Citalopram survival guide

[NoPoet]

Hi all. I'm really pleased this guide is still going strong.

I'm still in the fight against anxiety but I have been correctly diagnosed with asperger syndrome and ADHD and I begin medical treatment (probably Strattera) for the ADHD on Monday 16th Feb. If all goes according to plan, that will be the day my boot lodges finally and permanently up anxiety's arse.

Once the treatment has kicked in and I am in a better position to work on this Guide, I will be re-writing the entire thing to incorporate my last 6 years' experience in dealing with anxiety, depression, OCD, demand avoidance, executive functioning impairment, ADHD and asperger syndrome, and I'll be publishing several Kindle books on the subjects:

1. Untitled book dealing with the descent into illness.
This will include symptoms, warning signs, natural defences against nervous illness, new defences to learn, as well as a brief run-down of natural and medical remedies, different types of therapy and resources you can use. The book is aimed at the early to mid stages, when things are at their worst, and it de-mystifies a lot of it, clears up rumours, explains facts and generally takes a proactive approach towards boosting your confidence and getting back into a state of recovery.

2. There and Back Again: How to cope when the illness has gone.
When you start getting better from nervous illness, the world can be a frightening and confusing place, and you probably won't understand your part in it. This book is aimed at people who are starting to recover from any kind of mental health issues. It looks at relapse prevention (in other words, overcoming the "return of fear"), as relapse prevention plays an overlooked yet utterly crucial part in permanent recovery. Anxiety et al become such a part of your life that leaving them behind creates a genuine sense of loss, and people often fear what they've been through to the point where it actually creates a relapse. This book will help you to make sense of your brave new world and to ensure you have left those mental health problems behind, in the darkness, forever.

There may be others if there is any demand at all for my books.

[lior]

I'm not sure if I've posted on here before to say thank you for this - but really, thank you for writing this guide PsychoPoet. It's the post that helped me stumble into NMP in the first place 5 or 6 years ago.

It helped me a lot the first time round with taking citalopram. I had no idea about the whole world of people who had used it. It was very useful to hear about your experiences on it and about other people's. I'm on my second bout of depression and I've recently started on citalopram again, and I feel confident that I know the drill

Maybe you would be able to make this guide one of your ebooks too? I don't use a kindle but I think it makes sense to make ebooks - it's easy for you so it's a great starting point.

Best of luck with the new treatments - sounds like you accept your diagnoses and you're in a strong fighting position.

[Wandy]

Thank you very much for the post. It helped me tremendously last time I used Citalopram.

I am a 30 year old male that used Citalopram for the first time 5 years ago when I had my first panic attack. After about a month on 20mg I felt back to normal and stopped after 2 months. Fortunately, I went about 4 more years before needing it again. I went through some anxious times, but never enough where I felt the need to get medicine.

Then I went through another rough patch, and I was back on it last June and used it for about 3-4 months before stopping. Unfortunately, it came back with a vengeance due to quiet a bit of stress, and possibly me not stopping properly. I'm now on day 12.

I never took notes the last two times I took it, so I don't remember what it was like day to day, but this time my anxiety went from bad (before starting), to better (first week) to horrible (days 9-12). I don't remember it being this bad last time. Is there any risk in taking the same drug multiple times? Like your body got used to it? Am I just being impatient?

Also, the big reason I stopped last time was because my wife and I wanted to have children. Have any of you (males) been able to have children while on the drug?

Thanks

[Jennabell]

I am new here, and joined just so I could post a comment... this has helped me so much in my outlook... everything you described in the "blips" section has happened to me, and I just started taking Cit and am terrified, but trying to reassure myself. I had no idea that what im dealing with could be depression, as I rarely cry or feel "sad." I have near constant anxiety and panic attacks which sometimes lead to obsessive negative thoughts and I convince myself im a horrible person and I cant literally move or eat for days and feel like there is only one way out. I really hope the medicine helps, this post has given me a glimmer of hope, thank you so much.

