My first half a Citalapram - now what happens?

[lilac kitten]

Last night I had my tea and took my first half a citalopram. Felt fine and still feel fine. Although a few people at work said I'm not myself today I seem preoccupied. I do feel a little spaced out I think. I felt a little anxious this morning and of course worrying about the side effects. As yet I havn't had any in fact I feel normalish and a little spaced out or is that what feeling relaxed feels like?

I have been doing really well with the anxiety, but I something was still not right and both doctor and psychologist say I need something to calm me down a little as I'm always rushing around and fidgety.

How long before side effects kick in or is this as good as it gets? I've had a little tummy cramp, and lots of burping, but nothing major. I feel quite relaxed actually. I'm nervous about taking another one tonight incase I've just been lucky with the first.

Is anyone else currently taking Citalopram?

[sarah]

Hiya

Im taking Citalopram, have been for months now with no side effects really.
I doubt that you will be feeling anything as a result of the meds after taking your first dose but im guessing that it might be that you are feeling something because you KNOW you have taken something and you are aware that there could be side effects.
Dont get me wrong, im not saying its all in your head...lol but I am the same and I still feel a little nervy 2 minutes after taking a tablet and I think its because I am sort of expecting to feel something.
Does that make sense?
It can take up to a month for you to feel any better but this does vary between person to person. IF you are going to get side effects, they would probably be worse in the first 2 weeks while your body gets used to them. But you may well be like me and get no real side effects at all.
Take care and let us know how you get on.

love Sarah
xx

we arent mad, just the next stage of evolution :)

[HB]

heya,

I've been on citalapram for about a year and a half now, although i dont get any side effects at all now, the first 4 days were absolute hell- i felt like dying!!

Keep on with them, they help so much :-) what dosage are you on? i started on 40mg, now im on 20mg :-)

One thing though, alcohol and citalapram arent a good mix for me- something to think about :-)

Take care love H x

H

[lilac kitten]

Sorry to let you down guys, but I had a huge arguement with my partner the next evening when I should have taken another half of the 20mg tablet and didn't take any more. I should have done I know. However, if things havn't improved by the summer holidays when I have two weeks off, I shall start them then.

I did however, buy Rescue Remedy at the weekend and found that has helped.

Also the pharmasist gave me Olbas Oil and Ibuprofen for my sinus pain and that also seems to be helping the panic a little (actually sniffing the Olbas oil is great if you're out and feel a little lightheaded and stuffy with a lumpy throat).

Ruth
x

[Meg]

Hey Ruth,

You haven't let us down at all..

Its your choice of what treatment options you choose and when . We will support you nayway....

Sorry about the row. Hope its blown over now .

RR is a good support. The new advert says - Yoga in a bottle !!

I used to cart around a bottle of lavender aromatherapy oil which helped too both in reality setting nad calming.
I must have looked a right idiot altenating between swigging on Bach remedies and sniffing bottles of lavender oil .. oh not forgeting relaxation CD on too.

At the time I didn't purposefully hide it but certainly didn't announce my woes to my colleagues round the country. Now I speak of it more they all claim to have never known so I can't have looked that spaced out or upset.





Meg

'There can only be true courage when first there is genuine fear'

Dr.David Livingstone

[HB]

havent let us down at all!! anyway at least now you dont have the worry of having to come off the citalopram- i am being weened off mine now and it isnt that nice :-)well done for even geting that far!! take care

H

[honey]

Hello

I am a new member to the site and I have also started taking citalapram for anxiety. I have been taking them for 6 weeks and was starting to feel better until I had to much alcohol and a bad bout of gastroenteritis with dioriah for a week. I seem to be feeling really anxious again and that feeling of a lumpy throat.... Do you think this is due to not absorbing the tablets for a week ......

I really want these tablets to work as I had suffered 8 misscaridges and have just found a reason for these and my partner and myself would like to tryt again after christmas but i feel like I couldnt if I dont get this anxiety concured... sorry for spelling ..

[mum2four]

You body proberly hasn't had enought time to absorb the meds. It would be a good idea to talk to your Dr about it aswell.

[hmcgowan]

Hi everyone.

I started taking citalopram yesterday and I feel awful. My heads pounding, I so tired and my legs feel like ive run a marathon. I also feel really spaced out. Im on 20 mg and I was wondering if anyone knows how long this is going to last? I thought these were meant to help not make you feel worse!

[V]

H McGowan

[nomorepanic]

It can take up to a month before you start to feel any better I am afraid.

Some people stick with and some decide they can't take the side-effects so steer clear of medications.

