How long does Citalopram take (10mg)
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I'm just starting my 5th week of citalopram (so 4 weeks and 1/2 a day). I have been noticing quite big improvements especially towards the end of the 4th week but last night I randomly woke up feeling panicked and now I feel anxious again. I think the contrast made it worse but how long does Citalopram take to kick? Is it ok that i felt bad again? As in does that mean it could still work?
I've read so many times it takes more like 6-8 weeks to feel improvement with anxiety especially and 12 weeks to reach maximum but I just want reassurance this is just a bad day or two and doesn't mean it won't work and it's still just getting sorted i my system.
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ian90586 tessa09610
Posted
It is completely normal what you are experiencing and is nothing to worry about. You must have the correct mindset with these medications and realise that improvement occurs very very slowly over a long period of time,they do not just kick in as you say. Think of the brain the same way as if you had a physical injury, like a badly broken leg and the medication is the plaster cast. If you were sitting in the house recovering from a badly broken leg in plaster,you would expect to have pain and throbbing as the leg heals and you wouldn't expect the leg to heal in 5 minutes. Sometimes your leg would feel great and sometimes it would be painful. You would totally accept what was happening and the time it takes and everyone would give you lots of sympathy. Unfortunately with our minds we don't get the same sort of sympathy from people,but a broken mind can be far more serious than a broken leg! 10 mg is a very low dosage and I've personally found it to be inadequate in the past other than a maintenance dose after recovery . 20mg is the minimum therapeutic dosage for anxiety and depression and I've found that to be enough,but everyone is different. Hope that helps and don't worry, anxiety breeds anxiety. Acceptance is the remedy.
jessica61856 tessa09610
Edited
I've been on Citalopram for 11 weeks now. For 5 weeks 20mg and its been 5 weeks since I've been on 30 mg. Same as you. Last week I felt almost normal. An I had longer periods of time where I was normal. But same as you last night I woke up in the middle of the night with anxiety and could not go back to sleep. I finally did after taking a melatonin but I still kept waking up and now this morning I'm super anxious. I do have to go to the mall today and the last time I went I was very anxious so maybe that's why I'm feeling this. I don't know 😕 but as you said then the anxiety makes me feel like Im back to square 1. But it's just a blip. Everyone says it's quite normal as long as we are experiencing good days then the medication is working. It's just awful because you think you are getting better (which we are) but you think it's over then anxiety pops in again. we have to try really hard just to accept it and go about our days when its there.