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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Citalopram advice

41 replies

CollieLover235 · 30/11/2019 15:15

Hi Everyone! I've been started on citalopram (10mg) 19 days ago for anxiety & depression. My side effects have been pretty nasty (nausea, headaches, increased anxiety with periods of uncontrollable crying, no appetite, barely any sleep, jaw clenching, brain fog etc..). I'm nearly 3 weeks on these now, surely I should be feeling some benefit by now :(? I'm losing hope as the days go and it's pretty unbareable feeling like this. I understand it can take longer to work sometimes and that I may need another type of AD but my doc checkup isint till another 3 weeks time and I'm finding it hard to hang in there. Has anyone had any similar experiences and went on to feel better? Just looking for some hope & reassurance please!

OP posts:

MurunB · 30/11/2019 15:27

Hi. I’ve been taking citalopram for anxiety for a few years now. I remember feeling that my anxiety seemed to get worse when I started taking it for a couple of weeks before I gradually started to feel better. Stick with it. I would try to give it another week to see if things start to feel better but if you feel that there hasn’t been even a slight improvement, could you maybe arrange an earlier appointment with your doctor? They could either reassure you or advise if you should change.

Good luck. Feeling like you do is awful, I know, but things will get better. Take care of yourself x

Theendofmyrope · 30/11/2019 15:31

I only managed three weeks of utterly horrendous side effects then gave up. I just couldn't cope with them anymore although I was on an absolute knife edge already when I started taking them

Endofthedays · 30/11/2019 15:34

I had six weeks of terrible side effects on sertraline before the GP swapped me to citalopram. It can take a while to find one that suits you. I am now off SSRIs entirely and on to mirtazapine.

beautifulstranger101 · 30/11/2019 15:35

I would make an appointment with your GP now, OP. Side effects should have started to settle by now. You would expect a slight increase in anxiety at the beginning but it should settle. Try one more week and make a GP appointment this week to discuss it. There are so many different antidepressants that it can take time and a bit of adjusting to find the right one for you. I would have expected the side effects to be diminishing by this point so I'd just check it out with the doc. Please dont panic- if this one doesnt work, there are lots of different ones to try- I've seen people (I work in psychiatry) try several with no success and then suddenly- they try the right one and it makes a huge difference, they just click with it. Hang in there- I know its hard to wait but things will get easier.

plumpkinz · 30/11/2019 17:47

Watching with interest...I've just started too (only a few days though) and I'm just feeling flat and numb so far, so hoping things will improve soon.

Anyone who takes it successfully though, how would you describe its benefits?

bridgetreilly · 30/11/2019 18:06

For me the side effects lasted 14 days and then I woke up feeling suddenly like myself again, without the depression. It was amazing. It didn't solve all my problems, but it gave me back the capacity to make decisions, to get things done, to start living my life again.

It can take up to six weeks, I think, for the side effects to go and the actual effects to work. If you can possibly put up with it for a bit longer, it really could be worth it. It is always possible that this won't be the right drug for you and you may have to switch to another, but that will also take time to work and may have its own side effects.

bridgetreilly · 30/11/2019 18:07

I'd give it a week and then ask for a telephone appointment with your doctor if nothing has changed.

ItsAlmostXmas · 30/11/2019 18:16

From memory I was 3/4 weeks of getting used to it & often seeking worse before I felt better most days. But my GP did explain this to me so I knows what to expect.

If it helps remember your side effects are common physical symptoms of anxiety &!depression so it's not uncommon for them to manifest.

I think you should ask for a consultation next week for a medication review and see what guidance they offer.

Are you doing anything alongside the medication? If not it's worth trying mindfulness, sleep hygiene, breathing in order to help reduce the physical symptoms.

Hope that helps, I've been there & it's awful. But medication at the right level can make such a difference

kitk · 30/11/2019 18:16

It took me 6 weeks before side effects settled down

Actionhasmagic · 30/11/2019 18:44

Took me a while maybe 2 months for it to settle. When I came off it took about 6monthd to a year of reducing as got awful brain zap withdrawal symptoms

Greenandcabbagelooking · 30/11/2019 18:56

I had about 4 weeks of side effects (jaw clenching, no appetite, nausea increased anxiety) and no sex drive for the whole time I was on them. I got signed off for the first week I was on them to give my brain and body a chance to get used to them.

But they made me much calmer, much more able to deal with the causes of my anxiety, and generally back to my old self. I still had the odd panic attack, but nothing like the several a day I was having before I started taking them.

