Citalopram - please can anyone give me hope?

[melanie174]

Hi
I started on 10mg of citalopram then increased to 20mg around 2 months ago. On the whole I’m better than I was. But is it normal to have times when you feel anxious again? Like, blip days? Is it still early days for me? I’m tired of battling. I do have CBT also, which I’ve found useful and helpful. I’m recently recovering from tonsillitis so feel very drained. Maybe my off day today is because of that?!

Can anyone please give me some positivity? Thank you in advance x

Hi there.
I've been on citalopram 20mg for the last few years, prev been on prozac then venlafaxine.
On it for anxiety rather than depression, my old GP said cit was the best of the bunch.

I still have off days when my anxiety is bad (health anxiety) but a million times better than before. I can now tell myself 'this will pass' and actually believe it.
I think if you're poorly atm that may be contributing to your anxiety. Do you take any vitamins? I find B complex and magnesium helps too. Also breathing exercises help with panic, lots of tutorials on YouTube.

Take it one day at a time and good luck!

@noyo thanks so much for replying. I do find when I’m v tired my anxiety flares up. And I feel exhausted at the moment! I started taking Wassen Magnesium Ok (monthly cycle) tablets which I believe has B vitamins in...but I’ve only been on them for about 3 weeks. I had started to feel more energetic up until getting the tonsillitis! Now back to square one again! I do try the breathing, it’s just a little difficult to do in work. Then in an evening I tend to run out of time. Perhaps I should leave all the chores and set some time aside for myself! X

Anyone else? X

I've been on it for a few months. If life throws a curveball at me, and it does most days, then yes it'll set me back and the anxiety starts to creep back in.

@melanie174 I've been taking same dose as you for a few months for anxiety. I thought I'd improved and I have but last couple of weeks I've been getting that heart beating too fast/tight chest feeling again. I was wondering whether to try increasing to 30mg.... I am always much worse the second half of my cycle with pms I am going to try some vitamins too see if makes any difference.

My anxiety is related to parenting a very difficult child with sen who self harms and frequently tries to run away, alongside two other children, so when my son's anxiety is worse and his behaviour is challenging then it makes my anxiety worse too. The dr said citalopram was the best one for me but that it won't necessarily fully work as my trigger is always going to be there!

I'm on and off citalopram regularly. Been on it this time since November, mainly for anxiety. I do still have bad days in which I need to take Propranolol too to get me through the day. We will still have good and bad days, everyone does, it just means that we can cope a bit better with the bad days and hopefully have more good days.

Anxiety sucks.

I have improved on Citalopram for anxiety. My Doctor asked me how much I felt an improvement and I thought about it and said it was about 40%. I still have bad days and need to top up with diazepam and propranolol but on the whole, I am better.

Still waiting for the day when there is a medication that sorts anxiety out properly so we can be shut of it. Apparently there are meds in the pipeline. Just a case of coping until then I suppose.

Has anyone had a med (other than diazepam) that obliterates anxiety?

Thanks for your replies. And apologies for the delay in replying also!
I am wondering if I should see my GP to ask about increasing to 30mg. I’m managing to do my job, look after my child and my house etc but the underlying anxiety is horrible! I felt great after a short time on 10mg, then it started to creep back. Then I also felt great when I increased to 20mg...butbthe same happened again..when will I ever feel peace? What if I increase to 30mg and the same happens again?! I do recall my GP saying that 20mg is considered a low dose. I really don’t know what to do! Maybe I should give it a few weeks and see if it subsides and see if this is just a blip! X

I've been on 40mg for 9 years now and still have some off days x

@mamaoffourdc thank you for the reply. I know it’s not a magic fix, and expect off days but this latest blip seems to have lasted about 7 days (I have coped really well though considering how my symptoms have been). However, today, I don’t feel as bad. I am convinced it’s menopause related! Damn hormones! I’ve still been out for meals, worked really hard in work, met up with family etc. Maybe it’s more in my head, and I’m not as bad as I think I am if that makes sense x

I’m on fluoxetine and mainly it works 20mgs a day..still have odd day when anxiety is bad. Diazepam is the only thing I’ve had that works straight away and completely

I was given prochlorperazine alongside citalopram to help me deal with bad days - I was on a 10 mg dose of citalopram at the time.
I've since moved on to 20 mg citalopram and feel much better.
I'm hoping to transition down to 10 mg again, but know I need to get some things in my life settled before I'm ready to do it.
I'm hoping I may be able to stop taking it at all eventually.

Oops, not prochlorperazine, but pericyazine - apologies. The dosage is 2.5 mg.
One tablet was usually enough to help settle any extreme anxiety I was feeling.

I take 40g of citalopram and up to 60g of propranol a day. I find the propranol takes the edge off the anxiety x

Obviously I meant mg

@melanie1974 I found that Citalopram 20mg helped me see the wood for the trees without turning me into a zombie. I didn't want to not feel anything but it seems to have stopped the extreme lows that I was getting and when I do get 'low' I can cope better as I know it will be short lived.

But please do go back to you doctor and ask - everyone is different!! And I too am in menopause territory but not much sign of anything stopping yet . My female GP advised me to stay on Citalopram until I was done with menopause as menopause may make the depression worse. Male GP said I should come off them asap.