Citalipram for anxiety ?

[TRISTAN]

Is citalipram good for anxiety as tried venaflaxine xl through all doses and found it made me worse but told to keep going and give it time but 13 weeks is long enough now so been put on 10 mg as I come off other one then being put up to 20 after 2 weeks , advice needed please guys .

Much love Tristan

[moomin1]

Yes Citalopram is an anti-anxylitic SSRI so targets anxiety as well as depression. I believe the usual dose for anxiety is 20mg so sounds like you are well on the track to feeling better.:)

[TRISTAN]

Thanks for the reassurance more posative posts please guys but no negative ones as pinning my hopes on this one x

[Tanner40]

Citalopram has worked very well for me in the past. I think it definitely helped my panic attacks. Combined with CBT and therapy, it has helped to begin to change my life. It's hard work but worth it.

[Roxypop]

Hi Tristan. Yes cit is excellent for Anxiety. I am on week 8 and am beginning to feel like my old self. There are lots of positive feeds on here about it. Just hang in there give it a chance and you will feel so much better. It's not an overnight fix as you probably already know. The time scale is different for everyone so make sure you stick with it. You will succeed and conquer. Good luck x

[teej]

roxypop is correct. You have to stick with the citalopram though. The changes are very gradual, and the first weeks are very hard so you need to take it easy on yourself. It's easy in the first weeks just to want to give up on it but don't - it's worth it in the long run. I think my worst problem was that initially I felt my anxiety was getting worse and it's easy to blame the medication but don't. They just take time to settle in.

I just had my best afternoon yet yesterday and I'm on week 5 and I'm looking forward to more of the same.

I'd definitely recommend reading the citalopram survival guide (pinned to the top of this forum) end to end (I skipped over the "coming off citalopram" parts as I don't intend on doing that for a while). It really helped me, so much that I actually printed it and keep a copy with me at all times in case I'm feeling weak!

Also, I found it best to take the pills a) always at the same time of the day and b) don't mess with the dose. I didn't follow these rules at about week 3, ended up taking double one day, and trying to move the dose from the evening to the morning and regretted it when I crashed.

Stick with it, I'm always checking these forums if you need some support.

[TRISTAN]

Thanks guys just what I needed to hear , I was on citalipram 7 months ago and after 3 weeks had some really good weeks but had a blip and went straight back to doctor and told her it wasn't working an she changed me to something else , I should have been stronger and kept going but after a few good weeks I didn't think I would go back a step but now I understand more about it and after 13 weeks on venaflaxine with no change it's worth a try

[teej]

Keep at it Tristan!

I was the biggest sceptic when I started on citalopram but the healing is going to be a long process.

Now I am beginning to feel the benefits of the medication my mind is opening to other aspects of my healing such as breathing exercises. I am having a little blip today but the difference in how I've coped compared to two weeks ago has been remarkable.

As my doctor has wisely told me, the medication will not simply make me happy and euphoric all the time but it will give me the basic tools to begin to make real change.

Doctor: "Think of it like Minecraft... do you play that?"
Me: "Ummm... yeah a bit."
Doctor: "Think of citalopram like the wooden pickaxe."

I don't think I really understood that until today. :roflmao:

[TRISTAN]

Thank you every one for your comments and has given me some strength to keep going I will keep you updated , and keep posting posative stuff as it's nice to hear good things x

[TRISTAN]

Not wanting to get my hopes up but had a very slightly better morning today and even managed a laugh at work , feel very tired and not sleeping much , is this normal ? Only been 5 days so still early days and still got venaflaxine in my system but lower dose .

[teej]

Feeling good will creep up on you slowly. I had initial fleeting flashes - a minute or so at a time in my first week - but then I am quite introspective.

I think quite early on I laughed out loud at something and it took me by surprise.

5 days is very early though. I saw my Doctor this morning and he was pleased the progress I'd made in 4 weeks. Keep going and the good changes will happen.

[TRISTAN]

Have ou always suffered with anxiety / depression ? Mine only started this year at age 35 , I am feeling a bit scared as been months and tried a few meds now but I knew it wasn't going to be easy . Not really sleeping well at moment and not really eating much so prob not helping guess I just need a lot of help and support , how do you feel after 4 weeks ?

[teej]

Hi Tristan,

My anxiety really kicked in when I was about 21. I had a bad car accident and things spiralled from there including my alcohol abuse. I'm now 30.

I've spent 10 years avoiding treatment because of a bad experience when I was initially prescribed citalopram over a decade ago. I didn't understand how it was supposed to work. I took the pills like they were benzos and basically ended up in a right mess - in and and out of SSRI withdrawal on a weekly basis my only medication being alcohol. Looking back though I'd had episodes of anxiety from being as young as 4 or 5 years old.

I lost about a stone of weight in my initial weeks on citalopram although right now I've gained about 5lbs back since my appetite is back now.

At 4 (nearly 5) weeks now I feel on top of the world to be honest. I'm more relaxed than I've been in a decade and even the most annoying of things doesn't even vaguely have me worried.

I'm not sleeping well either though. I find it easy to nod off in the evenings but I have some interesting dreams and find I wake very early (3, 4, 5 am) and then sleep fitfully until it's time to get up but it's nothing a coffee cannot cope with.

Stick with it though. The relief from the anxiety is almost euphoric!

[TRISTAN]

I was taking citalipram 20 mg 9 months ago and after 4 weeks felt great for about 3 weeks but had a blip and went back to doctors and told them it wasn't working and she changed me to something else straight away but no joy and no good days like I had on citalipram so changed it to venaflaxine xl but I always said it made me worse but doctor just kept putting it up and said give it time but after 13 weeks had enough so going back to citalipram , guess only time will tell but getting fed up with feeling like this now .

Christmas is coming and I have 3 young boys and don't want to ruin there Christmas .

[Anti-socialbutterfly]

Tristan, his long have you been taking citalopram this time?

Christmas is still away off yet and you should be feeling the benefits of it by then xx

[TRISTAN]

Only six days but still coming off venaflaxine

---------- Post added at 18:39 ---------- Previous post was at 16:00 ----------

Hope it works this time as had to attend an anxiety group and there are people that have been like it for years and I'm scared I will be the same now :( one guy has been like it for 5 years and can't even leave the house by himself , guess I am just being negative about it all now .