Increase dose to 20mg and feeling worse

[LClare]

Hello everyone,

I've been on cit for about 5 weeks now for anxiety/panic. I've had some sort of anxiety off and on for most of my life but managed it without medication/therapy. The last year has been particularly difficult and it began to completely control me, so after a bit of a battle I finally went to my GP get some help for the first time ever.

The first 4 weeks I was on 10mg, then my doctor increased me to 20mg and I've done a week on that now. The thing is, I'm feeling worse. The first week I was on 10mg, the side effects were quite bad (literally a few hours after taking the first tablet!); being sick, unable to sleep, hot sweats, sore mouth, dizziness and generally feeling out of it, but that quickly passed after a few days and I began to feel better (though still not right). Now, after a week of taking 20mg, I've began to feel really anxious again, the most anxious I've been since my first few days taking cit. Is this normal? Does it mean I've done the wrong thing increasing the dose? I have read posts on here that say it takes a few weeks to start working, but does this include if you have already been taking a lower dose and then increase? Is it like starting all over again? Feel like I've gone back a step... :(

[lisa2512]

i just upped my dose from 10mg to 20mg today, and i got lots of the side effects back, i was already getting some side effects from changing brands of cit tho. from what i understand you may get the side effects again and they will pass in 1 to 2 weeks and the give it 6 weeks for new dose to get to work.

i have been on cit before and had no side effects, this time round it took 9 days for the initial side effects to pass, im hoping its the same with the dose increase because the nausea/loss of appetite and jaw pain is doing my head in and its only day 1 of upped dose

[Rocker]

Hi lclare

I am going through a bad patch at the moment as well but I have been on them for 1 1/2 years now just a stressful month for me.

But to help you now you have upping your dose to 20 it can take a little while before it settles down that's part of it but trust me it will settle and you will def feel a lot better it can be harder for some people upping more than others as our body's are all different.

I took a faire while to cope with upping my tablets as well so I went up in 5mg I'm not saying you should do that but that's the only way I could cope.

Stick with it and take each day as it comes and you def will start getting better days.

Thanks rocker

[LClare]

Thanks both for the reassurance, it's good to hear that others have also had problems adjusting to a new dose; it must be normal. I've had a busy/stressful week at work this week so don't think that has helped. Felt quite low today, lost my appetite and been grinding my teeth and tensing muscles. Holding out for those better days though!

Lisa, how are you feeling now after your increase?

[Rocker]

I have the same with eating as well when I up my dose I just am not hungry at all and the teeth grinding I still do that a bit now but don't really notice it after all this time also the mussel tensing its quit strange to have all the same things as side affects but if it makes you feel any better it does go so you should be feeling a bit better in the next few days.

I get tension neck problems which I have today no tabs get rid of it either oh well
Least I can say my life is never boring lol

Roker

[lisa2512]

hey lclair

its going great, yes ive had side effects but they havent been to bad, but ive had a huge improvment on the raised anxiety i had on 10mg

im on day 2 of 20mg, day 1 i lost my appetite again, had a tension head ache all morning, teeth clenching and nausea, but i slept ok, the thing i noticed most was very mild anxiety in the back ground, and i mean mild, before on 10mg i had waves of anxiety all day and no motivation, all the other side effects had passed but was really hard dealing with the raised anxiety, so even with the return of some side effects going to 20mg it was still quite a big relief for the anxiety to let up.

today, day 2 of 20mg, felt a little tired today, but my appetite has returned and the nausea was very mild and only really in the morning, had a milder tension head ache and teeth clenching. but no anxiety whats so ever, just gone, even with the side effects that would normally set me off, nothing, it was amazing, come afternoon i felt so good, really upbeat i wanted to do stuff id left for ages, went and chatted with my neighbour, i really wanted to interact with people again, im happy in myself, i feel like me and it feels amazing.

i know i may drop a little again as the pills settle, but im hoping i keep improving and the side effects will disapear. this is my second time on cit, the first time worked amazing aswell, when it settles it gives you so much relief from the symptoms of anxiety and depression, once you find the right dose things will only get better, stick with it hun x

---------- Post added at 23:44 ---------- Previous post was at 22:46 ----------

lclair

is your upped dose the same brand of pills, when i was given a diff brand at 2 weeks it made me feel rotten again

give it another week and it should all reduce hun

[LClare]

So... I'm on day 9 of 20mg and my anxiety has dropped a little the last couple of days, though it's still there in the background. Not sure whether that is because it's been the weekend and knew I could just chill out/no pressures. However I've been feeling very weak/drowsy/lethargic, more so today, I'm struggling to do anything which is frustrating; I even fell asleep after lunch! I know this is a really common side effect, so I'm not worried, just need to ride it out.

Lisa - that's great to hear you are feeling better and even more so that you are doing things you have been putting off/avoiding that's fab! Hope your side effects die down soon. I did change brands between the 10 and 20mg, however for the first 7 days of taking 20mg I just doubled up on my old 10mg tablets as my doctor didn't want me to waste them. I've now started taking the new 20mg tablets but have only had 2 of these so far. Interesting to hear that changing between brands can have an affect on people, you would hope they are all the same but obviously not! Thanks for the words of encouragement x

Rocker, we do seem to have similar side effects, I used to also get neck/back pain from tension a lot before taking citalopram but this is one thing that seems to have disappeared since I started on cit.