Another set back:-(

[martina27]

I have been on citalopram 20megs for 2 months now its has been up and down really, i have also been taking 2 megs diazpam most days. Yet again my panic an anxiety has come back i cant describe how i feel im hoping this passes i feel hot and have no appetite at all. I have a 3yr old daughter and im finding it so hard im wondering whether to ask for an increase in diazpam till my cbt i know she hates giving them out but i cant see another way to get me through this as i cant go on like this. I feel i cant ring my doc as i think she is getting fed up of me. Im so lost and scared:weep:

[KK77]

Perhaps you should ask your doctor to increase the citalopram rather than the diazepam. If you've been on the citalopram for 2 months it should be helping by now. The problem with increasing the diazepam is that it will be harder to come off it later and having a small child you don't want all that stress.

Some people need higher doses of meds and perhaps increasing the citalopam to 30-40mg will help you, and you can slowly discontinue the benzo. Make an appointment with your GP - I'm sure they'll help you.

[sharona]

Hi

Totally agree with increase of citralporam, when I took them I needed to increase my dose as the dose I was on made things worse in the first few weeks.

Hope this helps

Sharona

[Lion King]

Hi there,
Citalopram took a while to settle down for me too, I took 20mg for 8 weeks and then stepped upto 30mg as I was still suffering with more bad days than good, on 30mg I felt a little better but not significantly so after 2 weeks I stepped upto 40mg and with a week or two I felt really good, my confidence shot up and with the help of cbt I was ready to return back to work after 3 1/2 months of work with stress & anxiety. I am 9 months on and I am still on 40mg, I get a bit of the old aniety but with the cbt techniques you learn how control these feelings.

When I felt at my worst with the meds I took diazepam and felt very little effect, I took Kalms on the odd occasion when it was at its worst, it worked but made me really tired, I used rescue remedy as well. I now take multivitamins + cod liver oil, vitamin B and citalopram at the moment, when I'm tired or feeling run down my anxiety creeps up so I boost my immune system to keep at my best, I should exercise but don't get the chance. Relaxation cds are pretty good, learn to meditate and take long walks wher e you can learn to switch off.

Hope this helps, its a tough battle but one well worth winning, keeplooking forwards and not backwards, you ca only change whats in front of you.

Best ofLuck

LK

[NoPoet]

I also agree with the dose increase - I went up to 30mg last week and things have got much better. I have not had any side effects from increasing the dose.

I think that if someone is really suffering, 20mg is too low, no matter what your doctor might think. If my doctor had actually listened to me and increased my dose 6 months ago, I might have recovered by now.

[martina27]

Thanks so much for all your replies how long did it take u to feel any benefit from the increase? x

[NoPoet]

I noticed a reduction in my anxiety after only a couple of days but this could simply have been relief that I did not experience any bad side effects from increasing the dose - I suffered badly when I first came on to citalopram so I was expecting the increase to be a nightmare.

I lost my permanent nervous feeling within a couple of days of increasing the dose. I have been on 30mg for 8 days now and that feeling has not come back.

It can take weeks to feel the benefits though.

[chickpea]

I started on 10mg and have moved up to 20 mg gradually.
I felt the benefits of going up within a couple of weeks, but my psych suggested that it could be 4-6 weeks before I felt the full benefits.

[Logan_Five]

It's taken about 6 weeks for my 20mg Citalopram to start kicking in. Was considering heading back to the docs to get it upped, but I think I'll wait and see how Xmas/New Year go first. Anxiety is definitely better than it was, but it's still present at times.

[Lion King]

Hi everyone,

I felt a set back this week, had to discipline a member of staff and also did a presentation, nerves and palpitations kicked in but I carried on. I did ok but I was conscious at the time that I looked nervous when I needed to be strong. I think I went into both situations slightly ill prepared so my anxiety was on the increase already. I saw these events as a test to how well I could perform with little preparation, the answer obviously wasn't very good! I considered a further increase from 40mg but I don't want to be too heavily dependant on pills. I guess I just need to be prepared and practice more to eliminate the nerves and be more auto-pilot. On both occasions my anxiety settled down and I was ok, it just took longer to settle down than usual!

Thanks for the quick ramble, this is possibly my release so apologies for this being on another person thread!

Take Care everyone

LK

[notsobubblychick]

Hiya

If you don't have confidence or are embarrassed to see your own GP, isn't there another one in the practice you could go to for a second opinion?

Worth checking out if you haven't thought of it already.

Janey

[waterfall]

hi there
i went through the same experience as yourself and it was my CBT that suggested i move from 30mg to 40 which i am currently on for nearly 1 month. i was orginally prescribed 20mg in sept by my GP.i remained at 20 for nearly 2months but feelings were so up and down. presently [on 40mg] i def feel 'better' although had a bit of a 'blip' today - had to make an exit from mum and dads, and come back to my own house.....these are more infrequent though and generally dont last as long,
i was nervous about the hols anyway, prob because i knew i would have so much time on my hands[isnt it sad to want to be at work as it is a distraction - well for me anyway!]....BUT i must admit, the 'down' moments are a lot more infrequent....good luck xx