citalopram and lorazapam

[bassman]

ive suffered dep and anxiety for many years and tried citalopram 10 mg a few times but couldnt cope with the side effects of increased anxiety,panic etc my dr has now said take 10mg for a week and then up the dose to 20mg and he has given me lorazapam 1mg to take twice a day to counteract the side effects of the citalopram until they kick in and to go back and see him in a fortnight ,he also said that taking 10mg is awaste of time and dont work properly will the lorazapam help with the side effects as im terrified of having the panic,shaking etc as i cant have any more time off work,has anybody got any advice in this situation,

[Maj]

Lorazepam will help to relax you, so hopefully it will help with the side effects of the meds. It's awful isn't it!! You feel bad enough without having to worry about how medication will make you worse!!
Myra x:hugs:

[bassman]

do you think i should take the lorazapam when needed like when the side effects are to much to bear or just take them as prescribed twice a day also can the lorazapam 1mg be cut in half to take a lesser dose

[Maj]

I'm sure the doctor will only give you a very short course of the lorazepam anyway, so why don't you take them as prescribed and you might well find a great difference to how anxious you feel. It will take the edge off your anxiety. I haven't taken lorazepam but I've had diazepam, which is a similar drug, and it definitely helped me. I took it for a week and it took away some of the horrible anxiety symptoms until I felt stronger again.
Myra x:hugs:

[Danath]

any rough side effects shouldnt last too long though so thats probably why the doc has prescribed the lorazepam, in case of any trouble with side effects, hey consider it a blessing, my doc wont prescribe lorazepam or any drug like it ever :)

[salhford]

lorazepam should help present is an anxiolytic that is effective in the short term treatment of anxiety, citalopram should contribute to long term because it has anxiolytic qualities, which means it can be effective in the treatmnet of anxiety and depression. Citalopram may take some time to get into your system so that you will not take effect immediately, unlike what is lorazepam used a rapid acting.We within-subjects, placebo-controlled design to test this theory, measure the effects of citalopram and lorazepam on the defensive behavior of 30 healthy adult human male. We indexed defensive behavior of man with a translation of an active avoidance task used to measure protection against rodents and found that lorazepam significantly reduced the intensity of defensive behavior in the approach of the threat, but not the departure of the threat.