Really need a help
Posted , 5 users are following.
Have been on citalopram 20mg for over year plus now. And during this time I have stop on a different occasions abruptly and the anxiety and depression came back again. And now I have continued with 20mg since 3weeks now but I'm still feeling fear of death, lightheaded, thinking too much, a little bit lost of not feeling hungry as usual me, fear of having heart attack which happens mostly when I'm in a moving car. Plz should I increase the dosage from 20mg to 30mg or 40mg or should I give more time for it to keep in.
0 likes, 8 replies
matt39801 marcel85017
Posted
You need to give it much more time , some say 6-8 weeks , you’ll feel some relief at that point but it’ll take longer to have the full effect, don’t up your dose , it won’t make you feel better quicker it’ll give you even more side effects , stay on the dose your on it’s worked for you before and it will again.
All the stuff you are suffering at the moment is totally normal it’s a mixture of the anxiety and the Cit trying to settle in.
Take care
marcel85017 matt39801
Posted
natalie71566 marcel85017
Posted
I’m sorry you’re feeling this way. I had almost the exact same feelings, including the car anxiety. I’ve been on cit for about 7 weeks now and am feeling much, much better. You definitely need to give it time. Over the course of 4-6 weeks, I gradually felt better and better (I didn’t wake up one day and suddenly feel great). I am on a 40mg dose, if you feel you need to increase make sure you talk to your doctor and ramp up slowly. You should also see if your doctor and prescribe you something to curb the anxiety in the mean time. My doctor prescribed propanoldol, which is actually a blood pressure med - but really helped me feel calm! Good luck to you! You WILL feel better in time.
marcel85017 natalie71566
Posted
katecogs marcel85017
Posted
Hi Marcel
Agree with the others - you need to give this much more time. It can take months not weeks. Don't bump up your dose in a hurry but instead let the one you're currently on settle and take effect. A larger dose doesn't mean you'll get better any quicker - it all takes time. Took me 6 months.
When you decide to come off Citalopram you shouldn't stop abruptly - its dangerous, a shock to your body and could be why the anxiety and depression comes back each time. You need to withdraw slowly to allow your body to ease back down to being pill free. I spent a year withdrawing from 20mg by 5mg over 2 months each drop - had no withdrawal effects that time and have been meds free for a year now and still feeling good.
K x
marcel85017 katecogs
Posted
kelly59430 katecogs
Posted
It's good your still on here if your med free, people usually get better and leave. I usually just read what people say and sometimes makes me feel better. This time am struggling a little.
Just under 2 years ago I started taking citalopram, about 20 weeks ago I felt on top of the world went and had chat and both agreed to knock me down 10mg, for the first 8 weeks I felt fantastic going into week 9 bam, continued to take for another 5 weeks, felt like I could not cope, went back to the doctors, he said maybe you should have reduced slower or it's just not the time for you to come off them.
So he told me to start taking 20mg again, which I've been doing doing for 6 weeks. I feel shocking like am back to where I was when all this anxiety business started.
All the side effects again you name it I've got it.
I feel like the meds are not going to work for now with messing around with the dose.😣😣
katecogs kelly59430
Posted
Hi Kelly
Sorry to hear you're struggling. Coming off meds can be a tricky business, and personally I've found it best to reduce by 5mg each time and not do a big jump by halving it as I'm sure its much kinder to your body physically and mentally. When I reduced by 5mg I spent around 2 months on each reduction before continuing on. My idea was to initially reduce and not come off, so decided to see how I'd get on and how far I could go before I felt the old familiar feelings again, and if at any time this did happen I could easily increase by 5mg and wait there again. So on your timescale I'd have been at a 10mg reduction at week 16 (4 months) ....... so yes it could be its too quick for you.
Another thing I found when coming off was to prepare myself with the knowledge of how anxiety works, why it hangs around etc etc as I'm sure if you don't understand it and you start having familiar feelings again, you can easily slip back into the old habit of anxiety / worry / fear / anxiety etc. Understanding this took away a lot of the fear, plus learning how to relax, work with it there also helped. This I'm sure has helped me to stay meds free as I no longer fear its return.
I think after those initial 8 weeks withdrawal could have started which always feel shocking, especially if you've not felt them for a while. This is where I found understanding anxiety helps - instinctively your body just want to fight those old familiar feelings, but working with it, relaxing, letting it be is the way to go. Being able to help your body further gives you the confidence and you begin not to fear 'it'. Increasing meds will give you side effects again so I imagine you've now got the mix of the two (withdrawal / start up).
At the moment, feeling those familiar feelings you begin to panic about it
Going back up to 20mg as you were is the best thing to do, and you have to be prepared to feel uncomfortable for now until it all settles down again. It will. When you're back in with those familiar feelings you always start to think negatively, cannot see a way out which is perfectly normal. Its part of the anxiety - its side effects. This will pass and you will begin to feel well again. Don't expect to feel well for a while, but try and go with it and remind yourself its just anxiety rearing is ugly head again, and it will settle.
Even when we've recovered on meds, if you do have a time when the old familiar feelings come back, it does feel shocking. It never fails to shock because you've forgotten what it feels like. This is where we begin to automatically start to panic about it and slip back into the habit. Understanding anxiety will help stop this.
True ... it might not be the time for you to come off. I took meds for 16 years and had no intention of ever coming off, but I did.
The meds will work for you again - I took these twice and the second time it took much longer.
I'll private message you.
K x