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Parsifal
18-12-08, 19:22
Hi everyone,

I've been on Cipralex for 8 days now, and I must say I wasn't exactly prepared for the impact its side effects had on me. I was on Anafranil many years ago, but never did I experience anything like this.

The first night I experienced what I later figured out was a panic attack. Never had one of those before, so that scared me half witless. The symptoms of the attack were an increasing fizzing/tingling sensation in my skin, extreme nausea and dizziness, palpitation, sweating and the sensation of "going mad". The next day I was a wreck, unable to work or do anything but taking long walks in the forrest.

The second night I awoke for the same reason, but this time suffered only the palpitation. The next day was better than the first, but still hard to cope with.

The third night I awoke with the feeling of going a little mad, but managed to sleep soundly afterwards. The next day was even better.

The fourth night I slept through the entire night. The next day was now even better.

The fifth night was good, as was the following day. Not much side effects to notice, and I was getting very optimistic.

Night six was very good as well, as was the following day. "I'll be cured in no time". The side effects seemed to lessen in a linear fashion.

Seventh night was fine, as was the following day, but suddenly my mood dropped near the evening, and I went to bed and lay there feeling sorry for myself until it was time to sleep.

During the eighth night I have a much disturbed sleep, and awake with skin tingling and uneasiness. I feel an urge to get out, and so I walk about in the night for an hour, all along having the same discomfort and low mood, before going back in and back to bed. I manage to sleep some hours. The next day I feel as awful as on the second day.

So, not such a linear and predictable pattern after all. It all seemed to be going in one direction, and suddenly I'm back to square one (or at least square two). Is this normal? Having a bunch of good days/nights, and then suddenly having one or more bad ones? Any experiences to share here?

Blaise
18-12-08, 19:52
HI,

How many mgs are you on? You need to start taking cipralex very slowly 2.5mg for a week then 5mg for a month and so on?? Otherwise you get bad side effects.
The pattern of the effect are normal though - takes about6-8 weeks for them to subside and start seeing more regular improvements

Blaise

bab
18-12-08, 20:13
hi i agree with blaise - it takes about 6-8 weeks fgor the efefcts to go - but they will x

Parsifal
19-12-08, 00:40
Hi,

I started taking 10mg straight away. That's what my doctor prescribed for me, and that's what it says in the Cipralex pamphlet should be the correct dose for treating anxiety. I've read elsewhere on this forum that starting too low will only prolong the period of side effects, as it takes all that much longer for the body to adjust to the 10mg dose I'm supposed to be on.

6-8 weeks??? Yikes :scared15: I was hoping to see improvements after a couple of weeks. As things are right now, I'm not even able to work from my home office. I.e. I've spent the entire day just trying to reach what I've hoped would be a good night's sleep, followed by an easier day. No luck on the sleeping part - I gave up trying to sleep after an hour. From my experience so far, a bad night will result in a following bad day.

Blaise
19-12-08, 15:49
Trust me DO NOT take 10 mg straight away - it is the right dose but the body has to adjust. I am seeing a private specialist and he told me that this is why so many people cant take cipralex as doctors give you10mg to start and you can SIMPLY NOT COPE with 10mg to start with - pls take this advice

Sam x

bab
19-12-08, 18:02
I started with 5mg and that was hard and i decided to stay on 5mg an extra week - 3 altogether - then i went up to 10

I do agree that starting on a teeny dose will prolong side effects but i also agree that 10mg is a big dose to start - i suppose it depends on individuals

Parsifal
19-12-08, 18:18
Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure I should down my dose after having managed to stay on 10mg for 9 days now. What I have done, however, is to take 5mg in the morning and 5mg in the evening. I'm going to see how that turns out before reducing the dose. Had I known about this beforehand, however, I would certainly have started with 5mg.

Parsifal
20-12-08, 12:19
As a side note, I'm also logging my days, or writing something of a diary, taking care to write down when I take my meds, what I experience and when during days and nights. I keep my log next to my bed, and so whenever I wake up from anxiety, I make sure to properly document it. This way, I hope to be able to see whatever pattern might reside in my current side effects. This may help me find better ways to lessen these effects, such as finding which times during the day are more appropriate for taking the meds. Yes, I'm quite an analytical and science oriented person :) Anyway, even though I've never kept a diary in my life, I find a sort of relief in documenting these hard times, viewing them more as an experiement rather than as a life in hell (whenever I have those kind of days).

I'll be sure to post any "trick" that will lessen the side effects, should I come up with any :)

bab
20-12-08, 17:17
hi parsifal

i also wrote a diary in the beginiing - i also found it a relief to write everything down and also when ur feeling better its good to look at how far you have come - also write in good days as if your having a rubbish day its good to know that you can also feel ok - also i agree now that u started on 10mg i wouldnt reduce them - although you may have stronger side effects just now - they will hopefully kick in sooner

lots of love x