Celexa or any other SSRI's

pinggolfer96 · August 2016

i don't know what section to post this under, so thought this would be the best option. I've been on celexa/ citalophram for a probably more than couple months now due to anxiety and depression. I was just curious as to if it's helped any of you and maybe some possible symptoms you have encountered? I'm on 40mg a day which is the max dose. I have noticed it helping, but I do still get anxiety and depressed while on it. Maybe it works better for others? I do notice an increase in effectiveness every time my dose was increased, but now I'm at max dosage so can't go up from here. Is there a possibility of tolerance to the medication that any of you have experienced? I have also noticed a lower libido and interest in sexual interaction. As much as I don't want that, it's just something that's inevitable and I've noticed. What are you guys thoughts, experiences, pros/ cons when taking an SSRI medication? I'm male btw, but any gender, I'm curious!(:

minniemoo1972 · August 2016

I was on mirtazapine.....it took a few weeks to start working....or made me sleep like the dead...12 hours + and I was still a zombie and it seriously increased my appetite. . (It's being looked at now to help with those with low appetites and eating disorders) so I slept and got fat (entirely my fault) it wasn't a miracle but slowly the black void faded and I began to feel again....the first time I found something genuinely funny I cried. Lack of libido...well depression can also cause that as well so is it the pills? If they Truely aren't helping can you change medications?

dkabambe · August 2016

The very nature of anti-depressants means they are very individual. I tried Citalopra - and had similar experience to you after every dose increase but after a few weeks would wear off. I then changed to Venlafaxine (a SNRI) and that worked much better for me, though I had low libido on both (but can't really say if that was related to drugs or underlying depression). I know people who have had to try 4 or more different drugs before they found something that was effective for them. I think it's something you need to talk through with your doctor.

born_of_fire74 · August 2016

There isn't a medication in the world that will make it so you never become depressed or anxious. The medication's job isn't to make each day free of depression and anxiety, it's to mitigate the amplitude and frequency of your bouts, to cushion the blows over the long haul so to speak. It won't be perfect but it'll probably be much, much better than without any meds at all.
Is Celexa/citalophram the only thing your doctor has tried with you? It's very rare to have the first medication you try be the perfect fit for your needs. Might be that you need a different prescription entirely rather than a higher dose of what you are on now, especially if you are taking the maximum dose and still struggling. Mostly it sounds like you need to re-evaluate your expectations though.

salembambi · August 2016

i hung myself while i was on celexa ( i was on it for 4 years)

soooo safe to say it did nothing, i hated that drug

ObsidianMist · August 2016

I started Celexa (20mg) a couple months ago myself. I'm recently finding that I am feeling better on it, and no negative side effects which is awesome. it *kitten* with my sleep really bad for the first several weeks but that seems to have settled down. I'm actually doing well sexually, but my libido had gone to *kitten* previously just due to my relationship basically being *kitten* lol. we're in counselling now though and things are going much better and I've been much more sexually interested of late so all is well there.

as others have said, if this is your first med, chances are it won't turn out to be the one for you. I've been on so many different meds over the years with varying amounts of success and this one just may work out for me long term, but it may not work out for you. it's all trial and error.

and also as others have said, you can't expect an SSRI to make you feel 100%, 100% of the time. it just doesn't work that way. it just helps you cope, maybe raises your baseline emotional state some.

LokiGrrl · August 2016

Been on SSRIs for years and years. Mostly sertraline (Zoloft) but also tried citalopram and some others. Only sertraline works for me. And no, it will not make depression and anxiety go away completely. Really what it will do is make you better able to deal with them.

Some people can take them for a while and then go off them (always gradually, otherwise hello psychosis). Some people have extremely bad reactions and need to find another treatment. All antidepressants, and even all SSRIs, are not created equal.

Then there's me. I have Major Depressive Disorder, Recurrent, Severe, and pretty much can't function without my meds. I resisted for a long time, believed the people who told me just getting more sunshine or taking a walk would cure me, or praying would cure me, or whatever other fool thing they heard about that I should totally do because I would be a junkie if I took medication. Whatever. I have a sickness. I take medication for it. I am not sick. Yay!

At first I had a lot of nausea. It was explained to me that there were serotonin receptors in the stomach or something like that, I don't really remember. That went away after a couple of months. I sometimes get benign positional vertigo (this was way worse in the beginning). A side effect that is relatively uncommon that I have is SIADH, which gives me some hydration/electrolyte problems if I'm not careful. There were some other things, dry mouth, headache, etc. They went away. There can be sexual side effects and sometimes they get better and sometimes they don't, and then you have to decide whether you can live with them or if you want to try something else.

SSRIs never did a thing for my anxiety, but that stems from PTSD, and I manage it in other ways now.

Six weeks is the baseline time for really gauging the effects of SSRIs. I really recommend waiting the whole six weeks. I saw positive results almost from day 1 on sertraline, but the side effects took a while to shake out. If you're unhappy with your medication and your GP doesn't seem to be able to help, I highly recommend seeing an actual psychiatrist. Very helpful. And you probably will not have to talk about your mother or penis envy or any of that.

Hope this helped. I don't normally like to put all that out there about my disorders but depression is a *kitten* disease that ruins lives and I want everyone who has it to know they have options.

Good luck!

lemurcat12 · August 2016

I think this is a valuable topic, but most certainly not a debate topic, so here seems wrong. Maybe General Fitness?

