Thinking of switching from Zoloft to celexa

[Bj2muchgoingon]

Hi everyone first time posting. Long story short I have had a very rough last 4 years. I started nursing school my kids dad passed away also lost several other loved ones that I havnt even had time to grieve for yet and I have 6 children. Needless to say I have an extremely stressful life. I've made it to last semester of nursing school and was hit with severe dabilitating depression and the first panic attacks and anxiety I have ever felt in my life. I started 25 mg Zoloft four weeks and have gone up to 50 but the side effects are killing me and making the anxiety constant. I was prescribed .5 Ativan twice daily if needed and have only been taking .25 at the most but for 5 days straight I've had to take it don't want to get addicted but the Zoloft has not kicked in and I am in a current breakdown and the Ativan helps yes I have a psychiatrist and therapist taking it day by day but celexa works really great for a few of my close family members so wondering if I should switch and very concerned about the Ativan gives me anxiety to take my anxiety medicine waiting for the Zoloft hoping as meds start to work I will not feel the need to take the Ativan but it literally scares me to death... ahh help...

[Paxiled]

This stuff is so individual.  Sorry you're having a hard time.  You're still on a lowish dose of Zoloft, but you are the master of your life and sometimes we just know when a drug isn't the right one.  The only thing I can advise is if you've made up your mind, if you know the Zoloft isn't going to be the right fit for you, the sooner you decide to taper off the easier it will be.  The longer you take these meds the hard it is to stop.  I've been on this forum a long time, and the drug that "seems" to work best for the most people is Zoloft, but as for Celexa, I guess if it were me I might try Lexapro before Celexa.  Almost the same drug, but at least by reputation the Lexapro cut out some of the difficulties Celexa had.  Personally, I found Celexa to be easier to take, though neither worked for me, so that just goes to show how individual this stuff is.

[Bj2muchgoingon]

Thank you so much for all of your kind words in this matter. I decided to do the switch as the dr prescribed take 10 mg celexa for a week then up it to 20 mg next week and rotate the Zoloft 25 mg every other day for a week then stop taking. yesterday took 10 mg celexa no zoloft. Could just be placebo effect but didn't wake up anxious or nauseous. Had what felt like a slight pressure headache last night but took a few Tylenol... celexa has worked really well for my mom and sister so I'm hoping it will work for me as well... as I look back I was depressed for quite some time and should have started this sooner. Praying with therapy and the right med I can't start to feel good again. I'm tired of my kids seeing me so miserable and just no desire to do anything. Shower, clean, cook. Nothing at all! It breaks my heart and makes the guilt worse but I am hopeful. I graduate as an RN in May and just need to hang on until then... thanks again for all the encouragement.

[Bj2muchgoingon]

If you dont mind me asking what side effects did you experience from the celexa

[Paxiled]

I have no problem answering either question, but my answers don't really matter to you.  They matter generally, but not to any specific individual, as each individual is capable of having very different reactions to taking medications than other people do.  But I will tell you that Lexapro and Celexa are far more known for the sweating problem than Zoloft is -- it is one of the more common side effects of both Celexa and even more with Lexapro, and I got it from both of them.  When I took Zoloft, a long time ago, it did absolutely nothing -- no effects, no side effects, meaning that either my psychiatrist at that time was clueless and so was I back then and should have increased the dose to see if I just needed more for it to get into my system or I was incapable of absorbing it because, perhaps, my liver simply wouldn't let this drug into my system.  Celexa and Lexapro also gave me odd head pressure, and it was again worse with the Lexapro and intolerable when the dosage was increased to see if it might work for me at a higher dose.  Now, these are very common side effects of these meds, but a warning:  by the time I took them, I was no longer an ordinary anxiety sufferer.  By then, stopping Paxil had destroyed my emotional and neurological systems in a rare disorder that happens sometimes when we take drugs for a long time that affect brain neurotransmitters.  Just my luck to get something that affects few people and so nobody has ever bothered to see if they can treat it.  That makes me a bad candidate to comment as far as drugs working or not because my brain is no longer the one I was born with thanks to Paxil.  I only mention this to warn that your results will probably be better as far as results are concerned than mine will probably ever be again, but the side effects I get are still pretty much the usual ones.  I have never been prescribed Ativan.  I've taken 3 benzos -- valium at first, the clonazepam in a way that made it addictive to me and too hard to stop ever given what Paxil did to me, and Xanax, which because I was given it by a quack when I was already taking clonazepam actually gave me more anxiety attacks, not fewer.  So can't comment on Ativan personally, only that it's always best not to take a benzo on a regular basis if you can help it both because of the potential for addiction (which isn't really as much of a concern as we sometimes pose it as because antidepressants aren't classified as addictive but are incredibly hard for some people to stop taking) and because they only work for a short time period while antidepressants, if they work, work all the time, and therapy, if it works, actually gets rid of the problem.

[Paxiled]

I will say, the side effects you're describing might be partly attributable to the Ativan, as we often get drowsy when a benzo stops working, but the dizziness and stomach problems sound more like side effects of the Zoloft.

[Bj2muchgoingon]

Thank you for your reply. The side effects the sweating I feel like I'm dizzy all the time. No apetite. And the Ativan scares me but helps to keep the anxiety at bay... I'm just so tired of feeling like this... I could only handle two days on the 50 so I've taken 37.5 hoping if I go slowly it will be better. I take at night now since it makes me drowsy but I wake up sick to my stomach and dizzy... have you had any experience with using the Ativan?