View Full Version : Ok, so side effects and when do they stop?
Apologies, I know this has been done to death, but need a little encouragement here. Started on Citalopram 10mg 17 days ago, was upped to 20mg 5 days ago.
Was fine on the 10mg, now with the 20mg I am feeling quite sick, edgey wobbly in the mornings and right up til the afternoon, when it seems to pass off. Now mornings were bad for me before anyway, but the Cit is making them a tad more unpleasant.
Also I have ibs and I have noticed since the upped dose I am getting more tummy upsets as well. I am presuming all this is normal, but I also want to know that this really does pass. Nausea is my main anx symptom anyway, but has been alot worse since taking the 20mg, and I really want to get rid of it. I am getting through this (and will stick it out), but feel incredibley drained and tired. I'm taking these so that I can feel well enough to look for work again.
Just need a little hope and motivation folks.
Sarah
Hi. Having the dosage increase after only 12 days was fairly quick although 10 and 20mg is not too big a dose of citalopram. Most information suggests that it takes about a month for the medication to provide a good effect, possibly longer. Some maths I did recently suggests that a dosage change on these types of (daily dose) meds takes about 6 days to stabilise in our blood/brains. Then ofcourse the body has to adapt, then our brains, then our mind, then us! Ofcourse it maybe that your GP has recognised you need a higher dose and it trying to get you on it as fast as possible.
I had Escitalopram, which is a similar med. I recommend taking that after breakfast so there is food and energy to stabilise your system. I also recommend having a snack at bed time so that when you wake up your blood sugar is not too low, which can be an anxiety trigger. This advice may be helpful with citalopram too.
Unusually my GP had me take my Escitalopram dose as 10mg morning and 10mg bedtime. This is not supported by any documentation (!) BUT it may have helped me as the lowest level of the medication in the body would be higher this way. Also the body doesn't get hit with such a high peak dose. It may be worth discussing this option with your GP.
Pychopoet has a major thread of advice for Citalopram.
Hi, some people only have side effects for days, some for months. It is very common to experience renewed side effects if you change your dose (up or down). The side effects you have described are all very common and they do get better, even if it doesn't seem like it at first.
Most of my side effects started to fade after 2-3 weeks. The majority of them disappeared after around 6 weeks. I now only get vague nausea and a mild "hungover" feeling some mornings. I still have a few "up and down" blips and am in the middle of one now. Which sucks.
bluejeans17
10-05-09, 19:32
I am starting my 6th week and things are really starting to feel a lot better. I found the mornings awful too - anxious and very hard to get going. The last couple of mornings have improved. I felt really exhausted for the first couple of weeks but I have much more energy now even though I am still not sleeping very well. Most of the early symptoms have decreased but it has taken 5 weeks (first 10 days on 10 mg and 20 mg for the past 3 weeks) I have been getting headaches and neck ache for the past week but I am hoping these will pass too.
Stick with it - you will soon start having more good days than bad.
Hello, I have IBS also and I found Citalopram to make it alot worse at first. I would take it in the morning with your breakfast, i found this immediatly helped with the sickness. I found the sickness passed after about 2 weeks but I started with 20mg.
Alot of people talk about feeling anxious in the morning after taking the tablets. I find with me I get more of a slightly nervous excess energy feeling, so every day when I get this I go for a run or a long walk which really sorts me out. Hope this helps
bluegirl09
10-05-09, 21:23
hiya it took me a good six weeks for the side-effects too pass i was nauseas daily every morning my gp told me too take them at night which i do and sleep off the effects:) its like a wonder pill now for me im soo calm and relaxed on them i have some side-effects like weird dreams and im eating a lot but i wouldnt be without them im much happier and calmer :shades:
Thanks guys, that is so reassuring, I am ticking with these as I am determined to get well. You have made me feel much better.
So frustrated today, feel dreadful, really sick and edgey, these symptoms seem to be getting worse. I get nausea as my main anx symptom, but don't usually feel like this, so I am presuming it is the meds.
I almost had a panic in the supermarket as I felt so ill, not done that for a long while. As well as the nausea I had derealisation and although I just about coped and didn't run away, I am really annoyed. I am anxious that the Citalopram is not going to work for me, I know it is early days, but do the side effects get worse before they get better?
Thanks.
Sarah
Rocklover, you are discovering the universal truth of medication: side effects suck ;)
Believe me, you will get over them eventually!
Hi again Sarah :)
How long have you been taking the citalopram for and at what amount?
I think how you are feeling will probably be caused by you starting taking the citalopram.
I am on them too and it has been an up and down experience on them for me...however I know you have to carry on with taking them to get to the light at the end of the tunnel, so to speak. There better be one after all this!!! lol
Do you receive any counselling?
I have had good and bad days on citalopram. I upped my dose to 20mg and I feel terrible - I cant stop crying and feel really exhausted -I feel 'strange' (derealisation) and I am more anxious than usual - I just cannot cope anymore with it all I feel, however there is a little voice within me that says its just the side effects of the medication, keep taking them and eventually it will work for you.
I can tell a big difference in how I was when I wasn't taking them to now - before I would feel terrible nearly every day but now I am getting runs of good days, sometimes longer than others, and then down days and then especially down days like today, but then tomorrow I may feel great again.
Wouldn't it be great if they could work immediately instead of all the ups and downs? I am going to persevere though and if in a few months time they have not worked than I will try something else - at least I will be able to say I gave them a long enough try. A lot of people find citalopram doesn't work for them and a lot do but that's the same with any medication of any kind.
