7 weeks on citralopram and feel like giving up

[red28]

Hello everyone and hope you are all doing well.

I was diagnosed with depression and anxiety 7 weeks ago. My GP put me 10mg of citralopram for 4 weeks then increased this to 20mg. I'm still suffering the terrible side effects...spaced out, nausea, emotionless, not interested in anything, shaky and afraid to leave the house because of the recent panic attacks .

For about 1 year now ive only be sleeping about 4 hrs a night due to anxiety and citralopram side effects is just making everything seem worse.

I work full time and during the last year work has been very stressful and I've been off sick since I was diagnosed.

I haven't seen any positive effects whilst taking citralopram for the last 7 weeks so I was thinking of coming off it?

Has anybody else felt the same? How long does it take to start to feel the positive effects of citralopram?

My anxiety is worse now than ever before, I seem to be stuck at the bottom of the dark well and can't see a glimmer of light....

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Red xx

[Tattooz]

I think 10 mg of cit is a starting dose . I started on 20 mg and due to go upto 40mg tomorrow after 4 weeks and it seems to be doing the trick . But as u rightly said the side effects are pretty harsh. But also I was only getting 4 hours sleep myself my dr gave me zopiclone for the first 2 weeks of taking cit.I think this help me a lot as I got 2 weeks of good sleep witch seemed to mellow my panic attacks and depression a little bit .So it might help to see yr dr for help sleeping not that I'm recommending sleeping pills but in my case they seemed to do the trick.as with any ADs there are always gonna be side affects to start also I don't know what time u take cit but most people recommend taking in morning as cit can make you restless I hope this helps good luck

[stamags]

hi
Please try and hang in there, I am now on my 9th week of 20mg befor that i had 2weeks at 10 and 1 week at 15mg. Like you I thought I was fighting a loosing battle until this week which has been alot better. keep going, dont give up now, at least give it another few weeks, you've come this far.

[red28]

I'm pleased the medication is working for you, it's good to hear positive feedback.

At first my dr suggested I took citralopram at night, even though I wasn't sleeping well previously. I did this for 5 weeks and told her I'm wide awake at 2am and can't get back to sleep! Then the last couple of weeks I've been taking citralopram in the morning. I'll mention the sleepless nights to my dr on Monday and even though I don't like popping pills, if it means getting a good nights sleep, I'll do it.

[Sophie123]

Just stick with it. I am on my 11th week. 2 weeks at 10mg and now 9 weeks at 20mg. The cit has only just started working but I am still having the odd anxious days but just stick in there. You have come this far. I find it best to take my meds in the morning.

[Tattooz]

Glad yr sticking with it. I was the same I don't like popping pill aswell but lack of sleep made me a lot worse .after a few nights sleep I felt a bit better its by no means a cure . But I took the edge off . I spoke to a few people on hear and got good reports of cit .I'd stick to taking it in the morning because from what I see this pill really works :)

[miniminx]

I had my last anxiety episode 6 years ago and stopped taking citalopram 8 months ago after deceasing gradually .. how ever stupidly after my anxiety coming back i decided to start taking some i had left in the house and took 40mg straight away for 16 days!!!! my anxiety has been horrendous!!! people on here told me i shouldnt have took 40mg as a starting dose... i went to my gp who said the same and reduced them now to 20mg. im still in a state of anxiety and have been on the 20mg since yesterday. im praying my anxiety stops soon as ive had it for 21 days now....
citalopram worked for me last two anxiety episodes so im told itll work now...and soon!!!..fingers crossed!! x

[Tattooz]

40 mgs I bet u sufferd. Pretty bad 20 mg was bad enough hope things get better for you soon good luck :)

[miniminx]

thankyou xx

[red28]

Thank you all for your support, i really appreciate it. I've had a horrendous headache all day...yeah side effects but thankfully it's starting to wear off now, so thought I'd log on and see what's happening.

Hope you're all having a great day!

[Oink]

Hi

I've just moved up from 10mg to 20mg.

To me 7 weeks with side effects and no improvement sounds on the long side. Agree that help sleeping sounds a good idea.

I feel terrible in the mornings. When I manage to haul myself out of bed I try to do something to get the blood flowing; walk hounds, dance to radio (silly I know), but it seems to help.


Oink

[red28]

Hi oink, how long have you been on citralopram and are you feeling any positive effects yet?

Red xx

[Oink]

Only around 3 weeks. No positive effects for sure.

Indirectly the pills have helped. By that I mean, before the prescription I didn't have a clue what was wrong with me. My doctor wasn't much help and didn't explain anything. I felt they just wanted me out of the surgery. Since the prescription, I've researched the pills (I research everything!), have picked up a few books, joined this forum and now at least have a better idea what's wrong and how to get better. Have you read the citalopram survival guide on this forum? Some useful info there.

Took my 2nd 20mg tab tonight so looking forward to being wide awake from 2am and battling the lethargy and anxiety tomorrow :).

It may be naive of me to say so, but best thing I can advise is to stay positive and look for the small improvements.


Oink

[red28]

Yeah the survival guide is full of sensible advice. I'm new to all this and I was in denial about depression and my anxiety for the first few weeks. I actually feel worse since I've started AD.

I know exactly what you mean by being awake from 2am... I was the same when I was taking AD at night, then dr suggested I take them in the morning and it helps. Also reading other posts on here, I realised some other people were having the same problem taking the AD at night and they felt a lot better when started taking them in the morning.

[Sophie123]

I am like you. I have been on Cit for 12 weeks now and sometimes I feel like my anxiety is quite high. I do find that if I sleep quite well I feel really good. I am sleeping terribly at night and find my anxiety far worse then. I take my tablet in the morning so not sure if it is the meds or just the fact that I feel exhausted a lot of the time due to lack of sleep :weep: