View Full Version : When to take escitalopram?
Hi
Does anyone know if there is a better time of day to take escitalopram to avoid side effects?
I've been taking 5mg (this is day 4) in the morning but by this time of night (9pm) I'm feeling weird. Yawning, headaches, teeth clenching.
Just wondered if anyone has feelings about this?
I take my 5 mg in the mornings. Which is what my doctor suggested.
Mike
I initially started in the morning as it made me tired and calmer during the day but now i take it at night so i sleep better i am 12.5mg now. |would say stick with the same time now for a while but speak to your doctor if you are worried xxx
I'm taking it at night but can't sleep at all or I sleep but wake up as early as 1am every night and then just lay awake feeling totally aggitated.
I've just switched from taking at night to mornings and I'm sleeping much better. My sleep has been more restful and I don't feel as tired upon waking.
karenp: Maybe you should try what Serenitie is suggesting and take them in the morning, thats what i am doing and i am having no issues falling asleep at night. Just a thought.
Mike
Do you get side effects during the day though at all?????? I always took normal Citalopram at morning and had bad anxiety but realise this is a newer version. It's my low mood more than anthing whch is bothering me though I did sleep till 4am last night which is beter than most other nights this week. Might try swapping and just see (:
karenp: It is my opinion that you are within the toughest period adjusting to these meds. I went through the same thing. Day 30 was when i noticed the big change. The fact that you are still having good periods of time within your day tells me the drug is starting to work. It's regulating itself, but that still could take some time. Most doctors say its 4 - 6 weeks before the med is completely regulated in your system. Each day should get a little better until boom one day you really notice the difference. Today is day 42 for me, that's exactly 6 weeks. You won't hit that point until around Christmas Day, secondly you changed your dosage a week into it. I really think you are on the right track. I know its tough because its hard not to constantly wonder if the med is working or not. You go through a down period and you wonder why, or how come I'm feeling this way. I did the same thing, I even worried how hard it might be if the drug didnt work weening off it. This was my first time on any AD, so there was a lot of fear that went with it. If i was a betting man, I'd say by Christmas you will feel a whole lot better.
Thinking about you.
Mike
I'm really hoping so Mike, still feeling pretty flat today but not too bad I suppose, no anxiety just now so that is always a good thing and lookign forward to 4pmish when I will probs start feeling really normal and great, thanks so much for your ongoing support.
Mike
I have been feeling much less anxious and more like my old self still with the odd bit of dizziness but nothing major. Until tonight. I was sitting
Watching tv and the back of my neck really started to ache then my head started to ache and then I suddenly felt weird, it's hard to explain but it was as though a judder went through my head. I felt as though I was going to faint. It went but now I'm so anxious it will happen again and that it must be something really bad, my anxiety is a brain tumour. I'm on day 18 of 5mg of escitalopram. Could this feeling be because the meds are still kicking in?
Thanks mrsg x
Mrsg12: While I have never had that specific issue with the back of my neck, from what I've read and someone please correct me if I'm wrong it's probably what people call a brain zap. Yes, it's caused by the med. My good friend had a brain tumour and believe me when I say this, it was months and months of the worst headaches ever and double vision in her case before they finally gave her an MRI and found the tumour. So yes I truly believe the jolt you felt was your body adjusting to the med and NOT a brain tumour or anything else.
Its hard to start a new med, it can be stressful in itself. For example, what I didn't know before i started taking the med was how my body would react with it when mixed with a bad trigger of anxiety. Before i went on the med i would deal with a bad trigger of anxiety with a panic attack. My symptoms would include heart palpitations, weakness in my legs, cold sweats, sleepless nights and my hands would kind of shake. Then I would think I was having a heart attack or something. It was scary. Sometimes it would set off my anxiety for days, it would take me a while to get over.
When I first went on Cipralex my body started dealing with triggers and anxiety attacks far differently. I no longer get the heart palpitations, the cold sweats or the shakes... Now when my body is triggered it seems to go into a full body hot flash. The first time it happened i had never experienced anything like that before. So i won't lie...it completely scared the shit out of me. It was an intense heat flush from my head to my toes and it lasted for what seemed like a minute. After it happened i could not stop thinking about it. Hello anxiety trigger? So because of the anxiety caused by this first full body hot flash i had 2 or 3 more hot flashes.. This time they were a lot smaller. I researched it a little bit, and quickly learned that it was probably the new way my body would be dealing with anxiety attacks. I am now on day 46 and I have only had one or two of these hot flashes since and zero panic attacks. To be honest, I'd much rather have a little hot flash once in awhile then go back to how I was feeling prior to taking Cipralex and all the panic attacks.
