Drug Ratings for CELEXAAverage Rating: 3.3 (972 Ratings)
Compare CELEXA with similar: |
Results are sorted by Date Rating Was Added Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 |
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR CELEXA | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
  | F M | | | | |||
| 3 | Mild depression | None | M | 72 | 3 years 20mg 1X D | 5/5/2013 | 5 | Anxiety/panic attacks/depression | The first few weeks, my anxiety became worse. Had I not read up on celexa, I would have stopped using it immediately. I kept telling myself that it was just a side effect and to keep taking the pills daily for at least a month- I am SO thankful I did! All of a sudden during my third week on the drug, I felt relief. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd have the ability to feel "normal" and it is just terrific. Other side effects that subsided included vivid dreams and jaw clenching. My libido hasn't changed and I haven't experienced weight gain thus far. | F | 24 | 1 months 20 mg | 5/1/2013 | 1 | mild depression | High Anxiety felt horrible dialated pupils next morning.Many other issues that came on over time. | Found after a couple weeks that I had had an adverse reaction to this drug. Damaged my nervous system. Left me with tinnitus and many other issues. Took on Dec. 17 2009. Got to three years out and I have had a relapse due to some supplements that I took. Now trying to heal the nerves from this latest fallback. I must be extremely sensitive to these drugs as they work in the same system in the brain as LSD. Be very careful and research before trying any of these drugs. I wish I would have known about adverse reactions before I decided to take this drug. It might have saved me all this damage that I've had. I'm probably permanently damaged from the reaction I had. Be cautious! | F | 46 | 1 days 10 mg. 1X D | 4/8/2013 | 2 | Anxiety and Depression | Lost interest in hobbies and stopped caring about the things I ought to care about. Increased urged to drink alcohol. Doc increased dose to 30 and the urge to commit suicide began until I actually attempted it. I weaned myself off of it and have been fine since. | Use it for a limited period only and don't let any doc tell you it's a "chemical imbalance." There is no medical test for so-called chemical imbalances and they are using you as the guinea pig. Be careful. | F | 52 | 10 years 20 to 30 1X D | 4/4/2013 | 4 | depression/anxiety | slight weight loss at first, dry mouth, heart palpitations at increased dose. | Not a miracle drug but it did significantly help me. Very few side effects. Unfortunately, when I increased it up to 40mg I began having heart palpitations and my doctor made me stop taking it. I've since tried zoloft and lexapro but they have had more side effects and less therapeutic effects than celexa. | F | 23 | 3 years 30mg 1X D | 3/25/2013 | 1 | depression | High pitched, constant ringing (a whine) in my ears, interrupted urine stream, clenched jaw, seriously dead libido | High pitched constant whine (ringing) in my ears that appears to be permanent even though I only took the drug for 2 weeks and have been off of it for 4 months. This is especially distrubing because this potential side effect is not mentioned in the official side effects listed by the company. However, even though the manufacturer does not disclose this, once I experienced it myself and did a search I found out that many others suffer from this and that it is definitely related to the drug timewise. Because this appears to be permanent, I would really caution others to think twice before taking this drug. They are not kidding about the libido problem either. Not only did I not feel like having sex but when I did try I felt like I was dead of sensation down there (I'm female). This is how it was described on wiki: "Genital anesthesia... Although usually reversible, in some people these sexual side effects become permanent after the drug has been completely withdrawn. This is known as post-SSRI sexual dysfunction." | F | 56 | 2 weeks 20 mg 1X D | 3/15/2013 | 1 | Panic Attacks, depression | I hated this medicine! It made me hear voices telling me to kill myself, it made me see things that wasn't there and the list goes on! I had to go stay in the mental hospital a few days because of this evil drug!! | I would never take it again and I would never recommend it to anyone! | F | 26 | 2 months 20mg 1X D | 3/5/2013 | 5 | Anxiety | None | My honest to God wonder drug through a house fire, family deaths, divorce. Just exactly what I needed to get back on track during my chemical imbalance. No more crazies for me! I recommend trying this in the generic form, lowest dose. Anxiety and depression run in my family and my oldest son now takes this