Citalopram side effects

[Scarlett77]

Hi,

I started citalopram 20mg a week and a bit ago for social anxiety disorder and agarophobia. i just felt a bit dizzy and headachy at first, which is fine - i'd expected to have to deal with some side effects. Also i'd taken it before a few years back and had that kind of thing - no big deal.

However, for the last few days i've felt increasingly paranoid (much, much more so than i usually do), on edge, tetchy, and argumentative (and i'm usually pretty placid). My heart is near constantly racing, my teeth are killing because i keep clenching them together (god knows why, definitely don't normally do it), and i've lost my appetite and i usually love my food. i know that last one isn't so much of a problem, in fact could be a positive thing(!), but the others are getting a bit too much. i'm considering stopping the citalopram, but i've a feeling i'm just being silly and maybe all this will pass soon enough? i'm just feeling much worse than i did before, with no positives, not yet anyway. Anyone else had anything like this?

Apologies if this has been talkied about before - I did do a quick search to see if anyone else had written something similar but couldn't find anything. Sorry it's a little long too, and maybe i'm overreacting, but any help would be much appreciated. Thanks,

Scarlett

[Hannahlou84]

Hi Scarlett

If you didn't have any of these symptoms before, there is a good chance they may be as a result of the medication you have just started taking. If the effects have lasted for more than a day or two, it may be worth making an appointment to see your GP, if only so that they can reassure that they will pass, or talk about changing the dose or the medication it's self if they think the problem will persist.

Hannah x

[Magpie]

Hi, I've just recently moved off Citalopram onto Escitalopram but if I remember rightly you should expect your side effects to dissipate after about two weeks, if I were you I think I'd give it another week and then go see the doc if there's been no improvement. Strange that you didn't get this kind of thing the last time you took it. If it seems to be getting worse, I'd see the doc asap - especially if you get muscle spasms etc., as that could potentially be serotonin syndrome. Hopefully it will be just a short-term side effect, I'm crossing my fingers for you!

[yorkylover]

Im on citalopram,I had side affects for two weeks then they settled down.If you are not happy pet just give the surgery a call.It will put your mind at ease.

[Daisybun]

Hi I went on citalopram last year and the first two weeks were rough but by about week three and four I started to feel better and 6 weeks in I felt fantastic and have done ever since! Try and hang in there but if you feel you need to go and speak to your GP as not every med works the same for everyone.