Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram?

Hi faraway girl,

I wouldn't get anxious about going to occupational health. If they're anything like mine you might be better be one you go. I was referred at the beginning of December and am still waiting for an appointment. My supervisor is great and wanted them to see me to see what extra support I could get and she's raging that it's taking so long (on my behalf). And remember when you do go they are supposed to be there to help you get fit to return to work and can often access services quicker than going the gp route. I am sure your head is just trying to support you.

:-D

Good Morning,

MrsVN I don't know what sort of counselling/therapy it is. I went for an assessment and was told that I needed work to help retrain my brain to get away from negative thoughts.

I am feeling more optimistic today. I still felt wobbly this morning but nothing like the last few days. I think my anxiety increased last week because it was back to normality after a long Christmas break with hubby being at home.

I just struggle with the fact that one minute I feel good and positive and the next I feel like I can't do this anymore.

I am putting work to the back of my mind until I have started my therapy sessions.

Do any of the ladies on here find anxiety is worse at certain times of the month? Just a thought? I.also stolped taking the contraceptive pill 2 months ago choosing the copper IUD. I wonder if my hormone adjustment may be contributing to some of how I feel at the moment?

Hope everyone is doing ok though.

X

Don't panic about the referral to occupational health, it's in order to support you and to make any reasonable adjustments that you might need to help you when you return to work successfully If you work in a school they'll have to follow through with a protocol set out by the education authority or the local council, it will be the exact same procedure for everyone. My boss explained to me when she rang that part of the protocol for illnesses like this is to refer to occupational health. This is to see what needs to be done to help you, not to assess that you're not fit to work. Also, working in the public sector there will be lots of procedures/legalities that they will have to follow so please don't worry that your job's in jeopardy. Are you in a union? If you are they'll be able to support you with all of this. It might seem really worrying but it's actually a procedure put in place to help you. Also, it could be really helpful for you as not only will it set out a plan for what you need to do but it will also set out what the head needs to do to support you so it will offer you more protection.

Please don't panic!

Xxx

Hi Emma,

I might be slightly different (having post viral fatigue) but I still think there is a hormonal component to this. My gp did bloods mid cycle which were fine but I have noticed blips have happened more premenstrually (not specifically related to being on citalopram, just generally throughout my illness). A lot of symptoms if anxiety can also be attributed to hormone imbalances too.

Confusing!

:-D

Emma,

That does sound like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) it's a great intervention as it's really practical and present focused so it doesn't really dredge up lots of historical problems the way other therapies can. The basic premise is that you thoughts and behaviour impact on the way you feel. You can't change the way you feel, but with support you can change behaviour and thoughts which will the impact on the way you feel. It will take a little time to retrain your brain but it will really help to give you coping strategies. It's really good because firstly it's very evidence based so it's proven that there are lots of people who have seen measurable benefits. As well as this, with it being measurable it means you can tell if it's working. With some other treatments it can be hard to tell whether it's helping. Good luck! I'm sure it'll be really helpful along side the citalopram.

I found when I was on the pill I would become an irrational demon on the break week so I came off it. I struggled at first with the readjustment but it settled after a couple of months. I went back on the pill when I met my hubby but I became an irrational demon all the time (not just on the break week!) so came off pretty quickly! I've had a copper coil fitted too. I'd say that I do become more 'fragile' and teary and definitely more irritable when I'm pre-menstrual but not in a way that it becomes unmanageable.

Xxxx

Hi MrsVN,

It is wonderful what you do you always have lovely advice for us all you are such a dedicated person thank

you. I cannot give up I have fought hard for over thirty years to beat this illness but I was a lot younger then

and now I'm a lot older it's a lot harder now too,I was so positive until late last week it is because I am going

Through exactly what I went through the last time, the side affect has been horrendous. I have managed to

Clean through the house this morning how I don't know I just wish I could sleep I might event take the

Sleeping tablet tonight as my mind will not switch off its in overdrive and a headache through no sleep

Many thanks Maria x

Thanks Mrs VN,

Was panicing, Husband rang school and you are quite right it is procedure it just felt like being pressured to me! He also said he'd be main point of contact for now until i feel like talking to her myself which is good. Am calming down a little now so am off for my afternoon walk with my pooch.

Take care

xxx

Hi Maria,

Thank you for the lovely compliment! I'm glad my advice helps you :-)

The sleep thing's so important, I slept right through last night (my husband jokes that it's like having a newborn 'she did so well last night, she slept right through....' When people ask how I am) and feel so much better today. It sounds like it might be an idea to take a sleeping tablet if you're really struggling. I was nervous at first about them as I wasn't sure what to expect. I took one and then flicked through a magazine in bed to occupy my mind. After about 10-15 mins my eyelids got heavier and I drifted off, the same way I would usually if I was really tired. It took taking them three nights in a row until I slept through until morning. I felt my mood lift quite a bit once I'd got some good quality sleep under my belt. It can make you a little drowsy in the morning so it's a good idea not to make any plans for first thing in the morning if you can avoid it. Hang in there!

