Started on citalopram 3 weeks ago, 5 mg first week,10 mg the past 2 weeks . i have never been on any meds for anxiety or depression . My problem is intrusive thoughts that create high anxiety . I dont know if I have Ocd or what condition I have . Very frustrated !! One therapist said , high anxiety and ptsd , another said anxiety , yet another said ocd .
I feel for anyone suffering from this crap .
My question s does this drug get worse before it helps ?
I feel like my days were a bit better the second week when the dose was upped but now I’m crying everyday , seems like my mind keeps creating awful thoughts .
So i have to wonder if the meds are making my problem worse ?
They will make you worse before better! I had horrible side effects for at least 6 weeks and have got them again as ive recently increased x
Oh that’s my fear , guess I’ll keep taking the meds , hope for the best .
Thanks!
yeah they can make you a lot worse before better. my advice would be keep a diary of how you feel each day so you can check for any progress. as it’s so slow improving at first. you need to give each dose 8-12 weeks. some people see a massive improvement before some people after.
just keep going. you should start seeing some little improvements by week 6-8. some people are even back to normal by then. I’m one of the unlucky ones and take months to see improvements.
also a lot of anxiety disorders have a lot of the same symptoms. so it is hard to tell.
you will get there x
lucky you are on the first time taking a med it seems to work faster the first time and not as hard to handle too x
same. it sucks so much doesn’t it
Thank you so much for the encouragement that i need to keep taking the meds .
And you’re right , I am very fortunate to be taking meds for the first time at my age . I have adult children and young grandchildren that I pray will never experience anything like this ,
I was hoping for a quick fix but I guess ill
have to be patient which had never been one of my strong suits .
God bless you , hope you have a wonderful day !
I did find 10mg made my anxiety worse so dropped to 5mg, but was previously on citalopram briefly and stopped because made my hair fall out and swapped to sertraline, which then gave me OCD type symptoms, so have chopped and changed a bit. My intrusive thoughts centre on thoughts may have harmed someone, therapist I saw said those types thoughts often linked to PTSD. Husband nearly died 4 years ago so maybe linked to that. The self help books all tell you to just accept they are thoughts but not that simple I know. Distraction helps but difficult to put into practice with so many limitation at the moment.
Thank you for replying and reading your post helps since I have similar issues .
I can relate to self help books , easier said than done to accept that they’re just thoughts 
and not sure if I want to continue taking citalopram , that’s terrible that you had hair loss from taking that med !!
I so agree that distraction is tough right now and it defintely can help , need to make myself go outside and enjoy the sunshine instead of lying on the couch over thinking all the time!
God bless 
I’m using shampoo with collagen this time in case affects my hair again. It’s worth carrying on with it fir a while longer it is recommended for helping with OCD? The sertraline was awful it’s much better than that, 'm only 3 weeks in like you. I have just started seeing a psychotherapist who is helping I think, the books ae OK but not easy to put into practice. Think all meds take while to start helping. I know that feeling not wanting to go out don’t beat yourself up couple weeks ago I couldnt go out but this wwek improved a bit. It seems very up and down ride but give the citalopram a while longer.
Hearing this helps alot , thanks for posting!
I’ve been afraid of taking anything for this prob
but knew I had to do something .
Glad your therapist is helping and hope you continue to improve !
Taking your advice and give the citalopram a little longer , praying it works ! Supposed to see the doc later next week to discuss any progress.
I’ ll pay close attention to my hair too , thanks so much for letting me know .
Iwas reluctant to try any other meds too as zopiclone withdrawal caused all this but struggled for 8 months waiting for things to improve doing nothing , but that didnt work so figure it’s worth a try. Only seems affect few peoples hair so wouldnt worry, and the shampoo with collagen does help and hopefully if happens again will gradually ease. Think they all seem have some sort of side effect . It does seem from what other have said you need to give them about 3 months sonetimes to really start kicking in . It is difficult Iknow you get impatient to start feeling better but i do think the current situation is making us with anxiety feel worse.
I’m glad I’m not the only one that was reluctant to trying meds , helps so much to hear that it can get better .
Just in an awful space right now and the fact that I’m a very sensitive person isn’t helping. .
Hate being whiny , just seems like the meds are making things worse at the moment .
I’ll stick with it because like you said it does take time .
So encouraging you are!