LisaKay91 · August 2016

I take celexa 40 and wellbutrin xl 300... I feel they work best together for me. Wellbutrin kicked all the negative side effects I had with celexa and celexa killed the heightened anxiety wellbutrin gave me. Celexa absolutely killed my sex drive and wellbutrin alone made it out of control. I'm not suggesting to ask for your doctor to stack meds if you don't need it but both medications alone for me did not work. In addition to the medication I hope you are also working mentally through your issues- therapist, self help books, meditation, etc. That was a big help for me, as well.

lithezebra · August 2016

I was just going to suggest Wellbutrin, too. You might be able to cut back on Celexa if you take both. Another option you have is to try Lexapro, which is the pure E isomer of Celexa. Celexa is the same drug, but also contains the Z isomer, which is considered inactive, and which some people feel causes more side effects. I do better on Celexa, and have fewer side effects on Celexa. I've heard of other people doing better on Lexapro.

Other things to consider: thyroid problems and vitamin D levels. (I don't know if they check your thyroid at your age. I was hypothyroid in my early twenties, not overweight, and no one even considered it in those days.)

In my experience, anxiety and depression ease up considerably when my meds are working. I try to keep things fine tuned to the point that while I might have a moody day, or maybe a week, I wouldn't really say that I'm anxious or depressed, just dealing with some things. More than that, and I'm asking myself, and my doctor, what can be tweaked.

Best wishes finding the right combination of medication and treatment for you.

ChelzFit · August 2016

I am on Lexapro 20mg. It took a good two months for me to feel the effect of the drug for my anxiety. At first it made my anxiety worse for about two weeks. I sleep much better, although some days I still have my anxiety. One thing I hate for sure is that it KILLED my sex drive, nothing! My doctor has given me 3mg of testosterone to take daily to see if that helps. After a month and a half I have noticed no change. I really don't want to go off the meds because they have helped, but I also really want to enjoy sex again!

pinggolfer96 · August 2016

lithezebra wrote: »

I was just going to suggest Wellbutrin, too. You might be able to cut back on Celexa if you take both. Another option you have is to try Lexapro, which is the pure E isomer of Celexa. Celexa is the same drug, but also contains the Z isomer, which is considered inactive, and which some people feel causes more side effects. I do better on Celexa, and have fewer side effects on Celexa. I've heard of other people doing better on Lexapro.

Other things to consider: thyroid problems and vitamin D levels. (I don't know if they check your thyroid at your age. I was hypothyroid in my early twenties, not overweight, and no one even considered it in those days.)

In my experience, anxiety and depression ease up considerably when my meds are working. I try to keep things fine tuned to the point that while I might have a moody day, or maybe a week, I wouldn't really say that I'm anxious or depressed, just dealing with some things. More than that, and I'm asking myself, and my doctor, what can be tweaked.

Best wishes finding the right combination of medication and treatment for you.

Yeah I had hypothyroid prior to the anxiety/ depression, and supplement with synthetic. So those are good!

onxystare · August 2016

I was on paxil and I loved it. I felt it worked so well. However, one side effect was weight gain and I ended up gaining 60lbs. I got switched to Prozac. It didn't result in weight gain, but I didn't think it was as effective as paxil. You may have to play around with them to find what works best with you. But be careful!!! SSRI's can really mess with your brain's biochemistry. Make sure you keep an eye on your side effects for the first few weeks, and stay away from alcohol until you know how the drug effects you.

raven56706 · August 2016

im on citalophram 20 mg. I have gained weight since. I have made the decision to begin coming off of it this fall.

mbaker566 · August 2016

it's all individual. everyone's depression and anxiety and brain chemistry is different.
i've been on nearly all of them except the first generation stuff.

work with your doctor. tell them about your side effects and symptoms. we found that for a number of reasons, cymbalta works best for me. zoloft and lamictyl both worked for awhile too (at different times)

it won't help completely but it can help you control it or minimize it. it's helped me get well enough to find things in my life that makes me happy so when my cloud visits, i can turn to those hobbies

CorneliusPhoton · August 2016

I took Lexapro for several years. I do not think it helped a whole lot with my anxiety, but it did take the edge off of depression. I also slept much better. Vivid dreams. Problem is, it also took the edge off of happiness and all other emotions. I lived in one long static state of meh. No libido. I read a study that listed some of the effects SSRIs had on rats. After prolonged dosage and subsequent brain autopsy, the rats had lost many of their serotonin receptors. I read another study that in humans, libido loss is sometimes permanent. I took a good long time weaning myself off of it. Went through some uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms every time I decreased my dosage, but got SLAMMED with the bad ones after my last micro-dose. Symptoms lasted a year. It was hell. Somewhere in there I was diagnosed with hypothyroid. It's been 9 years now, I'm unmedicated, and I still haven't seen any libido come back. My sister took a different one, I think it was Effexor. She had bad withdrawal symptoms too. If I could go back in time to do it again, I would have done everything in my power to not have to go on it.

ETA: One really cool thing happened during my withdrawal though... I started laughing again. Belly laughing even! I hadn't had a side-splitting laugh in years. That's when I realized that it had taken the edge off of happiness.

Raynne413 · August 2016

I've tried many antidepressants, especially in the past year (part of why I've gained some weight back). So far, the best combination I've found is Cymbalta and Wellbutrin. It covers seratonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine. Zoloft didn't do anything for me. Effexor caused nightsweats, nightmares, and muscle weakness, no interest in sex, and an inability or orgasm. Lexapro made my depression even worse. Wellbutrin didn't help my anxiety. Right now this combo is working for me, so I plan to stay on it.

If what you're on isn't working for you, there's no reason to stay on it. Talk to your doctor about your options.

Celexa or any other SSRI's

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