To change antidepressants

[Sparklestrawberry]

Previously posted on AIBU about wether to stop taking citalopram and got lots of good answers so posting here again.
Today my doctor has agreed to swap me to Escitalopram which I’ve read is more suitable for anxiety. My doctor said it’s the same drug. Has anyone swapped from Cit to Esc and found relief? My anxiety was that bad on citalopram that I’ve just been referred to the local mental health team

I've been on virtually all the ssri drugs at one time or another and my anxiety didn't improve until I went onto an snri (venlafaxine). I totally regret spending all that time on ssris. I wasted my life feeling unwell and receiving ineffective treatment from GPs. If ssris are repeatedly not working then it's time to step it up a gear and change the class of medications you're on. By all means try the Escitalopram, but don't be afraid to change if they're not working.

It's not the same drug although they share some of the same active ingredients. My psych says escitalopram is one of the most effective and best tolerated ADs. I'm surprised a medical doctor would not know that there's a difference. It's clear on the NHS website!

I was switched from sertraline to escitalopram because sertraline was making me exhausted to the point I couldn't function. Took one pill of escitalopram and had a horrible experience. Within 30 mins was sobbing uncontrollably, feeling more sad and hopeless than I ever have in my life. After a couple hours of that I was vomiting. Tried my best to sleep but couldn't. I saw the weirdest pictures in my head all night, fairly alarming but not horrifying. When I tried to walk the next day I was like a drunk stumbling to and fro into the walls and furniture. Took about 3 days to start feeling better and moving around like normal. Maybe I just had a bad reaction, but it put me off ssris for good.

Kind of...citalopram is actually a mixture of escitalopram and r-citalopram, which are stereo-isomers (same atoms but different configuration. Sounds like it might make no difference but there's a v infamous situation where it makes a huge difference... thalidomide). Escitalopram is just escitalopram.

The typical doses of escitalopram are half that of citalopram because of this "purity". I do think people find escitalopram a bit better than citalopram overall OP but I also think if you are struggling this much on citalopram a bigger change would be better. I would maybe be looking at something like fluoxetine?