Hi, I started back on citalopram 10mg on 29th Nov last year and the brand was "accord" I had a bad few weeks on it until side effects settled, then after 4 weeks the dose was increased to 20mg...Then after 5 days of increase the brand changed to "aurobindo" i carried on and things settled after a few weeks of bad side effects (I get increased anxiety when I start these meds) anyway, I had 3-4 good days once side effects settled but then 10 days before my period I dipped and was crying a lot and anxiety was there. Then once I started my period I seemed better. Had a better 3-4 days and a fantastic 3 days after that and really thought I'd turned a corner.
I woke up on Friday and had hardly any anxiety at all I'd been to the chemist to collect my new prescription and the brand had changed to "accord" again. Didn't think anything of it as I'd been on it when I started the 10mg. I took it on Friday morning and on sat morning I woke up really anxious and nervous, took it again sat morning and pushed through the day but didn't feel as good as day before...Sunday I felt rubbish, took in the morning as normal but by Sunday night I felt awful, took it again Monday morning and things just snowballed, anxiety through the roof, dry heaving in a morning, nauseous, burning stinging skin on my arms which I havnt had for 3 weeks + and panic again. It's just getting worse.
Could it be due to brand change? Or is it just coincidence and it's my anxiety? Iv spoken to pharmacist and she's going to change me back to the brand I was on before. Iv not taken my citalopram this morning as pharmacist told me not to and wait for the old brand I was on which should be ready today.
Anybody else found this with brand change or am I just reading too much in to it? X
Hi there. You are at about the same stage as me. I started end of November too, 10mg then to 20. I then increased this week to 30 and my anxiety has gone through the roof again. The pharmacy gave me an extra 10mg which is a different brand to the 20mg I take but ive just carried on. I think its probably just the increase as a lot of people say you get an increase in anxiety when taking more. Did your pharmacist say this could be an issue. Ive seen people mention this before but surely they cannot issue a tablet which is different??!!
I am also on my period at the moment and that sends my anxiety sky high as well. I dont know whether its all in my head, the tablets or possibly hormones/peri menopause! x
Hi, iv not had an increase in 6 weeks. It seemed to settle and then 10 days before my period my anxiety snowballed and my mood dropped a lot. Then I had a better week but the day after a change in brand I started to feel really bad! To the point I thought I was dying! I still don't feel right but Iv not taken that brand today and awaiting a different one. I had to take a 2mg diazepam at 3pm yesterday as I was so bad x
Funnily enough (or not!) I questioned everyone a few weeks ago on this point as I had a change of brand too and felt crap but I was due my period too. Everyone said that they cannot mess with the strength of the drug etc as it would mess everyone up. I did google it but got no definite answer! I'm going to carry on for the time being with my two different brands lol but will be really interested to see what happens when you get your usual ones. Mine are Medreich 20mg and Accord 10mg, both from the same pharmacy.
I really don't know how to find out for sure but if different brands are doing that to people then the manufacturers or whoever need to sort it out, it's not good enough.
It could also be that you're just having a blip as we all call them. I was great for two weeks, back to normal and then the period hit and all hell broke loose again. I calmed down but still had a nervy tummy on waking which has never gone. I have had a couple,of health scares in between caused by a doctor, all of which were fine so that didn't help.
Let me know how you get on xx
Hi, it's not the strength of med that changes with the brand it's other ingredients from what they use to wrap the tablets and how they are pressed. The active ingredient can be metabolised differently apparently. Anyway....I got a new brand today "teva" as chemist couldn't get the one I wanted. I havnt taken the "accord" brand today I took the teva brand instead. I feel better than I did yesterday but now I don't know if it's because of that or because of the 2mg Diaz I took at 3pm yesterday still being in my system x
If it is that then that is so wrong especially for those of us who suffer anxiety. They should be made exactly the same way. Omg I feel so annoyed !!!
i doubt it's the diazepam as after mine wear off after a few hours, I go back to feeling crap the next day. I am always worse in the morning but get better by the evening whether I take the diazepam or not. These drugs certainly are a minefield!
did you ask the chemist? X
Hi ladies,
I have to say that I took a bad reaction when my brand was changed I was suffering heightened anxiety feeling sick, running to the loo sweats and tingling over my body, and I questioned my brand, so I got it changed back to my usual brand and everything settled within 48 hrs back to how I was,
So I found it defo made a difference,
Wendy xx
Thank you for that Wendy. Hoping it's the same for me. My anxiety was horrendous and it started off mild after the 2nd tablet and just got worse by the day x
Hi Wendy
i think I'm going to phone my pharmacy in the morning and see if I can get the same brand then. I cant tell right now as I've only increased in the last 3 days but my 20 is Medreich and my 20 is accord. I also had Bristol at one point, all from the same pharmacy!! I just find it incredible that manufacturers can mess around with what should be the same drug. Surely that's playing with people's lives??!! What if it was a heart medication which is obviously important. I really don't know what to think right now!!! If they are different, that is well out of order. God, we suffer enough with this illness, as it is!
