Citalopram and short memory loss.

[yvonne_uk_98]

started to read this thread - but forgot what it was called .........

Hi Martin,

yes this thread has a wonderful name, your too funny. lol

Yvonne

[frank_begbie]

Damn, forgot what I was going to say now

A few weeks ago I thought I was getting Alzheimer's as my very short memory was virtually nil.

Just a few seconds after I had done something I couldn't remember if I had done it.

Since my mother is in the final stages of the disease I was very worried that I was in the first stages of it.

After doing some reading about Citalopram and its side effects I am now more at ease with the situation.

So what if I have a short term memory loss, its a lot better than feeling nervous all day and having panic attacks.

[charlie1983]

Hello,

I am new so am sorry if I am gatecrashing this thread. I hope you can help me.

I have been on Citalopram on and off for years but lately it has either stopped working or I am having more side effects than usual. I would just like to know if anyone else has had these similar side effects.

I am having very very vivid nightmares, everything I have took the tablets for seems to come out in the night and so therefore when i wake up it is as if I am right back where I started.

I have also recently gone hyper alert and perceptive to everything around me. Thinking about everything I'm doing, what other people are doing and predicting everything so nothing comes as a surprise.

My anxiety levels have raised right up and the doc has suggested I go on Mirtazapine... however I hear that is more for sleeping... I don't have trouble sleeping... it is when I'm asleep it's like another life so I am exhausted when I wake up.

Any advice anyone could give me I would really appreciate, I feel like I am going mad.

Thanks x

[athena]

Hi - I'm in my early 30's and have been on citalopram for over a year. Since then I've bad memory problems an the inabilty to 'think' at times. So it is definatley not an age thing. Its been very embarassing at times eg at work, sometimes i feel spaced or can't think fast. Even friends have started talking to me in condescending tone of voice because i'm not quite with it most of the time. I'm coming off it now. Was taking one every 4 days. I've just took one after 6 and it's made me feel ill (nauseous, dizzy,shaky). I think they helped for a while but now i'm well again they are doing me harm. The worst experience I had with the memory loss was when i had a pint. I never drink now, but once after a pint i was on the train and could'nt understand where i was. My friend explained that we had just changed line and i had absolutlely no recollection of it whatsoever! So I would say take them if you need them but there are problems. Best of luck.

[suzy-sue]

You shouldnt take these every 4 days or 6 .It has a half life of 33 hours ..What you have been doing is withdrawing and then putting more in your system .No wonder you feel so bad .Its called the yoyo effect .Who told you to do this BTW ? sue

[trooper]

I have a bit of a theory on this. I hardly sleep on these pills, not at night anyway, the only time I feel sleepy is in the afternoon, when I am at work. So I sleep at weekends but most of the rest of the time I am dog tired.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases...0523113828.htm

Its fairly well documented that short term memory loss. I find myself not remembering words half way through a sentence. And I'm just not quite as logical or quick. Which in my business where I negotiate with sharks everyday isn't great.

[Want2be]

Hi everyone in this forum...

Fellow Citalopram peeps x. I'm 4 months off 2 years on...

I would like to share on this topic 4 sure. I have stumbled onto this site following a search with these 2 factors 1. memory loss and 2. citalopram...
I am saddened and kind of relieved there is a link because like a few other posts i thought i's experiencing the early onset of Althz.
I studied last year and for some reason I could not retain info and missed basic things that were fundamental to my study success... I never thought...
But now i have just started a new job and i love learning and doing something new and while i am doing just great it is apparent from my employers responses that i am not retaining basic information. He is a patient and intelligent man and would not show his frustration without cause.
Last year when i studied i was confused when my associate (teaching) said i have already gone over that with you! and i said adamantly no you haven't then when i was going through my notes latter on there it all was what she said she had already covered! Oh BOY...
Pre citalopram I had the usual... where did i leave my keys, what did i do with my bank card and dam I have to go back to grab something when i'd left the house... But those days at least if you jogged me I would remember but no now i genuinely believe I haven’t heard the info before. Spelling sometime seriously i can't remember how to spell a word... Thank god for spell check!
Even after finding this I am still scared! Does anyone know does your memory come right post citaopram? For now I take lots of notes! I cried waiting for the train today recalling the movie the Notebook... Having said all this I do believe Citalopram literally saved my life. But I do hope my normal memory function comes back.
I laughed at the sign up for this site when it said don’t sign up again for this site if you have forgotten your sign in name lol… Guess what I did? Well of course I wrote down my login and password.
Thanks for the posts they helped me too

[willigetwiser]

Just an add on to this thread. I too have experienced memory loss and am now on my forth month. Initially 10mg, then 20mg and then 30 mg at my suggestion - given the expected response as indicated by people on this site. All I can say is I wish I had had citalopram for at least the last 10 years. The improvement overall, more than compensates for memory problems. However, for the whole of January I was going to the gym and generally getting myself fit (the gym had been my only coping stratagey for years). The exercise not only helped physically but definitely made me overall sharper and more confident. Unfortunately I have not been able to go for the last two weeks and I can see/feel I have lost some of the sharpness. For me citalopram has been great but I need to do other things as well to give me that extra lift "to be more normal". Not just work!!! (Before taking citalopram getting out of bed was a success). As ever, people on this site have been a fantastic help and support because without that help I would not have persisted with the medication. Try something different to test yourself and also do not be too hard on yourself because you forget the odd thing. As I have been told, care for yourself as you would care for someone else.
My favorite joke, I can't say why - a horse walks into a bar and the barman says "why the long face?"