Posted , 13 users are following.
My GP wants me to swop to sertraline today. I started citalopram on 6th dec and it hasnt really settled with me, anxiety and side effect wise. I am having constant muscle twitching and jerking keeping me awake at night so he says its not suiting me! How frustrating is this journey, I just want to settle and get back to my old self 😦 anyone have an opinion on this?x
0 likes, 31 replies
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lala25752 Aimee87
Edited
it takes really long time to settle. the medication works by getting into your nerve synapse and regulating neurotransmitters in this case mainly serotonin. this process takes weeks and months actually. at first serotonin gets depleted making the anxiety really bad as well as depression in some cases, depending on the person.
it's very important that the doses are not increased within such short time most people start on ten and finish increasing at 20mg this is a dose that been proved to work well on anxiety. every time the dose is increased it resets everything so some people experience side effects all over again. the best is to stay on the same dose for 16 weeks at least. count your recovery from the last dose increase. 30mg might be too high tbh. unfortunately GPs tend to play lab games with patients. switching meds switching doses. worked in mental health long enough to see these poor people suffer due to GPs incompetence when it comes to mental health. please give a dose time to work. switching and starting new medication is really hard.
june13407 lala25752
Posted
This is very interesting I have been on Citalopram for 23 weeks 10,20 for five weeks then a psychiatrist put me on 30 mg I saw him once so have been on 30mg for 18weeks. I had severe anxiety and depression and health anxiety. I lost my swallow could only manage soup and prescribed shakes so lost weight.The swallow is much better now though not as good as before I was ill. I had so many swallow tests and a head and neck mri all normal. Was off work for 3 months due to debilitating panic attacks. My doctor wants me to stay on this dose and my anxiety is so much better and so am I mentally. But in the future what would be a good dose and what is the best way to titrate down obviously slowly when I feel totally recovered
lala25752 june13407
Posted
if the dose works for why not stay on it for as long as you want. dont forget it's a really long process to get better. sounds really rough what you been through. I have chosen to stay on my dose of 20mg for as long as possible I am not planning to come of it as in the past even tough I came off and managed to stay off meds for 7 months it just all came crashing down. I would say if you do plan to get off the medication or even reduce do it very very slowly what worked for me when I was reducing was I started to take the medication every other day then every two days eventually also decreasing the dose and following the same process. I feel like this works best but everyone is different. 20mg is a good dose to stay on as it is a lowest therapeutic dose although people do good on 10mg as maintenance dose as well. just stay on the dose that is working for you for as long as possible, there is no shame on being on antidepressants. there are plenty if people who took it for years with no health issues.
june13407 lala25752
Posted
Thank you for your advice I certainly will be staying on 30 for the time being
Aimee87 june13407
Posted
have you still got the muscle twitching? i have a tiny bit only when im relaxed at night but it does seem to be getting better now im not taking citalopram anymore x
lauren56079 Aimee87
Posted
hi aimee! have you switched to sertraline now? if so how are you doing? x
Aimee87 lauren56079
Edited
Hi Lauren, I did a straight switch to 50mg Sertraline on Tuesday. The day after I was far less anxious and I am sleeping so much better! Each day I am better. I was expecting to feel worse for the first few weeks so I don't think this is a placebo effect! Its early days but so far I have seen a HUGE improvement and hopefully it will continue x
lauren56079 Aimee87
Posted
Thats great! I was on sertraline for 1 year came off in september last year then when my anxiety came around again i wanted to give citalopram a go but wish i would of just started sertraline again! im on week 10 on monday of 10mg cit the side effects are subsiding but i keep waking in the night about 2/3am and i hate it x
Aimee87 lauren56079
Posted
I recovered on 10mg only 6yrs ago but my anxiety this time around has been worse, I think I needed 20mg but was too sensitive to that dose as I started cit on 6th dec and to be honest it hadn't really had any positive effect on my anxiety. I was constantly waking on citalopram, since stopping and taking sertraline I've been sleeping much better! Like I say, its early days for the sertraline its only day 4 but so far so good. From what I've read some people do respond to sertraline quite quickly and out of all the SSRI's its known to cause the least side effects. I know Citalopram has worked for so many people but it won't be for everyone and if you know you responded well to Sertraline before maybe you should give it a go? My GP said it wouldn't be like starting from scratch as I have already been taking an SSRI med and so far this has been correct x
toria_07298 Aimee87
Edited
glad to hear youre doing better aimee, hope it continues ❤️
Aimee87 toria_07298
Edited
Thank you, I will be sure to keep this forum updated as knowledge is power 😃