1. Community
  2. Brain and nerves
  3. Citalopram

Celexa....

Posted , 4 users are following.

christina38697
christina38697

I've had a pretty trying year and have recently suffered anxiety and depression. I've never really been too anxious of a person and can usually cope with hard times naturally ..but this time has been so much worse so I decided to ask my doctor about medication to help me through my anxiety and depression. I've never taken an antidepressant before. I started a 20 mg dose of celexa Friday morning. My doctor and some friends warned me about the whole "feeling bad at first" thing and the "you won't actually feel the benefits for weeks" thing. Not going to lie, I kinda brushed it off not thinking it would make me feel this bad! After taking my first dose Friday morning around 9, I left for work shortly after. The side effects quickly hit me to the point where I had to leave work to come home and rest. Terrible headache, worse anxiety than I've ever felt, spacey feeling, nauseas, an overall extremely uneasy feeling. I thought I would be able to work from home that day, but there was no way. I couldn't do anything but rest. This was very scary as I wasn't sure ..was I having a bad reaction to the meds? Was the dosage too strong? I had an event to attend the next day and knew if I took the meds again the next morning and felt the same way, I'd never make it to my event. After consulting with my doctor, I decided to hold off on taking the next dose the next morning to be able to attend my event and feel good (even though I did feel much better once the meds were out of my system, I still didn't feel 100%, as what I went through the day before with the severe side effects really drained me). I also wanted to try taking the meds at night and at a lower dosage- 10 mg for now. I took the 10 mg second dose Saturday night pretty late before bed. I slept pretty decent. Woke up feeling pretty good. A bit sluggish but much better than Friday. And then as the day went on the side effects returned. Now I'm seriously questioning if I can handle this? How am I going to function at work this way? Maybe I should just stop taking the meds so I can function every day and try to deal with my anxiety and depression in other ways? Let's just say I now fully understand the whole "feeling worse before feeling better" thing. I've also had no appetite and feel like when I do ingest anything, it just makes the side effects worse. I'm usually very active and work out during the week every evening. That doesn't seem possible at this point and really has me down. Any advice or tips ??

0 likes, 5 replies

5 Replies

  • Potatoghost
    Potatoghost christina38697

    Posted

    hey x

    I would consider keep taking the meds as you don't want your anxiety and depression to get worse. that might not happen but you must have felt pretty rough to go to the docs

    I'm not gonna lie. the first few weeks with the side effects can be really really tough and it will feel like you want to throw the evil little things in the bin but it will pass! some people sooner than others but normally after a few weeks the side effects will lessen dramatically

    I would start with the 10mg as starting straight on 20mg is a bit high first time for some and who knows 10mg might be all you need.

    it does take a while to see the benefits but once you slowly start improving it will be worth it x

    if you need to take time off work until the side effects settle then do it.

    also ask your doc for something to help with the start up anxiety like a benzo or some beta blockers x

  • AxleWilliams
    AxleWilliams christina38697

    Posted

    Christina,

    Every time that I restarted taking medication I had to take off from work the first 3 or 4 weeks. That said, I tried not to take anything else to relieve the extra anxiety that the meds brought on. Also, I was fighting severe depression which had already progressed pretty rapidly and left me unable to think or do anything, so going to work was useless anyway.

    Talk to your doctor about taking something to ease your anxiety during the day. I am surprised that he did not offer something to you especially after the warning. Usually they will offer a benzo or some other medication to alleviate some of the more extreme side effects of the medication. another thing you could try is to ease into the Celexa even slower, say 10mg at first (split the pill if you have to). Make sure to tell your doctor and not just to do it on your own. These are very tough medications to take and almost all of the SSRI' s and SNRI's have bad startup anxiety as one of the side effects unfortunately. But, if you are truly suffering already they are a life savor (literally) for some of us. Wishing you luck....

Back to top

Report or request deletion

Thanks for your help!

We want the community to be a useful resource for our users but it is important to remember that the community are not moderated or reviewed by doctors and so you should not rely on opinions or advice given by other users in respect of any healthcare matters. Always speak to your doctor before acting and in cases of emergency seek appropriate medical assistance immediately. Use of the community is subject to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and steps will be taken to remove posts identified as being in breach of those terms.