Hi, can anyone help me, I am on 30mg of Citalopram but am not getting any relief for my anxiety yet. I started on 10mg about 8weeks ago then up to 20mg then three week ago now on 30mg. But for the last week I get to sleep easily as my days are busy but only sleep for 2 hours then I’m awake all night. I now take a Tamazapam 10mg when I wake up and get another 2-3 hrs sleep. What should I do to get a full nights sleep?
Try taking a low dosage of Benadryl 25milligram to be exact with your benzo..that's what my phychiatrist prescribed me and I sleep the full 8hours..
It will take a bit of time for your sleep to straighten out again, since you only increased 3 weeks ago. It seems like you moved up doses fairly fast, which can also make side effects worse.
You could visit your doctor and see if they will prescribe or suggest something for you to do to help you sleep longer; personally, I would just stick with the Tamazapam for now, and realize that it will eventually get better.
If they're still not working I'd go back to your GP. ALWAYS run any changes like this through your GP. I'd also look at doing a sleep diary EG Time to Bed | how I felt | what I was thinking | what time I went to sleep at.
Went back to the GP yesterday and she said to stay on the Citalopram do not change the dose without seeing a Dr. She also said don’t take the Tamazapam as it’s very addictive and has bad side effects. I have now been awake since 3:20 am and although I would like to go off to sleep my brain is too active to let me.
Hi Philip
I went on citalopr recently for mild anxiety. I stayed on it for just over four weeks before stopping, I had to as I had severe constipation. However I suffered extreme anxiety and also a sleep pattern like the one you described above.
After coming off citalopram I restored my sleep to some reasonable level by using ambien for about two weeks. Basically I would take 1/4 to 1/2 a pill to get to sleep and then a 1/4 of a pill each time I woke up. Eventually the 2 hours became 3 hours became 4 hours. I am no longer using ambien as off two weeks ago and sleep while still not perfect is much better than it was. That’s how I did it anyhow. Not sleeping is an absolute killer, my life is slowly getting back on track now I am getting some level of sleep.