Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram?

Hi Maria,

Yes I feel similar. Hardly any sleep and then I can't function properly the next day. Still lots of anxiety and feeling depressed.

My first week on 20mg was OK but the last two weeks have been the worst. I get some encouragement from past posts from people like Grace (who it took a good number of weeks to have a positive effect) and of course all the other postive posts from everyone else but it still feels like I am on a road to nowhere!

I join you in hoping we can laugh at this in the future!

Keep well.

David x

Hi all,

Just spoke to my gp who agrees that my relapses seem to be following a pattern. She is going to dredge back in my records to get my long hormonal history (I've only been registered here for 3 years) and then discuss it in the partners meeting to see what the others think and see what they come up with collectively. She might also speak to specialist for advice but wants me to carry on as I am and see the chest clinic and cardiology team as planned to investigate and potentially exclude other causes.

Feeling a bit better today. Still tired and having flushes but less so, dull head still here but not quite so emotional. A bit shaky when I got up but had a shower quite quickly after getting up and managed fine. Even thinking about popping out in the car this afternoon.

Hope everyone else is managing today.

:-D

Hi guys

A few weeks ago I had a massive panic attack whilst driving on my own at a particular roundabout, the same happened the next time I tried it......3 days ago I thought, right I'm gonna do this......I stopped the car (with my partner at the passenger seat) I done my breathing (thanks Anne).....and even tho I approached the roundabout I felt as if I was sweating horrendously!!! I done it.......ive been back and drove the same route a few times now.......i could've cried with pure and utter happiness that last night I done it on my own in the car.....i had the radio on and guess what? they are having a "happiness week" as it is mental heath awareness week.......last night I sailed thru, .......radio one Sunday surgery is all about mental health week and have some specialists on.

I so much will every single one of u strength, I still have a ways to go but the light is shining, ...... the driving is such a personal achievement for me, hope u don't mind me sharing xxxx

Diane,

U must have massive reassurance from ur doctor, I'm so keen to learn more.......sometimes I think we have to repeat what we say to the medical profession so many times to be taken seriously, u r an inspiration xxx

Hi all

Glad to see most of you are doing well.

I think I may have turned the corner too. The seroquel at night seems to be easing my anxiousness. I'm not as nervous leaving the house in case I meet the neighbour. I still want to dodge her, bit I don't have the massive panic when I see her.

The one down thing is that the tablets are knocking me out all day. I have a 2 hour sleep from about 11-1, and would be tired Waking up.

Have to go now fort the school run. Talk later

Well done everyone!!!!!

Beco

Susie, well done, I'm so glad for you you have me so much inspiration I hope every thing contains for you,

I would give anything to be like you now I can't even get off my bed without a tightness in my chest and

Shaking ,from head to toe, but hopefully things will get better for us all.

Beco, you so deserve it keep your chin up, everything will work out for you.

Maria x

Hi Susie,

That's so amazing that you are managing driving so well. Such progress! I went out to a retail Park a couple of miles away to get a bulb for his car. Driving was fine, felt a bit yucky in the shop but am finding shop lighting hard work. Got back fine too, just a bit of nausea which came on in the shop. Reminds me of migraines. Back on sofa now but feel glad I've done something.

Hi Beco,

Really happy that it sounds like things are improving for you. Remember that the tortoise won the race!

:-D

Hi Beco,

I'm so glad that you are feeling better at last. I'm sure it will work for you as it has worked for me. I'm a completely different person now from what I was 2 months ago. Went today for CBT for the first time and got assessed, will start in two weeks' time. Please stay optimistic, the sleep pattern will come back once your medicine is working properly.

Well done,

Grace

Hello all hope your doing well, day 3 of Citalopram couldn't get out of bed till 1pm because of my anxiety, it slowly reduced until now which I feel a complete emptyness, staring into space with no motive to do anything and I haven't even taken anything today, changing the time I take my tablet to before I go to bed.

Hi Rhys, my heart goes out to you your not on your own I am goings through exactly the same I can't stop

shaking and a terrible tightness in my chest, I haven't been able to so absolutely nothing.