Just try and ignore these jolts the best you can, I know its hard. It should slow down and hopefully stop the further along you get on the med.
I hope this helps you feel better.
Take Care,
Mike
Thanks for the reply mike. It's interesting about the way the body changes on the meds. I was thinking (in the early hours when I couldn't sleep) that my anxiety kicked in following a bout of vertigo which came on following a virus that started with an aching neck and swollen glands. I guess it's possible that when my neck began to hurt last night I began to panic about vertigo and the head flash thing was anxiety. I'm going to the dr tomorrow for a check up on how I'm getting on with the meds so I'll mention it then.
Hope you have a good day :-)
Mrsg x
I get those little brain zaps when I first wake up Mrs g but I've had them before whilst taking normal Citalopram so they don't bother me anymore, it's still the low mood that is a killer when I first wake up and terrible insomnia. I'm due at my doctors either tomorrow or Wedensady so may ask if I can go back on Zopiclone for a couple of weeks, at 3-30am in the morning my mood is rock bottom too but usually lifts once it gets to about half 6, I still feel pretty flat now but it's manageable now and Im drinking lots of water and have bought myself some salad for lunch hoping that all helps. Day 20 for me on 5mg's so I am hoping things start to improve this next coming week. Aw and you don;t have anything to worry about I'm sure with regards to these zaps being a brain tumour. Luckily I very rarely get health anxiety now as I have suffered on and off for ten years and am still here and have had a recent MOT and got told I am unbelievably healthy, it'sjust my mind thats not, ha haha! I know when I first had panic attacks though I used to think I as going to have a stroke and allsorts and look I'm still here (:
Hope you and your little boy enjoyed your movie Mike x
Its amazing to me the power a persons mind has over all other aspects of their body.
Remember, the Escitalopram takes a lot longer to regulate in your system then the older Citalopram. The Citalopram is designed to work a lot faster from what ive read, but is a lot tougher on the body to get on. The Escitalopram takes up to 6 weeks to 8 weeks to regulate and is easier on the body side effects wise. They say at 4 weeks you should start feeling better on Escitalopram. The fact that you state that the Citalopram worked for you in the past, despite it being hell to get on is positive news i feel, since Escitalopram is a newer version of the same drug. I think its only a matter of time.
Mike
P.S. - We had a good time at the movie Karen! Thanks! :)
Thanks guys!
Karen since I've been on escitalopram my low mood has improved. I've just checked and I'm actually on day 22 of the meds not day 18 lol! But low mood probably wasn't as bad for me as the health anxiety.
I've been ok today at work but I've just had another slightly giddy moment. It's about the same time as yesterday so leads me to believe it may be the meds.
Mike I was originally on citalopram 20mg and was then changed to 10mg of esc. Compared to the side effects I remember having on citalopram this hasn't been too bad but obviously this time I'm only on 5mg.
Hopefully things will soon improve for all of us but at least we have each other for support.
X
Mrsg12: Health anxiety has always been a huge problem for me. When i am triggered it is the primary reason my anxiety lasts for days and sometimes weeks. When you think something is wrong with your health, its scary and you can't stop thinking about it. Fortunately, other then yesterdays minor little episode which i cant even explain, the cipralex has kept it all pretty much under control for me. I do not feel it at all this morning.
Take Care,
Mike
I'm also on day 22 Mrs G, are you still feeling anxious???? Or are things improving at all? I hope your Virtigo has settled down now which must have been a side effect. I've been really lucky as I've not had many side effects at all so far which is wy I dread the thought of if I have to go up to 10mg's as that's when normal Citlaopram used to hit me more with horrible se's like I'd start having terrilbe day long anxiety and even panic attacks. I didn't take Lorazepam last night or this morning so have some nevousness right now but I hope it passes. The doctor I saw yesterday put me back on Zopiclone for my rubbish sleep which did make me sleep much of the night thankfully but hopefully it won't be too long before I don't need anything at all just the little white Cipralex pill (: But it's def not kicked in enough not to need extra help at the mo. My mood is back to normal thankfully too now (: Hope you are getting on ok Mrs G xxx and hi to every one else, it's a gorgeous Autum day here in the UK!
Thumbelina
28-11-12, 10:00
By reading all the replies i see that there are as many people taking them in the morning as at night. Therefore just trust the doctor and afgree with him what is the most comfortable. As for me it normally helps to sleep better once its starts working, after a months or couple, so i take at night. I took it for 4 years and had 1,6 years gap. Now started again.
Hope you will find the best time for you
Take care
I'm still taking mine at night but am sleeping more or less great now, last week was a little unsettled as I upped my doseage but my side effects have only lasted a few days this time around (:
Ive always taken mine at night, purely because about an hour after taking it I get really tired x
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