Citalopram side effects?

[ND]

Hi folks, im new to this forum and looking for some advice please. Been back on citalopram20mgs for 10 days now,after being off them for 6 months or so. However on day 5 i experienced something so horrible i ended up goin to hospital! Felt very faint wth hot/cold sweats and had this very bizarre cold/burning(hard to explain) sensation through the middle of my body. Felt so bad afterwards my friend took me to casualty....but sent home with "all clear".
Is this the Hot/cold rushes i have read some people describing on this forum ? i dont remember anything like this when i was on them before.
Can anyone help me ?
Thanx x

hi there, i am on 10mg day4 if i can help you i also experience cold/hot rushes around the abdomen and chest about 6 to 7 times daily. it last for 1 or 2 minutes and then stops.

[Lori]

Hi there,thanks so much for ur reply That has made me feel a bit more reassured.
Thats now 2 wks ive been on them,and still seem to have a weak feeling in my limbs and sometimes a bit spaced out! also, my sleep is so disturbed...i wake 6-8 times a night:O
Aside from that im doing ok
Let me know how you get on wth yours,

Lori x

[ND]

hi again
i have exacctly the same feelings + others like leg weakness specially in the morning, big nausea, tiredness in general, no sex drive at all!. I think the crucial point to move on is once you fully realise that those symptoms are completely due to the med and not to something else, i know it can be hard but reading the forum you realise that most of the guys are experiencing moreorless the same SE. Try to check on you about the time you take the med and the time you have various symptoms (i think they make a cycle ). For me i take it at night then i am destoyed during the day specially in the morning and around 3 afternoon then around 6 things start to get better. If you have nausea a tip can be to eat at any time of the day you feel better don t wait lunch/dinner time + drink fully of water.

[mini_mog]

so how was your first day?

my first day was pretty ok, not side effects really other than very very mild headache and slight dizziness- but this could have been imagined as id got myself quite worried about taking them

today is my second day, definately felt a little strange about 30 mins after taking them but nothing i couldnt cope with. felt a little anxious today but have been better at rationalising things and realising that really there is nothing for me to be worrying about. but its early days and i think it will be a long slow process until im back to how i was before the anxiety appeared.

[ND]

great

good luck

[Lori]

Hey ND,
Thanx so much again for your reply
Its comforting to know that you are not alone when experiencing all these symptoms.
I just wish i could sleep at night,then i might feel better in the day. Im also worried that my work may become affected due to lack of sleep.

By the way, i take mine 1st thing in morn after breakfast...basically because thats what the doctor advised.

Good luck with yours, keep in touch and let me know how u are getting on

Take care,

Lori x

[chez]

hello ive been taking citalopram for 8days today i must say im more relaxed about things. the only problem i have is in the mornings i sleep most of the night which is great when i wake up in the morning im very nervos and fill like i got loads of butterflys in my stomick and my heart races. i take my 20mg tablet at 10am after about an hour my nevosness has gone. but i still feel anxious and the back of my head feels tight? is this normal ive been told it is but just want to make sure again. i only have the tight feeling in my head through the day and by night time its gone. does this mean the tablets are working? i no they can take up to months to work. thank you for any answers would help me alot. take care. and this forum has helped me loads xxxx ps pleasse has anyone got any adise for me ? xxx

[MacAodh]

i have suffered from clinical depression for years, and was on prozac for 3 years but unfortunately it had stopped working, the doctor has now put me on citalopram and i too have had the headaches, the shakes, feeling woozy, tired, lethargic etc so it is somewhat refreshing to hear that if i stick with it, these side effects should go away. Some of the posts from people who have said they managed to "pull themselves together" are lucky, not all of us are in such a fortunate position and it's hard to explain to people why depression and anxiety is an illness not just a state of mind. I tried everything but drugs for 4 years after i was diagnosed, and gradually got so bad that I had driven everyone away and was living in a dump because I couldn't be bothered to clean the house or clean my self!

Bah I'm getting like that, I've driven most my family away cos they only made me feel useless, angry and messed up.

Bloody depression - I went through a good phase back in June and thought I was able to work my way out of "the rut", so quit my job (which I hated), to develop a project I'd been working on, but I never even worked on it; couldn't find any direction, and got super anxious about not being able to pay the rent. I thought I'd try and get a part time job in a kitchen to see if cookery is for me (wanted to do something I could feel proud of), but all those feelings soon passed when I discovered a lot of chefs aren't very nice people, and I often work 12 hours a day (not including breaks) where I'm usually left to the washing up, and told I'm going too slow. They can't seen to keep any other KP's for very long.

