hi all, i am new to citalopram currently on day 4 and this is the worst i have ever felt. i had no idea the side effects would be like this. My anxiety is at an all time high and the last two days my chest/arms/ sometimes legs feel like they are burning! i was overthinking this last night which then turned into a bad panic attack. If these effects last as long as yourself then i really dont want to feel like this much longer!!
hi ian thats me on 20 now for 4 weeks do you think thats still early days? im so frustrated after having a couple of good weeks i feel as bad as ever today! 
leigh
meant to say its maybe the propanolol is making your blood pressure drop to quickly or to much that can make your arms cold and prickly! thats what was happening to me. leigh
Hi Leigh, definitely. 4 weeks is nothing. Doesnât matter that you spent many weeks on lower doses,when you increase it can be like back to square one. The first 4 weeks is the acute phase when increased anxiety is at its worst. Between 4 and 12 weeks things can still be pretty bad with ups and downs, anxiety coming and going, lethargy,side effects,many things can happen unique to your system and how it copes with the med. All depends on the person. My experience is that everthing fluctuates in a cycle from positive to negative. Some call the negative part of the cycle setbacks or blips. As time progresses that cycle stays more in the positive and less in the negative. You should aim for 12 weeks to see sustained improvement. Iâm at week 10 on my medication and had a few rough weeks lately,got to ride them out unfortunately, thatâs all you can do. Itâs very hard I know,been there many times before. Never give up and keep going 
thank you for taking the time to reply i appreciate it! just had such a rubbish day as when you have days or weeks of feeling good you really think your getting somewhere then today just feel so jittery and shaky and all electric inside again and you feel your all the way back to the start. feel i will never be free of this.
hi laura when i started on citalopram it was hell! the side effects were so bad. reading on here really helps as you can speak to people going through the same thing. when i started i had no sleep, crazy dreams, dry mouth, upset stomach, cold sensations on arms and anxiety was through the roof with terrible intrusive thoughts. also had no appetite. it did settle down after 3 or 4 weeks. i have now been on 20 for 4 weeks and moving up (i took 15 for a few weeks) wasnt as bad as starting, i am still along way from being recovered but nothing was as bad as when i started. hope this helps as i know how islolating all of this can be. your not alone. 
leigh
It is very frustrating when you think youâre better and it all comes back. Everyone has off days and periods of feeling worse, thatâs normal for all people regardless. You want it to be all over and anxiety grips on. Thatâs where acceptance comes into it, the more you fight it,the tighter its grip on you,the more you donât care wether you got it or not,then it releases its grip. Anxiety is a paradox,the more you think about it the worse it gets. Thatâs where distraction comes in as well. You have to concentrate your mind on other things and ignore the symptoms,take away the power you are giving it by ignoring it. Hard to do when the antidepressant is making you worse, but you should carry that with you even when you recover because if you donât learn how to beat it properly,the antidepressant is just a crutch,and if you stop it,it will all come back again.
hi Ian i did wonder about the propanalol but doctor gave it to ease the anxiety that the citalopram causes like you said dont seem to be working slows the heart rate but thats about it, doctor advised to stop them today so i havent taken it today and surprisingly beat day ive had for nearky 3 weeks felt normal for once, although it is now 1:30am and i am as anxious as anything as soon as i fall asleep im awake within like 5 mins with my heart racing and been in a panic so weird its like my mind cant sleep, im just too exhausted to carry on with them as last time around i had some better days by now but this time just no letting upâŚthanks for getting back to me Ian you take care if yourself and soeak soonâŚNikki x
are you on propanalol? how have you found them? doctor has taken me off the citalopram as of today and i felt normal for not taking it but its now 1:30am and the anxiety is back with a vengence, heart racing drives me insane i just want to be me again! i kept a journal last year when i was on citalopram 10mg first few days brutal then day 8,9,10 i had good days, i remember the the side effects been bad but it did start to ease and i could function still but this time im permanently hyper and anxious all the time always in fight or flight always searching for answers, worrying what all the bloody sensations are! so sorry to hear you are having a bad time right now from experience this is all normal i upped to 20mg after 21 days and this was fine in my journal day 40 onwards was normal , so hopefully you are nearly there, sadly this time my doctor thinks its best to stop them as there is no improvement not one glimpse of it! take care and speak soon, keep in touch xx nikki
Hi Nicola. I donât understand your Dr.s reasoning in stopping the Citalopram. Are you still taking the Propranolol? I thought it would have been the other way round. The anxiety would ease from stopping the Citalopram because it was making things worse,but that means youâre on nothing to treat the anxiety long term now. You donât mention swapping to another antidepressant. Iâm at a loss to what your doctor is thinking. Doctors donât seem to understand how antidepressants work for anxiety, and donât warn their patients about the worsened effects they will have in the beginning of treatment. The Propranolol is a short term treatment for anxiety,the antidepressant is a long term treatment. You will lose all the hard work youâve put into sticking it out for 3 weeks and now have withdrawal from stopping. Iâm confused.
