When will Celexa (Citalopram) start to take effect ?!

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I haven't tried to Celexa but I have used a similar SSRI called Lexapro which is a metabolite of Celexa and has been called "the new Celexa" and from what my doctor says it's works exactly like Celexa but Celexa tends to have more side effects. I started feeling the effects after about a week but it could take a while if your taking it for anxiety. I have tried most of the SSRI's and Lexapro has been the best one so far for me. The only advantage Celexa has over Lexapro is it's a lot cheaper (here I could get Celexa for $4 and Lexapro is about $65). SSRI's do usually help with anxiety but if it doesn't work ask your doctor about another type of medication. Note: Lexapro or Celexa would be the best SSRI's for anxiety in my opinion.

In my case, it only took about 4 days for some minimal effect, but mine is 20mg, rather than 10. And I am taking GABA and SAM-e as well, and getting plenty of exercise and sleep.

It will be at least another week. All SSRI's take about 2-3 weeks to complete their chemical cascade.

Rest assured, it *will* kick in, and the worst of the side effects are likely behind you now.

From my experience, it will take 2 weeks more for you to start notice changes.

I must say I see these kind of exchanges daily: "Is this drug better than that one?" "When will the side-effects stop?" "Why am I still suffering, after 5 years?" ... and so on and on.

If you're on this drug because your doctor prescribed it, then you should ask him or her this question!

So, a much better question would be: "Does anyone here know ANYONE - ANYWHERE - who has been helped by this drug?" Or better still : "Does anyone have any ideas about alternatives to drugs when treating anxiety disorders?"

I can begin to answer both of these self-posed questions.

Firstly, as far as efficiency of prescription drugs is concerned, Google it and follow the results. You’ll quickly discover that the official "cure" rate is under 5% (!) – while "satisfactory progress of therapy" is over 80%.

This means that this drug (and others like it) DOES NOT CURE - it only "treats" you - indefinitely. You get reduced p.a. symptoms but the price is: (a) multiple and immediate side-effects, (b) multiple and delayed side-effects, (c) growing dependency on the drug, (d) when you discover that it doesn't work you switch to another drug and repeat the process... and (e) many tens of thousands of dollars in overall therapy cost, and that's just the drugs.

There are some 20M cases of anxiety disorders in the US alone, and 6M with panic attacks. Roughly 95% of these people go down the officially sanctioned medical route. And they achieve a 5% "cure" rate! But what this 5% doesn't tell you is how much "collateral damage" was done in the process! It’s also not certain that they didn’t go for unreported “alternatives” to get their cure.

As for the second question, you have two alternatives.

There are the so-called "alternative" (non-mainstream) treatments starting with the highly dubious ones like holistic or spiritual healing, shamanism, then the much more palatable ones like dietary and lifestyle adjustments, etc. They range from intriguing to absolutely bizarre. It's hard to say which ones work and which don't. There are no stats available, and the testimonials that one can find are often highly questionable.

The other alternative is psychology.

The difference between psychiatry and psychology is that the latter does not generally employ drugs in its therapies. Psychology itself also utilizes dozens of alternative methods and here too the opinions are divided and passions run high. There's CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy), group therapy, exposure therapy, various types of hypnotherapy - etc.

There are currently two types of therapy which have widespread support (not as much as medicinal/psychiatric approach, but still). They are: CBT and a kind of psychotherapy known as RCH (root cause hypnotherapy). This latter method is now finally gaining widespread acceptance - even from some psychiatrists. The reason is simple: it's the only method which actually produces CURES at a rate which is statistically incontestable.

This method has been around for many years, but it's been suppressed through sheer ignorance and prejudice on part of the doctors, or through wrongful association on part of the public (“Hypnosis?! Oh, no…!”). There exist RCH studies which report a CURE rate approaching 100% (!!). Such an inconceivably high result is, of course, enough to get everyone to smell a rat and start a smear campaign.

When you do your own research on this topic, be mindful of that. Meanwhile, you can easily discover thousands of people online who will attest to this being a totally safe, elegant, logical and above all devastatingly effective way to get rid of your panic attacks. Not treat them for the next 15 years and ruin your life in the process - but to CURE them. Done! Once and for all...

I enclose just a tiny handful of sources in the resource box below, but they all essentially point to the one clear winner in this field which is, of course, The DreamWalk Therapy (http://thedreamwalk.com/).

Please don't take my word for this. Google it and spend as much time as you feel you need researching this topic. I'm convinced you'll come to the same conclusion as I have.

Best of luck!

PS - I don't rule out drugs 100%. There are indeed cases where drugs may be the only way. My contention is only that we're looking at about 1% of the cases as most. Are you SURE you are in that 1%...?

http://www.indielikeyou.com/dwpr01.html
http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Ultimate-Cure-For-Panic-Attacks
http://thedreamwalk.com/index1.html