I changed mine from night to day because I have not been able to sleep either. Hopefully things can only get

For us.

Maria x

Hi Beco,

So good to hear you been positive and you do sound like you are headed the right way, well done, more time is all you need now and that brave spirit that has got you this far, xx

Hi Grace,

It's good to hear from you and know you are still doing well, good luck with the CBT I am finding it helpful I had my 3rd session yesterday, hopefully in time it will help me come off cit, on day 23 of increase to 20mg. Well done Grace on your perseverance and strength and will to get there, I think its something we all have but some of us are just starting on the journey right now.

David I feel I have not really seen a difference between 10 - 20mg either but I believe to feel its full benefits we should be on the increase for 6 weeks for our bodies to adjust, so hold on a bit longer and see if it improves. (fingers crossed)

Wow Susie,

Go you, that is a brilliant achievement, well done I know how hard that was, as I had a similar problem with driving, I wont go into it,, I will just say I am ok now. Keep up the great work, proud of you !!!

Rhys please believe me when I tell you this is normal for the start of Cit, it will get better, and the time inbetween is really hard but worth it to persevere no matter how hard you think it is, it will get so much better, so be strong and make sure you are practicing deep belly breathing, in for a count of 7 and slowly out for a count of 11 or whatever you can manage, as long as its out for longer, think of it as getting rid of the darkness.

Well done Diane, you are sounding more positive too, going to the shops is an improvement and in time you wont feel anxious at all going to the shops or driving, stay strong we will get there.

Marie please keep up the deep breathing too, it will help get rid of the chest tightness. xx

Take care all of you,

Anne xxx

Oh Beco, I'm so pleased to hear you've turned a corner! I've been wondering how you were getting on with your new meds, that's fantastic news! It really brought a smile to my face as I know you've had a really tough time. :-D :-D:-D

Maria, glad you chose to take the sleeping tablet as it sounds like it helped you to get a little bit more sleep which is so important when your mind and body are healing. Have you managed to eat any thing today? I was wondering, can you take any extra vitamins or supplements to keep your strength up?

Diane, It sounds like your GP is taking your concerns about a hormonal problem seriously, that must be reassuring. Especially to hear she's going to be discussing it with the other doctors. I find peer supervision at work so helpful as sometimes you need a fresh pair of eyes to think of something that might have been missed or overlooked.

Faraway girl, Well done for taking that first step. Are you doing your CBT as a group? I've never heard of it done that way before. Groupwork can be quite daunting but remember, everyone there is in the same boat....no one will judge you (they'll be too busy worrying about being judged themselves!)

David, I know it feels like you're on the road to nowhere but things will improve, like you say, some take longer than others. I thought the exact same thing for three weeks before I could actually acknowledge things were actually improving. I think you asked earlier about jumping from 20mg to 40mg, You can always ask to try 30mg first. I initially jumped from 20 to 40 simply because at the time I saw a student doctor and as the tablets only come in 10, 20 or 40 it didn't occur to her to prescribe me a packet of 20 and a packet of 10 so she jumped me straight up to 40, I didn't have any problems but I never had done until about 5 weeks ago!

Christy, Hope things are still going smoothly for you too. Sounds like you're managing to avoid the worst of the side effects (I have everything crossed for you!!)

Susie, You sound like things are getting there for you too! That's fab!

I got my car back today after knocking the wing mirror off last week (on my first drive out alone, not a great start!) I made myself park in the same carpark that I had where I knocked the mirror off so that I wouldn't develop an anxiety about it!

Rhys, hang in there too, it's worth a try taking the tablets at bedtime so you hopefully sleep through the worst of the side effects.

Carol, I hope you managed okay at work today and that it was less stressful that yesterday was.

Emma, I'm sorry to hear you're still feeling anxious. Have you noticed any patterns or thoughts that are triggering the anxiety? It might be worth writing down the times of day, any triggers (e.g. negative thoughts, or an event that triggers things and how it affected you (thoughts and feelings) to see if there are any patterns there.

Christine. How are you getting on now?

Anne, hope things are still positive for you!

