Happy tablets; Citalopram… thoughts/comments please!

Wealth of knowledge, life experience and p*ss-taking on the internets – STW.

Not a lot of an explanation needed if you know what the above happy tablet is all about, so, anyone on it, been on it or any concerns?

Was on prozac some years ago but that was (in my words to the doc today "some hardcore emotional flatliner" (which i'm very keen to avoid again)) however he was neither committal nor dismissive as to the (short term) affects of these 'ere tablets, other than the usual "it'll sort you out and the lack of concentration, motivation & 'dark days' will fade away in about a fortnight" (words to that effect)

I've been prescribed 20mg ones so assume i'm not on elephant-strength ones.

cheers and thanks in advance people,
Jonathan 😉

No no no no it is not the way. My father was doing twenty mile walks in june this year he was then proscribed flux…. (prozac), that made him sit in a chair all day with a dry mouth, then the **** doctor proscribed him this Citalopram without looking at his many medical conditions this made him ill to the point of he could not dress himself, struggled with solid food.

My father is now in hospital and is mentally very weak, he shits himself, has some childlike mannerisms, is basically not the same person all because these tablets reacted with a existing condition.

Whether your in perfect health i don't know but i can not stress enough that those tablets are not your root to utopia, get out on your bike, learn how to cook well, take up gardening, have more sex, pick up a guiter, hang out with your friends but for **** sack don't take that crap you've been given.

Citalopram is an SSRI, look it up on wikipedia.

They buy you some breathing space, some time to begin to be objective about your current situation. They only change the way you view where you are, not the situation you are in.

You will be a bit shaky at first, then they become second nature and you feel more 'normal'.

Made me able to sleep for England.

Will mess up your libido for a time after you stop taking them.

Will give you amazingly vivid dreams/nightmares after you stop taking them.

Not a solution, just a rest stop along the way.

Sorry get them in the bin now. What do your family/friends perhaps employer think of your situation. Why are you on them, whats happened can I or STW help?

I was on that dose 7 years ago for about a year. All I can really remember them doing was making it hard to get a stiffee. They didn't seem to do much else.

I'd recommend them to ppl with premature ………

Fix the undelying cause of your problem. Pills are a sticking plaster.

Some say they can leave you in a worse state than before you went on them, but this might be nonsense. Mind you, I do have my moments 😀

More or less what crikey says – use them to get over the worst of whatever it is you're going through, but please dont think of them as a long term answer.

done quite a lot of good to the person i know who takes them. a sticking plaster they may be, but at times a sticking plaster is whats needed… getting out, learning to cook etc isn't always an option, fwiw.

sorry to hear about tails' dad, but imo thats more to do with poor doctoring than the drugs themselves. the person i know didn't get on with others before it, but had a good understanding doctor who was happy to experiment.

if you have an issue which is rearing its head in a disruptive manner at the moment, then, assuming the doctor recommends it, it might be worth a try to get you through this particular period.

afaik 40mg is about as high as the doses tend to get (could be wrong though).

…and it is suggested that they don't mix well with alcohol…

I ended up living at my dads*, drinking brandified coffee for breakfast, spending two hours in the pub in the afternoons, drinking wine with my dinner, then whisky and or port afterwards.

To be honest, all the time I spent taking citalopram I was pissed whenever I wasn't at work…

(* in a box room, with my clothes in plastic bags, and my bikes in bits in his conservatory, and my self respect in tatters)

Tails, i'm truly sorry to hear you're dad's 'ended up' like so due to those tablets.

You're offer of support and assistance is also very kind indeed. Thank you!

I used to take prozac as said, for about 18months, what a pain in the … won't be doing that again!! the chat with the doc' more or less went along the lines of I just need to sort some stuff out for the next few months so wanted something to help, i'd taken diazapam in the past too, and felt that could be more appropriate but he felt this would be better – more suited.

Completely agree with the 'sticking plaster' analogy, and certainly not a long term thing.

