CELEXA Reviews (CITALOPRAM HYDROBROMIDE)Average Rating: 3.2 (1105 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare CELEXA with similar:
Type: Rx Drug
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Results are sorted by Date 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 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 56 |
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR CELEXA | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | depression | Euphoria. Lack of concern about consequences of actions. A feeling that nothing that could happen would make me feel bad or sad. Friendliness. | I went off Celexa because I realized (cognitively) that the euphoria I was feeling & acting on was not good for me, that my behavior had become a problem. I did not consult a psychiatrist or even a full-fledged medical doctor, I was going to the Indigent Clinic & out of work. I dropped the drug totally, cold-turkey. Then I started feeling spacey, strange, I had dizziness, a feeling I couldn't describe; I passed out once & fell off a ladder. Then after about 2 weeks I went into the deepest depression I've ever been in. It lasted for over 9 months. At the deepest, I was in bed about 22 hrs of every day, I wanted nothing but to sleep my life away. I would try to watch TV & I would burst into tears. I thought about dying as a release. I finally dragged myself back to the Indigent Clinic, told the resident, he put me on an antipsychotic which made me incredibly ill, I ran a high fever & had abdominal pain. I stopped taking it. He told me never to take another anti-depressant, he said I might be bipolar. After that, I never consulted the Indigent Clinic again for anything mental, or anyone else. I do not trust anyone to prescribe anything for mental problems for me. I know of no one here I would allow to prescribe for me. I have gradually gotten better. I started reading articles about mood-boosting foods & behaviors, I changed my diet gradually, got completely off of caffeine & started eating foods with Omega-3's like | F | 54 | 3 months 1X day | 6/2/2010 | 4 | anxiety and depression | Sleepiness. More anxiety first week, then that tapered off. Some of the generics gave me nausea. | This is a really great drug if you have combined anxiety and depression because it does not make you hyper. It can make you sleepy though so I take it at night before I go to bed. This makes me much less foggy in the morning. I have been taking it for 3 years and I think I will probably take much longer because I couldn't function without it. | F | 55 | 3 years 20 mg 1X day | 5/28/2010 | 1 | Anxiety | Severe agitation, tremors, weight gain, odd electrical sensations, sexual dysfunction(I have been off this drug for two years and this has not resolved) | I would advise you to use this drug only as a last resort (like only if your suicidal). Please talk to your doctor about other forms of treatment. Psychiatric medications can have serious lasting side effects. | M | 21 | 7 months 20 1X day | 5/28/2010 | 1 | Anxiety | every single one imaginable and then some, and made my panic attacks more frequent and WAY worse. I've stopped this HORRIFIC medication about a month ago and have been living a hell on Earth. Barely able to work, headaches, SEVERE skeletal and muscle pain, horrific vivid dreams. For the whole 2 weeks of feeling decent on the medication, this withdrawal which seemingly is NEVER going to end is NOT worth it. If I could sue the makers of this drug I WOULD. I HATE this drug, and would never recommend it to anyone. | Worst medicine on the market. | F | 34 | 3 months 20 1X day | 5/23/2010 | 4 | Major depression, anxiety | First months - like a zombie. But was better than the depression. It took awhile, (i can't remember how long) but I eventually balanced out: I felt like how I should feel, like a happy, healthy human being again. Side effects that persist throughout the years: excessive sweating, clenching teeth. But these are nothing compared to my crippling depression. It is very important that people keep in mind that these drugs are not cures for depression; they just help you manage it. The real work for me that has helped equally, or even more than the drugs, is therapy. Presently, the Celexa is tapering off in its effectiveness in helping me. So, I'm augmenting with a thyroid drug. | No sexual side effects. Not a cure, I still struggle with depression and have to work really hard to be okay. Celexa has helped immeasurably, and I credit my doctor for saving my life ten years ago! I switched a few years ago from the brand name to the generic and noticed no difference. I did develop a mild allergy to ibuprofen but that could have also been just aging; further, I get menstrual migraines and cannot take a migraine medication b/c of the Celexa. So, I do tend to suffer once a month with very bad headaches - again, this is nowhere near as bad as my depression. My best lesson in treating depression: keep talking to your doctor, take your medication as prescribed, and always see a therapist. Best of luck to you all. | F | 33 | 10 years 60 mg 1X day | 5/17/2010 | 4 | slight depression, agitation | I was prescribed 20mgs. The first day of 20mgs I was completely knocked out. I couldn't move off of the couch, not sleepy just unmotivated. Like someone pulled the plug on me. I also was yawning alot and clenching my teeth. I cut the next dose down to 10mgs and it has helped tremendously! | Since I am only 100lbs I thought 20mgs may have been too much for me so I cut it down to 10mgs, since I've done that I've seen great improvement in my mood. I am much more relaxed, not