Increased anxiety still, after 26 days on 20mg. Help?

[Jaysmd]

I started on the 27th of January as well

[Suziewuzie]

Yeah I started a couple days after that & today has been my best day too. Had a little wobble in the supermarket but I know that I get anxious when I go out and AD's aren't gonna stop that so, can't complain.

[Nzxt27]

can cit cause heart issues?

[Jaysmd]

It can increase anxiety at first which may result in heart palpitations.

[Nzxt27]

I thought palpitations are harmless. And anxiety can cause palpitations.

[Jaysmd]

Thats the only heart issue that I'm aware of and yes they are harmless but if someone is anxious they may believe something is wrong with their heart. Other than that I'm not aware of any permanent heart conditions caused by an ssri. Could be wrong though

[Suziewuzie]

It may list some risks to your heart in the leaflet inside the box but not as far as I'm aware.

[LiveAboveIt]

LiveAboveIt, I have had all the symptoms you describe and more. I started 27 Jan, and today have had one of my best days yet. It started off not great but within half an hour started to improve greatly. I was due to take my diazepam at 3pm but haven't because I feel fine. Just calm. 2-3 weeks ago, the severe anxiety had me so depressed that I was completely suicidal, and I craved diazepam all the time.

Did those symptoms go away or diminish for you? Any idea if they are anxiety or the pills?

[MyNameIsTerry]

can cit cause heart issues?

From Drugs.com's Pro section:

Citalopram has not been systematically evaluated in patients with a recent history of myocardial infarction or unstable heart disease. Patients with these diagnoses were generally excluded from clinical studies during the product's premarketing testing. However, the electrocardiograms of 1,116 patients who received citalopram in clinical trials were evaluated and the data indicate that citalopram is not associated with the development of clinically significant ECG abnormalities.

AND

ECG Changes
Electrocardiograms from citalopram (N=802) and placebo (N=241) groups were compared with respect to (1) mean change from baseline in various ECG parameters, and (2) the incidence of patients meeting criteria for potentially clinically significant changes from baseline in these variables. The only statistically significant drug-placebo difference observed was a decrease in heart rate for citalopram of 1.7 bpm compared to no change in heart rate for placebo. There were no observed differences in QT or other ECG intervals.

Your doctor should be told if you have certain conditions in your, or your family's history and these are the warnings for heart issues:

•heart disease, heart failure, a heart rhythm disorder, slow heartbeats, or recent history of heart attack;
•personal or family history of Long QT syndrome;

Citalopram can cause risks in Long QT Syndrome. The risks increase with the dose but the old dose of 60mg was removed worldwide as it showed it gave little benefit over 40mg and greatly increased the risk. But if you don't have such a syndrome, there is nothing to worry about.

---------- Post added at 05:30 ---------- Previous post was at 05:28 ----------

I wouldn't reduce... You are just setting yourself back. 20mg is minimal therapeutic dose. 40mg is the most successful for gad

Some on here have found 10mg works for them but 20mg is the minimum therapeutic dosage. However, if the OP is struggling so much with side effects once the side effect window has passed, dropping to 10mg may show if 20mg is too strong. If 10mg isn't enough, it will need to be a switch from there.

[Nzxt27]

From Drugs.com's Pro section:

Citalopram has not been systematically evaluated in patients with a recent history of myocardial infarction or unstable heart disease. Patients with these diagnoses were generally excluded from clinical studies during the product's premarketing testing. However, the electrocardiograms of 1,116 patients who received citalopram in clinical trials were evaluated and the data indicate that citalopram is not associated with the development of clinically significant ECG abnormalities.

AND

ECG Changes
Electrocardiograms from citalopram (N=802) and placebo (N=241) groups were compared with respect to (1) mean change from baseline in various ECG parameters, and (2) the incidence of patients meeting criteria for potentially clinically significant changes from baseline in these variables. The only statistically significant drug-placebo difference observed was a decrease in heart rate for citalopram of 1.7 bpm compared to no change in heart rate for placebo. There were no observed differences in QT or other ECG intervals.

Your doctor should be told if you have certain conditions in your, or your family's history and these are the warnings for heart issues:

•heart disease, heart failure, a heart rhythm disorder, slow heartbeats, or recent history of heart attack;
•personal or family history of Long QT syndrome;

Citalopram can cause risks in Long QT Syndrome. The risks increase with the dose but the old dose of 60mg was removed worldwide as it showed it gave little benefit over 40mg and greatly increased the risk. But if you don't have such a syndrome, there is nothing to worry about.

---------- Post added at 05:30 ---------- Previous post was at 05:28 ----------


Some on here have found 10mg works for them but 20mg is the minimum therapeutic dosage. However, if the OP is struggling so much with side effects once the side effect window has passed, dropping to 10mg may show if 20mg is too strong. If 10mg isn't enough, it will need to be a switch from there.

Maybe I'm not best at figuring this out. But is it saying cit has no studies to harm people's hearts?