CELEXA Reviews (CITALOPRAM HYDROBROMIDE)Average Rating: 3.2 (1099 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare CELEXA with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
|
Results are sorted by Age oldest to youngest. 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 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 |
More on CELEXA: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR CELEXA | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 3 | Anxiety and depression | Weight gain, night sweats, jaw clenching, menstrual irregularity, acne; during first month insomnia and yawning | I am concerned about the weight gain, and am thinking of titrating down from 40 mg to a "maintenance" dose of 20 mg. | F | 46 | 8 months | 5/4/2007 | 2 | depression/anxiety/SAD/PTSD | restlessness, hyperactivity, insomnia, irritability | I became manic on this medication. If it weren't for Ambien and Lorazepam, I would have stayed up all night every night cleaning the kitchen sink with a toothbrush. After 4 months, I had the familiar 'flat' feeling that I've had with other anti-depressants (Paxil, Prozac) that makes me feel so hopeless; so I decided to discontue. I was recently diagnosed with a mood disorder and I meet the criteria for bipolar 2, which studies are showing that anti-depressants do not help and usually make the patient feel worse instead of better. | F | 46 | 4 months | 9/30/2007 | 2 | Dysthymia | Wellbutrin XL stopped working after 6 years. Celexa was the first antidepressant my doctor had me try. On a dose of 20 mg daily, I suffered dizziness to the point of falling down at least once a week, usually on steps or stairs as if losing my balance, worsening fatigue, sleepiness, grogginess, 'brain fog', headaches, even a few minor motor vehicle mishaps (scraped my car along a wall in my workplace parking garage--TWICE). Celexa also made me quite alcohol-intolerant; one cocktail made me very loopy, headachy and nauseated. | My dysthymia manifests as apathy, cynicism, lack of motivation, head-to-toe body, joint and muscle aches, dyspepsia/IBS, overeating, fatigue, 'brain fog', insomnia, and a generally unsociable, 'bah humbug/grumpy old hag' attitude. Celexa 20 mg made my body feel FABULOUS--all my ol' lady aches and pains magically disappeared, I swear I felt 28 again--it made my IBS diarrhea vanish, and I slept a little better, but it did nothing for my mood, attitude, outlook, energy level or motivation. I had headaches every day and plodded around in a fuzzy zombie-like brain fog for 4 weeks, hoping the side effects would fade and the depression lift--but alas. I stopped taking it cold turkey with no problems, but I also immediately started taking Cymbalta and I've remained on Wellbutrin, both of which may have minimized any withdrawal symptoms. | F | 46 | 4 weeks | 1/16/2009 | 2 | insomnia, anxiety | Dry mouth, dry nose, muscle spasms/twitches, nightmares (much more terrifying than an average nightmare might be), loss of libido, agitation, slight weight gain. | This was supposed to ease daytime anxiety and help with sleep at night. It was given to me to try after Prozac killed my libido. (I otherwise had no side effects). Celexa not only did that also, but it gave me a whole bunch of other symptons I don't need and that Prozac did not give me. Since everyone's body is different, I rated it a 2 rather than a 1. | F | 46 | 2 months | 3/29/2008 | 1 | Depression, Anxiety, Psychosis NOS | Intense pressure in the top of my head. Suicidal thoughts. Very down mood. Extremely increased sex drive the month after I went off of it, this part could be useful... | I took Celexa for about 6 months and got hauled into the County Mental Hospital for calling a Policeman to complain about harassment from my landlord. I admitted that I was so distraught over the housing situation I was having suicidal thoughts so he handcuffed me and dumped me off at the booby hatch. A remarkably horrifying experience. I was also taking 1 mg. Lorazepam to sleep. The hospital forced me to take Geodon. I took the one pill in order to be released and that made my head jerk a couple of times. A year later, went to a psychiatrist who prescribed Lexapro. After a month on Lexapro she added an anti-psychotic and after a week I almost really did kill myself. I also became very clumsy and my leg was