Second Time on Citalopram

Treatment and medication
1

hi,

i was on citalopram for 2 years for anxiety and depression , i took around 6 months to recover and got upto a 40mg dose.

i spent 7 months weaning off until feb this year and 4 weeks ago i found myself at rock bottom again so gp started me on 10mg for 2 weeks and i have now been on 20mg for 2 weeks.

i havent felt a significant improvement yet, but i know its early days and common for anxiety to increase with meds.

my question is…am i likely to need 40mg again?

how quickly can i increase back to that dose?

thanks in advance

2

meant to add…ive also been on propranolol for 2 weeks to help with some of the physical side effects , i had very few side effects when i was on it last time

3

it sounds like withdrawal to me!

4

hi there, im in the same position as yourself..i was on 20mg for 7 years, felt good so i weaned off. unfortunately anxiety came back so im back on..im 7 weeks into 20 mg and after 5 weeks i started on 30mg. so i would say i give 20mg a little bit, after you go up a dose you get the same round of side effects..at least for me it was.. but i have been told by the nice people on this site the for some reason the second time around on the meds takes longer to recovery.
hang in there

5

i did say this to the gp before i went back on.

6

thank you
how are you feeling on the 30?

im terrified it wont work this time. cant remember what it felt like to feel well. everything feels worse this time.

im sure lockdown isnt helping but i cant change that

7

Hi,
i have all the same exact feelings you have, this time around my anxiety felt so much worse then i remember, i thought that i was honestly dying..and it will never stop.for me sleep is causing me some issues as well, worried about sleeping which makes me not sleep..but slowly i have been getting better days..i get setbacks and feel like im starting over again, but the good days come back, i feel alright on the 30s, i do notice a slight difference but i think its way to early yet.
Reading lots of the comments on this forum as alot of people are in our same position, going on for the 2nd time, has been really helpful and most of them say it takes longer the second time around, which was really comforting for me cause the way my dr put it at 4 weeks it should be at full potential.
The pills will work again..i keep telling myself that to. Just need unfortunately give it lots of time.
It doesnt sound like you were off the meds for that long, i wasnt either like maybe 5 weeks..
Hang in there, you can PM if you need to talk.

8

gps dont understand withdrawal!

9

yes i feel like if will never end. its torture.

thankfully my sleep isn’t too affected, i just wake very early with terrible morning anxiety.

i had a good couple of hours yesterday but my mind was searching for things to be anxious about still and when it found something i was straight back to an anxious mess.

yes i think i was off for about the same time.

i have a gp review wednesday and think she may increase me to 30. i just dont know whats best

10

Today has been one of the worst so far. Anxiety has been crippling all day, am feeling slightly more rational now but my brain is fighting me searching for something to worry about and tempting me with previous worries.

its all so draining. i have a 3 year old and im terrified i will take months to recover and not be enjoying these precious days with her.

11

5th week now.

have felt ok today mostly although on edge, almost waiting for anxiety…have to keep stopping my brain from thinking of things to catastrophise

this is so hard and draining

12

hi there,
just checking to see how your coming along