Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram?

Hi Maria,

No wonder u feel nausea ....... U just increased.....I was put straight onto 20mg ..... Give it a few more days and it will subside, a good walk in the fresh air makes a difference , well done u xxx u r so much stronger than u give ur self credit for, remember when we have side effects it means the medication is making a difference, cit is there to retrain ur system, u r gonna get thru this and be shinning brightly xxx

Susie,

Thank you let's hope we all will be shining through this, it's such a terrible illness and people that

Have never suffered with this illness don't understand what we go through, but it makes us stronger

when we over come it all.

Best wishes Maria x

Hi Diane,

Let me know how you get on with acupuncture. I've never had it before so I'm really interested to hear what it's like and whether you find it helpful. Have you been before? I know you've said you don't feel as good as earlier last week but you sound so much better than you were. I remember when you couldn't get out of bed for more than an hour or so because you were really suffering.

I've woken up feeling much more positive today but lo and behold I found myself planning a long list things to get done today! I had to stop myself and remind myself to rest!

Maria,

I checked the leaflet in the nytol packet, it says to *avoid* it if you're taking antihistamine rather than that you can't take it at all so it's worth asking the chemist or your GP if you can take it. Which sleeping tablets were you prescribed? If you're nervous about taking them maybe you could halve the tablets so it's not as potent. I was prescribed 7.5 mg zopiclone. After my sleep started to improve I halved them as I didn't need the full dose and found it made me groggy in the mornings once my sleep pattern started to work itself out. It might be worth asking the chemist for advice if you go to buy some nytol as they'll know much more about it all.

Kelly,

The numbness could be a symptom of depression (if that's why you're on the medication) or it could be the citalopram finding the right balance. When I first went on them i found that as well as stopping all the really bad feelings it initially stopped all the really good feelings. My younger nephew was born just after I started and I remember thinking to myself 'i know I'm really happy about this I don't *feel* the happiness' (as in the physical feelings that come with happiness) it's a strange way to be but once the tablets had found the right balance in my system I did find the ability to be happy and excited did return slowly but surely!

Xxx

Ok, I just read back through the thread a bit and it seems quite a few people have a blip after 3-4 weeks. I feel dreadful today, almost as bad as I've ever felt. But I'll stick with the tablets and see how it goes.

Hi Jules and everyone else,

Yes, I think I'm in that blip as well and wondering whether I am going to come out of it. I am nearly 4 weeks in with over two of those at 20mg. My GP wants me to stay on the 20mg for another 2 weeks before reviewing.

I can't honestly say I am feeling that much better either. Still very anxious and midly depressed. I am getting a decent night sleep but only with the help of a 3.5mg Zopiclone. I have read somewhere that SSRIs are only successfull for 70% of people. I am starting to wonder whether I am in the unlucky 30% :-(.

Regards,

David

Mrs VN

Thank you for your advice, I went to the chemist this afternoon and they said I could not take it, the doctor

Prescribed Zoplidem 10mg. I spoke to my auntie not long ago and she has said to me this could be due to

taking my medication in the night she was a Phychiatric sister even though she's retired now. So I am going

to try taking them in the mornings instead and hope that might work. Not having a good afternoon, glad to

hear your having a good day today you deserve it.

Maria x

Hi all can anyone tell me if they have changed their medication from night to day, I would be most grateful x

Hi, David,

I've been reading other forums today, and it seems that it's really common for people to go through a blip. One guy on another forum described his night and day at -3-4 weeks and he could have been talking about me! And now he's fine and very much improved. I think we just have to keep going and give it time to work. It seems it's relatively slow to take effect, but absolutely amazing when it does and worth the wait. Let's stick it out.

Maria,

I'm interested in people's experiences of changing from night to day too. At the moment I'm taking it about 8pm, but am wondering whether last thing at night before bed, or in the morning would be better...

Hi Jules,

As I said earlier on my auntie was a Phychiatric sister and she has told me this evening to take the meds in

The morning she has a friend that she spoke to when I was first put on them and she could not understand

why I was taking them at night as all her patients on her book were taken them in the morning. She explained that this was the reason I could not sleep especially now on a double dose I'm am on day 4 on 20 mg I hope this will be of some help, I just wanted to know if anyone on here had done the same but best of luck .

Maria x

Hiya guys,

I've always taken mines around 10pm, then I usually crash out around 11pm, generally I sleep well and awake between 6-8am, one thing that I have found is I am not able to nap during the day.....whereas before I could....because I don't sleep during the day I guess by the time night time comes I'm shattered....xxx

Hi Susie

I take mine at 9.35 pm I don't nap through the day either, but now I am on the increased dose I am only

having two hours a night sleep, my maximum is only six when I'm well and can survive e on not a lot of sleep

but right now i feel phisycaly and mentally drained not having any sleep, this was why I ask her avice she had done Phychiatry for nearly thirty years and still knows a lot of people still in the profession.

