Help, please!!!

Hi. Sorry you are suffering.

When i first started they put my right on 20mg.

It made me crazy. The thoughts were awful and relentless. I endured through but it was a horrific month.

I should have started at a lower dose. I am on my second time around and started at 10mg for four weeks and increased to 15mg for four weeks.

Side effects are still all i can handle but the awful thoughts are not there. Mostly terrible anxiety in the morning this time.

So yes this stuff can initially make you think awful things. It is a symptom of the extreme anxiety the drug has created.

Hi Rik-

First I want to say how sorry I am that you are going through this. I am making my way through it as well again for the year....seems to be seasonal for me. You are not alone and you WILL get through this.

I am certainly no expert on medicines but I have gone through significant waves of anxiety for the past several years, almost every year and I have some experience with increasing meds.

The first thing you should know is that you are doing the best thing for yourself by seeking help. I was originally put on Celexa (the brand name for Citalopram, here in the States) about 12 years ago due to PPD. The very first thing I noticed with my anxiety were the intrusive thoughts. They are 100% a symptom of high anxiety. You have the thoughts because you have anxiety. As the anxiety eases, the thoughts will eventually subside. The thoughts seem super scary right now because your brain and nerves are tired, tired of the thoughts on a loop, simply a result of an oversensitized and exhausted nervous system. As the general level of your anxiety starts to decrease, those thoughts will become less loud and not be as noticeable.

How long ago did you increase your dose? Increasing your dose does not always mean that it will help more as they take a while to kick in...4 to 6 weeks is very early. Some folks cannot handle higher doses. Some people don't notice changes until much later than that. Unfortunately, doctors who prescribe and do not have personal experience on these meds sometimes way underestimate the amount of time it takes these medicines to work.

The heightened anxiety is definitely due to the increase in meds......I just started week 4 and I am only now starting to notice slight changes in my mood, but the thoughts are usually the last thing that goes for me.

You must give yourself some grace and patience. Some times taking it one hour at a time.

I wish you the best of luck in your journey and would love to see how you get on with your recovery.

Also, if you are looking for additional reassurance, Kate Cogs is one of the BEST people on this site, she responds a lot in the thread, Citalopram for Intrusive Thoughts, she gives GREAT advice and has helped me many times over the years.

Wishing you the best.

Stacy

I upped from 20mg to 30mg 7 weeks ago. I had awful intrusive thoughts and anxiety that have slowly dissappeared. I feel great now so maybe you just need a bit more time. The meds do work!