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***Citalopram Buddies... ;o)***

1000 replies

ShinyHappyPurpleSeveredHeads · 25/10/2007 12:18

Well.. jumping in on the act of the other "buddy threads", there seem to a shed load of us on citalopram.

How many of us are there exactly?

What dosage are you all on? Is it working?

I'm on 10mg for anxiety. It certainly takes the edge off the panic feelings and stops me waking up with that dreadful, crippling anxious feeling, as if my stomach's in a vice. But being as things are a bit crap at the moment, I do feel generally down even though I've never been technically considered depressed (just suffering from lifestyle induced anxiety!)

DH is on 20mg. Similar reasons, slightly different symptoms.

We have been on it since June.

I came off mine (sensibly) a month of so ago but the horrid panic came back and I just couldn't face all that again. It makes life "un-do-able" and I have a lot of stuff that I have to get done everyday/responsibilities etc. So not sure what the answer is but I certainly don't want to stay on anti depressants forever and GP originally mentioned a 6 month time slot.

What are other's experiences?

PS I hate the "no orgasm" side effect of citalopram!! It really really bothers me.. main reason I wanted to come off it.. but I hate the anxiety more! Anyone else on it suffer in that way?

OP posts:
ImdreamingofaGROUCHYxmas · 15/11/2007 15:15

Oh, I'm usually Grouchyoscar

Hang on I need a thanksgiving name too!

MascaraOHara · 15/11/2007 15:16

D'Oh - of course you are GrouchyOscar! All these name changes, I can't keep up at the minute.

I'm feeling pretty good at the minute. I had a mad hour at home the other day and really got a lot of tidying/cleaning done so that's not dragging me down now. I'm promisedd dd I would start doing the house work during the week so I can spend more time with her at weekends.

TigerFeet · 15/11/2007 18:49

Hi everyone

I am still not well, and still very drained and down. I have been signed off work for a week and have spent most of it asleep. I'm sure I'll feel better once this damned chest infection clears and I am back on my feet.

Hope you are all OK

MascaraOHara · 16/11/2007 08:35

Hey TF, you are bound to feel awful with a chest infection on top of everything else and I think you are right to be off work.. let us know how you are feeling later. Do you have anyone to help you with housework/kid(s) etc?

TigerFeet · 16/11/2007 13:47

Hi MOH, I saw your other thread - have you texted him??

I think I made a bit of a mistake today - I am so bored of being stuck in the house asleep that I walked into town with dd's nursery class to shake buckets at people for Children in Need. God I am so knackered now I can barely think straight never mind I think the walk has done me good. My chest finally seems to be clearing thank god but I still have no energy at all.

DH is very busy at work atm but is doing his best to pitch in. We're off to the outlaws for the weekend so I don't have to lift a finger for two whole days

MascaraOHara · 16/11/2007 14:01

no I haven't, lol.. I might over the weekend though. Will see how I feel

Mind you don't feel much worse tonight, the fresh probably has done you some good but you might feel rough later.

The weekend should be a nice break, do you get on with them well enough?

TigerFeet · 16/11/2007 14:07

We get along fine, they are lovely people and dd adores them. We are travelling up tonight, it's a 2 hour journey in the car and dh is driving so I can sleep on the way

MascaraOHara · 16/11/2007 14:08

Sounds like just what you need then!

Have a good/relaxing time

Wilkie · 17/11/2007 07:56

Hi - sorry I disappeared for a while. Been at a work conference and the run up to it was a bit mad hectic.

Sorry to wade back in whinging about me but I feel really really down today. I don't feel very well (flu) and I just feel like I want the world to stop so I can get off for a day or so. I have a 10m DS and love him to pieces but right now I feel like I ust want to roll into a ball and stay in bed for a few days.

ALCOHOL - does anyone else have issues drinking when taking Citalopram? I get a migraine even if I have one drink - do you think this is realted to the tablets?

IdrisTheDragon · 17/11/2007 07:59

Hello Wilkie.

I have found that if I have anything to drink )more than a few sips) I end up with a horrid hangover. I think it is related to the citalopram - sincei started taking them I have hardly drunk at all.

Can you rest today at all?

Wilkie · 17/11/2007 08:04

No because DH is at work all day and I dont have family nearby. I am just feeling very sorry for myself.

What does you hangover feel like?

MascaraOHara · 17/11/2007 17:36

Hi guys!

Wilkie, how's it going?

