On citalopram for anxiety. Just feel a bit empty

[Funnyfishface]

46 year old mother of 2 grown up boys.
Separated from ea h for few months. Having couples counselling.
No job.
Recently moved so friends live away.
Been on citalopram for panic and anxiety for a year. Feeling less anxious since h left.
I just feel emotionless, bored, redundant. I have lost my zest for life. I can't be bothered.
Only on 10 mg but am seriously thinking its the meds. I have had counselling. I feel better equipped at dealing with panic/anxiety now.
Have put on 10 lbs in weight.

Just fed up really. Any advice. Should I wean off the meds.

Have tried volunteering jobs. Applied for loads of part time jobs but nit having much luck

Any suggestions welcome

Has volunteering helped? Could you do more of that until manage to secure a job. Or find some of the free courses to do to meet new people. As no job, new area must mean you do not know many people and that may be making it difficult to know whether the anxiety is made worse by those factors.

Hope you have some success soon.

I have suffered a similar experience from being on citalopram. Feel completely flat and emotionless, quite unlike the person I used to be. It's awful and I think it probably was caused by the medication (I was on 30 mg at the maximum). There are a number of research papers that support that this can happen, although most GPs and mental health professionals will deny it. I have now come off ADs completely (am pregnant) but unfortunately not feeling any better. Hopefully though since you are on a lower dose you won't be so badly affected?

I would seriously consider weaning yourself off with medical support, don't necessarily believe people who tell you it will all improve when you are 'doing something'.

I am not anti ADs by the way and did very well on citalopram before, just this time seem to have had a very bad reaction to them.

Does that help at all?

Thank you for the replies.

The volunteering jobs were a bit of a dead loss to be honest. I had hoped that I would feel that I was doing something worthwhile and rewarding but I didn't feel fulfilled at all.

Fatercula - can I ask were you taking the meds for anxiety? How did you manage getting off them?did you taper slowly? Any side effects?

It's a long story, had a sudden and total breakdown that was some combination of panic disorder/severe depression.

My experience (having come off citalopram 3 times in total now) is that it's wise to taper off much more slowly than the doctors say, they may say oh you'll have no problem coming off 10 mg but it's possible you will - why risk it? You can break tablets in half and just go down very very slowly at a rate you feel ok with. In the latter stages I took one tablet every 2/3/4 days till I stopped altogether though I know this doesn't work for some people.

I have found I am quite irritable initially after coming off them, but this is manageable, the withdrawal symptoms that can make you feel awful are the 'electric shocks' and 'brain zaps' and I don't get any of those if I taper slowly.

Hope you feel better soon.