Hi, I've been on Citalopram for anxiety since 2005, 30mgs initially but went up to 40mgs in 2016. I then had terrible anxiety last year and my GP added 15mgs Mirtazapine. It worked really well for 2 weeks then the anxiety came back and it wasn't until nearly 3 months after first taking that it finally went. However, about a month ago it returned and my GP put me on 30mgs and reduced my Citalopram to 35mgs initially with the aim of cutting down to 30mgs after a few weeks. Now the new dosages of my meds have made me feel awful, I still feel anxious and additionally feel depressed, I can't think straight and can't get out of bed in the morning. I feel really weird, it doesn't feel normal. I hate this feeling. I usually feel better as the day goes on but I dread waking with the awful feeling every morning. I have a GP's appointment tomorrow. Wondering if anyone can advise?
Get off the mitrazepine as soon as possible there horrible made me very anxious and angry
My first advice would be don’t go near Mirtazapine.
I have been on 40mgs of Citalopram for about 6 to 9 months and I am doing well although wake up time can be unpleasant. So why did things start going wrong on Citalopram for you?. Besides the drug, I have found a new purpose to life by taking hot drinks to the homeless in the town where I live. As I am retired I have now found this new reason for my life. I know it may sound trivial and smug but this new sense of purpose has really made a massive difference. I still would not dare to stop take my antidepressant but - drug + purpose together is what has worked for me. Finding this purpose is the hard thing to find. You mention finding it difficult to get out of bed. Did the citalopram failure coincide with retirement or being unemployed..i.e lack of purpose or some other life style change?
Why do you say dont go near mirtazapine. I was given it for a time and never felt well. Have tried to ditchit slowly but side effects are bad. How do imget it away?
I am very anti mirtazapine because of my experience with the drug and because of all the horrendous stories in this forum about withdrawal and other issues.
Vikki,
You need to get back to the doctor straight away. I was on Citalopram for years and never had any side effects, it just stopped working. The combination obviously doesn't suit you. Good luck xx
Thank you everyone for your advice. Just wondering if anyone knows of any other drug that is good for anxiety other than Citalopram and Mirtazapine and, of course, Diazepam? I am going back to my GP this afternoon.
Additionally, it seems I may have got used to Citalopram due to being on it for 13 years.
vikki, the only drugs that I found work are any of the benzodiazepines. I have been dealing with GAD for better than sixty years and no other drug has worked for me. Unfortunately these drugs are prescribed only short term for fear of dependency. More research needs to be done since the drugs that are being prescribed are no way near as effective and have terrible side effects. I am now taking 30mg mirtazapine and 10 mg escitalopram and am still at square one. God help us.
Hi James,
How can they prescribe us Mirtazapine, a mind altering drug with wicked daily side effects but not benzodiazepines. So what if there addictive when your living with Anxiety there needed at times, end of.
I think the b******s are cruel. Giving out Mirtazapine that immediately gives you Anxiety, inside tremors, brain zaps, it doesn't seem right.
I agree. Mirtazapine has taken my life away from me. It was ok at the start but have ended up with stomach problems and feel enerally awful. Dr has taken me off it but i feel,even worse now. I believe its from withdrawal effects but drs say no theres no such thing. How can they not see that?
i have had mirtaz and diazepam for four years and dr has taken me off mirtaz but i am still having to use the diaz as the withdrawals from mirtaz are so horrendous, anxiety sky high. I dont know how long i can take this alongside the stomach problems it brought too. Where to go from here is a real problem.
Hi Ann,
I saw my GP yesterday and asked her to take me off Mirtazapine. She looked it up and said I have to come off it slowly, 3 weeks on 30mg 30 weeks on 30mg one day and 15 mg the next. Then 15 mg or 3 weeks. Hope this helps. Good luck x
Ann,
Just had a thought if your GP wont listen have you got a branch of MIND where you live. If so go and talk to them. They could put your GP right xx
No branches in scotland.
gp very good getting me off mirtaz just wd is bad and then i have to tackle diazapam which shes aware of but very slow taper
I'd rather be on diazepam than mitrazepine although I'm off all of them now I take 300 trazadone 100 chlorpromazine and feel OK but when I have psychiatrist next month it'll all change and be mucked up
Hi Drew, thanks for your advice. My partner who I live with gave up work nearly 3 years ago and since then he has been ill. Now it's taken its toll on my health. I agree about finding a purpose and so am seeking some additional work to help with that. Voluntary sounds great but sadly I need the money.
good for you Vikki, I know new jobs can be stressful in themselves but with the mental health stuff one has to do something purposeful so we feel better within ourselves.