Citalopram - Have they given me the right one?

[UnicornFairyDust]

NC for privacy.

This is all brand new to me, i've never had to ask for help dealing with anything but 3 major stressful things have happened all at the same time and it's too much. So I went to the Dr today and described what i feel like/whats happening, such as:

Crying when i am on my own
Not sleeping well
Whole body lethargy

I also explained i am extremely busy and if i was to take tablets, they cannot make me feel tired...

I have done a search on here and lots of people have cited feeling sleepy whilst taking them. I literally do not have time to be sleepy!

I've only been prescribed 10mg and told to take them in the mornings, i won't be taking them if the consensus is that it will make me feel sleepy, i will need to book another appointment instead

I take citalopram and I don’t feel sleepy on them. It will probably take you 2 weeks to get used to them so persevere. I completely appreciate that you will be busy for a reason and can’t just ‘stop’ being busy but if you can find some time to yourself that might also help.

10mg is the lowest dose so you shouldn’t feel too sleepy once you get used to them. If you’re evenings are more relaxed than your day then I would say you are better off taking them around tea time or just after, then the major sleepy time will be around bedtime anyway.

Good luck, I hope they help you.

I take it and at that dose, which is really just little more than a maintenance dose. It has never made me feel sleepy and I would be astonished if 10mgs makes anyone feel sleepy.

I suspect the Dr is starting you on the lowest dose to see how you get on with it, with a view to increasing if necessary but even on 20mgs I can't imagine it will have a drowsy effect.

Life savers, thank you.

MindBodyChocolate Whilst I do work full time, I also have a few horses, which is my time and i enjoy every second so i always ensure i spend quality time with them

It's just an unfortunate pile of stressful events all at once, i've never had to ask for help before

Nothing wrong with asking for help. I’ve found citalopram extremely helpful. Glad that you’re busy in a good way! Having horses is a dream of mine :)

No it made me feel a bit nauseous the first few weeks and a bit dizzy but not tired. The diazepam made me feel really tired but only had that when really desperate

No, it didn't make me sleepy - even at 40mg. I don't think it particularly helped either but that's another issue.

It doesn't make me sleepy. And I take it in the morning. I'm on the same dose. Only started a couple of weeks ago.

Thank you everybody, i will go and collect my prescription

I felt a bit spacy for a few days and then I started to feel "normal" again. The dose was gradually upped from 10 over the next few weeks. In the end the tablets were giving me night sweats and I had to come off them when they started to clash with other medication. But they worked well for a while

Unicorn - I have horses as does my yard owner, we are both on 20mg of citalopram
It saved my life, I have no doubt about it. You can try taking it morning or night and see which works best for you

They make me sleepy during the day (not that I'm able to sleep, too busy!) and for some reason I wake up in the middle of the night. I know it's the pills as over the past 10 years I have had times both on and off them and these issues always go away when I wean off them. That said they do a great job at controlling my anxiety. The doctor said they'd like me to look at talk therapy as I've obviously been on these for a long time. But I'm reluctant.

My advice would be to try and see how you go. As you can see here they seem to affect people differently.

I started on 10mg and felt nauseous for the first few days and was definitely below par for a while. So I started taking them in the evening, at about eight o'clock and by morning all the negatives I'd been feeling had clearly passed and I was fine. There is no difference I taking them at night or in the morning, they won't work less efficiently that's for sure, so if you want to limit any sleepiness then I'd say take them as I do.

Thanks everyone, is there any particular reason the Dr said to take them in the morning?

I know I take mine in the morning for a reason. I think it's because I generally have trouble sleeping and the advice is to take it first thing in the day if that's an issue for you.

I was previously on 20mg and took it at night - on the GPs suggestion. It helped me get to sleep, which had been a problem.

First week was not fun - headaches, feeling spacey, but I'm glad I persisted as it was really helpful. I stopped about 3 years ago, and things are much better. I see the citalopram as having been a crutch at a difficult time which allowed me to function, as well as access counselling and learn some other coping strategies