Help! Is this a side effect??

[madamgg]

Hi
I've been on citalopram for 3.5 weeks now and they have not kicked in had various side effects but yesterday and today i feel totally spaced and not really here, like i'm on auto pilot?? Anyone else had this? Also my mind is v suggestable like if i read something i think it applies to me, feels really weird and scarey. Any re-assurance would be great...
Thanks
Jane xxxx

[joannap]

hi jane

was going to reply to your pm but then noticed your post.

name not joan but joanna - the p is the first initial of my last name which is probably confusing people!

i too feel spaced out - like i am in a world of my own - sometimes it almost feels as if i am not real and the world is not real either. i don;t think i had this before even when my anxiety was really bad so it must be the tablets. i have also never had real problems sleeping. i can get to sleep a bit easier now but am waking up at 2-3am and then not getting back to sleep for a few hours. i find thoughts like "what is reality?" terrifying - if everyone;s view of the world is different and we all have different perceptions - then how do we know what reality is!!! i feel quite lost within myself - not sure how i should feel/think about anything and everything!

i do feel my mood has lifted v slightly but as yet am unsure if its my imagination! i have gone from feeling panicked all the time to feeling anxious all the time which is an improvement - i think we sometimes need to look back over a period of weeks to realise there has been an improvement.

have you taken a'd's before? i have read through loads of citalopram posts this morning and apparently it can take up to 6 weeks before people notice a difference so i am keeping going.

[madamgg]

Hi Joanna,
I think these feeling must def be the tablets as i haven't had them before when i've been anxious either. It's such a horrible feeling, so disconnected. Years ago when i was 20 i had panic attacks and i was on Amytripiline (can't spell it!) i don't remember having any of these side effects and seemed to get better v quickley. Though last time i didn't have any of the 'what if' thoughts.
I'm glad your mood has lifted a bit, i'm trying to relax about these thoughts and try not to think i'm going mad but i just keep thinking what is going to happen next, what else will my mind do to me?
I have booked a session with lloyd from Be on Form i don't know if you've seen any of the posts about him. He sounds lovely on the phone and is coming to London next week to see me, it's going to cost £500 which i know is a lot but he guarentees his work, and i thought i could spend that anyway over the next 6 months in therapy and what the hell i'm barely socialising at the mo and have no interest in anything i normally spend my money on so i'm going to give it a go!
J x

[CliveL]

I am on 60mg of Citalopram and yes it does leave me feeling a bit spaced out / slowed down.

[madamgg]

Thanks Clive. How long have you been on it?
I'm really hoping this is a side effect that will pass??
J x

[CliveL]

I have been on them since December 2005, the side effects reduce with time but do not go away completely

[joannap]

hi jane

really hope the therapy session works for you. let me know how you get on. jo x

[nebula]

I was on Citalopram for a good year and I had a lot of bad symptoms, the one where u feel spaced out is really bad and it made me very tired. The whole world begins to fade away and I started to get very dreamy. I even used to hallucinate while on them and lets say something blew like a leaf I would jump and see different things. I also would feel like there was a lump in my head disabling me from crying but now I finally can.