I recently increased dose from 20mg to 40mg about a week ago and ever since I’ve been being so sick every morning and wretching. I told the doctor and he said these aren’t side effects from cit, it’s caused from my anxiety so he prescribed diazepam which has helped with the anxiety but I’m still being sick. I’m sure these are side effects of the increase but doctor is adamant they aren’t! Anyone else had this?
That's a big increase in dose all in one go, it'll be like starting all over again. I'm not surprised your feeling so sick. My nausea lasted for some time before disappearing and even now I can be prone to it at the drop of a hat! - definitely side effects I would say.
Just out of interest what were you like when you started taking it?
I think I had some sickness when I started on the 20mg but I don’t remember it being this bad although it was over 3 years ago. I’d been on the 20mg for all that time with no problems until a couple of weeks ago after taking a course of antibiotics for laryngitis and I think it just knocked my brain chemistry out of balance so doc upped the dose! So you think these are side effects? Doc doesn’t think so
It sounds like its to much of an increase to me i have had terrible side effects but no wretching.Being sick every morning is not right because you will make yourself feel worse because of fluid loss and nutrients.There are side effects of nausea but i would either go back to your doctor or maybe reduce it to 30mg myself ......jeff
You are sick from upping your dose from.twenty to forty..what a dum cumquat your doctor is..that's a huge increase..these dum doctors always seem to amazed me..
Well yes I thought it was a massive increase and have spoken to doctor but he’s adamant I should stick with it and should be ok around 2-3 week mark. I’m not so sure
I'm not surprised you feel sick - a lot of people struggle on the maximum dose of 40mg, plus as the others say it is also quite a huge jump (doubling your dose).
Why do you want to increase to 40mg - you can recover on 20mg. A large dose doesn't mean it'll happen any quicker for you and won't stop the side effects or process either ......... its all about what dose personally suits you.
I recovered on 20mg.
Definitely side effects I had it for first 4 weeks lost 12 lbs!!!
Well yes I also recovered the first time on 20 but the doctor seems to think that 40 was the best option! I don’t understand why he didn’t try 30 first! So it is normal to be feeling sick from such a big dose increase?
Thank you for your reply. So it will fade?
Give it a few months ..and it will fade..
Absolutely it will I don’t have it anymore but when I needed to increase from 20mgs to 30mgs I first went up to 25mgs for a few days then to 30 after that. For some lucky ones they don’t experience side effects then there is the rest of us who do. But if you can remind yourself each day that it is only side effects it really helps. Be gentle on yourself. Things will improve x x x
That's weird. Doctors often think a bigger dose means you'll get better quicker ......... but it doesn't. It'll take just as long as a 20mg dose would and if anything, will probably be longer because you have twice as many side effects and sickness to cope with. Many people just can't tolerate that big dose. Yes some people are sick, and especially on that huge dose too. I've seen many people struggle on 40mg and often those side effects don't go away either because it doesn't suit their body - then they have the struggle on withdrawing from it which makes them worse. Withdrawal from 40mg to 20mg should be done over many months too, though often doctors get their patients to do it over weeks which is ludicrous.
Personally I'd reduce to 20mg before its been in your body too long.
I agree with everyone who all seem to be saying much the same thing - either reduce back to your original dose of 20mg or to 30mg. You will have to do it really slowly or you will be in a jumble between new side effects and withdrawal effects. It can all be very confusing when you're in the middle of it and Katecogs gives sound, wonderful and reassuring advice.
I think being on the citalopram makes my system much more sensitive to change and I still get little blips even though I've been on 20mg for 18mths. Nothing major but just a bit jittery and shaky legs and sl nausea. I try and ignore it which isn't always easy but I'm so reluctant to fiddle with the dose - it was so harsh getting settled onto it in the first place. I still wonder myself if this is normal to feel like this!
Kay - how are you ?
Hi Gerrymoo
Not seen you on here for eons I'm fine thanks xxx. So you're doing ok but still have the odd blip? Are you doing alright though other than that? I know after I'd recovered at 6 months I'd still get the odd blip after that which didn't amount to anything - knew I was having one, but it didn't bring on anxiety. Was almost silent but there ...... didn't bother me either and they did phase out eventually.
K x
Hi Kay, yes I'm still here and poke my nose in occasionally 😉 yrs I'm pretty good thanks, not had a day.off work since I went back in Jan 2017. Just occasionally get a yuk feeling and bit shaky/tingly legs. Was wondering whether to taper off very very gradually after my holiday this summer just to see if it helps as the cit may have done it's job!
Once again , thanks for all the help.and morale support you give everyone!! X
Jan, I'd say it is a side effect. I've been on twenty mg for about a month and my gag reflex has been very sensitive, especially in the mornings. Every time I brush my teeth it seems like I end up dry heaving. It has gotten better over time though
Thanks for your advice x
Hey that's good - glad to see you're doing well. I tapered off Cit 18 months ago and I just decided to see how I felt if I reduced by 5mg only. That went well and no symptoms appeared, so after another few months I reduced by another 5mg and again all ok. I wanted to see how far I could go before anything cropped up. It didn't, and I further reduced by 5mg over a couple of months each time then crushed the last 5mg and took 2.5mg then finally 1.25mg. Had no withdrawal either.
My thoughts were that it was't such a huge dose to go back up if at any time I felt uneasy.
That book link you passed to me is amazing - I've passed it on to so many people, and the weblink too. Thanks for that.
I think that book is a godsend to anyone coming off meds as it teaches you about anxiety in such great detail and think it helps you see it in a different light.
K xx