Citalopram 20mg, Racing heart. - Anxiety Message Board

bflax86 · 03-22-2009, 10:42 AM

Hi,

Recently started taking citalopram 20mg per day. Going on my third day, and I have had a weird experience. This morning I woke up around 3 am, and my arms were hot and my chest felt warm. Along with that my heart was racing like I just got scared. I got up and ended up freaking out a little. Calmed myself down and my heart rate went down as well then all the weird feelings went away. This concerns me if I have to endure this for 3 or 4 weeks or more HELL NO. I used to take lexapro and had no side effects and was happy as could be. This is frustrating because im sick and tired of anxiety. I dont want to put myself through more worry and hell to see if this drug works. I have had panic attacks since 2005 so this isnt anything new.

Responses would help...

Lourage · 03-22-2009, 07:48 PM

I would try and wait it out, cause who knows, maybe this is the right med for you and you just have to deal with the side effects, 3-days ispretty early to even start seeing any effects, so maybe your body is just rejecting it right off the bat?

As long as your heart rate returns to normal you don't really have anything to worry about, yea it's a bad feeling, that increases anxiety, but as long as it does come back down to you will be fine. Only when it's at a constant state of rapid beats should you get it checked out as soon as possible. You can always call your doctor though and tell them how you are feeling.

lylah · 03-22-2009, 07:51 PM

I think I would go back to my old meds since you had good luck with them.

idreamofsilence · 03-22-2009, 08:53 PM

i went through some pretty SCARY side effects for about 3-4 weeks on citalopram. I toughed it out because without meds I would be a panicky mess. But I endured and now its working amazingly. I feel almost as normal as I did before I started getting the panic attacks in october. I would say wait it out... racing heart sucks. I had it all too often, I still get it on occasion. But I got these weird feelings in my head and in my face to where it felt like I had gone to the dentist and he gave me like 18 shots of novocaine in my face. It was pretty scary. But I am doing better now. I take it at night and it helps me sleep. 3 days isnt enough for the side effects to be gone. You will unfortunately have to experience them, unless you go back on your old meds.

tetianainto · 03-24-2009, 07:32 AM

I would also say wait it out.....it takes 4-6 weeks for the drug to work......if the side effects get very bad, then i would go back to doc. best, c

ps. it's actually quite normal for anxiety to increase at the beginning...which is a drag. just hang in for a bit longer.....you could try and take ativan at the beginning. that is what i did to help me. after 6 weeks i didn't need it anymore.....ask do if that would be good for you. c