I'm currently suffering with a lack of quality sleep (living back at my folks, so they're up and about in the morning, neighbours are noisy pikey f*ckers (subaru with massive exhausts)… which compounds things.

Great, I go to hospital with a suspected damaged uretha so have to have some endoscopy, and now it could be difficult to get it up…. bloomin great ;)) (nothing wrong with little lad thank god)

Just a culmination of things, work (and the lack of it).. living at my folks … lack of sleep … lack of cash… parents having some rough times (dad 70, mum 60, *nearly* ended in divorce a few weeks back…)

certainly nothing to complain about to anyone else, and certainly nothing compared to what some others are going through, just finding it difficult to stay focused, concentrate, sleep, motivation (lack of)

Haven't been to collect them yet, just got the prescription today.

thanks again,
Jonathan

yes hungry monkey the doc was crap but you know you go there for help, what was he supposed to do not believe him. To often these docs prescribe drugs saying oh must be depression.

go to see a councilor someone you can be really open to. you can speak here if you like i don't know you nor will i judge you. just please flush them down the toilet.

YOU CAN BE HAPPY WITHOUT DRUGS.

crikey – not too dissimilar here.

Had no where else to go, couldn't afford (still can't) to rent or buy anywhere at the moment due to 6 months of having no income other than the sausage (£60 per week!? – my outgoings were more than that, despite cutting them down!!)

As it happens, i've got a rather interesting meeting tomorrow which may well turn the tables and start bringing some regular, well earned cash in. … if it does, then things that side should be a little better..

jt

Is there anywhere else you could live, back at the parents doesn't sound like the safety net it could be?

Sleep is a big problem, try and worry about it less, your body will correct itself natuarally.

jonathan, there's a fair few depression sufferers on here (including myself), so if you need/want some serious advice on dealing with things there's a wealth of knowledge and experience here to tap! We're all willing to help too 🙂

i know where your coming from tails, and i really do empathise (sp) with your fathers situation, but i do think that they have to be looked at on a case by case basis. i know my friend's life would be totally different had they not been able to take the drugs, and would not be achieving what they currently are (which is what they want to be doing).

as said before, its by no means a long term solution, but it DOES help in the right situation.

The irony is i'm not unhappy, just not jumping around with joy!

I've got some excellent friends, family don't really 'get it'…

I'm sure I read or saw somewhere something along the lines of "the unquiet mind" which is pretty apt at describing the constant churning and seemingly endless brain activity.

As an example, I used to be able to sit down with say, a book on software development, read through it and by the end of it, have learned my way through whatever it was I wanted to learn – and producing some half decent results with the subject being learned as opposed to memorised, the same applies to classrooms or whatever, and now, it just doesn't 'sink in' … it's been like this for about 6-8 weeks (yes, i'm trying to resolve the trigger!)

jt 😉

Sorry to hear things have got to the point where you're having 'happy pills' prescribed, and saddenned to hear about your dad, Tails.

I've been on several antidepressants in the past: fluoxetine at first, then citalopram, then a SNRI that I can't remember the name of. Basically they turned me into someone with deep, deep lows and amazing highs into quite a boring, average kinda guy, for the time I was taking them.

Looking back, that might not be such a bad thing, actually, and I could do with that occasionally now. However, I would really miss the ability to have a boundless, unrestrained laugh every now and then, which is what those drugs took away.

You just need to find something to get you through the low bits. Oh yes, I know VERY WELL, that that's a shedload easier said than done, and I haven't found anything to help me. Sometimes, when I'm feeling a bit better, I can look at the bigger picture of myself and see that if I can just cope with the sh!tty times, the good times are alright.

Sheesh, what a silly ramble that all was. Take the pills for a bit if you want, they probably won't kill you, but they may well make life quite a bit duller.