Nicola

"Nearly all happiness comes into our lives through doors we don't even remember leaving open"

[Two heads]

Hi!Your not alone,istarted them last week and i had sickness to begin with,now iam suffering from heighted anxiety.The side affects are not nice,there has been alot of tears this week!Keep your chin up.

[solota]

I have been on Citalapram for 3 weeks now. I didn't feel well before but now I'm having a really bad time of it. Went to docs today and she said to increase the 10mg a day to 20mg a day do you think this is a good idea or do you think I'm going to be even worse. I am really trying to stick at this coz Diazipan and Prozac and Beta Blockers have all made me even worse. Now I am at the stage that I want this to work so badly that I really don't want to give up AGAIN but I'm not sure whether to increase to 20mg or not!

[Two heads]

Ow bless you!you sound just like me.Iwould stick with them alittle longer as i have beem told they can take over a month to work.I myself have been on them two weeks now and theres no improvement yet.Im going to stick with 10mg entil ive been on them amonth then increase to 20mg!I have had abad time with them so far as well so just think your not alone!At the moment as i type i keep breathing wrong and its really getting on my....

[hjm70]

i started taking them yesterday im on 20mg i feel hellish, really spaced out and my anxiety seems worse than every. its making me feel very disheartened and im also wondering if i am in fact actually going insane!!
i really want to try to keep taking them coz i really want to feel well again im just not sure i can

[Two heads]

Its normal hun to feel all those a things for a few weeks so stick with them!Make sure you take them the same time everyday as this will affect you if you dont.I found that out this week!Ive been on them about three months,only about 15mg.if you need any advice all your worried about auything just pm me,good luckxx

[desi322]

I have been on citalapram now for 6 months and at first felt shocking but find that was not necessarily because of the medication it was still the anxiety etc that I already had and loosing faith in medication as I had been given xanax and then changed over to valium and trust me you havent felt bad until you have had xanax and the withdrawals its like being on a permanent rollercoaster. Anyway I weened myself of those horrible things and then citalpram. It took at least 6 weeks to even start taking effect and when it did boom I haven't had a full panic attack since and its been 6 months. I know I sound like a sales rep for the stuff but it worked. Thats not to say I am cured but I do not cry 24hrs acutally I cry rarely. I have been getting anxiety more over the last week but that's because I am tryin to get back into driving my final BIG demon. As far as increasing the dose 10mg is probably really not enough you will find 20mg does make a huge difference. oops looks like I am writing a book so better shutup now. desi

[Tobias]

Hi all, my first time on a forum and also my first time on Citalipram. I've read a heap on these and after feeling suicidal, depressed you name it after my wife died and at the constant pleas from firends and doctor I now take Citalopram 20mg once a day. As for the side effects, I had them all except for the deadly ones, gosh I felt sick. now after 6 weeks on them I find that my side effects are better. still get nausea, sweaty, but basically ok. As for feelings, I'm no longer as short tempered as i've calmed right down, I do feel a bit "detached" just sit there and daydream. I'll stay on these a while and see how goes. Good luck to you all,

[mushroomwirral]

i have been on 10 mg now for 9months freat

[mushroomwirral]

i have been on 10mg cip for 9 months and they are great after theykick in usually 1 month now the doc wants to reduce by using liquid CIP anybody with the same problem.

[peteb11]

hi

i took citalopram for 3 months, at first i felt tired for a few days and more anxiety, but after a couple of weeks u feel the difference, some ppl react different to medication, after about 4 months i started to feel more deppresed so the doctor sent me to se a different doctor who specialises in mental illness, anyway he stopped the citalopram straight away and put me on mirtazapine, i feel so much better.

Carter

[hollymanussis]

hi,
just found this website and needed some help.Have been on Citalapram for at less a year, 10 and then 20mg.I wanted to stop so I did just that. However, a month down the line im in a real mess. Are these things really addictive or maybe its just in my head?
Any ideas?
H[^]

[polly daydream]

Hi and welcome, did you stop gradually or straight away? as it is always best to come of them slowly reducing the amounts week by week. 20 then 10 then 5. Just as you started gradually. The side effects apparently are alot less intense. They are not supposed to be addictive so the doctor says, this is why my doc put me on it which I am currently on now.

Best wishes,

Polly

[Daisybun]

Hi Holly, if you just stopped taking them without a planned withdrawal then you will have problems. As Polly said you need to come off it gradually so your body can adjust. i would go back to your doctor and check out what you should do.

