Advice

[citalopram1]

Advise please. I am on the maximum amount of citalopram at 40mcg but in the last couple of weeks my mood did lower slightly and i am having trouble sleeping too with not much appetite. Then it turned from a slight low mood to anxiety especially in the mornings. I believe the anxiety that i was experiencing has dipped my mood as i just want to feel fine again. The anxiety was feeling hot and sweaty with clammy palms and fast heartbeat. Any suggestions where to go from here and tips to control the anxiety. Thank you.

[RobTheRobot]

I have dealt with morning anxiety since starting 10mg months ago. I'm now on 40mg and I still feel "off" in the mornings. My advice is to get up as quickly as possible... don't lay around your bed as you will do nothing but lose yourself in thoughts. Get up and take care of things around the house, try to have a bite to eat, take a walk outside. Routine helps!

[Bike Rider]

Lying in bed doesn't help, I know. If the Cit isn't working see your GP for a change of meds, but you must give them time.

Cit took about 8 weeks to calm me, but it didn't lift my mood so am trying Fluox instead.

[lior]

I went from 30mg to 40mg. After a couple of weeks I got similar side effects to you. Also, my hands felt weird - numb. It was horrible. I was really anxious.

For me, that feeling meant I was on too high a dose. I went back to 30mg. There is nothing to do to make the side effects disappear faster - you just have to ride it out.

Do you think you might be on too high a dose?

[citalopram1]

Thank u for all your replies. Another question i would like to ask anyone who may have been on citalopram for about 3-4 years is can citalopram stop working after this time and can you switch to another anti depressant without side effects as you get one starting one for the from scratch, also do you have to tamper off if so how long for?

[lior]

I haven't, but from what I've read, it's not simple to switch.

Apparently, the longer you've been on it for, the slower you need to taper off.

I've heard it is possible for anti-depressants to stop working - but only over really long periods of time. I doubt 3-4 years is long enough.

Your GP will have the most accurate answers to these questions.

[Mojo61]

Could your mood swings perhaps be hormonal? I don't know how old you are but since I've been menopausal my moods have been all over the place, I don't think any amount of citalopram will sort that one out. I had to go on HRT and that has helped quite a bit.

If your not that sort of age then perhaps PMT (which can get worse the older one gets)