Question about Celexa/Citalopram

[Ken819]

Hello Everyone,

I started out taking 20mg of Celexa about 8weeks ago, Before taking them i would say my dai to day anxiety level was about a 9.5/10 and having Panic Attacks on an almost daily basis.

After the 1st few weeks of being on the meds, the panic attacks started going away, but my anxiety levels still remained quite high. It took another few weeks (about 6 weeks total) for my anxiety level to start dropping. I got down to about a 6.5/10 after 6 weeks or so and went back to see the doc after 8 weeks of being on the meds.

When going to see him, i still felt at about a 6.5 out of 10 and we agreed to up my dosage to 40mg per day.

So last friday (7/29) I started taking 40 mg per day. i felt the same friday and saturday, Sunday i felt very good..about 95% normal. The next day, Monday, i get up and do my usual daily stuff around the house, hop on the computer for a few minutes, then BAM, like almost instant panic attack, could feel the adrenaline rushing thru my whole body, and all the usual shaking, and tightnesses and freaking out that i normally do.

I took a .25 of klonopin and went and layed down to listen to some relxation/meditation cds i have. They ended up putting me to sleep for about 2 hours. But as soon as i woke back up, my heart was still racing and still felt on the verge of panic. So i ended up going to stay the night at my moms house (I live alone) and ended up taking another .25 of klonopin once i got there, which i finally relaxed after a while, and was fine the rest of the night. Woke up there and felt ok, drove home, and cut my lawn, then once i got back inside and tried relaxing a little bit, i went back to the same thing as yesterday.

Sorry for the long story, but what i am wondering is, is it possible that switching from the 20 to 40mg of celexa could be causing this, and would this start after a few days of upping my dosage or would it typically happen immediately?

I mean, i feel almost worse now than i did before i started taking the celexa, i could atleast maintain being in my own home alone, now i feel i need to run to safety when it's happening.

I don't recall my anxiety getting any worse when i first started taking the celexa 8 weeks or so ago, so it is kinda confusing me as to why it would be affecting me in this way now after upping the dosage.

Thanks for any help,

Ken

[yujiaog]

I am taking celexa too, I find the brand and generic are quite different, like two toally different medicine.

I took brand celexa one month ago, it calmed me down, but I got constipation and belly bloating from it. Then I changed to other medicine, all didn't work. I changed back to celexa, this time, it seems does not work any more.

I wonder if celexa have tolerance too? I have panic every day, it is so hard. I am 40, everyday I pray I would become old faster and leave the world early.

[fwenchfye]

I take celexas generic brand as well and noticed bad effects once they raised me from 20mg to 40mg. My emotional moments weren't aided at all but instead they were just all stuck in my chest instead of letting me cry it out or have a full panic attack it let the anxiety feelings absorb into me. Its hard to explain. Either way celexa is primarily for the depression onset from the anxieties, and you might not feel a difference with being anxious, but rather how sad/riled up you might get from the anxieties. Personally I needed to down to 30mg, also needed an aid to help the celexa (ambilify) and am on an anxiety medication, sleeping pills and some pill for nighterrors.

[Ken819]

I guess i'll give it another week, and see how i feel, if no change ill call the psych and see what he says.

Thanks