My Citalopram Diary

Hello!

Today is a big day for me.... I've finally done what I've been wanting to do for so long. I've gone to the doctors to talk about my social anxiety problem.

I've had it most of my life but I've always thought that it was something that everyone had to deal with. I've only recently in the last few years realised what a problem it has become in my life. I avoid situations and therefore, miss opportunities and in this life you can't afford to miss opportunities. As a result of this 'avoidance' I am not where I want to be in life. I planned to be a music producer or sound designer for film and computer games, having studied this at University. Instead I work in a call centre, repeatedly dialling numbers waiting for something to happen. Getting told to piss off every other call. This has led me to be overall quite depressed about life, leaving me wondering what the point of all this is! My drive has gone along with my creativity and I seem to be in this stagnant daze everyday, accomplishing nothing.

SO.... My doctor has prescribed me some Citalopram (20mg). I've heard a lot about this little oval shaped menace and have been quite anxious to what its effects might be. When you research things like this on the internet you usually get both ends of the spectrum in terms of reviews. No one comes on-line and posts about a mediocre experience they once had because lets be honest..... that would be ****ing boring!

I'm going to give the most reliable account of the drugs' effects as I can. I'll update the thread whenever anything changes. I'm swallowing down the first pill as I type....

Wish me luck :yesyes:

I thought last night I'd got away with any symptoms! I wasn't really expecting any with it being the first dose but as soon as my head hit the pillow I realised that I was wide awake.... I didn't feel sick or anything. In the end I managed to fall asleep at about half 4. So overall I'd say not too bad in terms of side effects so far. My anxiety is obviously still just as bad but I'm not as depressed as I'm almost excited for the change. I have luckily got a day off work today so I don't have to go out.

I took my pill today at about 18:00. I just this minute came up to bed (22:30) and I got some weird head rush and a bit of nausea. I've not had this before so I'm guessing it's the Citalopram. Either that was some intense head throbbing going on there. FACK!

Back to work tomorrow so I hope this shit stays locked up!

Hopefully I'll sleep better tonight

You shouldn't really analyze everything on a daily basis, I say this in a very non-critical way, I did that myself and it probably made matters worse. Just try to forget about it and go through your daily tasks & keep your mind straight. Don't think it over like that. The first 2-3 days I felt fine myself, but I was analyzing everything and waiting for any odd feeling or symptom to surface. And whenever I'd get an itch or a burp I'd think it was the drug. I think it was on day 5 or 6 that I got the first real side effects from the drug and I was so anxious I drove myself sick over everything. Hopefully it's easy on you but if it isn't try to think positively and don't worry yourself sick over the symptoms and improvements on a day to day basis. Citalopram takes a solid 6 weeks to show improvements if not longer. Gluck.

Hey thanks for the reply,

Yeah I suppose you're right. I guess if you're looking for symptoms you'll probably find an ache or a pain to complain about. I'm not too excited about the added anxiety.... I've already got enough of that. Hope I can deal with it if it happens.

Did it work for you in the end honeycakes?

I got maybe one and a half week of bad anxiety (which I assumed was the Celexa's fault), but looking back I seriously wonder if I was thinking too much about it.

After a few days I stopped driving myself crazy and worrying and just spent most days sleeping which was needed as well.

And yeah it worked for me, I'm doing amazing seriously. No more anxiety at all. I could've accepted "a little anxiety" compared to before but it's pretty much me and silence in my head. The most weird feeling as of yet is that of not caring and going like, "meh whatever" at times where I'd usually be so anxious I'd end up in a bathroom at work crying, or running away from a store or a restaurant & letting my friends know later I'd gone. Also, I'm alert, I feel more energetic and just more -- it's hard to explain but "present" I guess? Like I'm more aware of what's happening in the moment.

You can still keep the diary idea though, it's great to look back and see how far you've come. And don't hesitate to report back here as well I'd love to hear how you're doing :)

That's great to hear Honeycakes! I know what you mean about not feeling present. I seem to be in a daze a lot of the time and I really hope the medication helps. I got a really bad bit of anxiety in work the other day. It's the worst I've had in a while but I just put it down to the Citalopram and tried not to read too much into it. I've not really had any more side effects. I still find it difficult to sleep for some reason but hopefully that'll calm down soon.
So far I've not noticed any positive effects but obviously it's not even been a week yet!

I'll update if anything changes

Day 8 meh! Felt rough, woke after 2 hours sleep with mild anxiety. Took a sleeping pill and slept. Day 9 - still experiencing upset tummy after taking cit, felt irritable first thing, could be as I've not smoked in 12 days though! Perked up this afternoon and anxiety at a minimal. Also noticed racing thoughts/negative thinking really slowed down. Back to work tomorrow and part of me feels I should be nervous but I'm hoping occupying my day will really help take my mind off my anxiety.
Will update tomorrow, if not to knackered!
Wishing you all a good week x

Haven't posted on here for a while but for good reason. I hadn't really experienced any changes until now. I've been taking Citalopram for 2 weeks now and my anxiety is still quite high but the depression is gone. It's almost like I can't go below a certain level of mood which is refreshing. Without that horrible cloud of depression over me all the time things look more hopeful and I hope my anxiety is soon to go with it. The only side effects I've had so far are lack of sleep but that stopped within the first week.

On the whole things are looking up!

Hey mate , I started this drug 10 years ago for S/A and its really helped me enjoy life again, it's never really cured my anxiety but it stopped me getting anxious about the build up to possible anxiety attacks which has helped me massively .
Recently I tried coming off the tablet(10days) and I've been really ill with it so started back of them (3 week since ) jeez what a roller coaster it's been for me over xmas .