Citalopram 4 weeks - is this ‘normal’?

Treatment and medication
1

Hi All,

I’m just coming up to four weeks at 20mg. I know it’s ‘early days’ but I’m really struggling to see how this will get better. Did any of you have the following symptoms?
• anxiety/agitation/doom ALL DAY
• waking at 3.30am feeling dreadful
• dry eyes, dry mouth, dry lips
• gastric upset/acid reflux/cough
• feel like you can’t breathe properly, tight chest

I’m so exhausted with this :frowning: Encouragement truly appreciated.

Happy Christmas Eve xx

2

Hi Lucy, yes all then symptoms are quite common, I myself when I was struggling, cut down my dose by 5mg & felt a lot better.

3

Hi Lucy I had all those symptoms it’s just the meds getting into your system. Things will start to calm down soon and you will start to feel better. I know it’s tough at the start but hang in their I’ve been on them 6 months and they have really helped. Have nice Christmas. Paul

4

Yes what your feeling is normal. I went through the same stuff and wondered if it would ever get better–it does. Its kinda crazy cause it was like one day I felt better and now I am feeling like my old self. I’ve been on 10 mg for 6 months. Just try to be patient and give it time–I know that is really hard! You can do this and you’ll feel better in the end. I tried accupuncture and talking to a therapist too and it did seem to help some. Journaling also helped so I could get all the complaints and worries out of my head. Good luck and I pray it will get better for you soon! Merry Christmas!

5

hey lucy .
i have been exactly the same as u have with all those side effects too , im now 12 weeks and nearly side effect free . gud luck

6

Hi Lucy
The dry eyes, mouth, lips and stomach issues sounds completely normal to me. I had to take water to bed as used to wake up with a really dry mouth. Its still early days for you so the anxiety is normal which can affect your breathing.

7

yes i had all of what u have said it does get better honestly and everyone feels like that to begin with . Just start trying to do a bit more each day do some breathing exercises . hope u feel better soon

8

Thanks Mike, appreciated

9

Thank you for replying Paul. So glad you’re feeling better. It’s the constant dread/anxiety and awful waking that I’m really struggling with.
Happy Christmas to you :slight_smile:

10

Thank you Mama! Good to know it all passed. I’ve never felt so dreadful ALL DAY like this, the anxiety used to pass by the afternoon. The mornings/waking is AWFUL!
Hope you have a lovely Christmas :slight_smile:

11

Thanks for replying Nicola. Did you still feel dreadful
four weeks in? I thought the worst would have passed by now :frowning: Morning anxiety is off the scale. I hope you’re feeling much better and can enjoy a lovely Christmas :slight_smile:

12

Thanks Paula. The ‘dry’ stuff is a bugger, but it’s the 24/7 anxiety/dread and stomach issues that’s bothering me most. It’s bloody awful - we’re told side effects should pass in two weeks! I’m at four weeks and feel like hell. Thanks for replying and have a lovely Christmas :slight_smile:

13

Thanks Michelle, did you have the constant anxiety/dread all day too? It’s so exhausting and the mornings are unbearable. Thank you for sharing your experience. Have a great Christmas!

14

HI… yes very normal. Everyone’s time table is different. I had all the side effects you have. For me it took at least 6 weeks to see an improvement but morning anxiety was the hardest and last to go. Now it’s been 13 weeks and my anxiety and all symptoms are gone! It’s the medicine that is adjusting so it will get better for you too! Hang in there and when you feel down keep coming back here for encouragement. Try to eat if you can a little bit throughout the day and drink water. I took lorazapam to help get me thru the hard days. You may think your not improving but you are. It is really gradual. Pretty soon you"ll be on here encouraging others just like me! MERRY CHRISTMAS!

15

I too am coming up on 4 weeks. I’m feeling better but the anxiety is tough again. I am sleepy all the time and have a constant dread. Sweaty palms and feet, shaking, anxiety. Glad to see it does get better as I dont want to increase dosage. I also take 20mg

16

Thank you Cara! It’s 8pm Christmas Day night and I’ve just had to take a diazepam, the anxiety and agitation has been so awful all day :frowning:
Thank you for the encouragement. It took around six weeks to see any improvement?

17

it’s hard to “see” the improvement because they are such baby steps and it depends on what symptoms or problems your having. You really don’t think your improving until your able to look back and notice it. For example, 1 day I ate lunch… that was an improvement. a week later I craved chocolate… that was a sign of improvement. One day I didn’t need a lorazapam to get thru the day… another step forward. I still felt bad, but the signs were there. Hope that makes sense. Yes, at least 6 weeks , 8 was better but waking up and getting out of bed was hard, 10 was even better, 13 morning anxiety was gone finslly and I Feel great!

18

Really great to hear Cara, and apart from it being encouraging for me, I’m happy for you that you’ve come through it and can now get on with enjoying life :slight_smile:

19

I am week 11, bad dreams in mornings all the time

20

hi, i went through all of these and more. it was about 2/3 weeks before some of the side effects started to even think about going then it gradually got better