Stay well
You aren’t whiny no different to the rest of us. All bit trial and error, I’m wondering when to increase the dose as think I need to get up to 10mg to get rid of the thoughts think maybe I’ll try in about 3 weeks go up to 7 then 10. The thoughts are still awful when I go out but I do want to actually try and go out, and my husband thinks my mood definitely lifted. Think any improvement is very subtle so you almost aren’t aware of it. They are threatening to stop anybody exercising outside over here, as had crowds ignoring the distancing rules this weekend in the parks. That would really push me over edge as desperately trying get out. I went through spell of crying all the time it does go off trust me!
Oh wow, hoping they don’t go to extremes.
its so nice out and I can see how that would be quite distressing to not be allowed to exercise, jog etc .
Hoping people will follow the social distancing rules so it doesn’t come to that ’
My thoughts are still awful too , makes me cry then I get mad because its so difficult to understand what’s going on or why . But none of it makes sense !! Ahhh , so frustrating but that’s anxiety i suppose .
Hope the dosage increase in your meds help , your hubby sees an improvement , that’s fantastic !!
Blessings , stay well
Think there would be riots in the street, already talk in papers that some of the measures too extreme. Yes the thoughts are awful, didnt find books helped Iunderstand it’s due to anxiety and that they are just thoughts and no quick fix but letting them go very hard. Be good to hear how long it took other people before thoughts eased. I’ll give it few more weeks before i increase. The current situation doesnt help especially as no idea how long restrictions be in place. Hope you soon feel bit better.
I wonder as well about how long it took for other people’s thoughts to ease . That would be great to know !
You’re so right about books and it being so hard to let the thoughts go . I’ve googled , researched and there isn’t a quick fix, wish there was such a thing ! But there is hope and faith that the meds will work . Just so difficult
waiting it out .
Hopefully the restrictions will be lifted soon when things calm down .
Something that I remember a minister saying years ago is that tough tines never last but tough people do !
Hoping you feel much better soon!
Yes would be helpful to know if meds did eventually stop the thoughts for others as worry be stuck in this loop forever. Did post question to Katiecogs in another post as know she posts a lot but it’s being moderated for some reason. I don’t google about thought and OCD too much now in some ways just make you more aware of them. Had them for over a year gradually got worse so not going go overnight. I just get some bored at moment with all limitations gives me too much time to think . Hope you soon improve.
Yep i have to stop googling , it does make things worse ,
You are the second person that told me that besides my husband . I’m stubborn and think I can find the problem and fix it , Nope
I do have another question for you ,
Do you take the citalopram in the a.m. or later in the day ?
I dont know that it matters its just that I realized this morning that my mind is calmer and I haven’t taken the meds yet.
Seems that when i take it early in the day it makes me very anxious and ofcourse the thoughts are harder to control .
This could all be in my head , the meds could actually be starting to work after 3 weeks but then i dont want that dreadful feeling . hmmm, what to do .
Also,
I’ve read Katiecogs posts as well , she offers great info.
Okay enough about me !
How are you feeling ?
Hope your day goes better .
Katie cogs hasn’t replied to post maybe she doesnt dip in anymore.. Would be interesting to hear how long it took others thoughts to improve though. I must admit do still google sometimes just see if anything else others do to improve things or what I’m doing wrong.. Am seeing psychotherapist but via skype now so not quite the same, the books did nothing for me although some find them helpful i know, think therapy better as she’s trying get to the root of what causing the anxiety. I take them after my dinner in the evening was thinking of swapping to morning but maybe not after what you said! Seems common theme that most people find mornings are worse anxiety wise. Just getting so bored with these restrictions maybe sign improvon a bit but would be helpful to know how long to leave it before increasing. Hope things improve for you too.
I think I will start taking the meds after dinner and I hope i didn’t share too much about taking meds in the morning
You are most likely correct that anxiety is worse in the mornings and has nothing to do with the meds .
My sister takes her meds at night , says it helps her sleep.
So glad to hear that therapy is helping you!
I haven’t asked my therapist how long its taken people to stop having the thoughts or at the very least ease up but i think that’s a question
inquiring minds would like to know 
Would your doctor or therapist help with deciding when to up your meds ?
I’m still on 10 mgs. and i think I’'m feeling some improvement .
Stay well , better days soon