overreacting to minor things. I am a mom of a 3 yr old and work full time, I was beginning to feel overwhelmed by every task. Since taking Celexa I feel motivated, focused and not as uptight as I had become. I hope it keeps working because people close to me notice I am more relaxed as well, I feel alot better on this! | F | 34 | 2 weeks 10mg 1X day | 5/8/2010 | 3 | anxiety | Memory loss, sexual dysfunction, sleepiness, trouble concentrating. | F | 30 | 6 months 20mg 1X day | 5/8/2010 | 4 | Depression Anxiety | The first 2 weeks were pretty brutal, feeling as though I was in a constant dream-like state with periods of intense anxiety. These feelings gradually tapered down by weeks 5 or 6. | Dosage was 20mg for 1 month, 30 for next two weeks, then up to 40. Started to feel positive effects around week 4, and probably full effect by week 7. I don't worry as much now, although I still have Xanax for breakthrough anxiety. I have had to use less and less Xanax though, which is great. | M | 33 | 2 months 20--->40 1X day | 4/26/2010 | 4 | anxiety/depression | Forgetful. yawning at first, weight loss, decreased sex drive. | This drug has helped me so much. My anxiety was becoming unbearable and I could hardly function at times. The most noticeable side effect is my forgetfulness. I forget things easily and feel a little bit spaced out at times. When I first started taking the drug I almost felt like I was high, but that decreased a bit with time. My sex drive is lower, but it hasn't disappeared and also got better with time. I used to have problems with dealing with the idea of my own death and felt scared that I could die at any moment. With this drug I've been able to sort through my fears and finally deal with those feelings. My life has greatly improved because of this drug and I can function normally. | F | 24 | 3 years 20 mg 1X day | 4/22/2010 | 2 | Major depression | Severe rapid weight gain, increased menstrual cramps | I'm not sure what brand, but my bottle says Citalopram HBR. I took it to treat uncontrollable sobbing fits, inconsistent sleeping patterns, and a loss of love for life. I would say that my doctor diagnosed me incorrectly, because it did not allieviate my symptoms. It did bring back my bubbly personality, but the crying and uneven sleep were still there. As far as the side-effects, let me first point out that I had no idea these could have been from the citalopram until I got off it and they went away. I noticed the same month I started taking it that my usually non-existent menstrual cramps were almost unbearable. Pain pills did not work and I would ask people to sit on my abdomen to try to dispell the pressure. I gained about 70 lbs in the six months I was on it. That's 11.5 lbs a month! Once I got off the pill, I stopped gaining weight, and after 2 months of being off I lost 8 lbs. I just started taking an NRI instead, and the crying has blessedly stopped. | F | 24 | 6 months 40 mg 1X day | 4/12/2010 | 5 | major depression | this drug saved my life, it took about 4 weeks to kick in, harder to cum, makes me alittle sleepy during day but not enough to affect my job, | this drug really, really helped my depression, thoughts about death and mortally were in my mind constantly throughout the day month after month, I finally went to my family doctor and told him I wanted to try a anti=depressant and this stuff really helped big time | M | 39 | 9 months 20mg 1X day | 4/5/2010 | 5 | depression, anxiety | I love it! This is the best antidepressant. I am so much more relaxed on this medication. I am not paranoid and my anxiety is under good control. | F | 33 | 1 years 20 mg 1X day | 3/30/2010 | 4 | Anxiety, panic attacks | At first, I was VERY sleepy. I was yawning all the time, and it was a real problem. So, I started taking it at night, and that helped a lot. You might want to try that if you're excessively sleepy. I also initially had trouble with "word recall." I couldn't remember the names of things, and it made me feel stupid. The therapist said this was normal. That eventually went away after about 4 months. The only lasting side effects are the lack of sexual drive and very vivid dreams. I just don't crave sex very much at all. My husband doesn't either since he's on Prozac. We can laugh about it, so I guess that's a good thing. The vivid dreams are kinda fun, so that doesn't bother me. LOL! | Overall, I'm pretty pleased with this med. It has worked MUCH better for me than Cymbalta. My anxiety has decreased quite a bit, but I don't feel numb. I think my emotions are more in line with reality... I don't get as worked up over nothing. | M | 34 | 7 months 20 mg 1X day | 3/29/2010 | 4 | anxiety/night terrors | I can't cry. Sleepy, yawning a lot. | Really helped with anger issues. I do not get mad about anything really anymore. Even when I feel like I want to cry, I just can't. The tears wont come to my eyes. It's really weird. | F | 30 | 3 months 60mg 1X day | 3/22/2010 | 4 | Anxiety and Rage | Weight gain, grinding teeth, thirsty, vivid dreams on a fairly regular basis, memory and organizational skills seem to have flown the coop though. Still, that's preferable to wanting to smash my head into a wall 24/7, or to smash someone else's head into a wall. My hubby use to let me use his palms to hit my fist into so I could release some of the pent up anxiety. | I don't like the weight gain, but this drug has saved my life, at least for now. I started experiencing rage and severe anxiety while going through menopause and getting sarcoidosis at the same time. I don't know where I would be today without it; probably a mental institution, so