[NoPoet]

Lior, thank you. I'm glad it is helping you. I am considering an extensive re-write, and posting it on a website of my own and asking for donations to fund my continued fight against anxious illness. I have changed a lot in the last few years and the guide would benefit from the new experience.

Wandy, it is possible that you can experience side effects from citalopram the second or subsequent times you start treatment with it, even if you didn't have any ill-effects the first time. Some people can't actually tolerate it if they take it again - I think this is what happened to me. I've learned that people who are taking it should continue the full course of treatment (typically, at least 6 months) even if they get better in the meantime, to make sure they have actually recovered and aren't just going through a good phase. Many people report feeling initially worse, then much better, then worse again. I think this is because the good phase gives you hope - the contrast between feeling well again and feeling ill can be so marked that you feel like a new person - but at that early stage, you haven't really fixed anything, that only happens over time with therapy and self-help. So the illness seems to return more strongly than ever. It hasn't got stronger, that's just the shock of remembering how bad you felt before. It's a rather unpleasant roadblock on the way to recovery and it doesn't mean anything serious.

Jennabell, it's like in that Bugsy Malone song, "Sure you've hit the bottom but you're building from the ground up". Cit can make you feel worse at first as it interferes with the way your brain works and your brain initially thinks it is under attack. But it will learn to work with the citalopram instead of against it. You may not be experiencing depression, you could be dysthymic (a long-lasting, underlying low mood which is like a mild form of depression but is not diagnosable as depression), or you could simply be experiencing the effects of sustained anxiety. Your thoughts are the enemy here: you are convincing yourself that things are hopeless, but that's just one point of view. As you start getting better you will find the thoughts occur less often and don't affect you as badly. The main thing is to identify negative thoughts/beliefs and challenge them. The sooner you become able to do this, the sooner you will find the illness reversing, and you'll enjoy life a lot more than you do now.

[jillycoops5]

This guide is excellent, thank you so much for writing it to help other people. I have suffered with depression before but this time is the first time using Citalopram, without the guide I would not have known what to expect or been able to cope with the side affects.

I have also realised by reading the guide that I need to not only take the medication but also either to get counselling or self help techniques to sort out the reasons why I get depressed. I have sat down this time and seriously thought about the causes of my relapse into depression, last time I didn't address the problems that were there and are still there this time.

Again thank you for your guide and i love your sense of humour throughout the guide it made me smile

[NoPoet]

Hi, I'm glad the guide helped you.

It's true that the people who relapse seem to be the ones who never actually beat their problems beforehand - they got to a stage where they felt better and believed themselves cured, but when life events happen to them, they relapse.

Another major cause of relapse seems to be someone who fears what they've been through and is frightened that it will come back. This is called "return of fear". This links into the above though; someone who has overcome and resolved their problems wouldn't really worry about them coming back, because they have put those issues in the past and moved on.

[jillycoops5]

Hi Nopoet,

I think what you said about worrying about depression returning is so true, I have looked at my life and issues and know that I didn't sort them out the first time and I did always worry that the depression would return and it has with vengeance and anxiety to boot. This time is going to be different I am going to sort the problems/issues out I know this wil take along time and the road to recovery is bumpy and long.

[NoPoet]

Thanks again to everyone who has commented. Paulmoldeeside, you're exactly correct, to quote Wesley from Angel "It takes you to hell - and leaves you there". But hell is not the destination, it's just one step on the journey.

This guide will remain free forever. I do intend to one day, when my ADHD and autism symptoms are under control, to write something new, but I must resolve a moral conundrum: I hate the idea of charging people to read my future work, even though it's my dream to become a successful author.

[honeyp1e]

Hi NoPoet am back onto CIT your info got me through it last time.. My doc upped them today from 20 to 30mg I only took it at 10am (now nearly 2pm) and I have the tight knot in stomach... I had the tight knot soon as I took it so I don't no if it's just in my head as I was worrying about the side effects happening again or if the cit can work that fast (really seconds) I guess it has to be my mind.. I just want them to work soon am emetophobic and always worry they will make me vomit but past 15 years I've been on/off them and never been sick so why would I now ?? (Chatterbox talking )