Anyone taken or take Citalopram?

[Astral]

I used to be on a combination of Citalopram and Zopiclone, in all fairness, it did it's job, I feel less anxious and the days feel brighter. I do however not miss being on them, the Zopiclone in particular had the worst side effect, everything tastes like you're chewing on rusty steel after a while.

Currently on Amitriptyline and Propranolol for sleeping disturbances as a result of chronic migraines, and they work perfectly, Asleep by 12 and up at 7 in the weekdays, no migraines at all all week. I lay off them on the weekend however to enjoy a few more twilight hours.

I'm also on Amitriptyline as well as the Fluxotine I mentioned before, do you find that waking up is really hard? Like I just feel like shit for the first few hours.

I find waking up easily, assuming that I wake up at the natural early time of 7-7:30 I mentioned, If I decide to lie in for an hour or two, I'll feel groggy and sluggish for the best part of a day.

[GV1]

That's just a panic attack mate.

Panic attacks don't slow your heart rate to 20bpm. I have panic attacks on a regular, this wasn't it.

I had 1 stella yesterday, forgot to mention that. I think it's related to the alcohol.

[bigfootspartan]

Because unless you have a real chemical imbalance in your body
(backed up by results from blood tests that should be carried out)
the idea of sticking you on citalopram is to basically drug you up and
zone you out.

If you're taking it for a psychological issue, it's not helping the issue,
it's masking the problem. I looked after 3 kids who were on it last year.

One of them was on Citalopram and Melatonin to help him out, but he was
suffering from ASD and sleeping issues caused by ADHD. He had actual
chemical imbalance and it worked for him.

The others benefitted from person-centred counselling and CBT more than
the drugs.

CAMHs have a history of just sticking you on drugs because they are
unfortunatley GROSSLY under-staffed and can't afford to really be putting
you through counselling sessions - which is what they should be doing.

Upping the dosage is dangerous. VERY dangerous. You'll get to the point where
you won't be able to come off it and you'll be stuck taking this pill for a long
long time. I would suggest you go back to your GP/Mental services provider
and ask them for theraputic based remedies to your problems.

You will not solve them by swallowing a pill every night, but by actually confronting
and working through your problems. You are more resilient than you think you are
and what seems like a quick fix in pill form now will fuck you in the future.


As I said - if you need it for Biological reasons, take it. if the issue is Psychological,
don't. Go and demand some counselling instead.

Hmm not sure what your qualifications are, but I'm a bit curious about a few things. First off, what sorts of blood tests would they do for depression? So far as I've learned (we've just finished our psychiatry course in medical school) SSRI's treat a lack of serotonin which is within the neural synapses. As far as I've known there's no tests to confirm that, especially given that the neurotransmitters wouldn't cross the blood brain barrier.

Although I do agree, there's quite a bit of evidence coming out showing that for mild depression CBT works just as well as SSRI's or SNRI's without the side effects. However, for moderate and severe depression antidepressants have been shown to have plenty more benefit than CBT.

And not being able to get off it in the future is a possibility. One doctor I was shadowing said he has a few patients who he's kept on SSRI's because they get nasty headaches when they tried to quit. But the psychiatrist that I was shadowing recently said that those headaches usually only last around a week to two weeks, and if you properly wean someone off of them it's possible to get people from 40 mg down to none, it just takes a ton of time.

[jazzamataz]

Because unless you have a real chemical imbalance in your body
(backed up by results from blood tests that should be carried out)
the idea of sticking you on citalopram is to basically drug you up and
zone you out.

If you're taking it for a psychological issue, it's not helping the issue,
it's masking the problem. I looked after 3 kids who were on it last year.

One of them was on Citalopram and Melatonin to help him out, but he was
suffering from ASD and sleeping issues caused by ADHD. He had actual
chemical imbalance and it worked for him.

The others benefitted from person-centred counselling and CBT more than
the drugs.

CAMHs have a history of just sticking you on drugs because they are
unfortunatley GROSSLY under-staffed and can't afford to really be putting
you through counselling sessions - which is what they should be doing.

