Hi everyone,
I found this website yesterday while siting in A&E 2hours after taking 20mg of Cit.
My Doctor prescribed it for anxiety, stress and the onset of depression, I told her I didn't really want to take meds as I felt it would make me more anxious and a few years ago I was prescribed anti depressants and they made me feel worse (I took them for 4 months). So she said I should try Citalopram, that they are very weak and the side affects as most could be an unset tummy and dizziness, so I agreed as I'm really sick to death of feeling like this and I want desperately to feel normal. So I took the 20mg pill and about an hour later I felt kinda stoned which did worry me as these were not the side effects I expected, then another 30mins later the real side effects kicked in and oh my god!! I was shaking uncontrollably, dizzy, anxious, heart pounding, sweating, hot and just not with it, I'm guessing some of these side effects where also my anxiety going through the roof as I thought I was dying lol, I wasn't expecting this as my doctor said "upset tummy and some dizziness".
So while waiting for the doctor to see me at hospital I started Google Cit, and now I know these are pretty normal side effects for some of us, the A&E Doc explained everything that my GP should have done, and that help to calm me down.
My question is how long did you all stay on 10mg before you went up to 20mg?
I'm thinking a month but wasn't sure if I should just do 10 day of 10mg and then go to 20mg? I just dont want the side effects to be so insanely intense, it was such a horrible experience and my son was with my, luckily I have had years of experience of coping with anxiety and feeling like im about to die or im going crazy or both lol so I didnt completely throw myself on the floor and curl up into a ball which is what I wanted to do.
Any advice would be much appreciated :-) this is now only day 2 of Cit and I took my 10mg of cit 2 and a half hours ago and I'm feeling okay, which is surprising as 20mg just sent me over the edge.
Thanks for the help
I stayed on 10mg for just on month. Then on 20mg for about year and a half. I am now on 40mg, and havent suffered any more or stong4er side effects with a higher dose. I feel slightly nauseaus suring the day but this only happens one or 2 times for about 30 seconds. When i first started Citalopram i felt sick every morning. To the point where i was about to vomit but didnt. These side effects cleared up with a metter of about 2 weeks though.
xxx
Yes I get nauseous too, but I'm going to stick with it as it seems once ppl get throught the side effects its a great drug to treat anxiety, I guess all im concerned about now is the does is too low to help my anxiety but my body needs to get used to the drug so I have to wait to take a larger amount, so it's making this process take that much longer. Fron what I've read it can take on average arounf 8 weeks for these drugs to stop the anxiety? I just need to be patient lol.
Hey Sarah,
When i was put on the medication last year i started on 20mg and made me slightly nuts i couldnt sleep living off a few hours and didnt feel much happier. I found out from my doctor i was very senstive towards meds and reduced to 10mg and to be honest it was enough to keep me mellow. Ive been off the drug now for 5 months but found myself going downhill, didnt want to see people, anxiety got so bad at work that i had to leave. I'm now back on 10mg as i know it works for me and deciding to stay on for at least 12 months.
We all react different to each drug when i first started i was on 40mg off pristiq and i was actually worse and anxiety went off the charts. I would stick at 10mg for a few months and the re evaluate how your feeling as it could be enough,
Hope your feeling better soon.
Sarah, I had a terrible time also when I first took 20mg. Thought I was dying! What worked for me was cutting them into quarters . I increased by a 1/4 every 5-6 days until I was taking one 20 mg tablet. Some people are very sensitive to these medications. This also helped a couple of friends out. My anxiety went within weeks. Iv been taking them for 14 years...far to long......but coming off them is another thing. Just remember every ones body re acts differently.. Good luck to you xx
Yes I feel I must be sensitive, I also think part of my reaction was due to my doctor telling me the side effect would be mild, it was 50 the Cit and 50 me having a panic attack, but im going to stick to 10mg for the next 4-5 weeks and then move up if I feel I need 20mg, because to be honest I felt high as a kite yesterday, dizzy spaced out so if 10mg is enough to help with my anxiety then ill stick to that.
Thanks for the advice :-)
Hi Sharon,
Yes I'm going to slowly work my way up, sticking to 10mg for the next few weeks then 20mg if I need it. Can I ask I know you've been taking Cit for a long time so I imagine you've built up a bit of a tolerance for it, but after you furat started taking it after a few months did you still feel kinda not spaced out but I guess a little floaty lol sorry but its the best word I could think of.
No worries Sarah that sounds like good plan you should know by then if you need to increase, you sound very similar to myself and 10 could just do it 
. Let me know how you get on as im back on 10mg now and going to stay on them for at least 12 months as the doctors thinks its wise and I want to see how i feel am for a longer period.
Think I felt ok after a few weeks, but remember I did it very slow. I took 5 mg then 10, 15 and finally 20. I think I wouldn't be able to cope with starting at 10. I gave up listening to my Drs advice and it worked well for me x
Stick with it Sarah, a lot of the side effects are in our heads from the anxiety I promise you, I had alsorts and as son as the Cit kicked in after 6 weeks for me, then I was fine no side effects at all, now I am back to normal, and will stay on 40mg as long as I can, I never want to go back to how it was. but you need to be strong and know there is light at the end of the tunnel, I started 10mg of cit last October but should have started 20mg as really delayed my recovery, but I was scared of taking meds, in the end I had to. Check out Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram?' thats the forum that helped me get there knowing I wasnt the only one. have a look and join it lots of lovely supportive folk on there,
Take care and stay strong, remember deep belly breathing when things get a bit much, really helps,
Anne
Seeing this doesn't make me feel so bad now haha. I was on 10mg for two weeks without any hassle beside slight fatigue and maybe the odd upset stomach for awhile. However, after two weeks I got bumped up to 20mg and the day was going fine as normal didn't notice any drastic changes in anything except abit disorientated as I couldn't focus properly, perhaps stoned? been awhile since I touched the mary jane. I was in work and had to read my instructions for the day and I couldn't correlate the words with meaning in my head and this soon escalated into a full blown panic attack that led to emergency room unfortunately. The exact same symptoms as yourself, starting sweating uncontrollably with a profound sense of impending doom. I have only suffered three panic attacks in my life and the irrational fear was never as high as this one. Maybe we're sensitive to it or something but i hope it's good to know you weren't the only one to get that side effects. haven't gotten anything other than postive results so far now though, good luck in your future endeavours with the cit !
Hey Gary,
So good to here someone else ended up in the emergency room on 20mg of Cit, lol well I wish you hadn't but at least I'm not alone. Have you stuck with 20mg? If so how many days have you been on 20 and how are you feeling after taking it?
I couldn't talk properly when I took the 20mg, I couldnt think properly when they were asking me questions in the emergency room lol. Its a lot better on 10mg but I still feel stoned for a good few hours after.
Sarah x