What is it with supermarkets and anxiety! I always feel terrible in them too! I prefer late night shopping and find its much more relaxing
Thanks again for the replies everyone.
Hi Poppy, I was on 10mg for 12 days, then I decided to ask my dr if he would up it to 20mg after I had to give up my temp job last week, so I have been on 20mg for 6 days now. In total I will have been taking the Cit for 3 weeks on Thursday.
I am really trying to be positive and I won't give up, but thank Christ for this site, or I'd be done for. I am feeling a little more human now, but still not great. Glad the Cit has started working for you, hope it continues.
Sarah
Urgh, feeling dire again this morning, have adrenalin rush as well as awful nausea, feels like it's never going to get better. I have some sort of throat virus and my period, could this be making the side effects worse?
The mornings are nearly always the worst part Rocklover. It took weeks for my morning anxiety to reduce. I woke up sweating, shaking and sick with anxiety.
I was pretty much free of it for a week but now it's come back although not as bad as before. I have been going through a "blip" since starting counselling which explains the return of my anxiety.
God it's hard isn't it Psycho? My upped dosage of the Cit also seems to have bought back all the insecurities of my relationship breakup (5 weeks ago) again, it's doing my head in as I can't stop obsessing. I was doing alright before.
I truly hope these meds are going to work for me, I am desperate to get my life back.
Sarah
Rocklover, I have kept a diary of my experiences with citalopram, there's a link to it in my signature. I am finding that my focus has changed from worrying about citalopram to worrying about my actual problems such as depression.
This means that after 6-7 weeks my body has adapted to the citalopram and it isn't causing me any difficulties. It just isn't stopping all of my depressive and anxious moments. I doubt any dose would to be honest. My troubles are all in my head. You can't take a pill to stop you from being yourself.
I am looking forward to rooting my problems out through counselling and support from MIND. Hopefully the citalopram will help to stop my negative feelings from getting out of control during this process.
EDIT: I do think that citalopram has helped to give me my life back, I've just got more work to do before I'm back to normal :D
Thanks Psycho. I am noticing that in the afternoons and evenings i am feeling more upbeat, so I am wondering if that is the Cit. I had 6 sessions of CBT a few months back, which did help, but going back to work sent me backwards again.
I need to build my self esteem back up and I know only I can do that, but I will get there one day.
Hi Rocklover :)
I find that since I upped my dosage that I am thinking all sorts of things, like my brain is unravelling everything that has upset me over recent months. It is strange. I woke this morning dwelling on past issues that I have not thought about in ages. I honestly feel like I am going insane :wacko:
I feel better as the day goes on - mornings are the worst at the moment.
Hi Poppy, you sound just like me! I can't stop the thoughts, stupid ones about my ex that I know will hurt me to think about, but it's like my brain forces them into my mind just to torture me. Arrrgh.
On a lighter note, although I don't feel tip top, the nausea seems to be a little less today. Hurrah!
Onwards and upwards!
bluejeans17
13-05-09, 12:05
Hi Rock
It all sounds so familiar - it is early days yet. I am on week 6 now and really starting to notice a difference. The morning anxiety has been gone for the last 5 mornings! I have had neck ache and headache continuously for the past week but when I think back to how bad I felt a few weeks ago there has been a huge improvement. Stick with it - take each day at a time.
I can't stop the thoughts, stupid ones about my ex that I know will hurt me to think about, but it's like my brain forces them into my mind just to torture me. Arrrgh.
Yeah that's exactly what I am going through. It doesn't sound much when we write about it but when we actually experience it, it's horrible. I am used to having some physical, tangible problem that I can rail against. Knowing that it is more or less "all in the mind" is difficult to deal with. Look at it this way, once we find genuinely effective coping strategies, depression and anxiety and all the rest of it will not seem quite so frightening.
Hi,
Just thought I would say that I am having the same morning anxiety. Have only been on escitalopram for a week so have a little way to go. I find it really frustrating as I have always been a very confident person and I find stupid things like walking up to the station will make me feel really awful and anxious.
I have had a counselling session today and working on a program called 'changing limiting beliefs'. It is basically teaching me how to reprogram my mind so that I get control over what my reactions are to things.
I have to remind myself that I have been on anti-depressants twice before and both times I managed to get my life back to normal so there is no reason why it shouldn't happen this time. However, this time I am going to stick with counselling until the issues that trigger this depression/anxiety are resolved as I don't want to be back here again.
We can get there, need to be positive and tell that stupid voice in our heads to go away.
Hi Rocklover :)
I am glad you dont feel so nauseous today - there is nothing worse I find than being nauseous due to anxiety.
My thoughts have not been quite so bad today - past 2 days have been terrible. I was thinking about and questioning everything.
Hopefully yours thoughts will go soon too.
Hi all and thanks for taking the time to reply. I had a relatively good day yesterday, today started off a bit worse, but the nausea is fading. Doesn't help that I can't get rid of this throat virus I have, but I think the side effects are definitely lessening.
Sarah
I was thinking about and questioning everything.
That is the worst symptom of depression. It gets me nearly every time. I'm learning to change my thought patterns and start thinking forwards instead of superimposing past worries onto my unwritten future.
Rocklover, sore throats can also cause nausea.
Yeah, it's a hard one. Thought I was going mad this morning, just couldn't turn my brain off. I'm so tired and frustrated, I really hope this drug settles down soon, I need peace.
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