Jimgym
07-01-12, 17:01
Hi Everyone,
I know there are a number of people too afraid to go on antidepressants (myself included!) so I thought I'd share my intial experiences with Cit.
First a bit of history...I've been suffering with anxiety for about 3-4 years now. My anxiety has always been there - at least since I was 8 years old when I saw a phy for OCD, however it has not been debilitating until the past few years. Intially, I was prescribed propranolol and told to 'take one as needed'. To begin with I thought propranolol was my saving grace. I took it for about 4 years on and off until I realised that something had to be done....I couldn't keep masking my anxiety in this way, feeling like I wasn't on this earth and extremely tired.
Upon finishing university I decided that I should approach a doctor and see what could be done about it - at this point I had left the university surgery and registered with a local surgery, which I hoped may offer something different to the usual propranolol script. After requesting a test for over active thyroid (my grandad has had trouble so I thought it was worth an investigation) which came back negative, my doctor suggested I should try Cit. I was initally unsure but decided to go ahead with it as there was nothing I could lose. I was prescribed 10mg, once daily and told to come back in a month to see how i was getting on.
This is probably going to be the interesting part:
- In the first 2 days nothing really happened. I didn't feel any better or worse than what I had felt before (constantly on edge, shoulder and neck pain, headaches etc).
- on the 3rd day was when I felt something positive was happening. I woke up and got in the shower...then I realised that I felt...normal! I felt great for the rest of the day. I don't know if it was a placebo effect at that stage but it didn't matter to me at that moment - something was happening! I actually cried with happiness at one point!
- The 4th and 5th days were pretty unpleasant. I was sick twice on the 4th day and couldn't keep my breakfast or lunch down (...and this was Christmas day! :weep:). I also wasn't sleeping very well - this was due to the side effect of being 'excited' which I guess isn't a massive side effect to someone with anxiety and depression! I was getting around 4-5 hrs of sleep a night.
- At the end of the first week the feelings of sickness were starting to fade away although I suffered occasionally with odd retches which would come out of no where. Thankfully, these have now gone!
I'll soon be going into my Third week on 10mg Cit and how am I feeling?
More like my old self.
I wake up in the morning and look forward to the day - I no longer worry about how I'm going to feel at work. It gives me the strength to get on with things. I've managed to get my sleep back and now have no trouble getting 7-8 hrs worth of QUALITY sleep. Even when I don't get enough hours in, I don't feel too drowsy during the day - not getting enough sleep used to be a major trigger for my anxiety before trying Cit.
As for side effects, I'd say they are few at this stage. About 2 hours after taking my morning dose of cit I sometimes feel a bit sleepy for about an hour or two but this tends to wear off in the afternoon. Another side effect I've noticed is difficulty achieving orgasm :blush:...it does happen but can take longer than usual...but I don't think my girlfriend is complaining! :roflmao:
Any advice I can give you?
1. If you go on Cit, stick with it. It can be uncomfortable in the first few weeks or even months (I was lucky in that the majority of the side effects occured within the first few days and it only took me a week or so to stabilise - everyone is different), doctors advise that you must give it at least 6 months to have any effect.
2. Get a support network. Tell your family and close friends. They'll be able to help you through it - especially through those tough few days/weeks. I kept my anxiety and depression a secret from my girlfriend until very recently. We had been going out for about 15 months when I told her and I was finally glad to get it out. My girlfriend was very supportive and I wish I'd have told her sooner. I was worried that she might have wanted to break up with me but I figured if she did, then she wasn't the right one for me!
3. Do more than just take Cit. My doctor recommended Mood Gym, a free interactive website which helps you to find the root of your anxiety. I'm working my way through the modules and will tell him how I've found it when I see him in a few weeks time. I haven't asked to see a therapist yet, but I'm sure we'll discuss it at my next appointment.
4. Consider taking time off work when you begin Cit. Again, there's a big chance that you will react differently to me but I am glad that I wasn't at work when the intial side effects kicked in. I would have hated being at work feeling ill and being sick! I started taking Citalopram on the Wednesday before Christmas, so that when the sickness began I was off work and safely at home with my family.
