Switching antidepressants after 2 days…

[starNT]

Does anyone know whether is okay to switch to 10mg of Citalopram immediately, after taking 25mg of Sertraline for 2 days?

Not without talking to your GP or nurse practitioner.

why would you do that

Have you asked your doc?

In my experience, you won’t have had chance to get any benefit from the Sertraline from 2 doses - but a quick switch like that can mean you might feel pretty off for a week or two.

I used to take 10 mg of Citalopram and don’t remember feeling quite as bad as I do with Sertraline at the lowest dose. Tight chest and shortness to breath are the symptoms that I’m experiencing.

Is that from the medication do you think, or do you have anxiety issues that could be causing the shortness of breath?

I’ve been on a number of my antidepressants over the last 25 years, I’m not medically trained, so I only offer my own experience: the first week to ten days, I’ve always felt very unwell before the benefits started to be felt.

I’m not sure such a quick switch is a great idea - if you really feel you can’t tolerate the Sertraline, could you wait a few days until it’s out of your system before taking the Citalopram? Did you find the Citalopram helpful? (No point restarting a med if it didn’t actually do much to help you!)

It’s probably the anxiety that causes the tight chest and shortness of breath. It has always manifested itself physically that way. The reason why I took Citalopram in the first place, is because of panic attacks, that only started to begin last year. Citalopram, did help. But at a dosage of 10mg, I would still experience a slight tension in my chest, which was greatly exaggerated after doing light cardio on my mountain bike. Why did that happen? I thought exercise was supposed to help. I’m not certain whether increasing the dose of Citalopram would have eliminated the tight chest or not. So, the doctor and I decided that I should try 25mg of Sertraline for one week, then increase it to 50mg.

Have you seen the latest research?
www.madinamerica.com/2022/08/antidepressants-no-better-placebo-85-people/

You need to give it 4-6 weeks to start working. You'll feel worse before you feel better.

What are you suggesting? They try without?

Placebo effect or not, if a medication is helpful then it's it's helpful.

I don't think a switch will matter OPas low doses and the same family SSRI but I would continue with the sertraline if able. Can be a great drug for anxiety.