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Citalopram dosage levels

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nucole36482
nucole36482

Hi all, so I had post natal depression after my dd was born, then I was finally given citalopram when she was 8 months old. Nobody spotted it and for me it was just anxiety really then feeling low.  Anyhow I saw my gp who put me on 20mg citalopram, he never told me about any side affects except self harm. I obviously didn’t feel better after two weeks but he increased me to 40mg and that took ages but once again he never told me that it would take time to work. 

I’ve been on them 14 years  and I got really busy, and forgot them for a week in September, then kept forgetting for four months and had a big relapse in January. Anyway my doctor put me on 20 but it didn’t work as he said that it should take a couple of weeks. After 3 weeks I went up to 30 and I still have blips and feel tired and a bit anxious but hoping it’s getting there. Hoping that this will help me.

I am worried that physiologically I will need to go back to 40mg.

However although better and living life on 40mg I was always tired and struggled a bit through the day. Now having found this forum I feel really cross at my old gp for not knowing what he was doing or warning me about the side effects.

0 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • tracy64346
    tracy64346 nucole36482

    Posted

    At last someone that has been on them along time ! I’ve been on them for 11 years , and same as you was put on them for severe postnatal deression . Any way three weeks ago I was upped to 30mg , I’m getting married in six weeks and for the past two months I’ve developed rocd , where in my thoughts I’m constantly questioning if I love him , want to be with him , do I fancy him , and it’s all anxiety because I totally love him . I’m just really worried that my tablets aren’t working , my depression is getting better but the anxiety seems to be really bad more so at night since upping 
  • nucole36482
    nucole36482

    Posted

    I would be so grateful for Lois or Katiecogs opinion here x
    • lois95799
      lois95799 nucole36482

      Posted

      What your experiencing is withdrawal and restart up effects..your mind is trying to stabilize the serotonin..until your brain decides to send that special signal to stop producing more serotonin because we are getting it from the outside. It's a long waiting process .or at least it seems long..never stop taking this very powerful Medication without mush worry. These are very powerful meds and they can cause havoc on your over all nervous system ..when your careless with dosages..

    • lois95799
      lois95799 nucole36482

      Posted

      Also don't rush and try to find comfort fast ..let one consistent dosage do it's job..they work very slowly.. especially the second time around...

  • nucole36482
    nucole36482

    Posted

    Thank you, what do you think about my original doctor. I am quite upset now I have found this forum that he started so high just put me up in dose again and never told me of the time or side effects recovery would take.

    Could I honestly recover again on a lower dose then I took for years and could the 40 dose be why I was so tired?

    • lois95799
      lois95799 nucole36482

      Posted

      Absolutely ....you could easily recover on 10milligrams ..I did...and the tiredness from celexa was because your dosage was too highhhh..
    • mark89813
      mark89813 lois95799

      Posted

      I recovered on 5mg the first time, over the years my dose has increased and I've just finished week 7 of 25mgs

  • nucole36482
    nucole36482

    Posted

    I wish I had found this site before! I feel so cross with my initial doctor. Going to see if I should stay on 30mg x
    • nucole36482
      nucole36482 lois95799

      Posted

      I wondered if I should go down actually as I still feel quite tired 
    • lois95799
      lois95799 nucole36482

      Posted

      It's a possibility ...alot of people suffered and usually go down in dosage because of tiredness..most of the time they come off meds not thinking that a lower dose was all they needed..

    • nucole36482
      nucole36482 lois95799

      Posted

      Great thank you, I had a big anxiety attach this morning. I was up all night with hubby, at hospital as he broke his ankle so the severe tiredness triggered a blip. Hope it was just a blip 
    • lois95799
      lois95799 nucole36482

      Posted

      Yes that usually happens on ssris our emotions are overly magnified ..so we tend to call them blips..that will eventually subside...
    • nucole36482
      nucole36482 lois95799

      Posted

      Do you mean the blips will subside or the overmagnification of emotions? As before when I was stable for years on cit I managed much tougher situations? Feeling so awful now and have to go to work, wish me luck x
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