Starting Citalopram

I have been on and off antidepressants for 20 years now - mostly on ! This has been mainly to help with anxiety, which if allowed to get out of control starts a downward spiral into depression. I have been through five counsellors over that time - the last one did the trick as he pushed the right buttons for me - if you don't fully engage the therapy doesn't work ! I take Mirtazapine with the odd Diazepam if needed - and manage quite well mostly. Don't be afraid of medication - it does help - but so does being kind to yourself and not overcommitting yourself and doing things that you know will cause stress. I wish you happier times - remember spring is just around the corner and the daffodils are already half way up !!

I can only add, that I too took them ages ago, and it did take about two weeks for the drug to kick in. They worked really well for me, I've been off them now for about 6 years and have been fine.

Misswoosie that's interesting I too am on low dose venlaflaxine and it seems suit me very well slow release lowest dose, apart from dry mouth and get bit hot,
It's certainly helped my mood.
I had been well for 16 years!
However so pleased they helping me again now it was only one that suited me!
I do need Valium too but that's being closely monitored maximum one a day.

It interesting you on same medication !

Sorry to digress amber girl.

Hi Ambergirl,
I'm 54 and have been on and off (mostly on for the last 15 years) antidepressants since I was 20. For the last 20 years I've been taking extended release venlafaxine, which I found suited me the best. About 2 years ago when I was going through a particularly rough patch after witnessing an arson attack I was very anxious and , maybe stupidly, decided that the venlafaxine was making me worse and gradually stopped taking it. I have only ever been on the lowest dosage. When I went to see the GP a few months later because I felt very depressed and anxious, she prescribed citalopram and it made me feel dreadful. I couldn't do the smallest things because I felt so anxious and couldn't make any decisions. I went back onto Venlafaxine after less than 2 weeks. I have found that my anxiety has definitely got worse as I've got older (when I was younger my depression just rendered me incapable of doing things because I had no energy or interest in anything and I was tearful all the time) but until I saw a counsellor privately (I've never been offered counselling via the NHS) I didn't really understand that anxiety was essentially worrying about things that may or may not happen in the future, so much so that you're unable to function in the "here and now".I wonder if you've tried mindfullness? I find it helps me, although at the moment going through a rough patch as my 85 year old father fell and broke his hip 4 weeks ago and his hospital care has been pretty dreadful and he's coming home tomorrow. I am not like you in that I HATE the dark nights and endless grey days. I was much better when we lived in the USA for 5 years where winters were shorter, colder and brighter and summers were long, hot and sunny. I hope if you stick to the citalopram you start to feel better.
Granny23- SAD does cause depression and my lovely husband just bought me a Beurer daylight lamp, which I think is helping.

I have been see my lovley gp today she is wonderful but couldn't see her when became depressed about month ago after losing our beloved King Charles. As she said t was last straw broke camels back. I was v worried about going on antidepressants as been 16 years and all through 9 years estrangement kept well. However as she said major op also I. August, she thinks will need be on same dose at least a year and also she feels I gave up sedative too early (other dr advised me to) I do find it very calming and she also said one before going out i.e. New year will relax my back muscles. Have you been suggested sedative? Apparently first few weeks of anti depressants can make u more anxious til it kicks off properly.
Hope this helps.

I take them too. I never noticed any difference the first few weeks but im not so anxious now. Good luck

Thank you Granny 23. I will continue them and hopefully see an improvement. I simply worry all the time now, it has been getting steadily worse over the last few years and I have tried endlessly to overcome it, but just cannot. If it helps then I will not beat myself up over taking it...just rejoice I feel better. I am pretty active and very lucky that I actually love the dark evenings and winter weather, it makes everything feel very homely to me, although we have a small family so I do find Christmas and New Year stressful and particularly miss my parents at that time. Everyone has been so kind on here, it has really helped me from where I was at 05:00 this morning!

I felt really awful for the first couple of weeks taking Citalopram and also each time the dosage was increased.

I was depressed due to marital problems. Citalopram got me to the stage where I felt able to leave my husband and start a new life. Once settled I was able to very slowly reduce the dosage until I was able to stop taking them.

I'm another who has been on citalopram for yonks. Initially the GPs kept giving me 6 months on and 6 months off which was horrendous. Every time it was stopped I rapidly descended into the dark pit again. I also had counselling which was useless - partly because I have a diploma in Counselling skills myself and could not fully engage as I kept thinking about the process in an abstract way, instead of engaging in it properly.

The turning point was when I was referred to a Clinical Psychologist who deduced that I was not suffering from re-active depression (triggered by 5 family deaths in a year and redundancy) but had clinical depression caused by an inability to uptake Serotonin. He even drew me a diagram showing the chemical and electrical processes in the brain and where it was faulty in my case.