5. Read PsychoPoets Cit Survival Guide - it's helped me loads already! http://nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=46980
Good luck and best wishes,
Jim :)
I know there are a number of people too afraid to go on antidepressants (myself included!) so I thought I'd share my intial experiences with Cit.
First a bit of history...I've been suffering with anxiety for about 3-4 years now. My anxiety has always been there - at least since I was 8 years old when I saw a phy for OCD, however it has not been debilitating until the past few years. Intially, I was prescribed propranolol and told to 'take one as needed'. To begin with I thought propranolol was my saving grace. I took it for about 4 years on and off until I realised that something had to be done....I couldn't keep masking my anxiety in this way, feeling like I wasn't on this earth and extremely tired.
Upon finishing university I decided that I should approach a doctor and see what could be done about it - at this point I had left the university surgery and registered with a local surgery, which I hoped may offer something different to the usual propranolol script. After requesting a test for over active thyroid (my grandad has had trouble so I thought it was worth an investigation) which came back negative, my doctor suggested I should try Cit. I was initally unsure but decided to go ahead with it as there was nothing I could lose. I was prescribed 10mg, once daily and told to come back in a month to see how i was getting on.
This is probably going to be the interesting part:
- In the first 2 days nothing really happened. I didn't feel any better or worse than what I had felt before (constantly on edge, shoulder and neck pain, headaches etc).
- on the 3rd day was when I felt something positive was happening. I woke up and got in the shower...then I realised that I felt...normal! I felt great for the rest of the day. I don't know if it was a placebo effect at that stage but it didn't matter to me at that moment - something was happening! I actually cried with happiness at one point!
- The 4th and 5th days were pretty unpleasant. I was sick twice on the 4th day and couldn't keep my breakfast or lunch down (...and this was Christmas day! :weep:). I also wasn't sleeping very well - this was due to the side effect of being 'excited' which I guess isn't a massive side effect to someone with anxiety and depression! I was getting around 4-5 hrs of sleep a night.
- At the end of the first week the feelings of sickness were starting to fade away although I suffered occasionally with odd retches which would come out of no where. Thankfully, these have now gone!
I'll soon be going into my Third week on 10mg Cit and how am I feeling?
More like my old self.
I wake up in the morning and look forward to the day - I no longer worry about how I'm going to feel at work. It gives me the strength to get on with things. I've managed to get my sleep back and now have no trouble getting 7-8 hrs worth of QUALITY sleep. Even when I don't get enough hours in, I don't feel too drowsy during the day - not getting enough sleep used to be a major trigger for my anxiety before trying Cit.
As for side effects, I'd say they are few at this stage. About 2 hours after taking my morning dose of cit I sometimes feel a bit sleepy for about an hour or two but this tends to wear off in the afternoon. Another side effect I've noticed is difficulty achieving orgasm :blush:...it does happen but can take longer than usual...but I don't think my girlfriend is complaining! :roflmao:
Any advice I can give you?
1. If you go on Cit, stick with it. It can be uncomfortable in the first few weeks or even months (I was lucky in that the majority of the side effects occured within the first few days and it only took me a week or so to stabilise - everyone is different), doctors advise that you must give it at least 6 months to have any effect.
2. Get a support network. Tell your family and close friends. They'll be able to help you through it - especially through those tough few days/weeks. I kept my anxiety and depression a secret from my girlfriend until very recently. We had been going out for about 15 months when I told her and I was finally glad to get it out. My girlfriend was very supportive and I wish I'd have told her sooner. I was worried that she might have wanted to break up with me but I figured if she did, then she wasn't the right one for me!
3. Do more than just take Cit. My doctor recommended Mood Gym, a free interactive website which helps you to find the root of your anxiety. I'm working my way through the modules and will tell him how I've found it when I see him in a few weeks time. I haven't asked to see a therapist yet, but I'm sure we'll discuss it at my next appointment.
4. Consider taking time off work when you begin Cit. Again, there's a big chance that you will react differently to me but I am glad that I wasn't at work when the intial side effects kicked in. I would have hated being at work feeling ill and being sick! I started taking Citalopram on the Wednesday before Christmas, so that when the sickness began I was off work and safely at home with my family.
5. Read PsychoPoets Cit Survival Guide - it's helped me loads already! http://nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=46980
Good luck and best wishes,
Jim :)