Silly question about side effects

[KeeKee]

I have been on Citalopram for 3 weeks now and I have health anxiety so was terrified of becoming allergic or feeling faint etc, but I have had no (noticeable) side effects.
Oddly, this worries me a bit as I feel like maybe I have been given a placebo? I take 20mg once a day.
Its not that I actually want any side effects but literally everyone who I know who has taken them (well its only 2 people but a lot of people on here seem to have them) have at least 1.
Do you think I may have been given a placebo or are they mainly for people who ask for antibiotics when they have a cold?
I have started waking at around 4am for about an hour but other than waking up I feel no different.
I was given Fluoxetine 5 years ago and do not recall any side effects on that (except that I believe they caused my 16lb weight gain!)
Maybe I am just lucky?

[keithwms]

Don't worry, be happy!

I have started waking at around 4am for about an hour but other than waking up I feel no different.

Sounds like a definite side-effect to me. One of the annoying things this med does is cut into your REM sleep.

You may be one of the people who gets fewer side-effects, but be on the lookout! We all react in different ways. For every person like you, there is probably some poor soul who takes 10 and feel awful for a month. It is highly variable, and bear in mind that most people will report their side effects if they are bad enough to speak about. It's pretty rare that someone like yourself takes the time to write about no side effects!

I would be very surprised if you'd been slipped a placebo; to my knowledge, the only legal way that can happen is if you signed up for a study and thus agreed to such a thing. It would be potentially injurious for a doc to give you a placebo outside of that context.

[KeeKee]

Hi Keithwms,

Guess I am lucky then. Strange really considering I had quite a bad reaction to penicillin some years ago.
Thanks for letting me know about the placebos I feel a lot more reassured now and I know it must be awful to have multiple or debilitating side-effects. Even feeling dizzy is enough to affect your daily routine.
A friend of mine says she started getting crazy dreams only recently and has been taking them since January so they may still be to come! Although I dream a lot anyway so hopefully wont notice an increase. Thank you :-)

[Jon Dimond]

Doctors don't give out placebos, they'd be sued left right and centre for that sort of thing.

You're just lucky I guess. Don't knock it

[KeeKee]

Thanks guys I feel more comfortable now. Also, I woke up again last night for around an hour so guess I'm lucky just to have the one symptom :-)