r/citalopram_celexa

Hey. I’m just looking for some advise and I guess support as I feel so lonely in all of this.

I’ve been on citalopram for about 6 years where I gradually increased to 40mg and then back down to 20mg and I’d say I’ve been stable on 20mg for a good 3-4 years.

After losing my dog in January and my nan falling and breaking her hip in March, so I then became a daily carer for her, things have been hard but I’ve managed and then last week at work I got really stressed and had a bit of a breakdown and couldn’t stop crying. I felt really low for a few days so asked the GP if I could increase to 30mg which they said yes. The side effects of the increase have been unbearable, I haven’t even been able to leave the house, I’ve not spoke to anyone apart from my partner face to face. My appetite has gone, nausea, anxiety is sky high, sweating, shaking. I couldn’t deal with them and began to think I maybe didn’t need to increase the meds and maybe just take some time to deal with what was happening instead of increasing medication. So I was on 30mg for 9 days and then this morning I went back to 20mg.

How long do you think it’ll take for the side effects to wear off, has anyone experienced similar and then stopped or decreased back down? I know the side effects if I carried on could have worn off but I just couldn’t physically or mentally continue on 30mg. I was having such bad thoughts of not wanting to continue life anymore, and how long do I have to go through this for. I really scared myself so I had to stop the increased dose.

Also, I am still waking up with heightened anxiety in the morning and this lasts all day to the point I’m just constantly sweating, crying, shaking and not eating. I have to keep telling myself things are going to get better but I’m struggling to see that right now.

Thank you for reading and honestly I really would love and appreciate any help/support.

I’m planning to smoke weed on an increased dose of 30mg. I’m just not sure whether it counteracts and I’ll freak out? Google isn’t recommending it whatsoever, but can anyone let me know their experiences?

I got my prescription 9 months ago and it's been sitting in my medicine cabinet as my anxiety and depression gets worse and worse by the day. It's to the point where my husband is begging me to take it.

I've been on this medication twice, all during high school about 20 years ago, and from 2021-2022. Both times, life was amazing and I felt so good. I'm so scared to take it, even though I know it worked twice already, I'm terrified of some weird negative reaction I might have to it, or having to be on it for life. Mostly though, im scared of the weight gain. i gained like 20lbs last time and still havent lost it I keep thinking I can figure it out on my own and not need the meds, but I feel like shit and like my brain chemically can't do it on its own. Ugh. Do I just force myself to start tonight?

i’m just nervous because my psychiatrist wrote me out a script for Celexa 10 mg and I just wanted to know if anyone else is taking mirtazapine with Celexa cause I read you could get QT prolongation or serotonin syndrome

I am currently weening off my celexa (30mg) and all I’ve seen in this sub are horror stories of coming off. I’m currently doing 5mg decreases every 2-3 weeks. I started my 25 mg dose yesterday but the horror stories are terrifying me and making my ocd go through the roof. Can yall PLEASE share some success stories of coming off so I can stop panicking about it?

Hey there. I (23F) was just prescribed 20mg of Celexa for depression. I’ve been doing very poorly, to the point where I was afraid of what a really bad day would look like for me. So I was optimistic about starting a medication to hopefully help with that.

However, i’ve also struggled with body image issues my entire life, and having read some threads of people gaining a lot of weight on Celexa, i’m now terrified to take it. Like, really, really frightened. I think I will freak out if I end up gaining a lot of weight and just be way worse off than I originally was without any meds. I know that’s sad to say, and I’m going to be starting counseling soon to hopefully address this issue among other things.

I know no one can tell me what’s gonna happen with me and my body because everyone reacts differently to medication. I guess what I want to know is if it really causes significant weight gain in most people, or if i’ve just been spooked by the stories of a few people. I just don’t even want to risk gaining a significant amount of weight. TYIA

Is that OK?

