Week 3 on Citalopram (10mg)

[JonH]

Hello
I was a bit reluctant to start taking these, classic case of looking at the side effects and not liking what I read. After discussing these with my GP he assured me that being 29 and quite active I would not have any problems with side effects at all...
The lying b*****d!!

First week was ok, dizzyness, little nausea, but on the whole not bad.
Week 2 the same but I was noticing a pretty constant headache and jaw ache.
Week 3, everything has gotten worse. I now experience increased anxiety, loss of appetite, waking up with cold sweats and I'm having trouble focusing sometimes. Worst thing is the fact that I am always tired, no matter when I go to sleep.

After getting through these 3 weeks I am determined to come out the other side. Just hoping that week 4 is a bit better, preparing for it not to be though.

Jon

[suzy-sue]

Drs dont always say anything because you might not take them,also some people dont get bad side effects.You have done well to get through the first three weeks ,Your dose will settle in a week or so.If you dont feel much better you will have your dose increased ,but the side effects are never as bad as the start, Good luck Jon and keep posting on your progress.luv SUE

[Funky Mum]

I'm only in my first week and don't like the thought of it getting worse. Sorry you have found that its happened to you.

[stephles]

I can relate to this. I am into my third week on 20mg Citalopram. I felt awful for the first couple of days but then things seemed to simmer down. At the end of the second week/into the third, my anxiety has shot up and my mood is yo-yoing up and down. I am waking in the middle of the night and finding myself unable to get back to sleep.

I'm just doing what I can to get through this dip in progress - if it was okay for the first couple of weeks hopefully things will go back to being okay. I'm trying to avoid caffeine, avoiding alcohol at all costs and taking whatever measures I can to relax... camomile tea, quiet activities like reading etc.

Good luck and I hope that you feel better soon.

Steph

[Steve53]

I have read many of the posts and the symptoms appear to be pretty much the same. I am just into week four on 20mg and identify with most comments. The most troubling for me was the total lack of enthusiasm especially in the morning on waking a kind of numbness making it hard to get out of bed also raised anxiety and lower mood than usual. In the last couple of days I have noticed a nice feeling like butterfly's in my stomach and a heightened mood. I have suffered from long term low mood and feel much better now after three weeks, the side effects are diminishing and my mood is heightening. My advice would simply be to ride out the storm and give these time to work. After two weeks I nearly gave up, its early days yet but I think these are OK now. Obviously if you get to week 5 or 6 and things don't improve then you may need a different medication. But it would be a shame if you packed them in just before they started to work for you. Good luck, Steve.

[Lion King]

I would say keep with the meds, the side effects are pretty bad but with patience and time they do get better.I got to the 8th week and I was not feeling much better, so I went to see my gp about another med and he advised me to increase the dose from 20 to 40. I couldn't face the side effects all over again so I refrained from the increase and decided to try a bit longer. Things didn't improve so I stepped upto 30 and found a little change but after a couple of weeks I went to 40 which has been really good with very little side effects, the anxiety has been reduced to the lowest it has been in the last 12 months!

They will work its just a matter of time!