Success stories of Citalopram please.

Hi everyone,

I went to see my GP this morning, I have now been on 20mg for nearly 6 weeks and before that on 10mg for 3 weeks, I have been on it before and it worked well but I am still waiting to feel a lot of benefit, still waking with anxiety in the mornings, at first my GP said to higher the dose to 30mg, I wish I hadn't but I did question him about it as I am 67 and I thought the highest dose I can have it 20mg, so then he changed his mind and said to cut down to 10mg Citalopram and also take 15mg of mirtazapine, after coming home and reading up about it I just don't know what to do, the thing that worries me is am I going to get withdrawal effects from from citalopram and also side effects of going on to the mirtazapine, so I am now wondering if I should do what he said in the first place and up my citalopram to 30mg, I have read that some you you found this beneficial, did you have increased side effects when you did this?

Hello cmc46

I went from 10 mg for 2 weeks. 20 mg for about 6 weeks then up to 30 mg of citrlopan. I am now about week 16 and feel wonderful, all started to kick in around week 12 . The tears , anxiety all gone , I can go out the

Door , out of bed , everything. I am now back to 20 mg from 5 days ago and will stay there for 6 months before cutting down over the year but will always stay on 10 mg for ever so the wheels never fall off . Many of my

Friends here in nz have worked it this way at doctors request.

Stay positive , citrlopan will work , believe me . I am sleeping normal now and body feels great and I am over 60

Good luck

Wendy x

Thanks so much Wendy, it is so good to hear success stories and I am so pleased you are doing so well now, that is a good idea to stay on 10mg which is what I wish I had done, I was on it for 5 months last summer after being on 20mg for 8 months, when I was on 10 I felt really good but then I went down to 5 and it all went wrong. Did you have any side effects going from 20mg to 30? that is the thing that worries me.

Thanks again,

Christine.

Hi Christine

No had no side effects at all with increase to 30 mg

Cheers

Wendy x

Hi Wendy, that's good to know,

Christine xx

For anyone feeling awful in the early weeks of treatment hang in there, I'm not a Dr but this is roughly how the drug works. You take your first pill and immediately there is more Serotonin(the feel good neurotransmitter) available in your system. The problem is that this overstimulates some of the receptors in your brain and they think hold on a minute there is too much serotonin here, so they produce less of it AT FIRST, this is when the side effects kick in and you feel dreadful. After this constant overstimulation over a few weeks that varies from person to person the receptors eventually give up the resistance and gradually the therapeutic effect appears. Last year I nearly gave up the drug as it made me a nervous wreck at the beginning but I made a full recovery eventually and when I felt better wondered what all the fuss was about

Foolishly I stopped taking the medication about 2 months into feeling better, I was fine for several months but my anxiety returned and I'm now taking it again with all the startup effects that that entails.

The two main side effects that bother me the most are the jitteriness during the day and insomnia at night but they went away completely and I'm sure they will this time too.

Good write-up Mark ,it does help some people to know the facts . I've only been on cit for 2/3 week ,not had any major side effects thank god , whether that's because until late last year I was on seroxat ( same sort of thing) and my body recognized it ,I don't know . I do recall when I started on that it took several weeks to take the effect.

So please all you anxiety sufferers ! Do give them chance and don't stop cos you think you feel better . Of course you ll feel better or they re not doing their job !!! Silly !

Good lucky all .oh and the advise from other readers about the breathing and self hypnotherapy does help .

Thanks Lyn, it's very much a laymans guide but is roughly how they work and why some people get the awful side effects at the beginning of treatment, particularly anxiety sufferers. I'm on day 10 of 10mg which worked for me last time, I think it kicked in at about week 8 and I felt much better at 12, then back to normal at 16. A long wait but well worth it, some people respond much quicker than that.

Your story really gave ease to my heart. I have been on cit 20mg for now 3weeks today and the last two days oh my I have been none stop crying and thinking really disturbing thoughts. I just want to be my happy self again. My heart is constantly raising I can't remember the last time it felt "normal " would you recommend beta blockers? I'm nervous to take them as I don't particauly like taking too many pills as I used to have a bad drug problem due to the university lifestyle. I have now stopped drinking, smoking and of course drugs. I have read loads of these posts... But your story really stood out to me. Please reply back to me, I would be so great full xx

Hi everyone, Ive read this entire thread because its 3am, And i feel twitchy, I can't sleep , Whenever i try and go to sleep I freak out and feel really anxious.

Around a month ago i was on the bus on the way home from work, I was really tired, And then out of nowhere ... My whole face went numb, My tongue , My lips... It was the most awful feeling i have ever had in my life. My heart was beating fast, i wasnt aware if i was talking out loud trying to reassure myself or not, ( i'm soooo happy nobody was on the bus to witness this) .

The next week i was still shaken up, And then i presume i also had a sickness bug, Because i had a night of non stop sickness and diarreah (sorry if this is too much information) So anyway... By the end of the week, I couldn't leave my house. Im self employed and i needed to get to work, But the thought of getting on a bus just scared hell out of me, And in the end my doctor prescribed me beta blockers over the phone to help with the physical side effects i was having , Then my girlfriend had to come back from work pick up the beta blockers from the chemists and sit on the bus with me.

Ive had bad social anxiety for the last 2 years , A lot of things have happened in my life and i thought i was coping but then it all seems to catch up on you , And i think this is what has happened.

So still traumatised from the week from hell i finally plucked up the courage to see the doctor 3 weeks ago and he prescribed me 20mg of citalopram And for the first week i felt a little better, Then suddenly i had one really bad night (boots diddnt have any beta blockers in stock so i had to miss a night) And since then, Ive been Twitchy, Anxious, I can't sleep (its 3am right now) I feel like im going crazy , Im so paranoid about having another panic attack ive been biting my tongue, And now it Really hurts. The last week every day i wake up and within the first 5 minutes i start to freak out.  It feels like mental torture, And i really hope that citalopram works , Because i just want to get back to the way i was, I don't want to be this burden to my girlfriend and family.

Sorry ive rambled on so much, I hope somebody takes the time to read this, And id just like to thank everyone who has contributed to this thread, Because it has helped to reassure me that perseverance will pay off. although the way i feel at the minute, I feel like a freak, And that im going to stay like this forever.

Thanks everyone,

Liam.

I started taking Citalopram after a vicious campaign of harassment at work; one year later not only have a come through my depression and anxiety, but I also had the strength to stand up for myself. I have now resigned from that job, but I certainly didn't go without a bang!

Citalopram worked wonders for me in my hour of need; no side effects at all.

10/10 for Citalopram and my GP who prescribed it to me.

 

well done you i had no need of them till bullying at work and trying to defend younger members of staff from a pretty nasty bully she turned it on me but i answered the boss and was backed up by the whole of the team i worked with but she destroyed me had a nervous breakdown completly i still take 20mg a day but from certraline and 40 mg i am doing ok well done xxxxxx