Need to get some of info

Thank you james for your response,

I am wondering why mine is all haywire then . I am supposed to be seeing my pcp soon and I was almost certain he was going to increase my medication since I am still having symptoms of anxiety but now I am not sure if it is my thyroid or my calcium causing my symptoms right now. It's just so confusing and being the proactive person I am I sit trying to distinguish between all my symptoms myself lol. I am just one hot mess now lol.

I understand your situation all too well. What dosage of citalopram are you on and how long have you been on it for please? 

Hi james,

I am only on 5mgs of citalopram for pretty much four weeks now. I am a sissy with pills so he started me very low since I had alot of apprehension taking the antidepressants again after my bad spell with paxil about 5 or so years ago. So I have not been on it that long.

Paxil and your med Celexa have very similar components...so go slow. Everyone is getting antidepressants INSTEAD of antianxiety meds. Doctors are leary about rx antianxiety meds but giving antidepressants can be just.as troublesome in some pts.

Dont know if I told you before but lots of ppl w anxiety have too much serotonin and antidepressants are a serotonin booster.

Hi mar.

The dr gave me an rx for xanax but said that we needed to get it more under control with the antidepressants. He stated that they use some antidepressants to treat anxiety with good outcomes. I am not so sure about that. The xanax is ok but if I am having anxiety through the day I dont want to have to take it all day long. But since starting the citalopram I have been taking more frequently. The calcium being depleted can add to my anxiety so what I probably felt was my rock bottom to try the citalopram was probably just my calcium being low.bi an unsure if I have true depression. I had some pretty awful things take place that put me in a sad mood but I think that anyone would be worried if they was in my shoes during that time. I will definitely read on serotonin syndrome. Thanks for the great advice!

5mg is a very low dose.  I was on 40mg at one stage which is the max dose in the UK.  It’s takers 6-8 weeks for citalopram to level out and you will feel worse before you feel better. You can really asses anything until you have been taking then for at least 8 weeks as the half life on citalopram is very long meaning it takes them a bit longer to work.  Hope this helps 

Yes you mentioned this before.  Can I ask where you got his information from please as I’ve been told by my psychiatrist that anxiety is more noreadreneline based not seretonin based.  Seretonin has an effect on anxiety but not as much as noreadrenaline.  That is why I’m on a SNRI not a SSRI as  some anti depressants are not always based around seretonin. 

Yeah I had to start out small I was worried about having the same reaction to the paxil. And I still had the reaction just was more manageable. However with my calcium being low that can also increase my anxiety very badly so now I am not so sure which one caused the increase however I had more panic attacks the first two to three weeks of the medication. I am in the U.S so not sure what the max is here but I would like to be able to stay on as low of dose as possible just because I am not sure if it messed with my thyroid level at all. I read the message to mar and i was offered to take wellbutrin which is a norephinepren medication and i thought that would make my anxiety worse. Do you take that kind of medicine and if so how are you feeling? You take two meds? I am sorry about the questions I just want to be able to understand. My dr just gave me xanax and citalopram.

Hi James. SNRI do the same as SSRI as far as boosting serotonin levels and anxiety in some. Just do a search on SNRI serotonin levels. What does your blackbox warning say? A lot of the USA high school 'warriors' were on or coming off SNRIs SSRIs.

Oh ok, my psychiatrist told me different.  I’m on venlafaxine and he said that with SNRI’s the seretonin output on the is quite low and the noreadrenaline is higher.  

Hi Mellissa I am on venlafaxine which is SNRI and mainly effects norepinephrine or noreadrenaline as my citalopram stopped working after 5 years of taking it. Or ....my Graves’ disease just went up another level and my citalopram couldn’t handle it I think.  The venlafaxine which is an SNRI also effects dopamine at higher doses.  I’m on propranolol also but that originally was for migraines and was prescribed to me by a doctor when I was 15 (shocking) but it is a beta blocker and helps with anxiety also.  I’m my opinion I wouldn’t take a antidepressant until you have tried taking a beta blocker.  Beta blockers are instant calmers and aren’t addictive and have great results on anxiety, where as antidepressant are psychiatric drugs and take 8 weeks to work at the right dose and are horrible to go on and come off.  I went on antidepressants because I thought I was suffering with anxiety but it seems that it’s just my thyroid after all.  There is no 100% conclusion as there is no way of testing mental health properly.  Anyway, I’ve deceased off my venlafaxine dose to the starting dose now and don’t feel any different which tells me, it’s my graves.  I can’t comment on calcium problems sorry as I’ve never had it before. 

Yeah I wondered why they have never given me the beta blocker. My resting heart rate is always high even when I am hypothyroid. So that is why when they increase thyroid meds on me I can feel the difference. They have my brother a beta blocker and xanax and an antidepressant never could uh understand why they never sent me to see a cardiologists or nothing in all these years. I could only imagine what graves disease would feel like considering I am super sensitive. It has to be very uncomfortable! Dang autoimmune diseases! I could kick myself now though cause I should of had a more experienced surgeon do my thyroidectomy then maybe I wouldn't have ended up with hypoparathyroid also. You live and learn! I was worried though when the dr wanted to put me on wellbutrin maybe I shouldn't have been as they put you on that type of med.