Has Citalopram caused anyone else depression?

[Suziewuzie]

Terry - you said you didn't have the best experience with Zopiclone, was it that you felt you took it for too long or anything in particular? My GP has just prescribed me a few days worth and i so hope it works!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Hi Suzie,

The crisis team advised my GP to prescribe it and when they checked on me weeks later they told me I should have been taking it every other night but my GP never advised this. After about a month on it nightly I ended up with some mild dependency. I say mild because others on here have had to work hard to come off it and I managed it over about a week & a half. Initially I wouldn't sleep at all the night without it but this started to change by a couple of hours at a time until I was between 5-6 hours which was better than nothing. I used their "one day on, one day off" advice as a way to withdraw from it although no one gave me any advice about this or even worked out I was dependant. I worked this out later on.

I found it was really helpful the first week. The first night was excellent and I woke feeling a lot better the next day. It was after that first week when I started to get less sleep on it and after another week I was feeling very groggy for hours upon waking. It would take me over an hour to get out of bed with even rolling over being a struggle. I couldn't eat more than a few biscuits for hours.

However, some of that could also have been the Citalopram. My sleep took about 2-3 months to normalise and again this could have also been the Citalopram.

One thing I also had a problem with was dreading not sleeping and how bad a day that would mean afterwards. This made me feel that I needed the Zopiclone. Back then I knew nothing about it all this and was given little advice.

Taking it for a few days to get some respite is a good idea. It will give you back your strength to keep going, something which I felt the day after the first dose. Just try to avoid thinking of it as crutch and know that even if the insomnia returns, you can handle it because you have kept going now and it will go anyway as you get over the side effects. If it doesn't go, which seems to happen to some people, it may be worth a switch.

[Suziewuzie]

Thank you so much. I spoke to my GP yesterday and she said the CPNs advise taking citalopram at tea time if it makes people drowsy, so I took it about 7pm and by 9pm could barely keep my eyes open. So I hopped in bed thinking I wouldn't need the zopiclone but at 11pm I still couldnt sleep so I took 3.75 and slept all the way through til 5:30am! Amazing, I feel a lot better this morning for having a solid 6 hours. Not sure wether to take it tonight or do alternative days or what.

[MyNameIsTerry]

That's good! I remember how I felt so much better that first morning after it. I was on 7.5mg, I've noticed people are often given less though on here like you so perhaps that was an older dose like how Diazepam used to be 5mg but now you tend to get 2mg?

Perhaps see how you feel? It may just be a matter if forcing your body into sleeping for it to then recover on it's own?

Citalopram reaches it's peak plasma levels (80%) at 4 hours. It doesn't interact much with norepinephrine and dopamine however serotonin is involved in regulating those too but it shouldn't be activating. With your serotonin levels currently being higher but the effects to the receptors not yet made, the artificially higher levels of it will bringing the undesirable effects. Some of the receptors are excitory ones after all.

If you are finding you are too stimulated after 4 hours, switching to taking it earlier in the day may help?

[Jem21]

Hi, I increased to 30mg 4 weeks ago, went through the heightened anxiety, yawning, tired, and sick phases and I'm now at the can't be bothered stage. Wouldn't exactly say I'm depressed but nothing excites me and I can't be bothered to do anything, although I have no anxiety I'm not worried I can't be bothered. Went back to my docs this morning to see if I needed to go to 40mg and he said that this is normal and to wait another month for the full effect and go from there. I have taken these before and gone through this phase so I'm just going to go through it for another 4 weeks and try to keep busy.

[Suziewuzie]

Thanks for commenting Jem that's really good to know. I feel the same - nothing excites me any more. I'm still only on 10mg & my GP hasn't mentioned increasing it so I suppose I'll just stay as I am. I keep reminding myself it's only been 3 weeks and at least I haven't had a panic attack in that time so something good must be coming from it.