same med to feel back on top...Not a "euphoric" feeling mind you, just being back in control of life in general with added confidence where we thought at one time, we would wither away in lonliness and sadness. | F | 50 | 15 years 1X D | 2/5/2013 | 4 | Anxiety and Depression | Dizzy the first few times taking med but that subsides. Decreased libido. This drug helped with panic attacks as well as depression. I recommend a small dose to start for all my loved ones. | F | 26 | 3 months 40mg | 1/31/2013 | 1 | off label - dysautonomia | constant blood pressure swings, uncontrolled tachycardia, insomnia, mood swings, panic attacks, mood swings, depression, intrusive thoughts, suicidal thoughts, lack of appetite, difficulty breathing, difficulty focusing | all symptoms subsided and then went away within 48 hrs after discontinuing the drug | F | 37 | 7 days 10 1X D | 1/4/2013 | 2 | Depression, SAD/OCD | None. Not even sexual dysfunction like other SSRIs! | Caused no side effects, not even sexual dysfunction typical of SSRIs, but it did not help my depression, anxiety or OCD either. Sugar pill for me. | M | 18 | 3 months 20 MG 1X D | 1/1/2013 | 4 | Bipolar_1 (depressive symptoms) GAD | Reduced libido. Anorexia. Memory problems that i had both before and after starting this med. Maintaining focus on task at hand. | I had previously experienced an acute and severe manic episode on Desvenlafaxine. Warning: if you have Bipolar 1 be wary of Desfenlafaxine! Avoid alcohol. >> Was then switched to SSRI WITHOUT Noradrenergic effects >> Ciprazoloam-GA (Celexa) =much better for me. Reduced depression and also bonus of some reduction in GAD symptoms. | M | 54 | 30 days 20 1X D | 12/17/2012 | 5 | Depression, Bulimia | Tiredness in the first few hours of taking but it subsides. Delayed orgasm, weight loss. | I was on Wellbutrin for two years and it seemed to fuel my bulimia. Celexa has made me feel like a new person. I am not hating myself everytime I look in the mirror. I have far less urges to binge eat and my compulsive exercising has stopped.I am beginning to remember what its like to be a normal human being. | F | 35 | 14 days 20mg 1X D | 11/27/2012 | 5 | depression,ptsd | I've tried alot of other anti depressants an nothing helped til I finally got on celexa. | F | 22 | 6 months 40 | 11/8/2012 | 3 | Depression | 1 days | 10/16/2012 | 4 | Anxiety | Loss of appetite. no matter how little I eat, I have to go to restroom soon after. Medicine does calm my anxiety but also adds drowsiness so I started taking later in evenings. With all medicines as such, apathy is a side effect I'm not too happy to have... Go figure | F | 28 | 4 days 5mg | 10/14/2012 | 4 | Depression | Not 100% sure if it was this drug, but I developed uncontrolable bowel movements during the day. I would literally release within 5 - 10 minutes if I had no access to a toilet. So I took it at night rather. I developed an addiction to codeine shortly after starting which causes constipation, so this may have balanced it out. I still take it years later and the condition went away. If I take 40mg I clench my jaw at during the day. Also, reduced sex drive. | Very helpful for depression for me. A few friends I know also take it and it helps them too. | M | 46 | 7 years 20 1X D | 9/28/2012 | 5 | Depression anxiety | None until I had to come off it because they wanted to try paxil( yuck) I stopped the Paxil and started back on celexa and within days I felt better again. I love this medication. Makes me feel normal I guess is the only way to describe it | F | 34 | 4 years 40 mg | 9/6/2012 | 5 | anxiety and panic disorder | VERY drowsy but went away within a few weeks. Loss of appetite in the beginning. | Celexa has really helped me. My doctor prescribed this to me for panic attacks and anxiety and I haven't had a panic attack since I've started taking this medication. I took it in the morning at the beginning but was very tired throughout the day so it was recommended by my pharmacist that I take it at night. So far, it has worked great for me!! | F | 24 | 5 months 20 MG 1X D | 8/24/2012 | 4 | Panic attacks and severe anxiety | At first- headache, worsened anxiety, jaw clenching mainly at night, diarrhea, and wanting to sleep constantly Ongoing-sweating and tons of it! Increased appetite, NO sex drive, orgasm issues | F | 30 | 4 months 20mg | 7/26/2012 | 3 | Depression, mood swings | Side effects ive experienced are mild increase in sweating, vivid dreams as well as waking up in middle of night. I fall right back to sleep not a big deal. Some drowsiness during the day and decrease in appetite. Biggest side effect are the sexual ones. Harder to maintain an erection and much harder to finish. Also libido is decreased. As far as effectiveness of the drug i dont feel as depressed