Help Citalopram effects

They can take 14 days to get into your system. The sensations you are feeling now have nothing to do with Citalopram, it will not even be in your system yet.

You should be OK stopping them, BUT CHECK WITH YOUR DOCTOR.

This might not be any help, but I was on it for 4/5 years and took me 6 months of hell to get off them.

Is it for Anxiety or Depression?

Hi it's for anxiety, I have been having episodes over the last few months and today been having them all day, together wit yawning, feeling sick, and a dread in my stomach.

Hello, I am new on here and this is just literally the first post I came across so I thought I would reply to this one.

I will start by saying I used to suffer with an anxiety disorder myself, which started in my teens and went on until my early 20's.

I know exactly how you feel as I have been through every horrible symptom in the book to the point that I was suicidal and actually started to self harm because i hated myself and the situation I was in so much. This went on for about 5 years time. I was a complete wreak and what made it all seem so much worse was that just years before I was the "not a care in the world" type of person.

I am now completely anxiety free and have been for a couple of years I am a different person and now want to come back to forums such as this one and help people that are going through what I once did as I remember how inspirational it was when I would see people on these forums that had managed to get over their issues as not a lot of people bother and it gives the impression no one gets better which is incorrect.

The first thing I would say to you if forget the drugs all of them. It is very unlikely you will make a recovery on the back of taking any drug that's not really how it works.

99% of drugs are designed to mask symptoms you cannot get over an anxiety disorder simply by masking symptoms for while plus 100% of drugs are toxic to the body. I would suggest that half of the so called benefit people get from these drugs is nothing more than a placebo effect anyway.

To take a drug in order to mask a symptom is kinda like running away from the symptom and therefore your anxiety. which I know may seem like a good idea, however, it is not.

The key to eliminating your anxiety is to almost welcome it, sit with it and do nothing to try and get away from how you are feeling. only once you can do this will you start to loose fear of it and once you start to loose fear of it, it will then start to lose control over you.

That is what you have to do in a very over simplified fashion its very simple but I know first hand its not very easy.

I could go on for hours but this is already way to long and I would rather answer some of your direct question than carry on rambling.

Kind regards

Kyle

hi lydia. i was on citalopram for a good few years and i found them really really good. i know people say that they are not in your system but they are and thats why your feeling this way. its just a new drug that your taking and it affects us in ways that seem similar to the reason that we got put on them but i felt a bit strange when i first started them but i was so ill i had nothing to loose.i soon got used to it and it was the fear of the drugs that was really upsetting me as i didnt know what to expect.it took me only about two weeks to get used to them and i felt much calmer and had great sleeps. something iv never had in my life. i'v always been up all night and asleep all day. now however im on another drug an they put me on prozac in place of the citalopram for some reason.try and give them two weeks and if you dont feel better the doctor could stop you taking them right away as they wont have done much in two weeks and you wont have withdrawels if you stop. we are all hear for you so i hope thats a comfort. love xxx

Hiya. I have been on citalopram for 3 weeks now. My first week was horrible. Ibfelt Whaley dizzy tired but couldn't sleep. This is yout body getting used to them. Although won't feel the positives for a few weeks just stay with them. My doctor is very supportive and helpful. If you have anybworries go to your doctor. But you will feel rubbish for a few days. I spent most of time in bed. But you have to keep busy too xxx. I'm on them for anxiety too x

Hi, thank u for all your comments, I will keep taking them as I am hoping for some relief in the long term and if I hav to feel worse to feel better it's worth persisting with them, I hope that like some of you I will be able to manage these awful feelings in time and thank u for taking the time to post me. 😘

Hi I have been on these for a week now trust me stick with it after 3 days on these I made my dad take me to a&e I felt that bad I hadn't eaten for days I was a trebling mess even being sick that bad with my anxiety/depression! Now a week son I feel like me again every 1 is diffrent the only thing I am trying now is to take them at night insted off the morning as they were making me sleepy at about 9am as I was taking them at 5am please stick with it! It really is worth it I can see the improent in a week I no it's hard I was there this time last week begging the doctor to help me I didn't feel right he said stick with it and I'm so glad I did!

Hi Lydia

3 days is definately not enough time for your body to adjust, give it at least 4 weeks before seeing if you feel any better.

