Citalopram/ Celexa

[kisstherain]

I started my first dose of this citalopram yesterday am and by the evening I had developed sore/swollen throat and stuffed-up/congested nose. Same in morning but worse with flu like symptoms, chills ect. I went into the doctors office, mydoc said that isnt a side effect and I must have caught a bug as it is going around.. keep taking it. I have the dry mouth too.
Anyone else have these symtoms with this? Myanxiet is fine because I have the ativan for that, asI hear that is a common side effect.
I appreciate anyone's input or experience :) Thankyou!

Looking forward to no moe side effects soon!

[punkgod94]

Like your doctor said, it sounds like you were just getting sick. You wouldn't have caught that many symptoms all at once. The dry mouth is possibly caused by the medication you're on though, but if you can handle a dry mouth over having anxiety problems I'd say just keep a bottle of water on hand at all times!! Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[kisstherain]

Thankyou so much for your reply! :)
I am feeling a bit better today, still stuffed up and sweaty instead of the chills so I think I'm getting over it. I really was thinking it was all a bad reaction to it.
I have health-related anxiety really bad so I worry about any little thing
Yup I'm going to drink lotsa water for sure... I will update on how I feel soon. (I'm on day 3)

[punkgod94]

No problem...I try to help anyone and everyone I can on here by sharing my past experiences. I guess it is a form of therapy for me to be able to "give back" what I've learnt and that others may not have. In any case, if it makes you feel any better I recently was switched from a diagnosis of GAD, depression, and chronic fatigue to having Bipolar type 2 so they swithced my meds up. I'm also going through drug withdrawal which I was using to self medicate. The past two days I felt like shit and it just so happens to coincide with everything else in my life...sudden seasonal weather changes (hot one second cold the next), muscle pain (from painting my girlfriends new bedroom), stomach issues, mental fogginess/dizziness/drowsiness, etc. I dont know whether to attribute it to the new medication, stopping the old medication, getting sick, or anything else so all I'm trying to do is ride it out. I figure if I feel this way in a week or two still that I'll call my doctor or pharmacy (as lots of these symptoms are expected both in withdrawal as well as the new medication I started). Definitely keep us updated on how you're doing though!! This community is great for anxiety sufferers, and everybody's so nice that it almost makes you feel at home because we all understand each other.

Also, be sure to read your medication pamphlet or look online at what side effects are possible with your medication and be aware of them...unless that's going to make you LOOK for those symptoms because then you might mistake something normal for a side effect, which may not be the case. The minds a VERY tricky thing haha, you could easily convince yourself you have cancer if you tried hard enough. Anxiety's a tough thing to bear. But stay cool, I'm still sure it's your cold, but you're in NO immediate danger so just keep in touch with your pharmacy and doctor if you have any doubts or questions about your help! Good luck :)

[kisstherain]

Its Day 5 ! I am extremly tired. *yawn I've been having 5 hour naps in the afternoon. I haven't even been taking as much of the ativan because I am already so wiped out. My anxiety hasn't been as bad, but then again I just feel like sleeping most the time. I can't wait until this passes. And the reason why the doctor put me on it was because I was telling him how tired I was and needed long afternoon naps lol

edited to say: I think the tiredness may be from the pot/celexa mixed... I used pot since I was 13 to self medicate, Im almost 25. I aso used alcohol for a 1 1/2 evryday but that made things worse in the end and I haven't had a drink since the day before starting this med

[kisstherain]

Well the doctor took me off the Celexa because of it making me so tired. He gave me trial packs of cymbalta but I don't think I will use it. Just sticking with the ativan for now.

[punkgod94]

Anti-depressants are weird like that...some can cause you to be REALLY tired. I stopped Effexor after 9 days for the same reason and that was at the lowest dose of 4 weeks of increased doses. Give the Cymbalta a try. It may help you more than you'd expect. You'll eventualy find one that works. But you really should stay away from the pot and alcohol since they can affect those meds a LOT.

[kisstherain]

Just thought I'd update :)
I haven't been drinking alcohol still so I'm happy about that, The pot is causing anxiety so I am cutting down on that majorly. I have not had a ciggarette for about a week now. (Dr said my asthma is back to haunt me and I'm now on 2 inhalers ones a steriod.) Still getting the heart/chest pains though... especially when I'm anxious or stressed.
I didn't start the Cymbalta though, and I think I made the right decision about that, at this point because I'm back to my "normal" self and although the anxiety is still high I'm working on it. I need to start eating more healthy, money is scarse right now but thats a whole other topic lol

[Murakawa]

I was prescribed Citalopram (20mg/day) almost two months ago. It's been two months of extreme tiredness, confusion, no major reduction in anxiety/depression.. it basically made me a zombie!

My idiotic doctor (one of those 'prescribe-and-scram' types) upped them to 40mg somewhere along the way, but it just made me more tired in the mornings/evenings. I'd fall asleep at 8-9pm - I'm never usually like that.

So I made the decision to stop taking them. I have cut down sort of gradually but even after a week of not taking a tablet I feel so much better, and can actually wake up in the morning.

I know it's good for some people, but for me, it made things a million times worse. So just be wary before you take these.

[porcia]

I am due to start on these on Monday coming.
I have been on Mirtazapine but had terrible side-effects with them so for the past 2 wks i have been withdrawing from them.
At the moment i am taking 15mg every other night and to be honest i feel terrible.
I have had no sleep for 2 nights due to this pressure that i can feel on my chest,i also quit smoking 3 wks ago cold turkey.
My g.p. reckons that the Citalopram are better for me but i will have to wait and see.
Im just fed-up because after being on Mirtazapine for 2 mnths and going to hell and back on them im just dreading starting a new antidepressent.

[DaisyDoe]

Hi,

I am on Day 16 of Cipralex and have found that the majority of my side effects are disappearing, but am still struggling a bit with the increase in anxiety. While it is nowhere what it was a week ago, I would like to hear from others what their experiences have been in getting the anxiety to a controllable level (i.e. no more weird "out of body" sensations or tingling in extremities) on this drug.

I should mention this is my second time on Cipralex - on my first go I don't remember the side effects being this intense or even lasting this long. Has anyone else had this experience?

Thanks for your help.

[DaisyDoe]

Oops - I just realized that I posted on the wrong thread - this post has been reproduced on the Cipralex thread.

[sneakygirlamy]

yep I was taking celexa and it made me so sleepy and my vision was crazy and I just felt like crap....my mom takes it and swears by it...