infinitely better!

Loulyn, thanks for propping up my self confidence, mega cool eh? lol. Pity nobody likes coming to see me, at least initially, the last appt is always a popular one for my patients! Its very tough early on Citalopram but it gets easier. It's not easy but it does get "easier" :-)

Matilda... a busy day! good on you! hopefully the tooth isn't too bad. Why the (insert "bad word" here lol) did your dentist say it was ok when it patently wasn't! The wonders of the NHS. The cause of my stress too, it has a lot to answer for! Hope you have a calm evening and keep singing :-)

Ally... me too, mild panic and sort of feeling "too good" I had/have that too. It gets less though.

and yup, we all just want normal. Wouldn't that be just a bit nice.

Today has been ok for me. Times of feeling fine and times of feeling stressed, shaky and weak. Im getting a bit sick of it now. That feeling of my whole insides shaking is pretty damned weird and getting a tad annoying.

I know Ive missed some people here so basically... we'll all get there. Party time when we do?!

take care all,

Rick

Hi all, hope you're managing to get through the weekend OK without too much hassle from these damn side effects!

My update today - really it's just been a continuation of how I've felt all week, and that's pretty rubbish. I've woken up every morning feeling shaky & low, and apart from when I've had to put my happy face on I've struggled to feel anything other than miserable. To be honest I'm just getting fed up with it - how can I have such good days like last weekend and then be thrown back into the depths to suffer for the rest of the time??

Tonight I'm really shaky & sweaty, and am again home alone wallowing in my own misery. I've got to go out for the day tomorrow with the family - I really hope I don't wake up feeling like this again, as I won't enjoy what is meant to be a great day. I also have a wedding to go to next week, but at the moment I could do without it - if it wasn't my sister getting married I would probably try and find a way out of going.

Seeing the doctor again on Wednesday, and I'm gutted I won't be able to report better progress to him. I've also got a phone call with the counselling people on Tuesday and have to answer the stupid questionnaire before I speak to them - you know, the one where it asks you how many days in the last 2 weeks you've felt this, that & the other. It's going to be different answers from when I filled it out with the GP originally, I don't see why they don't take those answers as that was how I was feeling when I asked for help. My fear is that they'll say 'oh, you're not depressed and anxious enough for us to help you' and then where do I go?

Sorry to moan, just fed up and annoyed I'm not feeling better than I am.

Hope you're all OK, stay as strong as you can.

Take care,

Doug. x

Yeeuuk! Not good. As if that wasn't bad enough & now you've got a sore mouth too I've got an inflamed nerve in my temple so you have my sympathies, the side effects are enough on their own for sure Things can only get better babe, & there's always chocolate ha ha

Anyway, I'm away to my bed to watch the Cube, tomorrow is another day

Night night honey x

Loulyn x

Hi Doug. That's what this forum is for - to let off steam :0)

How many days is it ? I guess we all need to be patient. I'm on day 37 today and had a day like in the first 2

weeks which has been horrendous. Ok at the moment but only because I've had a few beers on a stag do.

Take care Doug

Mike