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Citalopram: 20mg for 8 weeks then 30mg for 2 weeks - feel much worse!

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Hi everyone. First time posting here. I am worried that I feel much worse after an increase in my Citalopram dosage from 20mg to 30mg.

[u]Some symptoms I've been experiencing:[/u]

- insomnia and bad sleep during the night

- tiredness and "brain fog" during the day

- persistent anxiety and circular thoughts

- feeling reckless and self-destructive

- hopelessness, feeling lost and directionless

- unable to write or be creative for my studies

- panic attacks and chest pains, which have never subsided throughout my 10 weeks on Citalopram

Please can anyone offer some advice or share their experience. I just really want to know that it gets better and that my life will improve on the increased dose. I am really not coping right now and can't see a way forward.

Thank you.

5 likes, 913 replies

913 Replies

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  • Kaylaja
    Kaylaja Guest

    Posted

    Hi i am new to this forum but after having a read its made me feel alot better. I was on 20mg of cit and came off them 2 years ago. over the past 6 months I could feel myself slipping back to an anxious state.

    The doctor has put me back on them and ive been on 10mg for 4 weeks and was still feeling very anxious, the doctor has upped to 20mg and ive been taking these for 4 days. Ive had 4 days of what has felt like hell, we was also away from home. We had to cut our trip short as I just wanted to be home. Everyday I was having irrational thoughts, severe panic attacks, i was scared.

    After reading some of these comments its made me realise I'm not on my own and its looking like the increase thats causing it.

    I do have some 2mg diazepam tablets that I had prescribed for flying and we didn't end up going, is this the dosage given by the doctor also for helping with anxiety? or should I see the doctor again about this?

    Also I would love the link for the book if possible please.

    Also my appetite is not good at the minute, so any advice on that any would be greatly appreciated too. Thanks

  • Cairns64512
    Cairns64512 Guest

    Edited

    Hey KateCogs

    Hope you're doing well. I tried to reply to you a couple of weeks ago but the site went down.

    Ive been having brighter days now but they can still be interspersed by these intrusive thoughts. I know this was your worst fear when you were ill and I seem to be the very same as you.

    Some of the thoughts are quieter now and not as threatening and I can ignore them more, sometimes I forget them! but then I'll get one thought that can grab me and I feel sick for a while until it passes.

    I was making a plan to go somewhere in the next few weeks and this ugly thought came out of nowhere and it felt like a kick in the gut. I felt sick with nerves(tho I wasn't) I've still continued to make my plan as by the time it comes around I could feel different and I'll never know if I felt better unless I try.

    Did you still have days like this were you'd be feeling not too bad and some horrible thought would come across you and make you feel frightened again. You're right tho, it's not the thoughts it's the feelings they give off that can feel so believable. I know they're not true and I can now say it's only anxiety with most of them but then I get a new thought related to the one thats always forefront and it upsets me then makes me think that I'll never be free from them. Is this recovery or am I just going around in circles.

    I am starting to recover in other ways tho and Im more sociable. I'd say when I was first ill I was 1/10. Now I'd say I'm 6/10. My mood is certainly brighter and Im

    watching TV a bit more and thinking of doing a phased return to work in a month if I continue to recover like this.

    I just wish these thoughts would stop having such a suggestible feeling to them when they come over me. I can feel brilliant, full of hope then next minute I'm in tears.

    I know Wills Method makes sense but some days it's really hard to switch off from them.

    Xx💕

  • steven20633
    steven20633 Guest

    Posted

    @katiecogs

    would it be possible for me to get the links for the book aswell.

  • lisa11619
    lisa11619 Guest

    Posted

    hi all

    I have been on citalopram for years at 30 my anyway in Jan this year I had an awful anxiety attack and just messed with my head. the Dr put me up to 40mg of citalopram anyway since upping the anxiety comes a lot I'm never really settled. so today I rang the doc and explained how I have felt since upping the citalopram and she seems to think that 40mg might be a bit to high for me and to go back to 30mg. has anyone else had this where they had to decrease the med as it was worse going up. I knew the first few weeks would be rough as always is going up a dose but 6 months later I still don't feel right as in anxiety wise. also citalopram has always worked really well for me . she said if I go downhill I will have to swap to another antidepressant.

