citalopram panic disorder?

I started taking citalopram for anxiety and depression and took it for 10 years.  It definitely helped curb those feelings.  The bad part is that it also tended to flatten out my emotions in general.  Also know that citalopram can be very difficult to stop taking once you've started, especially if you are on it for a long time.  In fact, it would probably be a good idea to look in this forum or Google in general for "citalopram withdrawal" to know what others have experienced before deciding to take it.  If you really feel like you have no other options, it will work but if I could do it again I'd only plan on taking it for a short time before checking back in with yourself.  Hope this helps...

6 weeks in and feeling better. I was reluctent to take them in fact they sat in my kitchen for 2 months before i finally couldnt handle the anxiety any more and decided to try them, i would say give them a try they have made a big difference but you must be patient as they take a while to start working and may make your anxiety worse before they make it better but hang in there they do work eventually.. let us know how you get on.

Hi Adrian, as most people have said it can get worse before it gets better. I had lack of appetite and increased anxiety for the first couple of weeks. My panic attacks have gone. Perserve and things will get better. I have now been on them for 10mths, thou i don't intend to be on them for years. If you can manage on the lower dose all the better, i was initially prescribed 20mg and found that too much so now manage on the 10mg. It takes the edge off, anxiety now as virtually gone. Hope this helps.

Best wishes.

Elizabeth. 

Hiya. ..I had citalopram for the last 17mnths or so and I was also not keen. The first couple of weeks on them I was told it can feel slightly worse as it takes up to 4 weeks to start taking effect. After reading these forums recently I have learned that the advice given to different people does seem to vary slightly. Personally I took up the cbt offered by the depression and anxiety team that was a referred by my doctor. I found it helped alot with coping strategies for sure. In hindsight I wish I had been able to manage with just that. Someone also recommended mindfulness and I got a book about it. Although it can be very hard to concentrate when suffering from anxiety/depression. ....

Exercise is a great mood lifter as is meditation. Although again meditation can be difficult if like myself you have an overactive mind. ...

Whatever you decide to do I would definitely say that you should remember that depression and anxiety is a medical condition and that if you need medication then not to feel bad about it. As I think you don't need to add that to your burden. It's just the way it is. My dr told me 1in 4 people suffer from it at least once in their lifetime. It's worth remembering that the side effects can be grim but they do pass. As with when coming off them. I'm weaning off now at 10mg per day.i think it's gonna take longer than the month I'd hoped for and I've been told that after stopping completely at about the 2/4 week mark you can have a bit of a blip and feel low again but that also passes. .I guess I'll find out lol......I do appear to be having swells of emotions every so often. It's quite nice to be feeling again actually. As I found the medication dulled that.but I guess that was the point. .

The most important thing I believe is to do what's right for you.you know yourself and what you need... even if it doesn't feel like that right now. ...and they say don't make any drastic lifestyle changes whilst on these medication. They may not be really what you want!

Sorry for the essay and good luck with your journey !! x

Thank you all for your replies and taking the time to tell me your own experiences , I will probably start them from tonight and  I hope I will be able to sleep through some of this side effects , as you all said I hope I will see some improvement after a while.  

Hi Adrian,

Ditto to most of the above!

Just remember, we are all different and you may or may not experience some or all, at different levels too!

Just remember you are at the right place for advice, reassurance or s chat!

Hope everything goes okay for you!

Regards,

David

Hi AdrianV

i started taking 10mg Citalopram last night for my anxiety disorder and panic attacks due to post traumatic stress and i was just as nervous as you! I took it at 8.30pm, got into bed at 10.30pm, slept well and was wide awake at 4am... eventually dozed off again after an hour but found myself thinking 'strange' things that never made sense. I woke up feeling okay and pretty calm. My doctor prescribed 10mg for the first 2 days and 20mg thereafter but i think i'm going to continue on the 10mg for the next week and see how i feel. I have been given a 6 months course and hoping that I will feel ok to come off them gradually...