Maria x

Jules, I agree, It does seem to be common. As much as I don't like to hear of people feeling things have slipped it's reassuring to know that I'm not the only one it's happened too.

David, don't panic just yet! Increasing the dosage can be like starting from scratch In terms of how long it'll take to kick in so essentially you're only on week two. It could also be that you're not up to the right dosage for you yet. When I first started taking citalopram I didn't feel the effects properly until I went up to 40mg. I think it was so much easier to handle because I had no side effects (other than vivid dreams and maybe a bit of weight gain but I've never been sure if that was the citalopram or the fact that i quit smoking not long before then too) i think when the side effects are bad it makes everything seem so much worse and can make the time seem to drag so much more. Also, different SSRIs can be more effective for different people (as well as there being different medications other than SSRIs that could help.) if you do turn out to be in the 30% then it's not the end of the world, as much as it would be disappointing, there are lots of other options. If you're really struggling to cope with the anxiety perhaps you could ask the GP for something to help with that alongside the citalopram.

Maria,

I've done the opposite and switched from morning to bedtime. My GP told me that the majority of people take them in the morning as it disrupts their sleep but that others take it at bedtime as it makes them drowsy and hps them sleep. It's so strange how the same medication can have the polar opposite effects on different people, even stranger when the effect changes on the same person, like it has for me I guess! I always took it first thing because it make me feel wide awake after about 30-45 mins of it but when I increased this time it made me feel drowsy and nauseous so I took it at bed time to sleep through the sicky feeling and also to take advantage of the drowsiness! In theory, once it's built up in the system to it's optimum level it shouldn't make a difference because it builds up and keeps things on an even keel, but I used to notice if I'd missed a dose (I'd get a funny feeling like the backs of my eyes were being squeezed....it sounds strange but the only way I can think of to describe it!) and it definitely used to give me a little 'boost' whereas now it makes me sleepy.

My doctor suggested I test out both ways and see what works for me.

Xxx

Hi, I'm on day 2 of 10mg. Still feeling pretty good physically had had a big bowl of cereal for breakfast (didn't have an appetite yesterday). I feel a bit queasy here and there, but that could be the cereal and I haven't eaten lunch today. I am nervous about work tomorrow, but luckily I am planning to work from home. My anxiety was elevated today. Worrying that this isn't going to work for me even though it hasn't even be 2 whole days. I'm just going to keep plugging along and I know I will get there.

Christy

Hi Maria,

I am so glad you are finding the deep breathing helpful, I have been using it a lot today as I could not remember taking my cit this morning, so I took it again, and I am feeling a bit of anxiety so I reckon I have doubled to 40mg today as feeling a bit weird since, ha ha maybe I am imagining it. but it feels pretty real,

I have always taken Cit in the morning as my Doctor says its a stimulant and stops you sleeping properly, so I have never tried it at night as I had sleeping problems, but now I don't have any problems sleeping except when my tinnitus is really bugging me.

Kelly I get numbness all down my right leg the doc has reassured me its a trapped nerve ??so hopefully nothing to worry about.

Day 24 of my increase to 20mg (ha ha maybe 40mg today) hope I have not done any harm with the double dose, as it may bring on the dreaded Blip

Take care all and stay strong, we will get there !!!!!!

Anne xxx

Hi christy,

Sounds like things are going well so far. Try not to worry too much, it's still really early days. All those negative thoughts about the citalopram not working are a symptom of depression/anxiety. When your mood is low your thoughts are more likely to be negative as the default setting even if you have no evidence to back up those negative thoughts.

Also, as David said SSRIs are effective in 70% of people who use them. As well as that, 60% of people who use citalopram have very few or no side effects so hopefully you'll be one of those lucky ones (and if you do have any problems then you'll find lots of support on here) I've said it on here before but it can seem like everyone who takes citalopram has lots of problems and side effects but that's because generally the people who post online are the ones who have had problems. Those who don't have problems have no reason to but there are more of them than people who do have side effects. I realised earlier that I've been on citalopram for about 6 years now (I thought it was 3 or 4!) and up until a month or so ago had never googled side effects, how long it would take to kick in or posted on any forums.

Just to give you a general idea (but it's different for everyone and people over 60 tend to take longer) it's usual to start noticing changes within 2-3 weeks but it takes 6-7 weeks to build up to it's optimum level in the system.

Hope work goes well tomorrow. X

Anne, don't panic about the double dose. I used to forget whether I'd taken them or not occasionally and a few times would realise that I had done just after I swallowed the second dose! (and that was sometimes when I was taking 30 or 40mg) As long as you don't make a habit of it you should be fine! Sometimes the packs have the days of the week on which is helpful but other times they don't which is more of a pain.

Hope everyone's had chance to relax this weekend!

Xxx

Thanks for the reassurance Mrs VN was a bit worried, my packs have not got the days of the week on them, when I was on 10mg they did but I think my chemist has changed all their meds to a new company called Accord, as all my meds now coming with that name on them, they must be cheaper as no days on them as it is hard to remember especially at the weekend.

Anne x