New To Citalopram, Bad Side effects or isit?

Jem

I am on week 17 of Cit. I started on 20mg and now take 30mg. I also had 5 sessions with a counsellor which were helpful. I had thyroid probs and these left me with anxiety and panic attacks. I had stopped going out and felt anxious much of the time.

Now I am finding the old me again. I am able to go out, do my liitle job and be with friends. I no longer panic. The anxiety still comes now and again but it never builds up and is just given a minor role in my life now. I still have some way to go till the super confident me is back but I am so much better than I was. I am sure this will happen for you too.

I found useful info/help on 2 websites 'Anxiety no more\" and 'Living life to the full'. They might help you.

The cit had bad side-effects for me for 5 days. It started working weeks 3 & 4 and then I had a blip week 6 or 7 which is when the dose was increased. I have had a few blips since then but this I was assured was normal and I have been able to work through them. The main thing is that I can see my life returning to me.

best wishe

Linda

Thanks for your reply, this is very comforting to me, as sometimes you can think you are going throught this alone.

I to, am looking forward to going back to the old confident me, and being able to go out without panicing, I think I need to learn to take each day as it comes, and try not to rush myself.

The side effects of these tablets are quite scarey, and seem to make to things worst, but reading peoples post on here, makes me keep positive!

I have checked out the websites, they are a great help, and have helped give me a understanding about things.

Reading your reply helping bring me out of a panic attack, so thanks. I tend to get panic attacks at night, do you or anyone have a particular time of the day or night when you get abit panicy?

Thanks Jem

I tended to be more anxious in the morning. My panic attacks tended to be in social situations and about being away from home.

On the road to recovery, I started to go out once a day. To the village shop at first and then further afield. I set myself little goals and visualised it before I went eg I am going to the shop to buy milk and bread.

At night I used to wake up and my brain would switch on. I found having my i-pod under my pillow useful - I could then listen to music which helped me to get back to sleep.

best wishes

Linda

Morning,

Just woke up which is better than my usual time of 6am, even tho i did wake up at 3 in the morning, came back on to this website to calm myself down.

Its just such a awful feeling to have, one that if you have not been through, you would never understand.

Linda, did you find that at the beginning your mood was low, as I seem to be waking up in bad moods, and this lasting throughout the whole day mainly?

Thanks Jem

Jem

Glad you had a better night and that you have been out today. That's great!

I tended to feel anxious in the mornings and a bit low wondering what the day would hold. Often this wore off around lunchtime as my anxiety faded.

As I improved the mornings and the days have become so much better. this will happen for you too.

During the day, when my brain wouldn't keep quiet, I put on music I found soothing and made Christmas Cards. This gave me a sense of purpose, relaxed me and helped my thoughts to fade into the background again instead of buzzing about my head.

Linda

Evening Linda,

Yes I find my thoughts are the hardest thing to battle at this stage, especially at night. OH and not to mention the tention headaches, was you ever a big sufferer of these?

How did you cope with the sleepless nights, if you had any, as I am currently on sleeping tablets, as shameful as it is for me to admit, as I think without sleep I would be ten times worst.

Night Jem x

Never had the tension headaches. Used to wake in the night feeling sick and with what felt like bubbling in my stomach! Used to put an earpiece in one ear (the other ear on the pillow) and listen to my i-pod to pass the time till I got some more sleep. The music stopped me lying there with my mind whizzing.

hope you sleep better tonight.

Linda

Morning Linda,

Sorry for all the questons :D Its just great to talk to to someone, who have been through what I am going through.

At this stage,I think I will never return to my NORMAL self, itis like at this moment in time I dont know the old me, but desire to get back there, very hard. Also finding the lighheadedness, dizziness, and the feeling of not wanting to do anything quite annoying. :roll:

Only on 7th tab today, so im sure it requires more time.

Do you socialise more with friends and family, and managed in crowed places?

Thanks Jem x

Yes!

I stopped driving for a while and stopped going out of the house. I would be really anxious and panic if I went anywhere.

About week 3-4 of Cit I started to go to the post box at the end of the street and then in the car to the village shop. It slowly built up from there.

Last week I was out at the theatre with friends, went to Nottingham with my family and had a meal out and I have been back at work for about a month. My life is getting back to normal. I need to pace myself though. I had a week when I felt so good I packed everything I could in. It was too much and the following week I felt I was back at square one! That was hard to deal with as again I thought I was never going to get better. Still I worked through it, listened to a lot of music and made cards and things improved.

I now try to limit myself to doing one big thing a day. It would still make me anxious to drive a long distance (say more than 10 miles) so I don't do it at present. I have also learnt not to promise to do things I really don't want to do as this makes me anxious.

It is hard work getting better and you do have blips and setbacks but it is worth it to get your life back.

Hang in there and keep working at it. If I can do it you can too!

I'm here if you need any support

Linda

Thanks Linda,

That means alot to me.

I hope to get back to normal routines etc, and I also agree to not to push myself to doing too much, take one step at a time, and not try to do too much before I can handle it, as I find this stresses me out a little.

Just received a new phone today, it a put a smile on my face for about half an hour, which is un usual for me.

Do you have any nice plans at all for today?

Jem x

Jem

I went out at 10am and drove into Lincoln and shopped for a couple of hours.

Didn't buy much but enjoyed being able to go about again. Home for lunch and now I am pottering around the house doing some housework and taking things easy....I've done my one big thing for today!

Glad your new phone brought made you smile.

One of the first things I did when I started to get better was get my hair cut. I hadn't been able to bring myself to go to the hairdresser for 5 months and my hair felt like I had two large dogs ears flapping at the side of my face. I was sure if someone shouted fetch I'd go off running! It was great to go and get a funky short style.

Keep going..you can do it!

Linda x