r/citalopram_celexa

I (26F) have been taking Celexa since I was 18 for my anxiety and it's been doing wonders for me up until recently. (For context, I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder when I was 11) and lately I've been feeling some of that old anxiety creep back in again. I've been going through a lot of life changes lately and that could also contribute to the heightened anxiety, but I'm also wondering if the potency of Celexa is wearing off in my system due to how long I've been taking it for?

Has anyone been on citalopram long term and been able to not gain weight? I’m in month 2, so far working great and have not noticed weight gain yet however I have been told after 6 months on it is usually when weight grain starts. I’m very focused on my weight, I know not healthy but that’s a whole other thing and am worried if I start gaining I will go off it even though it’s working great.

Hello Everyone, my Psychiatrist just put me on Citralopram 10mg for anxiety and depression. When is the best time to take them? Some people say that they make you sleepy so I don’t want to be at work sleepy and unable to perform my job. Also, I’ve heard people say taken them at night causes insomnia so I don’t know

Hi,

I have a long relationship with Citalopram (around seven years). There has been time in my life when it actually saved me from deep hole. Previously never had any adverse side effects coming on or off it. So I always found it as ‘my-kind of’ drug.

However, last December I was prescribed it again due to work stress. And when I started it my tinnitus went from mild to moderate. I kept taking it in hopes it would alleviate, but that never happened during this time.

Fast forward today and I am off the work, and over the course of April I reduced dose from 20mg to 10mg, with no huge problem. Decided to come off it, because I was afraid of tinnitus worsening over time.

I guess coming off 10mg was too fast, because now when I’m trying to sleep, when I’m about to fall asleep, I get a sudden sound in my head. I googled it and found out it’s Exploding Head Syndrome.

Has anyone faced it when discontinuing any SSRI? Did it fade away? It’s been two weeks since I’m off Citalopram, and keen to push through this, but I’m afraid this Exploding Head Syndrome won’t go away. As tinnitus, it’s really distressing.

Please share positive stories and vibes.

i’ve been on citalopram before and stopped but now starting again due to panic attacks. how long does it take around to stop having panic attacks? i’m on 20mg

After 20+ years on Celexa aka citalopram I’m finally off it successfully! I can tell you the first 5 years I felt it worked then the disaster began from sexual issues to increased anxiety heart palpitations what began to go work ended me up in nightmare situations. With that said I’ve been completely off it for months now. I got through the brain Zaps a lightheadedness a weird nightmares I’m glad to say I’m 100% out of the big phama game. It was my goal to get away and living more a clean sober ish lifestyle. I can tell you my journey being first on ritalin at age 6 in early 1990’s only after a few months I was diagnosed Tourette’s syndrome for nearly 10 years later my life was a complete mess with non stop changing in medications to causing numerous health issues from side effects the list went on for me. Finally at age 14 I stopped taking my meds and my ticks like practically went away almost I will still have them on/off but no where nearly as bad when I was in meds. Fast forward clean on no meds till 18 the anxiety/panic attacks came a which created another nightmare pt. 2. I think a lot of this stemmed from being beaten at very young age till I was 16/17 by my farther I almost killed him the abuse towards me and my mother an the black out anger went to extreme after the one time when I was older beating my father up he would never fought me or my mother again on top of that being sexually melosted at a young age I’ve had a hard life I feel but I’ve still somehow managed to push through all of this I’m now 39 years old and pushing as strong an healthy as I can be I just wanted to share my story because you your self can make it out alive. I wanna thank EDMR for 2 years also really changing my life around it really did work for me. I’m so happy to be away from antidepressants and pills in general I’m starting to feel I see the real me I never really have. Please ask me any questions you’d like and thanks for reading this an hoping you can get something positive out of this. Sorry I’m not the best writer whatsoever peace and love!

-PORTER

Hi! I’ve recently come off 50mg of pristiq (was on pristiq for 1.5 yrs) and am going on to celexa. Pristiq worked great but dulled every emotion and even dulled my sense of empathy— just couldn’t ignore it anymore!! Hoping to feel like myself again on another medication. I’m looking for a happy medium where I can still feel like myself!
Any insight helps. Has celexa caused emotional blunting for you? Did it go away? Thank you!

