Hope I am doing this right
Posted , 4 users are following.
I found this discussion last night, and could not let it go, so I have signed up on the Forum. I had some personal relationship trauma that happened in August. I was able to work through it, so I thought. Things were really good all of October and half of November. Then these thoughts came to me. Then my heart rate went up, and the pit of my stomach was like on an elevator, or a roller coaster. I went to my doctor who put me on 10mg of Citriolopram for a week, then 20mg. Getting on the meds was horrible, and made everything worse. It has been so bad! These thoughts went on for a month and a half. I have begun to feel a bit better, and the ruminating is almost gone, but I have not been cured. The anxiety got better, but not perfect for about a week and a half, but it has returned, and is there in my stomach when I wake up, and throughout the day. Some times my heart is pounding, and that awful feeling in my stomach. Doctor gave me xanax from the git go, and I was using it daily for about 6 weeks. I was able to get off of it for a bit, because I know it is habit forming, and can bring on anxiety! I find it very difficult to get out of bed in the morning, go to the store, and run my daughter around to her activities. I have isolated from my friends and some family, and don't enjoy the activities I once loved. We thought I would only be on these meds for maybe 3 months or so, because SSRI type meds that I used for depression in the past caused sexual dysfunction, which I never knew could be a side effect! I went for years with no sex drive on venaflaxina, so we were cautious about Citrolopram. I was thinking that maybe I need a dose increase. I have been taking it since November 24th, and today is February 6th. I am terrified at the thought of an increase and going through all that s**t again!!! Any advice would be great. I also want to know about the book. Thank you
0 likes, 4 replies
robert80755 Guest
Edited
Rebecca Im currently going through a rough time as im only 4 weeks in but i had to try and answer you!
sometimes it can take up to 6 months to really get the full effect but you will have good days during that time. You said you are feeling a little better so thats a great thing!!! Just give it time. And you don't have to increase your dose all at once! Buy a pill scale and weigh your pills and just cut them and then you can increase your dose slowly.
Hopefully the experts will chime in.
You Will Get Better!!!!
God Bless!!!
ian90586 Guest
Posted
Hi rebecca, firstly, don't rely on benzodiazapines as you know they are addictive and should only be used sparingly, preferably not at all. Secondly, there's no need to contemplate raising your dose of Citalopram as 20mg will be probably more than enough,but you need to realise that it takes several months to settle,the longer the better. 12 weeks is a common timeframe for people to see things settle from the heightened anxiety taking these medications cause,and things improve from thereon. All SSRIs can cause sexual dysfunction as a side effect because they all raise Serotonin in the brain. Venlafaxine also increases Serotonin as well as norepinephrine. Citalopram is no different in that respect, and is a common unwanted effect of these medications.
The reason you are suffering from classic anxiety symptoms like racing heart,churning stomach etc is because of prolonged stress, negative worrying thoughts etc. You shouldn't rely solely on medication to rid yourself of this anxiety,as medication only treats some of the extreme symptoms of anxiety and are not a cure in the long term. You want to address the reasons behind your stress and worry and use non pharmaceutical strategies to help you improve. There is lots of very good information out there on sites and YouTube to help you face your anxious thoughts alongside medication,and these are the most important things to take on board so that you don't become reliant on medication for too long. Firstly,and most importantly you should practice acceptance as the foundation in your journey to cure your anxiety. Acceptance is realising that all these symptoms are just a normal reaction by the nervous system that your brain is frazzled and you need to rest. If you realise this and accept anything weird that occurs in your body or thoughts is just that and nothing to be concerned about,then you will start the process of calming down. Then you should look towards mindfulness, meditation, breathing,diet, exercise etc to carry on the progress. Finally,you should look towards neuroplasticity and rewiring your anxious mind for long term relief and a cure. Good luck.
matt05488 Guest
Posted
i started almost the exact same time as you november 19th its certainly gave me some great days and the blips are getting more manageable before id have to go home and lay down for the rest of the day i had every aide effect and worsening anxiety where i almost went to ER i ended up going to ER when my heart rate would not slow down turns out the vagus nerve has a lot to do with anxiety as well and there are wYs to help reset it please look this up. because of this site and KatieCogs i kept with it and everything she said was right. she stopped having blips after 6 months. i also started therapy and i am reading a book called the happiness trap that has helped a lot too. give yourself a break and know that it takes time to reach theraputic effect and its different for everyone. look for those little moments of wellness and harness it. i started marking a calendar with a check if its a good day, x if a bad day or a - if it was half and half. the bad days get leas bad and anxiety in the morning has gotten better
matt05488 Guest
Posted
hey this sounds a lot like my story and can tell you that i was only relying on the medication to make me better it certainly helped but would still have blips that lasted a whole week sometimes
it wasnt until i started therapy and really put in the work that i saw results that feel lasting i k ow exactly what you meant when you said you felt better but not cured i felt the same way until now
there is a website with workbook that helped me tremendously if youre interested
im on week 14 of 20mg