and i feel more evened out. Dont lose my temper anymore. Hoping the sexual side effects wear off somewhat to me seems like a big price to pay. | M | 32 | 1 months 20 mg | 7/19/2012 | 1 | anxiety/stress | Rapid heart rate,insomnia,sweating,tremors,diarrhea,migraines,severe anxiety,muscle weakness,drowsy(during the day),and dry mouth...I think that covers it | F | 30 | 1 weeks 20mg | 7/9/2012 | 4 | Depression, Anxiety | No side effects. So far depression is under control. Much more motivated. Anxiety gets a little high now and then but would much rather deal with that then depression. Whatever you decide to take keep trying its entirely worth finding something that works for you. | F | 31 | 2 months 20 | 6/28/2012 | 5 | OCD, anxiety, depression | None | I took Celexa previously for about 2 years for depression, OCD, & anxiety. It was the first one I had found that worked for me. I had no negative side effects and it helped me greatly. I ended up going off of the pill for no reason other then wanting to be happy without an prescription drugs. I did not have any withdrawal side effects when I stopped. During this time I had also picked up a pretty heavy exercise routine, which may have helped balance me out though. Now, several years later, I am back on celexa. I started it back because of the horrible anxiety/panic attacks I was having from withdrawals from quitting Yaz. I've now been on it for about 2 weeks and it has helped me cope with all the anxiety while coming off Yaz. | F | 24 | 2 years 20 MG 1X D | 6/27/2012 | 4 | Anxiety, mild depression | First two weeks felt increase in anxiety, major increase in depression (wasn't really depressed when I started it), had some dark thoughts that were unsettling, very vivid dreams, inability to think about eating or sex...Lost 10 lbs in just a few weeks. Jaw clenching, insomnia for the first week so I started taking Tylenol PM. All of the side effects wore off except for the jaw clenching. My appetite is coming back and the sex drive came back with a vengeance. Takes forever to climax though. | I went from not wanting to leave my parents house to going to penthouse parties in 4 weeks. I had anxiety issues for a few months and have taken the drug in the past. The only fear I have on it is weight gain which I usually have when things are going well. I've continued to lose on it so far so I'm going to keep exercising every day and watching my diet. Mood yoyos the first few weeks so hang in there if you can. It's worth it to fight through the side effects. | F | 33 | 4 weeks 20 1X D | 6/21/2012 | 4 | Mild depression, PMS | None | It has helped me, it just helps take the edge off without taking away your personality | F | 40 | 5 years 20 1X D | 6/16/2012 | 4 | Anxiety | Slight weight gain, inability to orgasm, don't care about anything, sleep more often, weird taste in mouth. | I've been taking 20mg of Celexa for a year for anxiety. It works very well, but there are side effects. I've gained about five pounds without changing my eating habits. If I go a couple of days without taking Celexa, my stomach looks flatter, so it must be the pill. It also takes forever to orgasm, and when I do, it is not nearly as satisfying. I still get sexually aroused multiple times a day, though. I also take naps more often. It greatly reduces my anxiety, but I now do not care about anything. I sit at home, go to work, go to school, and have no interest in anything. I just go through the motions. I'm not overly happy, so if you take this for depression, I don't know how effective it will be. I also have a weird taste in my mouth which I noticed goes away when I go without it for a few days. Give it a month before you decide if you like or dislike it. | M | 22 | 1 years 20 1X D | 5/13/2012 | 3 | Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks | Within an hour of taking the drug I had a BAD panic attack, for the next few days I continually had more panic attacks, not as bad as the first one though. Dizzyness, sickness, diarrhea, loosing my train of thought easily, loosing balance, apathy and euphoria all at once, and the classic zombie like state. | Took it 4 times over 5 days. On the fifth day doctor called me back said don't take it anymore and come in next week. I hear a lot of good things about this drug, maybe it was the batch I got was weird, maybe it's just my body chemistry. But apparently I'm one of the few who had an adverse reaction to it. | M | 27 | 4 days 20mg 1X D | 5/11/2012 | 5 | Bipolar/Depression | so far none at all | no side effects. been threes days but been good so far | F | 24 | 3 days 5mg 1X D | 5/6/2012 | 4 | Depression, OCD, panic attacks | Dry mouth, lowerd sex drive, hard to orgasm, complete loss of sugar cravings, in fact all my cravings left, even the caffine