Day 1 and beyond of citalopram
Posted , 16 users are following.
I have just started taking citalopram. 10mg for one week then 20mg after a week. I thought I might keep track of how it was making me feel each day, side effects etc. It has taken me years to get the courage to start taking medication, and lots of reading on the internet. I google everything. I would have loved to have found someone's account of their day by day experience on taking this. I may have started taking it sooner if I had. So....
Day One
Took 10mg of citalopram in the morning. A few minutes later had a massive panic attack thinking "what have I done!" Imagined the worst case scenario and convinced myself it was happening. Eventually calmed down. And... nothing. No side effects yet. Feel the same. Just my anxiety playing up, not the pill.
So I have survived, I will be back tomorrow to let you know how my first night went and day two of taking the medication.
Sarah
2 likes, 51 replies
sarah01870
Posted
Day 23
Tiredness has now completely gone which I'm thankful for. I even had a bottle of cider on New Years. I ate a lot first and the bottle lasted from 8pm til 1am lol, slow drinker, but except feeling a bit crappy in the morning, I know I can have a few drinks now and then on special occasions without the citalopram making me feel bad.
Good luck everyone starting out in this. It really hasn't been too bad for me. I am 32 years old, mum of 2 boys, I work and I study and I've managed to start this medication without it causing any problems. My anxiety and depression is still there, I feel like it has died down a bit and given more time I'm sure the citalopram will help even more.
Stay positive people!
Seriously could not keep living in my head these last few months. It has been miserable time for me and I see some light now and I'm so happy!
Sarah
sarah01870
Posted
Day 29
I have been going really good. Barely any anxiety.
Last night I started getting twitching in my arm. It was weird and wouldn't stop.
Today at work it did the same thing.
Tonight, I'm getting random twitching in my arm and leg.
It has panicked me a bit and I have been having a panic attack about it tonight. I'm trying to calm myself down but I'm doing a bad job. First big panic since I've been on cit. Sire jaw, feel like I can't get air properly, feeling shaky and a massive feeling of impending doom and feeling so sad 😭
I don't know if the twitching is because of the citalopram. But that's is what I am thinking. And I'm scared something is going to happen to me. If anyone out there is reading this and experienced it, can reassure me, that would be great right about now. I feel like I'm going to work myself up into a state and go to the a & e thinking I'm dying. (Which won't be the first time thanks to Anxiety)
I need someone to talk to, I don't really have anyone. My partner doesn't have the patience for it, no parents to talk to, and my best friend hasn't spoken to me in weeks. I called her last month before I started taking the cit and I think I was having a massive break down on the phone to her. Telling her how sad I was and blah blah blah. She said we would go for coffee the next morning. The next day she was busy. And so I asked her to go on a shopping date and I wasn't taking no for an answer, no excuses. And I got a message back saying she was busy due to Xmas etc and it isn't excuses and she was sorry I was going thru whatever and glad I was starting meds. So I said to her, I wasn't having a go (I thought she might have taken it the wrong way me saying no excuses) and I just wanted a friend. I don't talk to anyone about my anxiety. Not even her. I didn't want to hang out with her to talk about how sad I was. I just wanted to hang out be normal, gossip etc. we've been friends from 12 to 32years old. And she hasn't spoken to me since that message. I have been having dreams and nightmares about it. I don't want to contact her because it's like she's angry at me. I'm not sure. I think she doesn't like me because maybe my home isn't as nice as hers and the other girls. Haha that's so stupid. But no idea why I've been blocked by them. Maybe this is where the anxiety is coming from. Sigh 😔
Sorry for the rambling. Just nice to say it and have it out there. No reply needed. I'm a nutter lol 😂 I know.
chris03641 sarah01870
Posted
Hi Sarah
Sorry to hear that you are feeling so anxious. As mentioned before, this is the second time I've started cit. The first time was 3.5 years ago when I started on 10mg and increased to 20mg after 2 weeks.
Cit seems to do 2 things in the early weeks. First for some reason it causes your brain to inform you that the slightest problem is a major emergency, such as a headache being imminent stroke or aching chest a budding heart attack. And it is very real and worrying at the time.
The second thing is that it seems to produce some very strange side effects which contribute to the feelings and thoughts above. For example, last time I had a spell of vision disturbances plus moving shapes which was most distressing when in the dark trying to sleep. In the end I kept the light on. I also had a strange brain start, which occurred in the first few seconds of falling asleep. This effect was to instantly bring me wide awake, like switching the light on suddenly, together with a feeling of being really ill for 30 seconds. Very unpleasant.
