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Really bad night, so anxious now

Posted , 7 users are following.

gemma77546
gemma77546

im just going into week eight of citalopram 20mg. Some days are better than others but never anxiety free. I take 3.5mg of zoplicone to help me sleep but I’ve awoken very earlier today with constant waves of panic. I just don’t know how to make it stop I’m so wound up and scared and then I just want to cry. Will I ever get better this is tearing me apart.

0 likes, 38 replies

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  • Star1711
    Star1711 gemma77546

    Posted

    Hi Gemma, sorry to hear you’ve had a bad night. Have you tried having a warm bath to help you relax or getting outside for some fresh air? Even sitting outside can help. I still wake up with my heart racing a bit more than usual, but I just try and distract myself. Some tips that I find useful to get me through...I always have a book nearby that I can pick up and read, something lighthearted, and I play some games on my phone as a distraction. When I can feel myself getting a bit agitated and anxious I go sit outside or go for a walk to clear my mind. I talk to someone, via a message or verbally. Also having a basic routine can help if you don’t have that already...no matter how I’m feeling I will always make my bed. And I will eat breakfast and get dressed. I hope you start to feel better xx
  • Star1711
    Star1711 gemma77546

    Posted

    Also, just to let you know none of my days have been truly free from anxiety yet, you’re not alone. But that’s normal. We’re still in the early stages. You’ve recovered before and you will recover again x 
    • gemma77546
      gemma77546 Star1711

      Posted

      Thank you, what do you take for your anxiety. I think eight weeks in I’d be doing much better than I am but I’m not sure if I’m just expecting too much.
    • Star1711
      Star1711 gemma77546

      Posted

      I’m also on citalopram, been on it for just over nine weeks now. I’m on my 5th day on 30mg. Feeling a bit emotional, but trying to plough through and ride it out. I wasn’t feeling 100% on week eight. Better, but still recovering slowly. I’d say give it a couple of more weeks and see how you feel then x
    • gemma77546
      gemma77546 Star1711

      Posted

      Hi have a feeling that I may need to go up to 30 eventually but I’ve been on 20 before and it worked but I don’t remember it taking this long but it was six years ago. I’m nervous about going up to 30 because I know that going up a dose can make it worse for a short while and I have a child to look after and return to work in a weeks time. 

       

    • Star1711
      Star1711 gemma77546

      Posted

      I know, it’s hard to know what to do for the best. I’m sure you’ve made some improvements. Are you able to go out for a gentle walk with your child today, perhaps you could take someone else with you also...? It’s a bit sunny where I am right now, although not sure how long for judging from the weather forecast! I feel anxious every day at some point, I’ve been doing some cleaning to take my mind off of it this morning. Keep talking to us, you’re not alone in what you’re going through x
  • nigel45109
    nigel45109 gemma77546

    Posted

    Hello gemma, i had really bad anxiety on citalopram, started about week 5. Generally anxiety is the last thing to go. What is your anxiety like during day time generally? Was this a one off really bad night?
    • nigel45109
      nigel45109

      Posted

      My anxiety would start in morning, would build up for 5 or 6 hours, then would subside. Mine actually got worse, where my mind wouldnt stop thinking and worrying, so doctor put me on diazepam during the day which was a big help, as it would take anxiety away. Treat it as a blip if you can. If it gets worse, and happens more often then see your doctor about it.
    • gemma77546
      gemma77546 nigel45109

      Posted

      Hi Nigel, It all started when I started waking up at around 3am with panic attacks and if I did manage to get back to sleep I’d be panicking again around 5ish in the morning. The zoplicone has been helping me to get through the night but the doctors have halved the dose and they are halving it again next week because they’ve told me that I can’t stay on it longer than four weeks so that is playing on my mind too. During the day I don’t tend to have panic attacks but I get waves of worry and I feel anxious. My family say that I’m better than I was but I don’t see it especially when I feel like I keep having setbacks.
    • Star1711
      Star1711 gemma77546

      Posted

      I took some Diazepam at the beginning to get me through a couple of nights as someone upset me a great deal and was horrible to me so that sent my anxiety through the roof and I couldn’t sleep. I was scared that I wouldn’t be able to sleep without the Diazepam but I was okay. I too wake up every night throughout the night at least once but I’ve just accepted I won’t have a perfect sleep for a while whilst recovering. My doctor did tell me that drugs like Diazepam can make you feel a bit rubbish whilst helping you in other ways, so I don’t want to take any more unless I really need to/can’t sleep
    • gemma77546
      gemma77546 Star1711

      Posted

      Yes I took diazepam for the first two weeks of the citalopram as the anxiety got so bad and I was managing okay when I came off it too, but it’s these setbacks that I have, they seem to send me into a panic.
    • Star1711
      Star1711 gemma77546

      Posted

      Oh believe me I feel like I’m having a setback too today, but there’s not much I can do other than accept it and try to continue on (easier said than done). You will be fine, don’t let the setbacks hold you back x
    • lois95799
      lois95799 gemma77546

      Posted

      Gemma are you having anxiety from the side effects of celexa..?or are you having initial anxiety symptoms that have worstening with the celexa?iam confused .because when I was recovering I was having horrible side effects from the celexa but my initial anxiety symptoms where subsiding..some times we confused our before celexa anxiety with celexa side effects.. Because if it's just side effects it will pass trust me..

