My GP wants me to swop to sertraline today. I started citalopram on 6th dec and it hasnt really settled with me, anxiety and side effect wise. I am having constant muscle twitching and jerking keeping me awake at night so he says its not suiting me! How frustrating is this journey, I just want to settle and get back to my old self 
anyone have an opinion on this?x
hey aimee, didnt the jerking etc start when you increased? x
What dose are you on. I would personally say it is still early days. I still get those physical effects and am now on week 23 on 30mg but my anxiety has really improved and my mental outlook too but this has only happened recently
I have had the jerking, twitching and weakness at whatever dose I started on 10 then 20 now 30.
It started after I increased yes, decreased a week ago and its just as bad, in fact like night was the worst night so far very frustrating i dont know what to do because there isnt a right or wrong answer, its just trial and error isnt it x
it stl very early days hun and if u went from 10 to 30 in that short of a time thats why this is happening. i started 8th oct now week 19 and still on 20.. still room fr improvement but slowly getting there..i started on sertraline hated them but each of has a different experience on each med xx
aw it is lovely, and i cant really tell you what to do, just know if it was me id give the lower dose more time as the up and down will be effecting you right now x
Hi Aimee
Sorry you’re having issues with this meds, but like the others say, I’d personally also persevere with this on a lower dose. You’ve only been on this just over 2 months so still early times.
Though you decreased a week ago the effect won’t have taken place yet - there’s always a long lag after any increase or decrease on SSRI meds.
Your doctor has your best interests at heart though, and yes it is trial and error getting the right meds to suit you. I’ve taken 3 different ones, and all worked well but the first gave me awful anger issues, the second was discontinued and the third was bingo!
If you’re swapping meds I hope your doc is doing a cross taper?
Hey Kate! I'm not having a smooth journey at all this time around with Citalopram!! He has told me to do a straight swop - because I am already taking an SSRI medication he says it won't be like starting from the beginning with one. The muscle jerking is so severe he doesn't want me to take any more Citalopram. :( I didnt have any side affects like this last time I was on Citalopram. I can't understand it. I'm more than fed up. The not sleeping is worse than my anxiety so the way I see it, I haven't got much to lose by giving Sertraline a try because I can't see how it could be any worse. I've been awake all night :(
sorry to hear this
HI what side effects did you get with zoloft please
Sorry you are suffering like this. I've been trying the Epsom salts as foot soak think they help bit with sleep, hope you soon improve whatever you decide to do. These meds do seem to cause a variety of side effects for some people
glad the salts are working :)
it takes really long time to settle. the medication works by getting into your nerve synapse and regulating neurotransmitters in this case mainly serotonin. this process takes weeks and months actually. at first serotonin gets depleted making the anxiety really bad as well as depression in some cases, depending on the person.
it's very important that the doses are not increased within such short time most people start on ten and finish increasing at 20mg this is a dose that been proved to work well on anxiety. every time the dose is increased it resets everything so some people experience side effects all over again. the best is to stay on the same dose for 16 weeks at least. count your recovery from the last dose increase. 30mg might be too high tbh. unfortunately GPs tend to play lab games with patients. switching meds switching doses. worked in mental health long enough to see these poor people suffer due to GPs incompetence when it comes to mental health. please give a dose time to work. switching and starting new medication is really hard.
This is very interesting I have been on Citalopram for 23 weeks 10,20 for five weeks then a psychiatrist put me on 30 mg I saw him once so have been on 30mg for 18weeks. I had severe anxiety and depression and health anxiety. I lost my swallow could only manage soup and prescribed shakes so lost weight.The swallow is much better now though not as good as before I was ill. I had so many swallow tests and a head and neck mri all normal. Was off work for 3 months due to debilitating panic attacks. My doctor wants me to stay on this dose and my anxiety is so much better and so am I mentally. But in the future what would be a good dose and what is the best way to titrate down obviously slowly when I feel totally recovered
if the dose works for why not stay on it for as long as you want. dont forget it's a really long process to get better. sounds really rough what you been through. I have chosen to stay on my dose of 20mg for as long as possible I am not planning to come of it as in the past even tough I came off and managed to stay off meds for 7 months it just all came crashing down. I would say if you do plan to get off the medication or even reduce do it very very slowly what worked for me when I was reducing was I started to take the medication every other day then every two days eventually also decreasing the dose and following the same process. I feel like this works best but everyone is different. 20mg is a good dose to stay on as it is a lowest therapeutic dose although people do good on 10mg as maintenance dose as well. just stay on the dose that is working for you for as long as possible, there is no shame on being on antidepressants. there are plenty if people who took it for years with no health issues.
Thank you for your advice I certainly will be staying on 30 for the time being
have you still got the muscle twitching? i have a tiny bit only when im relaxed at night but it does seem to be getting better now im not taking citalopram anymore x
hi aimee! have you switched to sertraline now? if so how are you doing? x
Hi Lauren, I did a straight switch to 50mg Sertraline on Tuesday. The day after I was far less anxious and I am sleeping so much better! Each day I am better. I was expecting to feel worse for the first few weeks so I don't think this is a placebo effect! Its early days but so far I have seen a HUGE improvement and hopefully it will continue x