Terrible anxiety restarting citalopram - need reassurance
Posted , 5 users are following.
HI all
i have just restarted citalopram after 8 months being off it due to depression and anxiety reoccurring. I came off it because I was feeling better.
This is Day 5. I have taken 5mgs first two days and 10 mgs last two days. Havent taken todays dose yet. My anxiety has increased significantly over the last 2 days with frequent intense anxiety attacks and an odd sensation of burning in the arms and chest and occasionally head. I do remember this from last time but don’t remember it being this bad - I have trembling, agitation etc and found it very difficult to sleep last night. I know this is jitteriness/activation syndrome but how long does it last? Should I stop taking the citalopram and try and push through given we know it did work last time? Thanks heaps for your help!
0 likes, 12 replies
jfreckles7 tamsin07572
Posted
Definitely push through it and do you take it at night time? I take it at night time so if there is any kind of Side effects I sleep through them.
I have been on 5 mg for about three years i’m super sensitive to medication. I did also stop because I thought I was feeling better but I had to go right back on and yeah it sucks starting over again but we do know that it does help do you have anything to take when you need it like Xanax or something?
tamsin07572 jfreckles7
Posted
thank you so much. I took it about 4pm yesterday and had a terrible night. Did you have much worse anxiety/panic attacks when you started? We dont have xanax anymore here in NZ. i do have some lorazepam but im too scared to take it. does it work and is it ok to take with the citalopram?
jfreckles7 tamsin07572
Posted
yeah I usually take mine around 930 or 10 when I’m about to get into bed, And I take a generic called alprazolam for Xanax only a tiny piece though if I start to get overwhelmed I know that lorazepam is in the same family but alprazolam hits u quicker, It’s like just a back up if you get overwhelmed and like a panic attack I just use it every once in a while if needed.
yeah it was hard to start again it took a couple of weeks to like fully get into my system and start working again like it used to.
tamsin07572 jfreckles7
Posted
thanks - did you have worse anxiety when you first started on it? If so how long before it went away?
toria_07298 tamsin07572
Posted
are you sure you didnt just have withdrawal
tamsin07572 toria_07298
Posted
No i dont think so. I felt ok when i first came off them. Did it slowly over 4 months and didnt have many side effects. But the anxiety slowly came back and has been getting slowly worse.
sheila92428 tamsin07572
Posted
I find it takes quite a while for the stuff to kick in, longer than we would like it to, so please hang on in there - its going to take you a while please please hang on.
I seem to remember it took me 6 to 8 weeks before I begun to feel anything much at all & it may well take even longer.
Did you discuss coming off citaloprim once you began feeling better ? or did you
just decide for yourself? I think we often need to 'feel good/ok' for quite some time before we think of weaning ourselves off IF indeed that is the right thing to do.
We are all different, I know I need to remain on Citaloprim probably forever but will later try to bring my current dosage of 30 mg down to 20 mg but only once I've discussed this with my doctor. good luck
tamsin07572 sheila92428
Posted
Thanks Sheila did you have worse anxiety when you first went back on then? Can you remember how long it lasted?
tamsin07572
Posted
i keep reading that if the citalopram is making you worse you should stop. Is there anyone who kept going when the anxiety was much worse and then found that the medication kicked in and then it went away?
lauren2095 tamsin07572
Posted
Hey, i upped my dosage to 40mgs of citalopram about 6 or 7 weeks ago an I'm not gunna lie for the first 2 to 3 weeks my anxiety went threw the roof an so did my depression was really hard to get out of bed go to work hardly eaten kept crying alot hardly any sleep etc but for the past 1 mabe 2 weeks I saw good improvements hardly had any anxiety not crying alot eating habits came back sleep is much better etc so how eva hard it is an trust me I found it VERY hard to be patient! but we have to with these tablets but they will work trust me! I had a little bit of a bad day yesterday but tryna not let it get to me I'm on the waiting list for CBT which really helped me last time so mabe talk to ur doctor about it aswell! Good luck hun!! Wish u all the best!!
tamsin07572 lauren2095
Posted
thanks lauren - had you been on it before and went back on it? Reassuring to hear that your anxiety went through the roof too but you persisted and things got better. Thats what i needed to hear,
lauren2095 tamsin07572
Posted
Well no I haven't come off them before but when I upped my dosage each time it was like starting all over again an it took me a while to realise that! But u will get threw this trust me!!