Citalopram

Post Reply New Topic

I was on it for years. It was Celexa before it went generic. Best thing I've had. Tried many others with flat results. I was prescribed Lexapro (a Celexa upgrade when its patent was running out). Generally good results, but a couple of negative side effects. Back on Celexa/citalopram. But I am rarely typical with anything medical.

Celexa enhanced my sexual functioning. Like I said, I am atypical.

People with ASD's can be really sensitive to medication and other quite the opposite, so you'll hear people say ti did nothing for them or gave them horrible side effects.
I've still got the side effects from medication I took years ago. I've never been on anti-anxiety meds though. The anti-depressents I was on temporarily took away desire for special interests and increased my light sensitivity.

Yes I was on it briefly. It gave me Parkinsonian symptoms, which basically were like symptoms you get with Parkinson's Disease - extreme slowing down, feeling like being in deep water, physical inability to do any tasks at all, even watch tv or move my arms. I didn't enjoy it much. But that is a very rare side effect.

Having said that, my mum was on it for years, and had no apparent side effects at all. I don't know how much it did for her depression/anxiety though.

Sorry Rabbit, you seem to be getting only negative responses.

Medication designed to alter mood should be an absolute last resort, in my opinion. You've mentioned a few things that have caught my attention whilst posting on these forums. I remember you mentioning you consume artificial sweeteners. Those alone can cause anxiety. Not to mention any food intolerances you might have. You should experiment with diet first before you go down this route. If that doesn't work then maybe you do have something untreatable that can only be resolved by a pill. Some people I've met who take mood altering medication are utter zombies, though. Obviously it doesn't affect everyone in the same way, but you should be weary that those types of pill are not a long term solution, really. Unless you want to cycle through a whole list over a number of years and end up with radically altered neurochemistry.

I DO NOT trust big pharma and the medical pushers.

Lexapro (escitalopram) is usually better tolerated than Celexa. This is thought to be because Lexapro only contains the active "S" enantiomer found in citalopram (hence where it gets its name EScitalopram). Regular citalopram is a racemic mixture of both the active "S" and inactive "R" enantiomers, and the inactive "R" enantiomer may cause more side effects and less clinical improvement of symptoms. Yay for stereochemistry.

I didn't but my first anti-depressant was Lexapro (similar, as people above have mentioned)

Key side affects for me:
A gagging / needing to yawn feeling constantly
it made me grind my teeth
sexual dysfunction (See moog's post above... while it sounds funny its actually very true and frustrating)
I had this blank time... strangely enough know that I know about stimming and zoning out, it was almost like that but without any stimulation or need to move around... (I guess my version of the lethargic part)
I didn't notice, but the brain zaps mentioned above are something I can remember so i am guessing it was in relation to the drug. I can vividly imagine the feeling and knew what it was the moment I read it.
It did not treat underlieing depression
you know the thing the commedians joke about: restless leg syndrom... yeah, it exists, and lexapro gave it to me while I was on it! lol

However, key benefits for me:
I was much less anxious without being tired
Colors seemed brighter (hard to explain, I just had an increased emotional reaction to colors)
It made me feel a lot less edgy in my usual ways (sort of like trading off one type of tenseness for another)
I attribute it somewhat to having got a job shortly after I started taking it, as it affected me enough to be able to get out and do stuff again (was house-bound-agoraphobic before)


In the end, after they kept upping my dosage in response to it not affecting my depression it became too much. After about a year of taking it I tapered off accidentally (forgetting to take them every couple days, then every other day, then just taking once or twice per week) which I am sure is not the healthiest way to go about it.

Side effects outweigh the benefit, but it did have a benefit.

Now I take a partial dose St John's Wart which is a herbal SSRI that I get from walgreens without prescription and is much much gentler.

My conclusion: Dose was too high, reaction from doctor was to increase dose. By later taking natural lower-dose version I was able to make the style of medication work for me. I have zero side effects, I can clearly tell the difference in the world when I forget to take my partial dose of St Johns Wart, and I feel satisfied that my quality of life has been improved.

(disclaimer: nobody should do that same thing I did without talking to a doctor. I probably shouldn't have either.)

I know what you mean. I'm currently pursuing a career that I hope will allow me to live on fewer hours, self employed. I'd rather have a modicum of health than money. I've taught myself to be ruthless cutting down on unnecessary spending.

Wishing you the best.

last night at the cannabis club I asked a friend what he thought of antidepressants

he said he had just started taking them 2 weeks ago!! (hey I'm psychic)

anyways, I noticed he sat and smiled a lot while now on the citalopram

he also was clumsily rude and aggressive, while sitting calmly and smiling a lot, I dressed him down on his unusual and previously rare put down, and he showed little remorse or feeling

I was much more like a zombie before I took citalopram than afterwards. I had really bad psychosis when I was younger, too - and all I was taking was St. John's Wort, meditating and eating 'good mood foods'. It was horrible; it was like using a band-aid to treat multiple leg fractures. I just got more and more ill. I find the severity of my psychosis increases with the severity of my depression. I'm lucky in that I don't need anti-psychotics right now because my SSRI is working.

Not everyone is as neurochemically faulty as I am, as I suspect that you're not, rabbitears. I just want to say that far from being 'evil', they are the only effective tool available for some people.

Hmm, I concur with nemorosa & the many others who experienced negative effects of this ghastly drug.

This was my last post about a very gradual strategy for stopping the drug (not warned by my doctor unfortunately).

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp4239831.html#4239831