Hello, I've been struggling with aniexty for the last month. I was RX'd Citalopram 20 mg a week ago but put of taking it for the first time until last night. The drowsiness has been dreadful. I could not function at work so I came home and slept for 4 hours straight. Now, finally - 14 hours after the inital dose, I'm able to sit up and do some work, without feeling like Im going to fall asleep sitting here. It was so bad the few minutes I was at work that I had to put my head on my desk and fight to stay awake.
I've contacted my doctor about reducing to 10 mg. She is out of the office today but I'm looking for any advice from others who have expreienced the drowiness. I know I can't continue like this because I can't function.
As a side note, I do feel less aniexty today, not sure if that is because fo the drowziness or the drug, but I feel like i can concentrate more and i'm not obsessing over the situation I have been for months.
Thanks.
I am on Citalopram 30mg but started on 10mg and wish I had started on 20mg.
I believe that you will adjust quickly and not be so tired. People tend to be more anxious on 10mg like I was.
Everyone is different with medication but I would see how the next few days go before you decrease dose.
Xx
Hi Carol,
I noticed some drowsiness at first 'however not quite that bad' the first few days,weeks can seem unbearable however for me it was well worth it my anxiety was non existent. still you need to be awake so maybe give it a few days and see if it improves as there are a number of side effects when first taking any serotonin uptakes. Take care all the best.
Hi Carol......firstly don't reduce. You will only get side effects and no benefits. I started on citalopram 13 days ago, then went up to 30 5 days ago. Tiredness.....definitely, but will only last a few more days. It's the spaced out feeling/headache I get now. Can I suggest you take your med at night to give yourself a good nights sleep?
Thanks Iris46,
When you say tiredness - how tired do you get ? Does it effect your ability to work? That's what I'm running into. Again, this was only my first dose and like a dummy, I waited to take it until a Sunday night, when I should have taken it on a Friday to give me the weekend to adjust some. I fear that if I take the 20 mg again tonight (even taking it early in the evening) that I will again face the same issue tomorrow and not be able to do my job (at which I'm facing a huge project with a full 24 hour migration of large system on Wednesday of this week).
One thing that is nice is that I'm not feeling the aniexty that I might have otherwise when thinking of the issues I'm facing. My mind is not repeatedly going over the details or trying to find more details to fret over. If this is a result of the med so soon ( I know usually it does not work this fast), then I know I need to suffer through the side effects to get to the final result. I do feel it is the initial effects of the meds as I have not felt this "calm" in many years. It's as if someone has softened the edges of everything for me.
Thanks for your encouragement.
Thanks for you input! I appreciate it.
Hi thanks for you input. I appreciate you sharing your opinion.
Thanks Carol! I have taken it now for 4 years. Decided 6 weeks ago to come off cold turkey. I didn't think it would be a big deal. Honestly had less of a problem getting off Xanax last year. Believe it or not.
I never had any problem taking it. I could only get up to 10 mg without making me sick. I thought since things were going good I would get off of them. It has been a nightmare. I don't know if it's me or the discontinuation syndrome I guess I'll never know. I caved and started them today. Now I have to go through that. Ugh!
Thank you so much for replying.
I had to start on a low dose. Ssris make me jittery at first. It stops pretty quickly though.
It's a good drug. Good luck!!
As I said I'm now on day 13, going through TWO lots of side effects cos I started on 20 then onto 30. I'm defo not as tired now (though I still want to stay in bed....but always did). I was sleeping like a baby for a few days, and defo calmer, starting to feel "real" again. My anxiety would manifest itself as an electric feeling in upper arms, or a knotted feeling in upper abdomen. All gone now. If you see an improvement in sleep, appetite or energy, they say that's a sign the med is working for you. Keep in touch!
Hi Mellisa....you should never go cold turkey. Build up to your level again, stay on it again till Christmas (we don't want to spoil Christmas), then slowly reduce WEEK BY WEEK over the period of about a month. I'm going to be 70 this year, and staying on them. Can't go through this again. Good luck.....keep the chat going
Hi Iris. I'm not trying it again either. I'm 64. It's too tough. I just can't wait til the celexa kicks in again. The anxiety is terrible. I just can't believe it effected me this way. I thought I'd have no problem stopping. Oh well.
Thank you. You made me feel better 😊
Hi Melissa -
When you said you could only get up to 10 mg without it making you sick, what symptoms did you have?
