Citalopram : About to start taking it - Experiences please?

[livingbythesea]

Hi. I'm 41 and have today been prescribed 10mg Citalpram. Haven't taken this anti-d before and would very much appreciate anyone's experiences. Have previously found it hard to go on and come off anti-d's due to heightened symptoms. Does it help to build up the dose gradually by halving the pills, or taking every other day?

I started taking the 20mg dose of this 2 weeks ago and have so far felt fine. good luck!

Hi, I have taken quite a few different ad's and I fouind this one to be the one that gace me the mildest side effects
slight sicky feeling if I hadn't eaten when I took it, slight headaches at first, nothing hideous and they worked very well to help my mood.

oh and you dont want to takwe them every other day at all
youjust need to get them in your system regularly and after the first few weeks yoiu wont have any side effects at all
they take that long to build up in your system so I wouldn't advise halving the dose ir anything

also 10mg isquitye a low dose so you may not have any effects at all

I am currently on 40 mg of peroxetine a day
and waiting for it to kick in

10mg is a very low dose, so you shouldn't get any major side effects.
I was on 25mg & other than the slight sicky feeling that TR describes, I found them fine. They really helped stop that horrible sinking feeling. Good luck!

I had the same as trinityrhino, bit of nausea in the first week or so, and I find that if I get at all dehydrated I get the most appalling headaches, so important to drink lots of water. When I started them my doctor told me to take half a tablet (20mg tablets so 10mg) for 6 days then start taking the whole pill, but I would have thought your doctor would have mentioned it if was necessary/sensible for you?

I feel much better now for taking them though, and only been on them about a month.

I started on 20mg of Citalopram. My anxiety heightened in the first 2 weeks and then calmed down and I felt great after 4 weeks.
But I then started to vomit and feel sick alot so i went down to 10mg and have been fine.

As TR said, dont skip them at all.

Oh I did yawn alot

My G.P told me these are the most 'popular' anti depressants at the moment!

I wasn't sure any anti depressants were exactly popular!

I yawned too! I was warned by my HV about the yawning!

Dear everyone. Thank you all so much for responding so quickly and for the incredibly helpful advice. It's so fantastic to have this web-site ... my mind is now at rest and I will commence the pills without worrying so much. Thanks again. BIG LOVE XOXOXOX

Have just taken first 20mg tab myself today so lets share side effects!! If I feel too awful I will drop down to 10mg I think.
So far have a dry mouth and slight nausea.

I am on 20mg per day and have found no side effects other than am more tired than usual. My moods are not as good as on fluoxetine but copeable (?!) with.

HTH

Hi Ellasmum1, it'd be great to share experiences as we're starting Citalopram together - I took my first pill last night and felt quite agitated and restless a few hours later. Managed to calm down and sleep quite well though. This morning, same as you, felt slightly nauseuous, dry mouth, but much calmer already. Feeling quite positive that this pill will work well for me. Have taken Prozac and Seroxat (Fluoxetine) in the past.

I take 10mg for anxiety and after they kicked in (14 days) I felt fine. No problems. Last time I took them, had to come off them slowly.

I've just started on 10mg of Citalpram (first dose yesterday 27th). Woke this morning at 2.30 am with anxiety attack...
apart from that I'm ok...

Hi to all the citalopram takers! Day 3 and I feel very tired, a bit headachy, short tempered and pretty miserable- but I am taking them for depression after all! Really hope these help to lift my mood after the magic 14 days. just want to feel things are worthwhile again!

I'm on Citalopram too - very good imo but only thing is that I'm constantly knackered....not just being a parent knackered iyswim...going to go to Dr's for blood tests this week as getting a bit worried by how tired I am - don't think the tablets can be doing it...

well it been a couple of days - i feel worse than before I started. really tired and raging insomnia...

not sure if this med is helping!!!

Ok, was woken up by husband at 3am as he came in from night out and felt v anxious and panicky(not like me, I went on the tabs for depression but wasn't anxious).
Was up for about an hour. Also felt nauseous and had to have some warm milk as I find I get the nausea with an empty stomach.
Today (day 4)I'm still yawning alot, feel slightly less wooly headed than yesterday, prone to forgetfulness- like taking 2 paracetamol then not knowing 2 mins later if I took any or not! Weird!
Still feel a bit "jumpy" today like I've had too much caffeine or something(but haven't had any)
Felt v miserable yesterday but today definately a bit more positive. Just hope the tired feeling goes soon!
How is everyone else doing? Livingbythesea?

