Please reassure me....

[EdnaLegume]

Today is day 12 of Citalopram for anxiety/depression. Day 2 was by far the worst, I wanted to die. (Not kill myself). Day 4 I got out of the house and felt pretty ok! Then back to blech. Day 8 Back out of the house feeling good! Made it through Christmas with minor afternoon anxiety. Realized my evenings have been getting better. Then Thursday night (day 10) things just went downhill. Slept for about 2 hours and spent the entire night with classic anxiety symptoms. Taking Klonopin to help (just prescribed on Thursday). I did manage to sleep a bit more last night but still feeling heightened anxiety all day today. That is my main (and most troubling) side effect, as well as nausea, diarrhea, jaw tension, fatigue (probably from not sleeping at night) and well.. not sleeping at night. My dr only prescribed enough klonopin for me to take .5 at night. I can halve it to take some in the AM but I'd rather save it for bedtime for now.

I've really been trying to only read the positive stories here. Take note of those that say it gets worse before it gets better. I have health anxiety so unfortunately my head then tells me, "well it's only working for THEM, you're different".

I'd love to hear from others that have been on citalopram for longer than 6 months and share their success with this med. Especially if you had bad side effects initially. I read somewhere that the worse the start up side effects were, the better success the person had with the med.

I've taken zoloft in the past and never had start up side effects quite like this. I also hopped on and off it over the past few years and really never stayed on it long enough for it to work properly. Never realized it took several weeks to a few months for it to work. :shrug:

[Sparkle1984]

I'm on cit for the second time, and I've been on it for just over 7 months now. When I re-started back in May/June I had awful side-effects, much worse than the first time round. It was as if my anxiety and depression was amplified for the first few weeks. At one point I was even considering going back to the doctor's and asking to be switched to something else, but now I'm glad I persevered.

After about 4 weeks I began to notice a gradual improvement. Since around July/August time I've felt like my usual self. :) I hope this reassures you - there is still plenty of hope that you will improve.

[EdnaLegume]

thank you so much for replying! That does help immensely!

If I put my mind to it, I DO feel better today than I did the early days so I know it's going to get better. But lack of sleep and increased anxiety really make things worse.

It's quite reassuring hearing from those that have been there and gone through the 'trenches' so to speak and come out on the other side better for it.

[cmc46]

Oh Sparkle you don't know how good it is to hear you say that, we both started on citalopram first time round near enough the same time, I have been weaning off this last year till September when I went down to 5mg, I stayed on that dose for 2 months but felt things were not quite right, so asked the GP if I could go back on 10 which I did for 3 weeks but felt even worse, I am now on my second week on 20mg and things are not improving but after what you have said I will stick with it for a few more weeks and hopefully it will start to work, like you I was beginning to think of saying it wasn't working
and also like you the side effects this time round have been terrible.

I'm so glad that you are feeling so much better now and it gives us hope as well.

[teej]

Hi

I've been taking citalopram now for 2 months.

I've had some real ups and downs so far. First two weeks were fairly grim - had all the side-effects you described. By this point the worst of the side effects were over.

Week 4 I then crashed again - really was worrying I was "treatment" proof and pondering ditching the citalopram - a lot of the intrusive thoughts came back.

Then at week 6 I crashed again - again was pondering swapping onto a different AD because this one didn't work. I spoke to the docs and they just upped me to 30mg - I've still not taken it though.

Right now though I'm feeling okay! I still have the odd wibbly moment - I'm having to work hard on making myself going back to sleep using relaxation techniques and I'm also having some counselling and starting an online CBT programme to work alongside that.

I've invested two months into getting this drug to work now - I do believe it does work - it just takes a hell of a long time.

My only other advice I could give is don't miss a dose! It really screws me up for a week when I do. Maybe I'm just more sensitive than most?

Stick with it!

[EdnaLegume]

Thanks Teej for your input! It really helps. This is a b***h to get through but this board is a big help!

[Fearfree]

I am not familiar with your medication, but I do know that it takes a few weeks for these drugs to work.
I have learned that if I focus on something other then the anxiety it seems to let up. The brain can only focus on one thing at a time. At night, you might want to listen to a book on tape, or a podcast or meditation. Anything to get your thinking away from the anxiety.
Fear always breeds fear for me. I can work myself into quite a state.
I force myself to think of other things and it really does work.
Hope this helps.

[pooh]

Hi there,
I've been on citalopram for just over 2 years. When I first started I think I had the extreme of every side effect listed and I could probably add to it too. I was also on quite a dosage of diazepam to get me through what was a very very difficult adjustment phase. It did pass. I've been on various anti-d's over the years and my own personal experience has taught me to always give it a maximum of 6 months. 3 months you should be feeling real improvements and by 6 if it's working you will definitely notice the positive effects.

Pooh

[EdnaLegume]

Thank you both for replying. I've been having better days, today not so much but it's still only day 16. Makes a world of difference to read it does get better, thanks Pooh!

[Follow The Sun]

Hi Edna and everyone else

I'm on Citalopram for the second time, too, and finding it an uphill battle! The first time was fine and it seemed to get to work really quickly. Now I'm on Day 22, I think (I'll have to check my "journal"!), switching from 10mg to 20mg about eight days ago. I'm up and down all the time, although mainly down at the moment, but I'm going to stick with it and it's reassuring to hear that other people have found it has taken much longer than a couple of weeks to feel more stable. The information leaflet that comes with the drugs says you might feel worse for a "couple of weeks" but that's not been the case this time.

It's my good experience with Citalopram the first time round that is making me stick to it this time. It really, really sorted me out.