Citalopram Has Worked, But You Need To Help It Work.

Treatment and medication
1

I have now been on citalopram for nearly 5 weeks.

The first 3 weeks were the hardest weeks I have ever dealt with.

I was perscribed citalopram for anxiety, panic attacks and depression, which was slowly taking over my life.

As I mentioned the first 3 weeks were the worst.

Side effects included:

Tension headaches, Bad Dizziness, Sickness, upset stomach, loss of appetite, crazy thoughts, mind constantly racing, NO SLEEP, fuzzy/muggy feeling in my head, INCREASED panic attacks and anxiety, Tearful, LOW mood, Hyperness, Poor motivation, Helpless, Detatchment from myself, and a feeling of will I ever be back to myself.

I can now say I am back to me, and finally feel like I know myself.

In the beginning I put all my bad feelings down to citalopram, also any illness I got I thought it must be the citalopram, in actual factit was me, and my fears. Fears can take over, DO NOT LET THEM.

The only person that can pull you through this, is your self, do not let this anti depressent take over, and use it as an excuse, like i started to. The side effects are very real, and horrific, and you can feel like you are alone, but fight them, rather than feed into them.

Things I found that helped:

Eating (even though i did not want to), counselling, talking to friends and family, patient.info, the samartian helpline, keeping a diary about how I felt, getting out and about, self motivation, and also take time out for myself, and figure out what caused all this, and in actual fact no I wasnt crazy or ill etc but I let my fears, and stress get me.

Sorry for the long essay, but the moral of this, is that weeks ago i thought I would never be back to me, and would never feel \"normal again\", but I do, and now I try not to see citalopram as something I need, but just a helping hand. You can all do it, and pull through this hard time, and would like to thank this forum, because its nice to know that I wasnt alone.

I wish everyone great strength and luck.

x

2

Hi CitFan,

I couldn't agree with you more - you haver GOT TO WANT IT for it to work - just like with all other things - slimming, smoking etc.

I've been on Cit since about March and was doing well but now sinking back down again as just recently I lost my mother and feel as bad as before. I'm going away on holiday this Thursday and just hoping that will lift my spirits but if only I could get a full nights sleep I'm sure I'd feel much better.

Anyway here's to tomorrow smile

Jane

3

I have now been on citalopram for nearly 5 weeks.

The first 3 weeks were the hardest weeks I have ever dealt with.

I was perscribed citalopram for anxiety, panic attacks and depression, which was slowly taking over my life.

As I mentioned the first 3 weeks were the worst.

Side effects included:

Tension headaches, Bad Dizziness, Sickness, upset stomach, loss of appetite, crazy thoughts, mind constantly racing, NO SLEEP, fuzzy/muggy feeling in my head, INCREASED panic attacks and anxiety, Tearful, LOW mood, Hyperness, Poor motivation, Helpless, Detatchment from myself, and a feeling of will I ever be back to myself.

I can now say I am back to me, and finally feel like I know myself.

In the beginning I put all my bad feelings down to citalopram, also any illness I got I thought it must be the citalopram, in actual factit was me, and my fears. Fears can take over, DO NOT LET THEM.

The only person that can pull you through this, is your self, do not let this anti depressent take over, and use it as an excuse, like i started to. The side effects are very real, and horrific, and you can feel like you are alone, but fight them, rather than feed into them.

Things I found that helped:

Eating (even though i did not want to), counselling, talking to friends and family, patient.info, the samartian helpline, keeping a diary about how I felt, getting out and about, self motivation, and also take time out for myself, and figure out what caused all this, and in actual fact no I wasnt crazy or ill etc but I let my fears, and stress get me.

Sorry for the long essay, but the moral of this, is that weeks ago i thought I would never be back to me, and would never feel \"normal again\", but I do, and now I try not to see citalopram as something I need, but just a helping hand. You can all do it, and pull through this hard time, and would like to thank this forum, because its nice to know that I wasnt alone.

I wish everyone great strength and luck.

x[/quote Really good news for those who are just starting out. Continued improved health to all those on this forum. I thought your message contained some really interesting insights, ie. one has to contribute to make the medication work. Best Wishes. mq7

4

Mq7: I am glad my post, made some sort of sense to you, and glad to hear you have the self motivation. That is really good to hear. I do find that not thinking about the tablet every morning has actually helped me forget that i do take citalopram. Also when I have bad days, I actually remember that any \"normal human\" has bad days, and actually I have now less bad days than when I wasnt taking citalopram. Focusing on the bad days, in actual fact gives them some sort of importance, when really they dont actually happen that much, and the good days are what creates happiness.

Jane: I am really sorry to hear about your mother, And very naturally what you are feeling I believe to be part of anyone who has lost someone close to them. (I could not imagine how you possibly could be feeling). Try and keep your self strong and positive in order to deal with what has happened. In regards to sleep, I found that for over a month I could not sleep, so instead of getting mad and thinking about not actually having enough sleep, I made a bedtime routine which was:

Hot Drink

Abit of TV

Read a book

Then turnt lights off (Which eventually worked)

Sometimes I wouldnt fall asleep until 3am, but dont fight it, as it will make you very tense, and your body wont relax. Relaxation is the Key

Hope this Helps

Wish you a great holiday, abit of time out defo seems like a great plan.

x