Masa
06-11-09, 14:03
Hi all! I am new here, but just wanted to write and thank everyone for their posts – reading posts on this forum has helped me a lot and I have managed to stick with Citalopram for 8 weeks now! And I am glad I have!
My story so far: I had my first panic attack about 8 years ago. At the time I did not know what was happening to me and it was really frightening. My GP at the time prescribed Seroxat which helped me a lot and made me feel normal again. I came off Seroxat about 8 months later and felt fine for a few months, but my anxiety and panic attacks slowly returned. I didn’t want to go back on the pills and promised myself that I can fight this without medication. Now I realise that I was being completely unrealistic and I wish I started this process a long time ago.
My anxiety and panic attacks got so bad a couple of months ago and I knew that something else would give if I didn’t go to doctors and asked for help. So I did. My GP put me on the waiting list for CBT and prescribed Citalopram 20mg. I can’t lie and say I had a good first week or two. Majority of people who have started taking Citalopram will know what I mean. Within the hour of taking my first pill I was throwing up, lost my appetite, had a clenched jaw and just felt unwell in general. My anxiety got worse to the point where my husband could not leave me on my own and the day I finally let him go to work at 8am, had to rush back home at 10am. It was really bad. I wanted to stop taking these ‘evil’ pills as I was convinced that they were not for me, but my husband read a lot of research on the net and made sure I carried on. And I am glad I did!!
8 weeks on, I can feel I’m getting better. I couldn’t wait to reach the 2 week landmark (pills state that it will take at least 2 weeks to work) and got a little disappointed when I didn’t feel instantly better after 2 weeks.. Then I waited on 4 weeks landmark – again still I wasn’t sure that these are working for me. I searched the net to see if there are other people like me suffering side effects not mentioned in any leaflets so late on and taking time to get used to these pills. I almost went back to my GP after 6 weeks to say these pills are not for me. Again, I’m glad I didn’t.
Today, I feel like I’m getting somewhere. I still have a few side effects, I have started writing a diary of how I feel each day and that seems to help, I realised it has been 2 weeks yesterday since I had an ‘episode’. And it’s not anxiety any more, I think I just get overwhelmed and my body get flushed with this ‘cold’ feeling, but it goes away. I think it’s the anxiety attack but it just feels different because these pills are doing their job. I still wake up at night almost every night 3-4 times, but I don’t feel too tired. I know it’s one of the side effects taking a bit longer to disappear. I still hyperventilate (taking deep breaths) on the odd day, my jaw still feel tight, but I know I’m getting better.
I just look at myself as being one of those people that take longer to get used to these pills and take each day as it comes knowing that in another 8 weeks I will be feeling better than I feel now. Hopefully my CBT will come through soon and I will be on my road to recovery.
I will post the updates again, but just wanted to let you all know (especially people that are in early stages of getting used to Citalopram) there is hope. Please don’t give up!:)
Masa
My story so far: I had my first panic attack about 8 years ago. At the time I did not know what was happening to me and it was really frightening. My GP at the time prescribed Seroxat which helped me a lot and made me feel normal again. I came off Seroxat about 8 months later and felt fine for a few months, but my anxiety and panic attacks slowly returned. I didn’t want to go back on the pills and promised myself that I can fight this without medication. Now I realise that I was being completely unrealistic and I wish I started this process a long time ago.
My anxiety and panic attacks got so bad a couple of months ago and I knew that something else would give if I didn’t go to doctors and asked for help. So I did. My GP put me on the waiting list for CBT and prescribed Citalopram 20mg. I can’t lie and say I had a good first week or two. Majority of people who have started taking Citalopram will know what I mean. Within the hour of taking my first pill I was throwing up, lost my appetite, had a clenched jaw and just felt unwell in general. My anxiety got worse to the point where my husband could not leave me on my own and the day I finally let him go to work at 8am, had to rush back home at 10am. It was really bad. I wanted to stop taking these ‘evil’ pills as I was convinced that they were not for me, but my husband read a lot of research on the net and made sure I carried on. And I am glad I did!!
8 weeks on, I can feel I’m getting better. I couldn’t wait to reach the 2 week landmark (pills state that it will take at least 2 weeks to work) and got a little disappointed when I didn’t feel instantly better after 2 weeks.. Then I waited on 4 weeks landmark – again still I wasn’t sure that these are working for me. I searched the net to see if there are other people like me suffering side effects not mentioned in any leaflets so late on and taking time to get used to these pills. I almost went back to my GP after 6 weeks to say these pills are not for me. Again, I’m glad I didn’t.
Today, I feel like I’m getting somewhere. I still have a few side effects, I have started writing a diary of how I feel each day and that seems to help, I realised it has been 2 weeks yesterday since I had an ‘episode’. And it’s not anxiety any more, I think I just get overwhelmed and my body get flushed with this ‘cold’ feeling, but it goes away. I think it’s the anxiety attack but it just feels different because these pills are doing their job. I still wake up at night almost every night 3-4 times, but I don’t feel too tired. I know it’s one of the side effects taking a bit longer to disappear. I still hyperventilate (taking deep breaths) on the odd day, my jaw still feel tight, but I know I’m getting better.
I just look at myself as being one of those people that take longer to get used to these pills and take each day as it comes knowing that in another 8 weeks I will be feeling better than I feel now. Hopefully my CBT will come through soon and I will be on my road to recovery.
I will post the updates again, but just wanted to let you all know (especially people that are in early stages of getting used to Citalopram) there is hope. Please don’t give up!:)
Masa