Nearly 9 months on cit.

Dear Luke,

I am so sorry to hear that you are not feeling very well these days.  I have been on Citalopram for almost ten years.  It really has helped me very much.  I had problems with deep melancholy, sadness, depression, and crying all the time.  I also had irritability, and severe ruminating over problems.

the Cit. stopped my brain from over-thinking and it numbed my sadness.  I couldn't even cry while taking it if I wanted to.  I had a very stressful job and stressful life situations and health problems that challenged me greatly.  This medication helped me cope so much better.  Negative situations rolled off of me....I did not dwell as much on people that angered me.

But......this depression medication will not make everything 100% better all the time.  You will still have bad days...a bad week.

Perhaps you can try other things to help the drug along....like exercise, eating healthier.  Do not rely on the medication alone to cure your depression. Take vitamins, Fish Oil, Magnesium, Vitamin C. Maybe your doctor can test you to make sure you are not deficient in Vitamin D or any B vitamins.

reach out to nice people in your life to help you.  Volunteering can put you in a better mood sometimes.

i know that these suggestions are not always easy to do...especially when you are so sad to begin with.  Somehow...you have to plow through the difficult days.  Get up, get good brisk walk, a hot shower, drink water, stretch, eat fruit, veggies.

i just recently....about a month ago, stopped taking the Citalopram.  I think after taking it for so many years it became too much for my body.  Withdrawal has been difficult.  I took 40mg for many years.  But I am retired now and do not have a lot of stress in my life.

i really wish you well....I am thinking of you and hope that you have many good, happy days ahead.

Depression is an intricate illness.  I don't know how many other medications you have tried....my sister recently started Wellbutrin and is doing really well on it....except for some weight gain and bloating.

everybody's system and situation is so unique.  I hope you find what works well for you!

you definitely are not alone in this struggle.  Just remember that the bad days will only be temporary....they will pass.  You still have ups and downs while on anti-depressants.

good luck, best wishes...and keep us informed of how you are!

Hi Luke, I have been on cit 20mgs since 28th Dec, went through all the side effects then on my daughters birthday 19th April, I realised that I felt happy which was weird, that lasted for a few weeks so I thought is this the new norm. I have had a few anxiety attacks since then which seem to knock me back for a whole week and then you realise, perhaps its not all ok. The ups and downs are frustrating and I too wonder if its working or not but only time will tell,

My wife says if I have to be on them for a long time then thats fine and just see how it goes.

I have found it strange that the weight can go and come but still less than I was ( not that I was over weitght but I guess a loss of a few pounds is never a bad thing. I do find it difficult to climax but again if the wife is happy thats the importaint thing.

So in answer to your question it will take as long as it takes and we have to accept that in realiaty we all have ups and downs its just managing it accordingly.##

Good luck with your future

Hey Luke .sorry to hear you feeling low. I am on 30 mg CIT .and have done so for 12 months.I feel fantastic.but its hard work I say to my self I feel great and have things to do and life is brilliant. It may not be.!! If you tell your self thing are crap you feel I'll and so on you are just brain washing your self. It works I know it works .I seemed a hypnosis guy cist me £300 for 6 sessions. Best money spent. The meds are giving me what I WS lacking and the injection of telling my self good stuff does the trick.hypnosis is getting to the root of when things may if started and triggers .and also life coaching.

Thanks karen, Rich and gawen. Karen my life isnt too bad, I eat pretty well, take supplements, socialise, have a girlfriend.... I never mope around, stay in bed and sit in front of tv etc. Like I and you's have said, maybe im just having a really lousy week.... I hope so.

.......Also karen, you said you were ruminating over problems, that is my No1 concern, I find my brain/mind is constanly reminding me of a physical imperfection I have, its almost like my mind is anti-luke! And when I say constantly I mean from rhe second I wake up to the second I fall asleep, there was a period in march when this constant ruminating (which incidently is happening automatically) disappeared, I cant tell how amazing I felt. Thank you... luke

Yea....the ruminating was really bad for me.  I could be having a perfectly good day and then if anyone at my job would say even the slightest snide remark.....even if they were joking....I would think about it over and over again for days on end.  It was torture.

The citalopram really cried that.

now that I am older and a tad bit wiser....I have learned to not dwell on negative situations. I can 'let go' much better these days.

I am 50 years old and life lessons have definitely taught me how to cope better.

Ruminating can be extremely hard to break free of.  I remember having a great day at work on a Friday.....then if someone even looked at me the wrong way, I would think about it every second for the whole entire weekend.  It was horrible.

It is much easier now for me to quiet my brain.

Luke, sounds like you are just having a down week.  People that suffer from depression are often creative, thinker-types....so, along with that comes moodiness. I go in and out of different kinds of moods and feelings all the time.  If I am feeling sad....I don't dwell....as I know it will pass.

best wishes to you Luke!

Hi

What is ruminating?

Ta

Ter

ruminating is to constantly replay or obsess over negative situations