The things I’ve read is that citalopram sucks for agoraphobia and is more for depression feel like it’s made mine worse

Hey guys,

I started taking 20mg of Citalopram around 5 days ago for my anxiety. It’s been a really difficult week, I take it at around 9pm since I thought I’d end up sleeping through the side effects.

However, for the past 5 days I’ve been sleeping for about 3 hours a night and I can’t fall back asleep if I wake up, my mind is constantly racing and my heart beats rapidly. I’m constantly anxious and stressed and I feel nauseous all day long. I haven’t been able to eat properly since all the food I eat just feels like effort and makes me feel more nauseous.

I woke up today and I just feel like I’d had enough I know that it’s meant to make you feel worse before you feel better but it just feels so bad I’m not sure if I’m meant to feel this awful. I can’t relax and I’m anxious all day and all night long. Just to add I have really bad health anxiety and decided to read up on symptoms online and I’ve convinced myself that I need to go to the hospital…probably out of anxiety.

Just need some advice on if this is normal and if it gets better. Or if this is something I should bring up with my doctor.

I’m starting to ween off my celexa this week so I can start a new med for my OCD. I’m at 30 mg, I’m supposed to ween off 5 mg per week. I’m really scared to start weening off because I’m worried about the side effects. Has anyone gotten off of it and what did you experience weening off?

It’s getting to the point where I’m just depressed over the simple fact I can’t feel good anymore. The drug has definitely improved my mental health for sure, but has dragged down a lot of stuff with it. Motivation being one of them, and my ability to “get the job done”, without being too crude. I can get started, but it takes an unholy amount of work to actually get to the finish line.

It’s putting road bumps in my relationship, and I’m just really upset about it. I’m even questioning tapering off, just to feel good.

My question is, is it a permanent thing? Am I just fucked for life now, or will that ‘ability’ come back to me? I don’t water to taper off and quit the drug if it’s all futile and I did it for nothing.

I know it’s a touchy subject and I don’t mind if the post is removed because of it, but I really need advice here. I’ll be speaking to a doctor soon about it but, having some other stories about it would be nice for reassurance.

Thanks :/

I was only on 10mg for 5ish years. Its been a month since I quit (properly) and I lack the feeling of excitement, happiness and nostalgia, whereas when I was on citralopram I had happy, motivated days sometimes. I was wondering if this happened to anyone else, and if it got better? Because so far it seems like it's the reverse of most people's experiences. Thanks :)

Hi, I've suffered with bouts of generalized anxiety and panic for years but then have had even longer years of remission. In 2018 I needed to switch meds after 11 years on cymbalta. A psychiatrist basically tried to switch me to Zoloft after an extremely short cross taper. Needless to say it was horrible and basically ended up stopping both. I then went through months of her trying different things mirtzipan, Lexapro, gabapentin. I could not get past the start up effects because I think my nervous system was such a wreck. I then switched to a integrative psychiatrist months later. She had me start a low dose klonopin.25 twice a day and SLOWLY got me on citalopram. I started off on 2.5 mg until I eventually ended up on 20mg. Tapered off the Klonopin..I was on it for 3 months, never increased the dose but took it at the consistent dose every day until I went off of it. I don't remember any withdrawals but was terrified the whole time I was on it. Anyway fast forward 8: years... Something set off my panic and anxiety again. Maybe my body is used to this dose. I've been trying to just find my way through the the last 4 months. It's better but not. I'm tired of feeling this way. Same doc suggested going up to 30mg citalopram. After 3 days major anxiety and freaked out went back to 20mg. I don't know if it's my trauma from years ago or really that much anxiety. Anyway doctor wants me to do what we did before. Use a bridge of klonopin same low dose while I work my way up to 30mg. Then slowly taper off the klonopin after probably 2 months. It worked before but alas I'm terrified. Anyone else have a similar experience. Does the evidence point to this being successful? My psychiatrist says I'll be just fine. Please don't scare me..

