# Help and Advice > Related Illness/medication/alternatives >  Citlalopram

## Iam

Hello, I have been taking Citalopram for a few months now it had an almost immediate effect on my anxiety, but took weeks before i felt any benefit for the depression. however i now for the first time in forever feel like there is some light at the end of this tunnel. but I'm unsure how long i need to be taking the medication for and wondering about other peoples experience with this medication, I'm currently taking between 20 and 40 mg depending on how bad i feel and now have them on repeat prescription. is there a limit to how long someone would be on them. i hate to be dependant on medication, but I'm truly terrified of going back to the darkness.

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## Paula

It's not usual to be taking varied doses of an AD, are you sure that's what the dr prescribed?

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## Iam

Yes I started on 20 mg he then increased it to 40, but said i could drop it back down or even take one and half depending on what i felt was best.

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## Paula

Could you call your dr and get that clarified? ADs work on a long term basis and it takes weeks for them to fully start working - so varying your dose doesn't really enable time for your body to start working with them. Normally, people taking ADs would be on a set dose and, if that doesn't work for any reason after 4-8 weeks, then consider changing the dose itms (which would then take another 4-8 weeks to really take effect). When was the last time you saw your dr?

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## Suzi

I with Paula - that just is weird. IF you take a higher dose today then it's not going to affect you for a few weeks - and that's only if you stuck at the higher dose... You're throwing your body into more stress than it needs to be altering dosages.

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## Honeyflower

I was on it for 10 years and have never heard of this before.

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## Iam

That makes sense, he started me on 20 mg for a month after that period i told him that they seemed to be having no effect on my depression, i believe now that they simply hadn't had time to work, and that is when he advised me to increase the dose to one and half or two tabs or drop back to one if necessary, i think the idea was that i take an increased dose for a period of time and reduce it if need be, not to change it on a daily basis. i did increase them to 40 mg on his advice but found that they were making me tired all the time and my anxiety was starting to return. i have now gone back to and sticking with 20 mg they seem to be working. thanks for the reply and sorry if my initial post was misleading.

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## Paula

I'm glad they're helping now. Treating depression isn't a short term thing unfortunately :/

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## Iam

Yes i know,but don't have any experience of this side of things, and it's just after all those years of darkness i now want to get my life back and to gain some idea of what i'm dealing with.

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## Suzi

Just remember that they take roughly 6 weeks to get into your system properly and then the same for each change of dose... Glad you've settled on a definite dose for now.

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## Iam

Yes i will be staying with this, I'm afraid my GP didn't give me too much info about the meds so i do value the advise of those who have been there, and I'm not feeling quite so confused now.

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## Paula

I know what you mean. I've been on ADs for most of the past 16 years  :Surprised:  but it wasn't until I joined DWD in 2012 that I really had any clue about the meds I was on

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## Suzi

I've noticed that people aren't given much information too - glad that we've been able to help at least a little...

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