P.S Adrian, good luck and keep us posted on how you go!

I am so happy i found this forum and I plan to do the same

Hello

I have taken Citolapram for 2 years. Before I took Amitriptilyine but it did not help.

Citolapram were the best for my friend and myself. It also does not have a sedatory effect. After about 3 weeks you should start to feel better.

Let us know how you get on.

Hugs

I just started Celexa 10 day's ago for years of chronic anxiety and depression. Not helping me yet. Been on a host of other antidepressants with no luck pretty discouraging. Want my life back

Hi I hope someone can help I'm on 15th day of taking 20mg of citalopram for heat anxiety the first few days I felt sleepy but thought they were helping but the weather was cooler now it's warming up I'm feeling like they aren't working I know they take few weeks to get into ur system and I know the side affect my mouth is always so dry and I have slight head ache but I can live with that my mood seems to have changed I don't really wanna do much and get panicky if it's warm I work full time so it's not as if I'm staying in the other day on the bus to work I had the worst feeling my chest and top part if my body was burning and I felt like I was gonna pass out o didn't and was fine after is this a side affect or as panic attack??? I have some many questions will I know when the tablets start to work ? As its summer I'm dreading the heat and have to check the weather a few times a day to make sure it's not to hot, did they work in the beginning and have stopped now? Or was it just cuz it was cooler I'm dreading the summer as I don't think I'll be able to cope. I have worried over the heat for years but now it's so bad I don't know what to do I can't eat when I feel like this although my appetite has come bk please I hope someone can answer my questions I know this is a old thread!!

Hi I hope someone can help I'm on 15th day of taking 20mg of citalopram for heat anxiety the first few days I felt sleepy but thought they were helping but the weather was cooler now it's warming up I'm feeling like they aren't working I know they take few weeks to get into ur system and I know the side affect my mouth is always so dry and I have slight head ache but I can live with that my mood seems to have changed I don't really wanna do much and get panicky if it's warm I work full time so it's not as if I'm staying in the other day on the bus to work I had the worst feeling my chest and top part if my body was burning and I felt like I was gonna pass out o didn't and was fine after is this a side affect or as panic attack??? I have some many questions will I know when the tablets start to work ? As its summer I'm dreading the heat and have to check the weather a few times a day to make sure it's not to hot, did they work in the beginning and have stopped now? Or was it just cuz it was cooler I'm dreading the summer as I don't think I'll be able to cope. I have worried over the heat for years but now it's so bad I don't know what to do I can't eat when I feel like this although my appetite has come bk please I hope someone can answer my questions I know this is a old thread!!

I've been taking Lexapro (Citalopram) for seven years.  My diagnoisis is Major Depression with Post Traumatic Stress and Anxiety Disorders.  The Major Deperssion was diagnosed in my 20s (I'm over sixty now).  Throughout the course of dealing with the depression, I have been prescribed numerous anti-depressants because none had a lasting effect beyond a year. 

Citalopram has helped with anxiety - just a little - for me.  My doctor added Clonazepam, 1mg tablets, 3 times a day,  Since my husband's death in April, I have developed SEVERE anxiety disorder, including panic attacks.  Now?

I won't leave my property, won't go to town (I live in a rural area).  My heartrate skyrockets just thinking about leaving here.   Now, I fear I've developed agoraphobia.  My grown children are concerned.  So, I looked up treatment for agoraphobia AND, lo' and behold - Citalopram (a seratonin uptake inhibitor) is among the meds to treat agoraphobia.  It isn't working.

I developed a panic disorder in June 2014 and I can tell you with a high level of accuracy that Citalopram does not help at all with full blown panic symptoms.

Perhaps something like beta-blockers would be more useful since they mediate the physiological issues caused by panic including heart rate.

My advice is to never take a drug for a problem, particularly panic, as you need to work at a solution through cognitive strategies.