citalopram

[Children_of_God]

Right,
my doctor put me on citalopram but I had a bad reaction to it, I don't know what it was, but I felt like my skin was on fire, i was proper burning, it just felt like someone was lighting a lighter on my skin.
anyways it really scared me so i stopped taking it.
and ever since them Iv had these times when my skin just randomly burns. I had it quite alot for a while, then less and less. and i haven't had it much for ages, but for some reason right now my back is really burning, it's like someones lighting a lighter up and down my back.
it's quite scary actually.
has anyone experienced anything like this or know what it could be.
I'd really appreciate some input 'cos it's scaring me.
thanks xxx.

[Children_of_God]

No, it's normally the tops of my arms, but mostly by back. and as far as I'm aware there's no rash or redness...it's just an intense burning feeling.

[fed up with it]

Hi i had this experience on another antidepressant, and i still get it now, i too never took another tablet after i was too scared too. i discribed it as someone giving me a chinese burn all over, it was terrible. Someone did say it is our nerve endings. good luck

[Children_of_God]

did it also feel like ur blood was burning at the time...as if it was lava?
But now it dunt do that it just like ur skin really burns??
thanks for this = )
xxx.

[fed up with it]

Yes it did, it also felt my temperature was sky high as well, but when i took it it was normal!!!

[Children_of_God]

Yes it did, it also felt my temperature was sky high as well, but when i took it it was normal!!!
thanks for this it is very helpful.
'cos I still get the feelings some times and it really freaks me out.
do you still get it ever?

[Jimbo]

I had a similar bad reaction to another AD ages ago. Rahses, and the burning sensation you described, I litterally felt like my skin was on fire, as if a thousand red hot pins were poking me. I continued to take it for about 4-5 days before I realised this wasn't normal and saw my doc who stopped them imediately.

The main symptoms of it slowly went away within a couple of weeks. But it took a good month or so before it went away totally. I think mainly I was just worrying it might have done some permanent damage to me, but my doc reassured me that it wouldn't have. I think my anxiety was causing me to continue to experience it, confusing the strange sensations I sometimes get from anxiety with the effects of the AD.

Citalopram will be out of your system within about 35 hours, so it's unlikely it's still physically causing any problems. Could it perhaps be that anxiety is causing this? Strange sensations on the skin are very common with anxiety. Maybe you are just associating the feelings with what happened with the Citalopram?

Jim

[Children_of_God]

I don't know...I suppose it could be.
But the thing is I don't think about it...I just get it out of no where...and I never got it before I took the citalopram.
and I only took it for 2 days and that was about 6 or 7 months ago.
I tried telling my doctor about it but I think because I'd just stopped taking the medication she was kinda annoyed and just said "well do what you want".

[Jimbo]

I'm no expert, but I think it's highly unlikely it's the Citalopram that's caused it. I think more likely, like me, you are just remembering the sensation and anxiety is triggering it off. These things can just come out of nowhere, there's loads of threads about strange body sensations around, perhaps have a search for those. Lots of pages of posts come up when you search for 'burning sensation' so I think it's most likely anx related.

More importantly, I think the attitude of your doctor sucks :lac:. That's not helping you saying stuff like that. People do have bad reactions to AD's and it's a bit of a trial and error type thing to find which one works for you. Meds are not always the solution, some people prefer not to take them and the side effects often make you feel awful and much worse to begin with.

Maybe you could ask to see another doctor that might be more understanding and have a chat to reassure you?

Jim

[Children_of_God]

I'd like to but I'm not sure how to go about getting a different doctor.
And yeah it kind of put me off, iv been scared of taking tablets for ages (I can't swallow them...I had to crush them up and put them in water. But I haven't wanted any other medication after that experience 'cos I'm just too scared. but people in my family ask me how I expect to get better without taking meds...are they right? well...thanks = )

[Jimbo]

Changing doctors is fairly easy, just phone up your surgery and ask if you can have an appointment but that you'd like to see a different doctor to normal. They probably won't even ask about it, just say that you wanted to try seeing someone else this time, if they do ask. It's a normal thing to do, I didn't get on with the first GP I saw, but eventually found one I got on well with. It's really important to have an understanding doctor you can trust so you can talk openly about exactly how you are feeling.

As for the meds question, it's a descision you have to make yourself, talk with your doctor about it and make sure you mention that you are not so sure you want to take meds they can talk through all the different options. There are plenty of other options, CBT, counselling, etc, but the waiting lists are usually long on the NHS. AD's are not really a 'cure', they just treat the symptoms.

I'm quite a 'pro meds' person, what I say is; if you had an infection you would take antibiotics, without them you might recover naturally but you could also get worse. I don't see it as much different from that. They do effect different people in very different ways and it's an individual thing. Some people are very against taking them, it's each to their own I guess. I know they have helped me and probably saved my life. They've really helped with the desperate feeling that I just can't take it all anymore and I do see at least some hope now.

I was scared too after my experience and the next AD I tried, they started me on a really low dose, just in case anything bad happened. Thankfully I've not had anything like that happen again, with lots of different types. Still stuggling to find one that deals with the anxiety properly but I'm doing therapy too which I think will help, especially in combination with the meds.

Woa, that turned out to be an essay, lol. :read:

I guess what I'm saying is find a decent doc and have a really good chat about it all.

Jim :hugs:

[Magpie]

Hi, I've just started taking Citalopram and I've had the burning skin as well, during the night which makes it hard to sleep. I'm not letting it put me off though, I reckon it will wear off as I get used to them and I'm prepared to put up with quite a lot in the short term if it'll help me get better! If you're still getting it, it seems pretty likely to me that it's your brain that's doing it rather than the Citalopram, as was already mentioned you've probably developed some kind of association that makes your anxiety trigger the sensation. That's probably the worst bit about these conditions I think, I've got a theory that we're more susceptible to developing associations like that than other people are. Whether your brain being wired that way makes it more likely that you get an anxiety disorder or the other way around, I'm not sure... Anyway, I'd give the Citalopram a fortnight if I was you, most people seem to say that's about how long it takes to adjust. Your doc doesn't seem too hot though, I'd follow Jimbo's advice on that one!

[honeybee]

hi. i put off taking anti depressants for 2 years cos i didnt want to go down that route but in the end i'd had enouh and got some citalopram. i had the same reaction, my eyes were also really shaky and had other stuff going on too. called doctor and apparently i'd had an allergic reaction.. never taken them since, dont still get symptoms