    • Paula2019
      Paula2019 lois95799

      Posted

      Hi Lois, your post is spot on, I get anxiety symptoms from celexa and know the difference because I have the physical symptoms and my mind and emotional state is fine. I can understand how people can panic with these symptoms, and for me I have reached a place where I accept its celexa and work on relaxation techniques.
  • will20275
    will20275 gemma77546

    Posted

    Hi Gemma,

    As you know I’m on 10mg and I kept thinking I should be upping the dosage but I’m glad I didn’t. Lois hit it on the head. The anxiety  is definitely from the  celexa. I wouldn’t believe it then but now looking back I see the difference from my original anxiety and the anxiety from Celexa. Just drink water and occupy yourself. Put a set of headphones on and go outside for a walk, look at nature. I know it might sound  lame but it really helped me. Trust me. Do a journal 📓 it helps to look back. I do take Xanax I have for years. I only use 30 pills over a year. Talk with your dr. He was cutting me off the Xanax.  I had a heart to heart with him. I told him I’ve tried without the Xanax and it was creating havoc on my body. He agreed with me and I’m not abusing the drug. That’s what meds are there for to help us. I can go now a good week without the Xanax. I know it’s my job causing the stress. I was just away for 12 days and I started feeling great. I stopped walking this past week and today I have morning anxiety again. 😬😬 I’m going for a long walk. Look at the food labels for hidden caffeine and remove from your diet. It’s helped me. I feel the caffeine triggers the Celexa.

     Keep us posted on your progress.

    😎👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

    • gemma77546
      gemma77546 will20275

      Posted

      Thank you Will, I do feel like the anxiety got worse when I went on to the citalopram, which was the reason why I took it in the first place, I thought it would take my anxiety away again. I do think that the doctors have made it hard for me by talking me into stopping it last year when I was doing well on it for five years, then when I struggled they gave me mirtazipine 30mg, then when that didn’t help they pu me on citalopram 10mg for four weeks before jumping me straight up to 20mg and that is when I feel like it couldn’t have possibly got any worse. Now I’m just battling my way through each day trying to be a mum and to return to work next week. I certainly agree with you about the caffeine so I’ve switched onto chamomile tea and I won’t touch coffee, I’m not even eating chocolate because I’m not eating hardly at all when I’m anxious. I’ve now lost 2 and a half stone since March when I went into the citalopram 10mg, I know I’m slowly making improvements and I only started therapy last week but I’m hoping it will help me eventually.
    • lois95799
      lois95799 will20275

      Posted

      Iam exactly like you will with the xanex..I was finally approved four months into celexa..and now I only take it when having the butterflies..but it sure does help mentally knowing that they are there..this month I took 6of them..
    • lois95799
      lois95799 gemma77546

      Posted

      With all the experience I have now from this forum ..I would never let a doctor take me off my celexa..I don't understand why a doctor would want to take medicine away..??when you say they talk you out of taking it.what did the doctor say?just curious..

    • gemma77546
      gemma77546 lois95799

      Posted

      She said that I was doing so well on the 10mg and she said that it was such a low dose it was only having a placebo effect. I got a second opinion as I was scared about the side effects that I would get From coming off it. The other doctor said that if it’s works for me then he didn’t have a problem with me ticking over on 10mg for the rest of my life. I just wish I’d listened to him and I wouldn’t be where I am now.
    • lois95799
      lois95799 gemma77546

      Posted

      What a load of crap saying to you the ten was having a placebo effect..the ten totally save my life..my phychiatrist has folks on five and they are totally recovered..just hand on..what you are still experiencing is the constant changes in you meds from the martizapine to the different dosage changes of the celexa..
    • gemma77546
      gemma77546 lois95799

      Posted

      I’ve realised now after been on this forum how many people get by on 10mg and very well as well, I just wish I’d never listened to her and I probably wouldn’t of let them jump me up to 20mg so quickly from 10mg.
    • will20275
      will20275 gemma77546

      Posted

      Gemma,

      My dr wanted me to come off also and I was only on it for 3 months. I told him no way. I wasn’t going through those side effects again. I’ll deal with this anxiety as it will eventually go away. 

    • Paula2019
      Paula2019 will20275

      Posted

      Hi Willow I love your post and do alot of what you say. My journal is my hobby. It all works. I have learnt that you cant rely just on celexa to be well, we have to put the effort in too, even more so if we do not want to. I do wonder if people rely too heavily on meds, for me they take the edge off but I have to work at it too.
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