Hi there,
A bit of background - I suffer from anxiety and stress as well as occasional depression. I have been taking Citalopram (between 10 and 20mg) for about 4 years.
My GP recently changed me to 20mg Fluoxetine as we felt that the Citalopram was maybe becoming less effective as I've had depressive bouts for the last two years as well as hormonal dips with my menstrual cycle. Also I have had a shockingly bad memory and problems with focus which she felt could be attributed to the Citalopram.
So I'm four weeks into the Fluoxetine and it's been horrendous. At first it seemed like side-effects from swapping one drug for another - head fug, 'spaced out', etc. But now it feels like I've had a relapse - I feel very down as well, and teary, un-motivated, want to hide in bed all day. I've been signed off work and in touch with my GP during all of this, but have my first appointment with her since changing medication tomorrow.
When we spoke on the phone she mentioned changing back to Citalopram, which we'll discuss tomorrow.
I'm scared to tamper any more with my medication incase it makes things worse. Does anybody know if it's:
the act of swapping from one medication to another which is likely to have knocked me off balance and into a relapse
OR
the actual medication itself not working?
I can't work out which has happened and obviously this would have a bearing on what we do next.
It may be worth pointing out that there was no phasing in and out - it was 10mg Citalopram one day and straight on to 20mg Fluoxetine the next. My husband says I'm acting like I'm not on any medication at all so he thinks the Fluoxetine isn't working at all.
I just want to be a bit more informed before I see my GP tomorrow - if anybody has any experience of this I'd love to hear what you have to say!
Thanks.