Originally Posted by
SingingNik
Having been prescribed citalopram (10mg) by my doctor last week (along with some support from the community psychiatric nurse), I googled the drug and found No More Panic. Reading the accounts of side effects, I managed to auto-suggest the side effects without even starting the drug and scared myself senseless. After leaping in 4 days ago, I felt it important to help bring more balance to the citalopram debate and help people who were terrified, just like I was.
My doctor puts around 2 new people a week on the drug and says that only one of her patients has ever given up due to side effects and time off work is not normally necessary to start the treatment. She admitted that 80% of people experience one or more side effects, but very few are severe. So I took my first pill and waited for the dizzyness and nausea to happen. But nothing! The only noticeable negative has been slight tummy cramp on waking a couple of times.
She said any side effects would take 7-10 days to pass and then it may be another week or so after that to feel the benefit. While I don't feel all that different, I'd say that I have a mildly increased ability to focus on work/reading and my thoughts are a bit less chaotic. And I'm not ready for bed at 9pm like I used to be.
But putting all this into context, I don't think my depression diagnosis is as severe as some others on this forum. I think if I suffered badly with panic attacks, agoraphobia or was suicidal, I'd probably exacerbate the side effects with my own condition. Our own imaginations are our worst enemy.
I'll let you know if things take a turn for the worse or better, but my overwhelming feeling towards citalopram is: what was all the fuss about?