These sort of effects last for a few days maybe, and then disappear, but are extremely upsetting when you have them. I have no doubt from what you have described that the twitching is one of those things, which cause you distress when they happen. I'm sure they will disappear.
Remember that cit it tampering with your brain, and altering the chemical balance, or so the medics say, so its all surreal until the brain compensates - which it will!
So do not fear, you will be OK and you are approaching the time when the main benefit of cit will kick in.
All the best
Chris
gillian176 chris03641
Posted
I know all this but it's great to see it written down like a security blanket....I was on it also 3 years ago for 6 months and took a year to slowly get off it. With hindsight the low moods anxiety etc came back about 6 weeks after. I played with st jons wort 5htp altho the best was the Nhs CBT..mindfulness meditation..however it was really just a sticking plaster. Saw my GP, she could see I had self helped everything and I started again two days ago, taking it at night which I did before. Insomnia this time. Waking up and not resettling but it's early days and I encouraged so many people to stick with it last time,that it does get better... I need to follow my own info I think. I can't expect miracles overnight 😏
claire_17658 sarah01870
Posted
Sorry to hear that you're having such difficult side effects, your blog has been immensely helpful for me because I started 7 days after you, I've started having really anxious afternoons and feelings of low mood from 3pm-5pm everyday then I get much better. Do you think it's effected by how much you eat? I was supposed to double the dose but I didn't and I'm actually pleased because it does seem to be starting to have a positive effect. I can't give up on it because I have a 10m old baby so have to be well again!
claire_17658
Posted
Feel SO awful today, really shaky and spun out :-( Not great when you have to look after a baby! I'm going back to taking it at night after dinner. Such a bad headache basically feel like I've got flu. Would be so resssurung to hear that after the first month these awful side effects stop! So tempted to stop taking them tomorrow....
dan96511 claire_17658
Posted
I am right there with you. I am feeling awful today and just want to feel my old self again. I also have a baby at home and I feel like such a failure because I am not being the strong father that she needs. We will get through this though. I don't have any answers on how, but we will
sarah01870 claire_17658
Posted
Hi sorry I haven't been online for 10 days or so and just read these messages. How are you going now? It's helped me a lot. It's been about a month now for you hey? If it's still not going great, maybe speak to your gp and maybe you need to change. Everyone reacts differently to meds and something that works for one person may or may not work for another. Hope you're doing good though. It's stressful with small children. My youngest is almost 6 but I remember how hard it could sometimes be when he was younger.
mariaisms19 sarah01870
Posted
claire_17658 mariaisms19
Posted
It turns out the ill feeling was in fact Norovirus!!! Not a side effect! I find that blood sugar level really seem to affect it's ability to make you feel less depressed, I skipped lunch today because everything was so frought with my baby but then felt horrendous all afternoon. Like everything is a black hole, no hope, dead heavy weight. It's so hard to know what'a "real" when you feel like this, whether something bad has really happened or you're interpreting the situation oddly!!! I haven't gone up to 20mg yet....
gillian176 claire_17658
Posted
sarah01870 mariaisms19
Posted
Hi yes I am much better. Thanks. 😘 I have just been busy with work and summer school holidays here in New Zealand. I feel a lot better. It's 38 days and no side effects anymore and I think I am the happiest I have been in at least 6 months. It's awesome coz I love being happy, I always try to be happy and make others happy coz I have no reason to be sad but anxiety can bring ya down so much a! I think starting this medication was the best decision I could have made, I should have done it years ago. All the time wasted!!
How are you going?? Have you started the celexa now?
sarah01870
Posted
Day 38
I've been feeling so much better. Anxiety is a lot better than usual. I'm starting to feel a lot more positive and happier. I've had a couple of anxiety moments. But so much less than before I was on citalopram.
No strange side effects for a while. I think they are all finished with.
Good luck everyone starting off on this. The side effects aren't awesome, but they were all manageable. And they didn't last for long.
Sarah 😊
gillian176 sarah01870
Posted
I am On day12 ....so that's really great to hear how well you feel. Well done
claire_17658 sarah01870
Posted
I've just got a new packet of pills and they're seemingly totally different to the last month's supply. The packet this time has days marked in it and has really made me feel EXTRA anxious! The feelings started the day I started the new pack. Has anyone had this happen when they changed pill brand?..,