Camelia
13-08-09, 15:32
Hi I've just joined this forum because I remember how terrified I was when I was prescribed Citalopram and had to face taking a dreaded 'antidepressant.I had a nervous breakdown at the start of 2004 and was suffering from what my consultant called 'a severe depressive illness'. A number of major events had contributed to this which had begun at around the end of 2000, with various painful events occuring until my final collapse - which led to me taking an overdose and ending up in hospital having my stomach pumped out.But finally I began to get some real help - which started with an assessment from a wonderful psychiatrist, who liaised with my GP and helped me get both counselling and prescribed me Citalopram.It seems I'd always suffered with depression since childhood, but the last 5 years of my life had brought things to the point of mental implosion.I was prescribed 20mg at first, but decided to start by taking 10mg to allow my body to get used to the drug. And yes there were some side effects - dry mouth, feelings of nausia, constipation and then diahorrea, wind, night sweats, very vivid 'Salvador Dali-esque' dreams, occaisional twinges on the top of my head, and the odd feeling of being a bit 'spaced out'.But this only lasted for the first few weeks, with milder versions of the symptoms when I upped the dose to 20mg, and again a few months later when - in consultation with my specialist - upped the dose to 40mg (I never got to the 60mg stage).After a few months my body got used to the drug and I started to feel a bit better. What you have to remember when recovering from severe depression is that you will have good days and bad days and other days when you start okay and then get a panic attack or start to feel down.As my consultant said to me "antidepressants are not magic bullets - all they can do is knock of the sharp edges of the depression", helping you slowly learn to cope with what is upsetting you, and finally helping you put things into perspective.And that is exactly what happened with me - slowly life got easier, I went from having multiple panic attacks every day and not being able to cope with the act of existing, to enjoying life, seeing the possiblility of a future, and finally, being completely well and happy and back to myself - but this time more well than I'd ever been.I took Citalopram from July 2004 to April 2007. I went from feeling like I couldn't function as a normal person - being off work for 19 months - to going back to full time work and being successful and happy.So my advice is - all drugs work differently for different people, and some people won't suit it - but for me, Citalopram helped me get my life back, so please give it a try.I would also say - anybody with severe depression should also have talking treatment.Good luck all - Camelia x