How do you know if your dose is too high?

I was starting to feel a lot better on 20mg but not fully settled hence upping to 30mg. I have just felt like a zombie this past month. Is it possible for a dose that's too high would cause panic attacks to come back? Surely more serotonin would stop them more?

again its difficult to call, obviously im no doctor..... only personal exsperience but i do know from being om here that upping the dose isnt always the answer. I have spoke with people who say that there dose was too strong, i might regret lowering my dose...... im just going to have to wait & see........... if you have felt any improvement then that would say the meds are starting to work.......

I dont mean to pry john but are you being mindfuli.e getting enough sleep, eating healthy &excercising? all these will play a part in recovery

I know personally these things help me

Sleeping well, balanced diet and walk the dog everyday. I've cut my dose by 5mg to see how I go on. I just feel like I'll never be back to my old self

its so easy to think that mate but you will.........you just gotta sit back & let it happen.......see how you feel with 5 mg drop......give it time, you will feel yourself again john

It sure doesn't feel that way at the moment. Did you feel better when you lowered your dose? I'm not hoping for a quick fix but after 7 months I thought I'd be feeling more like my old self

when i reduced from 20 to 15, i was still a bit out of shape but i felt as though i was heading in the right direction, i just felt not as sluggish, less foggy.........i felt better after a few days but im sure the meds wouldnt of worked that quick......you will be your old self again mate......remenber you are on the road to recovery

Thanks for the words of encouragement mate, how long did it take you to recover?

i started to feel better after about 8-9 months, not fully recovered then or even now......but what you find john is the little victories, the little things you couldnt do before or struggled with become a little easier to deal with. Please dont put a time limit on recovery.......itll creep up so gradually you wont even notice it

I know what you mean Rob and I'm the same. Have good days and bad but can now manage in most situations. Its when you have the good days and the have a bad one I go on a downer. I must admit I have had a clearer head for the past 2 days so whether that's cos I've cut down by 5mg or its a coincidence I don't know but I have felt more positive. Its hard when before I was able to do anything and go anywhere without this stupid anxiety/panic and its even harder not knowing what bought it on in the first place

yeh i know, its soooooo easy to have a good day & think im out of the woods now!!!.....& then bang! you wske up & feel rubbish & the old foes rear there ugly head again!...but yeh just put it down to a bad day...so what!, there ll start to become fewer & fewer. You ll be that person again john who can go away at the drop off a hat.

just tske it steady, you ve dropped 5 mg so might get some side effects or be lucky & not. Imagine you ve broke your leg, your in plaster on crutches for weeks, then the cast comes off, still on crutches, then off crutches & slowly getting your strength back....physio, swimming etc, not gunna happen overnight mate but with adequete rest you will be yourself again.

stop beating yourself up about the chap you were & the chap you are now, its easilly done i know but it does you no good!.......youll get there mate

how bad was your anxiety Rob? my Dr wants me to work up to 20mg but I'm currently working towards 10mg and feel a bit scared at the thought of 20mg.

Tell me about it. I can be feeling good then I think "hey I don't feel anxious" then bang, it starts. It's like I'm scared to be feeling normal almost. I've had a good day today to be fair, just one bit where I felt a bit panicky but I've been busy today helping my mate put a roof on his extension. It's worse when I have time to sit and think. It's only been 5 days since I went down my dose a tad and my head does feel clearer to be honest but that could be purely psychological.

spot on there john, when im busy at work, im in the building trade also & everything makes sense, busy on price and everything works just fine.......its only when you have down time & time to ponder, like with me thats when you hit a wall! , i ve learnt coping stratagies so go head first into it,

why do you think you felt panicky?

was there a trigger?

sometimes its for no reason i get that.

you feel good.......then you dont want to spoil it ......over think it and bang!!!

glad your feeling a bit better mate

hi shorthair

i was in a bad place for a while......no doubt.........how long have you been on citalopram & also how do you feel at present?

No idea why to be honest. I can be fine then all of a sudden the feeling just comes over me and that's what gets me. Theres no rhyme or reason as to why it happens. It's kinda like my body isn't used to feeling normal haha. I've got plenty on at the moment to keep my mind busy, that coupled with the lowered dose is making me hopefull that I will improve more.

hi again

i've bern on 5mg a day for about 6 years but last couple of years i've had a massive amount of stress which got on top of me and i started with higher anxiety symptoms july 19. i upped by 5mg july 19 but it didn't ease massively so i'm currently upping another 5mg so i'll be on 10mg a day. my Dr wants me to go straight to 20mg but i suffer every side effect going so am going to try 10mg (when i get there) for a while. currently in the heightened anxiety and won't ever be myself again phase - no matter what you learn, fear always rears it's head. how long did it take you to recover?

sometimes John, there isn't a reason for a spike in your symptoms - I think it's just the medication settling itself in your system and you'll experience ups and downs on that alone. it diesn't mean it's you.....if that makes sense....

yeh john i get that 100 %

as soon as you start thinking about it...!

i m into 7 th week of reduced dose and ive felt absoultly lousy all evening but i just keep my head down and plough through!

its a fine line between working & relaxing, i worked so much in the past i lost the ability to naturally relax......still find it hard but im on the right path

glad your improving mate

hi shorthair

sorry late reply

i never like to say im recovered, i do like to say im in a far far better place than i was

i had a family berevment that rocked my world!.......i still think about it but i handle it differently.....im 7-8 weeks into dose reduction & getting all horrible side effects.....

stay on 10 for a while, see how you get on with that, it might be fine, it might not be fine in which case increase. Everybody responds differently.

Its difficult to understand i think why your brain is doing this to yourself!

i hope you feel better soon

Did you recover OK on 5mg. I'm very sensitive to meds only about 10 days in when trued to up to 10mg felt very weird and anxious so gone back to 5mg. Very up and down felt quite good Sunday after awful day Saturday but anxious again today. Is that just normal start up symptoms?

hi

i was on 5mg as a maintenance dose for 6 years but a v stressful couple of years caused the need to increase. i'm like you and suffer every side effect when i increase. the side effects will subside in a few weeks and then it takes weeks to level out, so your increase will cause you to feel worse for a while then it'll ease. i go up in 2.5mg stages - maybe you could try this, too - it has reduced the intensity of the side effects for me but it's still not easy. plus the current virus is sending my head all over the spot - not easy at all.

hi Rob

sorry to hear about your family bereavement - I've gone through two family bereavements of late and are part of the cause of my anxiety, too. wouldn't wish it on anyone.

i'll give 10mg a while when i get there - no use rushing this.