Upping the dosage is dangerous. VERY dangerous. You'll get to the point where
you won't be able to come off it and you'll be stuck taking this pill for a long
long time. I would suggest you go back to your GP/Mental services provider
and ask them for theraputic based remedies to your problems.

You will not solve them by swallowing a pill every night, but by actually confronting
and working through your problems. You are more resilient than you think you are
and what seems like a quick fix in pill form now will fuck you in the future.


As I said - if you need it for Biological reasons, take it. if the issue is Psychological,
don't. Go and demand some counselling instead.

Hmm not sure what your qualifications are, but I'm a bit curious about a few things. First off, what sorts of blood tests would they do for depression? So far as I've learned (we've just finished our psychiatry course in medical school) SSRI's treat a lack of serotonin which is within the neural synapses. As far as I've known there's no tests to confirm that, especially given that the neurotransmitters wouldn't cross the blood brain barrier.

Although I do agree, there's quite a bit of evidence coming out showing that for mild depression CBT works just as well as SSRI's or SNRI's without the side effects. However, for moderate and severe depression antidepressants have been shown to have plenty more benefit than CBT.

And not being able to get off it in the future is a possibility. One doctor I was shadowing said he has a few patients who he's kept on SSRI's because they get nasty headaches when they tried to quit. But the psychiatrist that I was shadowing recently said that those headaches usually only last around a week to two weeks, and if you properly wean someone off of them it's possible to get people from 40 mg down to none, it just takes a ton of time.

Psychology BSc with 12 months experience working in social housing.
As stated, I worked closely with mental health services (CAMHs) and looked after three
teenagers using Citalopram (as well as others).

I am not well versed in Pharmaceuticals or Chemistry, but I have worked with some that are
and the general consensus amongst those practitioners were negative at best.

My own (secondary) experience was that the teenagers were more responsive to
counselling. One of which chose opt out of medication in order to pursue a course of CBT.

The issue is that the drug seems to be getting over-prescribed when sometimes it is not needed.

An example I can use is of one boy CAMHs were adamant go on the drug for sexually deviant
behaviour. The boy had no abnormalities in his blood tests (and they were carried out) and
the course decided between a second Psychiatrist and the Project Manager (Psych PhD) was that
the boy actually needed person-centred counselling to go through past events and work through
issues of abuse that the boy had suffered during his early teenage years - the drugs wouldn't have
helped other than to curb his sexual displays, which is tantamount to chemical castration.

I would agree that the intervention of an SSRI may be needed in severe cases of depression
- however, I remember reading the Citalopram pamphlet and the words that struck me most
odd were the ones that stated it could cause suicidal thoughts. Seemed a tad paradoxical.

My own personal study has lead me to understand that Fluoxetine was a slightly better drug
but again, I have to stress I'm not a Psycho-pharmacologist.

[jazzamataz]

Sorry, also, whilst Serotonin itself may not go through the blood-brain barrier
there are indications that occur in the body that would lead to the assumption
of a need to increase serotonin levels. Urinal and blood tests can be carried out to identify
tryptophan (sp?) (or if it's missing) which creates it I believe.

Too much serotonin causes Diarrhoea too if my memory serves.

That is just a logical assumption. (This is why I'm not a Dr.)

[bigfootspartan]

Sorry, also, whilst Serotonin itself may not go through the blood-brain barrier
there are indications that occur in the body that would lead to the assumption
of a need to increase serotonin levels. Urinal and blood tests can be carried out to identify
tryptophan (sp?) (or if it's missing) which creates it I believe.

Too much serotonin causes Diarrhoea too if my memory serves.

That is just a logical assumption. (This is why I'm not a Dr.)

Ahh fair play, yeah a tryptophan deficiency would cause the brain to be deficient in serotonin, since it's a precursor to serotonin. I definitely agree with your above post, tons of people seem to be on it whether they need it or not. In the case of that kid I totally agree, the only thing an SSRI would really do is decrease his libido, it wouldn't help him change his deviant sexual behaviour into something normal overnight...