kicking involuntarily. I couldn't sleep and my eyesight went bad. She said I was on a subclinical dose so was hallucinating the symptons. Stopped everything and a week later my therapist said I was glowing, the treatment was really working! When I told her I went off of everything s | F | 46 | 7 days | 10/18/2005 | 1 | Depression, Anxiety, Psychosis NOS | Intense pressure in the top of my head. Suicidal thoughts. Very down mood. Extremely increased sex drive the month after I went off of it, this part could be useful... | I took Celexa for about 6 months and got hauled into the County Mental Hospital for calling a Policeman to complain about harassment from my landlord. I admitted that I was so distraught over the housing situation I was having suicidal thoughts so he handcuffed me and dumped me off at the booby hatch. A remarkably horrifying experience. I was also taking 1 mg. Lorazepam to sleep. The hospital forced me to take Geodon. I took the one pill in order to be released and that made my head jerk a couple of times. A year later, went to a psychiatrist who prescribed Lexapro. After a month on Lexapro she added an anti-psychotic and after a week I almost really did kill myself. I also became very clumsy and my leg was kicking involuntarily. I couldn't sleep and my eyesight went bad. She said I was on a subclinical dose so was hallucinating the symptons. Stopped everything and a week later my therapist said I was glowing, the treatment was really working! When I told her I went off of everything s | F | 46 | 7 days | 10/18/2005 | 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 day | 4/8/2013 | 5 | anxiety/depression | None | took celexa years ago and at 5mg worked wonderfully, made a stupid mistake of taking myself off and now have tried many SSRI, including celexa again, and can't find the right med. I felt so wonderful, I didn't think it was doing anything and now I can't get myself balanced again. Don't come off unless under supervision. | F | 45 | 2 years | 9/16/2005 | 5 | Panic/Anxiety | None | I began taking 20mg approx. five years ago when I was unable to leave my home due to panic attacks. After three-four days I realized that I was doing good. I could actually go to the store ALONE! After a few months doctor increased the dose to 40mg per day. I felt wonderful, like I did when I was a teenager. I knew no fear of anything. Just enjoyed life as God intended. When I think of all the years that I suffered with panic attacks it makes me sick. All the school functions I missed for my children, my husbands needs for me to be a "normal" wife and tend to the "normal" duties of a wife like simply going to the store without him holding my hand! I lost a wonderful job as a Human Resources Director due to this illness too. But Celexa is a miracle for me. No side effects for me. I have been without it at times due to lack of insurance and I had nothing occur. Everyone's system is different from looking at this site and affects people differently. But f | F | 45 | 5 years | 4/25/2007 | 5 | depression; no interest in fun | None. Past experience w/ Zoloft made me nervous about trying another SSRI, but this one has been great. | I tapered on over several days; I'm on 20 mg. I may have had a bit of the yawning thing early on, but other than that, it's worked great for me. My life is still really stressful right now due to several family issues; before starting Celexa, it was rare for me to smile, and if I started crying it was really hard to stop. I had NO desire for sex, and not even for fun leisure activities. Now I smile and laugh. I still have times that I cry, but it doesn't last so long and I don't feel so hopeless. And I'm interested in having fun again. I'd recommend it; just taper on and try the lowest dose that helps. | F | 45 | 5 months | 10/15/2009 | 5 | Obsessive thoughts, Anxiety | light headness, nausea, headache, | This drug is very effective once it kicks in. It took me six weeks before I could see a benefit. Now after 3 months it has peaked and I feel much better. | M | 45 | 90 days | 7/29/2009 | 5 | Anxiety and Depression | None | This drug has saved me for the first time with my anxiety after so many years. | F | 45 | 5 months 30mg 1X day | 3/7/2016 | 4 | insomnia, hypervigilance, irritable | more relaxed, sleeping better, still awake at 3 a.m., diarrhea, foggy/tired