Will citalopram help my health anxiety?

[ssd]

I couldn't take setraline, bad side effects, so am now trying citalopram. Its really just for health anxiety. Every little lump and bump sends me into utter panic. I cant live this way.
I really hope citalopram helps.

Anyone similar?

I'm on 40mg citralopam for anxiety, it does help sometimes, doesn't stop the anxiety completely but in some ways has given me a fuck it attitude to other things. I don't sweat the small stuff but still worry about health but not in an uncontrolled way. It's hard to describe, but I'm definately more laid back

Thats exactly what i want to be like

I don't know, but it has been really really helpful for my anxiety, which largely but not exclusively focused on work. So I think it could do.

I felt awful on sertraline too, and the GP kept upping it and insisting I would improve. At the end of an awful couple of months I asked to try citalopram. The improvement was very quick when i switched, within 2 weeks I would say.

I'm on 20mg of citalopram currently. I have tried to increase to 30mg previously as was struggling a bit yet I had all the terrible effects that I had so badly with sertraline (sweating, pounding heart, dizziness,ringing in ears, I felt on edge all the time it was awful) so went back down to 20mg.

So I think dose is just as important as the medicine type, iyswim. You also need to trust your instincts as to whether you think it's working - GPs often say stick it out, or increase the dose, but I've always known quite quickly if something is working for me or not, and I've always been right.

I still feel nervous, anxious, heart pounding on 20mg at times, but generally it feels much more 'manageable'. I've accepted this is the right dose and right medicine for me, it's not perfect by a long shot, and there have been some ups and downs in getting to this place!

Im just starting on 10mg. Im very nervous after setraline side effects.

Sertraline was horrendous for me, but citralopam much better. I'm on the maximum dose and also take a beta blocker. So you can imagine how bad i was compared to now. I couldn't manage the simplest of things, but now I'm functioning kind of. I couldn't go out the house, now I'm out and about as long as someone is with me. There are still good and bad days.

Yes. It was very effective when my husband was suffering from health anxiety

Thank you. I think one of the things that puts me off is the fact my dh doesn't agree with anti depressants. He is someone who never worries and takes it all in his stride. The older i get the worse im getting. I can worry for Britain.

Im mean, is it normal to be terrified of every small bump or lump you feel on your body? My gp must be sick of me. Its the worry of finding something and not being able to get an appointment for ages. My gp is fully booked 2 weeks in advance, and when i phone up im something like 28th in the queue. This alone gives me anxiety. I just want the dr to see me anx hopefully reassure me its not serious. But waiting ages for that appointment is hellish for me, i spiral right down.
I've tried everything else..cbt. talking therapy. Online forums etc....hypnotherapy didn't work as i couldn't be hypnotised....i just need something to work to stop this gut wrenching terror i feel when i discover something new on my body. As soon as i get the all clear its a few weeks then i find something else and im back to square one. Its really getting me down.

I’m sorry this sounds exhausting. Citalopram should help and I hope you get some relief.

I am on 20mg for anxiety. I would say it has helped my anxiety lots, I don’t panic much about things in the way I used to.

The flip side to it is that I often feel quite “flat” and a bit numb to emotions (good and bad).

Everyone reacts differently of course, just something to consider.

Right now i could do with some flatness. My stomach is churning, i want to cry and i feel on edge and overwhelmed.

Im just terrified incase i get the same side effects as setraline. I really really hope not.

You’re stuck in this atm but it won’t last forever. A good dose of meds should have you wake up without being in this state of high alert and then that should make your days easier from there. Good luck.

@ssdI hated setraline and made the switch to citalopram and it was miles better after the first two weeks.

Thank you

So sorry to hear that you’re struggling OP. I am currently reading a book called “Your Worry Makes Sense” by a wonderfully kind GP called Martin Brunet. I have suffered from anxiety for decades, and this book has really explained some things to me like never before, & has definitely helped me feel better. No affiliation at all to the author, but just thought I’d mention it, as there is a section on health anxiety.

I will look for that book. Thanks @stillawip

I'm exactly the same, I go from one health worry to the next and am forever finding lumps, bumps & other things that most people wouldn't even notice & I know deep down are normal anatomy. My worry can even extend to family members, I panic every time my adult kids complain of a headache! I have a list on my phone of over 40 things (and counting!) I've worried about that have been nothing which should tell me something, but still I worry the next thing will be the one!

Unlike you, I now avoid the doctors like the plague as being sent for tests terrifies me, especially after some mistakes, miscommunications, and incidental findings. I'm even nervous of the opticians and dentist especially after the dentist put me on a 2ww for a mouth lump (was nothing).

I also cannot take sertraline after I had a bad reaction (bruising) which landed me in a&e. I did take citalopram for general anxiety years ago and worked a treat, no side effects. I'm scared to try again after my sertraline experience as it is also a ssri, even though the a&e doctor said it tends to have less side effects than sertraline but I worry my body won't tolerate it now I'm older.

Currently I'm doing self help worksheets which is helping a bit and am considering HRT as I believe my anxiety has got so much worse with perimenopause, but I'm scared of any drug tbh, and it means going to the dreaded GP!

@Worridoncemore , do you know why you are like this? I can't understand it myself

Not sure. Although I've always been a worrier, I never worried about health particularly. I've always been affected by cancer stories but more feeling bad for the person and thankful it's not me, not that it could be me iyswim, even when it happened to my own father nearly 30 years ago. Then 10 years ago I had a scare with some mid cycle bleeding (was nothing) which triggered health anxiety and I went straight from that to worrying about bowel cancer (also checked & nothing). My HA was then very low level for years after that until 2020 when I became traumatised by stories of people having serious illness missed because they couldn't see a GP and it ramped up from there. I don't think perimenopause and advancing age has helped, I'm now nearly the same age my dad was when he died and feel like I'm a ticking time bomb.

Actually your story is scarily similar to me. Except my dad was a worrier too and i think i learnedvto worry from him.

Weirdly my parents and siblings are/were the most chilled people ever! However, DH is a worrier and had HA in is 20s but is relatively ok now. I remember having little empathy at the time & thought he was being ridiculous! Now I understand......

I’m only on 10mg daily & actually thinking of increasing the dose to 20 as I worry & overthink so much, it’s exhausting!

Im scared to start it, im really really scared. I had a bad experience with setraline and ended up needing a referral for a scan which took 7 months and the whole time i was convinced i had cancer and my HA was off the scale. So the thing it was meant to help it made it much worse. And my gp told me if i had the same side effect from citalopram i would be referred again. The consultant i seen at the scan was awful, really awful, terrified me.

So the thing it was meant to help it made it much worse

That's exactly what I said when I reacted badly to it (suddenly came out in huge unexplained bruises). I was so angry the drug did that to me and angry at the GP for prescribing it, especially as I'd specifically requested citalopram knowing it had worked years before but they refused. I reckon they have to prescribe Sertraline first as it's cheaper or something. I spent a scary day in a&e having urgent blood tests thinking I had leukaemia until they came back clear and sertraline was the only explanation. So sorry you had to endure 7 months of uncertainty, a day was bad enough! Why on earth would you need to go through scans again if you got the same reaction from citalopram? Wouldn't the cause be obvious? There's every chance citalopram will be fine, I was told in a&e it has less side effects and I took it in the past no problem, yet I reacted to sertraline. The a&e doctor even suggested I switch to it but I didn't as, like you, I was worried about the same thing happening again.