Citalopram Newbie - A Diary

[CosmicOrange]

Thought I'd keep a record on here like others have done as I'm starting Citalopram 20mg tablets a day for severe depression. Had the packet for a few days now but couldn't bring myself to start them until last night.

Decided that I'd do them at night because that way, I'd sleep through the effects, so at midnight I took the first one and promptly went to sleep. 3 hours later, I woke up with a twisting sensation in my head - a kind of feeling of pressure building up on either side.

Also felt nauseous and very light-headed. Drank lots of water and just lay there feeling strange. Must have had another couple of hours of restless sleep then got up.

Very spaced out today although the nausea passed. Not hungry but eating healthily in small amounts. Tired and with no energy whatsoever. Still got the strange headachy feeling, though it's eased slightly during the course of the day. Very strange. Hoping I'd be one of the lucky ones when it came to side-effects. Oh well. I WILL NOT give up though and I'll keep updating every day.

[martbarr]

Hiya CO

I tried doing the pills late, but in the end had to take mine as early as I could in the day in order to get some sleep.

For the first few days I found the side effects peaked around 4-5 hours after taking the pills, but lately it's all sort of levelled out into mush, which is probably a good thing!

Well done for the diary - I'll be following your progress with interest.

Best wishes
Martin

[moks]

Hi Cosmic,

I'm on Day 4 of my pill, although taken in the morning, and my side effects are exactly the same as you. A pressure, not pain, just pressure, and for sure kind of swirly. The dry mouth is bad for me, but only really kicks in at night, MANY hours after I've taken the pill. My side effects kick in like Martbarr's, 4 to 5 hours after taking the pill.

I will say this, that all my effects so far have been completly manageable! I haven't felt worried about them, or our of control. I know they are there, but having them is also making me know that the pill is doing something. I'm also on 20mg a day. Reading some of the posts of other people who started off at 20, I feel very lucky that my side-effects have been so negligible so far!

Come here often, and keep posting your diary, it's really helping me stay focused, and it's a nice way to get support from people who have gone through it!

[megan143]

Hi Cosmic

I am now on week 5 of 20mg citroplam, my main side effects to begin with were, nausea, off food and not being able to sleep, my anxiety also heightened a little bit. The side effects I have now is still a little bit of problems sleeping some nights and clenching of my jaw but thats it, the tablets have really helped me, I feel much better and I like you debated about taking them but best decision I made.

I look forward to reading your diary.

Megan xx

[CosmicOrange]

Day 2

Thanks guys for your replies by the way.

Decided to take the pill at 10pm, a couple of hours earlier last night and got into bed. Still awake at 1am and I could feel it taking effect. No nausea this time but that jaw clenching, which I forgot to mention yesterday and the feeling of pressure in my head again. Very fidgety and found I had the slight shakes. Could have done with a whole body massage. Got THIS close to dropping a Valium because I was so desperate to sleep. Needed to go shopping today and so some sort of sleep was essential.

Held out though, and it must have been around 2:30 when I finally slept. Woke up suddenly at 5:30 almost in shock that I'd been asleep. 3 hours sleep.

I'm very fidgety but utterly shattered. I'm still a zombie and still have that pressure feeling in my head but I'm either getting used to it or it wasn't actually QUITE as bad this time. One of the things I haven't found that others on here say they've had, is a dry mouth. Still not much of an appetite, which is good, I suppose, because, again, I've heard others on here saying they've put on weight and I really don't want to, so I might be kidding myself I'm not hungry or it might be real.

All in all, I feel exhausted but it's an improvement over the first day. The irony is that my head has settled down the most AND I feel at my best, just when it's time to pop another!

I'm gonna take pill no.3 another couple of hours earlier tonight.

Jon

[moks]

Keep it up Jon. I have found that I'm on Day 5 and the effects aren't nearly as bad as Days 1-3. Could just be me though! Dry mouth is the worst one. I take my pill in the a.m., about 7 hours later my mouth feels like Im sucking on cotton. LOL!

[CosmicOrange]

Took it at 8pm last night. Felt the usual fuzzy head stuff though it took longer to feel it this time. Very fidgety but this time too tired to be that restless. Went to bed at midnight and slept 7 whole hours.

Woke up feeling really tired but today I couldn't motivate myself to do anything. It's like, as the spaced out feelings lessen slightly each day, they are replaced by the more usual feelings I have of hoplessness and helplessness. Dragged myself out of bed eventually but now the anxiety's back. Nearly lunchtime and I'm back to feeling more spaced out now....

2PM and I guess I'm not gonna be one that suffers from dry mouth but the anxiety is here for no reason. There are things I need to do. I'm out of work and need to look for jobs but I can't do that. Should go for a walk but can't even motivate myself for that. Feeling really wretched today.

4PM Managed to get out and about at last. Felt edgy and strange and didn't want to see anyone, talk to anyone or even type this out. I was too hasty saying each day the spaced out feeling was diminishing.

Took the 4th one at 6pm. Can't wait for that!