Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with celexa

Managing the damage. But how?

Anonymous — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:05:38 -0800

Anti-anxiety medication: blessing or cop-out? About a year ago, I had my first panic attack. It didn't happen in response to any specific situation or trigger; I believe it was more the aggregate response to a lifetime of small but persistent stressors which I could no longer deny or put aside. After a few more episodes, I started seeing a psychiatrist, who eventually put me on 10mg/day of Celexa on the grounds that I was over-thinking myself into a spiral about it and needed to see what it felt like to live without the obsessive, tail-eating thoughts that anxiety disorders produce.

Now, I also have a close friend who has suffered from anxiety his whole life. He has experienced many hundreds more attacks than I have (in addition to managing other factors such as OCD and social anxiety). He, however, has chosen to forego medication altogether, choosing instead to conduct his own personal form of CBT with no medical or psychiatric input.

While I believe he's made very good strides through his own method, and I can admire him for his dedication to staring this thing down through sheer force of will, I also see him succumbing to it again rather more than he wants to admit. I trust his years of experience in this matter, but it seems to me that he ultimately forces himself to suffer unnecessarily.

I feel the Celexa has allowed me to "get out of my own way" and lighten my psychological burden in a way I'm not sure I've ever actually experienced before. Also, panic episodes are so debilitating that I think I've occasionally become sick (flu-like) from the sheer physiological drainage they cause when I let them run roughshod over me. He, meanwhile, believes that drugs simply turn people into "robots" and that they only enable people to hide from themselves and their issues indefinitely. He sees medication as a cop-out and an act of emotional cowardice. He also thinks there is no way to actually confront or reconcile panic disorder while on medication, believing that direct exposure to panic episodes is the only thing that allows you to get comfortable with and work through them.

I recognize the necessity of CBT and working with a therapist to address the individual underlying issues and stressors that cause anxiety triggers to begin with. And I can admire the purity of my friend's method, even if I think he'd get a lot farther by doing it in a more guided capacity outside the vacuum of his own mind. But I can't see any downside (cultural judgments aside) to keeping the attacks at bay through medication until I can afford actual CBT.

So, what's the reality of the situation? Is the use of medication for anxiety disorder just a cheat? Is the best thing just to suck up and let the panic batter you around until you can retrain your own brain? Obviously I'm also dealing with the feeling of being judged by my friend, but I'd like to know what the latest word is from the medical community on the subject. Articles and citations are endless on the Web, but I'd sorta like a boildown from someone with a better handle on reliable information.

Tell me about your experience on Citalopram (Celexa / Cipramil).

SebastianKnight — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 06:58:53 -0800

I'm about to start a course of Citalopram (Celexa / Cipramil). What should I know in advance? Despite some serious misgivings I've decided to try antidepressant medication for some ongoing depression/anxiety issues. I've been prescribed 20mg of Citalopram to be taken every morning and will be seeing my GP (in the UK) for supervision at regular intervals. I'm hoping that after a few weeks my sleep pattern will be back under control and my judgement less impaired by low mood, anxiety, and exhaustion. If that works out then I'll be in a better position to tackle any underlying issues and generally stop making so many dumb decisions. Here's hoping, anyway.

If you have any experience on Citalopram (Celexa) or similar SSRIs, is there anything you wish you'd known before starting? I'm aware of the potential side-effects and withdrawal symptoms and at this point I'm prepared to take my chances. I'm most interested in your thoughts on the first 8 weeks or so of being medicated. If you'd like to add a comment anonymously, send me a mefimail and I'll paste it in below.

I'll take the first dose this Saturday after asking a GP friend for a second opinion. Can you think of anything I should ask that hasn't been covered above?

(I'm not seeing a therapist, but I am going to start working through Feeling Good as soon as I can. Previously I've used online CBT but found it overwhelming. If you want to talk about therapy, could we do that by mefimail instead? My diet and exercise regime are okay and pretty crappy, respectively. My family/social support network is good.)

