Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram?

Hi Claire,

You probably feel odd because you are anxious about taking meds and now you have your adrenaline is working overtime due to the expectation of something happening.

Be reassured that you have a voice here, can be open and get support. This group has been a lifeline to myself and so many others so welcome!

:-D

Thanks Diane,

It certainly is a lonely illness, but reading through everyone's posts on here has already made me feel like Im not alone. I just want to feel like me again and hoped I could do it without medication, but if its the only way Il get better Im sure itl be worth it! :-)

Hi Claire,

You sound just like me at the start of my taking Cit in October, I think I made myself feel ill at the thought of taking Cit, when it wasn't really the Cit at all, as we are already suffering with severe anxiety when we start and we all know how disturbing that can be,

So try to be calm and remember there is light at the end of the tunnel, even the worse of us are turning corners which is brilliant, have you had counselling due to the assault at your work ? must have been awful but don't let it spoil a great person, you deserve not to be a victim, you deserve a happy contented life.

Diane is right you are very welcome on here and we are all here to support you and each other, reading these posts you will see your not alone in this, it can be a tough few weeks to start but come on here and we will get you thru it, then the Cit will kick in and you will see the sunshine again. xx defo worth waiting for, so be strong and practice deep breathing which helps calm you when you are bad,

Take care

Anne

I have taken citalopram on and off for 4 or 5 years now. I was quite severely depressed and started off on 10mg going up to 20mg daily and then dropping back down again. I was originally prescribed citalopram a few years before I started taking them but after reading so many negative comments here I decided against taking them.... In retrospect I think that was a bad decision. I never really experienced any side effects worth complaining about - maybe a bit of drowsiness in the beginning but in comparison to the massive benefits I have felt from taking the drug a bit of drowsiness was well worth it!

Now I find that 10mg a day keeps me on an even keel and I would recommend it to anyone unreservedly - Citalopram helped me get my life back and find myself again. I started to see a noticeable difference in my mood after just 2 weeks. I have never really suffered any noticeable withdrawal symptoms either.

Thanks Anne.

Maybe I should try and explain a bit, it might help to talk to people that actually understand.

when I was younger I suffered with low confidence, it wasn't until I went to uni and trained as a psychiatric nurse that I felt I was worth anything and important.

I think that maybe my job has had a lot to do with not wanting to ask for help, I felt I should be able to make myself feel ok, which is ridiculous because I would regularly tell my patients the importance of meds, I guess I just thought I wasn't ill enough.

And then being assaulted at worth just seemed to make everything in my life not make sense anymore. I loved my job and now im too scared to do it so im temporarily in another department and may eventually lose my job. I dont want to go back but I feel like such a failure. And I feel like I should have predicted the assault as thats part of my job.

I had EMDR therapy through occupational health soon after it happened and it helped whilst I was still off work, but once I went back into the building at work I felt panicky again. Im scaed to start it again because Ive stopped thinking about the assault and Im worried itl all come back. But im waiting for a court date regarding it and i think thats made me feel more on edge.

While im in work(in the other department) i can pretend im ok but as soon as I get home I feel miserable, im snappy with my children and then I feel like the worst mum in the world.

Ive got a week off so I thought it'd be the best time to start cit but now im at home and have time to over think everything which doesnt help me!

Hi Claire,

Thanks for explaining it has made things clearer, remember what a brilliant job you did before the assault and how many people you helped, that is the thought to hold on to and remember you are some peoples life line.

I realised I couldn't get myself out of this as I had tried to do before taking the Cit which I believed saved my life. I feel normal again, so maybe when you feel normal again you will look at things differently, I know I do. the anxiety made me overthink everything.

Remember you are feeling low now anyway so try to keep busy dueing the week get plenty of rest spend time chatting with the kids even try to explain how ur feeling to them so they understand if your snappy some days but reassure them its only temporary and soon you will be bck to your old self.

Dont pretend your ok, you could let your colleagues know exactly how you feel, and you will be surprised at how supportive they can be. its nothing to be shamed of, and you are working hard at getting better.

Remember been assaulted wasn't your fault, we can never be sure how other people are feeling and reacting, we just get caught up in their anger, but be strong your the better person, and you deserve to be happy, anytime you need to talk just come on here, always someone online, lol it has been a life line for all of us, supporting each other, remember some folk have very little side effects, and remember you were already feeling bad so maybe its not side effects, just keep taking the cit thats the main thing and u will get there. xx

Take care and stay strong

Anne

Hi Anne

Thanks for enquiring about me. I'm not doing too well with the pain unfortunately. This is day 7 of 10mg amitriptyline and whilst sleeping is slightly improved, pain isn't. Not sure how long I leave it before returning to doctor.

