Increasing Citalopram from 10mg to 20mg feeling worse

Thank you for the encouragement. It sounds as if you have experienced this yourself. I had a depressive period about 8 years ago and 10 mg of Citalopram made me feel better within a few weeks. This time, I am 6 weeks in and only feeling marginally different. Admittedly, I'm not having really bad suicidal thoughts any more but I still crumple into a sobbing wreck in the morning and evening and can't sleep properly. I'm guessing it was because my depression was much worse this time round.

Hi Katecogs!

I'm feeling better!

You are the guru of this forum!

I'm not fully there yet but i'm getting there.

You helped me, cheers!

Hi Jill

Yes, I was ill for 16 years before I recovered and have been well for about 20 years now.

Meds often seem to take longer second time around - I also had a different experience second time. Just stick with it, through whatever happens - they worked before so they’ll work again.

Mornings are the worst time - but generally that doesn’t mean the rest of your day will be.

Keep going - you will feel well again in time.

K x

Hi Stephen

Hey glad to hear you're feeling better - even when I'd recovered after 6 months there was still lots of 'wriggle' room still to happen. So expect you'll feel better and better as even more time passes.

Its good to get there isn't it.

K x

I'm not there yet, i was anxious & numb this afternoon but i know i'm gradually improving.

Like you i find it annoying that Dr's & the drug companies say 4 weeks & you should be better. Absolute rubbish & dispiriting when it doesn't happen.

I'm just gonna stick to the 20mg & plough on. I actually went to a football match last & it was a 270 mile round trip. That has built up my confidence & now i'm planning things again.

Its accepting that its a long job especially when you think the drugs aren't working

I can empathise with those feelings. You are obviously very determined! I have felt a bit better for a few hours in the afternoon some days and that is the only thing keeping me going. I have to be patient. My depression is complicated by grief for living adult children who have cut me off and that isn't likely to end. I'm not sure anti-depressants can help.me help me stop crying. Does anyone else have experience of depression complicated by grief?

Hi Stephen

Yes those blips will come and go, and its good that you can see you’re gradually improving. Recovery creeps up so slowly.

I think doctors and drug companies should be made to sample the meds so they can get a true experience of them 😄

Yes just keep on trucking - you’ll get there. I know it is difficult especially in the early days taking the meds, because you don’t see any sign of improvement at all so its easy to see why people get confused, disheartened and give up. Its like you take the meds and recover ‘blind’.

hi kate sorry for interupting iv been on a upped dose of 30mg from 20 mg for 16 week , still really struggling in the mornings afternoons n nights arent bad other than lack of sleep , thinking of changing meds or would you persevere a while longer ?

thats a big jump 20 to 30.no wonder you are not feeling right.16weeks on a consistent dose is still not long enough.stick with it longer.

thanks lois feel great at nigh time, the mornings are terrible, and i dread going to sleep at night thinking about that horrible feeling in the morning dont know how i make it to work everyday

Hi Andrew

Yes agree with Lois - the meds take a long, long time and jumping up doses will make you feel rough for a while.

Mornings will always be the worst time for us - your Cortisol levels are at their highest in the morning and will spike the anxiety. However - a bad morning is not an indication of how the rest of your morning will be.

That’s how recovery worked for me - every morning I’d feel absolutely dreadful, but by the evening I’d feel a little more rested. This grew and I began feeling normal in the evening - yet every morning I’d feel rubbish. Over time I began to see this was a pattern, and that evening normality began to grow more into my day so the afternoons became better too. I’d still have bad mornings. It was like Groundhog day.

It took me 6 months to recover and I had bad mornings throughout, though they got better and that normal feeling by then had spread into most of my day. At 6 months I started waking up with no anxiety. This timescale is different for everyone, and also the pattern of recovery is often different for people too.

Throughout this time I still got blips where I’d feel like I’d slipped back to the beginning - again this is normal.

You can’t hurry recovery by increasing meds or anything. It’ll happen in its own time for you - so just let it come to you.

