HI,
I'm just wondering if anyone can relate to how I'm feeling. I am on celexa/citalopram for anxiety attacks. and I have a lot of ups and downs. I wake up in the morning feeling great and by the end of the day I can be totally depressed or the other way around, I feel totally depressed in the morning and by midday I feel fine. I'm wondering if these ups and downs could have anything to do with the medication. Has anyone else ever felt this way? And if so whats up with it?
Any input would be great. Thanks!

Yes, I can relate. I've been on various meds for anxiety and depression and some work better than others for me. How long have you been on this med? I just saw the doc the other day and he told me that sometimes you have to try different meds to see which one will work for you--its all chemistry. Sounds like you are having mood swings and while I don't think that the meds are causing them, it's possible that you need a different one to solve your problem. A lot of the time depression can be made worse by fatigue, over the counter meds (like allergy meds) or even a glass of wine. One thing I was told a long time ago was never get too hungry, too tired or too lonely. If you haven't been on this med for long, you may want to give it a little more time to kick in. If its been more than a couple of weeks, I'd call the doc and see about changing the meds. Mood swings can wipe you out. I've learned to do an inventory when on a new med. Ask myself what has happened that is the same each time you get depressed. Am I tired? Hungry? Anything that might coincide with how you feel. Celexa is an SSRI just like Prozac and Paxil. There are other meds out there now that might work better for you or maybe your dose needs to be adjusted. Hang in there--with anxiety and depression you just have to treat it like any other illness and don't let it scare you. Observe the symptoms and report them to the doc. Also be sure to take the meds at the same time every day. Most of them are timed release now and that really makes a difference.
Good luck.

I have been on a few anti depressants since I returned from Iraq to help deal with the PTSD stuff. I am currently on citalopram and it seems to be working great for me, but it took about a month to really kick in and I went through 4 previous types of antidepressants before this one worked.

Unfortunately, my experience has been to wait a month or so for the medicine to try and work and then kick my DR in the butt until he gives me something else. And of course some times a little butt kicking makes you feel better than the medicine.

I am not a DR, just passing on my experience. Hope things get better for you.

Sometimes you need a combination of meds and not just one. Sounds like you need something for effect later in the day. I would talk to your doctor, maybe something is longer lasting.

Thanks guys. I've actually been on this med for about a year now, but the anxiety and depression are still there so we are trying to increase the dose. I've tried many different antidepressants and this one seems to work the best for me, except for the mood swings. I am wondering if a combination of meds might work better for me.
Thanks again for the advice. I will keep you posted.

I am not prescribing anything, but you might want to ask your provider about adding wellbutrin on top of what you are taking. I have been on prozac for a few years. I was so tired, had no energy recently. I was given wellbutrin in addition and am feeling much better. There are lots of meds, but wellbutrin doesn't have some side effects that people don't like but then also depends on your medical history. So, you can give the increase in your med a couple weeks, and if that doesn't do it see about adding another med.

I am not on any meds for depresion but wanted to mention that your thyroid can cause massive mood swings. Have you ever had it tested? I know if mine is low I really have trouble in the afternoon.
What also helps me is to try and rest for about 20 min in the afternoon. I normally don't sleep but it will revive me for the evening.
Lots of prayers.

Thanks guys.
I have been on welbutrin a couple of times and I found that it made my anxiety worse and made me very jittery. But I am hoping that my doctor will prescribe something else with the citalopram. I know that everyone is different and everyone needs to find the med/meds that work best for them, but I would like to know if anyone else has a found a med that works good for anxiety. Has anyone else been on citalopram/celexa? If so how did it work for you?

Thanks for your input everyone it is very helpful.

Buspar is another antianxiety med.