Citalopram and short memory loss.

[Granny Primark]

Firstly let me say even tho im a granny/nanny im not ancient. lol (others might disagree tho)
Ive always prided myself in the fact that ive always been reasonably intelligent and had a good memory.
For the last 3 weeks ive been taking citalopram ive found they have really started to help with my anxiety.
However ..... I have found that my very short time memory isnt the same as it was before taking them.
This really scares me as my dad started with alzeimers at my age.
I cant decide now whether or not to keep taking them.
Is this alzeimers, anxiety or the tablets?

[sheena]

I get short term memory. I am forever going upstairs and either bringing something down or doing something upstairs. I then come downstairs and realise that I still did not do what I wanted.

I've got a new mobile, as my staff crunched the other one up. It wasn't in my pocket yesterday and I panicked rushing about looking around for the dog and my mobile. I then went in to the kitchen and realised that I put it on charge. phew.

I know what you mean, granny primark as I worry about dementia. My daughter and I joke that I've had a alzeimer's moment but underneath I concerns me very much and I do tend to ponder on losing my mind a lot.

I have already decided that if I did get alziemers I would take action myself before I got too bad. . It is a horrendous illness.

Sheena

[samc100]

I have had real issues with my memory since taking Citalopram. I had a brilliant memory. I have to have a notebook with me to write down stuff. I get upset about silly things like something my 3 yr old said that made me giggle then I can 't recall it to tell his daddy.

At work I was a nightmare.

I no longer take the tablets and I am a bit better but I do not reagret taking the tablets. I think it's just a case of accepting it is the tablets and finding a work-around to cope with it.

Though I lost my purse last week and it surfaced some time later under the sink????

[Sax]

Its your age

Seriously NooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it isn't its the tablets! I've been on citalopram for 3 and half years now at 40mg and just reduced to 20mg because I want my mind back! Its the tablets for sure and I needed them and that dose while I had them but time has come to take stock and try to cope without.

Granny I definately think you need to weigh up the pros and cons, so your memory isn't as good but if you are feeling a bit more settled and able to cope then this side effect is worth it, however if this is causing you a major problem then it isn't worth it, i really don't think its anything other than the meds though.

Love you loads

Jen xxx

[lesleya]

Hi Lynn
Ive just been given citalopram 10mg today to see if it will help my anxiety which at the minute is throught he roof, through mainly work issues.
But im in peri-menopause just now and ive found since starting that my short term memory is sometimes shocking..like sheena i can go from one room to the other to do something then when i get there i stand and think 'what the heck did i come in here for' lol. I just thought maybe it might be that causing you problems as i know your menopausal too. These are some of the symptom...the joy of being a woman

Sore joints/muscles - muscle weakness and fatigue
Hot/cold flashes - nightsweats
Memory loss/forgetfullness
Rapid heartbeat
Irratability/moodswings/tearfullness/depression
Insomnia
Anxiety/feelings of dread and doom
Difficulty concentrating/dissorientation
Bloating
Headaches
increase in allergies
Hair thinning
Electric shock sensations under the skin
Gum problems/burning tongue
Weightgain
etc..

[bab]

i used to have a great memory - and im so glad others find the citalopram affects it - as it really does!!!

[Mully]

Its the drugs ! you are not going senile honest.

I was talking to my Doc about it the other day and and apparently it is common with those on Citalopram/cipramil as well as in general for anyone who suffers with depression or anxiety issues. The working memory ( short term memory ) can get easily affected in times of stress and with some meds and such becomes ' an unworking memory lol.. mine has been awful of late.. I have been so dippy!.. putting tea bags in the fridge.. milk in the freezer, not remembering what dvd my friend wanted to watch after she had already told me 2 minutes before..pfft.. I just try and laugh about it now when I do something silly..

[Granny Primark]

Thanks for your replies.
They have given me reassurance over one of my worst fears in life. Alzeimers.
The tabs have really helped me. Even my friends and family say I seem to be more calmer.
Ok so if I have to write thinks down in order to remember things I think its a small price to pay for not being in that bottomless pit where I was a few weeks ago.
My hubby says its just me being my normal dippy self and that I always get like this with Christmas looming.

[cwoz82]

I have had terrible memory problems since beginning the Citalopram 7 weeks ago (feels like a lifetime!). It has reduced me to tears at times, things like putting the remote control down to answer the phone and then i can't find once the call has ended, came downstairs with a pile of washing the other day, put the washing down to let the dogs out of the back door - couldn't find the washing then - a pile of washing lost!!!
I feel like i am losing my mind on these tablets but it's so much better than the anxiety and panic all day everyday, that's much more debilitating! Luckily, my husband has been wonderful with me, i'm generally as you said "dippy" anyway so my husband has encouraged me to just laugh at myself and "revel" in the dippiness for a while, be a bit blonde! It's great when he's around to help but i can't say it's the same when he's not around...but then i think that i'm ot going to be on this medication forever and eventually the smog will clear.

[HeatherMc]

Hiya

This has really hit home with me, I get memory blanks, lack of concentration etc and disturbing dreams, I panic ove r dementia as I lost my beloved grandma a couple of years ago, she had developed dementia and its an awful thing to watch.

I worry that it might be heriditary, however over the last week or so I have noticed how forgetful other people appear, my dad calls us four girls by the wrong he names all the time, he calls my daughter by my name, he is fit and well and has done this for years - he said its cause we are all the same!

the other day in a supermarket a lady asked me to hold her place in the queue as she had forgetten to get a loaf of bread, she said that it was orginally what she had come out for she also joked that she hadn't been the same since the change as she was quite an elderly lady I enquired how old she was, she was 87

There appeared to be nothing wrong with her she was very smart and had make up on in fact she looked better than I did . I am 41. I also noticed on the bus going home that a lot of ladies were chatting and a few mentioned memory loss having minds like a sieve etc.

The moral is this seems pretty common either that or there is a huge dementia
epidemic in the part of Liverpool where I live which is very very unlikely!


Heather