celexa

[celexite in Toronto]

I first started taking Celexa in November 1999. Doc started me at 20 mg and it took a good 3-4 weeks to notice an appreciable improvement in my mood. The first week or two were hell - dry mouth, metallic taste in mouth, insomnia, sweaty palms, feeling apprehensive, overheated and sweating all the time. The symptoms eased up over time but the dosage soon had to be stepped up from 20 to 40 mg/day. By April 2000 I felt like my old self so I gradually weaned myself off Celexa until June 2000, then stopped it completely.

Did fine until early May 2005 when I felt depression creeping back up on me again. Had to resume Celexa 20 mg/day toward the end of May, this was quickly stepped up to 40, then to 60 mg/day. At 60 mg I began to have very bizarre symptoms. I could not walk very fast or very far without getting short of breath. I had to get up from a seated position very carefully so that I wouldn't get dizzy or lose my balance. I sometimes got the feeling that someone was pouring cold water over the right side of my head. I had once instance at work when I was typing something, then my eyes locked onto one point of the screen and I didn't blink or move a muscle for a good two minutes.

So my dosage was reduced back to 40 mg/day and while I'm still not my old self yet after one year on Celexa, I am definitely better off. Apparently there is no danger in taking Celexa for long periods of time - my doctor told me that since I have had several episodes of depression, I should remain on Celexa for the rest of my life. I don't have side effects any more, so I'm ok with this, but I just wish I were back to my old self again!

[squeaky]

I have been on Celexa for about 9 days. My doctor started me on 20mg for four days then up to 40mg per day. I am feeling tired all the time and more angry and depressed than before. I wonder if I should stay on this

[Bangalee]

Wow squeaky, I think you were bumped up to 40 mg WAY too fast!! Some people even start on 10 mg but you were started on 20 mg. I think he should have left you on 20 mg for at least 2 weeks. Maybe he could have stepped it up to 30 mg before going to 40.

[Robin]

I took Celexa for three weeks and was so tired I coulnd't function. So, the doctor switched me to Prozac...I took it for three weeks and noticed I was loosing A LOT of hair! I checked with the pharmasist after piecing it together that it might be from the Celexa and Prozac...and, yes indeed the hair loss was from both the Prozac and Celexa! I found neither were doing me much good with my depression so I flushed what I had left of both down to toliet. I'd be REALLY depressed if as a woman I lost my hair due to taking anti-depressants.

mikeb wrote:

i have been on celexa 20mg for three weeks feel very tired and up tight still feel anxiety please help is this normal thank you

[Robin]

If you can do without it, I'd say no. I was so tired I couldn't do anything. The doctor said if I kept taking it I'd feel better, and the longer I took it the more tired I became. And, I also was so bloated in the stomach and face I looked overweight after just taking it three weeks.

squeaky wrote:

I have been on Celexa for about 9 days. My doctor started me on 20mg for four days then up to 40mg per day. I am feeling tired all the time and more angry and depressed than before. I wonder if I should stay on this

[Robin]

I would never take Celexa again...it made me tired, bloated, and I started loosing my hair.

[Robin]

Did anyone else have hair loss? Maybe it was from the Prozac. The pharmacist told me both can cause it.

[Ryan]

i have been taking Celexa for two weeks now in a 10mg dosage to treat anxiety disorders and panic attacks. So far it has eased the depression but I still feel anxious to some degree but no panic attacks. As far as side affects, I am constantly drowsy and have a chemical taste in my mouth that wont go away, and worst of all a diminshed sex drive. I am considering tapering it off.

[John]

I started taking 20mg/day of celexa three weeks ago. From what I have heard in the forum so far is that is not enough time for it to "kick in". My concern is that I jumped into taking medication to fast. I was deppressed but not to the point where I think I should be on medication. I now second guess myself and have lost almost all of my confidence. I do think I am a little less depressed but if this is the new me I would rather be depressed and take care of it through natural means than be who I am now. Basically I feel like this medication has be destorying my personality. Is it too late for me to stop or get off the medication or would that stop the rearanging of my brain chemistry and freeze me in this rediculous state of mind? I want to be who I was not who I am or where I feel this is taking me.

