[tealBumblebee]

(This is me)



I've been on Citalopram (Celexa) 20 mg for 3 days short of 8 weeks. At this point; I think I have maxed out my symptoms and effectiveness and am where i'm going to be.

For the last 2 weeks, i've had some pretty intense jitters. Sometimes they are accompanied with chest pain, restlessness and low patience (which I was doing muuuuuch better at).

I went to the natural store where I got passionflower vine extract, which is supposed to be pretty potent against anxiety. But it helped only minimally.

So, they recommended adding this herbal gelcap (a mix of Holy Basil, passionflower, Valerian, Oat, Black Cohosh, etc.) which helps but only for a short time.

I do think the Celexa is working because I have only had one depression meltdown since being on it (it was weekly). The gp offered to up the dosage but said I would need to see a pDoc if this med isn't effective for me because this isn't his field. But I don't want to up it if it will cause more anxiety.

Any tips or suggestions? Or should I just make the appt with gp?

[Ruftin]

(((tb))) I'm sorry you are so uncomfortable. I think the p-doc would be a better choice for prescribing these meds for you.. Tremors, anxiety and nervousness are all common side effects of celexa. It doesn't sound like you're tolerating this medication very well. It made me a nervous wreck while I was on it. I hope you can get an appointment soon. You need to feel better!!

[Forever hopeful]

Hi Teal, so sorry to hear your not doing well. It did wonders for me with anxiety and reduced panic attacks but that wasn't till I went up to 40 mg. from what my dr explained to me was 20mg is used more depression and higher doses for anxiety issues.. Should also,say was great for my depression as well for many years. I am sure if this one doesn't benefit you will find that will

[tealBumblebee]

Thanks guys. I mean, i really do think the celexa is working fine - i just need to conquer this anxiety. I was put on it for depression / adjustment disorder. I've never taken anything before so i'm actually content with this medicine. The side effects aren't so bad. Its just this one thing. I did go ahead and call my Gp today; so we'll see what he thinks. I think if other meds have stronger effects id rather just stay on this. Thanks again!

[maybejane]

I was on 10mg/day of Celexa. I gave it a good trial of 3 months, but I couldn't shake the jitters (no pun intended).

I did a lot of research on SSRI jitters so there's some stuff out there including limited studies. Unfortunately, some of us get this side effect, but I couldn't deal with it because it also gave me anxiety. Good luck.

[tealBumblebee]

So, my doc didn't call back and I was still anxious; so i went to an urgent care. My blood pressure was 158/94 (i'm usually 118/76 ish) and the nurse couldn't figure out why it was so high. I told her it was the anxiety an I don't think she believed me until then. Both the doctor and nurse mentioned my skin (i have eczema) and I asked them why they both did and the doc said that I was rubbing/grabbing at my arms while I was talking. He suggested getting my thyroid retested and asked about the counseling and the depression. He mentioned taking Buspar and how most anxiety meds cause drowsiness. i told him that i can't really afford to take anything that makes me drowsy because I have to work and need to be alert. He said I could take it at bedtime to help me sleep and i told him i don't have any sleep issues. So, he said that with my circumstances that we should just go for a really low dose. I told him that would be good and preferably not something daily (lol i know im an annoying patient lol). Anyways he ended up prescribing xanax .25 three x a day. Google says this is a normal starting dose. I don't know. I feel like the doctors there weren't as "nurturing as before" but whatever lol. Anyways i'm still going to try to tough it out and def wont be doing three times a day i hope. But hopefully my doc will call back and have a better suggestion for me.

[RisuNeko]

Celexa made me super twitchy and jerky when I was on it. I don't if that's what you mean by jittery, but I definitely couldn't hold still. It didn't help with my depression and it made my anxiety worse, but it turned out I had underlying bipolar I disorder when I was taking it and I wasn't on a mood stabilizer, so that could explain some of it. It was not a good med for me.

I hope it helps you. It seems like Xanax will help you with your anxiety. Has it been helping?

[tealBumblebee]

Hi thanks! I really do think it was the Celexa that made me like that. I felt like I had ingested way too much caffeine and my chest had a lot of pressure and it was to the point that I needed an EKG or something (which, logically - working in an ER, I knew that it was just anxiety). I've been diagnosed with MDD/hypomania (which someone here said is bp 2; I dunno) ... so perhaps that could explain some of it as well.

I ended up taking two of the xanax's (at different times; about 24 hours apart) and I really do think it helped a lot. My coordinator at work told me to just take them; that there is no reason I should live like that. It almost made me cry. I didn't need one today, so that's good and I plan to call my doctor and inform him of my visit so he doesn't think i'm "drug seeking".

[RisuNeko]

Yeah if you have MDD and hypomanias I would think your psychiatrist would diagnose you as bipolar II. In which case being on an SSRI WOULD make you jittery and agitated. That's what happened to me when I was on it because I'm bipolar.