Anyone NOT had any side effects on Citalopram?

Hi Everyone

I wonder if anybody has experience or knowledge about the effectiveness of citalopram in pain relief for Fibromyalgia? I have read that it is not as effective as older SSRIs?

I may have to look at a mix of anti-d pills for pain/sleep and hope it will not mean coming off cit and on to another.

#shudder

Thanks

Chris

Hi Chris, was just checking this out online and took this paragraph from it, ..... Wide varieties of antidepressants seem to have a positive effect on sufferers of fibromyalgia. Other SSRI's seem to work but not as well as Citalopram. Since there is no known cure for the disorder, pain management and treatment for the possible accompanying depression have become a standard course of treatment. It is surmised that the lack of norepinephrine and serotonin not only causes depression; it may cause idiopathic (non-specific) pain. The use of these SSRI's can help symptoms of both conditions.

While Citalopram may diminish the pain, it will not stop it. If there is depression involved concurrent with the condition, the drug may help those symptoms possible helping your mood and therefore your ability to cope with the pain. Being depressed has a tendency to amplify issues that are more easily handled when in a less depressed frame of mind. Presently, there are no pain medications that are approved for the treatment of fibromyalgia. All of the medications prescribed for the condition are off-label uses.

Fibromyalgia is painful. It is as simple as that. It is very possible that, if you have the condition, that depression or a mood disorder will accompany it. It is unknown if the condition causes a physical reaction that leads to depression of if the pain and perceived hopelessness causes a situational depression. In any event, antidepressants help many people.

so that sounds good for you !! as already on the Cit !!

Hope u feel better really soon x

Anne

Good evening all,

Have ad an horrendous day thought I was going to die the anxiety was so bad this afternoon and being here

my own hasn't helped too much time to think have tried everything to calm myself down and nothing has

worked I don't think the side affects should be this bad on 20mg I cannot function at all this afternoon and

have spent most of it on top of my bed it has been so bad and still is I don't know how much longer I can

Keep this up, I've got the burning skin tightness in my chest palpitations and slight nausea and the shakes too surely this is not natural.

Maria x

Hi Maria,

I was so bad a few weeks back I could nearly get out of bed but am doing better now. It should pass but feels hellish when you're there. Do you have a smartphone because I was recommended to try relaxation apps. There are a couple by excel at life. The qi gong one is good and there is one specifically for anxiety which I haven't used because the stuff which applies to me is also on the qi gong one. I found at my lowest it really helped me to feel I was doing something productive no matter how small. And they're free (on Android anyway).

Hi Mrs VN (and all)

First acupuncture session done. She is lovely. Spent the first hour discussing history and symptoms and found myself getting all teary and emotional which she said is quite normal. It just seems such a relief to be doing something productive and proactive. Did some needles in my legs and put acupressure tabs at the top of my ears to try for a few days. Starting full treatment next week, so will keep you posted.

:-D

Oh dear Maria, it sounds like you're really suffering today. It will pass though, I promise you that. Things can start to feel a little dicey and that just makes the anxiety even worse but it isn't unusual to have this reaction. As Susie said a day or two ago, it's your body reacting to a foreign chemical which it's not used to but once it finds it's balance it will improve.

Perhaps if you do decide to take a sleeping tablet tonight it'll help you to get some rest and give your mind and body a chance to heal a little. You must be feeling so exhausted with your difficulties with eating alongside I the lack of sleep. Have you managed to eat anything today?

If the side effects do become unbearable you can go back to see your GP but don't worry that you're having an abnormal reaction as, although it does sound like you're suffering badly with the side effects, they sound similar to the side effects I and others have had.

Try not to push yourself too much, make sure you rest up to give your mind and body chance to heal and recover, the cleaning can wait! I did a load of laundry and washed up today and it left me shattered! Do you have a friend or family member who could come and sit with you for a bit during the day? I had a friend come for a cuppa just for an hour or so when my husband went back to work after Christmas and it really helped to break up the day and keep me occupied. Made me feel a lot less lonely. Also, just getting out of the house, even if it's just a circuit round the block can make a world of difference. When I was at my worst and it was the last thing I wanted to do I found my mood was much worse on the days I didn't make it out of the house.

Please hang in there Maria, this will pass. It feels horrendous right now but it will get better.

Carol,

Just to update you on my work situation, i went to the doctor and he's going to issue me a sickness certificate that recommends a phased return to work. It's to go back for 25% of my hours next week, 50% the following week, 75% the week after and then 100% on the fourth week. I also found out from my doctor that if you do go back on a phased return and it doesn't work out and you need to be signed off again, this does not become a new period of sickness, it all counts as one period, so will not have a negative effect on your sickness record. Just thought that might reassure you a little as this was something I'd been worried about. I'm actually quite looking forward to going back now as it seems a lot less daunting.