Just a culmination of things, work (and the lack of it).. living at my folks … lack of sleep … lack of cash… parents having some rough times (dad 70, mum 60, *nearly* ended in divorce a few weeks back…)

buddy your not in a to dissimilar position to me i lost my job in july but this week have two interviews.

i worry about cash to a point (you have signed on i hope) I have just sold stuff i don't need to raise money.

as i said my dads in hosp my mother is very worried but is strong, it's not ideal living at home but when I'm not job searching I cook. Try it, it's great fun learning something new.

Sorry to rant i just think you can do it without tablets.

look at petesgaff cancer thread, that guy is **** awesome so open with the forum with his feelings and he is going to make it and have a long beautiful life and so are you.

once again sorry to rant 😈

If you are still wanting to read Jon, I would reccomend and book on NLP – Neuro Linguistic Programming. ISBN 0-7499-1489-0

I've been an RMN for the best part of 20 years, the last 16 has been assessing folk that end up in A&E self harming or going for it properly, and ime Citalopram is a first choice GP medication, that works for some, but is primarily cheap. If you want a chat mail me.

I've been an RMN

Really Mean Nutter? Right Muddy Nightcrawler? Royal Mail Nurse? (Helping posties back to work after long weeks of waving banners and drinking tea outside sorting office gates?)

If you feel you need them, then use them. If you don't, then don't. Simple as that…only you cna make that decision.

As above you need to sort the underlying problems etc, but the suggestion that they're pointless and you should flush them down the toilet etc is just stupid.

Sounds to me that you possibly know already that you might not need them – great. When you're in the situation where you're so depressed that you're incapable of doing much, then SSRIs can be a huge help to 'kick start' you into getting active and going about your usual day, and starting to look at the problems.
Good luck and feel free to email me.

Citalopram kind of evened me out and helped with sleep but i felt listless and board, most days seemed to feel like i was just going though the motions at the the time my GP also recommended exercise although i didnt feel the drive for it.

Far more GPs now have the option to prescribe exercise properly and there are schemes in different parts of the country where the nhs will pay for gym memberships etc. Clicky Of course in the short term you could just get out on your bike more.

I found Citolopram to be bloody crap, side effects can go on a bitand tit has a tendency to push suicide rates up in relation to other ssri meds as well. Mind you 20 mg is almost nothing as a dose, so don't worry too much I'm currently on sertraline, which I find a lot better, mind you I'm bipolar and on mood stabilzers and anti psychotics as well, so it's kind of hard to tell sometimes which is doing what.

That's not a lot of help really is it?

I took a low dose of citalopram for a few months after three "once in a lifetime" type events occurred at the same time and left me struggling a bit mentally.

I didn't suffer any side effects like the ones listed above and am a bit doubtful that the very sudden side effects described can really be attributed to citalopram unless it was prescribed at a very high dose.

What the drug did for me is give me a bit of "mental breathing space" which included sleeping properly after 6 months of sleeping 2-3 hours a night. It also helped me to get things in perspective and find the energy to tackle the root cause of the issues. I didn't have any issues coming off the drug but I guess this could have been because I was taking a low dose and came off it slowly.

I appreciate everyone's different but the only person the original poster should really be talking through their concerns with is their GP.

Good luck fella.

side effects = effects

Go and see a therapist. Try it half a dozen times or so and see if it helps.

I was in a situation where I had to do something or I'd be out on my ear so my wife made me find someone to help and it was amazing how quickly it did help.

I don't know why you are in the situation that you are in, it may be something completely different than my situation, but I think there is nothing to be lost in seeing someone and it is treating the problem, not just the symptom.

I had to pay, but it was some of the best money I ever spent. (except for my Cervelo :-))

Been on citalopram for about 2 years. Used to have fluoxetine and still have 'down' periods. Citalopram is great though. Feel totally normal on it apart from some mild down periods. I've suffered from depression for years and it's the best thing I've ever been on.

