Citalopram : 20 mg pendant 8 semaines puis 30 mg pendant 2 semaines - je me sens beaucoup plus mal !

Traitement et médication
1

Bonjour à tous. Première fois que je poste ici. Je m'inquiète de me sentir beaucoup plus mal après une augmentation de ma dose de Citalopram de 20 mg à 30 mg.

Quelques symptômes que j'ai ressentis :

- insomnie et mauvais sommeil pendant la nuit

- fatigue et "brouillard mental" pendant la journée

- anxiété persistante et pensées circulaires

- sentiment d'impulsivité et d'autodestruction

- désespoir, sentiment de se sentir perdu et sans direction

- incapacité à écrire ou à être créatif pour mes études

- crises de panique et douleurs thoraciques, qui n'ont jamais diminué au cours de mes 10 semaines sous Citalopram

Pourriez-vous me donner des conseils ou partager votre expérience ? Je veux juste savoir que ça va s'améliorer et que ma vie va s'améliorer avec la dose augmentée. Je n'arrive vraiment pas à gérer la situation en ce moment et je ne vois pas d'issue.

Merci.

2

Hi, I can see why your gp has upped your dose.  The 20 mg was obviously not taking the edge off your anxiety.  It seems like if you have bad anxiety it takes longer for the meds to work.  From what I read from other peoples experiences the 20 mg will work in time - some people saying 6 months before they fully recover.  The 30 mg will probably speed recovery but you will have to go through the side-effects that changing dose causes.  Its not meant to be as bad as the initial side-effects when you start Cit but the symptoms are the same.

I've been on 20 mg of Cit for 6 weeks and have been thinking of upping it to 30 mg but I'm going to try and stick with the 20 mg and hope revocery comes soon.  I've read it comes in waves.  There is someone who writes on these forums called Katiecogs.  Her words have given me a lot of hope and encouragement.

Keep talking and seeking advice, it's makes recovery easier.

You're not alone and it is a difficult journey but one which is worth perserving with because so many people find relief if they stick with it long enough. 

Goodluck

Anna xx  

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Bonjour Anna, merci d'avoir répondu. Donc, vous dites que je pourrais ressentir des effets secondaires négatifs dus au changement de dose ?

Je vais chercher Katiecogs, merci pour cela.

Je vous souhaite bonne chance dans votre parcours, comme je le souhaite à nous tous, et je suis soulagée de constater que je ne suis pas seule. Merci encore pour vos mots gentils.

4

Hi, Your're welcome.  We all just need a bit of support now and then. yes most people seem to get side-effect when changing a dose whether it's increasing or decreasing and these drugs do make things worse before they get better.

When you read other post you will see the time recovery takes is different for everyone. 

Stay strong. xx 

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Hi there. I'm the same as you. I've been on 20 for 12 weeks, had two weeks which were great but then got my monthlies and just like that back to an anxious mess! Doc increased my cit today to 30 but scared of side effects again as they were horrendous at the start. Am going to go to 25 first and increase slowly. Doc thinks it may be the start of peri menopause! 

The anxiety is the worst symptom for me. The rest I can handle! However, I do have diazepam for really bad days, like today! X

6

Thanks Anna .... xx 😉

Hi as26 - hope I can help.

Usually when you increase your dose you will feel side effects again - they will wear off.  When you take 10mg you'll get side effects, so upping to 20mg or 30mg is adding another 10mg each time, so you'll feel the same.  What you describe are quite typical side effects.

In my experience each dose should be given plenty of time for your body to adjust to - so don't rush up through doses.  A higher dose doesn't always mean its suitable for you - each person suits different doses.  Whatever dose you're on you will get side effects and go through the same route to recovery - not many by-pass it.  Its just your body adjusting.

Anxiety is really being anxious about being anxious .... took me a long time to learn that.  All the side effects that come with it - racing mind, depression, detachment, weird thoughts etc are because of anxiety, so its not worth trying to analyse why you have them - as once anxiety starts to decrease so will the other side effects.

It is a tough journey and more-so on these meds ...... relaxing towards the symptoms, letting go of the tension, patience and perseverance are the key.  The meds are working, even though you don't think they are.  You often don't feel / see any improvement for weeks / months as the meds works really, really slow.  Its hard to see the wood for the trees.

For me, recovery happened so slowly I didn't really see it happening.  As each month passed little changes started happening ....... I noticed I could do small things easier, I wouldn't cry as much, I feel a little easier etc etc and all this whilst still getting setbacks.