Oh Crookshanks- We were chatting on another thread recently about eating too much junk - its reminded me of another side effect- I suddenly don't have the junk food cravings anymore and am finally able to "choose" food to eat rather than feeling its choosing me! I can curently stop after one small chocolate bar! The weight is dropping off!(It needs to!) Hope this effect doesn't go away!
Love to all the citalopram takers out there xx

After about 2 weeks I felt great, and didn't look back. Best advice I was given was to take each day at a time.....Good luck!

Hello all

I've been taking 10mg of Citalopram for 5 months and I've had no side effects at all. However, I don't think the dose was high enough as I'm still utterly miserable. I'm about to change to 20mg. I'll keep you posted if I get any change of symptoms or side effects.

I felt awful for the first couple of weeks, but I stuck with it and now I'm feeling heaps better! They're great!

Ok, six days in- feel great. Still get headachy in evenings and have a bit of indigestion, and still yawning alot in the day. No more panicky episodes though. Feel so much more positive about every day! Even enjoy dh's company!!

sorry not written anything for a while ... in process of packing up to move house so don't get much time. i'm on day day 8 of 10mg citalpram and they're working fantastically. the edge has definitely been taken off my stress, anxiety and anger, and i feel happy and content - fabulous. my husband is relieved too! the only side effects i've experienced are slight nausea in the morning, woolly-headedness inc. forgetfulness and difficulty in making decisions)and difficulty in getting out of bed. i notice a couple of you mention feeling really tired/lethargic - i've found that, when feeling energyless, if i actually force myself keep busy indoors, or go out and do things, i actually have more energy than i think and it makes me feel better. i spent a day indoors recently, doing very little, and lying around on the sofa playing with the kids - it was lovely to have quiet time with them but i did actually find myself feeling a bit low so now try and keep busy. as anti-depressants seem to work differently for people, maybe you won't find the same but just thought i'd let you know how it is for me. with the other anti-d that i've taken i've always found the first 2 weeks i've felt worse before better so don't be surprised if that's how you're feeling on citalpram. remember it'll be worth it in the end. lots of love to you all, and thanks so much for contributing to this thread - i really appreciate the support. xx

I've been on 20mg Citalopram for 3 weeks now (for anxiety and depression) and I started off with quite bad side effects. The first day I felt really so bad (really like "on drugs" and out of control) that I almost called the Dr to say I couldn't take another one. But I came on MN and it really helped me to read other peoples experiences and convinced me to carry on ....anyway I wanted to post my experience so anyone with similar can have some hope..

First day- felt really ill, both physically and mentally.
First week - Felt sick, completely lost my appetite (ate one banana a day for 3 days), had a horrible metallic taste in my mouth all the time, couldn't sleep (so felt really tired all day), felt like my pulse was racing, even more anxious, felt restless, felt detached from the world like I wasn't quite part of it.

Second week - started to improve, less anxious but having good day then bad day.

Third week - not feeling physically ill any more. And much more like more old self mentally. In fact a couple of things happened this week (lost my credit cards) that would have put me into a panic just before I started the ADs but I was able to cope with them.

I think they're definitely helping me. My only concern is how I ever come off them as my anxiety is just me so I don't see how it wouldn';t just back...but anyway at least another 6 months before I have to worry about that!

Sorry for the long post & good luck to the rest of you.

dazy - i can really sympathise with the horrible side-effects you've been experiencing as i had similar when starting seroxat (paroxetine). as i said before, in my experience, they all seem to effect people differently. it's great you're feeling better and perhaps shows you it was worth persisting through the terrible times at the beginning. be proud of yourself for carrying on - it's not easy. don't worry about coming off them - i did it gradually, ie. cutting down one pill every week until i'd stopped completely - this was very gradual but worked for me in preventing the immediate 'cold-turkey' feeling - i don't know if anyone else has found the same? in fact, my dr. recommended i did it that way. good luck, and remember that you have friends out here who understand how hard this blessed condition can be. xxxx