increased anxiety while starting SSRIs?

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I'm about 17 months off of benzos... haven't been on the forum in a while...

 

Decided a few days ago to start up some citalopram I had lying around to see if they could make my social anxiety better... It's been about a year since I've taken SSRIs. In the past, I have been on and off and them and never had any sort of anxiety-related side effects.

 

I take just a quarter of a pill, the smallest amount I can, and only 3 days later my anxiety has increased. I walked around a mall today, and noticed I was very jittery and nervous and wanted to go home... I can only assume that my nervous system is still sensitive, as I have never had this reaction to SSRIs before...

 

i am getting pressure from my parents (who do not understand benzo w/d at all) to stop "doing nothing all day" and start looking for a job. in my state, my w/d symptoms have gotten better but I am still non-functional. my symptoms include a fatigue during the day, cog fog, listlessness, inability to concentrate, lingering symptoms of social anxiety.

 

I was really banking on these SSRIs to give me a boost and allow to me socially function; however, they seem to have made my social anxiety worse...

 

just curious, has anyone tried going on SSRIs during (or after) benzo w/d? should i expect this anxiety to go away as i get used to the ad's, or should i really just avoid them altogether?

[[br...]]

Hi...

I am very sensitive to meds so i started out on 5 mgs of lexapro for a week, then 10, 15 and finally 20, where ive been for a month.  It wasn't easy.  My anxiety was worse but i knew i needed to ride it out because side effects usually go away (at least for me).  Sure enough, they did and now i feel pretty good.  My anxiety is totally gone and i feel calm.  I'm going out more and i have more energy and I'm not tired anymore, probably because im sleeping better.  Hang in there.  It does get better.  I thought my life was over 4 months ago and now I'm starting to see the light.  It's pretty amazing.

[[my...]]

It is not unusual to get increased anxiety when starting an SSRI.  If you want to see if it will help then the medical advice is usually that you must take them for 6 weeks continuously to get the full (if any) benefit.

 

I found SSRIs caused more anxiety, I tried many SSRIs and after they failed I was put on the benzo.

 

You should really speak to your doctor rather than taking old medications you have lying around.

[[ma...]]

It's actually an extremely common side-effect of SSRIs (and SNRIs) to increase anxiety and depression for a few weeks up to a month or so. I always had that issue when I took them. If you never dealt with that side effect before, that's something you should be talking to a doctor about before starting the meds again.

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just an update... the anxiety was really bad a couple days ago, and has subsided with each day since then... had a little feeling of numbness, and perhaps a little Dp/dr earlier, and anxiety is still there but getting better... im not even a week in so im pretty optimistic the citalopram will help..

 

that first day the anxiety was terrible and i experienced what i can only describe as reminiscent of early acute withdrawal symptoms..