Citalopram, Is This Normal ?

[AI]

Hello

I wonder if anyone can give me any advice? I am on day 4 of Citalopram and the side effects are quite bad, can anyone reassure me this is ok

I take my pill(20mg) at 9am, im ok for the first hour or so then start to feel really sick, hot tingling in my arms, head racing and feeling very dizzy and unwell. This lasts until about 5pm when I start to feel ok, I've also completely lost my appetite and cant sleep.

Are these normal reactions and any idea how long before I start to feel better. Dont even want to leave the house at the moment and looking after my daughter is hard

Many thanks

[keithwms]

Citalopram throws a lot of things at you in the beginning, including most of what you describe. But I worry about the "hot tingling," sounds like are experiencing some sort of circulatory or muscular issue, so do be careful. I would definitely speak with your doc ASAP. Please read the warning label, which advises you to contact your doc immediately if you have twitching muscles, unexplained fever and such.

Don't take chances- let your doc know, ask a nurse etc. And let me suggest keeping a diary so you have points of reference as you go. As long as you aren't veering off into the rare side effects, you will see improvement but perhaps not for another week or two. Please refer to what I just wrote in this forum section, with regard to wired/tired feelings etc., it might be helpful.

Take care!

[martin222]

Hello

I wonder if anyone can give me any advice? I am on day 4 of Citalopram and the side effects are quite bad, can anyone reassure me this is ok

I take my pill(20mg) at 9am, im ok for the first hour or so then start to feel really sick, hot tingling in my arms, head racing and feeling very dizzy and unwell. This lasts until about 5pm when I start to feel ok, I've also completely lost my appetite and cant sleep.

Are these normal reactions and any idea how long before I start to feel better. Dont even want to leave the house at the moment and looking after my daughter is hard

Many thanks

dont worry about hot tingling, ive been on citilopram a week and im having hot flushes like u wouldnt believe, and im a man

[Emphyrio]

20mg is a high starting dose - maybe you should have went on at 10mg for a couple of weeks first? You should check with your doctor and explain your reservations - he/she may give you some diazepam or something similar to take if things get bad.

[keithwms]

Indeed 20 may be a hard start for some. On the other hand, you know, maybe it's better to get it all over with at once if you're up to it. I did 10 for two weeks and went through all the adjustment anxiety and stomach problems etc., and then felt better. Then I went to 20 and went through it all over again albeit quite a bit faster, thank goodness.

I think if I had started at 20 I definitely would've asked for some beta blockers to help with acute anxiety attacks. Do keep that in mind, some people do need some help like that and it's not a big deal. No need to suffer. I think the thing to determine is whether the primary side-effects are causing long-term harm. If not, you're good and things will improve. But anything that feels really physically destructive or seems like an allergic reaction etc. need to be addressed immediately.

[peteyboy]

I've been on citalopram at various doses for the last 10 years and every time I change dose it is by only 10mg at a time because of side effects so to the OP I'd say you should definitely discuss with your doctor about starting on 10mg and build up from there, prob 10mg for 2 weeks then 20mg. And if that is still proving too difficult you can take 10mg/20mg on alternate days for a week, effectively doing 15mg daily, that worked for me before.

BTW if going on a 10mg dose don't rely on cutting your pills - you'll never get it accurate enough.

HTH

Pete

[loupy]

dont worry about hot tingling, ive been on citilopram a week and im having hot flushes like u wouldnt believe, and im a man

you are the first person to make my laff on here martin thank you........ may be men will be more supportive of women on our lady change ,lolololol

---------- Post added at 19:52 ---------- Previous post was at 19:43 ----------

Hello

I wonder if anyone can give me any advice? I am on day 4 of Citalopram and the side effects are quite bad, can anyone reassure me this is ok

I take my pill(20mg) at 9am, im ok for the first hour or so then start to feel really sick, hot tingling in my arms, head racing and feeling very dizzy and unwell. This lasts until about 5pm when I start to feel ok, I've also completely lost my appetite and cant sleep.

Are these normal reactions and any idea how long before I start to feel better. Dont even want to leave the house at the moment and looking after my daughter is hard

Many thanks

hi AI all what your feeling is normal for this medication, i used to take mine in the day and after a long period i couldnt stand it no more so i swap to taking at night time that way i could live with the side affects better and it didnt reck my day to day life, as a single parent with 2 small children at the time it suited me.
i was on it long term and have had a 7 yr period of being of it and now find myself back on it, i still take mine at night 20mgrs and i was adviced by my doctor to take zopiclon 3.5mgrs too so the side affects dont wake or interupe my sleep i was scared to go on them as i lots of work experience with clients that have spent a long time on zopiclon and are very addictive, but if you take the lower dose untill your side affects are less and easier to manage a period of 6 weeks my doctor informed me on 7.5 is more than fine so i choose to have the even lower dose of 3.5 just to make sure and to be honest i wished i had gone on it when i very 1st went on citalopram yrs ago, it has help me to sleep through and feel a lot more refreshed in the day to manage my daily life,

hope that helps lou

[martin222]

glad you laffed, xx