been prescibed citalopram for PMS anyone got any sucess stories?

[neverlookback]

Hi I have been battling with severe mood swings and anxiety, low self esteem etc for over 12 months, ive charted it on the calender, and its every single month when i am due on, its ruining my life and my partners and is starting to affect our 2 dc's, ive tried counselling and all the herbal remedies with no real success.
I am fine, absoloutly on top of the world for most of the month, really positive and excited for the future, we are/were planning on trying for baby no 3 later on in the year but my outbursts to dp have become so severe that everything is on hold and we nearly split up on sun as i exploded at him for being on the phone to a friend (a woman) at a family party, i was drunk and totally out of control, im so ashamed of myself i dont think i can get much lower.
So ive finally given in and have took the first tablet, the doc said I can try them for a couple of months see if it improves then come off them if we decide to try for the baby, i feel so down, my dp really doesnt want me to take anti depressants but i have tried everything else, they are 10mg so low dose. Has anyone else overcome PMS or severe mood swings like this, any advice??
I also have to copper coil, which i have looked into could be causing the symptoms as it is since it was fitted and have discovered copper toxixity which i have many of the symptoms, so im having a blood test tomorrow to test my copper levels.

just after some positive advice
xxx

Hi,

i've not had mood swings related to pms but i have been on citalopram for pnd and i found it really worked well. i went up to 60mg and had no serious problems coming off. best of luck - hope they work well xx

thanks, we are hoping to try for another baby end of oct if i can obviously get my head together, so i only want to try it for a couple of months really just to hopefully break the cycle, took first one today at 1pm have felt really weird all day, slightly drunk and heavy, hope this passes?

I have just come off them, was on them for just over a year because of my anxiety. It helped loads and the first week or so you will feel a bit "odd" but this will pass and you'll start to notice the benefits after a couple of weeks or so. Hope it goes well for you :)

try not to worry about the side effects. i've just started on sertraline due to pnd (i would have gone for citalopram but my gp doesn't recommend bf on it) i felt really really weird for the first 5/6 days and by then it had worn off. it can feel a bit disconcerting, but im on day 10 now and slowly the times when i am feeling better are getting more often and staying longer. the 'weird' feeling has gone completely. my gp has also put me through for some cbt counselling. so im feeling pretty good today.

hope you're ok xx

hi i feel ok today, i think im going to try taking it before bed, yesterday i felt really heavy and like i was wearing a mask!!! i went to bed at 9pm but then couldnt and didnt sleep that well i woke up a couple of times and it was like my whole body was shaking, the shaking actually woke me up but i think it was all in my head ????
i just dont know if i should continue when im planning only using them for a couple of months? i know im making excuses and my dp says throw them in the bin!!
ohnonotthat: im glad ur feeling good, keep going, how old is your baby, i found it very difficult at first when i had my 2nd, but it does slowly get easier to cope with, i know everyone says that but its true!!! xxxx

I really did feel peculiar when i first started this time round. like someone was shaking me! so i can totally understand the shaking you were feeling, and the mask feeling too.
i think that to have really good effect you have to take them for 6 months, im not sure why i think that so if you're gp has said then maybe a couple of months would be enough to balance you out? my dh doesn't approve of me taking tablets i dreaded telling him that was what i was going to do. he tends to be a 'pull yourself together' kind of guy.
my baby is 9 weeks. shes my third. i always dreamt of having 4 children but i had depression during pregnancy and my pnd had been really bad this time so i think we will have to stop at 3.
have you tried the mirena coil? i found the copper coil gave me such heavy periods. obviously not much use if you're going to be trying for a baby. i found my periods stopped on it so maybe it would reduce the amount of pms you suffer from?
started to feel a bit worse this evening, which is what usually happens, but still, i've had a good day.
how old are your children? did you have the copper test done?
xx

hiya, yeah i had the blood test done this morn should take a week for the results, i chose the copper over the mirena because i get migraines and bad headaches and the pill has always made them really bad but next time i think i will try mirena, my periods are heavier but managable, and i find it really good, apart from if its causing me these problems!!
My dp and yours sound similar, i think most men are like that, he said today he is worried i wont be able to come off them when we do want to try for a baby and he doesnt want to live with a junkie, he just has no idea im sure if he was a bit more supportive i wouldnt be as bad as i am!
i want to just have the coil out now and just see what happens but dp says no not until we have stopped having these fall outs, i know hes right really.

Wow you have 3, its bloody hard being pregnant and even harder managing multiple dc's so no wonder by the end of the day its gets on top of you, you have a lot on your plate so go easy on yourself.
my dd is 4.5, and ds is 21 months, they have been very hard work together as dd really did not like having a brother, plus he has been a real cryer and did not sleep through till 15 months!! but they are getting on better now, i tell myself the next one wont be like that!! i hope!
keep remembering the good bit from your day and maybe try and get an early night, if dh can give dd her last bottle maybe, thats what i used to do sometimes.
so i may or maynot have a tablet tonight, ill let you know in the morn!! xxx

My ds is 8 and my dd1 is 3.5. he really struggled when she was born, totally changed him. he has got better but i don't see a time when he will be one of those siblings that is really into his sisters, he is not remotely interested in dd2! dd1 is totally potty about dd2. sometimes i have to remind myself that im the mummy, not her as she runs around getting nappies and talks to her if she starts to cry. very sweet.

i get REALLY moody on the pill. we tried me on that for a while, but in the end my dh begged me to come off as he said it was like me having crazy pms all the time. i don't know if your headaches are related to the hormone in it but there is such a little amount in the mirena (i asked my gp about it as i don't seem to react too well to hormones, even my own!) and i found it didn't effect me.

good luck with taking or not taking your tablet tonight. a friend of mine has suffered from similar to you, i asked her what she has done - i know she had tried ad's but came off them. she took something called 5-htp. you've probably heard of it/tried it but she swears by it. its a natural ssri.

as you can see i didn't get an early night. stayed up to watch a movie instead!

let me know how it goes xxx

i think the oldest child has the hardest time because they have your undivided attention for those first years is so hard for them to accept they have to share, its tough for them and its been a big concern on me deciding on if we should have no3.

I didnt take the tablet last night but i looked up all the ways to naturally boost seratonin, funnily enough my mum bought me some 5-htp a while ago, so i took two last night along with vit b complex, folic acid and starflower oil, a right handful but hopefully they will work!!!!

i will let you know how it goes, and vise versa i hope you feel better soon, thanks for being a friend on here, you have given me some good advice
cheers
xxx

glad you've made a decision that suits you, i think if you're feeling that unhappy about being on ad's its kind of counter productive. somebody has also recommended mothers wort to me. i've actually never been able to find it in the shops, but it was recommended by a therapist friend of mine so must exist.

vice versa, its nice to have someone to chat to about this stuff! hope you've had a positive day today xxx

ooh ill have a look for that aswell, yeah today not bad, felt really tired but ok, hope you are too, cheers xxxx