Citalopram - blood tests

[cazb78]

Hi everyone,

I’ve been on citalopram in varying doses
for about 15 years. Never once has a dr asked me to come for a blood test but all
of a sudden they want to do a blood test to ensure I’m on the right dosage and that it’s not doing me any harm! Has anyone else been asked to have regular blood tests on this medication? If so, what blood tests did they perform? X

I’ve never had, or taken blood samples from patients, for monitoring citalopram tbh. Do you take any other medication at all? The only time I would take blood from patients on it would be do do a mental health review and then it would be to check HBA1C, cholesterol, liver, kidney and a full blood count. Just routine tests because some patients with MH problems are possibly less likely to look after themselves and are at risk of raised cholesterol, diabetes etc

Thanks for your reply.

I had all of those done last May as part of my over 40s check and all was fine. I’ve not been told what the specific test will be, only that it’s to check I’m on the right dosage and that it’s not going me any harm! Bit late 15 years on!

There's no specific bloods for citalopram but it could be an annual review of your physical health which GPs are meant to do for people with chronic mental health problems. Routine bloods like full blood count, liver & kidney function tests, cholesterol, blood sugar. They will prob want to do weight & blood pressure too. There's no specific problems with citalopram & its a very safe drug but people with long term mental health problems are more likely to have poorer physical health so it's mainly screening for that.

If you've just had one for another condition you might not need to have it but as it was last May an annual check is prob sensible.