Just bumped up my celexa dose to 20mg and I feel out of it. Help!

[HardlyHappy]

Hey everyone,

I recently was prescribed celexa 10mg which I took for 2.5 weeks. I noticed that I was still crying and upset so my doc bumped me up to 20mg, which I take at night because they make me drowsy.

Anyway,

I woke up today after upping my dose last night and feel superrrrr drowsy and out of it. I can't drive and feel almost high or drunk.

Should I stop taking it or keep going. Anyone have this happen??!?

[1uglychild]

Hi,

I never took Celexa but I did take Lexapro for a number of years. I know they are different drugs but without getting too technical, they are also cousins, with Lexapro being the newer and supposedly “cleaner” version. Anyhow, I did two rounds of Lex and both start up periods were marked by EXTREME sleepinesss and fatigue. I mean within a day of starting I was glued to the couch, and just kind of out of it. Both times this lasted about two weeks. I talked to my doctor and she kind of brushed it off as being just something you have to battle through. On the plus side the drug immediately knocked out any anxiety to the point I couldn’t even focus on an obsessive thought, but feeling drugged for two weeks isn’t something anyone wants to go through.

You might want to see if you can half your upped dose to 15 instead of 20 (and it’s always good to check with a doctor about side effects), but if you can bear through the fatigue, I think you’ll see it that it won’t last.

Good luck!

[Lala63]

Hi HardlyHappy,

I also bumped up my dose from 15mg to 20mg in 2 weeks and to 25mg after taking 20mg for one week. I was on 15mg for 2 weeks prior to changing. I played with the dose befire that and I felt suicidal, just horrible. I don't have the same side effects as you, I am more energized, no appetite, and so "drugged", I actually feel like I'm high. I was fine this week, but had an anxiety attack Wednesday night and had to take Xanax both nights. I am feeling funky and need to wean off of it again. I just want to sleep well...I was this week! Tell me how you are feeling today, I want to know

[HardlyHappy in reply to Lala63]

I am only taking 15mg, week 4.5 and less side effects but not feeling much change

[Lala63 in reply to HardlyHappy]

That’s how I felt! I still had anxiety (I suffer from GAD), so I raised the dose. But today was such a bad day (still is). I feel horrible and will have to take Xanax again to sleep which I hate doing. Do you sleep ok? Do you suffer from depression or anxiety?

Celexa takes 4-8 weeks to fully work. Have you been increasing or lowering the dose?

[HardlyHappy in reply to Lala63]

I have anxiety bad! So many physical problems ugh. But I went from 10 to 20 and the 20 was too much for me. So I've been taking 15 for 2 weeks. I have no depression but anxiety still is terrible. My heart pounds like crazy, heart palpitations, blurred vision, diarrhea, lack of appetite. It's been rough. I wanna stop taking them but I already made it so far

[Lala63 in reply to HardlyHappy]

So you’ve been on celexa for 2 weeks only?

It causes horrible anxiety, yes! That’s how I’m feeling now. When I first started it, I didn’t sleep for days (I didn’t have Xanax, I had Trazadone that hardly worked). Today for instance, I hardly ate anything, just like you. I’m nauseous and have been gagging too (when I went down to 15mg, I’ve been gagging too..). It took me 10-11 days to feel better on 15mg, but then I started obsessing again and not sleeping.

What do you mean by “20mg was too much for me”?

I’m here for you if you need me! We can support each other here

[Lala63 in reply to HardlyHappy]

And what do you take to sleep?

[Lala63]

To answer your question, I did feel like that last year when I bumped my dose to 30mg I think. I was extremely drowsy. However, my issue was solved and I could wean off of Celexa. I felt extremely drowsy on 5mg of Lexapro I think and switched to Celexa instead.

[Bilabong]

I used lexapro for 7 months, but did not experience any sleepiness. On the contrary it made my life feel great. Maybe just that your body is reacting a bit differently to it?

Whatever you do, id advise against stopping this drug cold turkey like I did. The withdrawal from it are almost exact opposite of the benefits of this drug.