well its been io weeks of 20mg cit and to be honest its been hard work all the way , anxiety has decreased a little bit , but the cit seemed to make me more depressed , side effects are still appearing , sweating headaches and sickness feeling , had to see my gp yesterday for a check up , and he said that i have given it long enough now and suggests that i take 10mg of cit for one week and then go on to 50mg of sertraline , not sure how that works jumping from one to another in just a week hopefully the change over isnt going to be to painfull . my gp however is not very compasionate to me and my anxiety and depression , he seems to think that i just need to go away and take the tablets and lets see if they work , when i mention side effects its like what do you want me to do about it . i feel like i am waisting his time ! . does anybody have any experience with changing from cit to sertraline , as i am trying to pluck up the courage to make this step
Hiya, I am changing from mirtazapine and citalopram to venlafaxine. Was only on citalopram a week but side effects were unbearable and the mirtazapine didn't work after 10 weeks so having half doses of that til Friday then need to pluck up courage to start venlafaxine on Monday. Petrified I won't be able to function but I can't continue with the depression and anxiety I have now so need to make a change. I went to my gp and demanded he do something as I need my life back now. He recommended venlafaxine for treatment resistant depression and anxiety. Fingers crossed for both of us.. I have diazepam to help through the start up..xx
Hi terry, when I first started antidepressants I actually started on steraline and I gave it weeks with horrid side effects was totally not for me, so I switched to citralopram and that suited me it wasn't as bad at all, you have gone through the worst of it so when you switch it won't be as bad, at least this was the case for me! Good luck
Hi terry.
Think we have spoke before. Sorry to hear it hasn't worked for you yet. Iv heard of some people needing 3months sometimes 4. But I understand if your side effects are too much. I'm coming upto my fourth month on cit & I responded at first to the meds but sadly no relief as of yet. I'm thinking of switching too but may just wait it out a little longer. Let us know how you get on.
Take care xo
its hard i know , ten times worse without a caring gp
hi joanne , thank you for your reply , i was on venlaxafine for 15 years with very good results but my body just got use to it and it stop working , i hope you find the relief you are looking for , i took mirtazapine for 3 months but it made me so sleepy i had to come of it but i didnt have any withdrawel side effects , the citalopram for me has had the worst side effects ever and i have been struggling with them for 3 months and just cant do it any more , it probally is a good drug but it makes me feel so ill every day that i think it outways the anxiety and that says something , hopefully the sertraline will be less punishing . take care
Terry,
I am afraid your GP has not much knowledge of "sticking plasters for the brain" by the sound of it. You have not had long enough on Cita for it to truly have a chance to work and it may simply be that you, like I have, need to go higher.
Everything you post is how it is with Cita and reminiscent of what all of us have gone through.
Get a second opinion from a Dr who knows about these meds, pleae. Otherwise this one will (possiby) have you changing from one pill to the next!
There is no quick fix and there are many factors to be taken into account as parts of your recovery.
Don't be a guinea pig for someone who does not know (it sounds) what they are talking about!
Regards,
David
Hi All, I finally have a pdoc appt for Tues so after finishing mirtazapine in 2 days I am going to wait until spoken to them on Tuesday before starting the venlafaxine. Was only due to start them Monday anyway. I want to get expert advise rather than just from gp and I actually want to discuss going down the non drug route and having acupuncture, herbal stuff etc which let's face it they're not gonna agree with. I just feel like I have spent the last 10+ weeks in hell and that I maybe jumped onto first thing they recommended after only feeling sh*te for 2 days and could possibly just have been having a bad cple of days but I panicked as have had a nervous breakdown before and pnd and felt like was gonna happen again. Xx
thank you david i have all ready started to question this decision as setreline was one of the first meds that i was tried on and was on it for 3 years but it didnt stop the anxiety yet the doctor wants to put me back on it , dont know why . may be you are right maybe 3 months of 20mg cit is not long enough and i should give it a bit longer and increase the dose , my doctor is not very sypmathetic i think when it comes to this sort of matter unfortunatley , i feel like i am waisting his time
Hi Terry,
Sounds like you are, very much, wasting your time, but it also sounds like you have a determination to sort this illness out. No laying down and accepting what you are told - good on you!
I am talking purely from the point of view that my Dr is excellent and as a GP (General Practitioner) has a keen interest in these "sticking plasters for the brain" therefore I am not only lucky, but get very annoyed when other General Practitioners wade into areas blindly and we all know it is too easy to just dish out pills - even worse the wrong ones! You got me before with this one, but if I had any doubts I would have definitely made up me mind at the point when you said that your Dr is not very sympathetic!
Try and find out if there is a Dr in your surgery with known experience and knowledge of these meds, if not then in your town. If that is difficult try asking here if anyone knows of one in your area - not something I would recommend generally, but there you go, this is important and I don't think you should waste anymore time.
Good Luck and keep posting & reading.
Best Regards,
David