ones. Loss of appetite because the food doesnt taste as good anymore. I used to be so backed up I would poo every other day if I was lucky. Now I go every morning. I'm regular I think from eating more vegatables and less carbs and sugar. | I was on the verge of killing myself or harming my boyfriend before I tried this. I would explode over every little thing. My boyfriend would tell me thank god that god didn't make me a man. I would break things, I was living in a very dark depressed state. Working 7 days a week trying to raise 3 kids alone. I could no longer feel inside. Nothing but blackness and the costant want to die. Top that off with OCD where I cannt go to sleep if I know the spice cabinent in the kitchen isn't organized. Or the non stop counting things in my head. The day I took this pill it was a miracle. I have not had one panic attack since then. It changed my life. I don't wake up daily thinking of death. I am able to actually enjoy life now and not make a big ordeal over losing my car key. It totally traqulized the deamon inside. My boyfriend has to work really hard in the bedroom now, but losing my libido scared me so bad that I have been having more sex to prove I still got it. I think you have to put your mind in the right place. My friends are more at peace around me too. | F | 34 | 2 weeks 20 1X D | 5/5/2012 | 2 | anxiety, panic attacks | Worst side effect was teeth grinding, which gave me headaches.had vivid dreams at first, very low libido, twitchiness in eyes | Had to wean VERY slowly. Was taking one quarter of a 10 mg pill every other day the final few weeks---that is how gradual it was! Took me probably 3 months for the weaning process. Had very strange sensations during weaning, worse at night. had nausea, more eye twitching than when I started the med, felt low, antsy, restless. Felt much calmer and better after I was fully weaned. | F | 40 | 8 months 10 1X D | 5/3/2012 | 2 | Sleepines | Tiress really tired, mad,super slepining and lack of energy. | F | 37 | 1 weeks 40 | 5/3/2012 | 4 | Migraine/Dizziness | First two weeks I had headaches, nausea, sweating, alternating with waves of euphoria. These eventually went away. My only continuing side effect is difficulty ejaculating. | This medicine has worked wonders for my migraines and dizziness. It has pretty much cured my vertigo. I have not gained any weight, maybe lost a couple of pounds but I was trim anyway. Though I am taking it off label (not for depression), it has put a floor under my bad moods and it has increased my patience. The only problem is that it takes me a long time to ejaculate. My poor wife! | M | 47 | 8 months 30 mg 1X D | 5/1/2012 | 2 | Anxiety and panic attacks | Rapid heartbeat, tingling in hands and feet, insomnia, shaking, weakness/restlessness in legs, making anxiety worse, making panic attacks more frequent. | F | 23 | 1 months 10mg | 4/20/2012 | 3 | GAD, Depression, paraesthasia | Works well but side effects are bad. Apathy is one of them. Weight gain, sexual disfunctions and other stuff can be tolerable but feeling like a zombie cant so I am going to wean off of it and if will try something else if need to | M | 32 | 8 years 40 mg | 4/19/2012 | 5 | Anxiety/Depression | Loss of sleep (at times), but this is the best medicine have ever taken. I was looking for side effects in females because I am watching my periods and wanted to know if any one experienced cessation of periods. But I am so happy with it. I was under a lot of stress and worried about a situation that was out of my hands. But I suggest anyone who is battling with depression and or anxiety should at least try it. | F | 43 | 3 weeks 10mg 1X D | 4/9/2012 | 4 | anxiety | Night mares, sucidal thoughts, destructive thoughts, excessive tiredness, mood swings | Started taking 20 MG about 8 years ago for anxiety and it did help alot, no side effects. Had a heart attack 2 1/2 years ago and it seems if all the side effects are now showing up especially the destructive thoughts. Have tried twice to come off of the mediction cold turkey and it does not work for me. I am now reducing the doseage by 1 tablet per week per month until I can wean myself from it. I plan to be off this stuff by end of 2012. | M | 59 | 8 years 20 MG 1X D | 4/9/2012 | 4 | Major Depression | Decrease in Libido, Apathy | Difficult to have an orgasm. I am satisfied with this medication; it's a great treatment for Depression, and I discovered that it greatly decreases the severity of my O.C.D. Sometimes I feel apathetic, but the Benefit far outweighs the side-effects. I would definitely recommend this medication; it really has stabilized my mood and OCD. | M | 44 | 8 years 40 MG 1X D | 4/6/2012 | 5 | Low mood | Low mood | Mad | M | 30 | 24 months 40 mg 1X D | 4/5/2012 | 1 | bi-polar II