# Citalopram for anxiety?



## Lisa

My GP prescribed citalopram to me (20mg). I have never taken antidepressants before and am just wondering if it really works on anxiety as he says. What are your experiences?


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## Flinx

I have taken both Celexa and Lexapro. Both helped with my anxiety, but not for depression. I couldn't tolerate Lexapro though. I had to stop taking it after 8 weeks due to the side effects of insomnia and clenching jaw.

I'm currently taking 100mg of Zoloft and it helps with both my anxiety and depression. I have no side effects from Zoloft.


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## sab_07

Well it's never a guaranteed thing with antidepressants. You just have to take it and wait and it out and see what it does for you. I just started on Celexa 20mg too..hopefully it'll be the last SSRI I'll have to try.


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## No Limit

Well speaking from my experience, it did work for a couple of weeks and then just stopped working.


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## CoconutHolder

I did not have much luck with Celexa but I liked Lexapro. Not at 10 mg though because of insomnia and stuff but it works well for me at 5 mg. Good luck! Hope it works for you!


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## arthur56

to lisa
the effective dose range is 10 to 60 so the starting dose of 20 is too high especially as you dont have experience from any other ADs

I would start with 5 by splitting a tablet, then gradually work up to 10, then if all OK up to 20 after about 4 weeks

your doc doesnt know anything about prescribing these meds to anxiety sufferers


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## Lisa

Thanks for the replies.

I really want to take something that will free me from being haunted by anxiety and insecurity but I still haven't started them.

Arthur,

I have done a bit of research and everyone says what you say that I should start with 5mg and work my way up from there. The GP never mentioned that. He said to start with 20mg and then see how it goes. You really can't trust GPs in this country. They don't have a clue!


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## AnaZiety

I have just been started on 20mg to increase to 40mg after 2 weeks.
Worried now after reading that that dose is looking too high to start on, so side effects yet only been 4 days though.


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## citizen_erased

About two months ago i was in the same situation as you, Lisa - my GP had just prescribed me 20mg Citalopram for social anxiety and i'd never taken anti-depressants before either. So far, i don't think they've helped with my SA or my depression much but after seeing my GP again this morning and telling her this, i've been put on them for another month, which i'm ok with, just to see if i still don't notice any difference or not, because it can take a few weeks or even a few months for this to happen.


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## jaayhou

Flinx said:


> I have taken both Celexa and Lexapro. Both helped with my anxiety, but not for depression. I couldn't tolerate Lexapro though.


Funny that you'd tolerate Celexa and not Lexapro. It's usually the other way around, as Lexapro is just Celexa without the inactive portion.

I was skeptical when starting citalopram, but it seems to be working well now. I'm relying on occasional alprazolam less and less because my general anxiety has been much less severe. I feel almost normal lately.


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## Flinx

I was taking 40mg of Celexa for 2.5 years, and then was taken off it when I had a manic episode. I took bi-polar meds with no AD's for the next 1.5 years. They made me feel like crap. I was tired all the time and I was suffering from terrible anxiety along with panic attacks. I had no motivation to do anything and I ended up staying in my house way too much because I wasn't working or socializing. 

I switched pdocs because my old one transferred to another city. My current pdoc evaluated me with GAD, SA, and depression. I told her that I wanted to go back on Celexa, since it helped me in the past. She ask me if I wanted to take Lexapro since it was just like Celexa, except fewer sides. I tried it for 9 weeks. I felt like I was wired all the time, my jaw hurt and I had sexual sides. I didn't have any sides on Celexa previously. I ask my pdoc if I could switch from the Lexapro to Celexa since it worked for me before. She agreed and started me on 10mg. I went up to 40mg during the next 8 weeks. I had the same sides that I had with the Lexapro. Both definitely calmed my anxiety, but I couldn't deal with the sides.

I'm currently taking 100mg of Zoloft along with 50mg of the ADD drug, Vyvanse. I've been on this combo for the last couple of months. My anxiety and depression is under control now. I'm not suffering from any sides, my sex life is better and I'm working again. I feel like I have a future now. This combination has had a very positive effect on my social anxiety, as well. I am prescribed Xanax if I need it. I haven't taken any in the last two weeks. I'm comforted that I have Xanax available in case I ever need it.