My Dad's on it too (he's mental too :-)) and he reckons it's brilliant (and he really should know about tablets the amount he's been on!)

I took taking Citolopram for anxiety.

First time they helped me relax and be a lot more tolerant of people and my surroundings. However I felt that they turned me in to the walking dead with no spark.

I stopped taking them as I felt they were becoming less effective in helping me but with the zombie side effect.

I did try once more but never again. Apparently they are to be taken long term to get maximum benefit so beware

Good luck.

By my various gods, how many of us are there on here with mental problems…???

Every one's reaction to SSRIs is different. The prescription guidelines (which you can download) basically say, try a generic, if that doesn't work, try a different one and repeat.

Personally, I found Citalopram saved my life – went from gibbering wreck after a nervous breakdown, back to normal functioning self. I cannot rate it highly enough.

taking 30mg of citalopram to help with depression due to on going neuropathic pain which the doc thinks is MS along with a bucket of other meds. Not had a pain free day for nigh on 11 months now. All ready cost me my road bike as a hobby and the pain getting worse in my arms is threatening to take away my photography. Hit 40 this year and thought, woooooo things get better then this bombshell gets dropped.
Not nice at all. Currently waiting on seeing a Shrink and getting assessed(sp) as to what may help.

Saying that looking round for a mountain bike as there is a tiny part of my mind that wont give in to this MS crap and hoping i get a break at some point, but thats another thread.

Jon – citalopram is absolutely a last ditch solution.

they're not a 'happy pill' – they're an 'emotion number' – i do know people who have benefitted from them in the short term.

they're a bugger though, one friend of mine took them for depression, only to suffer from panic attacks as a side-effect, the doctor said "we've got some more pills for that…"

another friend was helped by them, only to struggle to lower her dose – this caused all sorts of horrible withdrawal effects.

only you can say wether you think you need the help, but don't jump into a 20mg dose straight away, start for a week of 10mg's every other day, then go to 10mg every day, then give that a MONTH – to see if that helps.

(raising your dose, and lowering your dose, should be done slowly)

everyone i know who's been on this has had a horrible time getting off it. the Doctor really should NOT be starting you off with 20's without seeing how you react to 10's.

Just to say a massive thank you to everyone who's taken the time to reply. very much appreciated indeed!

I feel I have a good firm understanding of (my own) depression and how my mind is working (overly analytical) and the effects of drugs it should have, i'm no Dr but I know myself, which I think is important, and knowing that these aren't a 'cure all' magic potion – far from it, to quote, some mental breathing space and that's exactly what's needed while I carry on sorting out things – in a clear (or clearer) more focused perspective and outlook.

Let's see how today's meetings go 😉

I've read, had tears in my eyes and been amazed by Mark's dealings with the big C. That man certainly does deserve an accolade and recognition (STW Man Of The Year!?) for his strength and determination.

Right, i'm off to get a shirt ironed.

Jonathan

Been there, done that for 18 months. During that time, I got a new job, got divorced and got over the problems I had, so I came off them.

A few years on, I am happy, content, remarried and generally enjoying life.

They are not a cure, but they help you find a cure. Mine was to make big changes to my life and, when they were made, I got happier and no longer needed them. Make those changes yourself and you may not need them.

By the way, exercise helps a lot, no matter what it is. You have no idea of how much DIY I was doing at the place I used to live at during my divorce, but it helped a lot.

OK, a brief summary of my view on SSRIs.

I've never taken and ADs, nor been in a position to need to be prescribed them.

Last year, Mrs North got, frankly, to the end of her tether. So, my experience of AD consumption is from the perspective of carer, rather than patient.

First, she was prescribed Seroxat. It didn't agree with her at all, making her physically very ill.

Lesson 1: not all drugs work for all people all of the time. Don't just stick with it if it doesn't work for you.

After a break of a few weeks from Seroxat, the doc tried Citalopram, which she seemed not to have the same reaction with. So, she went with it.

