Citalopram

[ThisHardyMentor]

How are people tolerating Citalopram? Does it work? I have awful anxiety and have been prescribed the drug.

Works wonderfully for my menopause anxiety.

I was on it for years before switching to Sertraline.
I never had any issues with it.

Very good, changed my lufe

DH was suicidal, had PTSD and depression from going to war. He did have treatment for the PTSD and has been on citalopram for 6 years. It works very well for him

Mine too.

No issues, it's been usually helpful.

I'm certainly more calm but I've also given up work momentarily so that will be a factor. I have found it a lot softer than sertraline which absolutely wrecked me!

I was prescribed it in 2010 and it worked really well, was on it two years. I was prescribed it again in 2016 and it caused a sudden and severe emotional reaction to the point that I couldn’t function. I came off it and immediately improved.

It has to be noted, however, that initial worsening of symptoms is a possible side effect that you can be encouraged to push through after they are supposed to pass after a couple of weeks. I felt unable to though.

It messed with my sleep cycle & gave me nightmares, I changed to a different AD which suited me better.

I have friends who’ve found it really helpful.

I think you never know until you try.

I took it for about 6 years covering the peri menopausal/menopausal/ elderly parents years and it was great, enabled me to live and work relatively “ normally”. I wouldn’t hesitate to take it again if I started to suffer from anxiety again. Only took about a week of feeling a bit dizzy and slightly nauseous before the benefits kicked in.

I know 2 people close to me who have taken it. They found mentally it actually made them much worse, and they've been put off future antidepressants as a result. Having said that it must be fine for most people else surely they wouldn't prescribe it?
It tends to kill sex drive and numb emotions so happiness can be muted too

I did not find this on amitriptyline

It made me unable to reach orgasm

It wasn’t a good fit for me at all, very distressing experience BUT I was prescribed an alternative which was a much better match. Unfortunately it’s often trial and error with these drugs. But there are alternatives so ensure you’re being reviewed regularly and don’t be afraid to say if something isn’t right for you.

I think the issue with SSRIs is that it’s hard to know how they are going to work for you. They can be life saving for some. I’ve taken 2 different SSRIs and they worked well to treat my anxiety but I was unlucky with side effects. There can be serious side effects for some people but there is little research so not much data on the likelihood of these happening. There is also the risk of having problems coming off them-I recently posted on this. So I think it’s weighing up the pros and cons of your situation. It sounds like your anxiety is badly impacting you day to day? Have you tried other approaches to alleviate your anxiety like therapy, meditation?

I was on it for 15 years without any problem whatsoever. Have recently changed, as it had stopped working so well.

I’ve been on it for years and it helps - yes. The first couple of weeks of increasing has sometimes impacted me negatively. But after a period I’m fine

I've been on it nearly 10 years, no issues at all.

For the first two weeks, I was utterly wiped out, then on day fifteen woke up feeling like myself again. It has been an absolute lifesaver for me. Quite literally.

I was on it for 4 years. Felt worse for a few weeks then better. On Prozac now which also works well for me.

No idea how well its working, but I do know that my black cloud has gone and my anxiety is tolerable.
Went on it after I switched from sertaline (which stopped doing the job), to fluoxitine (which gave me a permanent headache), in 2019.
Citalopram helped me tolerate anxiety due to covid and is still doing its thing I suppose.

Been on it for 6 years for anxiety. Life changing, DH been on it for longer, gave me back the man I married.