Give any AD at least 8 weeks to have a positive effect. If it doesn't help, there are others you can try. I hope you get well soon. It's just a matter of finding the right med or combination of meds.

**** luck


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## ingrid

i have taken celexa and lexapro (and effexor, zoloft, cymbalta, etc etc) at fairly high doses. honestly, some of these worked a little on the depression but none have ever had any effect on my anxiety unforunately.


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## Noca

Its just a crap shoot trying to get anti-depressants to work for anxiety. But good luck!


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## NothingButTheRain

I'm on Citalopram 40mg at the moment, I find that I'm better with them than without but it doesn't do much for my depression, but I find a positive mental attitute sorts that out.


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## redstardude

Hi
I found that bith cipramil and lexapro were good for me but they worked better for depression rather than the social anxiety. 
Besides the side effects going on and coming off, there were no other problems. I also found lexapro easier to withdraw from compared to cipramil.


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## mogadon

i tried this it is quite good for anxiety,but not that good for social phobia and depression, it makes you very unemotional from my experience, this could be considered bad or good i suppose, i remember i took it after my cat died,i was in a terrible state,and shortly after i was put on citalopram, it made me feel very cold, it was like my cat had never died, i didnt like that feeling, 

citalopram imo is defiantly the best ssri for anxiety, but no where near as good as a maoi like nardil for example 

citalopram i think is best used for a bad event like a death in the family or something like that,where your finding it very difficult to cope


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## zappaziz

Cita worked for my social anxiety for awhile...but it ended up being too high maintenance. It did the job for me, no more social awkwardness or panic attacks in crowded places. I am at 40mg right now and just started weaning off of it 5mg a week. The problem I had was maintenance of taking it. It started to be if I missed my dose by even a few hours I would start to get the electric twinges (known side effect). Then when I was taking my dose I would get dissoriented for a bit after taking it. It did work for me but my seems to be rejecting it now, from which I have read is pretty common. I was on it for a year and I'm waiting to see what happens once I'm off. Down from 40 to 20 now with an unopened scrip of Valium in case of emergency.

Working on Yoga for the Detox...Ill see how it goes.

Good Luck. And remember its just a pill, not a fix


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## Medline

The easiest/painless way to withdraw from SSRIs is changing to an equivalent dose of Prozac (with it's very long half-life) and then tapering down.


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## soaringfalcon11

Contrary to the norm in here, Celexa (generic) has greatly reduced my social anxiety. 

Some advice: please, give this drug at least a month. I cannot tell you how many times within the first two weeks I contemplated quitting because "it wasn't doing anything." On top of this, reading the negative reviews here made me believe it wouldn't do anything. 

Well, it turns out Celexa has greatly reduced my moderately severe anxiety with only 20 mg.


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## radicalA

i hate how people are so negative about medication on here, seriously what's the point in saying it's a waste of time? and give a fake 'good luck', it sounds so bitter.


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## epril

I have taken zoloft, paxil, and now celexa. They have all helped. I'm lucky. I must say though each ad had side effects. Mostly a physical wrestlessness for a few days. But the side effects went away. Again I am thankful.I take 60mg. celexa, for 2 years now. It got me out of a very depressed state, then psydoc kept increasing dose to help my anxiety. If you can get therapy too, do it. My thinking was so messed up, a therapist was absolutely critical to my recovery. Now I can't afford one. So I try to remember everything I've been taught, and act on it no matter how uncomfortable.


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## Medline

I'm trying to find an implicit question to answer, but I haven't found one yet.  Citalopram is considered a pretty good med for SA, Escitalopram is probably somewhat better if you wanted to know that.


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## zappaziz

radicalA said:


> i hate how people are so negative about medication on here, seriously what's the point in saying it's a waste of time? and give a fake 'good luck', it sounds so bitter.


