Citalopram side effects?

[VickiS]

Day 17 for me, just spoke to my dr and he said my anxiety should be this bad at this stage so he's prescribed me 50mg sertraline, I was willing to give it more tome but he said no, my anxiety levels are too high :(

[perseverence]

Hi Vicki I was on Sertraline for 5 years but then my doctor put me on Cipralex early this year ,my G A D is much worse now,so I am going back to Sertraline.

[VickiS]

I didnt think 17 days was long enough to try them for?

[shoegal]

I was told it takes 4-6 weeks before you will notice an improvement in your symptoms on Citalopram. In fact I have been given Diazepam for one month to help me cope with the increased anxiety. I think 17 days is too soon to know if the Citalopram would have helped you. Oh, and I am being seen by a specialist Mental Health Team who really know what they are doing, I'm not sure GP's are particularly expert in this field (no offence meant to GP's).

[VickiS]

Thanks shoegal

I don't think he's given them long enough either, Ive just realised the meds he wants to change me to I've taken before and they made me ill so I'm going to keep taking the cit and try and get another appointment to see him, if I'm willing to stick out the SEs to see if the cit works surely he should understand that??

[shoegal]

Have you been seen by anybody other than your Dr? Sometimes it's better to see a Psychiatrist or Psychiatric nurse as they have far more experience of dealing with mental health and the drugs/side effects etc. All I know is I have been told by 2 Psychiatric nurses and two Drs that I will have increased anxiety for 3 or 4 weeks and it will be 6 weeks before I notice much improvement in my health. So I would say you should at least give the meds a month before giving up on them, especially as you have come this far.

[A Little More Light]

An Update - I've been taking Citalopram for a week now and apart from the nausea on the first day I've had no adverse side affects. I think the nausea was a combination of taking the drug and the fact that I hadn't eaten anything that day.

[VickiS]

Hi Shoegal

No I've only been seen by my GP he's never referred me to see anyone else, I'm carrying on with the cit anyway, I can't get an appointment to see him until monday :(

Its day 19 for me and for a stupid reason I'm feeling really apprehensive about taking my cit today :( I ended up lying in bed about 9ish last night as I felt really dizzy,lightheaded and nauseous. I've woke up feeling the same this morning ( I don't think it's the cit as most of the SEs have died down for me except the increased anxiety) maybe I've caught a tummy bug or something but it's just making me anxious today

Hope you all have a calm Wednesday

Vicki

[shoegal]

All of the symptoms you describe sound EXACTLY like the side effects I'm having from the Citalopram. It can take 4 weeks to settle into your system and up to 6 weeks to feel the benefits so you were probably having a little bout of Citalopram side effects. Increased anxiety is the WORST side effect for me, but I'm sticking with it.

[VickiS]

Thanks Shoegal

The increased anxiety is the worst for me too, some days it seems unbearable but I'm determined to stick it out and hopefully will see some improvement over the coming weeks. I actually had an ok day yesterday, the anxiety was still there but I'm telling myself it's a SE and it will get better