Started thinking of offing myself; I'd just come home and cry my eyes out during my break before heading back for the evening service. I keep hearing myself say "I'm 26, with a Masters of Science with Distinction, and I wash dishes for a living. I've gone seriously wrong somewhere along the lines" in my head. So I went to the doctors about a month and a half ago, discussed about how rash a decision I'd made in quitting my job, how I felt now, that I'd found out my dad had been suffering from depression, and decided I'd like to know for sure what was up with me, so asked for a referral to a psychiatrist. Went back 2 weeks later, she had suggested antidepressants, so I decided to accept, she put me on 20 mg Citalopram. I've had a few of the side effects (a little bit of nausea, stomachs not been quit settled, very patchy memory, and feeling a bit numb and doped up a lot of the time). I did feel a lot better within the first week, then went out with friends, had one glass of wine/had them say how s**t my job sounds and not felt right since. I'm not thinking of suicide anymore, but im still feeling doped up, irritable and short about random crap. I used to be really angry and moved away from family get away and get out on my own, so its kinda like I've gone back to being the old angry (disrespectful, ungrateful) me, instead of the sad, depressed me, who at least constantly tries to do stuff to better myself.

I have my first referral to the psychiatrist tomorrow, so I'm hoping I'll be able to explain what I'm feeling there. Not sure whether to come off it, as in a way the sadness and crying, it sucked, it was sad as hell, and lonely but at least I didn't feel like an angry jerk like I used to. Dunno, confused, irritable, and angry anyway.


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[ND]

hi all,

Today i called my doc talked about the side effects i have. His answer: How come i gave it to thousands and not even one complained?? So i thought probably i am crazy or he is lying. My opinion is that more than 50% of the people at least experience side effects?

ND

[eliteness]

Hi,

Been keeping my eye on this thread since i started taking my citalopram 5 weeks ago. It seems that everyone has a different angle on it and that is having either good or bad repercussions on other members here.

Well for good or bad, id like to offer up my experiences with a background on what i WAS like.

I have suffered from panic & anxiety since October 2004, people always say that your first panic attack is the worst, well mine were only getting worse and my avoidance techniques were having a serious health effect on me.

I didnt consider myself Agrophobic but if i had to go into town or even to work, i have an evening job, i would have to have at least 3 cans of lager to dull my senses, i was drinking on average 8 cans of lager per day. My self esteem was crippled, i had no drive and i was petrified to do or try anything because of potential side effects. If i went to pick my father up from work i couldnt drive back home because my chest and arms were all tight, i was in a real state.

I had tried many different courses, breathing, relaxation techniques, whatever the doctor had said to try and get rid of these terrible feelings but all to no avail.

8 weeks ago i decided that i was not going to be able to beat this on my own, sure i had 3 good days, followed by 2 months of hell, having a drink to calm myself down then spending an hour crying because of what was happening to me. These feelings inside my body had ruled for far too long, i went to my doctor and said i wanted medication

He gave me 20mg of Citalopram

On reading this forum it reminds me of the two weeks in which i sat looking at the unopened box on the kitchen shelf, too scared to read the side effects, wondering why the doctor had told me i would feel a little different in the first two weeks, but all the time knowing that i needed to give them a try.

One sunday 5 weeks ago i had been out for a meal with my girlfriend and was feeling quite content, all help to my girlfriend and the 4 pints of lager i had just consumed, i looked at the box and thought,....

i need to start this

filled with the thoughts of another week of hell commencing in the morning, i opened the pack and took the SUNDAY tab.

Its worth mentioning at this point, that i have a massive fear of being spiked and that i wouldnt EVER take any pills, not even when i had 3 teeth extracted and my mouth was bleeding for two weeks.

i wont bore you with a long winded story about my road to recovery, instead i will use a quote from the wise words of Gordon Ramsey...

Panic attacks with a side order of Anxiety....

DONE!!!!!

Dont get me wrong i had a funny night on the sunday, wondering if that tablet was going to kill me or give me the heart attack i so dreaded

Thinking back they were gone on the Monday morning when i woke up

I had some side effects to them though

BEING HAPPY
BEING ABLE TO WALK OUT THE HOUSE
BEING ABLE TO LIVE MY LIFE LIKE I USED TO
NOT DRINKING MYSELF INTO OBLIVION EVERY NIGHT SO I CAN SLEEP
DRIVING MY CAR
GOING FOR WALKS AND NOT WONDERING WHERE THE NEXT BEER IS AVAILABLE FROM

Seriously though, the only noitcable side effect is the low amount of sexual desire

Id gladly swap that for my life back again, thats not to say that i dont want a healthy sex life again, but i reckon i can put that on hold whilst i get used to the fact that im back where i was.

Im not deaf to peoples problems with taking the drug but i do think its wise to remember that old panic attack statement that everyone has surely read either in a book or on the web..

THEY CANT KILL YOU!!!

and niether can the pills....

so my advice is to give them a shot, i was scared, i was against it, ididnt want to listen to anyone

BUT I NOW I HAVE MY LIFE BACK!!

Since taking the first tablet, ive COMPLETLY cut out alcohol not even one drop has passed my lips, im developing an exercise routine, ive started to look after myself and try and re-write all the wrongs i was doing to myself through constant alcohol abuse, im applying for jobs and even enqired about re-joining my gym, in early 2005 the gym was the point of my most prominent panic attack, i used to go everyday but never returned after i froze in the swimming pool with my heart pounding.

Of course the coming off them seems to have some issues, but im positive again, i just think that it will be as easy.

Just think about those two voices in your head.....one saying everythings going to be ok....whilst the other one SHOUTS....NO ITS NOT!!!

Wouldnt you like to shut that one up?? Once and for all

Thanks