Tell me avout your experiences of citalopram, good and bad

[musicposy]

Hi there, I just started citalopram this morning after quite a long time of debate over whether to or not.

Anyway, I don't feel great tonight, restless, a bit agitated and a bit spaced out. I was on fluoxetine years ago and I remember it was a bit grotty at the start but literally a life saver after that.

This time round, it's going to be harder to make myself persevere through the side effects, I think. Last time I had post natal depression and I knew I needed kicking out of it as there was no reason for it as such, just hormones, and chemical imbalance, I guess, but basically, my life was happy underneath it all. This time, I faced a tragic (for us and our circumstances) miscarriage earlier in the spring and I'm just not coping that well. But part of me thinks that, given time, I will, so I am more in a position to wonder if I am doing the right thing. Has anyone taken antidepressants for what you'd call a "life event", ie depression caused directly and suddenly by something bad that happened in your life?

Doctor thinks I am borderline depressed. For my part, sometimes I think I'm pretty much OK and sometimes I think I'm really in quite a bad way.

So, can anyone share their experiences? How long did side effects last, how bad were they, and was it worth doing in the end? Thanks!

Hi there. Firstly, well done for recognising you need help it's a huge step forward. I was put on citalopram for post-natal depression after a very difficult birth, very poorly baby (and me) and my dad passing away very unexpectedly without ever having held my 4 week old DS (he saw him once for 5 mins as he had a cold but I'll never forgive myself for him not holding DS even though he was full of cold!).

Anyway dr put me on a starter dose of Citalopram which did nothing. He upped it after a month, then again a month later. It's supposed to take up to 6 months to work but I'm sorry to say I didn't give it that long as I didn't like the way it made me feel!

Instead I pushed for counselling which really helped me. Unfortunately I'll never get over the guilt but I'm now able to live with it.

Probably not what you wanted to hear! Sorry.

Whatever you do it needs to be right for you and your family. Good luck and I hope you soon feel better x

I took Citalopram for about 3/4 months last year. The side effects were grim for the first 4 days or so but then live withable. I had a 'cotton wool' mouth, slight spaced outness and lingering nausea. They didn't do anything with me other than side effects but the side effects were less when i took them at night.

Hell to come off cold turkey though.

I've been on it for nearly three years now. It saved my life. I started on 20mg, then went up to 40mg and then 60mg. I have now been back down to 40mg for about a year and I class myself as 'normal' now, whatever that means!
Starting it was pretty weird - I felt drunk for ages (so not all bad then!) but it's been great.

I am on 20mgs for the last six months for PND - I love it ! It really helped me - I did couple it with councelling though. Side effects for about first three weeks. Then really okay I feel perfectly lucid and am think they got me out the bad black hole i was in. Am going to come off them gradually under doctors supervision in a few months.

there are some funny side effects which felt odd but i got used to - my hair became much rougher to the touch - my periods appeared every three weeks instead of every four ( for a month or two). And my dreams are much more intense and often so dramatic that they are really unforgettable. but i quite like that! Good luck

Sorry to hear about your miscarriage How old is your other child?

I think ADs are strange things people different people all react so differently to them.

For me, citalopram was absolutely awful. I had severe insomnia and I believe citalopram is quite an "activating" AD (useful for people that are very slowed down by their depression) and it just sent my anxiety through the roof, my insomnia became much worse and I was literally pacing around like a caged lion

I am now on mirtazapine (what they sometimes call a "sedating" AD - useful for agitation, insomnia and anxiety symptoms) and it has worked wonders for me and I didn't really get any side effects at all.

However, I have many friends who are on citalopram with great results, and minimal side effects. Citalopram seems to be the most commonly prescribed AD - if it didn't work, nobody would persevere with it!

Hope it starts helping you soon x

Thanks for all the replies! I am still feeling very weird. I was very sleepy this morning after taking it - although I haven't slept properly for months so that could be a good thing. I still feel a bit like I'm drunk or something....I'm going to try and persevere for a bit and see how it goes, as it sounds like it's really individual as to whether it works well or not. The coming off thing sounds scary but I came off fluoxetine (fairly gradually) with no symptoms at all, so hopefully it will be OK.

One of the main reasons I want to persevere is that my younger daughter (she's 10) has really struggled with this whole year (all the excitement, then the loss of the potential sibling, then seeing me so upset). She's become quite demanding as a result and because I've been so down I know I'm handling her badly and making it worse. She comes to me moaning about something or other or demanding stuff and I'm apt to say "go away, ask someone else" or "I don't care, stop nagging me!", and then feel horrendously guilty because I know it is affecting our relationship.

I've actually got much closer to my elder daughter (she's 14), but she's old enough to have been a huge support to me. But I know that even that isn't really right; you don't need the kind of relationship with your mum where you are having to support all the time at that age. She needs to be free to be able to push boundaries, get cross with me, have a teenage strop occasionally without being afraid I will break down into floods of tears.

So I can see a thing developing where my eldest is my rock and support and gets ever more so, and my youngest is demanding and difficult and the relationship between us gets ever more fragile - and it's not a good situation for either of them. I know the answer lies with me to redress the balance, but it feels like climbing a mountain when I've been so low.