disorder | I had all the side effects associated with this drug as well as hallucinations. I would hear things and see stuff. I was extremely angry! I wanted to die. The doctor kept insisting I stay on it but I went off of it because the side effects were so horrible. I've been free from all these behavior modifying drugs and have never been happier in my life. I feel free! | F | 50 | 3 years 50 mg 1X D | 4/5/2012 | 4 | Depression | Weight gain tiredness loss of sex drive | This medication helped the depression more than any other medication I have tried. I felt normal, like I could deal with life and the negative thought processes stopped. I stopped taking it though because of the weight gain. Even exercising daily and counting calories I could not lose it. It bothered me enough that I stopped taking the celexa to try something else. If nothing else helps I will come back to the celexa. | F | 29 | 1.5 years 20mg 1X D | 3/23/2012 | 4 | Anxiety, Depression | At first, this medication made my anxiety horrible! It also made me really depressed and kinda irrational. I had a hard time ejaculating and I also couldn't sleep at night, I put on a ton of weight in such a short period of time. MUNCHIES! I can't even fit into any of my pants! Not only that but it makes me extremely lazy during the day I have no motivation what so ever! | BUTTT I feel like the longer I take it the better all of these side effects are getting. (except for the lazy thing) My anxiety has gotten so much better, and I'm feeling a little happier. I'm going to give it another couple of weeks to see if I get my energy and ambition back, otherwise I'll see if I can try something like Lexapro. These drugs are completely different for each person so don't let the side effects discourage you!!! Chances are you aren't going to find the right one right away. It's all trial and error. My biggest suggestion is to keep track of what you're eating! Count those calories! | M | 24 | 32 days 20 MG 1X D | 3/20/2012 | 4 | bipolar/borderline | F | 29 | 6 years 30mg | 3/20/2012 | 5 | mild depression, mild anxiety | Sexual side effects which abate with a day or two off | Technically this drug saved my life during a severe depression in 2001 right before 9/11. Helps with lifelong "morning dread" which can be severe due to a demanding and stressful profession and with rumination on worries. Taking the generic is fine. When life gets really stressful I can go up to 40 mg day with noticeable improvement. When trying other drugs over the years I noticed that stopping was always a bad idea: the drug never worked as well the second time. So I accept I will always be on citalopram to even out my ups and downs. First depressive episode at age 17. Only bad side effect is sexual side effects (nearly impossible to have an orgasm) but I have learned I can skip a day and take the dose late on the second day for a bit of a vacation from this side effect. | F | 57 | 11 years 20 mg 1X D | 3/19/2012 | 5 | depression | I didn't have much side effects with celexa. It really helps with my depression. I really like this med. | F | 41 | 9 years 20mg | 3/11/2012 | 1 | Anxiety | Yawning, retardedness- slow you down too much, make you sleep all day and night, affects performance; I was unable to do anything productive, in a day I would only be able to write one page a day where as I used to write one page an hour, makes you careless yet content with life, happy, then the brain pain kicked in, concentration gone out the window (all the while your mind can't recognise these things because your so out of it being happy that it is then too late by then) nose bleeds in the mornings, rise in body temperature and hight tepm head, strange fevers that no amount of paracitamol will cure, pain in the eyes, dry mouth causing you to drink alot of water but that still doesn't help, kills your memory, but clears your mind so you can focus on reading but you probably won't be able to remember it, calms you down if you have social anxiety so you are able to be urself without fear and helps you think before you act if your normally hyper person. | F | 23 | 7 weeks 10mg | 3/3/2012 | 1 | Anxiety and migraine | Made anxiety worse. | Took this initially for anxiety (with some associated depression) but continued on it because it made migraine with aura more stable. During stressful life events I would get anxiety pangs that lasted weeks at a time when taking this. Only when I came off the medicine and those incidents stopped happening (even during stressful times) did I realise that bastard drug had been making it worse for years. Here was me thinking it helps control anxiety! It may do that in some people but certainly not all, thus it may help you or it may not. This family of drugs is far from one size fits all, it