Lesson 2: Doctors have a pretty standard formula for prescribing ADs. Pretty much Seroxat, Citalopram and Fluoxetine seem to the first and second choice drugs.

After the initial "getting onto them" reaction of a couple of weeks – mild nausea, for Mrs North, rather than the violent sickness of Seroxat – she settled down pretty quickly. Her dose was 20mg, which I believe is that standard initial dose.

The doc then wanted to up the dose. Mrs North said no. She was feeling the benefit of 20mg, but did not want to have any stronger effect just yet (and was also fearful that she would be made as ill as she had been by the Seroxat). Additonally, Mrs North was aware of one person who had taken their own life while on – and thought to be as a result of – Citalopram. I made a promise to her that i would never be further away than 20 minutes from her in the event that she felt everything had become too much again.

Lesson 3: take control of your own medication and health.

Mrs North described the effect of taking them as being like seeing the world through a letter box. She no longer felt the depths of despair that she had, but equally could not attain emotional highs either. Her world was one where she wasn't altogether numb to emotion, but it was noticeably restricted.

Was this good or bad? Well, given that she'd gone right to the very edge, for her to achieve some emotional and rational stability was a good thing. Mrs North recognised this, and was happy with the softening of the blow that she had encountered.

Lesson 4: the drugs can give you a bit of breathing space.

At the same time, however, Mrs North also found herself a CBT counsellor who she really connected with. She wasn't the first person Mrs North saw, but was the person to whom she attributes the greatest success in her recovery. Straight "listening" counselling was not enough; it took the work of someone to challenge her, and examine her thought processes to really make progress.

Lesson 5: the drugs alone won't cure anything, but the ADs and the right therapy – chosen by you – will be a much more effective combination.

The final element of her road to recovery was general health. Exercise and sleep. We suffered badly for a while with our pikey neighbours having their music pounding through the walls at all hours, and this really affected her. A stand up row with the blok next door seemed to help slightly, as did time off work to get her head together, sleep and concentrate on getting better. I also made sure that I adjusted my lifestyle to work for both of us in getting her better, and I think that was useful as I provided a shoulder to lean on.

Lesson 6: You need to get all the orhte factors in place. It won't happen immediately, but taking one step at a time will massively help.

As a result of the above, though Mrs North was suffering a very deep depression and had effectively had a nervous breakdown, she was able to take herself off the Citalopram after only six months. She was pleased when she did that – in the usual way, over a period of time – as she had not become entirely dependent on it. Instead, she had used it only as the crutch needed to be able to take on the other things necessary to start the road to recovery.

So, is it all bad? No, it may well be the right drug for you. It may well have similar effects to your experience of Prozac, but approaching it in the terms decribed above may mean that you get to lessen that effect and rely less heavily on the ADs. As for whether it's specifically the right drug for you, I bet you'll get as many people tell you it worked for them as those who tell you it didn't. If you're going to give it a go, just do your best to check yourself, both in a physical and mental sense. OK, that's not easy right now, of course, but asking yourself the quesiton of "do i feel better today than yesterday" may well help you decide more quickly if it's the right AD for you.

Good luck.

Personally, I found Citalopram saved my life

Same here, I suffer with anxiety badly and it seemed to be getting seriously worse a few years back to the point I wasn't sleeping at all, I would jump at any noise and had stomach cramps 24/7.
I went on 20mg of citalopram for approx 1 1/2 years and it was brilliant as it allowed me to seek help in councelling.
I've been off them for about 2 years now and still suffer with anxiety but I'm able to control it a bit better now thanks to the councelling and citalopram.

Well put Ourmaninthenorth.

one in three of us (IIRC) will have treatment for mental health issues at some point in our lives. SSRIs area useful tool and a treatment, but not a cure.

tawny – check ya mail! and keep schtum – these people do not know you at all! Just remember that some prospective employers may see this – your username does not hide much!

YGM

[applauds OMITN]