Fear's a dangerous thing,
It will turn your heart black, you can trust.
It'll take your God-filled soul
And fill it with devils and dust.
- Bruce Springsteen
i have been on chlomipramine for many years and it has helped keep me well enough to get back to full time work
there are noticable effects but i find them manageable
best wishes
ade
Hello, I was prescribed clomipromine for the first time on Wednesday. I've never had any kind of antidepressant before so it's all new to me. I'm only taking 10mg before bed. It does help me sleep but I woke up yesterday and today feeling so dizzy and sick. I feel completely spaced out, have blurred vision and have headaches. My hands are shaking a bit too.
I've not been able to go to work for the past 2 days because I'm so dizzy when I stand up. My heart also seems to be beating rapidly from minimal effort.
Is this normal!?
Hercy
Yes this is all normal. You body needs some time to adjust to the meds and these are side effects which will go in time. Stay with it if you can I know it's ver hard but it will be worth it.
JB
I tried clomipramine as a last resort after failing with so many SSRIs that the doctors had come to believe I was a time-waster. I stuck to my guns and finally some enlightened psychiatrist said I should try something from an entirely different group. Clomipramine had horrible side effects of tachycardia and tremor just as some people describe. These lessened, but never completely disappeared. BUT: after all those years of trying and failing with SSRIs, it was extraordinary to find the symptoms of social anxiety, depression and intrusive thoughts melting away. I was able to do things which I had never done without fear in my entire life before. Over about three weeks (you need to stick with it that long to notice the effects) I went from being effectively housebound to going out and socialising. It has taken me some years to put my life back together, get a job, live independently and so on, and now I am managing this on Lofepramine, which has fewer side effects (though it's not quite so effective on the symptoms as clomipramine). But I do want to say to everyone who is feeling discouraged that you need to give clomipramine some weeks to take effect properly--a few days won't cut it. Just knowing that there is something which can work is encouraging and gives you a platform for exploring alternatives. The thing I found really striking was the noticeable difference in my response between this and the SSRIs--I'd tried about seven or eight and the most distressing symptoms simply weren't affected, or hardly at all. So stick with it--it's not an instant cure.
Good luck!
A great success story !
i tried Clompiramine after many ssris simply didnt help with my social anxiety.
like hercy i had to give up after 3 days because of the side effects.
i have to work so the effects were hard to hide.
you say you are on Lofepramine now,why the change if Clompiramine was doing the job?
A coward dies a thousand times,a hero only once...
I changed from Clomipramine because although it was the most effective at controlling the anxiety symptoms (I was able to do things I'd never done in all my life), I got: tachycardia which felt awful; tremor which led me to give myself a black eye on the edge of a doorframe and made it impossible to use a computer.
Lofepramine is, I would say, about 70% as effective as Clomipramine with regard to the social anxiety and depression symptoms I have had for many years. But it allows me to lead a 'normal' life, job, family, friends. Things I had not believed were possible for me. Together these drugs have totally changed my view of myself and my own capacities and I can only say that that is worth any amount of side-effects, and if I hadn't found the Lofepramine a good compromise I would have stuck with Clomipramine. But it takes several weeks before you really notice the good effects--at first, it's all bad.
I am back on clomipramine after trying citalopram and lofepramine. I am on a higher dose of clomipramine than I've been on before (150mg) and there have been some improvements in my social phobia - maybe a 30% improvement. I'm going up to 200mg soon - God that's a high dose! But clomipramine does seem to get to the parts other drugs don't reach.
Worst side effects for me are dry mouth and intermittent drowsiness. Weight gain isn't as bad as I expected on such a high dose.
Fear's a dangerous thing,
It will turn your heart black, you can trust.
It'll take your God-filled soul
And fill it with devils and dust.
- Bruce Springsteen
I have been taking Clomipramine 25 mg along with .5 mg of clonazepam (Klonopin) for about a week after I suffered my very first panic attack. I am feeling very shaky/jittery, especially in my hands and legs. It's not so bad that I can't type or have trouble walking, but I am still concerend because it is very noticible to me, especially when I get up in the morning. Has anyone else dealt with this? Will the shakiness go away after a couple of weeks or should I call my doctor?
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