Do citalopram work?

Hi kyle, thank you very much for replying and giving me hope!  Now on my 11th day of taking them and im starting to slowly feel better within myself, and the nausea has stopped now im finally eating again! I go up to taking 20mg in a couple of days so hoping i will start to feel more like myself and more hopeful once ive got to that dose  

Wishing you the best too

Bethanie 

Hi Bethanie

Hows your increase to 20mg going along? I heard people can get side effects for a short while when going up in the dosage. I found that 20mg was too much for me at the time as the side effects got unbearable for me. Still on 10mg and the side effects have subsided after about 6 weeks but I still have my anxiety bouts a lot during the day and it feels like I get them more often now. Probably just another side effect haha. I found like mindfulness as well as making outdoor activities helps so much, even if you are terrified of going outside even just a walk in the garden or out the front door does wonders for me.

I am back at the doctors in a week and I am going to discuss whether upping my dosage to 20mg will assist me more in tackling my GAD more effectively. I am so happy to hear that your side effects started to subside after a couple weeks and remember if you do feel worse on some days that's completely normal as anxiety and depression are extremely tough on us, but we're always tougher as people.

Let me know how you're managing on 20mg though, I would love to hear your experience so far. Take care

Kyle

Hi kyle, 

Thanks for checking in on me! Ive been taking 20mg for 5 days now and i felt okay at the start didnt have any of the terrible side effects like i did when i started taking them, but what i have noticed is i am exhausted! Im not sure if thats due to working long hours or the tablets or both i dont seem to be sleeping very well like waking up loads during the night. The past couple of days havent been the best ive been feeling really anxious and depressed like i dont know if i can do certain things rather than believing i can! Im finding it hard to take my mind of things too, i will try to go outside and mindfullness to see if it helps at the minute im just going to work and then staying in and sleeping which i know isnt helping! 

Let me know how things go at the doctors, i hear that 20mg is the 'therapeutic dose' but it sounds like you had a horrible time upping to that! Hopefully if you up to 20 again it wont be as bad for you

Keep in touch 

Bethanie 

Hi Bethanie,

I have noticed I am not getting good sleep, but my vivid dreams have subsided somewhat. I am going through a blip right now I think so it is tough, my anxiety has found another thing to target but I am working on getting better still. I am still on 10mg and I don't think it is doing enough for me so I am going to ask about going on to 20mg as I keep having to reach for my diazepam tablets because I am feeling anxiety attacks coming on. The diazepam still works great even at 2mg and I feel my anxiety quickly subside when I take them.

My main issue is overthinking literally everything. The doctor said I am unable to work so I have been put on ESA until I get better. I have a medical for that which is extremely distressing as I keep making up scenarios in which they will think I am lying which only makes my anxiety worse. I am overthinking about money too. I know I am good with money and I know I don't have to worry about it as I still live at home and pay my parents board money. Its just the leftover money that worries me oddly enough. I panic when I have money in my bank as I don't know when I need it. Whenever I spend money, even if it's £5 I will feel panicky and guilty straight away. I overthink about saving or spending and it makes my head just feel full.

I can say a lot of my physical symptoms associated with anxiety have went down, such as the shaking, tunnel vision, dizziness and being tearful. Although my memory is awful at the moment, probably because I am overthinking. Just now I remember and forget multiple times what I am going to write and that sends me in a panic because I think I won't ever be able to find a job if I can't remember anything. Right now I am able to still enjoy my hobbies but I also think that since I like to be on my computer with my friends a lot that I am going to be engulfed in it like I was in the past and go back to how I was originally.

All the best to you and I hope things get better soon,

Kyle

Hi bethanie. How long have you been on your citalopram now? And were you on them just for anxiety? Or depression and anxiety? Xx

Hello,

Ive been on them for 5 weeks tomorrow. Started for 2 weeks on 10mg then the last 3 weeks on 20mg. And i was put on them for both. Ive had anxiety for quite a few years and depression for the past few months. I was having really awful panic attacks multiple times a day but since about a week into these tablets i havent had one since  

That's good. Did you feel they made you feel even more depressed? Or have they picked you up a bit now? Xx

I was definitely worse for the first two weeks, i was a nightmare. As well as the side effects i was having, the depression got almost unbearable,  then i started off being able to push my bad negative thought aside just for a few minutes and i just kept repeating positive things to myself. Then now i find it a lot easier to do that, i still get bad thoughts but theyre not as frequent now and im laughing again and not thinking about the depression and panic as much. How long have you been taking the tablets and how are you getting on? 

X

How are you able to do that? . I can't do that at the moment. I was only put on mine for anxiety. But I'd only had the anxiety for 7 days. 😕  I don't even know if antidepressants were the right thing. After such a short time.

I have only been on mine for 3 and a half weeks. 23 days on 10mg and 3 days on 20mg. My anxiety is high and I've felt really low since Tuesday. Xx

What positive things did you say? If you don't mind me asking xx

I think they prescribe antidepressants for anxiety quite a lot, the dr prescribed me with a beta blocker at first but it did nothing to help at all. I think its a lot better taking action against the anxiety in the early days rather than having it months or even years without any help from tablets its like nipping it in the bud. 

And of course i dont mind you asking, it sounds really weird but i was like arguing with myself in my head. For every bad thought i would try to counteract it with a good thought, when i thought i cant do this id think well ive thought this before about situations that i never thought id get through and i did. It took ages for me to start actually believing it though and i also set myself little tasks that i thought impossible tiny things like having a shower and brushing my teeth and id do it and feel proud of myself, then the tasks started getting bigger, going into work, talking to a guest at work (i work in a hotel) the last task i completed was going to a really busy shopping mall on a weekend and it was very overwhelming and stressful but i did it! I have acute agoraphobia due to my anxiety so for me that is the biggest achievement ever! 

You'll get there, just keep telling yourself you will get there and you will get better even if you dont believe it at first. Weve made outselved believe the negative of our minds so we can do it with the positive  

X

Thank you. I will start trying this. I know this is what I need to do but it's so hard when you feel so low and helpless isn't it?!  Do you think I should give the meds more time before changing them? Xx

Its extremely hard definitely the hardest thing ive had to do. Yeah i think you should give them a chance, from what ive read it takes a couple of months for people to start feeling the full benefits of them. Ive read a lot more positive reviews of them than not but everyones different id deffo give it a few months. And if your feeling really low and need reasurrence or just somebody to vent to im only a message away sometimes just getting things off your chest can help  

X

Hi kyle,

Just wondering how you're doing now?