I’ve been on 10mg for a year, but recently increased to 20mg due to a number of stressful events in life. I did titrate up with 15mg for a week, but since starting the 20mg I feel very anxious and having some side effects like nausea and tiredness. Is this fairly normal for changing the dose?

I have been on Celexa 40 mg for about 10 years. I am 42 years old and have been considering removing this drug from my life. This is a very serious decision, and I have tried it once before, but the side effects of withdrawal were too uncomfortable. I tapered down to 37.5 mg and dealt with the brain zaps and heart palpitations but I couldn’t sleep. After a week I went back to 40 mg. I am no longer depressed and have not been for at least five years. I feel like I don’t need drugs to continue my consistently content and non-chaotic life. At this point, I am scared to start another taper. I don’t want this drug to change my brain permanently. When I was prescribed Celexa, I was in a terrible marriage that I wanted to get out of and instead of recommending I work through my problems through counseling and talk therapy, my doctor gave me this medication. I feel like I’m going to be stuck taking it forever. Big Pharma does not need any more of my money. I’m looking for advice and people to relate with me so I don’t feel so alone with this issue. At this point I have no idea if there are any side effects from taking this drug every single day for 10 years because it’s been so long.

Coming up to 8 weeks on increased dose of 40mg and my agoraphobia and anxiety are still so bad I’m so on edge all the time I don’t know what to do

I’ve had a really unexpected experience with Celexa and I’m wondering if anyone else has.
I think it’s almost completely gotten rid of my body dysmorphia. Before, I would obsess over every flaw, constantly analyze my appearance, and always feel like I needed to lose weight.
Now…it’s like all of that is just gone. The neurosis around my body has disappeared. The weird part is that it almost feels like it’s gone too far. I don’t really have any desire to lose weight anymore, even though I know objectively I’m carrying more weight than I’d ideally like to.
It’s almost like I can look in the mirror and think, “Yeah, I look fine,” even though I probably have room to improve. I’m not complaining—it’s honestly a relief compared to how obsessive I used to be—but I’m curious if anyone else has experienced this. Did an SSRI seem to completely change the way you saw your body, or just make you stop caring so much?
I’m trying to figure out whether this is what a healthier mindset feels like, or if the medication has swung me a little too far in the other direction.

Title explains a bit but ive been on 20mg citalopram for 10 years. my new psych recently took me off of it to have wellbutrin as my primary med, as ive been taking it for about a year alongside my citalopram. He instructed me to take 10mg for a week, 5 mg for the next week, then completely off. I feel like this is a horrible way to taper considering how shit i feel. ive had heart flutters and palpitations? im worried to hell about everything but im not having panic attacks. im having headaches and overall feeling sick. he also gave me hydroxyzine in case i have panicked feelings or trouble sleeping but thats not my problem. if anyone else has experienced similar do yall have any advice on what to do? im 4 days completely off of citalopram.

I see my doctor on Monday and I’m ready for an increased dosage for Citalopram I think. I’ve been on 10 mg for a little over 3 weeks now, most of the side effects are manageable, still have some insomnia.

Should I ask for a slight increase of 5 mg for a total of 15 mg, or just go for the 20 mg?

I had some rough side effects on the 10 mg. Wondering if anyone has had rough side effects on the 10 mg, but successfully went to the 20 without much issue? Any advice is genuinely appreciated.

Hi, i’ve just started citalopram, like i’m literally on day two now, and I am looking to see if anyone has experienced anything similar to me. I’m 20 and have been put on it following a depressive episode. A couple hours after taking my first dose I felt literally wired, like so restless that I couldn’t sleep for the life of me last night. I know this is a fairly common side effect but I didn’t expect it to hit me within the first day of taking it. Nausea too. As well as this, I was incredibly paranoid last night. I kept feeling as if someone was watching me, I even had to close a door in the hallway as the shelf looked to me like someone peeking around the corner. Is this something to be concerned about or has anyone else experienced this when taking it? Thank you !!