diff brands of cit causing problems

[violet12]

Well that sounds like HA to me Lisa. I'm ok when I don't have any symptoms....and when you are anxious you are rarely symptom free, so its a vicious circle! The difference for a HA sufferer to a non sufferer is no matter what I get I imagine the worse case scenario and nothing will convince me otherwise. Even though I know its irrational behaviour I cant control it. Another common symptom of HA is to keep checking your body or googling symptom in an attempt to reassure yourself. This is a form of OCD. The checking/googling rarely brings reassurance infact it creates more anxiety. Which in turn leads to more checking and so on....hence why my anxiety has been heightened today because I couldn't explain why I felt so rough. Like you, my anxiety goes through the roof even if the get something simple like the flu...I just think i'm dying! Sounds silly when you write it down doesn't it lol x

---------- Post added at 20:41 ---------- Previous post was at 20:40 ----------

do you have panic attacks or GAD or both?

[lisa2512]

lol yes it does but you just cant control it, sometimes it gets so bad i think im crazy, and i know im blowing things out of proportion but i just cant control it, before i started cit again this time, i was having so much trouble eating, as the minute i would eat, my tummy would play up and id feel yuck, so i then got anxious when eating, silly but u just cant control the thoughts. and yes im terrible for google, some of the things i came up with as wrong with me were beyond crazy but u just cant help but google all the symptoms, and yes it ends up making you feel even worse but i just cant help but do it. i felt so so much better when i found out it was the change of brand causing all the side effects to come back, it should have been obvious really because it all started a day after taking new brand pills, but instead i googled it, convinced my self cit wasn't working, felt hopeless and felt like i was never going to improve, and my anxiety was so high i just didnt know what to do with myself, i said to my OH that it feels like im back at the beginning with side effects, speaking to the pharmacist helped me loads, knowing what the cause is has really helped me keep calmer as i know they will pass like they did before, im still getting very anxious bit im being a bit more excepting of it, rather than feeling hopeless xx

---------- Post added at 20:54 ---------- Previous post was at 20:50 ----------

i dont have GAD as if im healthy and the family is im fine, no anxiety at all, im quite a confident person, but i most deff get panic attacks, the worst was 3 days into cit, thought i was having a reaction to them even tho i have been on them before, thought i couldnt breath and was gonna pass out, got myself into a right state and called an ambulance, they were amazing, totally understood what i was going through, run all the tests, blood suger, blood pressure and an ecg to help put my mind at rest, it calmed me down but i still had anxiety constantly the rest on that day

[violet12]

Yes I know what you mean, I'm exactly the same. I really really try not to google anything these days if I can avoid it. I even have to be careful what I read on here. When I was at my worst I read everything but now I've learnt what triggers my anxiety and therefore what to avoid. Trouble is...health scares are everywhere, so it means I don't read the papers or watch the news either. It feels a bit like having my head buried in the sand lol. Also when I look at the bigger picture I know that I have to learn to deal with it somehow because I cant go on like this!

[lisa2512]

well today in 21 days and i thought while im still getting side effects from a diff brand, rather than wait for the side effects to pass, then up my dose to 20mg and get more side effects for a few days, i decided to up my dose to 20 today and hopefully the side effects wont be that much worse, i couldnt stand the thought of getting back on track and then having the side effects back from upping dose.

plus i have a holiday in just over a week, i hoping all the side effects from changing brand and upping dose have passed by then

---------- Post added at 08:59 ---------- Previous post was at 08:59 ----------

i have to say im feeling quite anxious about upping my dose, im trying to be positive

[violet12]

I think that is a really good plan Lisa. Its understandable that you are feeling anxious about upping the dose, but my guess would be that you wont notice too much difference, I think the change of brand is worse than a dose increase. Anyway let us know how you get on.

My anxiety is sky high again today!

[lisa2512]

its so annoying isnt it vi, you just start to get settled on it, then its back to square one by something as simple as a diff brand, it makes me so cross, ii dont think they should be allowed to all have diff ingredients, they should all stick to the same recipe as such.

i hope the new brand settles soon for u, it took me 10 days on the first brand before the side effects went, and 14 days before the raised anxiety settled some, then it was back to square on on day 16 of the new brand.

[violet12]

I had a chat with the pharmacist today and he said the same as yours that it could be the different filling agents, however he also said unlikely to cause raised anxiety as that is the citalopram that causes that and that will be exactly same in every brand. He went on to say if you are having problems stick to same brand! So all in all a bit inconclusive i'd say!

[lisa2512]

maybe the return of the side effects causes our anxiety to raise, and as were not that far into cit were still getting anxious over it maybe ?

[violet12]

Yes that sounds feasible Lisa, as it doesn't take much to set mine off. Any sort of physical symptoms raises my anx!

[lisa2512]

yep me to, well ive deff had some side effects already for upping to 20mg this morning.

within 2 hours of taking it, i felt a little weak and wobbly, major jaw ache and a killer head ache, tiredness and nausea, by 12.30 this had all eased off, anxiety seems to be mild so far, i can feel it there, its making me a little shakey.

i managed to eat half a sandwich for lunch as my appetite is still bad after changing brands so i cant blame that on dose increase, but after i ate it ive got really nasty nausea, i can feel my anxiety trying to build because of this, but still managable at the minute, and of course the horrible dry mouth, but i had that again from the brand change aswell, just have to see how i go