I recovered on 20mg btw.

hi katecogs, your posts ate so helpful to read. THANK YOU! I sent a private message for the links and books if you could let me know but understand youll probably have lots of messages. thanks x

HI Kate,

wondered if you can offer any advice, been on citalopram before with success, had a terrible reaction to sertraline after 5 weeks, so back on Citalopram for anxiety, been 6 days on 10 mg, but intrusive thoughts are ramping up, is this normal? or a sign to come off x

Hi Chrissy

Intrusive thoughts are just a side effect of anxiety - if you didn't have anxiety then you wouldn't have those thoughts. They're probably rife at the moment because anxiety usually gets worse when you start medicine before it eases off, and so too will the thoughts. So yes, its perfectly normal. Anxious body = anxious thoughts and a calm body = calm thoughts. They'll go in time.

Though its tough at the moment, just stick with it and keep going. Its usually the first few weeks / month that's the worst as the medicine settles in your body.

Restarting meds often takes a little longer than the first time round - it did with me and I had a different experience from the first time. Whatever happens or however long it takes, just go with it - if the meds helped the first time then they will again.

K x

Hi Kate,

It is nice if I can get advise from you. This is the 2nd time for me on CIT. Being on 20mg for 14 weeks + 15mg for 3 weeks +10mg for 8 weeks this time, the current condition is feeling flat and no motivation and some depression. I do not have much anxiety any more, thank God. Should I still wait for longer time? Or Do I need to change the dosage (decrease or increase).

Thanks, June

Hi June

Ah ha, that's exactly how it was for me second time starting on the meds. I was so flat, had no motivation, no joy - nothing. I didn't have anxiety, just this depressed feeling. I kept sighing a lot too.

So my first time on meds took 6 months before I felt better and this second time took longer (maybe 9 months), and like you I began to wonder if they'd work again and if I needed to change. But I stuck it out as I knew they'd worked for me before so I had faith in them.

So I guess you will begin to feel well again and its just taking longer this time for you. Take things easy, be kind to your body, get lots of sleep, go for a walk every day, eat well ....... thats what I did, and I'm sure the depression will slowly lift in its own time.

thanks so much for your encouragement, the thoughts leave a nasty residue , as they are so scary. i tend do feel better in the evening, but the mornings are dreadful, i know i have to be patient, but its horrible feeling so constantly in fight, flight mode x

Hi Kate,

Thank you very much for your support. It means a lot for me since you are so experienced with this med.

For the 2nd time, were you on 20 all the time through all 9 months? How did you deal with the urge to the dosage increase? I keep telling myself it will work again this time at 20. But my mind can not stop wondering on what if.

Thanks, June

Hi June

The second time I was on meds I think I started at 5mg, then 10mg then 20mg. I never had the urge to increase and knew 20mg worked for me before and have never taken more than that.

A bigger dose doesn't mean you'll get better any quicker - it'll still take the same amount of time to recover. Each dose is tailored for each individual with some people suiting 20mg, others 30mg etc.

I know its hard to believe the meds will work again because anxiety just produces negative thinking all the time and thats hard to override.

I know my second time on the meds just seemed to drag on and on but I trusted in the meds.

I always say if they worked for you before then they will again.

Hi Chrissy

Yes the thoughts can be scary - it seems your mind goes in search for anything scary it can find - but its just anxiety playing tricks on you. Everyone in the world has thoughts like this, but because they don't have anxiety those thoughts hardly register and just flit in and out of the mind. But because you have anxiety, those thoughts will seems bigger than ever, will seem important and will just stick.

Its only the fear of the thoughts that keeps the anxiety going, and its the anxiety that keeps those thoughts coming.

I'll private message.

Hi Kate

Thanks again for the reassurance which I really need now. Today I have been taking CIT for exactly 6 months this time. I will stick in with 20 mg. Hope more light will shine in soon (<9 months 😃).

Hi June

Are you getting any brief moments in the day when you feel a little more calm and clear headed?

I sent you a private message too.

Hi June - oops no sorry I didn't send you a message, I was looking at the bottom of another post 😉

im needing to increase to 20mg after being on 10mg for 10 years its no longer working for me. do you think ill have many side effects with the increase or even if upping my dose will help me? dr suggested adding wellbutrin but i at least want to try increasing to 20 before adding a new medication since my body is already used to citalopram.

Hi Christina

You may have some side effects when increasing, though not everyone does - ask your Doctor if you can take 5mg first for a while before introducing the other 5mg as this may lessen any effects?

Wellbutrin is an SNRI and is good on top of Citalopram - but yes good idea to first increase before adding in this other meds. Best not to add too much in at one time.