WRT alcohol, are you guys drinking loads of water? I don't have a problem drinking alcohol on tablets but they'll effect everyone different I guess.. I am always conscious to drink loads of water as I found I get dehydrated (symptoms) quickly on Cit.

I went to get my prescription today and get my pill at the same time and apparently they're no longer making my pil - good job I'm not desperate!

ImdreamingofaGROUCHYxmas · 18/11/2007 12:08

Hi MOH...I was told 8 yrs ago they'd stopped producing my oral contraceptive and after 3 attempts to get a supply I though 'I've been on it fo 8 years, time for a change.

So 8 yrs on. I've lost 4 stone. OK I have a 4 yr old DS but that wasn't a problem and I now have a coil.

oooh, TMI

I'm feeling brighter atm, got over my AF (not so bad this month) Doing my GP homework and keeping on top of things.

Hope my AD buddies are feeling perky/perkier

MascaraOHara · 19/11/2007 09:14

I wanted a coild but the GP won't give me one

ShinyHappyPeopleHoldingHands · 19/11/2007 09:18

Hello

Thanks Mascara for the roll call and for re-organising us. This sounds stupid but I created this thread so we could talk to each other and yet I've been feeling so crap I couldn't even post on it. Have posted elsewhere about other things to try to block it out. And don't really what to whine. But I suppose that - and supporting each other is what this thread's about.

I'm not getting those horrid waves of panic (I can't find who mentioned them above? Very apt!) which is the reason I went on citalopram in the first place - they're not happening - although if something dire was to strike I know they would. So it's working in that respect. But for the first time really, I feel kind of persistantly depressed, either very..and I find it hard to hide it.. or in an underlying way, beneath the jolly mood I sometimes manage to put on.

DH is down because - I think - of the chronic pain he's in again. He has had to come off the oral steroids and his joints are really hurting him again. When that happens he just retreats into his cave - you know as men do? - and I have to keep trying to convince myself it's not ME he's ignoring. But when you feel crap anyway it's the easiest thing in the world to believe that you're the cause and that "something" is wrong with your relationship.

I hate being so dependant on his mood in order to feel ok! Does anyone else get this? Or am I really pathetic as I fear I may be?

Our ongoing and lengthy cocked-up housing situation is the main problem. We should have moved so long ago and all there is to show for it is a condemned whole in the ground ("foundations" ) at the new house. The Housing Assoc are in no hurry to sort this out.. well they say they are but they're not. We are just names on paper. And meanwhile, there is a disabled-adapted bungalow that has become available and the HA are going to consider this for us.. but without having looked inside it, I have a feeling we won't be able to accept it even if offered. It would be tempting.. if they divide the biggest bedroom (as suggested) DS1 (15) will have his own room. (He can't share with DS2 because of DS2's anti social habits/night waking and general high maintenance needs. DS1 moved out and onto the floor of DD's box room in the summer. So he has no room, no bed and no space, as he attempts to study for his mocks ) This feels like the most pressing problem.. and the bungalow (if offered!) would solve that.. but I can't afford to forget that then DS2 (who has cp etc) would still be penned into a small living space, which frustrates the hell out of him and causes violent behaviour. (We have to put gates or "stable doors" up to stop him accessing rooms wecan't let him crawl around in like the kitchen). The house would solve that.. we had planned it so that he would have the run of the ground floor, right the way through from the dining room to his (unbuilt!) ground floor extension.

All in flat packs are DS2's new bed.. DS1's desk and bed - all the lovely bits and bobs we have had all year (because we were supposed to move in before the summer). We are currently waiting for new design and costings for the foundations to be completed and costed out (well the HA are waiting.. we are just going spare!). I am terribly afraid that they're write it all off as financially unviable. And then we'll be back to square one. No bungalow, no new house, just this really really unsuitable place we're in now where I'm failing my kids big time because it's virtually impossible to meet their needs here. DS1 has cystic fibrosis. They'd (the clinic/his dcotors and specialists) go spare if they knew he was sleeping on the floor long term like this; they have kicked off enough about him sharing the room with DS2 for so long, as DS2 is a little germ factory.. not at all good for DS1.. not least he kept him awake all night which is not good when you're trying to fight off lung infection all the time.

At least he gets a little sleep in DD's room. That's another thing - in the new house, DS1 would be in his extension "in the garden" away from DS1 and DD.. and only disturb us with his night time antics (via the monitor/intercom). If we got offered/accepted the bungalow, we'd all be on one floor, and close by. The others wouldn't have escaped from it. And they deserve their sleep they really do.. both of them. They're childhoods have already been cocked up be DS2.

