Celexia, week 2

[Dee]

Hello there
I am just on week 2 of this med and it is kicking the crap out of me. All I wast to do is lay down and sleep. I am on this med for minor depression and a eating disorder. Its helping with the eating disorder as I have no desire to eat. I have lost about 4lbs in the last week.Is anyone else on this for a eating disorder?

[Jan]

Hi - I've had the not so good fortune of having to try a number of different meds before finding one that worked for me. My experience with all of them is that it takes between 2-6 weeks for your body to adjust. the side effects you are experiencing in weeks 1-3 may well dissapear by week six. It's hard being patient and hanging in there but I wouldn't say the med was 'wrong' until I'd been on it for about a month. Hang in there and work with or make your doc work with you!!

[STC]

Hey Dee,

I see that the last time you wrote this was in May, so you in fact have now been on Celexa for more than 2 weeks but I am also on Celexa (on my 2nd week today) for binge eating disorder. I still am eating though, and I saw that yours might have to do with an eating disorder much like that so I was wondering if you could fill me in on what happened with you and if increase of dosage helped you more or not.

Thanks

[lil]

1was hospitalized for spactic colon and lost 15pounds i am 5feet 5 and weigh 120 pounds 1 am on celexia for three weeks but 1 have lost my appetite. 1 eat about 5 times a day but 1 am terrified.will i regain my appetite?

[Tara]

I have been on celexa for three months and I have lost ten pounds not on it for eating but used to binge eat for a week out of every month. I have pmdd. I also suffer from anxiety and mild depression. I started at 10 of celexa and didnt want to eat at all and went upto 20mg and found if i wasnt aware I could eat more but I kept to a healthy diet and exercise and find my life is much more balanced and my weight comes off. Ialso find it really good for anxiety mood is more balanced. So hand in there it is worth a try.

[Celeste]

I also binge eat, but not on celexa for eating disorder. I hope that celexa will help me in controlling my appetite and get my binge eating under control. It's refreshing to hear that i am not the only person dealing with these issues. Hopefully, celexa will take away my sadness, anxiety and in turn i will be more motivated to change behaviours that are not so healthy. Is it typical for people to lose weight on celexa?

[Maria]

My doctor has just prescribed Celexia for me. I think I am suffering from Post-Pardum Depression and this was the first step in the "recovery". People talk about the side effects. What are the side effects? Has anyone else taken this for Post-Pardum? What do you feel like when you have taken Celexia? What do you feel like when you are done (if you can really be done)? I am so confused.....should I, shouldn't I. Will it be forever?

[Fancy]

I WAS JUST PRESCRIBED CELEXIA FO
R PANIC DISORDER AND ANXIETY. I WAS WONDERING IF ANY ONE USED IT FOR THAT REASON AND IF THEY GOT RESULTS SO FAR ISEE SIDE EFFECTS ARE WEIGHT LOSS. I NEED REINFORCEMENTS TO HELP ME I'M A CHICKEN WHEN IT COMES TO TAKING MEDS@!!!!!!!

[Fancy]

HAS ANYONE SEEN RESULTS WITH CELXIA??? BESIDES WEGHT LOSS, DOES ANYONE EXPERIENCE SEXUAL SIDE EFFECTS???

[Meerkat]

Hi Fancy, welcome to the 'club' of citalopram users.
I can only speak for myself but celexa works for me. I use 20mg daily and it was prescribed to me for anxiety, unipolar depression, PTSD and to help improve my anger-management. It does not alter my personality other than that it takes the edge off my feeling of depression and my anxiety and it does exactly that. I find that Celexa is pretty mild where it comes to meds and their side-effects, as long as you follow a couple of basic ground-rules.
1. Take it daily at or about the same time.
2. Keep in mind that most side-effects disappear after the 4 to 6 week build-up period.
3. Do not skip doses.
4. Do not use alcohol more than 2 glasses. Celexa is the ideal med to develop a very ugly drinking problem because somehow it seems to reduce the immediate effect of alcohol. This may lead you to think that you can imbibe more, but the adverse effects of alcohol on your body and mind remain the same or worse.
5. Prepare yourself for sexual side-effects, because there is going to be a shift from quantity to quality (at least that's how it affected me). It will take a little more 'work' from both (or all) involved. From my perspective and experience, that's a good thing, but others may think otherwise. I found that orgasms are a bit harder to achieve, but are much more intense, longer lasting
and satisfying. After the first 6 weeks, my libido picked up quite a bit, but that can also be due to the tremendous lessening of my depressed and anxious feelings. Mrs. Meerkat is very happy. Nuff said.
Cheers!

