Back on the Citalopram :o(

[devon_guy]

Well I resisted for as long as I could, I was on them last year for 4 months and took myself off them as I was gaining so much weight and hated it. I think I didn't stay on them long enough last time hence why I'm where I am today.

The Doc was very nice and we compromised and I have gone on 10mg to start with to see if that works. I feel angry with myself for not being able to control this without meds but the panic and anxiety was just getting worse and I couldn't ease it.

Apart from the horrible nausea at the moment I feel ok and hope I can get some relief from the symptoms. I managed to go out today shopping and house hunting with no panic which was good.

I just had to rant about it all, I will probably be doing more as the weeks progress!



What's for you won't go by you

[honeybee3939]

HI Devon guy,

Dont be too disheartened that you have had to go back on meds, like you say i dont think last time you gave them chance to work, Im on the Citalopram also it takes around 6 weeks before you start to feel the benefits, once you are felling better you can come off them, i used to hate taking meds, but now i think if a tablet a day can give me a better quality of life then i think that can only be good!:D

Love

Andrea
xxx

[trac67]

Hi,

I did exactly the same as you, took myself off citalopram managed to last for 6 months then the anxiety got the better of me and I had to go back on them, I am back on the 10mg and now think to myself if i have to take these for the rest of my life or fight the anxiety all the time, then sod it I am taking the meds.

Take care

Trac xx

'Live your life with arms wide open, today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten'

[devon_guy]

Have you guys put on any weight with the tablets?



What's for you won't go by you

[honeybee3939]

Hi

I have put on weight over the last few years, but i also put weight on when not on meds, i dont blame the meds for my weight gain, i blame the anxiety as when i am feeling down i tend to eat the wrong things!

Love

Andrea

xxxx

[Coni]

Hi devon guy,

dont feel angry with yourself....I think many of us have come of medication too early only to find we need to go back on it. I did the same myself.

Try to be patient with yourself and take them for as long as you need them (providing theyre helping of course). And remember everyones different so whats right for one may not be right for another.

Try to see this as a positive step on your road to recovery rather than a step back (easier said than done i know lol!)

Best of luck

Coni X

[devon_guy]

Thank you so much all of your for your kind words, people are so nice on here, it truly is a wonderful site.



What's for you won't go by you

[Nel]

I stayed on citalopram for 6 months and felt no benefit. I then tried effexor and had a dreadful reaction to it, I have been having CBT (privately) and it has helped to some extent but I have finally agreed that I need to be on meds as well as therapy (I had a real fear of meds after the effexor) - for the time being anyway.
My doctor presribed me prozac however, this time, I made sure (by both myself and my family badgering my doctor for a speedy referral) that I saw a psychiatrist and had a full evaluation of my symptoms, feelings and a proper diagnosis. He contacted my doctor that very day, told her to stop the prozac immediately and to prescribe me sertraline and he told her the dosage - which is already making a differene after only 3 weeks. I started on 50, am now at 75 and next week will go up to 100. If I want, after that, I can go up to 150. I see the psychiatrist again in 8 weeks once 'fully medicated'.
I had decided that, if I had for example a heart problem, I would want to see a heart specialist - not just a GP. So this time, I had decided I was seeing a mental health specialist come hell or high water. The biggest stumbling block I was having with my CBT was obsessive thoughts and the anxiety it was inducing, I actually can't quite believe the difference to the obsessive thoughts in only 3 weeks.

[chubsy2]

In response to your question 'have any of you put on wieght' I have to say that I have and I thought it was to do with my medication. I am on citalopram 10mg once a day. Before I was put on it I didnt have a good appetite but since taking it I have regained my eating and haev put on wieght!!:D

[trac67]

Hi,

I put on weight with mine too and no matter how bloody hard I try all the time I am on them it won't go.............oh well better to be fat and happy than skinny and anxious lol

Love

Trac xx

'Live your life with arms wide open, today is where your book begins, the rest is still unwritten'

[Chopper]

I've had a multitude of negative side effects - like most of us - but one positive one is the weight loss in my case.:D

I've lost nearly 3 stone recently and feel much better for it. I'm attributing it to the Citlopram (40mg a day) as one of the negatives is the constant nausea, another the lack of appetite.

I find anything other than vegetables makes me feel really bloated and, well, sick. I used to be a real carnivore but now couldn't face a 'blue' steak even if Heston Blumenthal cooked it for me, free!

I'm not unhappy with the weight loss (I had the weight to loose!) as I'm lighter now than I've been since my late 20's (41 now).[^]

Happiness and light to you all,
'Chopper'


I saw her once, one little while, and then no more:
’Twas Eden’s light on Earth a while, and then no more.
Amid the throng she passed along the meadow-floor:
Spring seemed to smile on Earth awhile, and then no more;
But whence she came, which way she went, what garb she wore
I noted not; I gazed a while, and then no more!

James Clarence Mangan 1803 - 1849

[mandie]

Hi Devon guy

I had to go back on citalopram again this year after being on them for 5 months last year.

Just recently i have been reducing them again, in the hope of coming off them, but past few days the anxiety and panic is coming back.

I feel like a failure that i cant stay off them. I think maybe i have come off them too quick again.

Why do i feel like there is a rush to come off them? I was doing so well on them

I dont think i can manage to stay off them, and will start back on 10mg again

love mandie x

[Chopper]

Morning Mandie,

I've recently gone up to 40mg a day as my aggitation/anxiety/depression was increasing, daily for about the last three weeks. I'm not even thinking about reducing the dosage until at least the spring and then doing so VERY gradually.

I'm just about managing the side-effects but am getting more and more tired - possibly as a result of eating very little (lack of appetite is one of my side-effects, constant nausea another) and the nervous energy I'm burning - even though I'm using a lightbox to simulate natural light.

If they work for you then keep taking them until you're really, really sure it's time to reduce the dosage. 10mg is, I think the lowest dosage normally prescribed (I'm sure some of the members in the health care industry can offer confirmation or otherwise) so don't worry about dependancy or reduction.

Happiness and light to you all,
'Chopper'

I saw her once, one little while, and then no more:
’Twas Eden’s light on Earth a while, and then no more.
Amid the throng she passed along the meadow-floor:
Spring seemed to smile on Earth awhile, and then no more;
But whence she came, which way she went, what garb she wore
I noted not; I gazed a while, and then no more!

James Clarence Mangan 1803 - 1849