On Citalopram having a rough time. I am going to doctor in 2 weeks when he is next available.

Normally it takes at least 4 weeks for the medication to start working properly but you have lots of side effects by the sounds of it which need to be discussed with a gp.

Your Dr should be able to prescribe something to help you sleep as well x

It takes around 2 weeks for things to start settling and a bit longer to see signs of improvement.  Hang on in there, it will get better.  It takes time.

Doctors normally see you every 2 weeks for progress, and it's difficult in between these visits as you need support.  Do you have a local TalkingSpace?  They're there for counselling.

Keep posting on here too, people will support you.

K xx

First things first, it does take a least a couple of months for our bodies to get used to Cit.  A lot of posters come here during that time (as I did) because we were confused by feeling worse, when we were expecting to feel better.   For me, and this is only my opinion, having described what is happening to you on citalopram, I would take encouragement from the fact that Cit is causing this, it is common, and as your body adjust, they will clear up as quickly as they started.   A lot of us found our way to Cit as we were experiencing a lot of what you describe before we started on medication, our anxiety had indeed escalated all by itself without any outside help  

There have been some great posts on here, and I. Took encouragement from the general advice here, to treat myself as having a bad bout of flu for a few weeks in those early days, look after yourself, tell your nearest and dearest that your on some new meds and they're taking a bit of time to adjust to, but it will get better.  It will get better.   I did wonder at one point whether to drop my dosage down, and take it slower, but then thought, well Ive survived this far, it means I get to the finishing post quicker, why do I want to slow this unpleasant period down! And for me my acute anxiety period, caused I believe by the meds, stopped around week 6.  I do still have some jaw clenching issues, but Ive found not only did the side effect symptoms subside, but the anxiety/panic symptoms that had prompted me to seek help in the first place have also subsided.  For example, I couldn't drive my car without , hot sweats, feeling I was about to pass out, visual disturbance, chest pains, ringing in my ears etc and these physical,symptoms have now completely stopped.  Im not comfortable driving, but that's because I'm expecting an episode, but the more I now drive the more I'm learning that I can drive without panic.  

Sleep is an issue and I think a common one for all of us, but it has settled better now that I'm into week 8, indeed last night was the first time in years I fell asleep in front of the telly at 8pm!  A tad annoying as waking up at 10 to take myself to bed then caused a couple of hours of unable to drop back off again, but yes my sleep on the whole is getting better.  Obsessive thinking is subsiding.

 I'm starting to use kingsland 'sleep aid' that Ive bought online as I found that Nytol gave me restless legs, and I ll keep you posted as to how that goes.  But in the whole, the anxiety symptoms have dramatically decreased.  My low level depression is clearing, and I'm feeling tons better that before I started.  I think you'll find your sex drive will come back soon too, so do keep talking to your partner and explain about citalopram.  Whilst I Do understand your frustration with GPs, view the next 2 weeks as your flu period and my advice would be to persevere as best you can.  If by then you've seen no improvement at all, then yes certainly look at maybe a change of meds.  these things are powerful, and adjusting can be a very difficult time, but try to stay positive, something is obviously having an effect and I'm sure you'll start to feel the benefits real soon.  Bug hugs xx

I HAVE BEEN OFF FOR A WEEK NOW AND I AM ALMOST BACK TO NORMAL. 

Anyway, I got through about 5 side effects and she said just stop, get of the tablets. She also said try different things to help with biting your fingers and cheeks. Also said about finding a comfy spot in my house think about positive things and eventually you can go there and feel brillant once you train your brain to think that way?

I'm not one to shoot peoples idea's down but that sounds abit silly. I will give what she said a try also will check out some websites that she recommended me to go to, I won't/can't? post it on here I read you aren't aloud to show links or anything. 

Now I'm at a crossroads, I still have that appointment for 2 weeks with my other doctor who perscribed them to be and he was adamant that I give these at least 3-4 weeks before you decide to take it further or stop. He's a young doctor around 28 and I think he sort of understands me abit more, and yes you are right, I don't tell anyone what I feel like not even the doctors until 3 weeks ago when I got perscribed cit as I really don't have any close family anymore and my best friend passed who I talked to him about alot of my things.

Also I remember someone mentioning about therapy the male doctor asked if I would be open to try it. I said no, I don't think talking about things I just want to forget will help me deal with it any better It'll just make me feel worse and burdon other people. I don't mean I want to forget the poeple I mean I just want to be able to deal with it make it more manageable.

Anyway back to cit. - I want to stop, well I don't want to feel like this and I just want to feel like my oldself.  My girlfriend thinks I should give them a try "you owe it to yourself to at least stick it out for another week or two"

Also I had the weirdest experence today when driving, I stopped at a red light knew it was red, looked at my phone changed the music and drove? litterly just drove without even realising it was still a red light. I cant really explain it I just went?! Luckly there was no cars driving from the other lane. The people behind me and beside of me must of thought I was in a real rush! lol. Maybe just not conserntrating enough when im driving, I've never made that mistake before and never will again!

What would you guys suggest? What would you guys/girls do in my shoes would you continue the meds until I see the doctor I want to see? Or just stop them and see how it goes?

Thank you so much in Advance for your help and taking the time to read my post. 

I asked from day one, I didn't want to have anything addictive in my body or something I will have to rely on to make me feel better - I just want something to help me manage and he offered cit, I read up on it alot and apperently there is withdrawl side effects.

Don't really know what to think about all that, I guess I just trust the Doctor,  I can understand if he maybe thinks that there is more of an upside than a downside for me by taking cit, I can't be mad at a guy trying to help me and do his best for me.

 The girl I spoke to today didn't really seem as if she knew alot about cit. The previous guy that actually suggested cit said stick through it and come back and check up for side effects. So thats in 2 weeks time as he is all booked up I guess. 

After a talk with my girlfriend I think I am going to stick through it and see how the cit pans out, weighed out the pros and cons if it helps then great if it doesn't - awell I have nothing to lose by continuing until I see my orginal doctor who gave me them. Maybe even put me on an alternative to see if that works I guess. I just keep myself motivated by saying its only a side effect it'll pass. Just sometimes it gets too much!

Thanks for all your support and messages! 

When do you take your medication? I was taking mine in the mornings, but throughout the day it was making me really tired and I felt so spaced out with a foggy head like I couldnt concentrate on anything, so the doctor recommended I take them at night, and did so and I found it helped me to drift off to sleep. 

Have you thought about counselling? The doctor recommended it to me, I wasnt keen on the idea at first, but my mum pushed for me to try it, however I did go private but the lady was fantastic! She helped me loads, and got to the root cause of my anxiety and everything, and she gave me tips on for the future on how to curb it. My counselling ended about 3 weeks ago, and so far Ive been okay!

Hope any of that helps!