Citalopram: health anxiety

[cal83326]

As with many people, 2020 has gotten the best of me. My battle with anxiety started back in March and has continued since. Started with heart palpitations that continued to fuel my health-related anxiety. I decided to bite the bullet and start an SSRI. My doctor recommended I start Citalopram because he has seen lots of success with people my age (25 year-old male).

I started on 10 mg for about three days and my side effects were awful... nausea, headaches, dizziness, constant worry, and many "panicky" episodes (heart pounding, chills up my arms/back, feeling as if i was going to faint). It was so bad and honestly the worst few days of my life. Doctor told me to cut back to 5 mg to help my body get used to the medicine and help diminish the side effects.

Fast forward to today... I have now been on the 5 mg for four weeks. I know this dosage isn't a whole lot, but my anxiety has improved SIGNIFICANTLY. Of course i still have my moments, but i truly do feel a ton of improvement with my anxiety.

I have two challenges I'm facing and hoping to get some help from you guys:

(1) I am experiencing some headaches in my sinuses and sometimes in the back of my head. I also am having significant discomfort in my ears (mainly my left). It's more of a pressure sensation and fullness. Has anyone ever dealt with this when starting out with citalopram? If so, is this just another side effect that will get better in time? I really do not want to stop taking the Citalopram since i do believe it's been helping my anxiety, but i also want the ear issues to go away.

(2) Has anyone ever been on such a low dose of Citalopram over an extended period of time? I want to get the full effect of the medication but i also do not want to have to take more than i need. I do think the 5 mg has been helping me significantly with my anxiety. Should i increase my dosage at all to 10 mg? If so, when? I am a bit nervous that doing so will bring on more side effects and rough days. How has everyone's experience been with increasing your dosage?

Thank you so much for any feedback!

[Dog_lady]

Hii I have been on citalopram for a few years now. It works great. I had issues at first but not the ears. My suggestion is to check with your doctor about that one. Good luck.

[Cheetah22]

I went on 5mg 1st July. Horrendous side affects. Got better. Upped to 10mg 1st sept as anxiety was increasing due to back to school for kids and husband during Covid which stressed me. First few days fine and next week awful with really depressive mood. So much better after that though. Feeling real whooshes of fatigue though. Dont go up if you dont need to. Good luck

[Earthchild10]

The issue with the ear could be from clenching your jaws together perhaps. I’ve had the same issue! Was recommended to go for physio or acupuncture