Citalopram side effects

[Lizziemae]

My GP recently prescribed Citalopram (20mg) for anxiety and depression and I have been taking them now for a fortnight. I have been having some side effects - in particular overwhelming fatigue. I am falling asleep anywhere and everywhere, including for an hour on Saturday in the supermarket car park and after I left work yesterday before driving home. I've even pulled up in side streets and fallen asleep - I only woke up when I got too cold. I fall asleep when I get home and given the choice between eating or sleeping am choosing sleeping every time. My sleeps are long - 3 hours or so at a time - and deep.

Last week I had 5 days off work and told them it was a virus. My family all thought I should go to my GP and get a note for more time off until the tiredness/sleepiness calms down and I "stop being a danger to myself by sleeping in inappropriate places" and also because my anxiety is work related. I phoned the surgery but there were no appointments and they gave me a telephone consultation, which got cut off after a very short time and before I had mentioned the fatigue to the dr. He phoned back and left me a message saying he'd changed the medication to Sertraline which would stop my diarrhoea side effects. I didn't even mention diarrhoea to him and it's not a side effect I've been experiencing.

My questions are:

Is this tiredness a normal side effect and when will it start to go away?
I also seem very, very forgetful (I usually have a good memory). Is this a normal side effect?
Is it ok to come back to work for a couple of days and then go off sick again?

I had the exact same side-effects with citalopram and it never went away after 6 weeks or so I quit. Sertraline is much better, no tiredness with that at all.

hello! ive just registered on here. i have been on citalopram for roughly 4 yrs as flouxitine stoped working for me. i was on 20 for most of this time til last year went up to 30 as those close to me said i wasn't coping, very angry and resentful of those around me that had easier lives than me, my boys have special needs, mild to moderate but a lot of appointments and i'm on my own, dyslexia, dyspracsia, adhd, and asd plus extra anxiety disorder. They both in mainstream so you don't get restbite etc but many nights i can be up til 2 with a child that cant sleep and have 2 children with quirks all day everyday. Anyone else know how i feel?

Maybe you need a lower dose?

When do you take it? I take mine at night because it helps me sleep

I take mine in the morning - maybe I'll switch to evening to see if that makes a difference. One of the effects that I do like is that I don't seem to care about stuff anymore, which is so unlike me. I am usually a bit of a perfectionist control freak. That feeling is very liberating.