Day 6 on Citalopram, anxiety through the roof, any advice, positive stories?

[JC33]

I am anxious all the time, I also have a dry mouth, slight tremor in my hands and suffering from insomnia. I take the pill in the morning, but still struggling with insomnia. I can barely function with how bad my anxiety is at the moment. I know antidepressants make you worse first, but I just don’t know how to ride this out. The mornings are awful and like being plunged off a cliff. Any advice, support would be appreciated as feel very alone in this journey.

[birdphotographer]

I feel your pain! I went through something very similar with Zoloft a few weeks ago. It was intolerable. Have you talked with your doctor about the unrelenting symptoms yet? I know the general recommendation is to wait it out because the side effects will subside, but that doesn't help one bit getting through the day when the anxiety is through the roof. I had to taper back off Zoloft. Your doctor may recommend a slower increase or something that can help with the high anxiety you're experiencing in the meantime.

[JC33 in reply to birdphotographer]

Yes I spoke to the doctor yesterday, I was prescribed an antihistamine to help me sleep, but doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. The lack of sleep really makes my anxiety worse too I have also been prescribed diazepam to help with the anxiety whilst the Citalopram settles, but feel very uncomfortable about taking it

[JC33 in reply to JC33]

Ps - thank you for taking the time to reply to me x

[birdphotographer in reply to JC33]

I understand. I was prescribed clonazepam as a "rescue" med for the anxiety during transition between drugs or for high anxiety situations. I was wary of it because of the warnings about addiction and also because I worried it would make me a zombie. I did try it. The doctor recommended a half a pill and I tried a quarter. It was fine and definitely helped me. I will only take it for a couple of days at a time so I don't get hooked but it was nothing like I feared. I hope you are doing better and getting some rest!

[mars11]

Hey, I'm really glad you've stuck it out these past days! It's important to trust in the process as the treatment takes effect after 1-4 weeks. I also found a video I think you would find helpful. youtube.com/watch?v=gNSpe12...(Not working as expected?)

I send good energy your way, let's be patient for a little longer and see where this goes.

[JC33 in reply to mars11]

Thanks for the video and your message, I really hope this works for me