Been on Cit since Wed - after Bad reaction to Venlafaxine

Treatment and medication
1

hi , always used the venlafaxine group but as per title , im now on Citalopram . 

Basically before Xmas i finally gave in and went to gp about feeling so depressed and anxious, As had an op last yr that was more complex and recovery time was longer and not solved problem, had 7 weeks off work , during that time i had to move house ( love my new place tho ) .  I was originally put in Sertraline , with no progress, they added Mirtazipne to help with sleep but i put on weight within a week , and one of my ' things' is worry about weight and weigh daily. So went bk to gp who doubled sertraline and stopped Mirt. After xmas still no improvement so put me ion Venlafaxine , 75mg , got upped a while after to 150mg as split with my partner after 7 yrs  then 5 weeks ago to 225mg, Started to feel better however last week i noticed i had alot of bruises all over arms and legs , i had gp anyway the following day , so i mentioned it , he told me to stop immediately - i had over 50 large bruises - i look like i have been physically abused - it was a reaction to the Venlafaxine. Had blood tests too to ensure was nothing else underlying, Thankfully it wasn't.

So That was all on Tuesday as of wed i was told to take 20mg Citalopram and up to 40mg on Fri/ Sat onwards. Which i started Sat on 40mg. In general i feel okish , however out of the blue i get a panic attack and feel so anxious , ive lost 4lb since tues too , I have had a bit of time off work since then because of panic  , which i don't want but had no choice as felt awful. Luckily work are great with it all . Especially as up and down all the time , plus withdrawls from Ven dont help x

Just want to know how ppl get on with Citalopram , good , bad ,, ugly lol . ? I also attend CBT Panic workshop to try and help with the anxiety too , But some of the ' homeowrk' i have been set to work on i havent been able to face doing , i dunno if its because its been a rough week or what.

2

One of the things that worried me most was my partner not understanding and leaving. I am sorry to here yours left you. I am on 20 of cit and it helps me a lot. I don't worry so much new.

3

Hi Sarah iv been on citalopram for 5 weeks

Now and feel ok but not fully, have up and

Down days, everybody says it can take up to 8 weeks to see a difference, I was

Previously on sertraline for 7 years which

Just stopped working for me. I am too

Having cbt and have had homework that I

Also cant face doing at the minute, your

Not alone hun, try and stay positive,

Im going to try and give the citalopram

A good 8 weeks before trying something

Else. I still have anxiety also this might be

The drug getting into your system though

As it normally tends to make u feel

Worse before you feel better. Xxx all the reviews I have read about citalopram have

Been very good, think we just need to give

It time xx

4

Yeah tbh ive not heard anything bad about it. Venlafaxine however I heard loadd but was ok for me... and would like to of stayed on it but clearly my body didn't like it. So was hard stopping suddenly.

We didn't split because of the depression/ panic etc. But I don't think it helped. .. we had been going through a tough patch and I was in self destruct mode and ended it. He wasn't my child's dad but had been there 3/4 of his life.

One other thing I did notice sleep issues. . Im knackered alk the time but can't sleep ever. I can't work out whether is withdrawal of ven or starting citalopram or the illness itself. ?.

As for the cbt homework I dunno if ill do it. I just can't. Maybe ill feel in the mood to do it tomorrow ready for tues. ?. Only got 2 wks left of it then got to work out nxt stage ... think I need more of a one to one ?.

5

Omg im literally going from being ok ish to feeling the pits !! i could just sit and cry , i feel like i just ' cant be bothered' even the thought of cbt tomorrow and going to work , the thought of staying in bed all day is so much more appealing , its such an effort to do anything - thats the mood im in right now.  

I just feel that people are gonna think im a proper fruit cake being so up n down , the gp said on fri have to just ride it out , which i know i do but its too hard right now. It dont help that my lilttle one is away with his dad at mo , has been for 10 days and 7more to go  

6

Hi thought id check in , Well its still been very up and down , one min having a giggle with people , the next major panic attacks out of the blue. However i find come this time in the eve 5-6pm onwards i start to feel very low again Even had thoughts of hurting myself which i wont do but its such a struggle.. its so infuriating as comes from now where , just start feeling ' like i dont care ablout anything' cant think straight and as silly as it sounds so tired but i cant be bothered to even go to bed.And when i do im laid there until 1/2/3 am !! Such a vicious cycle.  Ive emailed the cbt to say im not doing last one tomorrow as dont feel its helping me , regarding the panic . I have some hol time off work as 1/2 term so hooping to do a few things with my son and get out and about too x