I did reduce my dose to 10 mg last night. I slept for about 5 hours (not well but did sleep). Then woke up at 3 am and napped on and off until about 5. At 6 I felt nauesaus and jittery, I stayed in bed until 8 and slept another hour and now I'm feeling well enough to get up and get moving. I clearly can not take the 20 mg and be able to function. I'm thinking I just can't tolerage it. Can you tell me more of what happens when you take 20 mgs?
Thanks,
Carol
I started straight away on 20mg Cit after being on top dose of Sertraline the day before, so I had some withdrawal symptoms, and starting up side effects. No wonder I don't know which day of the week it is
Carol, the same as you. Jittery, nauseous and anxious. I felt it with 10 mg but not as bad. I've tried a few times to up my dose but it's just too much.
I am back at the beginning now since stopping celexa and having to start it up again. I couldn't take the withdrawal.
Good luck! I never had a problem with the celexa and it worked but just didn't want to take it anymore.
Thanks Melissa, I'm trying to work thru this. Hopefully I can continue until the drug takes effect, but honestly it seems futile at times. Right now I feel like laying down and sleeping for hours!
I think we prob all feel like that....I'm on day 14 and supposed to increase to 40mg tomorrow, tho GP did say to ease back if side effects get too much. Feel better for having just had a half hour sleep. Unusually I was still awake at 3am, then someone phoned me FOUR times at 0638. My head is pounding today
Carol
I hope it gets easier for you. It did for me and I'm very sensitive to the SSRI'S.
I wish no one had to take any of this stuff.
Good luck. I hope things get better soon.
Well it's 1:15 in the afternoon of the day after my second dose (which I lowered to 10mg from 20 mg). I had a hard time getting out of bed, but forced myself. Earlier this morning after getting up I felt shakey and someone "out of it". Now, appproximately 4.5 hours later, I ate part of a protien bar and drank a few sips of diet 7up and I'm feeling much better and almost normal other than a dulled sense of aniexty. I also have less feeling of my thoughts being focuses on issues that I have been obsessing over the last month (relationship issues). I find myself forgetting completely about that and able to focus on work. So as of right now, day 2 with a lower dose has been much more bareable. Hopefully I stay on this track and can change my dose time to the afternoon hours to eliminate the jitters and drowsiness in the am. I guess, like it's been said all many times, it takes time. I'm much more hopefully at this point than i was even 5 hours ago.
I know this is a lot of information but, I'm hoping that if anyone else out there is in my shoes, my information will help them with the struggle of starting this drug. It's scarey and I've looked at the bottle sitting on my counter for a week before finally having such a crappy day that I knew I had to start it. It not an easy process but if I keep going on the path I'm on now, I think it will be worth the adjustment period.
I should add that i'm an active person and try to walk or run at least 4 miles a day. Monday I was able to walk just under 4. It took some convincing of myself as this was the first full day on the drug. I took my second dose just before going to the fitness center and did struggle to make myself active on the treadmill. Today, my second full day I will again make sure that I get to the fitness center and I'm going to take the 3rd dose tonight a bit later, so that I might sleep past 3 in the morning.
I'm afraid of the weight gain associated with this drug. Right now I weight 154 lbs and will be very certain to watch my weight. I suspect I will drop more weight as I've been dieting and had loss of apetite due to the stress and aniexty I've had the last month. My goal weight is 150 lbs so I'm close to that and then will maintain hopefully.
Again - sorry if this seems to ramble, but I want to offer the information that I think would internest me if I were looking.
Hi Iris -
Hope your day got better since your post. I also hope you can get a full night of sleept tonight!
Hi Carol....I had a dreadful head today with neck ache too so went for reflexology. I came home and slept half hour. I don't know why, but when I sleep afternoon/evening I wake up with a scare, not knowing where I am, just wanting to sleep again to close out the world. I'm supposed to increase dose tomorrow to 40. I think I might give myself some space to clear my zombie head. Otherwise, after 2 weeks, my appetite is improving, energy and motivation too. I'm lucky my sleep is normally good. We are both in early days, but I've had a year of Sertraline which did nothing for me. I'm soooo looking forward to some normality....lost my only brother, I suffered clots on my lungs and had to be resuscitated twice, then this year had pneumonia and labyrinthitis on top of pneumonia. I'm going to be 70 at end of October.....I hope I will feel ready to celebrate