To ask about your experience with citalopram

[Anxiousannie32]

I've finally given in and accepted that I need something medicinal to help me cope with my anxiety which has steadily been getting worse over the past few years. I've never taken anti depressants or anti anxiety medication so don't really know what to expect.

My GP has prescribed me 10mg citalopram. I know this might not be a magic cure but I'm hoping it will help with the panic and physical symptoms I've been been experiencing from anxiety. Can anyone tell me how or if it worked for them? Thank you.

Hey I took 20mg started off at 10mg to help with my pmt and it really did help stopped me being so snappy etc but I also felt abit numb ljke less emotional

I came off it during lockdown (haven't told gp yet) but I had forgotten to take it for about a week anyways so just stopped. Think I am adapting to not being on it and pmt was ok but abit snappy with hubby. Taking hormonal supplements instead

Wanted to come off as hoping to ttc and didn't want to be on any drugs

Ps my gp friend takes it for anxiety/ ocd and it really helps

Life changing for me and I don't say that lightly. The GP gave me 10mg and said take it for a week then increase to 20mg. I decided to stay at 10mg.

I found that taking it at night minimised the side effects, which were diarrheoa and stomach upset. I also felt very tired after the first week which lasted another couple of weeks and I wondered about stopping. I also had headaches - I found taking it at exactly the same time every day helped ease these. Also in the end I changed from taking it at night to the morning.

The positives have been that I felt like getting up in the morning and feel better when I take it, I can focus on what I need to do when I need to, I don't dwell on things as much.

Did anyone take these while pregnant? Got my prescription today and can see from the leaflet that there are risks to unborn babies with this drug. I'm not pregnant yet but was considering coming off the pill next year.

Don’t worry about it at this stage. Talk to your doctor whenever you decide to start trying and they will advise you whether to continue, come off them, or move to something else. And remember, those leaflets list all possible side effects, even the ones that are vanishingly unlikely.

Been on it for 15 years. I live a normal happy life. Goodbye to depression. Balances the chemicals in my brain. I'm 73 and will probably take it the rest of my life. I'm aiming for 100 at least.

Good luck.

I’m on citalopram and have been for years, slightly higher dose than yours and it’s worked well for me. There can be side effects initially (drowsy, dodgy belly for example) but those don’t last and it’s worth keeping going. I don’t have side effects now anyway. I used to beat myself up about needing it but I doubt I’d be thinking that way if it was a plaster cast for a broken leg.

It worked very, very well for me. I stopped when I wanted to get pregnant but sometimes I think I'll go back on it at some point. I was the most "zen" I've ever been... (I have mild OCD and GAD.)

Agree with @ChocsAway2 that it is best taken at night. The strongest side effect for me was sleepiness, so it was great at night.

Also, as @user1470132907 says, taper off really gradually, using a pill cutter, when you do want to come off them. I had no side effects and no return of the depression either, because of very slow titration.

I took my first one of these this morning. I feel a little spaced out and tired but otherwise ok for now. I know it will take a while to get into my system. I have confided in dp about taking them but nobody else. I don't know why I feel so bad about it.

It really worked for me. Beta blockers was only a temporary relief

OP I have been taking citalopram for 3 weeks. I picked up the prescription from the doctors but it was another month before I decided to actually start taking them. My DH knows, but no-one else.

I've found I had a headache towards the end of the day the first few days, I've been really tired and have had some strange dreams but on the whole I feel more emotionally stable. I take 20mg a day for anxiety and depression - I feel more motivated, and more positive, but I've also been having CBT alongside it.

I'm so glad I took the step to speak to my GP. I've had periods of feeling very anxious and/or very depressed for years but have always seemed to manage to function ok, even if my mind is in overdrive. The "good" days were becoming fewer and further between and I didn't feel like me at all anymore. I've started to feel a bit more like me now, and I'm hopeful that this will continue to improve.

Wishing you all the best.

It worked very well for me with generalised anxiety. I did need to up dose to 20mg however as 10mg didn't take the edge off my symptoms. It gave me head space and stopped me hitting peaks of anxiety and stress. I think I was on it for about 2.5yrs

I took myself off it at new year decreasing to 10mg fir a couple of months and then 5mg for another. For me the numbness which I do sought when I first started citalopram became limiting. I did suffer with low libido when in it and I wanted to generally feel more in all aspects of my life.

There have been many wobbles since coming off and I do think on occasion that I could go back in it, but for me I think that just knowing there is something really available that I know works provides me with enough comfort at this stage.

All in all I found it hugely beneficial at a time in my life when I really needed it

It does sound positive from the majority of people here. I don't know why I feel so unsure and convinced it won't work even before I've given it a go.
I think for me it's because my symptoms are so physical. Retching, nausea, diarrhoea - I guess maybe it's the fact I'm skeptical about such a tiny pill being able to fix all that. Of course it all stems from anxiety though so hopefully they can help.
Because of the nature of the symptoms (and covid) ive become quite agoraphobic so things that I'd usually enjoy and would probably help ease my anxiety - such as walking in nature and things like that - I've stopped doing because of the fear that I'll have an attack of diarrhoea or sickness in public.
If medication can even maybe give me a bit of confidence back to do that sort of stuff then hopefully I'll see improvements.

Been in it again for around 4 months this time, and I'm staying with them, probably for life. I have just realised that my stomach isn't dodgy any more. I've got rid of that horrible feeling in my stomach and get less paralysed by anxiety. I'm functioning normally.

I took citalapram for the same reasons as you. A constant state of bad bellies and anxiety kept me from living a normal life. The first week taking them, I felt even more anxious, but after that I slowly started to feel better every day. My stomach went back to normal within a month and I started to live a normal life. One of the side effects I believe is constipation so it balanced out all the dodgy bellies which caused me less anxiety. I took them for a year and had some cbt to help me deal with the anxiety. In a much better place now. Good luck with it all. It will get better.

I've been on it for years. Helps me no end.

It was good for me at first but I've ended up having to move onto stronger meds.

Citalopram is the anti depressant that GPs try first because side effects are very mild, if you get them at all, which I didn't.

I've tried 8 mood stabilisers and anti depressants over the past 20 years and only 2 had sides effects, which were extreme drowsiness so nothing really bad.

I have been on it for a while and it massively improved my life.

All the best to you.

I take a 300mg anti depressant and a 150mg mood stabiliser daily with no side effects, just to put your mind at rest. Obviously everyone is different and if Citalopram doesn't work for you, there is always Sertraline and Fluoxetine you can try next.

I didnt get on with it at all. Felt zombified.
my eldest son however has got on really well with it.
I had to try a few before I found one that suited me

I was on 20mg for about 9 months last year. It was OK to start with but eventually the side effects (feeling utterly numb, total - and I mean total - loss of libido) just weren't worth it, so I came off it. Could probably therefore conclude that it wasn't the right thing for me.

I would also strongly recommend avoiding alcohol completely while on it.

I had to play around with the time of day I took them. Found they affected my sleep so switched to taking them at a different time (can’t remember now whether I switched morning to evening or vice versus, sorry). When/if you’re ready to come off them, do so slowly - I did it too quickly and got side effects as a result.

@ScrommidgeClaryAndSpunt oh dear what is the issue with alcohol? It says on all the literature that you can still drink but it might make you sleepy. Not that it's a major issue I guess but I do enjoy a few glasses of wine at the weekend.