Just to say to all of the people who are still struggling in the early stages, something that i was surprised by was that rather than seeing a gradual lift in mood it tended to take shape in patches, I'd suddenly feel like a veil had been lifted, it started out just happening in the evenings, and then I'd think I was back at square one in the morning but gradually i had more of the good patches and they all started to join up together (some days with more good patches than others, but the days I made it out of the house even if just for 10 mins I tended to get more of the good patches) I wanted to let you know as I found that really confusing and at times got really frustrated as I would either start to get annoyed thinking 'why can't i feel like this all day' as well as I would start to get anxious knowing that even if I was in a better mood that the dip would be coming again soon but I'd never quite know when. it could be really out of the blue too, like a switch flipping. I just wanted to let you know as I found this a little bit disconcerting and it wasn't what I expected at all so if that does happen to you DON'T WORRY! (also, if that doesn't happen to you and you have a more steady improvement don't worry about that either!)

I've had a good day here, I struggled to drop off to sleep last night but I managed to sleep from 3 until about 9 so not too bad. I seem to have a run of good nights and then I'll struggle to sleep again but I got myself up and went to meet a colleague for a coffee which I really enjoyed. I then went to visit another colleague this afternoon as she's recuperating from an op. It felt nice to be the one visiting with a cake and flowers instead of being the poorly person!! I was really nice to see work people as I've still been a little anxious about going back to work next week having not been in for 6 weeks. It reminded me how lovely, understanding and supportive all my colleagues are so that really put my mind at ease.

Hope everyone is having a relaxed and peaceful evening!

xxx

Mrs VN its so good to hear you say about the good patches and bad patches as I have that feeling all the time. like i will be feeling really great and thinking that i am getting better but then feel really low and feel back at square one! but like you say hopefully the good patches will get more and more over time. you are really inspirational its so nice that you take the time to reply to everyone and give them encouragement it is lovely to see.

i am on my 2nd week of increase to 20mg and have been feeling a lot better than i did at the start so anyone who has just upped their dose your side effects wont last forever, i know it can feel like that at times!

Rhys...I am right there with you! I am only a day or 2 ahead of you. I just started taking cit on 1/10 at night. This is the first time I have taken any medication besides the occassional antibiotic. I also take my tablet at night with dinner (to reduce the risk of nausea which luckily I have not had). I have been sleeping very well. I like to watch a little TV in bed and usually fall asleep during an episode of my favorite show. Mentally, I am still struggling, but it doesn't seem as bad as before. Right now, it seems like I feel better every other day. I know it takes time and I am willing to put in the time. Try to just relax through the initial week (I know...easier said than done and maybe it's advice for myself more than anything) and know that it will work. I am keeping the faith that this will work for me and I will keep the faith that it will work for you also. Do you mind me asking what dose you are on? I am on 10mg.

Christy

MRS. VN...thank you for the encouraging words. I am having an "OFF" day today. I mentioned to Rhys, that it seems like I feel better every other day. I know it hasn't even been a week since I began taking cit, but I get the worried thoughts of "what if this doesn't work" or "what if there is something physically wrong with me". I know that it is the anxiety talking, but it is hard to seperate the two when you are so anxious. I am hoping for the "good" patches to start creeping in. I felt AMAZING yesterday after surviving a work meeting. So much of me wishes I can just curl up in bed and sleep and then wake up when the full effects have kicked in. LOL. My other worry is that I will start to feel better and NOT even notice. Is that even possible? I just get so sad sometimes. I miss my family and friends. I miss the person I used to be even 3 months ago. I tell my husband, I feel like I have lost my shine, like I am matted. I just so desperately want my sparkle and shine back. I have plans on Monday to see some good friends and I am so scared I am not going to be able to manage it and will end up staying home. That has NEVER been me. I am sorry to vent so much...I am just feeling really down today and I am not even sure why.

Someone mentioned the other week about worrying about posting to much and annoying people. I feel the same way. I apparently like to type as much as I like to talk...LOL. It really helps to get the thoughts out (good and bad) and to know you are not alone in this and there is nothing wrong or weird with you. I appreciate that the most.

I want to thank everyone AGAIN for being such a pillar of support for me. I am not sure I could have taken these steps without this forum.

Christy