Understanding what's happening to you really helps - it can seem such a maze full of fear, but knowledge is half the battle done.  I'll private message you a link which you might find really helpful.  Gerrymoo passed it to me and I've found its fabulous.

But in the meantime, I'm sure you're having side effects of increasing your dose.  It will pass in time.

K xx

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Hi Katecogs.  Love your posts!!  

Ive increased this morning from 20 to 25, supposed to go to 30 but bottled out.  After about an hour, I had increased anxiety so bad that I had to resort to a diazepam which hasnt really worked as normal!  I dont want to rely on the diazepam but feel at the moment that I will have to.  Its really only the anxiety that I have an issue with.  I did feel slightly sick first thing and have no appetite but drank a complan drink just to get something inside me.  Did you increase at all and if so, did you have increased anxiety at first? 

Debbie x

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Mon médecin généraliste m'a dit que je ne peux pas avoir de diazépam car elle s'inquiète de distribuer des pilules aussi librement. Il y a de nombreuses années, j'étais sous diazépam ainsi que sous cipralex pour gérer mon anxiété et dépression que je sens maintenant complètement hors de contrôle. Faites-moi savoir comment se passe votre augmentation et comment vous vous sentez ! Bonne chance !

9

Hi Debbie

Thanks smile 

Increasing does cause those side effects again and good idea to go up by just a small amount.  The feelings will wear off, but of course its horrible getting through them.  Relaxing towards it all helps as well as exercise - anxiety needs an outlet.

When I first started these meds back in 1997-ish (I forget when now) I was put straight onto 20mg and didn't increase at all as that dose worked for me (though it took months).  I had heightened anxiety but mostly nausea the first time.  During my years on the meds there were times when I decreased and then increased and yes had anxiety when increasing.

Taking a diazepam is fine if you need it at those difficult times.  They're there to help you.  The best thing I found was exercise and also relaxing towards the feeling.  Anxiety is just excess adrenaline and it needs an outlet (crying releases it too).  Exercise helps to burn off this excess and also releases endorphins helping you to feel good.  Relaxing towards the anxiety and just carrying on with what you're doing helps to diffuse it in the long run.  This really isn't easy to do I know and is very uncomfortable, but not reacting to the anxiety slowly gives your body the message that it doesn't bother you (ok I know it does), but this slowly diffuses 'the bomb' and starts to desensitise your body.  You begin to break that cycle of being anxious about anxiety.

Sorry, went off on a tangent there wink

You can increase by less too if you want to - cut or crush the 5mg and take half of that or even a quarter?  When I reduced I got down to 5mg and then 2.5mg and finally 1.25mg by crushing.

K x

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My doc only gives a weeks worth but as I don't need them all the time, I have quite a few left!

If you really feel bad, I would insist. You are not going to get addicted on a weeks worth and it might just get you through the bad times. It doesn't make you feel high or anything like that, just calms the nerves down a bit. Are you in the U.K.?

So the increase...well I bottled out of going to 30 and cut it in half. I then got all anxious again and scared so took a diazepam!!! I think however it was just my mind working over time again rather than the citilopram, who knows!!! I feel ok this afternoon but normally do! Stupid illness this is!! X

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Hi Kate!  Where did you get that name from out of interest??

I did 25mg this morning again.  Still waking up with anxiousness but it got a whole load worse about an hour after taking the extra cit! Almost ended up having a panic attack but talked my way out of that one.   Am wondering whether to change to night time but cant bear the thought of not sleeping!

Am trying the relaxing towards the anxiety i.e. letting go of stomach tension etc and going with it.  Damn hard to do as you soon forget and then realise your tense again!!  Im hoping the cit will work at a higher dose.  Ive probably said before, but after 4 weeks on 20, christmas day to be exact,I felt fabulous.  Woke up, no anxiety, totally normal for two whole weeks...and then my period hit and that was that!  Am being checked for peri menopause...in some ways I hope it isnt that as im not sure anxiety from the menopause can be controlled!  Too much excess adrenaline in the morning is mad!!  I think I need to know how to stop the adrenaline rush maybe but no idea how!

Ha ha, I crushed the tablet this morning and then got it all stuck around my mouth, it was disgusting!!!!

Am i doing the right thing by trying to relax into the anxiety i.e. just letting go of all the tension?

Thank you!!!!