[Georgie]

I am on week 2 of celexa (citalopram) 20mg and I am doing great. The first week I was a bit amped up but this week I feel fine. My anxiety and depression are so much more controlled, I feel like my old self, whom I had lost 10+ years ago. I was nervous to take Celaxa at the start, but this forum helped to minimize my fearful thoughts.
A personal THANK YOU to Meerkat for your wonderful words of wisdom.

[Maureen]

I just started this medication today. I feel kind of tired. My mood swings were terrible and I cried alot. It wrecked my career as I used to teach fulltme, but found that these mood swings would appear like a sudden cloud while a room of little faces were staring at me. Quite disturbing! Now I sneak in a day or two as a Sub, and have an online business that seems easer to manage.I really learned from the messages here and would like to read more.

[Eula]

I'VE BEEN ON THIS MED. FOR APPROX. 6 MONTHS. ATOFIRST I IT SEEMED TO WORK BUT FOR THE PAST SEVERAL WEEKS I'VE BECOME MORE AND MORE DEPRESSED AND DESPONDENT. I'M ALSO VERY LETHARGIC TO THE POINT OF BECOMING A FULL TIME COUCH POTATO. I'M CALLING MY DOC TODAY FOR ADVICE/NEW RX./APPOINTMENT. WILL FOLLOW-UP.

[jolly]

i see my best friend on celexia and she has no ambition at all. ill bet she has gained a great deal as well, weight that is. i was on another drug effexor, these drugs are seritonin inhibitors, and hard to get off of. everyone i know has gained 50 lbs. on these drugs.

[Meerkat]

Well, I haven't gained much weight. 4 to 5 pounds at the most and most of that is due to the fact that I had to stop excercizing because of a traffic accident. I agree with regards to the ambition part of it though, but I don't necessarily see that as a negative.
I have found that ambition in myself is very much primarily guilt, fear and shame driven instead of by sense of accomplishment and creativity. By allowing myself to heal while being on medication, I may rate my priorities, my invalid fears, my self-shame and my feeling of guilt differently than while being depressed. I find that I am much more properly assertive and have much more self-control over my negative self-talk and my negative rehearsals and in my book those are positives.

[Jo Jo]

Due to nausea that hit at week 3, I've actually lost weight, but I'm early in the process.

[Sandy]

I started taking it in Jan 07 for anxiety & mild depression. I am in week 2 of removing myself from taking it. The side effects of being dizzy and sleepy eased by week 6. I weaned myself from 20 mg to 10 to 5 over 2 wks.
I became quite lazy, my career and my home were being affected with complete negitive impact. I am 44 female and had strong sex drive, this med took me to low drive, vaginal dryness and unable to acheive orgasm at all.I have gained 15 lbd during this time also. I am more depressed over the sex issues anf weight gain than I was before. I have discussed all of this with my doctor. I will start another med when i have been off this 1 for 6 weeks.
I know that this medication helps many people and i hope I can find the one that suits me.

[carol Buckley]

I have taken anti depressants for about ten years and have recently switched to citalopram after suffering from dry mouth. unfortunately my dry mouth seems to be getting worse and I'm really worried now. can anyone help?

[Maureen]

I've lost weight on this medication, which is a pleasant surprise. I have alot of sympathy for those who gain, as I gained weight on paxil and know how it feels.

[abemit]

My 8th day on citalopram. Haven't noticed any changes yet except tremors. My hands shake and I feel like I am shivering inside mostly in the a.m. about 12 hours after a dose of 20mg. Anyone else experience this? How long did it last, etc.