during day, delayed orgasm | WEEK ONE: I'm taking 20 mg | F | 45 | 7 days | 4/15/2008 | 4 | Depression | Sleepiness, being half-erect most of the time, difficulty ejaculating, (these are not BAD side-effects :-)), someweight loss, sour stomache | Decreased my appetite and ability to eat large portions, feel full quickly and sour stomache if I eat too much. Example, can't really finish a Whopper anymore (and I won a whopper eating contest in my youth) | M | 45 | 35 days | 6/14/2005 | 4 | depression, OCD | Unlike most people, it puts me to sleep rather than wires me up. Took a while to figure that out, since I was, after all, depressed. Cotton mouth wore off after a few months. Contrary to what the MD's swore, it does seem to be addictive, and if I forget a night I have godawful shrieking nightmares. | I've been on a string of different anti-depressents since I was 29. This one has the least side-effects so far. I got a little bit of relief from the OCD for the first couple months but unfortunately that didn't last and it's back to picking pills off of blankets again. It does work for my depression well enough. | M | 45 | 3 years | 5/8/2006 | 4 | Severe anxiety, bad insomnia | Manic mornings after taking pill that settled down by noon. Weird electrical "zaps" in my head, light-headed feeling, gained 10-15lbs no matter how little I ate, feeling of invincibility. | My anxiety started gradually but eventually I got to the point where I couldn't handle work or social functions with more than a couple people. I had been on Zoloft 10 years before for depression but this wasn't depression so it took me a while to realize what was happening. I also had been suffering with insomnia for almost 4 years sleeping barely four hours a night. I was a wreck. My doctor prescribed Celexa/Citalopram and almost immediately my insomnia ended and so did my anxiety. I was a new person and everyone around me noticed. This drug saved me. But it also caused annoying weight gain that I could not control and certainly I couldn't drink alcohol like I used to. You simply cannot drink booze in any quantity without getting really messed up. I cut back but wouldn't quit entirely. Besides euphoric, manic mornings after taking the pill, I began to feel invincible and nearly screwed up my entire life. I was reckless to the point of endangerment and I nearly ended a very good relationship. Sexual function actually increased which encouraged the desire to stray. I ended up having to quit because even though I was right, I should have demurred to nasty upper management who didn't like my new attitude. I ended up weening myself off of it and had serious depression the following week but felt "normal" again after that. Now, 8 months later, I'm depressed as hell how my life has changed and need to figure out how to stop my suicidal thoughts. I'm sick | M | 45 | 2.5 years 20mg 1X day | 6/5/2010 | 3 | Anxiety, PTSD, mild depression | I've only taken this mediction for 2 days. I've felt a bit glazed. I'm on 20 mg currently and am supposed to go to 40 mg within a week. This is the first ssri I've taken. I've been sleepy, nauseus and my hands shake a bit. I hope these side effects pass soon. I know it's probably too soon to comment on the side effects-- hopefully things will improve over the next week or so. | M | 45 | 2 days | 1/7/2007 | 3 | Major Depression | Agigtation, Occasional loss of control (anger), Loss of apetite, Sexual dysfunction | Initial dosage 20/mg day not effective for depression. At 30mg/day has helped depression, but agitation/anger is nearly outweighing the benefits. Going to try a while longer. | M | 45 | 5 months | 9/28/2005 | 3 | depression & anxiety | I had terrible nausea the first two days, almost felt like vomiting. Still feel a bit jittery, but mood seems to be stabilizing to some degree. I've only been taking 10 mg/day for five days now, so I still need to wait and see how it works. | M | 45 | 5 days | 4/22/2002 | 2 | Depression | Brain fog; abdominal bloating and severe pelvic pain! | My daily dose of Celexa was 5mg. Celexa did elevate my mood; and I handled life situations in a more positive manner. In return, people responded to me more positively. However, the abdominal bloating and pelvic pain were severely problematic and I had to discontinue the drug. | F | 45 | 8 months | 9/19/2005 |