Take care
Daisybun

'This too will pass'

[jacq]

iwas prescribed citalopram last year after my doctor took me off beta blockers, within hours i was terrified but not my usual panicky terrified it was as though all of my senses were heightened and i spent hours sitting on the floor with my body pinned to the wall and felt like something terrible was bearing down on me. i carried on for a week or so but i couldnt stand the side effects which were worse than any panic attack i had ever had everything felt so unreal all i could think was if it this bad now how will it be when the doctor decides i should come off them. I dont take anything now as the experience scared me so much i want to stay away from prescription drugs totally. Even though millions of people have very good outcomes on meds i feel better knowing that my symptems now as bad as they are, are my bodies own reaction and not medically induced.

courage doesn't always roar, sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying "i will try again tomorrow"

[nealorange]

Hi All,
I was put on anti depressants after I fell off the edge of reality when driving home. Had one almight panic attack, no idea what was going on and ended up in A&E thinking I was dying. I was struggling to get back to normaility and a doctor put me on one type of anti-depressant. Told me it'd take a few days to work and there'd be no side effects. Within a couple of hours of taking it I was a mess. It made me completely depressed, I couldn't eat, I couldn't swallow, and it was like being semi concious. Only took 2 tablets, luckily, and started to come round again. Went to see a different doctor who convinced me to give medication another go, he said there is so much choice out there you just need to match the person to the drug. He prescibed citalopram 20mg and said any serious side effects, then stop and we'll try another.
Very nervous after taking the first tablet but I had no real side effects. Took a few weeks to work but after a couple of months I felt great, I felt unbreakeable. I've since stopped and have never felt as strong as when I was on them.

[sherri32]

Hi guys
i have been taking citalapram4 a month now, and my fiance and family can see the difference in me, i cant still feel the same grotty and down, feel like i'm goin crazy, and it's hard2 control yourslf when u feel like that!!
The only thing that relaxes me is alcohol,i also find it hard2 sleep on these tablets, which makes thing's worse, and also i cant drink as much alcohol, i get drunk really easily. which i didn't before,,
any views. would help me,
thank's friend's. dont know what i would do without this site.
Sherri
xxxx

[carolyn]

hi, I have been using citalapram for 5months now and i have felt an amazing difference. Only now do I realize how disabling my anxiety and panic was. The first two weeks i experineced heightened anxiety however this did leave me. I also take my tablet (10mg) just after my breakfast. I have no intention of coming off this as i do not want to go back to what it was like (pure hell). I do still suffer but nothing near to what i had been going through. I urge anyone just starting this medication is to stick with it.

cmurphy

[seanuk30]

Hi
I'm Sean and just joined, excellent site and glad to see there is little negativity as I have seen on other sites. I started Citalpram 2 months ago and started feeling better after about 5 weeks but then started feeling worse a few weeks later, my doctor has put me on 40mg as I'm quite a big chap and I'm feeling very spaced out and more anxious. Do you think this is purely because of the higher dosage kicking in?

I have started smoking again which probably does not help and I still drink which does not help. I'm going to struggle to stop these or cut down but after reading posts its obvious that booze and fags don't mix with Citalapram

Sean

[Scarlett77]

Hi,

I've been advised to start Citalopram again this week for social anxiety and agoraphobia, but i don't know if there's much point? i've taken it before about 2 years ago, for 3 months 20mg, with virtually no effects, (not just side effects but ANY effects). Well, apart from feeling like i was completely off my head for the first day (this was kind of interesting, but not really very helpful lol). The doctor i was seeing then told me to stop as it obviously wasn't working for me. I did and had no ill effects from stopping suddenly, but i'm sure this can vary widely for different people. I then went through exactly the same thing with Fluoxetine.

The different doctor i'm seeing now says that the previous doctor was talking rubbish(!), and it can take six months plus for you to notice any improvement. So i guess i may as well give it another go :shrug:

Scarlett

[seanuk30]

Hi Scarlett
I took Fluoxetine and it just made me a jibbering wreck, Citalpram seems to help but its been so long since I felt normal I not sure if its working ir not if that makes sense, fags and booze prob dont help :-)
Sean

[Scarlett77]

Hi Sean,

Good point - when i last took it i was smoking pretty heavily, and i've quit since then so maybe that will change the way it interacts with me! I've always tried not to drink if ever i've taken meds, but sometimes in life i just really need a drink or two or ten lol :ohmy: take care

scarlett

[loulabella]

:)

[penedawn]

Longer than one day, but you will know by 6 days. Either they will work or friends will soon alert you. Hopefully they will work. Or ask you doctor and research some more. Don't worry or you wont know what is causing you to worry. Sometimes they do make you feel really awful but that goes away. Different for everyone.

[Suziewuzie]

Why are so many threads from 10 years ago resurfacing today?! X

[Jaysmd]

Penedawn must be throwing it back to the old skool lol