Please help - Citalopram and some frightening symptoms

[NoPoet]

Thank you

God I feel so much better for venting in this thread. People here are so amazing, I don't feel alone

Well to be honest doing those things was a great help as I was able to escape my problems for a while. Don't get me wrong, I was anxious and upset for a while, but I was with good company and I was away from the house. I help my dad out a lot, I'm basically his driver while he gets his bad eye sorted, and I look forward to getting out with him.

It helps to be doing something worthwhile.

I need to start talking about the things that are causing my problems. I think that's why I have got like this. I've spent too long running away from stuff. I'll probably end up starting a thread tomorrow.

I'm just fixing up my old mp3 player with loads of relaxing music ready for when (if) I wake up early tomorrow. Not gonna be listening to the chatterbox tomorrow!

[Anxious_gal]

are you still on those meds? i toke them ONCE! oh my god i had the worst panic attack ever, my thoughts were racing, became afraid i was suicidal, got paranoid!
feel really weird, high, spacey......
scared me half to death, my friend had to come over to calm me down.
sometimes meds just do not agree with you

[NoPoet]

I think the first time is the worst. You're not prepared for the scale of what is coming, so your first experience is scary as hell, with sounds and colours bursting in your brain. It has not been like that since. It is simply your brain struggling to cope with something unexpectedly potent. You expect it to be like most medicine, no noticeable effect, and then it hits you harder than Rocky.

The best advice I can give from my limited experience is to take it several hours BEFORE you go to bed. That way, any weirdness will be over before your head hits the pillow, and if you are up and active you won't notice much. Take an mp3 player with you so if you wake up early you can listen to music instead of your panic attacks.

I find the anxiety slowly fades through the day. Spending time with other people helps immensely. Watching telly helps me more than reading.

EDIT: Well I'm off to bed now, can't put it off any longer lol, time to put my money where my mouth is!

[justbananas]

hey friend - i hope you rest well tonight. starting meds is tough and scary, and sometimes even if you've been through it before - there's nothing quite like taking meds while being in the midst of a major bout of anxiety. it seems doing ANYTHING while being in the midst of a period of crazy anxiety makes you doubt, fear, and freak out.

i think what must have happened to you that first night was more of a panic attack rather than the meds having kicked in. it really would have taken longer than that for them to really filter through your system and enter your bloodstream. but i know from experience - even taking like cold medicine can sometimes send me into a spiral because i start thinking about drug interactions, how it will affect me, etc.

that said, the first few weeks can be pretty bad as the drug starts to accumulate and work. as you know from others and from this forum. using SSRI's for anxiety can be good because their overall effects can lessen the perserverance of anxiety. however - not only does it take ages for them to work, but it can be a hit and miss with dosage, drug type etc. This can all wreak havoc on your system while you sort it out and especially with anxiety - ugh!!

so sometimes docs will prescribe xanax (or some other type of immediate acting anxiety med) to take in conjunction with starting an anti-depressant to get you through it in the begining and to just take as needed. it's not good for long term treatment because .. well.. it just doesn't work that way. it's like spot treating a pimple rather treating the underlying problem. i have an 'as needed' perscription for xanax and i find myself taking it later in the day, when my anxiety is at its peak. some weeks i take it every day, sometimes i take it once, sometimes weeks go by and i don't need it. most often i find just KNOWING i have it in my drawer prevents me from going into full on panic mode when laying down. if you find it tough getting through the initial days/weeks - perhaps speak to your doc about getting a fast acting drug to take the edge off while your body adjusts. either way - just try to push through. i think you'll find it will end up helping and working out. don't forget to add some lifestyle tweaks with it because it sounds like you respond well (like me) to distractions and lifestyle changes - which is lucky and a good thing to take advantage of! huuuuuuuuuuuuugs.

[NoPoet]

Hi Justbananas, thanks

I only got 4 hours sleep last night again, and I was really scared by a paralysing panic attack which seemed to affect my chest. I felt like every time I breathed out my chest was going to collapse and the centre of my chest felt sore. It still feels a bit strange.