will work well in a % of people and poorly in others. Certainly I felt much better when free of this drug and not being a victim of extended anxious sensations, which made it hard to sleep, ruined my appetite and at their worst made me feel like a frightened rabbit. Problem is the pangs would go (making me think the drug had helped) and I would stay on it because of the migraines, but they would always come back. Why I didn't realise it was this drug years before I will never know. | M | 37 | 9 years 10mg 1X D | 2/21/2012 | 2 | Anxiety and mild depression | For the first month I had little appetite and fluctuated between feeling quite sick and feeling fine.. But my mood swings definitely lessened. As times gone on I feel it's supporting me less and has done nothing for my anxiety, and although I have no side effects anymore I feel that I need to talk to my doctor about upping my dose or switching to another medication. | F | 20 | 3 months 10mg | 2/20/2012 | 1 | anxiety | sweating,racing thoughts,detatched,didn't to engage in conversation, low appetite, shaking, | i was on this drug for 12 weeks and posted some months ago, after coming off cold turkey, which i now know i shouldn't have, 8 months on still experiencing discontinuation syndrome, although getting weaker it is still annoying. I have found lot of sites with information but i wondered why some people have none or very little withdrawal symptoms and other's have a difficult time. Please read the following it may be because this drug deplete's certain vitamins in the body: Coming off Anti-depressants (SSRI's) needs to be done gradually. Drugs alter body chemistry and it wise to let the body become accustomed to any fall in chemical stimulation. However, if symptoms begin to reassert themselves this is often interpreted as the 'depression' returning. In such cases, most patients continue taking the drugs. They are unaware that depression is a condition requiring time to grow. It creeps up over a period of months, or even longer. It is not instant. The problem with stopping anti-depressants (SSRI's) appears to be a build up of a chemical residue in the body. Components of the anti-depressants lodge themselves in muscles and organs such as the kidney and liver and can take several months to disappear. In the meantime they can still actively enter the bloodstream and mimic the drug's action. As the effect fades any withdrawal symptoms will repeat themselves. But the body is responding to a toxic residue from the drug rather than re-entering a state of clinical depression. | F | 55 | 12 weeks 20mg 1X D | 2/9/2012 | 3 | Anxiety | Nausea, whenever I first take it. Yawning alot, and sometimes dizziness. Be having headaches now and even racing annoying thoughts. Not suicide thoughts, but other thoughts about where God came from and keep thinking how the earth started, it was just crazy! And I think celexa got me thinking that, cause it started when I took celexa. If these annoying thoughts don't go away, I'm stopping it. I want my normal state of mind back! | F | 20 | 2 weeks 10 | 1/26/2012 | 3 | Anxiety | I went on cipramil (celexa) at the advice of my gp, after some side effects like gas, severe sweating and tiredness, i started to experience a lighter more carefree state of mind. Unfortunately over the years i couldnt find a balance, when i took the drug i was manic and when i stopped i would have massive withdrawals, so i changed to a different drug that was more calming, and since gave up on that and am now drug free. My advice is - its very effective, like all ssris, but it WILL change your personality, and you dont know how you will react. It also impaired my memories of an important time in my life. | F | 25 | 3 years 20mg/day | 1/23/2012 | 3 | post partum, anxiety | tiredness | F | 26 | 2 years 40mg 1X D | 1/13/2012 | 5 | depression; anxiety | Initially (first couple of weeks) very tired. Within four weeks reached a wonderful euphoria that subsided somewhat after a month. Dosage was increased from 20mg to 30mg and that brought me to a good therapeutic level. I take at before bedtime due to tiredness. | I have suffered from depression off and on my entire life. It became severe when I became chronically ill three years ago and could no longer work. No antidepressant helped at all and I was resistant to trying another one but reluctantly did because I was so deep in a dark hole I knew I needed help. Celexa has given me my life back. It has been five months and I pray that it continues to work for me. I do feel a bit tired in the mornings but it is worth it to me to be out of that dark place and enjoying life again. I haven't needed my xanax for panic attacks since starting Celexa. Life is good again. Remember it takes time to reach its therapeutic level. Give