heightened anxiety please help

[nicola1980]

Hi on tues i will have been taken citalopram for 4 weeks, 1 week on 10mg, then went to 20 and last 2 days took 25mg trying to get to 30mg which i was stable on last time! side effects didn't kick in properly untill i was on day 3 or 4 of taking 20mg then i had extreme heightened anxiety this accompanied with a kidney infection really knocked me for 6!! still recovering from my infection will have been on 2 weeks of antibiotics come tomo!! some days im not too bad and feel like im getting there but mornings r my worst i wake up with really restless legs and lately ive been retching when i get up, my anxiety is thro the roof altho this does tend to wear off towards late afternoon (i take my cit in the morning) and sometimes at night i actually feel dare i say it 'normal' but then wham in the mornings its back as soon as i open my eyes! sometimes im lterally shaking all over and the restlessness is horrible I can't remember feeling this bad last time i took them but i suppose u forget eventually when u actually feel ok!! just need some reassurance this is going to pass?? this morning hasn't been as bad as the past 3 but feel like i want to run away from my body if u understand that???
Nicola xx

[Yorkman]

Pm'd you nic

[pinkdove]

Hi Nicola, sorry you are feeling bad just now, and it must have been dreadful having a kidney infection too. reading your post you sound just like i did when i started citalopram for the second time last year, but it did pass, i wondered whether it was going to work a second time, and nearly gave up, i'm glad i stuck with it, one of the most important thing is to take the cit at the same time every day, and you have not been on them that long, it can take up to eight weeks to see any real improvement, don't be in too much of a hurry to increase the dose, have a word with your gp, but i found raising the dose too quick just made the side effects worse, go easy and give each increase time to work, i was up to 60mg, but have very slowly reduced and am now taking 30mg which i intend to take for at least a couple of months befor reducing further. things do and will get better, but be patient, it did work for me a second time and i'm sure it will for you. hope this helps good luck