I used to be on 10 MG of escitalopram and it was great for me so great i ended up going off and 6 months later my anxiety and depression hit bad my psychiatrist put me in citalopram this time around i’ve been on it for over a year now and it never seemed to work for me like escitalopram did had an appointment today with my psychiatrist and am switching back to escitalopram starting on 5 MG and am just so scared of the side effects has anybody did this direct switch how was it?

Hi,
I started citoapram 10mg 5 weeks ago for mainly depression. I still have ongoing symptoms/side effects
Head pressure
Spaced out
Waking very early 3-4 in the morning
My mind feels calmer but anxiety in the body is tough
Weird vision especially in the evening
My overall mood seems flat but at least I don’t feel rock bottom
Sometimes just generally don’t feel well
Night sweats

I seemed to be improving a little week 3 then gone backwards. Is there anyone who still felt like this at 5 weeks? I really need to get back to work but feel I can’t at the moment.
Grateful for any advice or experiences.

I‘ve been on Citalopram for 5 years and for some reason started to get really bad sexual side effects after 4 years and it has just been getting progressively worse since. I tried stopping for 2 months but nothing changed, only my anxiety came back strong so I went back on it.

Currently i’m on my second attempt of stopping and switching to Wellbutrin at the same time. I‘m only one week in but it has been rough, i feel like my Anxiety is even higher than without Wellbutrin or any med at all.

It‘s frustrating since Citalopram has worked really well for my anxieties but I can‘t live with the sexual side effects. I was wondering if anyone had a positive experience after switching to another SSRI (i know they all cause them) or by lowering their dosage to the minimal dose?

Please also share if you had a similar experience and found and alternative that helped you.

Hey guys. I'm hoping to go back on this medication very soon. I was on it for 17 years, it worked well but depression eventually started creeping back in. I switched to Wellbutrin and my anxiety has never been worse. Anyway! My concern is the nausea side effect when first starting it. I have emetophobia so that is my biggest worry. I do have zofran and natural anti-nausea supplements if needed. When I started it years ago, I took it before bed and don't remember any nausea so I'm hoping it will be the same experience. I've been off of Celexa for about 1.5 years. I'm curious how common nausea is and how long it lasts. Thanks!

for a little bit of context, i have had anxiety for around 2 years and struggled with mental health problems throughout college (4 years ago). for the past nine months, my anxiety sky rocketed to the point of it being unbearable. i decided to go to my GP for some guidance, who set me up with 6 therapy sessions which was then extended to 8 as they felt i needed a little longer.

the therapy really helped with my panic attacks, which i was mainly experiencing whilst driving to work and out in busy places. i’m now 3 months panic attack free, which has been great, but internally i’m still extremely anxious. i tend to overthink a lot and think the worst in situations, it drives me crazy. i also struggle with sleep. i’m fine getting to sleep but i wake up a lot in the night, which has caused me to spend most days very tired.

my GP has now prescribed me 20mg of Citalopram, i’ve had the tablets 3 days now, but im so unbelievably anxious to take them (ironic) that i don’t know what to do. i really want to know what my life could look like whilst taking them, but im so scared of the side affects. im in a long term relationship of 6 years, in which myself and my boyfriend are inseparable. im concerned that i could experience a reduced sex drive, and the changes i could go through may affect my relationship.

obviously i’ll never know unless i take the tablets, but if anyone can share some of their experiences, that would be greatly appreciated <3

Hey everyone! 36/F

I’ve been on 10mg citalopram since late 2024, primarily for health anxiety. I am also on metoprolol for heart rate and blood pressure. About 4-6 months after starting the medication, I started to notice weight gain. Now bringing me up to about 20-25lbs. The medication has GREATLY helped me and my anxiety. I feel like being on this medication allowed me to work through some issues. I feel good. I am considering either trying a new medication, staying on it or tapering off citalopram due to the weight gain. I’m not thrilled with the weight gain, but I feel like I’ve embraced loving myself for my body right now.

My doctor has essentially left it up to me on what to do. And I’m pretty indecisive. On the one hand, the medication has helped me and if it’s continuing to help me, maybe I just stay on it. On the other hand, I would like to have a better chance to take some of the weight off. I feel like I never get full and give into cravings easily.

Anyone deal with anything similar? Any input? I’d just like some opinions before I make a decision.

I’m a 30 year old female and I’ve been on 10mg of citalopram for 5 months after a break up a year ago gave me a resurgence of extreme anxiety and OCD.