We're going to have to refuse the bungalow (if offered!) aren't we? Writing it all down has clarified it.

So sorry for rambling. Although it's a bit more pro-active that churning this all around ineffectually in my head.

How are all of YOU this morning? Take my mind off my whinging someone!

I am off to read further back on the thread because I remember some of you mentioned tooth grinding/jaw clenching.. which suddenly I am doing big time. My jaw aches and I have a mouthful of agonsising ulcers. Can this really be to do with citalopram? I don't want to go back and ask for something else.. I want to get off this actually! But doesn't sound like I'm heading in the right direction does it! Sigh.

Talk to me guys. Tell me how you all are. I hope those of you feeling crap in the last few days feel I bit more positive. Personally I hate Mondays. I am sitting here in my gym gear (we joined in the summer even though we really really can't afford it) in the summer. I loved in initially.. got an exercise buzz and everything. Now I have to force myself to go which I do because it would be a waste of money otherwise. DH is in too much pain to go. I feel hopeless!

MascaraOHara · 19/11/2007 09:57

Jeez, your housing situation sounds like a nightmare.. I'm not surprised you are feeling crap, never mind with everything else on top of that!

I think it's understandable that your mood is affected by DH's mood. It's hard not to be.

What is his illness, does he have arthritis? (with you mention joints)

Completely understand you worrying about your children but you are not letting them down or failing them. You are making the best of the situation you are in and you're managing until the HA find something more suitable. - could your DS1 doctors not add some weight to the urgency of the move if you told them about the sleeping arrangemnets, don't medical statements help make you more of a priority or is that just with council housing?

I am sorry to hear you are having such a nightmare time.

Remember keep talking - it does help to get things off your chest, even if it's just to clarify thigs you've been churning over

FatBellyJones · 19/11/2007 10:19

hiya.. can I join in?

I was on 40mg for about a year and half and then stupidly decided I didn't need them anymore Started taking them again last week so I'm waiting for them to kick in again.

MascaraOHara · 19/11/2007 10:27

Of course, welcome! I love your name.

There's a mix of us here, some taking for various degrees of depression, others for anxiety. Are you back on 40mg?

FatBellyJones · 19/11/2007 12:37

noo.. when i first started I was on 20mg but gp advised me to build up gradually with half a tablet for the first week so I'm doing that again, otherwise i tend to feel a bit nauseous and dopey and just 'not quite there' I'm hoping to be back up to 40mg after about 2 weeks.

hehe.. your name is one of the first I remember seeing when I first found mumsnet and I thought it was supercool too I read the whole thread after I posted and it reminded me of all the reasons I thought I'd be better off without, but really I just don't function at all left to my own devices, so it will be good to be able to do things without it seeming like a collossal effort, even if it does mean that I'm a bit flat emotionally.

The orgasm thing!! I'd forgotten about too.. I found that my libido did pretty much vanish but when I did take pity on OH and have sex, things were a lot slower to get burning but much more intense wen they did, if that makes sense?

TigerFeet · 19/11/2007 18:09

Hi all

Had a great weekend, lots of sleep and a bit of shopping. I'm also pleased to report that my various ailments have finally cleared up which has really helped my state of mind.

ShinyHappy - what a nightmare, I really feel for you. If you refuse the bungalow, how will that impact on your house? Hopefully if you stand your ground they will get you sorted.

Alcohol - I am fine so long as I don't go mad, although I am very tired the following day so I generally stick to Friday/Saturday nights. It is much better if I drink a glass of water between each glass of wine.

MascaraOHara · 20/11/2007 08:54

TF, read your posts from last week - you sound so much better I'm glad you are feeling better as well

ShinyHappyPeopleHoldingHands · 20/11/2007 10:11

Hello

We had to refuse the bungalow. When we looked inside it was too small. We don't actually know it would have been offered anyway but we had to ask them to consider us for it (before we'd seen inside) so they did.

Just need to hold out for the house now. The new foundations are still not in the hands of the planner so costings not done. We have been told off the record that they do have a responsiblity to complete this project for us.. but that there isn't an endless pot of money so there is a chance it could fall through.

Feeling a bit better strangely enough. Going out of lunch with friends today. It makes a difference having something nice planned I have found.

