Citalopram need reassurance
Posted , 4 users are following.
I've been on citalopram for 8 weeks now. I started on 10 and had horrible side effects, loss of appitite, scary thoughts, higher anxiety and panic attacks. I was upped to 20 after 2 weeks and then after 4 weeks side effects had gone but still feeling the anxiety I was prescribed them for.
I then went up to 30 and again had side effects for about a week but after that was feeling so much better until I went for a job interview and left half way through because I got so anxious. This knocked all my confidence and anxiety came back so the dr upped me to 40 a few days ago. I don't know if it's side effects again or just the bad experience but I'm back to week one of horrible thoughts. I woke up having a panic attack last night and I'm on the verge of crying constantly. I'm scared to leave my house again.
Is this common going up to 40 or have I just spiralled out of control again?
0 likes, 8 replies
anna78365 lara54717
Posted
Hi Lara, you've been on the tablets a relatively short time, so you will still be feeling vulnerable. Job interviews are a nightmare at the best of times but on top of just having started treatment it will knock you more than usual.
I had awful side effects when I started on 20 mg but have stuck with this dose because people say you get side effects every time you increase or descrease.
I'd stick with this dose and give it time to settle in your system.
Sorry to here you are in a bad place at the moment. It's only temporary and as everyone says things get worse before they get better with this drug.
Just try and take it easy and be kind to yourself. When I was feeling at my worst I made a hot water bottle, got my duvet down from upstairs and snuggled up on the sofa with a good book.
Good luck. You'll get there xx
katecogs lara54717
Posted
A larger dose doesn't mean you'll get better any quicker, and in fact all you do is add more side effects onto the symptoms you're already suffering from. You need to slow down because you can't make recovery happen quickly and you can't stop the anxiety .... not straight away anyway.
40mg is the maximum dose, and though we all suit different doses you won't know which one will suit you until you've given one dose a good few months. I also recovoered on 20mg.
Each time you increase you'll get side effects all over again, and a lot of people do struggle on 40mg.
A lot of people start meds, get side effects, don't see any change within a few weeks so increase their meds, get more side effects, again don't see any change and again increase meds and get more side effects. People then reduce meds and then get withdrawal effects so the body won't know whether its coming or going.
These meds can take months, not weeks. Stay on one dose for months - wait for the side effects to wear off, and then wait some more ...... and again wait. You'll still feel anxiety - it doesn't go away that easy. But ....... in time it will start to ease.
As you're recovering you'll also be up and down - you'll often feel as though you're back at the beginning. Thats normal and how recovery often works.
Negative thinking, scary thoughts etc are just side effects of anxiety. Once the anxiety starts to ease so too will the thoughts. They're nothing more than thoughts in a tired, anxious mind. They'll go.
You will get through this ..... but as Anna says, be kind to you body, and don't be in a rush. It will happen for you.
K x
lara54717 katecogs
Posted
Thank you. I feel like I have gone up too quick. I was on 40mg years ago and I think the Drs have been rushing me back up because that worked so well last time. I was asked to up from ten to twenty after 3 days. I'll just stick with it now that I'm there but I need to remind myself that it takes time. Last time I went on citalopram I was feeling better after 5 weeks and this time it's so much worse and it feels like it's taking forever. Nice to have support or at least somewhere to vent this frustration.
katecogs lara54717
Posted
I've been on these meds twice, and both times I had a different experience. The second time the side effects were different and it took much, much longer. I'm off meds again - came off last August. Still feeling good as now take 5-HTP over the counter meds instead.
Doctors eh
marianne07741 katecogs
Posted
How are you getting on with 5htp. I came off Mirtazapine in January and I have read about 5htp. Does it help you?
Thanks Maz
katecogs marianne07741
Posted
Hi
5-HTP works well for me - been on it since August. Its recommended to take l-tyrosine with it too, though since I ran out of those I've not taken any, and all is ok still.
I bought a great book on 5-HTP which goes into detail about it in easy understable terms.
So yes .... recommended
nicola99452 lara54717
Posted
Hi Lara
I'm in a similar boat. Been on 20mg for a month, was feeling better for a bit but now feel bad again, really tearful and lots of worrying. Going to Dr on friday and think she will say to up the dose as I was on 40mg last time.
lara54717 nicola99452
Posted
It's tough because on one hand you need time to adjust and don't want to move up to quick but on the other hand when you're feeling like this you just want to get better as soon as possible even if that's means pushing yourself and feeling 10 times worse for a bit. I just want to feel like I did before. I came of them because I was feeling better for a couple of years and thought I didn't need them but now I know it was the medication making me feel good rather than me being cured.
If it's any reassurance I was feeling like I was having a break down yesterday when I posted this and couldn't see an end to it and I woke up this morning in a good mood for the first time in so long ( usually wake up with anxiety). It's so up and down but if I can get to where I was before it will be worth it.