I've had anxiety for about 2 years, panic attacks for about a year & MVP (mitro valve prolapse)for about 8 months - causes racing heartbeat occasionally. I was put on Xanax .5mg as needed & Propranolol 10mg 3xdaily. I take 1/2 a dose of the Xanax each time I take a Propranolol so that I don't have the 'worry' of - When do I need it?? I hate that direction on the bottle...anyway, I'm pretty sure that the propranolol is doing it's job.
Last week was my first session with a professional therapist & I also visited a nurse. Upon their conclusion & my symptoms/answers, they recommend that I take 20mg of Celexa at bedtime. I've got the prescription filled, but have not taken any yet. I am almost deathly afraid of medicine! I absolutely hate side effects & withdrawals. I've never had to go through them before, so I am very, very scared of what meds will do to me. But at the same time, I can't stand feeling like this!
I'm not sure that the Xanax works well because I feel so bad most of the time. My symptoms are extreme nausea, vomiting almost every morning, hot stomach, my head feels 'funny', I'm very edgy, very tired, can't eat hardly at all & I'm losing weight, strength, stamina & I'm soooo tired of feeling this way.
I have a WONDERFUL support group, my husband is the greatest, my Mom has been through hers already, my sister helps me out with the kids when my husband is at work, etc... Very supportive family! I am a Christian also & believe that God will carry me through this, but I need to know what anyone else has experienced with the use of Xanax and/or Celexa.
Because I've been on the Xanax regularly for about 5-6 months, I know I'll have to wean off slowly when it's time (which I hope soon) But I'm wondering if I should take the Celexa or if it's just going to be another medication that I'll have to wean off of later & what are the side effects? Not the bad ones, cuz I'll get even more scared....lol ~ Any info or help will be greatly appreciated!!
Xanax - Celexa? Which one is better?
I had extreme symptoms of anxiety/depression.I was vomiting,bad nausea and diarhea,I lost 15 pounds in 2 weeks.I couldn't eat,sleep, and had no motivation for anything.I also had bad stress headaches and a very edgy weird feeling in my head.My doctor put me on celexa 10mg.I took it 7 weeks and it cleared up all of my symptoms.The only side effect i had was constipation.I am currently taking 5mg per day to ween off of it and i have had no withdrawal symptoms yet.My doctor put me on celexa because it had very little side effects and withdrawal symptoms.That was my experience with celexa.Everyone is made different so it may affect you differently.
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Thank you so much for your response! I prayed & prayed that God would take over the situation before I even went to the therapist that day & she said that I always have the choice to take it or not, but that it was there if I needed to. She said that I am the only one who will know if it will work. I am very glad to hear that it worked well for you, now I'm wondering if I could get a 10mg prescription instead or if 20mg will be OK. I have a bad habit of taking 1/2 of what is prescribed - with the exception of antibiodics. Thank you so much for your reply. Did you have any other medications that you tried?
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i was on effexor xr for over 10 yrs with ativan, then went into a deep depression and my doctor changed me to cymbalta which was really bad for me, now i am on celexa 20mg daily still on my ativan as well but have only been on celexa for 4 days and so far i do feel better. hopefully after a few weeks i'll feel evn bettr than i do today. i am also in a christian 12 month step study as well as this new program. i see a therapist every other week as well. so i am tring. as should you. hang in there GOD will not give you nore than you can handle!!!
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I was on lexapro for two months and it made me lose my sex drive so i quit it fast.I would only take 10 mg of the celexa though.It worked wonders for me.I would take 10mg for the first week or two and then take 20mg if you needed it but the 10's should work.It took me about 4 weeks to feel the full effects of the celexa 10's.After 2 weeks you will feel a lot better though.
ANGELS CAN FLY BECAUSE THEY TAKE THEMSELVES LIGHTLY
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Both of you will bust right through this funk.How fast you do it depends on th effort you put into it.I still have a small anxious feeling somedays but nothing like i had.I will tell you how i did it.3 months ago I just wanted to die I felt so bad.I went to the E.R. twice because i thought i was dying.After I found out that it was just anxiety and accepted it...I told myself that i would not accept defeat from it.First,I got right with God.Then I started jogging a lot.I got on the celexa also.I started the the program program the day after that.Then I changed my diet.....drinking less caffiene and eating more greens.I recently started working with the youth at church also.I felt so much better from doing all these things that I started to ween off the celexa.I feel better and better each day.I should finish the the program program right around the time I leave for Navy Basic Training.If someone would have told me that I would be leaving for basic training 3 months ago I would have just said haha but now I can't wait.I highly recommend that you two stay on the celexa for a while and get busy exercising and studying the the program program.Ya know 30 minutes of exercise a day is equal to 20mg of antidepressants.You two Are definitely on the right track.You will overcome this...just believe in yourself.If I can,anybody can.Good luck to both of you and You will be in my prayers.
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Thank you for the encouraging words & affirmation that it WILL get better. It's very hard to believe in yourself when you're feeling so sick, but I will do my very best to keep a positive attitude. I'm thinking if I get off the xanax, I'll feel better - because when I started taking it regularly, I started feeling worse - I think....with a huge variety of physical symptoms & I figure if I'm going to have all these symptoms while on the xanax, then maybe I should just deal with the anxiety symptoms because I'm not so sure that they are as bad. Please, please, please remember me in your prayers - my name is Tracy...so when you send your words of faith up to God, he'll know who you are talking about...which I know he does anyway, it just makes me feel better. Thank you!
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