yes, I'll take the weight gain over that. My doctor did subscribe 5mg per night of cyclobenzaprine to help with the teeth grinding that kept me awake at night. The combo works great most nights. Once in awhile I have insomnia, whereas before, I couldn't sleep at all. I do miss my organizational skills though...it doesn't work for my job, but that's the way it is. | F | 56 | 3 years 30 MG 2X day | 3/22/2010 | 5 | Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks | Tired, Zombie like feeling, need to sleep a lot, more reasonable about situations, happier | During my first few weeks of taking Celexa I experienced a variety of side effects. I felt really really happy all of the time with lots of energy and motivation to get out of bed. I no longer felt anxious, but I did feel slightly "drugged". Its been 6 months now and I am mostly happy most of the time but I am very tired and some days quite dazed.Although I feel quite motivated on the whole, because of the tiredness I feel that I care less about mess in my surroundings. I have random outbursts of warm affection to anyone and everyone (but that cant be a bad thing) This has definately improved my life a lot, I am generally really happy, and I have returned to rational thought :) | F | 20 | 6 months 30mg 1X day | 3/17/2010 | 4 | Stress, anxiety | I was AMAZED when I first took Celexa, because within an hour I said "this is the way I should have always felt!". It evened out my moods and helped me not wake up in a cold sweat from anxiety, and made me feel like a better mom and wife. I have twin boys and one has autism and the other has high functioning autism, both of which are particularly challenging on many days, and taking Celexa helped me calm down considerably when the stress levels used to feel like my blood-pressure was going through the ceiling. I am calmer and more relaxed in social situations and I don't have much social anxiety mostly on Celexa. I feel more empathy for others, and feel more loving and snuggly with my husband but my libido is decreased, orgasm is delayed tremendously and not nearly as frequent. | The few NEGATIVE things that I have noticed after being on Celexa for a few months though are that the longer I am on it, the more decreased my libido seems to be getting. I also have worse PMS symptoms (from the start really). I seem to be adjusting to the effects of the med to the point in a way that it doesn't seem to be helping as much in some aspects, such as the fact that I am grumpier a lot more than I was, and this could be in part because I am not feeling good sexually! Major bummer as I was doing great on it BUT I am about to switch to something else because of the sexual side effects mostly! | F | 40 | 3 months 20 mg 1X day | 3/17/2010 | 4 | to control my moods | i have been wondering why i dont seem to want to have sex anymore. its been this way for a while. my husband and i have been together for 3 years and are still as getty over each other as we were then. i want so bad to have that feeling again. we still have sex alot but i cant tell you the last time i have actully got off. im just doing it for him to make him happy when im not enjoying it on bit! i decised today that i was going to try and get off of it again and just see how my wellbutrin works. ummm it kinda scares me in a way, but i cant go the rest of my life not being able to reach the climax. help anyone??? | i started out on 10 mgs when i first started and have been slowly going up. after i had my last son 7 mons ago i said i need to go up and now im on 80 mgs. im only 24 this is to early for me to stop wanting it!!! | F | 24 | 3 years 80 mg 1X day | 3/15/2010 | 2 | clinical depression | relaxed but tired, hard to get out of bed, severe memory loss, no sex drive, lack of focus, no drive to do anything anymore, became incapable of being creative, got extreme anxiety in situations which had never been an issue before. | i abused many drugs & alcohol for 21 years. i have been working an a.a. program for over a year now, which has been of tremendous help to keep me sober & get self-esteem back, but after 11 months of continued off & on "darkness", i couldn't stand it anymore, & felt my only options were to use or die. i have always been against anti-depressants, but my brain chemistry was obviously off. celexa definitely made the darkness disappear completely, which is incredible. however, it took away my drive to do anything. i could no longer sit thru meetings or do stepwork without extreme anxiety. writing music used to be effortless & is my passion, but now i don't know what sounds good, i don't care, & i can't hold an instrument for more than a minute. this zombie-like state celexa has created is bored depression. i've really tried to stick with it to see if it would balance out, but it seemed to slowly get worse. the last straw was forgetting within 2 hours about a funeral i was supposed to attend. i've NEVER had such severe memory loss. i stopped taking celexa 5 days ago & am trying out wellbutrin. so far my drive has returned & i have energy. i know celexa works great for some people, just not me. | F | 36 | 6 weeks 20mg 1X day | 3/14/2010 | 5 | Depression | Mild shaking/tremors initially | Celexa has helped me feel more like myself again. I now am enjoying doing things I used to enjoy: shopping, going out with family /friends, and even cleaning house! I was worried about sexual side effects, but so far have had none. I started on 20MG, but recently increased to 30MG daily, because I felt like it wasn't helping me as much as it had been in the beginning. | F | 34 | 6 months 30MG 1X day | 3/11/2010 |