I started on 10mg citalopram 4 weeks today. I went through 5/6 days of ■■■■ when I first started and after that I felt like my normal self. The thoughts had gone and I was back to sleeping for a good solid 8 hours. I then had a panic attack 3 days ago and I can’t seem to settle since. I’m over thinking with my thoughts and my sleep has returned to literally 2 or 3 hours a night. I’m constantly on edge and fear I’m now going backwards. Has anyone else had this and bounced back to normal self again? I’ve tried reading anxiety books and listened to sleep stories but nothing is calming me down. I really don’t want to up my dose as I was managing great up until that episode. Any advice would be gratefully appreciated x
Hi. Yes this is very normal. Firstly you may need to increase your dose to 20mg. You have had a few good weeks and may need to up the meds. Secondly. The anxiety and panic attacks have no cure . The meds will help with it but we have to learn to live with them and cope with them. It gets easier with time as you learn ways to deal with them. I am attending a stress control class through the nhs. It's really good and explains why our body's react to stress etc the way it does and gives you ways of dealing with it. Speak to your Dr about a increase in cit and some therapy. YouTube has a lot of relaxation videos that may help you. Good luck. Remember everything you feel is totally.normal. You will have good and bad days but it doesn't mean you are going back to the start again. Take care
Yes it’s happened to me too take 30 mg
Exact same thing happened to me totally normal things will even out give it a few more weeks and then talk about increasing your dose.
I can cope with the panic attacks, it’s just the after math of overthinking and not sleeping I can’t cope with. I’m attending a CBT course in March so I’m hoping that will help.
Yes it will help. I'm doing a stress control course and that helps with how your brain thinks when you are anxious. Still give your Dr a call about increasing your dose. I had to have something to help.me sleep at the start
I started on 20mg 12 weeks ago and like you, had a rough week then a steady 3 getting better. In the 12 weeks I've had 2 "down" spells, first was a week long and second about 4 days. I'd say persevere with your current dose, it does get better and you will have down times while you're body is adjusting, especially when panic happens. Good luck and stay positive xx
Thank you soooo much for your lovely words of reassurance. Means so much to me and nice to know I’m not alone xx
A month in, this sounds normal. I'm 29 days in so nearly the same as you, the first month is the hardest for me then the initial spike in anxiety begins to settle down slowly.
12 weeks was how long it took me to recover last year, I started feeling properly better in week 9 or 10. The first month was hard!
Thank you mark for reassurance, this is all new to me as it’s my first time on citalopram. So no idea what to expect I just know not to rush recovery because everyone is different on time scale x
Not sleeping without a sleep aid is the side effect that I dislike the most, but that does go away eventually too.