My very first physical panic attack...

[Benjammin69]

So I started citalopram 10mg 11 days ago and the side effects were just calming down but today I have had intrusive thoughts and then 2 panic attacks in 'Salem places - 1 at home and 1 at therapy! I've only ever had mental panic not physical my chest went right, sweaty, dizzy :-( even diazepam and propranolol didn't help!

[WiredIncorrectly]

Welcome to the club :( Sorry to hear you're suffering.

I'm on day 13 with 10mg. I've been feeling more tense the past 3 days. My head feels hazy all the time, like I'm dizzy, but I'm not. Really hard to explain. I also have nausea a lot, and no desire to eat food. I was doing fine until I forgot to take a tablet 3 days ago. Then all hell broke lose.

I thought it was meant to get better. I was hoping to start leaving the house and feel normal but right now I can't make it out the front door :(

I even skipped my doctors appointment today and rebooked for tomorrow because I wasn't feeling up to it.

The physical panic attacks are horrible. I have no advice to give you because after 12 years dealing with this I think I've exhausted all the coping mechanisms there is.

Fingers crossed things start looking up for you soon.

[panic_down_under]

So I started citalopram 10mg 11 days ago and the side effects were just calming down but today I have had intrusive thoughts and then 2 panic attacks

Unfortunately, antidepressants often make anxiety worse in the first few weeks because of the increased serotonin activity. Despite the often made claim, serotonin is not a 'feel good' neurotransmitter. But the brain will usually soon respond by reducing serotonin synthesis and expression and anxiety levels drop back to around baseline (this is independent of the therapeutic response which typically takes 3-12 weeks from when an effective dose is first take - at least 20mg/day for citalopram).


even diazepam and propranolol didn't help!

Are you taking these daily, or just as needed when anxiety spikes? If the latter then they won't stop a panic attack because anything taken by mouth typically takes 15-30 minutes to begin entering the bloodstream and several hours to reach peak levels whereas most panic attacks are over within 5 minutes. They will help with the heightened anxiety that lingers after an attack, however.