Celexa - first time on an anti-d... scary side effects. :( please help

[manic panic]

my doctor prescribed celexa to me for depression and anxiety attacks last week. i'm kind of a sissy about the effects of pills so i rarely take them, so when i do even a low dose seems to effect me quite a bit.

so last thursday i tried celexa as prescribed and three hours later was vibrating and chattering my teeth like i was freezing. that shakiness got very fierce then my blood pressure dropped and i almost blacked out, was nausious, and had a headache and for two hours following that i could not stop pacing. my doctor and i chalked it up to another panic attack and i decided to take a couple days off from it. it really spooked me.....

so monday night i decided to try again, thinking if i took it at night i might sleep through the side effects. that night it worked like a champ and i slept better than i have in ages. then last night i woke up and for 2.5 hours had the same situation as the first day only filled with waves of feeling like i was falling through a black hole, grinding my teeth, muscles tensing, difficulty breathing, and the feeling that i would lose consciousness at any moment or if i moved too fast. this happened at least 15.5 hours ago and i am still having a hard time not clenching my jaw, super dizzy, and shakey as all get out.

i suppose my questions are these:

1. i know doc's prescribe benzos or other types of meds (in my case hydroxyzine) to help with attacks.... is this because they know you're going to feel like this? i'm just terrified i'm just hurting myself.

2. has anyone had a reaction like this to celexa? what course of action did you take? i'm on 10mg right now and am def thinking of halving or even quartering the pills for a couple weeks.

3. has anyone tried hydroxyzine? my doc gave me it because when i tried xanax a couple times my skin burned and i because too disoriented to even cross a street on half a .25 mg.... :(... but of course now i'm scared to take anything new because i've been having so many bad reactions....


any advice is helpful.... i feel like i should just go back to no meds, but i want to get better and stop making life miserable for myself and for my boyfriend who just continues to be there for me, but must be so frustrated to have a nearly shut in 24 year old girlfriend!!!!
thank you

[Siegfried]

Hello!


Side effects of SSRIs can be a bummer but bear in mind that they almost always end with the continuation of treatment. I do not think it is a good idea to take them at night because it can disturb your sleeping pattern. Take them as prescribed.

What you describe do not seem like reasonable side effects of any of your drugs. You could have had a paradoxical reaction, but after such a low doses even this is weird. I'd say that you're dreading so much taking anything that you're bringing this on to yourself! This does not mean that the suffering is any less real, but that you're giving in if you stop taking medication which will, sooner or later, help you.

So, lets try to do some CBT here: what is it about the drugs that scares you so much?

[alankay]

No issues with celexa for me but I did'nt sleep well on it so back to prozac I went. Alankay

[adrianathemakeupartist]

I don't recall my dosage but yes I was very shaky and nauseous with celexa.... I tried it for three days and went off of it. I thought too I was causing it because I was nervous about starting something new. I have anxiety about side effects because I have a young toddler and don't want t be sick and feeling weird around her.

[Fashoom]

It's common to have side effects such as nausea and stomach distress at first w/ Celexa and the other SSRI's. And they can effect your sleep cycle either way. I find they make me drowsy so I take it at night - they can vary a bit from med to med also. It's also common for people w/ anxiety and panic disorders to have pill phobias - and the side effects can trigger panic. So yes, doctors often prescribe benzos e.g. Xanax to help their clients through the early days of SSRI treatment. Hydroxyzine is an antihistimine - it should make you sleepy and relieve anxiety.