Chris, did the doctor you saw make any recommendations on the most useful medication for you? Is there any thing you can use for pain relief or pain management? My mum has nerve damage following an op that left her unable to work and she has found a tens machine really useful so i wondered if this is something that could help you?

Hope everyone else has had a good day today?

I had a bit of a wobbly morning. Again it was physical symptom of anxiety, racing heart, tingling skin and shortness of breath but it passed this afternoon which is good.

Take care everyone xxxx

That's great Diane! I'm so glad it went well! I was thinking of you earlier and wondering how you got on. You're so right, I think just feeling like you're taking action to help yourself can be so empowering! Imagine if someone told you you'd be feeling so positive and able to do so much this time three weeks ago!? I don't think you'd have believed it!

I keep thinking back to where I was this time three weeks ago and it seems like a life time ago, I feel like that was someone else who took over my body and brain for a while. My husband keeps telling me it's nice to have me back again!

Xxx

Hi Maria

Sorry you are suffering so much - for encouragement look at Grace1961's comments on12th Nov which I think is page 10 on this thread, and compare with her post on 9th Jan, page 37 I think. Keep it up - you'll get there.

Hi Anne - many thanks for that info - I'll relax and wait and see what happens. Just looking for things to discuss with GP this week.

Many thanks Mrs VN - hadn't heard of that contraption, have googled and looks interesting. Will speak to GP about it. Consultant recommended low dose of amitriptaline at night to help sleep cycle, which raises pain threshold. Hence my earlier post. I want to follow this up with GP plus other things like exercise and therapy, etc. Am currently on cit, naproxen and co-codamol.

many thanks for the support

Chris

Hey Chris,

You really have a very similar illness to myself, my Arachnoiditis which I got from a serious chest infection 8 years ago, its a virus in the nerves, so painful, and really bad just now - - and I am on Cit Naproxen and co-codamol, I am also on Gabapentin which is for the nerve pain, I attend pain clinic to manage my pain, I am starting exercise therapy medically supervised on 22.01.2014 I have used a tens machine many times, and they do help when the pain is lowish, but worth a try defo,

Take care and let us know how u get on Chris,

Anne

Diane, Thank you I downloaded it last night after your suggestion,but I have had another awful night

And so it didn't do anything not even the deep breathing, I have been told to go back to see my GP I will

Try to make an appointment for today because I cannot keep going on like this it has totally drained me.

Mrs VN, thank you too you always have the right words to say, I didn't take the sleeping tablet because I had

A lump in my throat and thought I would choke and also terrible sickness so as I said I'm going back to my

GP today to make sure everything is ok or weather the 20 mg are to much right now.

Chris , I did as you said and she seems in the same frame of mind as myself right now the only difference is she was given medication to go with the cit I was to but I'm afraid to take mine because they make you

Drowsy and I'm afraid I'm going to choke it is since suffering with the anxiety when I have managed to get

Some sleep a couple of night I woke up as if I was gasping for air and it has really frightened me so I think if I

Have the meds what if this happens and I don't wake up. But she is an inspiration.

Maria x hope you all have a good Tuesday x

Hi Maria,

I had the same lump in my throat that you speak of, I thought I had a massive lump and couldn't swallow thought I must have cancer, but it was all the anxiety, there was nothing even there, as soon as cit kicked in my throat felt normal, maybe u take the diazapam it will calm you and also I bet once taken your throat will feel ok, its really weird but I really believed I had a big lump there, this anxiety makes you think all sorts of things are happening to you when they are not really, I couldnt sleep with the light off for ages. Diazapam is not going to knock u out but it will calm you, I was terrified to take it but when I did it was fine, just calming.

So maybe think about it just to get you over the worse, and if it gets you some sleep and relaxation then that in itself will help you improve.

Take care, I am glad ur going to see the Doc, let us know how u get on.

Anne x

Good morning everyone,

Maria, my heart goes out to u, being on ur own in the daytime does raise my levels too, I used to call No more panic helpline 08001388889, during the day there is volunteers who can talk to u to help calm u down and reassure u during panic and anxiety, years ago I used them, and during the night they have a recorded message about breathing which is exactly what Anne has kindly taught us, I found it a huge help during the daytime when I just thought I couldn't cope, I used them a couple of weeks ago too xxxx

Mrs VN & Anne

You really inspire me, ur words are so encouringing and even tho u are both going thru the same as us all u remain positive and I thrive off ur messages. Thank u so so much xxx

I'm so so much better than I was a few weeks ago, I'm still having wobbles but plod thru them, the cit is the physical part of the treatment but this site deals with my emotional feelings, please everyone be strong, xxxxxx

Good morning Susie, thank you for that I did telephone the mentally ill crisis unit this morning because I feel

So ill, I did try the deep breathing but because the anxiety is so bad right now nothing is working. I said to

My husband this morning every time I take that tablet it's like putting poison in my body, I never felt his way on the 10mg. I looked at my diary this morning which I have done since taking this medication and even though

I was still not well I had managed to do my Christmas food shop. Every day is a challenge right now.

Maria x

Maria,

Keep it in ur mind that the tablet is there to retrain ur chemical imbalance.......it's absolutely nothing that YOU have done to make it this way, it just happens.....if it takes just a little tablet to retrain ur system then don't see it as poison, see it has a blessing that we have access to these and don't have to suffer, in the short term it is the toughest of tough, but u will come thru it, ........ My anxiety was out of control, I thought why me? I've been on cit a few weeks now 20mg, side effects have more or less passed, my anxiety has dramatically reduced, my partner done a medically study on this drug, even conducted a blind study test, he even took the tablet himself to trial even tho he didn't need it, but he wanted to experience the side effects himself as part of the study.......he admitted the side effects where scary to extreme. The results of the study proved cit to be extremely effective, ........ I have no reason as such to be anxious, but it happened and the important thing is we get help and that is the biggest step forward, be proud of yourself, I wish I could take some of it away for you.......one day, and soon, u will be on here encouraging others who just started their journey on cit, they will need u so so much xxxxxx

Hi Susie, that number's a great resource. I've heard of no more panic but didn't know they had a crisis line. That's fantastic. Thank you for your kind words. This forum was so helpful to me when I was feeling at my worst, Anne and everyone else were so supportive. I just want to be able to help other people feel less lonely and scared and to show that there is a way out of this and that it's not permanent because it can really feel that way. It gave me so much hope to hear from others who had been where I was and were coming out of the other side.

Maria, it sounds like you're in a real catch 22 situation, you're struggling to take the medication because of lots of anxieties and worries and if you did take the medication it could really help to decrease all those anxieties and worries. My heart really goes out to you. If it reassures you about the choking worry, I have a type of sleep apnoea called upper airways resistance syndrome. It means my windpipe narrows to the width of a drinking straw and it means I stop breathing and choke through out the night. When I had a sleep study to diagnose it I stopped breathing 12 times per hour! And apparently this is relatively low! The clever thing about the human brain is that I don't even wake up when this happens but the brain registers that it's oxygen levels have decreased so it wakes itself up a little and I start breathing again. I can wake up in the morning completely oblivious to this whereas my poor hubby is exhausted because apparently it makes an awful sound when I do it! He used to panic about it but now he's got used to it. I have to sleep with an awful contraption called a CPAP which opens up my airways while I sleep. Sometimes, if I have a cold or where I haven't been sleeping well I haven't been wearing it and have been taking sleeping tablets on some of the nights! I guess what I'm trying to say is try not to worry about choking in the night, if I haven't yet it seems really unlikely that you will! As Anne said that lump in the throat is another symptom of anxiety. Seeing your doctor today should really help to reassure you. I was thinking perhaps you could ask for either a milder dose of sleeping tablet or a sedative like Anne suggested, that will relax and calm you but without putting you to sleep completely. Even just getting some rest will help you, even if it means you don't completely go to sleep. You could also ask the GP if you could be prescribed nytol. The chemist has to err far more on the side of caution and at one point they sent me to the GP to get a prescription for nytol because they were wary of giving it to me on citalopram. Once the GP had played it they were happy for me to buy it.

Just a note to everyone...

Out of interest I went back and read my first post just now and it made me feel really quite emotional and tearful. So sad about how lonely and hopeless I felt as well as massive relief about how far I've come. It's so hard to put into words the despair, frustration and self criticism that comes with the illness. If anyone's read any Harry potter or seen the films, I was like Dobby! (Without the hitting myself on the head with my lamp!) ....so angry with myself...what ever I did or said I would find fault with it and really beat myself up...'why did I say that? I sound like an idiot...people will think I'm so stupid' I kept apologising to my family and friends and they couldn't figure out why. there's a great blog called hyperbole and a half and there're are two posts in there (depression part 1 and part 2 if anyone wants to read them) that really capture those feelings. Just wanted to try and put into words where I was just to show that the massive change that I've been through over the past few weeks. Also, I find it so strange when people think medication for depression or anxiety changes you or stops you being 'you' in some way, it's the total opposite, it's made me 'me' again! That hopeless helpless person wasn't me, this cheerful positive person is the real me and without the medication I would have recovered but it would've been slower and so much more painful!

Stay strong guys!!

Xxxx

*GP okayed it, not played it!*