If you were referring to my 'good luck' it wasnt fake I was being sincere. Its hard to find a medication that works for you and I know what a struggle it can be. And its not a waste of time if it helps, but its only part of the solution. You also need to find ways of reducing stress, finding your trigger points for attacks and working to get better.


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## zappaziz

Medline said:


> The easiest/painless way to withdraw from SSRIs is changing to an equivalent dose of Prozac (with it's very long half-life) and then tapering down.


Thanks for the info. Are there any concerns I should have with tapering down from Prozac as compared to cita? Side effects? Thanks.


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## Medline

No real concerns and as you are already down to 20mg Celexa the side effects of a adequate dose of Prozac shouldn't be very impressive, but you have to talk about this with your doctor anyway as he is the guy with the prescription pad.


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## Kanes

I have found both Celexa and Lexapro to work for depression but they don't seem effective for anxiety for me.


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## radicalA

i was put on 10 for 3 weeks, 20 for another 3 weeks now i'm on 30.

going from 5 seems a bit pointless if you're feeling really bad, as 10 did hardly anything for me and it seemed to take forever to work, i couldn't bare waiting even longer!


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## joes

Lisa said:


> My GP prescribed citalopram to me (20mg). I have never taken antidepressants before and am just wondering if it really works on anxiety as he says. What are your experiences?


I'm about to start on citalopram as my first AD, did this work for you?

I don't have any symptoms of depression, just the SA. Previously betablockers made me feel unable to concentrate even though that's not a listed side effect.


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## Jcq126

I was in the EXACT same situation just over 2 weeks ago. Never taken an SSRI before, was terrified to do it etc.. went to the doc and was prescribed 20mg of Celexa, it seemed like a high dose but w/e I tried it and the first 3 days were hell for me, I couldn't sleep, felt nauseas, clenching jaw and a crying depression spell on the second day but then after day 4 and onward all the effects went away besides clenching jaw (which is now 99% gone after 2 weeks). Life feels great so far, i already feel 10x better than I did before and i'm so happy now, I can't believe I was living like I was before Celexa, my thoughts are clearer, I feel like smirking all the time because i'm just happy finally and my anxiety has decreased + negative thinking. Try it out and don't be afraid, just make sure to stick it out for the first week or two but after that it's all gravy baby.


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## joes

Jcq126 said:


> I was in the EXACT same situation just over 2 weeks ago. Never taken an SSRI before, was terrified to do it etc.. went to the doc and was prescribed 20mg of Celexa, it seemed like a high dose but w/e I tried it and the first 3 days were hell for me, I couldn't sleep, felt nauseas, clenching jaw and a crying depression spell on the second day but then after day 4 and onward all the effects went away besides clenching jaw (which is now 99% gone after 2 weeks). Life feels great so far, i already feel 10x better than I did before and i'm so happy now, I can't believe I was living like I was before Celexa, my thoughts are clearer, I feel like smirking all the time because i'm just happy finally and my anxiety has decreased + negative thinking. Try it out and don't be afraid, just make sure to stick it out for the first week or two but after that it's all gravy baby.


thanks- taken the first one, no ill effects yet. As you say it's probably a few weeks before I see the benefit.
-J


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## fcbfcb

My two cents...

Everything I know about the chemistry of Lexapro(cipralex) vs. citalopram indicates that 20mgs citalopram should be identical to 10mgs Lexapro.

I recently went on lexapro, with much doubt about its efficacy vs. celexa (which i was on for a year). All I can say is it kicked my ***! First couple weeks felt like serotonin overload, compared the "barely working" feeling of celexa. Its also helped a little with social anxiety. Unfortunately these initial benefits don't last long for me.Moral of the story is if celexa kinda works, try lexapro.


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## Liana27

I started out on 20mg of citalopram and like you, my dr didn't tell me to start by taking 5 or 10mg. Anyway, I took the 20mg straight away (I hadn't taken any meds before) and the first and second days, I felt so awful that I was crying, my whole body was aching. The drs are useless in this country. I'm still taking 20mg of citalopram now and they do help with my anxiety a bit but it just takes the edge off. I've tried taking 30mg but it makes me too tired so I had to drop back down to 20mg.


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