Switching Anti-Depressants

LittlePumpkin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 10:51:07 -0800

Is there really no important difference between Lexapro and Celexa, as my pharmacist claims? I have new insurance that might require switching from L to C. I have had very good results with L, but can't pay full price.

I don't know why they call it the Great Depression. Great makes you think there were Pony Rides.

aristan — Mon, 18 May 2009 21:34:26 -0800

Now, after a really bad episode of Depression that has lasted the last 14 months, my doctor has prescribed Celexa for my depression. I just started taking it today and seemed to have a rather mild, pleasant day. I was on Paxil years ago and it didn't go as well. I know that YANMD, but I'd like some real world experiences. I have a few specific questions I'd love other Celexa users to answer. Please feel free to offer other advice as well. All of this came to a head 2 weeks ago when I went on a 3 day crying jag, in a hotel, 300 miles from home, with my best friend, who I apparently scared.

- What can I expect from Celexa during the build up?
- What can I expect after it gets into my system?
- When's the best time to take it? (Because of my depression, I have never had a good sleep routine, I was either oversleeping or not sleeping at all. Taking it today, I was sleeping 5 hours later despite sleeping in this morning. I can't take a nap during my shift!)
- What are the real sexual side effects? (I've been having um... issues in that department lately that I think were caused by the depression and frankly, if I have a decreased libido AND can't reach orgasm when I do get the desire... I'm going to be a WHOLE lot more depressed.)
- Does occasional marijuana use affect Celexa at all? (And Occasional means once every month or two, give or take. I am not a heavy user, only when it's offered at gatherings.) I ask this because I was offered today, but declined as I didn't know how it'd affect anything.

My doctor has also strongly suggests counseling sessions, though I have no idea how to set these up, or how to find one in my area.

And if it has any bearing, I reacted negatively to paxil from the get-go. I was still very depressed, but after taking Paxil, I was flat and almost emotionless, extremely sensitive to light, and slept nearly 16 hours out of every day. I stopped eating, yet gained nearly 50lbs while I was on it. I will say I was only 15 at the time, was not diligent in taking my medicine at a certain time, and quit Paxil cold turkey after a month.

Savage Citalopram/Celexa withdrawl headaches.

Suchos — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:55:51 -0800

I have recently stopped taking Citalopram over 10 days, since then I've had a permanent headache which has lasted 4 weeks to date and seen me visit A&E twice. Currently I have been prescribed and am taking : Morphine, Voltarol, CO-codomol and Sodium Valproate which are only providing limited relief. I am also seeing a Neurologist and Psychiatrist who as of yet have failed to diagnose the problem. Has anyone had similar effect ? If so, what was the diagnosis and resolution ?

You spin me right round baby right round like an anxiety disorder right round round round

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 20:14:40 -0800

You're not my psychiatrist, and I'm not your patient. But I need some help evaluating my feelings and setting my dosage within the limits my psychiatrist has prescribed. I'm on Citalopram (generic of Celexa, predecessor to Lexapro) and have been for well over a year. Recently, I've been feeling great, but have been having some sexual side effects and general 'laziness'. I haven't been exercising, so I've gotten fat. I've got about 100 hours of consulting work to do in the next few weeks plus my day job, and I need a little bit more nervous energy and 'edge' to get myself back in the gym and doing the work I need to do. I asked my psychiatrist during my last appointment if I could reduce the dose just a tad, and she wrote the prescription to allow for between 30mg and 40mg. I began the new dose on Saturday night.

Now, I realize that this is a midrange dose, and since the half-life is 36 hours, it's not completely settled down to my new dosage yet. Additionally, it should take a little longer for me to see the effect.

But back on the other hand, I've been beyond jittery and stuck on fast forward all day today. I've been focused and mission-oriented, and I've gotten TONS done, but ... sheesh! My girlfriend asked me at dinner tonight if I had been smoking crack, so it's an obvious behviour change to others. Back on the bright side, the sexual side effects (inability to ejaculate) are already gone.

