Question: I have already seen two doctors but am having a hard time with my decision, and both of them want me to be comfortable with the decision. I am currently on 20 mg of celexa, which I have been on for a 5 weeks. It helped me through a very difficult time in the past (I was on it for about a year when my aunt/second mother passed away). About 6 weeks ago, I had a panic attack where I felt like everything I was dealing with was just too much for me. I had mononucleosis all winter while trying to finish my B.Ed. as well as my M.Ed., simultaneously while working as a Teaching Assistant and commuting 5 hours a day! I am a very keen student who is quite hard on herself and often puts a lot of pressure on herself to be the best. This, on top of dealing with several things on the home front, lead me to feel very overwhelmed at the thought of finishing everything, especially thinking that I could get sick again at any time. I was sick with mononucleosis for 3 months, 2 of the months were very difficult, barely being able to leave the house. I have done CBT in the past for my mild OCD and anxiety and it worked wonders! I am someone who tends to overthink everything which sometimes leads to obsessive thoughts. I would not consider myself someone with strong OCD though, despite overthinking things. The CBT helped me a lot, and I did not want to go on medication, however, feeling weak from the mono and needing the strength to finish everything, my doctor felt it was the best move for me. He put me on celexa as I have been on it in the past, but I am not sure it is helping me as much this time. It helped me stay calm while finishing one of my degrees, but I am not working on my Master's thesis and finding it very difficult to concentrate. I am actually spending entire days doing absolutely nothing, and it is stressing me out as I have to finish it all by XXXXXXX 30th. I am wondering if this is a side effect of celexa, and if zoloft would be different? One of my doctors said I should switch to zoloft, but I am worried it will lead to even less ability to concentrate. I have also read a lot of negative things about zoloft, and don't know what to believe. I really don't know what to do, but I would like to be on the medication that causes the least amount of concentration failure, as I really need to focus! Please advise.

Do you know why one of my doctors (psychiatrist) is pushing more for zoloft than celexa? He also thinks I should be on a higher dose but I am not sure I should. I would rather do CBT and try to improve my symptoms with that, however, I am worried my doctor will be mad that I did not switch to zoloft as he really thought it would be better. He either thought I should switch to zoloft or increase my dose of celexa, but I feel like if I am already having a hard time concentration, increasing the dose will make it worse. I also feel more edgy and twitchy. Do you think zoloft will help with concentration in any way? I just did a quick search of wellbutrin and see that there are some side effects of mixing the two, possibly seizures? I know that a lot of what you read online is not true, but I am a worrier, hence my hesitation to switch to zoloft. My main focus is concentration, so if wellbutrin may help, I could ask for that, but I don't want to get used to anything. Do you think the concentration could also just be a lack of motivation since I am tired? Or is concentration actually something that is affected by celexa?
Thank you for your response! I really appreciate it.

Thanks again. Ok, one last comment! :) I guess my fear is that celexa seemed to be working well, in the sense that it really did help me get over a big bump in the road, so why fix something when it doesn't need to be broken. It wasn't until I saw my psychiatrist last week that I even considered switching - I honestly thought I was doing great! His suggestion caught me a bit off guard, which is why it has been hard to accept, but now that the suggestion has been made, I am noticing all sorts of new things, and questioning the celexa. Today I am actually feeling quite in the clouds and anxious. I have basically been ruminating all day, and have had zero desire to do anything, not even exercise. I feel similarly to the way I Feel before I get my period, except I just had my period so there is no excuse. Would wellbutrin also work with zoloft? Based on what I have told you, would you prescribe zoloft or celexa? If you say zoloft, what side effects should I expect if I am slowly reducing my dose for 1 week from 20 mg to 10 mg, while adding 25 mg of zoloft, and then going straight to 50 mg of zoloft. I am honestly worried about the side effects and don't want to lose more time! :(

I am really not feeling great today. It's so crazy how I was feeling well for 1 month and am now feeling completely useless. I mostly just feel completely apathetic and lazy. I know that exercise will make me feel better but I can't get myself to get off my chair and away from my computer. I am also certain being outdoors will help, as will focussing, but I am just really struggling with that. I feel like I should go and see my doctor again to discuss this all but I don't have an appointment with him until the end of May ... :(

Ok, thank you for your help. I am going to give him a call.