it time to work and try to get past the initial side effects. They almost always subside. | F | 50 | 5 months 30 mg 1X D | 1/12/2012 | 5 | Depression | for the first few days, the pills periodically made me feel like I was starting to trip on a mild hallucinogen that reminded me much of the onset of psilocybin mushrooms except with no anxiety or edginess. some yawning and sluggishness for the first two weeks which I combatted with night time dosage. now the pills seem to keep from falling asleep if taken before bed. the increase in appetite seems less noticeable when the pill is taken before bed. shortly after swallowing the pill it definitely seems like my stomach feels hunger pangs. it must occur as the gut absorbs the med. I think possibly this hunger induces people to eat and then peaking and dropping blood sugars for the rest of the day cause over eating and sweet craving. if you can take the pill before bed you might like it better. keep a glass of water and your pill handy and try to drop it just before you are gonna fall asleep. I used this stuff for two years and foolishly thought I could get by without it and weened off. I suddenly realized about five weeks ago that this year I have been off the pill, my life has slowly swirled into deep depression. this medication makes me a better person for the world and not just myself. I wish I hadn't gone off, because I really made a mess of my life and ruined some close relationships through behaviors and actions that I believe were attributable to my depressed mind state. people who found the side effects bad enough to throw in the towel on this stuff are either sensitive t | M | 34 | 6 weeks | 1/11/2012 | 1 | Dr advice | I had 1 panic attack and was advised to take celexa. This was the worst thing I've ever done. I was afraid to sleep because it caused me to have PVCs. My blood pressure went through the roof, couldn't keep my hands from shaking, head aches, chest pains, and my testes hurt like crazy. I went to the ER and they just told me I was having an anxiety attack and basically brushed me off. I actually thought I was going crazy myself until I read the side effects. If anyone recommends this drug please look up the side effects first. | M | 28 | 3 days 20 | 1/7/2012 | 4 | Depression | During the first few weeks I had genital numbness and headaches the third week I discovered that if I took the med just before bedtime it took away the numbness and the headaches also went away. However, I did notice that the caffeine headaches went away | I'm pretty happy with the pills but I am scared of weaning off due to the withdrawals of anti-depressents | F | 50 | 3 weeks 20 mg 1X D | 12/29/2011 | 5 | Depression | Total GI issues on this but I didn't mind. I took it right after I gave birth and lost all my baby weight on it. I'm back on it and losing weight again. It's a weird hungry-but-nauseous combo. Yawning, drowsy, etc. Def had to take it at night. Made my pupils dilate and my eyes got wide as saucers, got super sensitive to light. Side effects lasted a week or two for me then I felt better than I had in years. | Was on 10mg x day a few years ago for post-partum depression. Back on it again at 20mg x day for depression/anxiety. Side effects early on may drive you crazy but it's totally worth sticking to, because it gets WAY better. | F | 27 | 20 1X D | 12/14/2011 | 1 | ibs | lips swelled up peeled and cracked. could not stop "dancing" | BE CAREFUL its nasty | F | 51 | 1 days 20 1X D | 12/12/2011 | 5 | anxiety, depression | My whole body felt warm inside for the first month, and delayed orgasm but only lasted 3 mths...have gained 8 pounds have not changed eating habits or exercise but now will have to. | F | 27 | 6 months 30mg | 11/29/2011 | 4 | Depression, Anxiety & OCD | Nausea for the first 24 hours of first dose and none after that. Sweatiness and would easily overheat for the first month. Hiccups for the first week. Yawning during the first 2 weeks. Worsened anxiety in the mornings for the first month. After the first month, the only side effects that stayed were jaw clenching (Bruxism - worst in evenings/early mornings), dilated pupils (highly sensitive to bright lights), and delayed orgasm. | Celexa did help me feel happier. My OCD calmed down quite a bit. I still had mild anxiety but that's a lot better than the severe anxiety I had before I started Celexa. I don't know if the drug had anything to do with this, but I used to dress like a frump but now I am a fashionista and get compliments almost every day! :o) I used to just pull my hair back in a ponytail every single day but now I have motivation to actually do my hair everyday. I guess when you're feeling happier, you have motivation to do more things! | F | 25 | 5 months 20mg 1X D | 11/21/2011 |