I'm trying to make sure these aren't withdrawal symptoms and I'll settle back out if I just give it another week. But I'm "spinning" -- that's the word I use to describe when my anxiety disorder blows things out of proportions and leads the monkey on my back to jump to hasty conclusions. A good example: My GF isn't online, which must mean that she was put off by my hyperactivity at dinner, and is going to dump me. Illogical -- I know. But that ol' monkey's whispering it in my ear...

My main worry over the next week is showing signs of 'instability' to coworkers and consulting clients. My life has been stellar since I went on the drugs... the drugs let me channel a little bit of the 'zen' I've been seeking my entire life. Not so much that I act like a pot smoker, but enough that I'm able to let life flow around me and dip into precisely the parts I want to. I'm mostly anxious (go figure) about the effects an increase in hyperactivity will have on my work and love relationships.

So. Grit my teeth and stick it out at the lower dosage and just work myself to exhaustion the next few nights till things settle back out ... or go back on the safety blanket dosage that I'm comfortable with?

I'll obviously call my psychiatrist tomorrow, but I'm interested in the hive mind's opinion in the meantime.

On antidepressants. Need to lose weight. How to get started?

Anonymous — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 16:28:00 -0800

I'm taking SSRIs. I've experienced significant weight gain while on them and am now trying to work it off. How to get started? I need assistance with physical fitness and getting back into optimal shape while on Celexa/SSRIs.

I'm male, 28, 6'3 and currently 255 lbs. I started taking Celexa in June 2007 (started on Lexapro, switched over to Celexa over cost issues) to help treat severe anxiety and regular panic attacks.

On the mental front, the combination of SSRIs and therapy have worked wonders. I feel like a new person. But before I started taking Celexa, I weighed 220 lbs. That means I gained 35 lbs. in a little over six months.

The problem is that, once I started taking SSRIs, I lost interest in working out. While before I'd go running on 3 mile runs at least 4x a week and go to the gym 3x weekly, I simply stopped working out for six months or so. In addition, Celexa really f'd with my head in regard to hunger. I could eat a huge meal - a footlong sub, a few slices of pizza, a Chipotle burrito and be hungry two hours later.
Combine the lack of exercise, the overeating and the metabolic changes that came with going on SSRIs and, bam, I gained a ton of weight.

Now I want to work on losing it and getting back to where I was before (and, hopefully, lose even more weight and build more muscle). I'm consciously eating healthily and forcing myself to work out daily. Accepting my current weight isn't an option; I looked damn good before and don't want to resign myself to looking like a premature John Goodman.

But the big question... has anyone been in this situation and managed to do it successfully? Or if you haven't, if advice can be offered?

Depression or personaity flaws?

Anonymous — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 13:42:06 -0800

How should I feel if my antidepressants are working? I've had moderate depression for about 15 years. I had some therapy and medication, and was in hospital for a while, when I first became depressed, but not since.

This year, because of other things in my life, my depression has got too much to deal with, so I saw my GP and have been on 20mg citalopram (Celexa in US - I'm in the UK) for three months.

I'm sure the drugs are having some effect, as my constant thoughts of suicide and self-harm feel a bit removed from me. But I still feel that life is something to get through rather than to enjoy, feel unmotivated, hate myself and find it very hard to do anything except work, lurking on Metafilter and sitting around. (For instance, the kitchen's currently got a week's worth of empty dog food tins sitting on the counter waiting to be moved three feet to the bin.)

What I don't know is whether this laziness and lack of ambition is about my character rather than depression; should I expect antidepressants to help with these things, or do I need to find other ways to solve them? I would appreciate advice on this, as I'm trying to decide whether to request a higher dose of citalopram.

Before anyone suggests therapy - I do realise I might benefit from it, but it brings its own problems and I'd rather sort out the drugs first. And I have a copy of Feeling Good, but am too lazy to read it.

"very tired, lazy, stoned.....oh and did I say tired?"

beccaj — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 12:09:48 -0800

One week into citalopram...will it get better?? Posting for a good friend that I send thread after MeFi thread to...

" I started taking citalopram (generic Celexa) and I feel like crap ever since.
I'm wondering if this will go away or is permanent."