    • Cairns64512
      Cairns64512 lisa11619

      Posted

      @Lisa11619

      Hey Lisa.

      Ive been on and off anti depressants over the years and Ive always felt that any time Ive increased or decreased my dozage there is always a side effect depending on how much youve taken or cut out. My Dr has always said its better to do it very gradual so it doesnt cause you too much upset. So Ive found myself quartering or halving the tablet up or down dozage .

      Ive also suffered anxiety relapses over the yrs and no matter what causes it we all feel as though weve fallen into the Anxiety loop again questioning everything. What I say to myself is if this was a normal day for me and I didnt have anxiety, would I still react this way if something upset me, the answer is yes I would but because its normal, I do have anxiety at moment and Ive tried to accept that the anti depressants Im on (Citalopram 10mg) for nearly 6mths now, they are there to help alleviate our symptoms of depression, thoughts, anxiety but along the way Im still going to experience days or moments where Ill feel down or anxious as every day our bodies do go through physical and mental changes as we get older, so I feel we're meant to naturally react according to that good or bad and we automatically think the dozage is no longer working for us if its a downspell .

      I understand its very difficult as Im still recovering but Im getting better. I was so fed up a few weeks ago that I tried to up my dozage to 20mg also simply because everyone I know seems to recover on a higher doze. I had terrible side effects again and after I realised I was just being impatient I decided to go back down to 10mg . Im glad I did now as I know these tablets take time to work on us and if I have a very anxious day I know its a blip/setback but it wont determine how the rest of my week will be as Ive tried to accept no day is ever the same. Its taken me a long time Lisa and with the help of KateCogs on this forum and my wee Mum who have both suffered the same for yrs and

    • Cairns64512
      Cairns64512

      Posted

      @Lisa11629

      Sorry Lisa I hit reply by mistake haha,!

      Yeah if you haven't already text Kate then you should as shes amazing at explaining anxiety. You will get through this just like myself but give the Citalopram a bit more time before you decide to change to another.

      Take Care

      Xx

  • megan59571
    megan59571 Guest

    Edited

    @katecogs

    Hi kate,

    its been a good while since i have been on here speaking with you/emailing you. i must say i have come a long way since then. its been 3 and a half months since i started citalopram, i made the final step up 2-3 weeks ago from 15mg to 20mg as i feel this was the dose i recovered on the first time. The past week i have been having flashing of bad anxiety again, mainly the intrusive thoughts and my anxiety is worse in the evening? i know logcially that this must be due to the increase i have made but doesnt make it any less frightening. i know you have said recovery is up and down and this is the worst its been for a little while now. although, when i think back to how bad i was 3 months ago i can see that i period where i dont think about it at all even days, i sleep better and thoughts dont always bother me. however, weridly the same thoughts have started bugging me again. its always in the evening. it doesnt seem to last as long and they come in waves as opposed to fairly constant like they used to be. in back to overthinking and overfeeling everything around me again which is exhausting. im hoping its possible that all of this will eventually go. over all i am doing better, im just hoping this is just a blip and the negative thoughts are part of that - its just difficult!

    hope you are well!

    Megan x

    • katecogs
      katecogs megan59571

      Posted

      Hello Megan

      So sorry for not seeing this post to me - tagging doesn’t work on the forum so I wouldn’t have had any notification.

      I’m wondering how you’re doing since you posted this?

      When you increase meds you will get increased anxiety again for a short while which will eventually settle. Intrusive thoughts are a side effect of anxiety, so when the anxiety is worse you’ll find your thoughts are more intense and persistent. Its quite normal having thoughts that once used to bother you then went away to crop up again. Anxiety isn’t choosy and will latch onto any thoughts, and often ones that bothered you before can be the prominent ones again.

      The thoughts aren’t real, they aren’t you or reflect any part of your character. Anxiety seems to make you search out the scariest things to think of (each personal to each person) and those thoughts will cause more anxiety.