[Bangalee]

John wrote:

I started taking 20mg/day of celexa three weeks ago. From what I have heard in the forum so far is that is not enough time for it to "kick in". My concern is that I jumped into taking medication to fast. I was deppressed but not to the point where I think I should be on medication. I now second guess myself and have lost almost all of my confidence. I do think I am a little less depressed but if this is the new me I would rather be depressed and take care of it through natural means than be who I am now. Basically I feel like this medication has be destorying my personality. Is it too late for me to stop or get off the medication or would that stop the rearanging of my brain chemistry and freeze me in this rediculous state of mind? I want to be who I was not who I am or where I feel this is taking me.

It's never too late to stop this medication. You just need to wean yourself off it gradually - say by taking 20 mg every other day, then 10 mg (half a tablet) every other day, then stop. But you should speak to your doctor first, before stopping or changing the dosage.

[LIndsay]

Hey Ryan, I started taking Celexa 4 days ago, and everytime I Take it I get so tired I feel like I am going to pass out. I was perscribed this simply for panic and anxiety. I hate the drowsy feeling, becuase I am such a highly motivated person. I have also noticed a diminished sex drive but it's easier for girls to "fake" being in the mood.. lol.. How are you making out now?>

Ryan wrote:

i have been taking Celexa for two weeks now in a 10mg dosage to treat anxiety disorders and panic attacks. So far it has eased the depression but I still feel anxious to some degree but no panic attacks. As far as side affects, I am constantly drowsy and have a chemical taste in my mouth that wont go away, and worst of all a diminshed sex drive. I am considering tapering it off.

[Momma]

April, it works differently on everyone person it seems like. From DAY ONE it started working wonders for me, but I have read the opposite for others. I would have started at the lowest dose (10 mg) and work your way up. 20 mg for you might be too much at first. Good luck...

[Mike]

Hey guys, I began antidepressants by taking 12.5mg of Paxil CR /w .25mg of Klonopin (twice a day) to treat by social anxiety and depression. For the first two weeks it was amazing, I had 0% depression and my anxiety had been deeply reduced. But after two weeks it felt like it had not worked as well and after about a month and a half, it almost completely stoppped working. So i went to the doctor and my doctor said to try Celexa (10mg). I just started using this medication Thurdsday (2/1/07) and have been feeling like complete shit. I can barely eat because I have a loss of appetite, I feel very weak, feel dizzy, nauseous 90% of the time, my anixety has increased, have a bad headache, and I haven't gone to school or work. I can't handle these side effects much longer because first of all I am very skinny and can't afford to lose more weight, and second I am studying to be a software engineer and can't afford to drop all my classes because I am so behind. Also, my work won't let me keep calling in sick. I was just wondering if anybody else felt these horrible side effects when they started taking Celexa. I've only been taking it for about 5 days but the side effects I can't bare, and how long does it take till they diminish?

[sally]

Mike,

I started taking the celexa a little over 2 weeks ago,20 mg, at first I was taking it in the morning but soon learned that I need to take it at night along with 1 mg of clonosapam(sp?). My side effects were shakiness, not wanting to eat and nausea after eating. I decided to try cutting my pill in half to 10 mg and that has helped the shakiness and nausea a bit. I know you are already taking 10 mg so going less may not help you. Do you take anything for anxiety? If not you need that to counteract the celexa affects. I notice that at around 8:00 pm I do start getting the shakes again but I go to bed early so my pills kick in.
I haven't been on this long enough to give advice but did have same symptoms and felt like crap also. So if you don't get better, ask your Dr for advice.

[Ken]

somewhere in us wrote:

april,
19 day i snot very long. I went from 5 to 10 to 15 to 20mg it took a couple of months. Most all side affects go away with time.
good luck.

What does increasing your dose do? My doctor has me on 10 and I feel pretty good, but sometimes wonder if I shouldn't be on 15 or 20.

[Meerkat]

Hi Ken,
It kinda depends:
I've learned that in general with meds it's like: Less is better, so if 10Mg does the job for you, then stick with that unless you have very good reasons to try an uptick in strength.
If you're feeling 'hunkies' on 10Mg then 15Mg or 20Mg is not going to make you feel more 'hunkies'.
Always remember that the higher the dose, the longer and more difficult the weaning is going to be.
I'm on 20Mg and that works pretty well for me.

