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could this be an effect of the antidepressants ??

13 replies

cheeryface · 04/01/2009 16:59

burning scalp/ head??

also have a pain in my head but the burning sensation is a new one on me!

have so far only taken citalopram for 3 days.

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LadyOfWaffle · 04/01/2009 17:03

the only time I have had this is when I had shingles - are you run down?

TarkaLiotta · 04/01/2009 17:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wotuhohohoinat · 04/01/2009 17:20

I didn't have that as a side effect when I started Citalopram, but, as the side effects are so varied and sometimes bizarre, it wouldn't surprise me. Being on Citalopram has made my boobs leak. Which is annyoying as I couldn't breast feed due to lack of milk but now seem to have a plentiful supply!!

Neeerly3 · 04/01/2009 17:25

i used to get a pressure build up sensation in my ears on fluxoetine, so an itchy scalp wouldn't surprise me......

cheeryface · 05/01/2009 10:39

i think i will have to ditch the citalopram which is upsetting me because i was thinking positive, new year, new start etc

i have been awake all night, sharp pains in my head, burning feeling with it.
pains in my back
thumping heart and shaking like a leaf.

feel a bit sick and dizzy too

have been crying to dh this morning to please stay off work and help me, but he wouldnt.

it could be that its nothing to do with the tablets, i have been having headaches for months which the doc has put down to sinusitis and im awaiting ent appointment. alhough, these pains in my head now feel totally different and i had been fairly ok the few days before i went on citalopram.

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TarkaLiotta · 05/01/2009 16:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

twentyoneagain · 05/01/2009 19:13

I started taking Citalopram about three weeks ago. I did get nasty headaches and felt really out of it for the first three or four days but those side effects did go. I then increased the dose after the first week from 10 mg to 20 mg. The same side effects came back for a few days but now seem to be subsiding.

Sleep has been a bit disturbed but that also seems to be settling down now.

I hope that things start to feel better for you soon.

LucyEllensmummy · 05/01/2009 20:53

don't give up, but do go back to your doctors. There are lots of threads on here about citalopram. There are so many side effects and they vary in intensity, but they do go - i was quite lucky, i just felt rushy and high, but i did have some terrifying panic attacks. It all settled within a week. They do say that it can take up to 2 weeks for the side effects to subside and the tablets to work.

Sinusitis can cause some really horrible head aches too. I have this just now and its just going - worse when i bent over, felt my brain was going to fall through my eyeballs!

If i were you i would go and describe your symptoms to your doctor, he or she can tell you if this is normal and you can decide whether to continue or not. Take heart though, citalopram isn't the only AD out there, but its one of the cheapest so that is why they prescribe it first i guess. They will find the right thing for you.

Can i ask why you are taking them, have they initiated any counselling for you?

cheeryface · 07/01/2009 15:04

i asked for ad's because i have spent years feeling that things just arent quite right with me. in fact i think i have become so used to my ways that its become normal to me.

i just worry far too much and get really anxious about things i shouldnt, which makes me avoid doing things. it gets me down and i have recently been going through a phase of feeling anti social and staying in a lot.
i also think i suffer health anxiety as i have been worrying that i dont have sinusitis i have a brain tumour etc etc

the doctor didnt mention anything about counselling. she said 'just give in a take some drugs' lol

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LucyEllensmummy · 07/01/2009 21:08

Pretty much the same reasons i went on the medication. The anxiety grinds you down. Go back to the doctor and insist on some counselling. There is no point taking the drugs without adressing the underlying reasons. Take a look at moodgym.com (i think, the link is in the mental health link on thse threads) It explains things really well.

How are you feeling now re the side effects?

cheeryface · 08/01/2009 20:48

thanx i'll have a look. i havent taken anymore of the ad's.
at the moment i am worrying about the possible cause of my permanent headaches which have gone on for months and give me a weird feeling in my head like a balloon is being blown up.
i have an appointment with ent at the end of the month but i think i might have been better off going to neurology.

also, and now u will think i am barmy , but really playing on my mind is the fact that 16 years ago i had unprotected sex with a rather dodgy character and i keep thinking what if i contracted hiv and thats why i am constantly feeling/ being ill.

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LucyEllensmummy · 08/01/2009 21:21

Christ on a bike cheeryface, are you me?

I have been through the whole have i got HIV thing, did i pass HIV to my child (in fact it had a massive negative impact on our relationship). I definately do NOT think you are barmy. You want barmy? Try going to the minor injuries clinic, hysterical because you think your tonsils are tumours! (AND i have a medically related degree!). That was me just before i was put onto citalopram (and with good reason wouldnt you say ). To put your mind at rest about the HIV - there is NO WAY you have HIV from this person, if you had contracted HIV 16 years ago, without treatment, you would be dead.

Here is the most likely explanation as to why you are constantly feeling ill - anxiety. It makes you ill. I have had all manner of symptoms - Headaches (that is pretty common for people under any type of stress), palpitations, tingling in my face and hands (self diagnosed MS of course - Doctor soon put me straight about that!), panic attacks, feeling sick, getting every cold and flu bug going because im so run down due to constant worry. You name it ive had it, or at least i have thought i have!
Someone pointed me to a website and i forget what it was about anxiety - and the physical symptoms it produces are staggering. Of course you then get anxious about the symptoms and so it goes on. That is the one thing i can say about citalopram, it stops things from playing on your mind and allows a bit of logic.

You say that you feel a balloon in your head, that could well be your sinuses - i am suffering (along with everyone i seem to know just now!) with my sinuses at the moment and it can feel like that. You don't feel any pain in your brain you know, there are no nerve endings. I bet you 50p though, its anxiety and once you can get that sorted, the headaches will go. Honestly, when i went to the docs with the tingling, she said, look, you haven't got MS (she did a load of tests right there and then that ruled it out - stuck me with pins so she did!) its anxiety and a very common symptom - miracle cure!!! It went away more or less within days. I get it if i am particularly stressed, but i mean through the roof stress.

So, the unprotected sex with the dodgy character is clearly something that bothers you - (been there done that) STOP using it to beat yourself up, its in the past and its done and not worth the thought processes. I can say this because i know that is exactly the sort of way i used to think, that i had HIV and quite frankly, i deserved it.

You need to see a counsellor, i think you will be banging your head against the wall until you do.

Hope this was not too blunt, but i can see so many parallels with myself (now i wish i could take my own advice).

cheeryface · 26/01/2009 20:33

have only just discovered your message lucyellensmum
thanks it has helped me somewhat

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