Hi everyone,
I was taking 10mg of Citalopram for 2 weeks and felt it made a huge difference during the first 5 days (could have just been a psyhcological/ placebo effect though ) I even applied for a job which I had been putting off for a long time due to thinking I was not good enough or capable of doing! Anyway, The effects soon worn off and I found myself feeling sad, lacking energy and motivation once again. My doctor upped my dose to 20mg and I have taken this for 3 days now and can't really say I have noticed any change (I know its very early days). I stupidly had a vodka and coke one night with my partner thinking just one wont do any harm.... I felt so ill the next day and so tired I literally couldnt do a thing.
My doctor has reccomended I go for cognitive behavioural therapy, I was supposed to make a phonecall and book an appointment but I just cant bring myself to do it. Has anyone ever had CBT? Could anyone explain what actually happens? I am just so nervous about it.
Thank you in advance for any advice!
Xx
Hi ruby im on 10mg of citalopram a day im nearly on week 5 and its the last week or so that ive felt a consistant positive change til the 4th week I had noticed positive changes like more good days than bad days and I didnt know if the tablets were working properly or not but glad I stuck with them. Can take 4-6 weeks for full effect so hang on in there.
with regards to cbt ive had it before and found it helpful I just stopped practicing it when I thought I was better and didnt need to do it any more I was wrong so I am going for more cbt soon after my phone assessment next week. Its basically teaching you techniques to change your thoughts I brought some self help books qnd yhey gave me sheets of info and I had to write thoughts down with their good and bad points and consequences wether they were helpful thoughts or not so we can see where our thought pattern is wrong.
hope this makes sense 
please try the cbt youve got nothing to lose xx
Hi ruby
I am taking 20mg since 29th Nov
Ive had my ups and downs but stick with them
Im feeling fantastic and dont know why I wasn't given these tabs 10 years ago
I still have little moments like last night when the kids got me panicky and to noisy and I find my safe space in my bedroom drop of lavender oil (a absolute must if you have anxiety) and chill
Please try cbt its very helpful even when you feel anxious to go deep breath and your talk and let things out
It so helped me
Keep strong
Hi,
I was on 10mg of Cit for 20 days and am now 13 days into 20mg. 20mg is considered the lowest therapeutic dose, so that's probably why your doc's increased them. I had awful side effects from the 10 for about 4 days, then like you I had an improvement and then a drop in mood. When I went on the 20mg I expected more side effects, but didn't get any. Now day 13 and I'm just starting to see a very, very slight change. Still getting low and anxious, but when I do drop low I realise completely that it will pass and isn't the way the world really is. Very subtle, but an improvement. Nearly everyone I've spoken to says you have to give it a minimum of 4-6 weeks to see if it's working, and maybe longer, so hang in there.
I've had counselling, but not CBT so I don't know how that works. I found the counselling very hard going at first - great when I was in there talking, but then very low when I came out. But I stuck with it, and it made a HUGE and permanent difference to the way I look at life, and I'm so glad I did it. I resolved a lot of issues.
Good luck!