Xxx

Phew! That's good to hear. I think sometimes people get anxious themselves when addressing mental health because they don't want to say the wrong thing so things don't get communicated properly or they're rushed through. It sounds like the head didn't explain things fully to you and you filled in the blanks and thought the worst, (as is natural when you're anxious or depressed!) sounds like a good idea for your other half to be your point of contact until you're feeling stronger.

Xxx

Hi Diane.

I always thought I was a nightmare on my pill after having my daughter which is why I swapped to the coil.

I fell pregnant immediately after coming off it to try with my daughter and then when straight back on it so in total been on it for 17 years. I can't remember what a normal cycle is like and what to expect with PMS? I started cit 8 weeks before I had the coil fitted.

MrsVN I hope whatever I will be doing will help me to make a massive dent in dealing with my thoughts.

I don't want to go into detail, but the initial thought/incident that triggered this whole episode hasn't popped onto my head and bothered me for weeks!!! Its all the other thoughts that bother me. Like waking up and worrying about what lies ahead. Is this normal? I think that is what bothers me the most I get anxious over being anxious! !!

Thanks again everyone for the massive support x

That is completely normal Emma, it's like a snowball or layering effect. It's like getting trapped in a cycle that goes round and round until worry becomes your natural setting and it feels like there's no way out of it, then, you start to worry about the trapped feeling and that just adds to the anxiety. It's almost like a tornado gathering speed and picking up new worries as it goes. Because you're anxious you might tend to predict that the outcome will be 'worst case scenario' and the anxiety convinces you that rather than being negative thoughts that these worries are facts or a foregone conclusion rather than just what they are which is muddled up thinking. The therapy will hopefully give you the skills to manage your anxious thoughts and behaviours which gives you a sort of 'escape hatch' from the cycle and will help to break it. I'm glad that the initial trigger hasn't been a problem for you for a while and it's a good sign that indicates that you should be able to break the cycle with support. When is your first appointment? I think I remember you saying it's this week? Keep us posted on how it goes.

Xxx

Oh Emma, I could have written your last paragraph myself, like you I am anxious about being anxious and wondering when I am ever going to feel better. Mine all started just over two years ago when I had a bad stomach bug, I got that I was frightened to eat because of what it might do to me, I was put on propranalol for 6 months before going on to cit and as I have said before I was feeling fine until I decided to come off and now although I haven't got the fear of eating I eat a meal and worry afterwards but like you I am really anxious about being anxious, it is such a vicious circle.

I hope your days get better soon, did I read above that you were going to have therapy to retrain your brain? what sort of therapy is that because I think that is what I could do with, my brain is thinking about how I am all day, I went to a psychotherapist two years but all she talked about was things that had happened years and years ago that could have affected me and I knew it was nothing to do with that, in fact I felt worse when I came out then when I went in. It sounds like the sort of thereapy you are going to have will be more helpful xxx

Christine,

Psychotherapy can be great for some people but it sounds as though you would find either CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy or MBCT (mindfulness based cognitive therapy) they both help to deal with negative thought patterns but in quite different ways. Have a read up on them and find which one sounds better for you. I've mentioned them before. You could try either going down the self help route with reading or online courses or you could self refer/ask your GP to refer you to IAPT (improving access to psychological therapies)

If you have the means going private (or down the self help route) would be a way of speeding things up. If you choose to do the CBT route then the living life to the full website is a good place to start (it's free to sign up but you have to pay for the books/reading materials but they're very reasonably priced) or with mindfulness there are group work courses that often run, think it's about £200 for an 8 week course. Or there's a book called 'mindfulness: a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world' which I've found really helpful.

Sorry to push in on your post to Emma but I thought that these approaches could really help you. It might be helpful to read up online about both the approaches and see which one you feel would suit you.

Xxx

There is also a treatment called EMDR, it's mainly used to treat trauma symptoms or anxiety caused by a specific trigger. Some people find it really helpful but there have been studies done on people having EMDR that where people receiving EMDR while on a waiting list for more indepth therapies and they were measured against people who were on the waiting list but without treatment and there was little measurable difference in the outcomes of the two groups. However, different approaches work differently for different people so it's best to find out a bit about all the different options before choosing a route to go down. The thing that is important is to not try a combination of approaches as they can conflict with each other. It doesn't mean any of them are 'wrong' but they're just different ways of solving the same problem.

Xxx

Thanks Mrs VN, that is a great help, I will look all of them up and go from there.

I hope you are having a good day xx