40mg dosage of Citalopram. Was increased from 30mg. Feeling really low.

[CleoD]

Hi all,
hoping you can help me.
I suffer from anxiety and have been on medication on and off for periods of my life.

I have been on Citalopram for about 4 years. Started on 20mg and then 30mg which I tolerated well once side effects wore off. Due to getting super anxious over finances in July, I was advised to increase to 40mg and have been on 40mg for about 13 weeks now. However I feel really crap.. very apathetic - down.. staying in bed a lot - everything is a chore.. showering is not happening etc.. even after 13 weeks. I feel like I have given up the fight..

Just wondering if anyone out there has had this experience and would be good to hear if you have and what you did as a result. I'm not sure whether to go back to 30mg .. or if I should try something else.... but the thought of going through all the side effects again on a new antidepressant worries me. Eventhough I feel awful I think the anxiety is a bit better but the depression worse if that makes sense... Feel liking giving up to be honest and would really appreciate hearing back from anyone that has gone through this.. Hugs Cleo

[panic_down_under]

Due to getting super anxious over finances in July, I was advised to increase to 40mg and have been on 40mg for about 13 weeks now. However I feel really crap.. very apathetic - down.. staying in bed a lot - everything is a chore.. showering is not happening etc.. even after 13 weeks. I feel like I have given up the fight..

...I'm not sure whether to go back to 30mg .. or if I should try something else....

If the extra 10mg was going to produce a positive outcome you should have noticed an improvement by now. You could try going back onto 30mg as your symptoms could come from being over medicated. If the financial stress has eased 30mg might be enough now anyway. You should notice an improvement in symptoms within 7-10 days, but it will likely take a little longer to find out if the lower dose is enough to keep anxiety at bay.

but the thought of going through all the side effects again on a new antidepressant worries me.

While having to switch to another AD is a very real possibility, it is by no means a certainty so let's not count chickens before... Plus, switching from one AD to an equivalent dose of another usually produces fewer, less severe side-effects than starting from scratch.

Eventhough I feel awful I think the anxiety is a bit better but the depression worse if that makes sense...

SSRIs are generally more effective anti anxiety than anti depression meds.