      Anxiety causes all our thoughts and feelings to be heightened - this is because our body has become super sensitised, our nerves will feel raw, and so it stands to reason our body will feel and think everything to a really heightened degree. When anxiety begins to calm, the body desensitised and then all feelings and thoughts will begin to ease and will lose that intensity and return to normal again.

      I’m guessing this has settled and was just a blip due to the meds increase.

      Hope all is well with you.

      K x

    • Butch808
      Butch808 katecogs

      Posted

      How long before the increase in anxiety will cease after the celerex increase?

    • katecogs
      katecogs Butch808

      Posted

      Hi Butch

      Extremely heightened anxiety can last a few weeks after an increase, though moderate anxiety will continue for sometime as you recover.

    • K83JM
      K83JM katecogs

      Edited

      Hi Kate, i hope you dont mind me jumping on here. I have extreme heightened anxiety after taking 20mg for 4 weeks. it was ok for 1.5 weeks at first but now it is awful. i'm taking them for anxiety and it is way worse than when i started.

      prior to upping to 20mg i was on 10mg and felt like i was doing ok. certainly felt improved. the GP upped me as i hit a tough spot at 6 weeks. not sure not if this was the right thing to do.

      do you have any advice. i feel like i may be better going back to 10mg again as i was starting to see a benefit if not a slow

      one but i did deffo feel i had some good times on this dose.

      any advice would be appreicated. i am stay at home mum to two small boys so want to be functioning as best as i can. thank you

    • katecogs
      katecogs K83JM

      Edited

      Hi K83JM

      I also replied to your pm to me.

      The first few weeks on medicine or after an increase can be quite tough - the medicine heightens anxiety at first and then your body will slowly adapt to it. This is why you feel worse.

      20mg is a good dose to take so its probably best to stick with it.

      Recovery on meds is an up and down affair and anxiety and all its symptoms will fluctuate as you recover. This is normal.

      Whatever dose you take you’ll still go through the same fluctuations.

      I sent you some info via pm.

    • yuss88
      yuss88 katecogs

      Posted

      Hi Kate! Not sure if you are still active on here but your posts have really helped me. I am on escitalopram for GAD the second time, first time round i recovered after a month and like many people this second time has been longer with lots of blips. I am on Week 13 and just had 11-12 good days and have been hit with another blip. This blip instead of extreme anxiety I have extreme sadness? I have never suffered from depression or extreme sadness before, so this horrible low mood is freaking me out.

    • katecogs
      katecogs yuss88

      Posted

      Hi yuss88

      Yes I’m still around 😃

      It can take longer to recover on meds second time round - no idea why that happens. But whatever experience you had first time round on meds can be quite different second time.

      Just keep going on the meds - they should work for you again.

      Blips are perfectly normal and part of the healing process. Blips are just the anxiety symptoms returning, and they can be different when you have another experience of anxiety. In all my years of having anxiety I had intrusive thoughts and GAD, never once had a panic attack. Second time with anxiety I experienced panic which was completely new to me. I also had depression second time round too.

      But whatever symptom you have, they are all under the umbrella of anxiety.

      So it doesn’t matter what symptom you have - its all part of the same thing.

      How are you doing now since you last posted this?

    • yuss88
      yuss88 katecogs

      Posted

      i just replied to your message, thank you for the links! after that awful blip at Week 13 things have got more manageable. i feel about 85% better on my good days. i still have blips that last 4-7 days but it is every few weeks now instead of 1 good week/1 bad week which i know is huge progress. this second time recovery has been so so gradual, progress has been by months not weeks. today marks 5 months back on the meds and i have accepted that it could be up to a year before i am fully recovered.

    • katecogs
      katecogs yuss88

      Posted

      Hi - I've replied to you via the messaging instead of here.

      K x

    • denise74065
      denise74065 katecogs

      Posted

      hi katecogs love your posts they really help lm on cit 20 for anxiety and depression in menopause been taking for 10months they were working but last 4 weeks morbid thoughts are back although not 24/7 but enough to be there everyday especially mornings have had bad news about family member at that time still keeping up with hobbies n getting out couldnt do that before so know its not as bad is this a blip ?lm 63 so dont think my dose can be changed just want these thoughts to go .thanks Denise

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