I would say give it another week, then go back to the GP. I was only given a month at a time and had to make an appt to get the next lot.
I have just weaned off them totally after addressing the cause of my anxiety. That's been a fun few weeks!

Jinxed2 · 30/11/2019 18:57

I think it can take a while longer. I am on them for anxiety and can’t do without them.

Jasonh · 30/11/2019 20:23

I had severe depression, anxiety and a dissociate disorder for a couple of hellish years.
Citolapram saved my life, I would t have been able to carry on without it. Side effects for me were dry mouth and sickness but of dizziness. Gone after 1 week (came back when dose increased for 2 weeks ) benefits are for me - a complete recovery from all previous symptoms.

Give it more time to kick in, but if it doesn’t settle go back to GP- I had to take a few different SSRI before the right one. Don’t give up it will get better

plumpkinz · 03/12/2019 11:44

Can I ask everyone, as I'm a week into taking them. I feel totally spaced out and demotivated. I have no desire or energy to do anything. Please tell me this is the meds as it's worrying me. I get occasional panics and palpitations too, and then back to feeling disassociated and detached. I just want to get out of my head and back to me, this is awful.

Gertie75 · 03/12/2019 11:54

I've been on 20 mg for 4 weeks, I still feel nauseous and have no appetite but on the plus side I've lost some weight, I definitely feel better in myself though, my hair has stopped falling out, my eye has stopped twitching and I feel less gloomy.

I can't say I feel like skipping down the street but things feel more normal.

plumpkinz · 03/12/2019 11:58

Gertie, why was your hair falling out? Did you feel nausea from the start? I haven't had any of that, just feel numb and flat, hard to describe. When did it start to kick in?

DocusDiplo · 03/12/2019 11:59

Speak to your GP, OP.

plumpkinz · 03/12/2019 12:09

I was told it would get worse before it gets better. I can't just ring up my GP. I have an appointment next week.

hopeishere · 03/12/2019 12:43

I managed a week. Felt dreadful. Stopped taking them. Felt better.

plumpkinz · 03/12/2019 12:48

Hope, did you try an alternative? I'm not giving up yet, think it's too early.

Gertie75 · 03/12/2019 13:16

Plumpkinz, I'm presuming my hair loss must've been stress related, it went on for over a year and now it's very thin.
My hair brush was full of it, it was clogging the shower and the vacuum cleaner but it's totally stopped and the only thing that's changed is starting on Citalopram.

I did feel nauseous from the start yes, I've read that the depression and anxiety symptoms can feel worse at the start before they improve, definitely stick with them though, my doctor said at least 3-4 weeks for the benefits to start kicking in.

Mollychristmas · 03/12/2019 13:49

I couldn’t last longer than 3 weeks on these.

My side affects were an absolute nightmare! I honestly thought I was dying.

When I came off them (as I just couldn’t cope with how I felt any longer) I ended up hospitalised as my heart rate went all over the place it would be fine for a day then suddenly I would get such rapid heart rate I couldn’t breath, walk or stand.

I do sometimes wonder if I could’ve introduced them much slower as I understand some people find them amazingly helpful and I really wanted them to work for me. I ended up on no medication but I really think it would’ve helped my recovery had I coped better with the Citalopram or similar.

There are others that do the same job as Citalopram but may fit better with you so it’s worth seeing your GP before coming off them.

RatherBeRiding · 03/12/2019 13:53

I've been on 10mg for ages and obviously been lucky to never have had a single side effect. I do notice immediately though if I forget to take regularly - if I have a week say of every other day because I've simply forgotten I get anxious and very irritable.

They keep me on an even keel!

I would say that it sounds worth making an early appointment to discuss the severity of the side effects and whether another AD might work better - some suit some people and not others.

10mg is really a very low dose to be having such a bad reaction.

SerenDippitty · 03/12/2019 14:21

I’ve been on 20mg since January and am dropping to 10 to see how I get on. I did get physical side effects - nausea, diarrhoea, tinnitus, dry mouth but felt mentally better within two or three weeks. I’ve put on weight, which is why I want to reduce the dose and hopefully stop them altogether in time. Guess I was lucky the first one I tried worked. I would give it a other week OP.

plumpkinz · 09/12/2019 13:43

@CollieLover235 just wondered how things are going a week later?
I'm experiencing most of the things you described and I'm nearly 2 weeks in. I can't stand it and want things to improve.

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