Looking forward to the Christmas meet up too. Any other citalopram buddies going?

Stay strong all xxx

elliemac · 20/11/2007 10:30

Hi everyone. Hope you're all well. So sorry but this might be a bit of a long one. Have been having a really rough time at the minute. Suffer with anxiety as you might already know. This is nearly my 3rd whole week of taking the citalopram for it. I'm feeling absolutely dreadful. The anxiety seems to have increased 100 fold. I'm beginning to wonder if these tablets are really helping or just making me worse. Here's an example of how bad i'm getting now. On Saturday night i got a bit of a pain under my left boob. Then my left hand started to get really sore. Anyway had a terrible weekend crying and in constant fear that i was going to have a heart attack. It sounds really stupid i know. Ended up having to go to the docs yesterday cause i was in such a state. She said it was indigestion and gave me some tablets. Still lost it last night and was terrified even though i now know it was probably just wind and that i'm no doubt bringing it on with anxiety. The pain in my left hand is most probably cause i've got carpal tunnel but because i had it at the same time as my chest pain i just jump to the worst case scenario.

Don't know if i can keep going with these tablets. Feel nauseous quite a lot and have totally lost my appetite. Keep waiting for the day when they'll kick in but so far nothing. I'm sooooooo sorry to ramble on but i needed to share with someone. I think to be honest DH is sick of listening to me and my various life threatening illnesses.

Take care everyone - Hope i haven't depressed you all with my moaning!!

MascaraOHara · 20/11/2007 13:08

It's what we're here for EllieMac - listening and supporting each other. I for one never talk about my depression in RL but feel comfortable offloading here.

Have you spoken to your GP about your anxiety becomoing worse?

I spoke to my GP about feel worse since taking them and she asked if I was happy to percevere for another month.. I'm seeing her again in a couple of weeks to review if I want to continue.

ShinyHappy - At least you know that it won't be suitable, will keep my fingers crossed for you that your house gets built.. it must be so unsettling just not knowing what's going to happen.

lucyellensmum · 20/11/2007 14:03

ellie, i am sorry to hear you are having a shit time, ive not posted on here for a while but just wanted to offer my support. It is documented that citalopram can make your anxiety worse in the first few weeks, did you ask your doctor about this, maybe you should go back and at least set something down, say, if you still feel like shit after a week then they should reassess. I know totally where you are coming from with the health stuff - i nearly drove my partner away with it all. It just starts with a little niggle and seeps into your whole day and no one can really understand it because it is so irrational, i know its irrational but that doesnt help.

I had a really terrible day yesterday, i actually was frightened that i was not going to be able to cope with DD, she has been a bit difficult lately (nothing other than terrible twos) and i lay on the sofa last night thinking about what to do if i started to feel badly towards her, i was actually scared i might be horrible to her, or worse. I didnt feel like i would be, i just kept thinking, what if i do, what if i do - i love her so much its beyond description and when i went to bed i looked at her lying in her cot and realised that i could never hurt or be horrid too her. This morning she has been difficult but i have been fine, shes such a lovely little girl and her difficultness is really quite sweet, if you see whta i mean. I just think it is because that she is the most precious thing to me that i was scared of my "illness" affecting her. I seriously felt unwell yesterday, it turns out i am coming up to a period (i have a merina coil, i hate it, so my periods are irregular to say the least) and since starting the citalopram i have had the most demon PMT.

I do feel much better today and forced
myself to go to M&T and one of the other girls asked for my phone number so im chuffed about that, also it turns out that she suffers with depression too (you could have knocked me down with a small feather as she seems really together and ive always been a bit envious of her!!) i dont know why she felt the need to drop that into the conversation today (maybe she was testing me to see if she could trust me or that i wouldnt judge her) but i just said, oh, yes im on medication for depression too. We have never sat moaning about life or anything but there you are. So that was a positive for this week.

I have been having counselling, heaven knows if it is helping. The woman is very nice, we seem to get along and she is quite happy for me to spill my guts every week, but i only have another two sessions left and i feel like we have only scraped the surface. There is something i want to tell her, but it is so out of the blue i dont want to drop it into the conversation, i cant bring myself to discuss it on here as for one thing, it could be considered really awful and i dont want sympathe and i actually think im making a mountain out of a molehill and dont want to ressurect it. If that makes any sense. It didnt seem awful at the time.

Im waffling now, i only posted to give a hug to ellie but that opened the flood gates

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