Trouble with what time to take citalopram

[izziex]

I normally take my medication (Citolopram) right before bed. It used to help me sleep but now I think it wakes me up. How can I change when I take it quickly? For example can I miss tonights dose then take it tomorrow morning instead the continue to take it in the mornings?
Any one else had these side effects with Citolopram

[lior]

Yes. It's not the end of the world to miss a dose. You should avoid it, but if you need to change when you take it, I would do what you describe.

If I accidentally miss a dose, I experience side effects a few days later. Vivid dreams, sleep changes, concentration changes.

I find it makes me more sleepy rather than more wakeful. But other people do find it makes them more wakeful.

[izziex]

Yes. It's not the end of the world to miss a dose. You should avoid it, but if you need to change when you take it, I would do what you describe.

If I accidentally miss a dose, I experience side effects a few days later. Vivid dreams, sleep changes, concentration changes.

I find it makes me more sleepy rather than more wakeful. But other people do find it makes them more wakeful.

I find if I miss a dose I feel almost heavy. It used to make me sleepy but now every time I take it an hour later I'm awake again. I'm going to miss tonights dose and take it in the morning and then see how it goes.
Thanks

[panic_down_under]

I normally take my medication (Citolopram) right before bed. It used to help me sleep but now I think it wakes me up. How can I change when I take it quickly? For example can I miss tonights dose then take it tomorrow morning instead the continue to take it in the mornings?

Yes, delaying the night dose to the next morning would be the best way of switching, however, whether this will make any difference to the insomnia issue is impossible to say.

When taken daily for a week citalopram plasma levels stabilize to a steady-state of around 2.5 times the peak from a single dose and then don't vary much across 24 hours. Therefore, in theory the time of day it is taken shouldn't make any difference, but in practice sometimes is does so switching to mornings might help.

Any one else had these side effects with Citolopram

Insomnia is a common SSRI side-effect, especially at the beginning. It is usually treated with small doses of a sedating antidepressant. Imho, the best for this is immediate-release trazodone (Desyrel), but apparently British GPs can't prescribe it for this purpose, so you will probably get mirtazapine (Remeron) instead. It is usually very effective, but as it has a long half-life the sedation may continue into the next day.

[izziex]

Yes, delaying the night dose to the next morning would be the best way of switching, however, whether this will make any difference to the insomnia issue is impossible to say.

When taken daily for a week citalopram plasma levels stabilize to a steady-state of around 2.5 times the peak from a single dose and then don't vary much across 24 hours. Therefore, in theory the time of day it is taken shouldn't make any difference, but in practice sometimes is does so switching to mornings might help.



Insomnia is a common SSRI side-effect, especially at the beginning. It is usually treated with small doses of a sedating antidepressant. Imho, the best for this is immediate-release trazodone (Desyrel), but apparently British GPs can't prescribe it for this purpose, so you will probably get mirtazapine (Remeron) instead. It is usually very effective, but as it has a long half-life the sedation may continue into the next day.

I've heard of people taking it in the morning and feeling a lot better. I've been taking it for about a year maybe and always taken it at night and it used to help me sleep but now its the opposite. I can always change back to taking it at night if it isn't any better. I used to take an anti depression years ago to help me sleep but it made me feel awful during the day so I stopped taking it once I had finished school.