meds?

[Volvoman50]

Hi all having some bad anxiety issues at present however am managing to keep going waiting for CBT. Wanted to ask if anyone on citalopram 40mg or venalafaxine and if so how you find it? Do they help?

[nomorepanic]

Hi

Have you seen the separate forums for these medications?

[NoPoet]

Hi, everyone has a different experience with different meds. Venlafaxine is of a newer class than citalopram and is supposed to be more effective. If people experience side effects when starting or stopping medication, venlafaxine might have more noticeable effects including aggression. Whichever one you try, you may find your anxiety increases for a few weeks. This is not guaranteed to happen, but start at a low dose and build up in order to minimise any side effects.

Regarding citalopram, start at maybe 10mg, increase gradually to 20mg and see if that helps. If not, move up to 30mg. Bear in mind medication will be a much bigger benefit to you if you are also receiving support eg therapists, friends, Samaritans, No More Panic forums etc. Also bear in mind it's normal for meds to seem not to work, then they suddenly kick in, then seem to lose effectiveness: remember that when they start muzzling the anxiety, they haven't made the causes go away, they're like minders forcibly keeping the crowd at bay so you can get on with your recovery.

Alternative medications: sertraline is regarded as having less noticeable side effects than nearly everything on the market; fluoxetine usually has few or no withdrawal effects; escitalopram is supposed to start working quicker than citalopram; mirtazapine will make you gain weight by increasing your appetite but seems to have fewer side effects than most meds and will probably improve your sleep; pregabalin is targeted at GAD (generalised anxiety disorder) but has no antidepressant effect.