From a pain in the butt!  x

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Hi Debbie

Katecogs is a nickname my friend has called me for years, and now other friends call me that too.  My real name is Kay but so many people call me Kate ... so I answer to both biggrin

Oh yes, relaxing towards the anxiety and letting go of stomach tension is no easy matter, and you're right, you do it and then realise a minute later you're tense again.  I used to find I'd do when I thought of it - sometimes it was just a little release for a few seconds and I'd try and stay like that whilst doing something.  Constant little practices build up.

Being on 20mg and having had a few good weeks around Christmas - personally for me, I wouldn't increase.  Whatever dose you're on you will still get anxiety, still go through the same process, and as you had signs it was working then for me I'd wait for that to return.  As you recover you'll get lots of things that'll drag you back down again - period for one.  When you feel normal (with anxiety) a period gives you PMT (irritability and tenseness), bloatedness, feeling emotional which takes its toll on you, so when you already have anxiety its bound to have an impact.  

Early morning adrenaline rush is always a problem - I had it and it was the last thing that left me.  Don't try and get rid of it - let it be there, relax towards it again, try some exercise first thing maybe ..... exercise helps burn excess adrenaline.  Tensing against it and feeling annoyed and reacting towards it produces anxiety and is keeping it alive and kicking ...... relaxing towards it, letting it be there (sort of ignoring it) will in time give the message to your body that 'hey do whatever, I'm not bothered) and it will slowly calm.  Yes..... again I know, easier said than done.  

Crushing tablets is a task isn't it.  I used to feel like a drugs baron crushing and dividing mine haha biggrin

Yes you're doing the right thing - relaxing towards the anxiety, letting it be there, not reacting to it and just carry on as you would do normally.  Its hard I remember, as I didn't want to do anything but run away or hide.

Awwww you're not a pain in the butt haha  cheesygrin - when I was ill I spent every single minute of my day thinking about it, reasoning with it in my mind, searching for answers and reading my favourite comforting words from the books I'd accumulated.  We always need reassurance, need answers and need to know if we're doing the right thing.

Keep asking biggrin

K xx

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typo ..... that was meant to say 'normal (WITHOUT anxiety)......'

.... seriously rolleyes

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Hi Katecogs!  Well I like the name!!!

Did it take long to get rid of that morning anxious adrenaline rush, do you remember?  Thats really the only bit I cannot handle.  Everything else is fine. I know I have done a slight increase and am still in two minds about it but might just see how I go for a couple of weeks and if it doesnt ease up then I will come back down again, slowly!

Yes I think about it all the time too, and when people tell me to think of nice things, I actually cant think of any!  My mind is so consumed with this damn anxiety but I do sleep well, go straight off to sleep but then wake up anxious.  So annoying!! x

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Hi Katecogs 😉 and Hi again Debbie!

Just an update. After my recent blip and mental stress of whether I should increase or not - well I didn't. I stuck with 20mg and the blip just 'blipped off'. It's so so difficult to know whether a dose increase is required or not but Debbie as you'd been feeling good you know it was working for you.

I've been on citalopram now since last August and never thought I would feel able to get back to work but I am now back (albeit phased return) and into my 3rd week. Im still not sleeping well at all and my legs are driving me mad with burning and tingling but I actually get up now without thinking how sick or anxious I feel. I also think severuthing is related to how tired I feel.

Sometimes I could feel nauseous if I thought hard enough but refuse to allow myself to overthink everything. Did either if you get the book I recommended ? I think that was my turning point and now have a list of people wanting to borrow it !

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Hi Gerrymoo

Glad to hear you're back at work and your last blip eased off (I like the 'blipped off' phrase).  Yes it is hard to know whether to increase or not but I think if you're showing signs of some changes, albeit patchy, then I'd say that dose will work if you wait.  

2 people, a friend and a family member, both had similar burning and tingling in their legs too.  Family member had restless legs and couldn't her legs still and my friend had that burning / tingling all over her body when she had it.  I suppose if you think about it your nerves are affected and equally the meds work on your nerves, so I expect they're bound to feel the vibration ... a bit like a short circuit.

Yes I got the book and am reading it and I've been passing the link onto others too.  What a find!!  Its so true - that's exactly how I read it many years ago from a different source and how I applied things to my own recovery too along with the meds.  Its not the mysterious maze you think it is - although its still scary, but it takes away a lot of the fear.

Thanks for recommending it.  Am enjoying reading it .... I keep nodding yes, and oh my, yes that's right surprised  Very well written.  How did you come by it ?

