Depression, anxiety and 3rd week of citalopram! HELP

[Penguinlady]

So after a long battle with depression and anxiety I finally to he leap at seeked help which I found incredibly hard. I am on week three of citalopram 20mg one every morning and I had sickness, nausea and headaches the first two days otherwise nothing since. I started week three on Tuesday and if I'm honest I feel no better at all. I'm getting so fed up :( has anyone else found this? Or found it to make them feel even worse?

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi and welcome to NMP

I think you need to give it more time because they say they don't do anything good in the first month and for full effect it can mean being on things for 6 months, although you would see the effect much earlier than that.

I would suggest looking in the Medications section as there is a subforum for Citalopram with regular posters discussing it.

[up a ladder]

Hi. Unfortunately all the meds seem to have that bedding in period. I drove 200 miles once on day 3 of Citalopram and I felt like the top of my head was going to blow off. I was sick and in real pain. Also, the digestive system took a real pounding with diarreaha. It took about 5 weeks to level off.
Stick with it if you can.

[Penguinlady]

Had my review with my doctor and meds have been put up to 40mg and I have been referred to counselling. See how I go on a high dose as the others didn't make any difference

[Lost my son in law]

I wish to warn people of the danger of this medication. My 26 year old son in law went to his doctor on March 1, 2015 and told him that due to a manager harassing & bullying him at work that he was feeling anxious & starting to experience panic attacks due to having to work with this person. He was on Citalopram HBR 20 mg, dosage 1 per day. He started taking this medication on March 2, 2015. On March 25, 2015 he was preparing for a overnight visit from his dad, which he was very close to, so he cleaned up yard, hauled away trash, went & picked up his gas grill & propane tanks, picked up lunch for himself and his wife, came home & 20 minutes later he went out in the front yard took his 9mm held it to his temple and pulled the trigger. After only 23 days on this medication he committed suicide out of the blue. He left behind his 23 year old widow and their 4 month old son! Please, please let someone know if you are having strange or unusual thoughts....We had absolutely no warning, I don't think he did either.

[MyNameIsTerry]

I wish to warn people of the danger of this medication. My 26 year old son in law went to his doctor on March 1, 2015 and told him that due to a manager harassing & bullying him at work that he was feeling anxious & starting to experience panic attacks due to having to work with this person. He was on Citalopram HBR 20 mg, dosage 1 per day. He started taking this medication on March 2, 2015. On March 25, 2015 he was preparing for a overnight visit from his dad, which he was very close to, so he cleaned up yard, hauled away trash, went & picked up his gas grill & propane tanks, picked up lunch for himself and his wife, came home & 20 minutes later he went out in the front yard took his 9mm held it to his temple and pulled the trigger. After only 23 days on this medication he committed suicide out of the blue. He left behind his 23 year old widow and their 4 month old son! Please, please let someone know if you are having strange or unusual thoughts....We had absolutely no warning, I don't think he did either.

I'm really sorry to hear about your son in law. Its a tragic example of how wrong things can go.

Many of these medications give suicidal thoughts as a possible side effect. If you look at the guidance to doctors in the UK by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), they make a specific mention of alerting those under 30 to this as they are at extra risk. I started on Citalopram just over 30 and I doubt my GP would have mentioned it though as he has been inadequate when it comes to understanding side effects and shown his inexperience.

The level of anxiety/depression they can cause at first can make people very desperate as seen across websites like this.

I hope, in time, you can all find some peace. Hopefully doctors can learn more from these terrible situations so that they take more precautions in treating younger people and making sure they know what to look for (and their loved ones) as well as everyone else but the cost has clearly been too high.

[Penguinlady]

I wish to warn people of the danger of this medication. My 26 year old son in law went to his doctor on March 1, 2015 and told him that due to a manager harassing & bullying him at work that he was feeling anxious & starting to experience panic attacks due to having to work with this person. He was on Citalopram HBR 20 mg, dosage 1 per day. He started taking this medication on March 2, 2015. On March 25, 2015 he was preparing for a overnight visit from his dad, which he was very close to, so he cleaned up yard, hauled away trash, went & picked up his gas grill & propane tanks, picked up lunch for himself and his wife, came home & 20 minutes later he went out in the front yard took his 9mm held it to his temple and pulled the trigger. After only 23 days on this medication he committed suicide out of the blue. He left behind his 23 year old widow and their 4 month old son! Please, please let someone know if you are having strange or unusual thoughts....We had absolutely no warning, I don't think he did either.

Oh my goodness I am so so sorry for your loss. I have read about the side effects in detail before I started them and read as soon as you get these thoughts to talk as it's one of the possible side effects. Again I am so sorry for your loss, sending you all my thoughts and love