Citalopram advice again please!

[jillyb]

After 2 weeks on 10, then 4 days on 15 I upped to 20 on Tuesday. Awful anxiety now and the pharmacist said go back to 15 for a while. Now I have a dilemma. Do I go back down or see this through as, at some point, I will need to increase to 20. I do have some diazepam. Any advise would be really appreciated. Thanks x

Ok, I decided to stick to the 20 today and will try and speak to my GP tomorrow if I still feel awful. This very increased anxiety has come as a bit of a shock as I was feeling quite positive before. X

[SarahH]

Maybe you went up to 20 a bit too quickly.... BUT if you have diazepam to help you through these SE's try to get through it.

Sarah

[Marty_67]

Hi Jilly, hopefully this is the SEs of early days of Cit. I did not get the anxiety until about week 6/7. I still have triggers but I am generally much better.

My worst SE was nausea which was awful and it went around week 10 (hopefully).

Hope you feel better soon

Marty

[jillyb]

Thanks for your replies. Not felt quite as anxious as yesterday but still clenching my teeth, nausea and headache. Took 2mg of diazepam earlier and will try and plod on. I don't want to reduce the dose until I've given it a good go. 15mg won't be enough I'm sure. I felt fine on 10mg but I was taking diazepam regularly too. Maybe I'll do that again for a few days with this dose. I hope this cit works as I don't fancy changing and going through this again! My main problem is GAD and HA, which has got me down a lot this past year.

[Marty_67]

Hey Jilly, you are getting towards three weeks in and that's progress.

Accepting you have an issue and you want to deal with it is also progress :). Those first few weeks were really hard for me and I used to lay in bed just thinking. Thinking made it worse so I got more anxious and it just seemed to be awful for a while. Being awake at 3am was a daily routine.

The SEs just seemed to taper away for me gradually. Taking my Cit is now a happier routine for me and not something I dread anymore (the fuzziness and nausea was awful). But in truth, I was happier to put up with the discomfort to feel better again. Glad I stayed with it :) - I still have certain triggers but I am tring to CBT those away!!!

Take care mate

Marty

[Panic321]

Hiya jilly,
Hope your anxiety has decreased. I have been on cit since 16th jan. I increased it slowly at the beginning but after staying on 15mg for about a week, I went up to 17.5mg. It's been 5 days since I went up and Like you, I have the most intense anxiety. I was feeling positive when I went up to 15mg but now I have been feeling back at square one. I feel scared leaving the house on my own. I have been getting pains at the back of my left shoulder blade and also in my left elbow, feel frightened. I hope this anxiety goes for all of us. I also need to get up to 20mg. I don't no if I should stay on 17.5 or jump to 20 and see all the SE's together.Kee posting, let us no how you get on.
Hope everyone else is ok.

[jillyb]

The anxiety is still very high, coupled with negative thinking and my stomach troubles are back with a vengeance making me even more anxious. I'm still on 20mg but am taking some diazepam to try and keep the anxiety under control, but they're not really helping. I spoke to the pharmacist again yesterday and she said to try and keep going on the 20mg for at least another 2 weeks. I was crying quite a lot yesterday as I had been feeling much less anxious and am hating this increased anxiety. Feeling rather despondent at the moment and really worrying about my stomach issues, which the GP is sure is anxiety related but, surprise, surprise, I'm not! Just want to feel better again. Gone from feeling really positive that they were going to work to thinking they're not. Took a diazepam again the moment I woke up. Guess we just have to keep going and hope Panic 321. X

[SarahH]

Hi Jilly B,

Hope you are feeling a bit better today, keep going. I am going through the same struggles with stomach/gastric pains at the moment so I know a little about what you are feeling. Thankfully though my anxiety has lessened significantly so hang in there:)

[DELIBY99]

I would recommend you keep going Jilly. Use the benzo's if thing get very bad. I think it took about 2 months for me to notice a significant difference. The anxiety does fade gradually . The start up phase is very difficult but it's worth toughing it out. PM any time you need advice.

[afgzee]

I think you went up a little too fast, but now that you're on 20 stick with it, and as said use a benzo (diazepam, etizolam, pyrazolam, Flubromazepam) to name a few if things get bad.

It will get better but its a long rollercoaster and you just got to keep riding on...