Citalopram

[zombiepara]

Hi, so long story short I'm not coping well with many things at the moment, and have spoken to the GP today..

They offered to start me on sertraline, but after hearing horror stories I asked if there was anything else they could put me on - she offered citalopram.

Just looking to hear from anyone with experience taking citalopram, any side effects, how it has helped, etc?

I was on it for years. All positive really. My parents could tell when I'd missed a few, so it must have been working ok.

You might find this thread helpful: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/feeling_depressed/3881911-Worries-about-starting-citalopram-Please-anyone-with-any-experience

I've been on sertraline for about 1.5 years. It has without a doubt changed my life for the better. I hope your experience is a good one too op. All the best xx

Thats really reassuring @SamsMumsCateracts

I'll hop over and give that a read now, thank you @EmpressLangClegInChair !

I've been on it for 10+ years. The only trouble I had was at the start my dose was higher than I needed and I felt like I was in a fog. My dose was reduced and been fine ever since.

I'm on citalopram 40mg and it's worked wonders for me. No bad side effects when I first started it a year ago

I had bad side effect with it, especially for the first month or so. Nausea and terrible anxiety. After that I felt tired a lot. My doctor switched me to escitalopram which was better for me.

Not so good experience here.
After 3 years I discovered it was the cause of me waking up at 3am ish every few days

I've been on citalopram 20mg for 2 years this month for severe PMS. It's bloody brilliant. No real side effects (a bit of weight gain, but manageable if I didn't eat so much cake). It makes me feel human.

I had a few days of crushing tiredness (but was really happy and contented with it!) when I first started, and a week or so of nausea. Well worth it.

I was on it for all of 2 weeks. My anxiety levels went through the roof and my mood plummeted! Defo not for everyone. Although apparently if you can bare an initial period of feeling much worse things can start to improve after about a month.

@Thisismyhappyface that's really good to hear.. I've got to be honest, I think some of mine is hormone related as it's always worse the week/week and a half before my period

@RefreshingOcean that's really interesting - one of my friends said similar about escitalopram being better..

@Talulahbeige hopefully that wont be an issue as i work shifts 😬 but good to be aware of just in case..

@Thisismyhappyface if that's the price of feeling like me/being able to work on myself with counselling and getting back to me.. it sounds worth it!

@Pizzamyhart nice to hear it's worked long time - the dr is starting me on 10mg to give me a scale up of dosing.. 🤞🏻

Sorry for the wacky bolding.. no idea where thats come from.. only tried tagging!

Hi there. I’ve been on Citalopram for five years and I oftentimes credit it with saving me.

I started on 30mg and was in a fog like a PP said. I’d gone from nervous wreck to watching donkey sanctuary adverts with ne’er an issue... nothing could touch me.

I then went down for three years to a manageable dose of 20, where I could still feel my emotions but I could deal with every day.

Around October last year work was particularly stressful and I went back up to 30mg, I didn’t notice that much of a difference, certainly not the fog I’d previously felt as a “newbie”.

I found out I was pregnant in January and Dr phased me down to 10s which was awful. I was a nervous wreck. (The pregnancy was hard enough as the father was a mentally abusive douche). Sadly I miscarried at 11 weeks and my anxiety was at its worst. I am now back up to 30 and I am starting to feel a bit better.

If I come off them within 4 days I’m a wreck.

Side effects for me was yawning, night sweats at the beginning (not so much now) and jogging my leg up and down like it’s possessed - a small price to pay!

I hope they work for you my lovely and that you are feeling much more like yourself very soon xx

I was in citalapram for 2+ years,
Off it now, and it really re-set me. I'd forgotten how to be me after a traumatic experience which trigger ptsd and depression. Amazing stuff.
My DD is also on it.
She's 22, and has had some horrible issues. We can see the old DD returning, and I have no doubt she'll come off it no problem

I'm on a very low dose, 10mg, for anxiety. I did the same about 10 years ago for a year. No side effects; the improvement happens within a. Fe days for me. Like a light being turned on.

My GP has a great analogy: imagine you're trying to climb over a wall but you can only just get your nose over the top. Citalopram is like someone coming and putting a shoulder under your bum and giving you a boost. You'll get your arms over and you can manage the rest yourself from there.

It was amazing for me. Turned me around from a really dark place.

First week I felt a little worse, I felt dizzy and not great. I stuck with it and so glad I did. I’ve been on then a few times during difficult periods of my life.

I've been on both - citalopram made me ridiculously tired so I switched to sertraline which I've found much better.

I tired Citalopram and it left me totally devoid of emotion and almost zombie like, not to mention total and absolute destruction of any libido.

ADs are very personal and you'll find all range of experiences across the spectrum from disaster to wonder drug.

You just have to see how you get on and not be afraid to speak to your GP to try a different drug if it doesn't suit you.

I've been on Citalopram for a number of years, it's my wonder drug.

I am here because of citaloptam.

It messed with my sleep but overall really helped me. I remember the first few days being a bit strange but I can't remember much about it, it was about 12 years ago now.

It’s brilliant - I would quite literally not be here without it.

As much as I dislike taking tablets, I’d be terrified to come off them so I would gladly take them for the rest of my life. They let me glimpse what it is like to be normal.

I've been on it for 12 months and really don't want to stop. I hated how I was before. I am 'normal' now. I wouldn't be coping with the current situation without them. Feel a bit weird for a week or so - I couldn't stop yawning when I first started but soon stopped. Felt a bit 'foggy' at first, then a few days of almost numbness which was actually pleasant as my mind suddenly went quiet after being non - stop for ages and I was so glad of the rest and after that it just fell into a nice steady normality.

I've been on it for about 3 months and it's helped me quite a lot. I don't have any side effects apart from yawning a lot more than normal.

I’ve been on it pretty much constantly since 2006. Makes a huge difference to my life.