who decides to increase dosage?

[Yorkman]

hi,
ive been on 20mg cit for 12 days now. and i am due to go to the doctors on friday to see how im doing.
ive had no side affects at all really, and i dont feel much/any different from before. i know its early days but who decides if i need 40mg or not??

what makes the doc increase the dose etc, im just wondering if im on the right dose, i could be but how would i know.

any helps appreciated, especially if youve gone from 20 to 40. or stayed on 20 etc.

cheers

[suzy-sue]

It will take 4-6weeks for your dose to fully kick in .If after this time you still feel no better .The Dr will usually up your dose .Its worth trying 30mg before you go to 40mg .A lot of people find 40mg makes them too groggy and spaced out .Just try to help yourself as well as take the tabs .As they are only part of the process .Hope you feel better soon Yorkman .It can be a rather long process so be patient ..Sue x

[Jannie2948]

Hi Yorkman
When I started on Citalopram it was 20mg and after 3 months still felt very anxious/panic so my Dr put me up to 40mg and after about a week I felt much better. After about 18 months on 40mg I was feeling so much better that I decided to ask my Dr if I would wean myself off of them very gradually. It took me a few months to get off of them completely, only because I didn't want to stay on them forever and I was feeling so much better. I found that they really helped me and now I am off of them completely I am doing good. I still have the occasional blip but I manage to get myself through them with deep breathing exercises and keeping myself calm.
The citalopram I found were excellent in helping me to get to this point and I wish you all the very best.
Jannie x x

[Yorkman]

thanks, do they do 30mg out of interest??

and jannie2948, how did you feel exactly when you increased to 40mg please? happier etc??
did you just feel like 20mg wasnt working.

i will give it time, theres no quick fix is there!

[suzy-sue]

They only do 10 ,s ,20.s .and 40.s ..I took 3 x..10 s .Made a lot of difference ..After a few weeks it slipped slightly so went up to 40mg ,This made me feel Zogged .So cut down by half a 10mg tab .I was on 35mg for about a year .Was really good .Now down to 20mg .Sue

[Jannie2948]

Hi Yorkman
At first the increase from 20mg to 40mg made me feel a bit disorientated and a slight increase in my anxiety, nothing like when I started on the 20mg. After about a week or 2 I felt sooooo much better and I just went on feeling good from then on. I only really decided to come off of it to see if I still felt 'good' without it. Decreased very gradually from 40mg down to 20mg and then down to 10mg until I was eventually off of them completely. Have been off of them for about 2 months now and still feel good. I wouldn't hesitate to go back on them if I felt myself going down that road again but so far so good. But all I have are positive feelings towards citalopram especially when I went from 20mg to 40mg, no really bad side effects and only took a week or so to feel the added benefit.
Good luck to you in your citalopram journey. Have you read Psychopoets citalopram diary, really helped me in the early days of taking them.
All the very best to you
Jannie x x