One thing that worries me a bit is I've read that SSRIs can made people feel detached from things and the last thing I need is to feel even more detached from my youngest. I'm hoping and assuming I will recognise this if it happens.

It's helpful to hear from other people, thank you. All experiences and advice are useful!

I've been on it for 3 months, I changed from morning to evening because of the sleepyness. I had a wooly mouth and a decreased apitite but not now. Maybe TMI but my sex drive is zero.

I really like it.

That's why I'm on citralopram, because I told the doc that on fluoxetine I wasn't a scrap interested in DH (or anyone else on the planet for that matter) and when I did make an effort, I couldn't get anywhere, IYSWIM!

Doc said it often did that - they think it's a massively under-reported side effect - so try citralopram and see if that area was any better than it was on fluoxetine all those years ago. DH and I have been through a lot this year, resulting in not very much sex at all, so I didn't want that made worse - although in balance I think all the other stuff is probably more important.

Did anyone get bad headaches - or nausea? I've had headaches for 2 days now. Am really hoping the side effects wear off soon!

MummywithA1Family and omarlittlest, it is interesting what you say about counselling. I thought they were meant to offer counselling with antidepressents nowadays but my doc didn't mention anything.

I took Cit for 7 days and found the effects to be truely horrendous. I did not take them yesterday as I was to scared. My anxiety was never this bad and I was not depressed in any way. Any suggestions I would be really grateful.

Sophie05 Seven days is not really a long enough time to judge whether Citalapram is working for you or not as it can take up to six weeks to feel any good effects.

You really need to talk to your GP about how you feel and maybe find a different dosage or a way of minimising side effects.

Unfortunately I had to persevere with unpleasant side effects for six weeks. My GP would only consider trying something else after this time. I'm now on Dosulepin, one of the older style tricyclics which suits me better.

It's a good idea to keep a diary of your feelings and symptoms so you have something to look back on when you next see your GP.

A few days of feeling odd when started citalopram but very effective for me for anxiety, low mood, felt totally normal whilst on it, did put on a bit of weight though. The tricky part for me was comming off it, had to do it super slow over about 5 months going down by 2.5 mg every few weeks otherwise got strange electric shock sensation in my ears and brain shakes, a funny sensation where it felt my brain wasn't moving at the same as my physical body!? The positives outweighed the negatives though

HELLO EVERYONE GOOD TO MEET YOU ALL AND FINALLY THE CHANCE TO HAVE SOME PEOPLE TO TALK TO.

FIRSTLY I AM SEVERLLY SIGHT IMPAIRED SO SORRY FOR CAPITALS.

I HAVE BEEN SICK FOR A YEAR AND HALF I AM SUFFERING WITH DEPRESSION ANXIETY AND AGORAPHOBIA AND FINALLY I WENT TO THE GP TODAY TO SEE IF SHE CAN HELP. SHE HAS PRESCRIBED CITALOPRAM 10MG FOR ME I TOLD HER I AM THAT SCARED THAT I FIND IT HARD TO TAKE MEDICATION BECAUSE OF SIDE EFFECTS. SHE HAS SAID FOR ME TO TAKE IT EVRY OTHER DAY FOR A WHILE TO SEE HOW I FEEL AND TO GET USED TO TAKING MEDICATION.

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK WOULD YOU RECOMMEND I TAKE IT????

THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT YOU SHOW EACH OTHER ON HERE I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU AND SHARING VIEWS.

Hi musicposy,

I started Citalopram in May. It floored me for a few days, very heady/drunk feeling within a couple of hours of taking it. Also had teeth clenching (bruxism?) which made my jaw ache. These eased off after the first week and weren't too troublesome.

I had symptoms of nausea and increased sweating (odourless wetness underarms) which lasted a few weeks longer, but again were'nt too bad. The main thing that has stayed with me is poor memory and word finding, but I cope with lists and patient friends and family.

The side effect shhet is truly terrifying and I was wary of starting them, but the early side effects were no where near as bad a I anticipated and think that you need to give it at LEAST 2 weeks before you decide if it's for you.

Unfortunately I am coming off Citalopram as I have developed alot of anxiety which is affecting my daily life.

I'm sorry for your loss and wish you well in the near future.

citalopram made me worse for a while, but i didn't give it the full course because it me feel horrible and tired. It made me feel suicidal at one point, which hasn't happened in quite a while, so i was shocked
I take sertraline now and it is much better, so suits me the best.
I'm just a bit worried that i'll feel terrible once i decide to come off them.
Propanolol was quite good, but it made me quite tired. Gave me confidence which was good. Thanks for sharing

weight loss/decreased appetite
weird dreams with almost a hallucinogenic quality
inability to reach orgasm

I'm on 10mg citalopram and 10mg propranolol (reduced from 30mg) have had no side effects at all really except positive ones. I came off the pill at the same time so that might be why but my sex drive has gone through the roof
I take mine for generalised anxiety and panic attacks