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Posted

I'm scared by the massive list of side effects!! Anyone had any experiences - positive or negative?

Posted

My ex suffered a massive loss of libido on it, and it never really helped with her symptoms (OCD).

Posted

My SO took it (Bipolar w/OCD behaviors) and spent much of his days "spaced out". It also did not alleviate any of his depression. He has had much better control of the OCD tendencies on Lithium (after 2+ month of solid compliance) his "ticks" back down.

Posted

I took citalopram twice. The first time was for about 6 months, I had no side effects, it worked great. That was about 6 years ago.

The second time was last year and it was different. I had heart palpitations that were awful. I stayed on it about 4 months. The palpitations lasted several weeks. I stuck with it, but I probably shouldn't have, as it was SO uncomfortable.

Posted

The first couple or weeks I had the brain shocks - like small electric shocks in the brain. After that, my mood was both elevated and stabilised. I took it for 6 months and apart from feeling a tiny bit less sharp mentally, I experienced no other side effects.

 

I'm now using St John's Wort, which I find much more suitable for my needs.

Posted

Hi,

 

I took it a couple of years ago-I was traumatized by a tragedy and had lost a significant amount of weight and couldn't sleep at all-basically I was a mess and opted for it to function at work.

 

It worked great. I got my appetite back-ate 3 meals a day up from half a meal in the evening. I got my sleep back and the affect on my focus was fantistic.

 

I did get side effects though-I couldnt have sex which as a man added to my depression immensely and I would sweat so much at night that my bed sheets would be drenched. I had to wash them 5 times a week at least.

 

Overall it was excellent as a short term fix-it did what it needed to, and whilst the side effects were troubling, really my the benefits outweighed the costs.

 

My one concern, and I may be wrong is when I came off them 6 months later my mood has never really been as stable again. I am more prone to ups and downs, but have been anti-depressant free for a number of years. Perhaps this is due to the drug itself, but it could just be because I am more prone to depression after those events.

 

I think its great as a stop gap, but long term I would be wary about the effects on your brain chemistry.

Posted

The very nature of this treatment is experimentation by the patient upon him or her self. There is no exact medication because there is no exact way to extract information from a brain that will say what needs to be tuned up chemically. So, of course there are going to be lots of different experiences. The drug manufacturer has to cover themselves by stating that there is so-called "side effects" but that does not mean that everyone is going to experience them or even if anyone is going to experience them. Every medication for psychological change will have similar nature and list of warnings. The benefits can be so great that they are worth trying but the patient always has to stay in charge of the "experiment" and not just take the drugs as if it's out of there hands.

Posted

I was on Celexa (citalopram) for about 8 months, 4 or so years ago. I had absolutely no sexual desire, which is a downright 180 from my usual horny self. Once I determined that the medication was the source of the problem, I discontinued use.

Posted

I took Celexa once. Once this morning, once yesterday morning...

 

It does have side effects; any SSRI does. Your doctor will hopefully put you on a small dose to start, just to see if you encounter any major side effects. If you do, your doc will try you on another one, until you find one that works. As for me, I was told that many people felt a boost in energy after taking it as one of the side effects (which is why it is recommended as a morning pill); unfortunately, I do not encounter that particular side effect. I have noticed a drop in libido, but given the state I was (and am) in, getting laid wasn't high on my priority list lately anyway. Other than that, I haven't had any side effects from it.

 

As to its effectiveness on me, I think it's doing okay. I wasn't really sure what anti-depressants did in the first place, so I wasn't sure what the expected feeling was going to be. What it turned out to be was not an elevation in mood, but a detachment. I don't feel as much emotional connection to events as I know I normally would.

 

It was very disorienting at first. You hear something or you think of something and you're waiting for the reaction that you know full well should occur, but it's not coming. It's like putting your hand on a live stove element but never feeling any heat - it just feels like something's missing. It kept reminding me of my all-time favourite Warner Brothers line, from Marvin the Martian. "Where's the ka-boom? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering ka-boom!"

Posted
I'm scared by the massive list of side effects!! Anyone had any experiences - positive or negative?

 

I'm on day six of this now. Things looking pretty good so far but a bit too early to really tell. Had weird sensations in my brain on day one but haven't noticed much else except positive signs like lowering of anxiety and panic attacks and a general improvement in well being. Don't know about the lowering of libido yet.

 

I was on another AD many years ago and I consider that one of the best decisions I've made in my life. No side effects except some yawning fits during the first two weeks. Don't know about sex drive in that case as I wasn't in a relationship at the time.

 

It's right what Frisky said above that they just write up this looong list of side effects as a protective measure. Thousands of people take this kind of medication and don't suffer serious side effects. Just make sure you monitor yourself and contact your doctor if you think you're reacting negatively to the drug.

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