Personally I agree with Kyle and came off all antidepressants as after a while I realised they were making me feel worse. I found they were good at making me stop crying but I had less energy and felt sluggish all the time.

Unfortunately this is what doctors perscribe which we go along with as we have no alternative.

Well done Kyle if you are now 'completely anxiety free'-how did you do it!

Personally I feel 'talking therapy' would be my ideal drug but most people have no one around when needed. x

Well first of all I will say I did it drug free which is one of the reasons that's what I recommend doing.

All of this,

"I was having this drug is was really good, now I'm tacking this new drug and its having this effect on me and that effect on me"

is mind boggling to me if any of these drugs were any good people would not be on here saying it helps with this and it helps with that they would be cured and getting on with their lives like they so desperately wish they were just as I once did.

There is no magic pill that will restore your nervous system to its former vitality its just impossible. I know everyone wants a quick fix and to forget about all this but that's never going to happen there is no quick fix.

The best any drug can do is to temporary suppress your symptoms it will do nothing to address the route cause of your problems and they will more then likely just come back as soon as you discontinue the medication.

Sorry if that is hard for some people to hear but ask your self how long have you been tacking them and have you recovered yet ?

I was able to recover by loosing my fear of my anxiety by just accepting that it was a temporary part of my life and nothing more.

I realized as long as I "ran" from my anxiety by doing such things as I see people on here recommend like "keeping busy" and "do what you can to take your mind of it" that it would all ways have power over me.

One of the first things i did to try and actually face my problems and really asses how bad they actually were was to keep a pen and pad handy at home at all times and when I felt an attack coming on I would not "run" from it by franticly doing the house work or "walking the dog" I would sit down and just take the sensations for what they really were.

I would jot down what particular symptoms i was experiencing and on a scale of 1 - 10 how bad each one was. you would be surprised if you actually sat down and did that you would probably not score anything over an 8 even though you would picture it to be a 12 when you run from it.

This takes some practice you wont get it first time but as soon as you do you will see its not as bad as you first thought keep doing this and with time you will gradually start to loose all fear of an attack.

you will eventually get to the point where you are not scared at all, Then and only then can your nervous system start the healing which it has been so desperate to start perhaps for many years, this again will take time.

once you are at this stage you will start getting the odd day here and there where you don't have any symptoms at all and then eventually you will go weeks and before you know it you will have gone years like myself.

I am not scared of having an attack to this day and know I will never have an anxiety disorder again because i am equipped with the mental tools to deal with it and you can be to in-fact anyone can be no matter how long they have suffered it just takes time patience and a willingness to trust yourself.

It really is that simple people will almost not want to believe this because it requires some work and courage and they would rather just go and ask the doctor for the next magic pill but take if from someone who has been through it all and come out the other side smiling this is the only real way to recover.

obviously there are many variations of my technique i just mean facing and loosing fear of your anxiety not looking to a tablet.

I will be happy to answer any questions anyone may have

Thanks for all your input Kyle,this does sound really difficult to put into practice. I have had CBT and couldnt cope with that at all as found it too much hard work. Personally I feel like I am going mad and that my mind has gone and cannot even think of simple things when feeling anxious and panicky.

Hi Lydia,

I've suffered anxiety/depression for over 50 yrs off and on and have never fount anti-depressants much good apart from Lexapro,I told my doctor you may as well give me Smarties.Last time I had them the doc gave me Mirtazapine which initially helped me sleep but upset my stomach so badly,so I came off them and was eventually put on Pregabilin which have been a lifesaver for me over this last 3 years.

However I have found that exercise,meditation and finding a quiet place are very helpful,if you can,but I must confess I would find life difficult without some sort of medication,it depends on the person really,some people can get over it with counselling,psychologists,psychiatrists etc but I'm not one of them.

It will take time for your meds to kick in,sometimes up to a month,but persevere and put up with for now.

After time if you don't settle then get back to your doctor and ask for a change of meds,usually they are amenable.

By the way Lexapro is better known as Escatilopram it seemed to work quickly for me at that time and I was back to normal after a couple of weeks,a good drug.

I wish you all the best,and hope things settle down for you,it is so difficult to live with at times,makes life so abnormal and you feel,or at least I felt on the outside looking in,not nice at all.

It's reassuring to know you're not alone with this,hence all the comments on your question!

Kindest Regards Malc.