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What to expect from increase from 20mg to 40mg

Posted , 18 users are following.

Losty82230
Losty82230

Hi, 

I've been on citalopram for 6 weeks now for depression

1 week 10mg

5 week 20mg

I've slowly improved over the weeks from being unable to leave the house and crying all day to being able to go out and do things if I force myself but still only maybe 50% of who I was before depression.

I've been advised yesterday to increase my citalopram to 40mg, when I started 20mg from 10 I was in a bad way, pretty much suicidal, I'm not sure if it was the increase or just my depression and loss of hope as I'd went months suffering before starting medication.

I have plans this weekends and have decided to wait til Monday to up my dose just incase the anxiety or any other side effects come back.

Just wondered if anyone had any experience jumping from 20mg to 40mg and what I should expect. 

0 likes, 25 replies

25 Replies

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  • lois95799
    lois95799 Losty82230

    Edited

    Wow those are quick increases..these tablets take a long time to work.as in months..quick increases aren't necessarily quick relief..you should at least give each increase a couple of months ..

    • Chris00000
      Chris00000 lois95799

      Edited

      Absolutely spot on Lois, I keep on hearing people starting on 20 and jumping to 40 with servere side effects and they don't know why, I started on 10 had every side effect and my doctor wouldn't put me on 20 until I felt the side effects were going which took nearly 3 months, so when I went on 20 the side effects weren't as bad, infact nowhere near.

  • moomoomin
    moomoomin Losty82230

    Edited

    Firstly a big well done to you for getting help. The first time I took Citalopram was about 8 years ago. They're not a quick fix, I would say it took a good year before I felt better. The best advice I can give is to just take it day by day. Also the tablets can make you feel worse in some ways before you feel better when you start. Good luck, there's some fab people here to listen and help you through this x

  • Star1711
    Star1711 Losty82230

    Edited

    Hi Losty 

    I’m not on 40mg, but went up from 20mg to 30mg which helped me a lot. Is there a reason as to why you’re jumping from 20mg to 40mg? I’m not an expert here, but maybe you don’t need to increase by 20mg. Has your doctor discussed the reason for increasing to 40mg instead of 30mg? When I went up to 30mg I didn’t have any of the physical symptoms that I did when first started at 10mg, but I did notice I was more low in mood for around a week but this gradually settled. I know it’s hard, but try and keep busy, active, and occupy yourself with things you enjoy doing. Long walks helped me a lot, and exercise is something I still do to clear my mind. Hope you feel better soon. 

  • ruth24048
    ruth24048 Losty82230

    Edited

    I would increase your dose gradually by 5 or 10 mg. To double it seems hard and fast and will probably bring more side effects. I think some do tors don't understand how powerful these drugs are.

    • ruth08109
      ruth08109 ruth24048

      Edited

      Totally agree. And I think a lot of GPs don't actually understand how long they take to work.

    • ruth24048
      ruth24048 ruth08109

      Edited

      I have decreased from 40mg to 30mg, one doctor wanted me to do it in 4 weeks! She had no idea what theses drugs are like. I took advice from people actually on this drug and actually took 6 months to do it by going really slowly, best way to do it.
    • ruth08109
      ruth08109 ruth24048

      Edited

      It's nuts, isn't it? Would much rather ask someone who's done it, to be honest.

  • ruth08109
    ruth08109 Losty82230

    Edited

    Hi Losty, that seems like a big jump, and if you read around on here, taking a high dose doesn't necessarily mean you will feel better any faster.

    Obviously you know how you feel and must make the decision, but I would be tempted to give the 20mg another couple of weeks before you make any decision to increase.

    You could very well end up suffering again from side effects.

    Are you in a position to wait out the 20mg a bit longer?

  • Losty82230
    Losty82230

    Edited

    Hi,

    Thanks for all the replies.

    I'm not sure why the increase from 20 to 40.

    I'm working with a mental health team and this is what I have been advised to do.

    I took my first 40 yesterday and feel ok so far with regards to side effects.

    I'll carry on with what I've been advised so far and am seeing mental health team 3 days a week so if I've any concerns or side effects I guess I can discuss the dosage with them 

    • ruth08109
      ruth08109 Losty82230

      Edited

      Well, at least if you try it, you'll find out how it feels. When I increased, I didn't find the side effects kicked in until day 4 of the increase, so if you feel better then worse, at least you know its side effects, if you get what I mean.

      And if it's too much, you can always reduce again. Wishing you all the best ??

  • Paula2019
    Paula2019 Losty82230

    Edited

    Hi Losty, am surprised the doctor has doubled your dose so quickly.  Keep an eye out for side effects, 40mg is a very high dose,
  • Cara424
    Cara424 Losty82230

    Edited

    I have only stayed at 10mg but I can say that it took me a good 12 weeks to ferl normal with no anxiety. I would wait before uping the dose . Ask for lorazapan to help alleviate symptoms while the citalopram continues to build in your system.
  • Chris00000
    Chris00000 Losty82230

    Edited

    I would most definitely stay on 20 if I were you because you are feeling a bit better and in the next couple of weeks you will feel slightly better again, take your time on this drug, I went from 20 to 30 and stayed on 30 for 4 months, my eyes felt very strange as if they were fizzing so I went back down to 20, the next day my eyes were back to normal again and felt so much better on 20, just be patient with this drug it will make you better in time x
  • kelly58470
    kelly58470 Losty82230

    Posted

    Hi Losty!

    ?I have made the jump from 20 mg to 40 mg, and even increased faster than you are: I was put directly on the 20 mg, and one week later my doctor bumped me up to 40 mg. Citalopram was my first antidepressant; I knew nothing about them then, and just thought it was the common thing to do, since my doctor prescribed it. Later, I found it that it's a bit unusual to move up doses that fast, not only because of the bad side effects  but because you never know then how you might have done on the lower dose.

    I had a horrific time starting at 20 mg, and then moving to 40 so quickly. Insomnia, increase in anxiety, and really bad diarrhea (to the point that I sometimes couldn't leave the house; luckily, I wasn't working back then). The worst for me though was that I got really bad depression, which normally I'm not prone to. I remember one day being so bad that I told my husband I seriously thought I'd have to go to the hospital for a stay in the psych ward, because I was having so many self-destructive thoughts.

    ?It did get better after a few weeks. I had side effects for probably 2 1/2 months though. And, I wish I had gotten the chance to see if 20 mg or even 30 would have worked for me instead of 40 mg. I was always scared to decrease, so continued on that dose until it quit working for me.

    ?All that being said, once the 40 mg kicked in and the side effects went away, I did great! It really was a life changer for me.

     

    • Ebeth
      Ebeth kelly58470

      Posted

      Hi.  I was on 20mg for 2 weeks, then the doctor wanted me to go to 40.  I was scared to jump to 40, so I went to 30.  I to have depression since changing my dose plus higher anxiety than I had to begin with.  How long did it take for your depression side effect to go away.  I am on day 8 of 30 mg. and am tired of feeling so bad.
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