My Citalopram diary

[Kings]

So I started taking 20mg Citalopram on Wednesday (16/1/13) and have decided if I maybe track my progress it could help people I the future. From what my GP and posts on here have told me, I can expect my anxiety to worsen for the first few weeks, although I try to think possitive and not convince myself it will get worse, making it worse myself (bit of a mouthful).

The first couple of days I took them they pretty much knocked me out about half an hour after taking them which was a good thing as I have been losing a lot of sleep through anxiety/panic attacks. I think this was due to my body adapting to the new medication. During the days I actually felt a lot more lively and energetic but this may be down to having a good sleep (being realistic).

Friday night (18/1/13) I had a pretty sleepless night again with a few panic attacks throughout the night. This was possibly brought on as I was hoping the tablets would send me to sleep again and they didn't. I've also found my stomach is churning a lot and I'm getting butterfly sensations. I finally got to sleep for around 3 hours making me tired the next day.

Saturday (19/1/13) was an awful day, I woke up lightheaded and dizzy. It was by far my worst day so far but this is probably due to the lack of sleep Friday night. It is now early hours Sunday morning and as you may have guessed by the time I'm posting I am unable to relax again. I am trying to keep myself calm and by writing this I am focusing my mind elsewhere. Every time I fall into a sleep I can feel my body waking me up with the feeling that I have stopped breathing. Even though I know my body wouldn't let me it's like I have no control as its just as I fall into an unconsious state so my subconsience takes over. I shall troop on with these tablets though as I'm sure the benefits will outweigh the cons soon enough.

Sorry for the long post but it has helped me calm down if nothing else. I will update my progress in a few days.

Kings

[SuperStar457]

Hi, I am on 10mg and currently on day 11 .... I too have been having those side effects and only managed 3 hours sleep last night and that's WITH A TAMEZEPAM tablet arghhhh!
My symptoms seem to be worse now into my 2 nd week, not nice at all :(

[Kings]

Day 7 (23/1/13)

The past few days I have been a lot better. I was able to go out driving yesterday daytime without worrying myself into a panic attack which is a big step up. I also find myself sleeping a bit better and I'm no longer waking up once I finally drop off. I would say the side effects have pretty much gone altogether. I am feeling very positive about these tablets and would recommend them to anyone.

Also, after reading through a lot of different people's experiences through drinking whilst taking Citalopram I decided to have a couple of beers last night whilst watching the football. And as a typical young male, a couple turned into 8 and I felt no different than I would normally and also woke up completely fine so I guess drinking on these meds does effect everyone different.

Things are looking very well at the moment

[Kings]

Day 15 (30/01/13)

Finally got through the first 2 weeks so hoping the meds will start taking effect properly now. I seem to have been one of the lucky ones with no major side effects when starting Citalopram. A slight sicky feeling and slight fatigue is about all I've felt out of the 'normal'. Considering I was suffering anxiety and panic attacks 24/7 I guess anything would be an improvement though.

Found myself having a lot more 'get up and go' and I'm a lot more sociable again but I was never really anxious with people anyway, I just never felt well enough to go and do things.

Also still drinking with the meds and apart from the one morning after way too many I've been fine. As we know drinking increases anxiety as it is so I don't think it had anything to do with the meds and more my inability to know my limit

I hope more people have had a lot of joy on these meds and it's a shame that people only seem to post the bad things. I hope my experiences make people think positive. I shall update soon.

Take care

Kings.

[UrbanMark]

Hi Kings,
Great to hear you've had a good Citalopram experience.
Good idea about the diary.

Keep up the good work!