Hi Leigh, thank you for your reply. ive started on 20mg. i dont feel so bad this morning hopefully they are starting to kick in properly now. however i do have an upset stomach today, hoping this doesnt last its quite uncomfortable. its good to see im not the only one who has gone through this. sometimes i think im crazy thinking this cannot be from the medication but seems like it is! laura x
hi laura thats great your feeling better today. I only started on 10mg and really struggled dont think i would of managed 20. however i do wish i had moved to 20 sooner as i have just prolonged recovery. my anxiety has been really bad again last two days keep thinking i am going to be stuck like this forever.
hi nikki i was on propanalol and it wasnt doing anything so i started the citalopram and took them together for the first week but had to stop as together i felt so bad as the propanalol was making my blood pressure drop to much and to fast it was to much altogether. i kept going with the citalopram as i have had it before and it worked for me. however i recovered on 10mg although cant remember how long it took as was 15 years ago. this time a lower dose hasnt really worked so have went to 20 and praying it works as so fed up feeling like this. just want to be me again. feel im stuck like this forever. my gp gave me diazepam to help with side effects only 2mg and only a few. did they offer you another antidepressant instead? the physical effects of anxiety dont bother me to much as i know its anxiety its more the intrusive thoughts and the feeling of fear and panic that scares me which is also why propanalol doesnt help that. hope youve had a better day x
hi ian i take it you follow the acceptance method. i have read couple of books on this which are really interesting. i would love to adopt the accept, float, let time pass method but i just find it so hard to accept anxiety and intrusive thoughts when you feel so bad with it. you seem so positive even though you have had rough weeks. i just keep thinking what if im stuck like this what if 20 doesnt work. have you ever tried hypnotherapy for anxiety? leigh
Hi Leigh,I havenât read any books on this acceptance topic,just come to learn it myself after a lifetime living with anxiety. Used to worry over every symptom,but when you eventually realise that it is only anxiety and it doesnât actually harm you,then you give up. The more you fight it,the worse it gets, youâre never gonna win. Did read books years ago which explained how the nervous system becomes sensitised after prolonged worry and stress,which then causes all the weird feelings and sensations in your body,and that helped because knowledge of whatâs happening and why itâs happening is vital for recovery from anxiety on top of the medication.
Iâve actually been on my current medication since March, slowly increasing to the dose Iâm on now for 11 weeks. I was really ill when I started but Iâve improved a good bit since then,hence Iâm being more positive. That wasnât the case in the beginning when I was experiencing terrible dark, negative thoughts and was very depressed.
I only tried hypnotherapy once,I was so anxious I couldnât be put under! I do recommend hypnotherapy cds though, and have used them on and off for years. I use Paul McKenna ones that I bought years ago that comes with his books, and they put me to sleep and are relaxing. Take care.
hello thats what happened to me years ago with hypnotherapy when i tried it i was to anxious that the therapist said i kept coming back out of it. i was thinking if maybe giving it another shot. maybe the same will happen again but maybe worth a try. even although i know its all anxiety causing symptoms and thoughts and they cant harm you i always think âyeh but what ifâ. its the thoughts and churning stomach that i hate the most oh and maybe the internal buzzing. :-). aw you have been on yours a while im glad your feeling better and more positive. its such a long journey i started in july. i did not realise it would so long to feel better.
I never got round to trying acupuncture,that would have been interesting. Thatâs the only thing I never tried. My experience is that the medication makes the greatest improvements and difference for me,while diet, exercise, mindfulness,walking in nature etc add benefits to that on top.
Funny you should say about churning stomach but I think after all this time mine has stopped. Thatâs exactly how recovery comes. Recovery comes so slowly that you donât even realise something has gone like it slipped away in the night. One by one they disappear along with the What Ifs that plague you all the time. We all want to be recovered today,but thatâs not what happens. The churning stomach and electrical buzzing have been symptoms that Iâve had,among others. All annoying,but harmless.
i have never tried accupuncture for anxiety only for a sore back a couple of times. the what ifs are my worst symptom for sure. they give me the most fear and make me feel im either going crazy or im scared that they will really happen. cannot wait till they go away. i find it very hard to accept them as just thoughts as they scare me the most.
Yeah,the what ifs can definitely make you feel crazy,going round and round in your head. This is when serotonin levels are very low and can take a while to go. You have to be on the minimum dose of 20mg if youâre at that level of stress and anxiety,anything less is just a plaster. Thankfully Iâve passed that stage and my mind has definitely calmed. My mind has calmed but my physical symptoms are still persisting but Iâm hoping they will subside in the coming weeks. The longer you take the 20mg the more you will improve as well.
hi Ian it was probably because the side effects were too severe and i couldnt function had suicidal thoughts(didnt have depression) but on citalopram this time omg ive never felt in such a dark place, i was doubting the doctors thinking ive come this far but last year when i was in citalopram after 8 days i saw some kind of relief had bad days but nothing to this extent, mutual decision in the end, i agree the propanolol dont really work that much and i have already told the doctor i will need to try something else, so he has suggested i need bloods doing checking thyroid as it had been on the dodgy side for a while, then we can look at trying another antidepressant. i dont know why citalopram didnt work the 2nd time round but i just know i couldnt carry on taking them! i still have bad days and this is now day 6 of ot taking them and some parts of the day i feel normal and i think please let this be it now but then in a few hours i can be back to feeling like crap again! withdrawals have been anxiety(of course), bad tummy, pressure in my head, muscle aches feel like i have flu, crying most days although that does make me feel better! no sleep is what is killing me, i nod off and bang within 5 mins i am awake but wake up confused and panicky with an awful feeling just exactly the same as when i was taking citalopram, really dont know what that is about but i search these forums to see if anyone else does this but havent seen anything. i shall keep you updated. take care and how are you feeling? nikki x