How are you now anyway x
Mine is always really bad in a morning. Sometimes get more relief in an evening but with new med, increase and periods Iv been pretty bad x
You sound exactly the same as me, mornings are awful, can't sit still and feel I have to get everything done, like a nervous energy but horrible stomach feeling. Starts to get better in the afternoon/evening and again, like you, periods start it all off again! I'm having a blood test tomorrow for menopause to see if it could be that x
I'm having my hormones checked on the 21st to see if it's anything to do with that. Hope we both get some answers x
Yeah me too!! I can feel the old me under the surface, it just won't come out!! Crazy stuff!, x
Hi again,
Yes I get the accord make now the pharmacist has made a note on my records, Claire I just got worse and worse then when I spoke to my doctor she told me it could possibly be the different make, once I got the old make again I felt a difference after 24 hours but it took a couple of days to settle back down,
Debbie it's is all still citalopram but it's the ingredients it's mixed with that are different, each company uses different ingredients (fillers/coating) and that's what can make people feel worse,
I defo was worse, and I know it was the different brand that caused it, if you ask the pharmacist they will try and get you the same brand, it's worth trying
I'm not too bad Debbie feeling quite flat at the moment, it's quite strange really,
Wendy xx
Thank you for your reply Wendy. It was the accord brand that made me feel worse, it was changed to the teva brand yesterday. Just hope this one works better.
Wendy what mg citalopram do you take? And how long have you been on it? X
Hopefully it will, Claire your body must tolerate the other one better, you should feel a difference in a couple of days,
I'm on 20mg of citalopram and have been on 20 for about 15 weeks now
Wendy xx
Hi claire and Wendy
I have just spoken to my pharmacist and he said that the brand change will not make a difference. In fact he said he had never heard of it making a difference and that manufacturers are not allowed to do anything different to them, they have to be made to a specific level, if that makes sense! Not sure I believe him right now! I still asked for the same brand as my other one and they didnt have it. So im stuck with it right now. Or I just stop taking it. God this is a minefield.
I fee crap this morning again, and have taken a diazepam which has not touched the sides! I did feel like this when I first started taking cit so maybe my issue is with the increase, who knows x
Well I felt slightly better yesterday, not feeling as good today. Can't get rid of that awful doom feeling hanging over me. No motivation, feel lost, getting intermittent twinges in my chest, stomach is in knots. Just not feeling right.
Maybe the brand change thing is phycological for me I don't know. The brand I got yesterday is one Iv had before but was a few years ago. I'm not expecting to feel 100% better overnight but I'd like to see an improvement in the intensity of my anxiety. If I have a better couple of days (which are few and far between) when it comes back it snowballs and is as intense as ever! Makes me so restless and agitated that I can't think straight and feel like I'm losing my mind! It's a horrid feeling x
Hi, is anyone using TEVA 40mg, my chemist wants to change me from Medreich which I have been on for years and I’m worried.
Why can’t chemists get Medreich anymore, does anyone know???
Hi Debbie, just seen this, sorry!
I have pretty much always had Medreich too but when I got my new prescription a couple of weeks ago, it was Accord and Sandoz! I'm on 30mg so the accord is 20mg and the Sandoz is 10mg. The
Pharmacy apologised and said they couldn't get it any more. It's more likely that they hunt for the cheapest deal they can get at the time!!
Anyway, it hasn't made any difference, no weird side effects etc, I've just carried on as normal.
When I first started cit back in November last year, I did think that brand changes were causing problems but having now recovered, I think it was more likely the cit taking its time to sort me out!! My prescription does specify Medreich but I guess, unless you phone around the pharmacies in your area to check what they have, you just have to take whatever they give you. It does play on an anxiety sufferers mind though x
I'm sure you will be fine x