Dr just prescribed celexa, wondered what side effects I should watch for, I am also taking xanax .5 twice a day. not too sure about mixing meds any suggestions?

I am in roughly the same boat as you - A couple of weeks ago I began taking 10mg Celexa (the generic from) once daily plus was prescribed .5mg Xanax to take twice daily as needed. Neither, in my case, has helped yet. I'm told it takes up to 4 to 6 weeks to see improvement on the Celexa but the Xanax is suppose to work immediately. I have taken the Xanax once a day for a week and I don't think it ever made me feel more calm. Frankly, I'm just worried that all I'm doing with the Xanax is getting myself addicted to something that doesn't even help me :dizzy:

I hope the Celexa kicks in sooner that 4 to 6 weeks because these 24/7 physical symptoms of a tight throat and chest pressure are driving me insane, and I am at risk of losing my job because of it. This is my third full month of having these all-the-time symptoms and it has nearly destroyed my life....

I was on Celexa in 2000 and it was a wonder drug for me, it gave me energy and made me feel so much better. Recently I took it and had horrible side effects... flu like ones, nausea, fever, chills, couldn't get out of bed, etc. These side effect could have been from withdrawing from Wellbutrin too, the doc isn't sure, or they might have been from stopping the WB and starting the Celexa. Mostly I have depression and only have anxiety at times. I do take Xanax as needed, I take it once or twice a week, about 1 mg when I do take it. I'm still on WB and now I'm taking Cymbalta instead of the Celexa. The jury is still out on whether these meds are working well. Good luck!

i was on 20mg celexa generic and the worst side effect was some hot flashes. i tried it for 4 days, went off it for 4 days and then back on . the hot flashes weren't as bad. i was on it for 8 weeks but found it too sedating. didn't want to get up in the morning and 2-3 hour nap at night. worked better for my son who was on 40mgs. God bless:angel:

hi there, i have been on celexa for about 3 years now and it was a wonder drug for me. It took a couple weeks to kick in and i took xanax with it and still do when needed. I was darn near housebound with panic attacks and now i am a totally different person. i think it really saved me. I did not have any side affects which i rarely do with any meds. My dad is also on it and he had weight gain with it but like me it was a wonder drug. I wish you luck.

ive been on celexa for about 2 yrs. best advice? : take it at bed time with the xanax. (it wll help you sleep) DONT miss doses. youll regret it if you do. ( i usually dont remember until the shakes start). think positive. these pills are only controlling the physical aspects of this....you control the psychological ones. anxiety is like a hang nail. you almost forget about it and then you brush against something and its bleeding again.

Maverick, maybe you should consult with your Dr again to get you on what will work sooner, I hate to hear about anyones job on the line because of this illness. let us know how it goes. :angel:

Jenbrugg,

thanks for the advice, I dont have a problem sleeping with the xanax though.
what do you mean by getting the shakes? is this a side effect of the celexa if you miss a dose?

Maverick, maybe you should consult with your Dr again to get you on what will work sooner, I hate to hear about anyones job on the line because of this illness. let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the concern but I don't know if my pdoc can do anything about it at this point. She told me that it may take up to 6 weeks to show signs of improvement. I may be on too low a dose, or even the wrong kind of SSRI (or maybe SSRIs don't work for me and I'll have to try something else). Basically, I am going to have to suffer through these physical symptoms (which are waaaaaay worse than the mental symptoms in my case) until something works.

BTW I have been taking .5 mg to 1 mg Xanax daily for the past 9 days. I take it in the afternoon because it does tend to make me drowsy. If I just completely stop taking this right now, will I suffer from bad side effects? My doc prescribed this to be taken as need up to 1mg three times daily and gave me a two month prescription, until the Celexa kicked in and took over my anxiety. I know I was prescribed enough to take 3mg daily for two months but since I have only been taking a max of 1mg daily for 9 days would it be likely that I will suffer from withdrawal? :dizzy:

The only withdrawl effect of xanax is that if you have high anxiety, you will feel it again, and if you use it to help sleep, you will have a hard time with it on your own. I have taken it for years and it has saved my life many times. I have taken high doses, low doses, taken it everyday for months and then taken myself off of it, so I know! Right now my panic attacks are constant, so back on it. Just personal issues and intense fear of life right now. Has nothing to do with the xanax.

I took Celexa and Klonopin. Once the Celexa kicked in, about 4 weeks, I stopped the klonopin and I had no bad reactions. Everyone is different. But the SSRI should help you with any adverse reactions.

Why do you want to stop the Xanax?

j2006,

I currently take .05 mg of xanax and need a higher dose of that I think since I took one a bit ago and still feeling a little anxiety.I really dont want to take anything but I just needed to know what side effects if any people were having with the celexa as I read on the paperwork that comes with the presc that suicidal thoughts is one of the side effects not to mention a slew of others so I am a little concerned, although my Doctor said the most common was sexual side effects or lack thereof.

When I took it I was on 5 which I felt awful on. I had bad anxiety. My doctor told me to go to 10mg and I felt so much better. He said the 5 was irritating my body - it just wasn;t enough. When I swithced to 10 mg I stayed on Klonopin for about a month. I felt really good. The only side efffect I had was being tired. I did gain some weight on it - so I thought - but recently I found out I had another issue going on and that was the reason for the weight gain.

Other than that I felt good. No anxiety - just a week before my period - that's it.

It is a good medication -

I really dont want to take anything but I just needed to know what side effects if any people were having with the celexa as I read on the paperwork that comes with the presc that suicidal thoughts is one of the side effects not to mention a slew of others so I am a little concerned, although my Doctor said the most common was sexual side effects or lack thereof.

You sound ALOT like me. I hesitated taking my Celexa 10mg for two weeks after it was prescribed to me because I was so nervous about the possible side effects. Then after 2 weeks I just had enough and started taking them - still two weeks later I have not had a single side effect from my dosage (it hasnt helped any either though but I still have possible another 4 weeks of waiting before I notice a difference). Just remember that the side effects listed are possible side effects and not everyone will get them. On the other hand my sister took Celexa as well and within a couple of days she seemed irritated by everything so she went off of them and got on Trileptal(sp?) and Wellbutrin and she feels great now. This may or may not be the meds for you but in order to find out you gotta try them.

Doc has me on 20mg.

Did he/she start you on 20?

Yes he started me on 20

That is high to start but.... if you are not having any bad side effects then keep going. The anxiety feeling does leave - it just takes a little bit of time. Don't be afraid to increase your xanax either. I was so afraid to increase the klonopin I was on that I made myself nuts. Once I increased the klonopin and just stayed on the celexa I was able to relax and let the medication work. Soon after I was off klonopin.

Starting new meds is frightning - I have tried so many - but you'll see - you will feel better in just a few weeks!

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

I started the celexa tonight wasnt going to wait any longer will let you all know how it goes.

I have taken the celexa for 2 nights now and when I wake up I am groggy, my feet and hands start sweating on and off, dont want to take it during the day because of work, it is a sedating. wonder if the dose needs to be decreased.

You should talk mto you dr about going down a bit to start. 20mg is high to start. Try taking 10mg for week and then go to 15mg and then to 20.

Thats what I was thinking.