Does the gabapentin keep your pain comfortable?

take care - good to hear all the news from others - looking back it took about 6 weeks for all the side effects if Cit to fizzle out, I think, but they were minor by then.

Chris

Hi Chris,

I would go back to the doc asap pain is not easy to live with, yes Gabapentin helps me a lot makes the pain much easier, I am on 300mg 3 times a day, quite a calming drug really, (for the pain I mean) lol I also go to pain management clinic, you should ask to be referred to this, really helpful,

Let me know how you go and do just get back to the doctor, u need peace.

Anne

Hi Everyone,

Day two...yesterday the nausea feeling stayed with me all day and a dull headache. I felt sick this morning before I even took the tablet. Once I took it the nausea got worse and after about 90mins I was vomiting, I have a horrible pain in my stomach, also my jaw aches.

But im going to persevere with it, because it can only get better and might actually make me better!

Claire

Hi everyone,

Claire, it will get better. I'm only in 2 weeks (started on very low dose) and the first few days were the absolute pits. Stick it out. I'm not in the good place yet, but just read all these posts and it gives you the determination to keep on and stick out the worst parts.

So, saw my doc again today - will be going onto 10mg tomorrow, which with a bit of luck, will be a therapeutically effective amount for me. The 5mg was just to hopefully get me through the side effects with not too much suffering. Kudos to all you who start off on higher doses!

And then I'll be starting with a therapist as soon as I can get an appointment, so that's something to look forward to. Especially since today was such a grim day. Panic attack in the car on the way to work and then just feeling miserable and angry at everyone all day.

Hope everyone is doing well.

To those who have started or experienced therapy, how did you like it and did it help straightaway? is it just talking or do they give you tools and skills to deal with...this thing?

Anyway, welcome to newcomers to this forum - it's a great place, everyone is really supportive and well, just the type of people you'd want to invite around or have a good day out with.

Cheers,

Carol

Hi everyone, I hope you are all doing well especially emma and Mrs VN now they have started back to work

I went to see my GP this morning, I still don't feel right on 20mg and I am now in my 6th week, at first he suggested I increase to 30mg, I asked if that was OK seeing as I am over 65 I thought 20mg was the highest dose I could have, and then I said about going on something different and he asked how I felt about it, I asked him his opinion and he said to go on to something different so he said to cut down the cit to 10mg and start taking 15mg of mirtazapine at night, after coming home and reading about mirtazapine I'm not sure about it, I think I would prefer to increase the cit if that is what it has to be because I'm worried about having withdrawal effects on decreasing the cit and side effects on taking the mirtazapine, is it ever going to get better?

Hi

How is everyone?

I thought I was feeling a bit down last night and this morning my heart was racing a bit.

I had my counselling this morning. Unfortunately I was totally zonked. I couldn't concentrate properly. So in future on Thursdays I won't take my cipramil till after the session.

My counsellor describes my thoughts like - in my head I know that my neighbour isn't going to harm me or confront me, but my deep down feeling thinks I have to be scared of her and I must avoid her at all costs. I suppose they are the illogical thoughts that the psychiatrist is talking about. But sadly at the moment these feeling are real for me.

Hope you all have a good evening.

Talk soon

Beco

Hi,

Just checking in to let you all know that my week has been great and work has given me a massive confidence boost.

I haven't felt tired all week because I haven't had time! Increasing my hours slightly next week but think it will be a few weeks before I am back to my normal hours.

Hi to all of the new people on the forum. Stay with us and we'll get you through your toughest days.

Love to you all x

That's good news, Emma! So glad your week has been great. That's really heartening.

I'm having a horrible day today, really low all day and don't seem to be able to pull myself out of it. I managed to clean the house, but have got lower as the day's gone on, which is odd, because it's usually the reverse for me.

Day 10 of 20mg, and feeling very disheartened, so good news stories are helping me to keep going.

Hi Christine

I wouldn't worry about the increased dose of Cit - I had this conversation with my doctor backalong (I'm 64). She said it was to do with the QT heart pulse interval, but was very rare and many of her older patients were on higher than that.

I'm on 20mg Cit and there's a possibility of raising my dose. You do read about these issues and I'm not sure how important they actually are - for example, I now need to take amitriptyline as well as Cit, but if you Google you'll find it said that TCA and SSRIs shouldn't be used together. But the consultant told me to take it, and confirmed in a letter that it was both together. So I guess it's a question of dosage etc.

I think you are wise to try and avoid reducing Cit!!

Hope this helps

Chris