[Shawn]

I started taking 20mg 2 weeks ago for extreme social anxiety, and feel tired all the time. absolutely no sex drive and diareha. I can't stop shaking and I feel extremely aggresive. I went in yesterday and my doctor upped my dosage up to 60mg. I feel very nervous bout taking that high of a dose to the point that since yesterday ive had 3 panic attacks. Now i can barely function at work and being in the army this is really hard.
Is there any medication that can make some of these side effects stop?

[Ezin]

Shawn - you are describing side-effects

a) sexual dysfunction
b) lethargy
c) shakes
d) aggressive (this is NOT a good side-effect to have, you need to read Chapter 4 of Glenmullen ASAP, ref neurologically driven agitation/akathisia)
e) diarrhoea (90%+ of the body's serotonin is associated with the gut)

Side-effects of these drugs tend to be dose related - you up the dose, they usually get worse.

To be started on 20mg, then upped to 60mg despite a major side-effect profile... that sounds like you need a second opinion.

Not just because of the side-effects and their relation to dose; but to treble the dose to a level where there is little evidence to support clinical efficacy, after only two weeks, would seem like a situation for a second opinion.

Particularly since anxiety and agitation are also side-effects of a drug with a stimulant profile... hence a possible explanation for the onset of multiple panic attacks.

Get a copy of the book on SSRI side-effects, Prozac Backlash by Joseph Glenmullen MD, and start off by working your way through the chapters dealing with sexual dysfunction & neurological side-effects... most especially akathisia.

You need to MAKE SURE YOU HAVEN'T GOT AKATHISIA - are you pacing about? Unable to keep still, joints rattling? Thoughts starting to rattle about in your skull?

The first chapter of the book is available online : google on - Glenmullen Prozac Backlash, and then hit the link to the book, you'll arrive at a .pdf file for the Intro and first chapter.

Doctors can medicate side-effects with secondary drugs - they usually add benzos, if that happens make sure you are informed about the length of time you will be prescribed - because benzos also can cause anxiety and depression (long-term) and are extremely addictive, which is why they are only supposed to be prescribed for a short period of time. This also brings drug-drug interactions into play, so check everything out via a drugs interaction checker.

Other doctors prefer not to medicate side-effects with a second drug, because it further complicates the situation: Drug A and side-effects; Drug B to tamp down side effects of A; Drug A + Drug B interactions; Drug B side-effects.

Antidepressants are very individual, what helps one person, will cause acute reactions in another. People often work through them until they find one that helps.

Some people do not have the necessary p450 isoenzymes that allow them to metabolise the drug properly, this means drug levels build up rapidly...

[Shawn]

Thank you Ezin, I have asked for a second opinion and the doctor told me the side effects will subside in about two weeks. I'm worried that I might start getting in fights or worse if something or someone sets me over the edge. I do have the hand tremors and I am only able to sit still for about 2-3 minutes. All of this is cause maritial problems to the point where my wife has threatened to leave and go home. I also told the doctor this and he said it will all work out. I really dont like the way I feel so I think I'll drop down to 10mg. Being as I've only upped the dose three days ago I dont think the sudden drop back down will cause that much problems do you?

[Canada Geese again]

Hello Ezin and Shawn,

I have no hear from other people in the blogs about my comment about what I don't like side effects from Celexa either too... I would like to say thank you to Shawn how Shawn feel...

I feel that my family doctor control over me for depression that she keep to give me prescription for Celexa what I told her that I don't like antidepressant with side effects problems and also I am very tired worse during the day time too from increase 30 mg celexa last week ago and also same thing with 20 mg Celexa where I was very tired during the day time either too. I have lots of forgot most time from Celexa but I still have goood remembering what I do process at my work but something happen to me about I forgot where I put something in that caused my mind lost memory at lunch today... Quickly that is all.. thanks... I hate to be very tired all all day time and four days this week where I start to work casual time this week also I hate to lose memory where I put something where I cannot remember what I did.. okay thanks...