ello,

I'm a 31 fit male 6ft 240lbs, who is very athletic, never took drugs, never smoked, and only drank on occasion. I have a job in IT that can be stress full at times.

On Sunday July 6th I was in the ER with symptoms of a heart attack. I've been seen by a specialist, and had CAT scans, XRays Blood work, full stress test, and ultra sound. Everything checks out. Just a few days ago, I was again in the ER with sever jaw pain, headaches and numbness in my head. Again everything checks out. My dr says I have developed a panic disorder brought on by lack of sleep, high stress, and that I need to slow down. He also started me on Celexa 20 mg. I'm to take half a tablet in the morning for 7 days and then take 1 full in the morning after 7 days.

Today I took my first pill. I've noticed thatI'm hyper, and my resting hear rate won't go below mid 80s (normally I'm high 60s-mid 70s) Also my left eye is twitching (does that on occasion, but hasn't stopped in 3 hours)

My dr told me there would be anxiety, nervousness etc the first 7 days. I'm interested in knowing how others have dealt with this med. To be honest, I really thinking about not taking it.

I'm on day 8 of Lexapro, and I get a little agitated, especially right after I take the drug. I feel like my heart and breathing are a little fast than normal.

However, not being able to get your heart rate below 85 warrants a visit to your doctor...that seems a tad high. It would be interesting to see if taking something like Xanax or Ativan would relieve your anxiety and help your heart rate go down (but you should discuss that with your doctor before trying it).

All I can tell you is that Day 8 for me is much better than Day 1 thru 3 !

Hi there,

You are going to have weird side effects for awhile on any med more likely than not. I have been on generic celexa for about 4 weeks and all I had was increased anxiety, slept all the time, did not even want to shave or shower but I was very down and still am but in last 3 days I have felt a very noticeable lift. I dont wanto speak too soon but I think it may be starting to work. You will havto do 6-8 weeks on dose your on now and if your still not there you will need to increase the dose. Hang in through the bulls*** startup and hopefully you will get where you need to be......dont put alot of thinking into alot of people on here who say a certain pill made them suicidal or whatever. Thats them not you. I have always read stuff and worried about s*** and its not worth it. Take the med, give it a fair chance and if it doesnt work for you move on. I took zoloft for 8 years and it crapped out after about 6 but i kept taking on through bad advice. I was off meds for a year and couldnt beat the depression through meditation, yoga, exercise and all that so Im only now reluctantly back on meds because im just not good without them right now.....Sorry to ramble I hope your feeling better soon. ..Mike

Ello,

I forgot to mention, I dont know what kind of work your in and your situation in life but speaking from my personal experience, if your non functional..meaning you cant go to work or do really anything like what happened to me its pretty safe to say your stress, anxiety, and or depression needs treatment. If your just stressed out but can still function you could try alternative methods first like exercise, healthier diet, trying to eliminate stress first and see if you can beat it without meds. Once your on these kind of meds it can be pretty hard to get off them sometimes and alot of people who didnt need them in the firstplace are put on them and can never get off..I may be one of them......If you can make the changes in your life to beat your problem without meds first......DO IT.....If you cant ...join the rest of us and and do what you need to do to feel ...hope this helps even if only a little