K x

17

Hi Debbie

I will admit that the early morning anxiety on waking was the last symptom to disappear for me.  When I started having normal evenings which slowly spread more into my day over months, although I had that awful anxiety first thing I began not to dread it as much because I knew it wasn't how the rest of my day would pan out.  I began to look forward to my anxiety free evenings and could cope with the mornings better.  One day I woke anxiety free and though I had some more anxious mornings to come they got better as didn't come back.

Mornings are always the worst.  I think its because you go to bed, your body becomes deeply relaxed and you don't think of it at all during sleep, and on waking your body immediately goes back into the anxious mode because thats what its used to, and so it hits you.  As you recover more your body will learn to relax and in time will 'remember' the relaxed state on waking eventually.  Its muscle memory.

No don't make yourself think of anything else.  That's a sure way to make it stick more.  If someone said to you 'now I don't want you to think of a giraffe' then your mind will instantly think of a giraffe.  Same with the thoughts.   Let the thoughts be there, let them chatter away because they're going to anyway.  The key is to not let them bother you, don't react with anxiety to them, and if you do that's fine, just let the anxiety wash over you.  Again it takes time, but they will disappear eventually.  When you suffer with this illness / condition, your body and mind becomes very tired as you constantly search for an answer and relief, and thoughts stick to a tired mind.  As you recover and the anxiety eases, so too will the thoughts.  An anxious body = an anxious mind.

The illness follows the same pattern for everyone .... albeit we have different worries etc, but the pattern is the same ...  and recovery is there for everyone too.  And to think all those years ago I thought I was the only one.  I thought there HAS to be someone somewhere with the same thing.  Little did I know .......

K x

 

18

Hi again Katecogs (love this nickname!)

Yes I felt I could relate to the content of this book straight away, it really explained well in a very readable way how to deal with this dreaded anxiety. It made me feel like I was more in control of what was happening to me and how to regain control of my recovery. Don't get me wrong, I've still got some ongoing issues such as the legs and not sleeping which need to drastically improve but I'm trying not to get too affected by them and hope I'm taking it more in my stride and not letting how I feel stopping me doing things.

You've been such a massive help Kay and what you say and how you put it across is so calming and friendly - I'm sure you have helped so many people in their hour of need !

I think aswel your probably right about this silly leg problem, Constant itching and burning and aching but hey ho 😀 being back at work amongst my fantastic colleagues is such a tonic too. Although it's always so busy, it's very much teamwork and mutual support - my boss said she didn't think i would get back to work I was that bad at one point so each time I finish a shift it's like a mini victory for me against this awful anxiety which came like a bolt out of the blue.

Let me know when you've finished the book - he's written a sequel so think I might get that too! Thank you so much again for all your help and encouragement

Gerry xx

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Hi Gerrymoo

I had a few other weird school nicknames ...... I think friends never stop giving them smile  I like yours too ..... dare I ask how that came about?  haha

Yes when you start reading the book you think that's it exactly!!!  Every symptom is explained perfectly and like he says, it won't stop immediately, but understanding certainly stops the a lot of the fear about it.  I like also that he explains every symptom is purely side effects of anxiety and to stop worrying about each individual new symptom and understand that its just anxiety.  I used to tell myself that when I was recovering, though I didn't feel it, but always said 'its just anxiety'.

Anxiety does cause a lot of physical problems too, like 'crawling' legs and sleeplessness, and of course they then begin to cause anxiety, especially sleep, because we need it to feel well.

These meds also help so much too though.  Sometimes we can't quite get started on the road to recovery or don't know where to start, and these meds hang onto your serotonin, making you feel happier and calmer, and in time help to break the cycle of anxiety - fear - anxiety.  Though I used the book method I'd been ill for so long I needed help from medicine too (though I didn't know I was actually recoverying when I took them).

It is good being back in the throng of things isn't it.  Its hard to return to work, but once back with colleagues doing normal things again, though you don't forget your illness ... (yet) ... you need to be doing your normal routine whilst recovering too.  Sounds like you have some lovely work friends.  Take it easy still though xx

Yes I'll let you know when I've read the book - I keep retracing my steps and rereading bits.  I saw there's another book too so expect I'll buy that too.  I have a number of books on this subject.  So handy - especially these ones.

K xx

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Hi Katecogs 😉

Yes I second everything you say ! Gerrymoo just came about cause of my name but mostly I get Gerry. Being a mum I'm used to anything and everything lol x

Take care and have a good weekend kay x

Gerry x