This diagnosis removed any feelings of guilt or uselessness - I became aware that none of this was my fault, just an aberration in my brain which could be corrected with medication, just like other common conditions. I had a high dose to start with, which caused extraordinary dreams, some good, others frightening, but have now been on a small dose continuously for years, which enables me to cope with whatever life throws at me. Nonetheless I always feel better in the Summer and Autumn and a bit down in the dark winter months, especially around New Year with all its memories - I think this is very common (SAD) it does not cause anxiety/depression but certainly exacerbates it. Christmas festivities are supposed to be an anti-dote to the Winter Blues but with all the hype nowadays they are more stressful than relaxing.

Keep Taking the Tablets and I am sure you will start to feel the benefit soon.

Keep perservering for week or two I felt worse at first on different one venlaflexine (Efflexor) but after 2 weeks gradually kicked in however was given Valium low dose only 14 to start with as was like u so anxious.

Good luck xx

Oops that should be 92% - even better.

Hi Amber I can't help 're the Citalopram but I offer this - my daughter's mantra is that it is statistically so that only 8% of worries are ever justified - so when I start fretting about something she says "Allocate that to the 82%". It helps me.

Happy Christmas.

Thank you all.....What a wonderful site this is in making you feel less alone at certain points in life! I will stick with it and def try CBT. I have an online programme to work through via our surgery, which is a start and whilst I was sceptical, I have logged in and started it at 05:00 today! There are some useful tips. Also as Yvonne MC said at least I have a reason for feeling worse....even if I don't have a reason for feeling like this anyway! Thank you everyone....I will push on and no doubt come out the other side! Merry Christmas to one and all.

Give it time. It takes up to three weeks to get into your system. It felt like forever when I started on it because I wanted instant results but it was worth the wait.

amber I have no personal experience of Citalopram, but I just wanted to say that you shouldn’t feel a failure, or that you are ‘caving in’ as you put it, by taking it.
If you had a condition like arthritis, or asthma, you wouldn’t feel that you were caving in if you took medication, would you? Anxiety/depression is a condition too, just think of it in the same way.
I hope it works for you.

Yes I take the forerunner of escitalopram, I have taken for about 14 years as anxiety and depression where natural state of mind.Initially I felt lighter after first dose ,But it didn't last and after a month had the dose increased to 15mg ,a few days later I felt able to cope , I have been on beta blockers for anxiety for about 25years alongside.

My DD has taken citalopram for a very long time and, once the initial slight worsening of symptoms was over, it has been a wonderful boost to her and made it possible for her to continue her role as Mum and to hold her own in a demanding job that involves a fair bit of travelling.

CBT is known to be good for anxiety because, if done well, it gives you a weapon in your armoury to fight those moments when anxiety wishes to take you over.

I send happy Christmas wishes to you and hope that the medication helps you in the long term. Please remember it is not a case of giving in when you take medication; it is simply a case of taking the right treatment for your illness. Good luck.

I have been feeling very low recently. I have had citalopam before. It need seem to work.
I think I have been winding myself up with the stress recently which really does not help . I have done some meditation type relaxing this morning. I need to practice it more often.

The anti depressants I have taken all seemed to take a while to kick in. I find 'tapping' an excellent way to combat anxiety. My counsellor showed me how to do it but I think you can Google it. No pills and it is something I can do free and I am in control. Listening to a meditation C.D. (or something on line) is also calming. You can have a mantra you keep repeating (I am calm. I can cope. I know I can deal with this. Etc) Keeping physically active is also good. Also have a tape of Ladies of Leisure which is so funny, you laugh and relax. Good luck. There IS a way to get through this.

Hi, I also take citalopram and am so glad I tried it. My anxiety seemed to get out of control and nothing else I tried seemed to work. The last GP I saw explained this was most probably a side effect of being perimenopausal (along with other symptoms) so it all made sense. I also felt dreadful in the beginning, but this went after about a month. Knowing the reason why you feel the way you do always helps so perhaps you could try counselling as you say. It may be that you can then stop the citalopram gradually over time, however I would give it a try.

I take citalopram.
I think that the feeling worse before feeling better might be that it takes about three weeks for the medication to start working. In the meantime the worrying continues and possibly gets worse until helped with the citalopram.

It helped me a great deal. At about 3weeks in......one day I noticed I felt a change, calmer...brighter spirited. I had fought my doctor for a long time, refusing to try them.
They helped me so much.

Hi ambergirl I m sorry I can’t help medically as I ve never taken any anti depressants but I do know they all take a while to kick in and with a big holiday pending maybe not the best of times to start something new however as you say you ll never know if you don’t carry on now you have started
I would recommend CBT over medication any time counselling can go back over stuff you have hidden and can be useful at getting rid of old demons but not right for everyone
I hope the holiday kickstarts some nicer times for you ?