Overall it’s very positive, the nausea passed and I feel more settled than I have in years and it’s easier to manage my anxiety and OCD. My main symptom is fatigue but I’m dealing with that for now because the pros outweigh the cons.

I’ve started dating again, and I’ve noticed that I feel ‘numb’ towards other people in a way I never have before. I don’t feel numb in my emotions day to day, but I’ve met some people I would’ve been head over heels for before citalopram, but on citalopram I just feel really dulled, slight glimmers of excitement. It’s a weird feeling I can’t fully describe.

My sex drive has also dropped significantly (still there but not like before) which may be a contributing factor.

Has anyone else experienced the same? I’m not sure what to do because I’ve met someone amazing who makes me feel something through the numbness, but it’s just not as strong as anything I would’ve felt before citalopram.

I don’t know what to do because it’s impacting my interactions and how ‘forward’ I come across. I also don’t want to lead anyone on, I feel like I’m dating as a robot.

Hey all,

I was hoping I could get some help. I'm currently in Greece and leading up to and now at Greece I have had awful anxiety paired with chronic insomnia. It sucks because I really wanted to enjoy this holiday and I feel like I've ruined it and cannot appreciate it fully. I am only on my second full day though I guess. Poor sleep seems to really mess me up and for some reason I seem to wake and come to every hour or so. The night lasts forever and when I get up in the morning I'm exhausted.

I was on 10mg then went to 20mg a few months ago. I felt detached so I reverted back to 10mg. I have generalised anxiety disorder and 10mg simply isn't cutting it. My doctor prescribed me 20mg pills and I was chopping them in half so I think I'll trial 20mg again as it is the therapeutic dose. I was on fluoxetine for many years prior to this med.

Anyone know how I can help this sleep? I self medicated with alcohol last night as I was desperate and managed to get 4 hours or so of sleep in a row, then I continued to wake on the hour following the same patterns as previously.

Thanks

It made me so irritable! Has anyone else had this happen? I want to cry because it helps me so dang much

My anxiety has been at an all time high since starting on 10mg. I believe I am sensitive to medication as well, so maybe 10mg is too much for me. I’ve been waking up in panic the last few nights, and during the day my anxiety is more of racing thoughts and can’t get out of my own head rather than panic attacks.

I’m just not doing well with the side effects and wondering if it will hurt me to go down 5mg on the 5th day.

Since I started taking 10mg celexa, I got all the side effects you can think of

-Insomnia

-Dry mouth

-Dizziness

-Brain fog

-Restless/ wired but tired

-Big pupils and blurry vision

-Running hot and sweating more

-Mild nausea

-Loss of appetite

-Headaches

-Drowsiness

-Lower libido

-Heightened anxiety and panic attacks

Most of these are okay and I can deal with, but holy shit the heightened anxiety and panic attacks every single night after I take the dose have been the WORST. Full body tremors, racing thoughts, feeling trapped in my own body. I’m someone who has major health anxiety as well, so I think the side effects send me into a huge panic attack but my panic attacks were never as bad as they have been on celexa.

At the point I’m at, I just want to stop taking it completely. This is so debilitating and awful. Any advice would be appreciated!

46M. I’ve been on celexa for two weeks now. The first week had some significant side effects, but they’re starting to modulate. One thing I have noticed though is I wake up about an hour before my alarm and then have a hard time getting fully awake in the morning. I’ve been morning dosing so far (around 9 am). Wondering if I should switch to evening dosing. I don't want to play around with dosing too much, though so maybe I just tough it out morning dosing until six weeks?

I stopped taking citalopram around a two months ago, and I swear losing weight feels impossible now 😭

I’m eating way less than before, trying to cut sugar, and walking like 4 times a week for 45–50 mins, but my weight keeps bouncing between the same 1–2 kg. It’s so frustrating because I genuinely feel like I’m trying.

I also have stomach issues, so intermittent fasting honestly doesn’t work for me at all. If I stay hungry too long my stomach gets really messed up, so I can’t do those long fasting windows everyone recommends.

Did anyone else struggle with weight after stopping citalopram?

How long did it take for your body/metabolism to feel normal again?

I’m trying not to crash diet because it destroys my mental health, but I also have a trip coming up and I just wanna feel better in my body again 🥲