Another Cipralex Morning

[MarlaJ]

Day 10. Not sure that I can even "claim" that, as I went so squirrely on the full 10mg dose, by day 3 had to cut it in half. Spoke with the doc yesterday, and will be courageously attempting to go back to full dose Monday night. God help me. I must confess that I am noticing a significant lessening of the worst of the side effects. I was actually Hungry yesterday. Food has not been going down well, tasting well, etc. I have lost 8 pounds so far, not that I really will miss them. I can honestly say that yesterday afternoon, I felt BETTER! Not too sure if I felt better than I did before I started on the meds, but at least I felt better than I did the previous days. I choose to hang on to that. I still feel very tired, drained, no energy. I choose to not care about that. Nothing terrible is going to happen if I "take a break" for another few days. The great thing about the TO DO list - it will all wait right there until it gets done.

The only thing that is really NOT getting better, is the mornings. I have never before had to deal with anxious mornings. I have always found that my bad time started in the evening and worked its way into the night. Cipralex has turned me upside down. I wake up light a switch going on, BANG, I am panicky.

I have taken to reading The Citalopram Survival Guide - Thank you PsychoPoet, you are my hero:)

I am scared to death about increasing my dosage, scared that the worst of the side effects will come back. I am also a little bit excited, because I know that this may well be the turning point where I start to feel better for real.

[alwaysanxious]

hello marla .i was scared when i uped my dose of meds from 5mg to 10mg but u know what i didnt notice a thing its more psycological (think i spelt that wrong) than anything else thats all it was a bliss, i had a nervouse breakdown in 2003 and was on 10mg for a whole month to begin and i was that ill i didnt even notice the side effects cos i was having major anxiety and panics anyway . but this is my 2nd month on 10mg of cipralex and im feeling much better,, had to go on them again as lots of bad stuff has happened to me last year.... but as far as upping meds dont worry there in ur system already so u will start to notice a feeling of more relaxation on them... i still get blip days and its part of the recovery i will say tho took me at least 6 weeks b4 i felt better so 10 days is still early... hope this helps u in some way.

take care lisa :)

[MarlaJ]

Thank you Lisa, that sure does help to hear someone say It's not so scary, it does get better! This is also my second go round with this drug. Last time I was in a far worse state when I started them as well..... I thought that I was doing myself a favour by starting them before I got to such a bad place. Funny thing was, when I started off at 10 mg, it took me straight away to that very bad place. There is just no easy way around this, is there? I am finding that it is getting better, but only better in the sense that I am back to where I was before I started the Cipralex. LOL I will still count that as progress, cause I sure don't want the side effects back. Next week I can look forward to some real progress, when I can feel some "normal" in my life? I hope?? The key for me will be to stop looking for side effects I think.

I am also struggling with health anxiety, so we have the age old question - Is there something wrong with me that is causing me to worry, or is worry causing something to be wrong? I read all the posts re: the people frustrated with IBS, and to be honest, I pray that I have this terrible affliction, because it's not as bad as some of the other things my brain is diagnosing.

At the end of it all, it is day 11. I don't feel great, but I am going to work. A week ago I didn't leave my bed. That is forward motion, and if I can keep that up, I will get to the place where so many other brave people who have stuck it out have arrived.

Thank you for your encouragement, it means a lot when having another of those crazy mornings!

:winks: