Citalopram has broken me, can someone give me hope

Posted , 4 users are following.

ive been on citalopram for around a year and a half before i started taking it my doctor pescribed it to me for having a lot of anxiety on my life, i learned very quick that i did not feel anything anymore! i literally had no emotion to anything. at the time the doctor told me i had depression (which i thought was weird at the time because id always been happy and never had symptoms of depression only anxiety). anyways i still felt nothing after months, i didint get excited anymore about anything, didint want to leave the house and turned to gambling just to feel some sort of buzz! anyways after looking online i saw an article stating citalopram can stop the dopamine receptors in the brain, so ive slowely tapered off and ive not had a tablet for around a week and a half, but sadly as hoped my brain and emotions still aernt working citalopram has giving me anhedonia! will my dopamine receptors go back to normal? my life is a total mess, my girlfreind has stuck by me and i feel like im giving her a bad life being with me and i feel so sorry and upset, i just want my life back or even just some motivating words i feel there is no way out and im terrifed, im scared that ill be like this forever and i wont be able to cope, has anyone got any suggestions on how to recover from this and get my life back i would do anything! literally anything to be the person i once was, im only 25 and i cant beleive im feeling like this. i just really hope everything will go back to normal after time or any type pf medication/drug i can use to get me receptors fixed

0 likes, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • Posted

    apologies about the spelling also, my head is a mess and its been really upsetting writing this

  • Posted

    anyone?

    • Posted

      no ine hears of this?

  • Posted

    Hi, I did type a really long reply but it got deleted. This is a shortened version, look up 5ht2c and 5ht2a receptors and what happens when there is excess serotonin which SSRIs do but without that antagonism on those receptors.

    I'd say that it might take 12 weeks for your neurons to normalise and you may start to feel better at 6 to 8 weeks. If not, ask your gp about TCA antidepressants that will help with anxiety but won't downregulate dopamine and mirtazapine will do the same. Both block action at 5ht2a and 2a receptor activity and so don't block dopamine. Steer clear of any SSRI s in the future as you now know that they don't suit you. Good luck and keep the hope.

  • Posted

    i think getting into see a psychiatrist who specializes in mental health and medication would be the most beneficial vs seeing a GP. GOOD LUCK! I HOPE YOU FEEL BETTER!

  • Posted

    I know this is an older post but figured I can share my experience and maybe help out somehow.

    I had/have a similar issue where I have anxiety/depression but not the unhappy kind. Mine was mostly anger issues or "bad thoughts" when I was in my early 20's. I went through a lot of different meds to see what helped, some of them made me feel 100x worse but ended up with Sertraline for 10 years and it worked great. Almost no side effects and felt better, however I did notice that "feel nothing" feeling as well. Bad times weren't as bad, but good times we no longer as good as they were. That's kind of what these meds do, is bring things to a more neutral place if that makes sense. I also wanted to go back to "normal" and stopped taking them.

    I've since been off those meds for about 10 years now and I have ended up feeling just the way I did before but it did take a long while to return to "normal". For what it's worth I'm probably going to go back on those meds since it's the lesser of the 2 evils for me.

    The human body is a complex machine and I can't say it'll be the same for everyone but this is what my 20+ years experience with this has been. Good luck and remember to stay strong, times like these suck but you will find a way through it.

  • Posted

    My grandma is 97. She was a prisoner in her own home and we were never close bc she was evil to me growing up. I got wind she had 15 falls in 9 months. I IMMEDIATELY flew out to CA to see for myself what was transpiring. I realized she was a prisoner in her own home and for so someone (me) who suffers from anxiety and depression following the unexpected passing of my 4 month old son, panic attacks, anxiety and depression was my normal. This time I DIDNT have time to meet my quota of 5 panic attacks a month. I was not properly taking my meds and would forget to. I was afraid to sleep in fear my grandma would fall. Sometimes letting go of your fear and helping someone elses fear can cure yours. you have no choice but to be the strong one. and trust me, I MAKE FUN of those people that are like, just calm down, try melatonin... it doesnt work. BUT what worked for me is having to realize i HAD to be the strong person when i was always the weak one. TRY IT! it may work. it may not! i hope you find peace ASAP!

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