I Just want to say how much citalopram has started to improve my life.
To anyone just starting, please give this drug a chance! The first week was the worst with the side effects, but these soon passed. Week two I started to feel more positive but this was very short lived and anxiety and depression came back feeling worse than ever. It's hard to go up then down again but this is all part of the process.
I was convinced that this was doing nothing, until week 3, I've noticed a change in myself, I used to wake up with a knot in my stomach and not want to get out of bed, but now I've felt like the old me again. I go into work and smile and feel like my head had a clear out, I used to have racing thoughts but everything just feels incontrol.
It's by no means a magic pill and the depression will always be apart of who I am, but it's more of a minor thought rather than the horrbile numb dark place I used to be in.
Just wanted to share this as when I started cit I was scouring the net for positive stories as that's what will give you the strength to stick at it.
That's great news!! I can relate to this defo, it would be great if you could also post this on the forum = Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram? as there are a lot of folk on there that could do with this encouraging post whom are just starting on Cit etc
I didn't get to bad with side effects , been on cit for 7 weeks, crying has stopped , anxiety still there but not as bad. Still not 100 percent but lot better than I was. Will get better as time goes on I'm told , so lets all just
I am just like u almost there and 9 weeks in but Doc wants me to increase to 20mg on 01.01.2014 so willgive it a go, but do feel so much better just now than I did, my crying has stopped, anxiety not as bad but still there sometimes,
Yes lets have a much better 2014 we deserve it !!!
Hi, just wanted to say thanks for this post. I've been searching online for positive stories about citalopram and it's hard to find (I guess people are less inclined to report things going well!)
I'm in a funny situation in that I've been on citalopram for four years for anxiety, at my most I've been on 40mg, made it gradually back down to 10, then worked my way back up to 30mg and have been jogging along nicely for about three year, in the meantime I got a great job and got married and was generally pretty content with life. About three months back my husband and I agreed that we would like to start a family so under my GPs supervision I gradually lowered my dose to 20 mg (by alternating between 20 and 30 a day) so far so good! Unfortunately my health has been pretty crap (I work with kids and they're germy little things) and I've been really run down as well as getting stressed out with work (I work in child protection which can be pretty draining)...I'll get to the point soon I promise....
There have been a few warning signs that my mental health wasn't great (loss of appetite, disrupted sleep, avoiding socialising) but as usual I soldiered on. last weekend I woke up crying in the night, spent the next two days crying and vomitting and barely able to speak. I forced myself into work on the Monday but had to go straight home after my first visit of the day because I could barely speak and I thought I would vomit there and then. I saw my GP that afternoon (who used to be a psychiatrist specialising in PND so he's ace and really supportive) who put my dose back up to 30mg and signed me off work for a week. I was still as bad on Friday so he agreed to put my dose back up to 40mg and has signed me off work for three more weeks.
I'm now 10 days into the higher dosage and I'm still feeling pretty crappy, I'm having some side effects which has never happened before (nausea, tingly skin, rushes of adrenaline) I'm having the odd breakthrough where I can feel quite positive but the rest of the time it's as if my personality, sense of humour and all those bits that make me me have been sucked out when I wasn't looking. I'm really tearful and have had to come home to stay with my mum so my husband doesn't have to worry when I'm at work.
I guess the reason I'm posting here is because I'm feeling as though the citalopram is never going to kick on and I can't imagine ever feeling like me again or being able to go back to my usual life. I was wondering a) if anyone has had a similar experience when they've decreased their dose and b) if there's any advice, tips or just words of encouragement anyone can offer me to get me through this?
I'm sorry about the long rambling post, just wanted to explain my situation as the majority of the people posting about citalopram have never used it before.
I have never came off yet, but please check out the other forum here called = Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram?' there are lots of posts there from folk whom have decreased and come off so maybe copy and paste your post to that forum as a lot more folk on it.
Sorry, just realised I rather high jacked this thread with my rambling essay, i feel so guilty for feeling this way when I know there's nothing physically wrong with me but i just feel so hopeless at the moment....
Thanks Anne, it's amazing how some positive words can really help to lift my mood!
Hope you're hanging on in there too!
If it helps to give you some hope, up until this recent episode (I think linked to reducing my dose) citalopram has really helped me to live a happy and positive life free from panic attacks and anxiety.
Thanks, Matt. I need this. I'm 10 days into taking citalopram (10mg) and while the horrible side effects are now reducing, I'm finding my mood is actually worse now than it was before I started the tablets....it's helpful to know others have felt the same way and are now picking up, it encourages me to keep going!
There's a thread about side effects from citalopram with quite a few positive experiences detailed on there. Really helped me when I was in 'the pit' a few weeks back if you want to have a look
Thanks! I had a look at some of it and it's really useful. I think these forums are great, in the support they give. Just what you need when you're fighting depression...wonderful.
Hi - I'm just new here. I'm 23 days in on 20mg and still have anxiety, head pressure and racing thoughts. Howling did it take for most people to notice some difference?
I'm on day 21 of an increase to 40mg and am just starting to feel more settled. It seems to take some people up to 4-6 weeks to see a difference. I started to see small improvements after about 2 weeks but it was very gradual and other people tended to notice them before I did. I know when I initially started on citalopram I moved up in increments of 10 from 10mg and it wasn't until I went up to 40mg that I felt the full effects. There are lots of things that it can depend on, age plays a part (older people take longer to respond) and also whether your anxiety is due to a life event or whether it is more about the chemicals in your brain.
Hope that helps. There are lots of really helpful and supportive people on here and on the other thread I mentioned earlier in this one about people's experiences of side effects.
Thanks! I have a genetic predisposition to depression, and an upbringing that reinforced that. Counselling has helped a lot in the past, as does exercise and meditation. But ultimately I have a chemical problem that every so often goes out of balance. The menopause seems to have triggered this episode of depression. My life is absolutely wonderful. I couldn't wish for a better one (apart from having more money!) I just want to enjoy it, instead of waking up every day in a grey veil.
I am really finding this discussion encouraging. I was starting to feel better after about 14-18 days then 3 weeks on the head it as slightly creeped back down. Am trying to feel positive and I know from reading other positive things that the only way really is up lol
It is, ladylemora!! We have to hang in there and all support each other! I'm on day 11, side effects diminishing but no improvement in the anxiety and depression yet. But I have high hopes!
It can take a dip, around the 3 week mark seems to be quite typical. It takes around 6 weeks to reach the optimal level that it will then stay at. It has to build up in your system rather than being instantly effective. Also, I'm finding the few dips I am having are no where near as low as where i was and also they seem to be quite short lived.
Hi jules60344 Your right !!! keep on going as day 11 is still early days but you will get there, also ladylemora same for you, you will get there its just takes time for adjustment in our bodies.
Hi Sedaw1 it takes 6 - 8 weeks to fully feel the benefits but you could just wake up one day soon and the cloud has gone, the anxiety much reduced, and feeling "normal" so keep it up you have come so far, and there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Thanks everyone - this morning was day 25 and my first morning being alone. I ended up having a panic attack and self-harming. My parents came and picked me up and I have a doctors appointment tomorrow. Feeling scared and down that there has been no improvement.
Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram?'