My feet went numb for a short while which has never happened before. I thought I was having an asthma attack even though I'm not an asthma sufferer. I checked up on this and it seems like I just had bad hyperventilation. Apologies to Yvonne who has already mentioned that she had similar problems, I forgot about that.

Listening to music helped slightly but my mp3 player ran out battery, dammit. I just couldn't go back to sleep.

[justbananas]

ugh i hate that.. my feet and hands go completely numb during my bigger PA's .. sometimes i can barely get up or walk .. but it feels worse to lay there because of the head rushes it feels better to walk .. but hard to do with completely numb legs!! freaking awesome i tell u.

[NoPoet]

Righty ho, it's day six of PsychoPoet's Daily Bitch-Fest. This is sort of like a progress diary, I hope people are finding it interesting or useful.

Well I've got to say I had a much better night than I have done in a while. I still only got 5-6 hours' sleep, but the quality of my sleep was better, and the much-feared panic attacks never materialised.

Last night I spent a few hours with my family watching the film Arlington Road. I physically relaxed, just sat there and enjoyed the film and the company. I would be less tired if I hadn't also stayed up to watch Most Haunted and Time Team heh, but I went to bed feeling more laid back than I have for a few days. I listened to music for a while before going to sleep which was the icing on the cake.

When I woke up I actually felt good for a moment until I remembered that I still haven't done anything to deal with my reasons for feeling so anxious. Listening to music did help me relax somewhat. I'm a different person when I wake up to who I am when I go to bed. The condition just resets itself.

I've been feeling less shaky and anxious today but I do feel a lot more tired.

[PoppyC]

Hi
I am glad you got a better nights sleep! I hope you feel better for it.
When my anxiety was at its worst, the mornings were an absolute nightmare, I would suddenly wake up - not slowly - feeling like I was caught in the middle of a warzone and as the day progressed I would feel much better. I was like a different person in the evenings compared to the morning and I would put off going to bed as late as possible so I could enjoy how I felt. I was told it is down to low blood sugar caused by not eating overnight and as we eat thro the day our blood sugar levels increase. I got told treat it as you would Pms by keeping sugar levels up to avoid mood swings. I would keep hi juice squash by my bed plus biscuits or flapjacks and if I woke up in the night, I would have a drink and something to eat, and this really did lessen my anxiety when I woke in the morning for the day. Does this sound mad? lol It worked for me tho.
I got the breathless thing last night as though I couldnt breathe and like my chest is collapsing...I have noticed this has started to happen. It eventually fades again. Do you think this is a side effect of Citalopram as I never had this before?

[NoPoet]

Poppy, all of the symptoms you listed are identical to mine, so rejoice! They can't be anything bad.

I get the "chest collapsing" thing during very severe moments of panic. I don't know what the hell it is, I always worry it's a collapsing lung, but it only happens when highly anxious and I've not had to go to hospital yet! So it's harmless, just not very nice.

I have wondered about blood sugar. Check Justbananas' post, it's number 20 on this page: http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthr...t=45296&page=2

She has some good ideas on how to deal with it.

I feel massively better in the evenings as well. I always try to take advantage when my appetite returns in the evening. The important things are to stabilise your blood sugar level and maintain your weight.

[Narision]

Hi psychopoet,
This is my first time on this site, so I hope I can be of some help.
Basically, I was prescribed "Citalopram" for anxiety caused by alcohol dependecy, and I was told by my G.P that there is no major side effects. I went to work in the morning and took one 20mg tablet, and about 2 hours later I felt dazed and confused, and I was stumbling around abit. I had a lump in my throat and had an upset stomach, So what did I do; I took another one. This relieved the symptoms for a while, and later again, I felt really bad, So...I took another one. (60mg in 7 hours). When I got home I went on the internet to look for Citalopram and was horrified by the threads and only then realised what a fool I had been to take them like smarties.
Anyhow, I've been taken ONE a day for the past week, and let me tell you they have been marvelous. I believe the side-effect vary in lenght from person to person, and I gather it is not unheard of to suffer panic attacks by just taking regardless of the actual side-effects. I find taking one at around 5 or 6 o'clock n the afternoon helps because my head is focased on other daily matters, and by the time I drowsy, it bedtime. I hope this helps. Good luck, N