She has been taking it for one week today.
She has been depressed (has very difficult family issues/probably care giver burnout) and I would say is prone to depression. She is also prone to lots of anxiety.

She has gone off other meds due to inablility to function because of pressing work/care giving schedule.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel??

Antideppressants & fatal heart arrhythmia??

mintchip — Wed, 27 Sep 2006 21:28:55 -0800

Link between antideppressants & fatal heart arrhythmia?? I have been taking a very small dose of Celexa for years. Every time I go off of it I start to feel depressed and very anxious.

I've also had some near-fainting spells where my pulse becomes irregular (usually it's extremely faint) and feel extremely weak and sometimes clammy.

I've had a stress test and a neurological exam and no cause could be traced. My doc has theorized that it could be vaso vagal syncope (a harmless condition that can cause fainting).

New reports say that Anna Nicole Smith's son died from an apparent arrythmia brought on by a combination of antidepressants, including Lexapro (a cousin to Celexa). This has really got me concerned because I've always worried in the back of my mind that what I've been experiencing is an arrhythmia. It's very scary to have these spells because I feel like I'm going to pass out. Young (>30) healthy people shouldn't be passing out regularly, should they?

I don't expect medical advice on here, but please, if any of you have had similar issues and/or you know about the risk of arrhythmia from celexa, and how dangerous it is likely to be, please let me know. I also sometime drink to excess when I'm taking this medication. I know I shouldn't, but I do.

What's wrong with my friend?

starbaby — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 19:10:35 -0800

Is my bipolar friend pregnant, or is it just her meds? This is going to be long and dysfunctional, so please bear with me and keep the judgments to a minimum.

My best friend is bipolar and an abuse survivor. She was put on combination birth control pills several years ago in order to deal with intense bleeding from cysts. She has, up until recently, not relied on birth control as birth control, but only to combat this problem. Therefore, she is not really in the habit of taking it at the same time every day. There are quite a few longer-than-12-hour gaps between pills. In my understanding, this can make her ovulate, and pretty much makes them ineffective birth control. She doesn't really mind this, as she wouldn't really mind being pregnant. However, she is on several medications that she would need to immediately stop taking were she to become pregnant, so this is something she would need to know as soon as possible.

Here's a schedule of events that have us concerned:

Around July 10, she began taking a combination of Celexa and Trazadone for her bipolar. There were some side effects, mostly mental slowness, from the medications.

She had unprotected sex a few times on the weekend of July 23.

She had a normal period from July 25-28.

She had more unprotected sex the weekend of July 29-30.

She began lowering the doses of her meds [following the orders of her doctor] the first week of August.

More unprotected sex the weekend of August 5-6.

She began taking Remeron, and ceased to take the other medications, yesterday.

For the past two weeks or so, she has begun to have every symptom I have ever heard of women getting in the earliest stages of pregnancy. These include intense nausea, frequent/strong urination, discharge, headaches, slight cramping when she shouldn't be cramping, extreme fatigue, strong food aversions, and mood swings.

Obviously, several of these could also be side effects of medication.

My main question is, if a woman has a history of intense bleeding during and between menstrual periods, and these are only stopped while she is taking the birth control pills, would said woman be more likely to bleed when on the placebo week, even if she is pregnant?

Also, assuming she may have become pregnant the weekend after her period, would you assume it was the meds, or fear pregnancy?

Basically, I need to know if I should be talking her into getting a blood test so that she can get off the Remeron and birth control, because it looks like she might be pregnant, or calmly telling her it's just side effects and she needs to calm down herself.

Because she is bipolar, she tends to let little things really get to her, and I need to make sure I am not ignoring or belittling a potential health issue with my efforts to calm her fears.

I should be able to answer any questions you have for her, and I appreciate all the help you can give. She has already agreed to see a doctor at the first available moment, but at this point I am not even sure a doctor would do anything, as it might be too early for pregnancy to show on a test.

Recreational abuse of medication.

five fresh fish — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 22:07:49 -0800

What happens if I eat all my Celexa (citalopram) at once? Not that I'm going to do it.