Could Citalopram cause depression and Anxiety??
Posted , 8 users are following.
Hi everyone,
My story begins 5 years ago, i was prescribed with 20mg of Citalopram to deal with a non anxiety or depression problem I had. the problem was over after a year but i continued taking it because the withdrawal side effects were horrible.
Finally, 3 months ago i decided to cut it off gradually. I still suffered from the withdrawal symptoms but I pushed through. After a month i was out of it and was feeling fine, normal and happy.
Until a month ago when i was caught by a severe Panic attack. at the time I didn't realized that it was a Panic attack, so I rushed myself to the hospital , there, of course, they implied that its psychosomatic.
Ever since that Panic attack I felt very anxious and depressed, felt like I'm not myself anymore.
My GP told me to go back taking Citalopram.
For the first few weeks on the Citalopram I felt so depressed and anxious, especially in the mornings all thought the day until the evenings.
Now I'm on week 4 on the pill, I feel a bit better but not like myself before that big Panic attack,
I keep on waking up in the mornings feeling anxious and depressed.
I'm afraid that I might screwed something up in my head by taking Citalopram for 5 years and than cutting off and back on again.
How can one Panic attack make me a whole different man in one day?!
I kinda hoped that the Citlopram will fully kick in by now..
I'm feeling really confused 😦
0 likes, 53 replies
gsquez77 mech
Posted
Hello ! This is how i feel too like that.
I went on it and didnt feel well on it.
I also stopped it now and feeling im getting a to z symptoms from headaches to panicky feelings to low feelings you name it.
My family wants me in hospital as im not functioning well with everything in life.
I been on and off too and my mind feels like it confused and im confused as well.
Thanks!
lois95799 gsquez77
Posted
that is called discontinuation symptoms is all normal with ssri.it states it all on your leaf let.
mech gsquez77
Posted
It sounds like you are having a rough time yourself, i'm sorry to hear that.
As lois stated, if you are coming off the pill you may experience withdrawal symptoms, which are exactly as you described.
I felt them too as I was cutting off citalopram 3 months ago, but they faded after 3 weeks.
Hope you'll feel better soon!
lois95799 mech
Posted
they faded after three weeks?but now you are on celexa again?i see you wrote you had a panic attack so thats the reason you are back on celexa.discontinuation symptoms can last for many months for some.and also delay discontinuation symptoms are also known to happen to many people.best regards
toria_07298 mech
Posted
i think the panic attack was brought on by withdrawal! its sounds like you withdrew far too fast!
mech toria_07298
Posted
First, thank you all for taking the time to reply.
I think I'm coming to realize that you and lois might be correct.
That big Panic attack left me shook up, and immediately my GP told me to go back on taking Celexa (after my body was seemingly "clean" of it), and now I'm experiencing the "pill adjusting time", which I don't remember having when I took it 5 years ago BTW.
Is it normal to feel depressed and anxious (especially in the mornings) 4 weeks in?
Best regards to you all
lois95799 mech
Posted
anxiety is always bad in the mornings due to the celexa and your cortisol levels.it will all subside.and you will feel normal again .dont fiddle with dose and try not to panic because everything you are feeling is unfortunately normal.
Potatoghost mech
Posted
it is definitely normal to feel worse in the mornings. I'm 10 weeks in on 40mg and I still feel the mornings are tough so 4 weeks really isn't a long time.
it's getting better but very slowly
today I feel terrible but I'm sure it will pass
I'm not on my second time of citalopram but since upping from 20mg-40mg it is definitely taking a lot longer than it did when I first started and I got bad side effects. when I first went on it I didn't have a single side effect and it worked within 4 weeks.
this time round I was tripping major ballsack lol and it's taking a while.
Toria and lois have already replied and they are absolutely amazing and have been brilliant helping me (I'd marry them if I could) and their advise is always spot on and supportive. listen to them they know what they are talking about x
mech lois95799
Posted
Its some what comforting to know those feelings considered normal at this stage.
Thank you!
mech Potatoghost
Posted
Toria and lois sure sounds like they know what they are talking about 😉
When you say "today I feel terrible" do you mean in terms of depression, anxiety or both? I'm just curious, because those feelings of depression and anxiety are very unfamiliar to me and never felt them before so intensively prior to the Panic attack.
best regards.
lois95799 mech
Posted
antyime.wishing you a speedy recovery
toria_07298 mech
Posted
id never had anxiety before withdrawing from citalopram so can understand you being worried x
Potatoghost mech
Posted
I suffer from both. it always works like this for me
anxiety gets bad for a few weeks first
the worse the anxiety gets the more I feel depressed until I have full blown depression and anxiety too.
one just feeds off the other so it's not uncommon to get both. sometimes it's hard to tell which one is causing what symptoms.
I really feel for you because it's so horrible!
I have heard that withdrawing too quickly can make you feel depressed because the tablet helps you hold on to seratonin and taking it away suddenly will cause your levels to drop so it wouldn't be unreasonable to think this will make you feel depressed
so when you either go back on your med or when the withdrawal stops the depression should lift x
I hope that makes sense lol
I find the tablets help depression a bit better than they do anxiety .
Grounded mech
Posted
A major panic attack like that causes a lot of stress on your mind, and it will take time to heal just like anything else in your body that goes through a traumatic experience. I do know exactly how you feel though I've had some bad ones in my life, and some it felt like it took forever to feel better. I think that because you already know that it was a panic attack and that we do heal and feel better after them you are already one step ahead in healing!
As far as the Citalopram, it's just like the first time when you have to start over taking it again, you go through the ups and downs and start up side effects but it does get better.
Keep your head up, you will be fine! 😃
mech Grounded
Posted
Thank you for your reply, I appreciate it!
I really hope that those horrible feelings will just be forgotten already, and I will come back to be a normal man again (normal is a relative term 😉).
I'm beginning my 4th week on Celexa now, hopes are up.
Thank you again!
Grounded mech
Posted
No problem! I have been there and done that for the past 20 years at least. Probably experienced it all at one point. And if there is any advice I can give or help someone else out through their struggle I definitely will.