Do you think if I told my doctor the 20 mg dose of citalopram was the lowest dose covered in walmart's...?

Question

... 4 dollar prescription plan, they would switch me from 10 to 20 mg without me having to wait another 4 weeks to see if the 10 mg is effective for my anxiety?
Because I've been taking 10 mg of citalopram for 2 weeks now and have seen no improvement and it costs me 50 dollars a month to take it, so I think it would be easier on my anxiety and my wallet if I went ahead and switched to the 20 mg right now... do you think my doctor would switch me if I made an appointment right now, or would he want me to wait another 4 weeks to see if the 10 mg of citalopram does anything?

P.S. because the longer I have to wait, thats the longer I have to suffer with anxiety... I can barely make it to work everyday... and I can barely do my college work... my nerves are killing me. I was on 10 mg of lexapro before, which is basically a stronger version of citalopram, and it only mildly helped with anxiety.

Answer 1

he may change you to the 20's and tell you to cut them in half. my doc helps me with ins procedures all the time.

Answer 2

Call your doctor. You'll probably have to speak to the nurse, but you can explain that you are seeing no improvement on the 10 mg. Tell her it costs you 50.00/month for your meds. That 20 mg is not only better for your prescription costs (4.00 plan), but that it would hopefully work better for you as well. You may have to go in for an appointment anyway, but this might get you what you want without paying for another appointment.

Unless the guidelines have changed since my reference was published, the usual starting dose for citalopram (Celexa) is 20 mg once a day. Dosage is usually increased to 40 mg a day after at least a week has passed.

10 mg seems like a low dose.

I know when I first went on an SSRI, I was prescribed only 10 mg/day. The normal starting dose is 20 mg for the one I was taking. My family doc, who is wonderful, is cautious about prescribing some meds. That can be a common occurrence.

I hope this helps in some way.