[Melmo]

Have you taken it before? Good? Bad?

[belledisastre]

Not Celexa, but I've taken Lexapro, which is very similar. Really, it had no effect for me, good or bad. It was like not being on meds at all. But that was back before they knew I had Bipolar; they were treating me for unipolar depression, and that wasn't my problem. I needed a mood stabilizer, not an antidepressant.
Celexa is an antidepressant, and antidepressants are rarely prescribed alone for Bipolar Disorder. Coupled with a mood stabilizer, it may work. Maybe if they tried Lexapro and Lithium for me (like they're trying Pristiq/Lithium), it would have worked, but I was long off of Lexapro by the time I was diagnosed with Bipolar.
While Lexapro didn't work for me, Celexa may be your miracle pill. Like I said, antidepressants are hardly diagnosed alone for Bipolar, but it all depends on your situation and you should listen to your doctor's advice. It may work very well for you. I'm pretty sure it's just my body chemistry (and the fact that I was being treated for unipolar depression) that is the reason Lexapro didn't work for me, as it didn't work for my sister either, and for obvious reasons our genetic makeup is similar.
I wish you the best of luck! If your doctor thinks Celexa is the best for you, definitely give it a shot. Just be aware that antidepressants prescribed alone for Bipolar Disorder may spark hypomania or mania. Be aware of your mood and report any signs.

[Moose72]

Celexa makes me very hypomanic

[Melmo]

Originally Posted by belledisastre

Not Celexa, but I've taken Lexapro, which is very similar. Really, it had no effect for me, good or bad. It was like not being on meds at all. But that was back before they knew I had Bipolar; they were treating me for unipolar depression, and that wasn't my problem. I needed a mood stabilizer, not an antidepressant.
Celexa is an antidepressant, and antidepressants are rarely prescribed alone for Bipolar Disorder. Coupled with a mood stabilizer, it may work. Maybe if they tried Lexapro and Lithium for me (like they're trying Pristiq/Lithium), it would have worked, but I was long off of Lexapro by the time I was diagnosed with Bipolar.
While Lexapro didn't work for me, Celexa may be your miracle pill. Like I said, antidepressants are hardly diagnosed alone for Bipolar, but it all depends on your situation and you should listen to your doctor's advice. It may work very well for you. I'm pretty sure it's just my body chemistry (and the fact that I was being treated for unipolar depression) that is the reason Lexapro didn't work for me, as it didn't work for my sister either, and for obvious reasons our genetic makeup is similar.
I wish you the best of luck! If your doctor thinks Celexa is the best for you, definitely give it a shot. Just be aware that antidepressants prescribed alone for Bipolar Disorder may spark hypomania or mania. Be aware of your mood and report any signs.

I am already taking Lamotrigine as a mood stabilizer, so he said it shouldnt cause mania. He prescribed it when I told him that the Lamotrigine is working well for my mood, but I am still feeling a lot of anxiety at work sometimes...so the point I feel like I can't handle it and sometimes get very angry. I feel like nothing is going to work and I just need to accept that unless I get a new job I will always be unhappy. I love my dr though, he wrote a precription for a change of location lol. I work in a fast food restaurant in a mall, and there is another one of the same restaurants across the street from the mall where I know the manager and asst. manager who are both REALLY nice. He also wrote me another one in case I decide to quit, so I can bring it to unemployment so they know he reccomended I change jobs for medical reasons.

[~Christina]

Using an AD if Bipolar is always a tricky thing . Personally I can not take them as they flip me right into a mean ugly mania with in a couple days.

So no more Ad's for me ever.

I hope it works well for you .

[Victoria'smom]

Celexa made me clench my teeth all the time. I liked the effect on my mood so I stayed on it until I had difficulty opening my mouth. My husband has been on it and likes it.

[cool09]

Using an AD if Bipolar is always a tricky thing .

Absolutely. Be careful especially if you are BP. Studies show that ADs cause mania in 20% of BP patients which is why some PDOCs do not prescribe ADs for BP. Also cause agitation. ADs can act like a stimulant (especially SSRIs) and really cause severe agitation.

Celexa is an SSRI and Lexipro is very similar (molecule is like a mirror image or something). Celexa made me agitated. First dose of lexipro turned my head into a ball of fire at the grocery store and I had to get out of there pronto. Crash and burn.

[Victoria'smom]

I only take 1/2 or less dose of MDD recommended dose if I take any more it turns into craziness. My husband takes less then that.

I was on celexa for yrs and it actually helped me with my anxiety. I was also on a low dose of seroquel at the time for sleep so maybe that's why I didn't get the agitation some ppl have described. Who knows everybody is different so u just never know until u try it.

Good luck.

[BipolaRNurse]

I've been on Celexa for about 15 months, which has worked a lot better with the mood stabilizer and the AP than it ever did alone---big surprise there, right? The only drawback is that I can't take any more than 10 mg....ever. My pdoc won't allow me to increase it even when I'm depressed because 20 mg flips me right over into mania, no matter what other meds are opposing it.

He doesn't even like prescribing it for me because of the risk, but after he tried taking me off it last summer I went into a horrible, angry tailspin of a withdrawal. We do not want to go there again, so we don't discuss that anymore.

[cocoabeans]

I was on Celexa with lamictal for awhile. For anxiety I could see it working really well! It basically turned my brain off. I didn't have any anxiety or even thoughts about anything really. My mind was a simple empty hum. I remember complaining a lot because I knew I wanted to think about things but, I couldn't think at all. I would just sit and stare and not the kind of sitting and staring you do when you're so depressed you can't be bothered to do anything but, I had nothing in me.

It's the only time in my life I can say I understood what emptiness feels like. Physically I was alive but, I wasn't living. I was blank. I never had anything to say and normally, I have an opinion about everything!

As usual with antidepressants, and the desperation that drives one to try them, I lost insight into how it was effecting me and my husband had to ask me to stop it. He said it basically turned my personality off. My doctor didn't have a clue about this because he just listened to my self reports and was impressed I wasn't complaining of anxiety (really I was complaining I didn't even have healthy anxiety) and kept increasing my Lamictal because I was still depressed.

I've learned with any new drug it's important to listen to what your friends and family is telling you about how you're reacting and probably more so than doctors.

I also learned after Celexa being my third SSRI that I'm not willing to try another drug of it's class and likely won't even touch an SNRI either.

See we r all different bc ssri's have worked for me but not the other ones like effexor, I think they are snri's,

That class makes me anxious. Idk I absolutely HATE my deep, dark depressions. I mean despise. I'm not willing, at this time, to give up my ad.

[Melmo]

Originally Posted by cocoabeans

I was on Celexa with lamictal for awhile. For anxiety I could see it working really well! It basically turned my brain off. I didn't have any anxiety or even thoughts about anything really. My mind was a simple empty hum. I remember complaining a lot because I knew I wanted to think about things but, I couldn't think at all. I would just sit and stare and not the kind of sitting and staring you do when you're so depressed you can't be bothered to do anything but, I had nothing in me.

It's the only time in my life I can say I understood what emptiness feels like. Physically I was alive but, I wasn't living. I was blank. I never had anything to say and normally, I have an opinion about everything!

As usual with antidepressants, and the desperation that drives one to try them, I lost insight into how it was effecting me and my husband had to ask me to stop it. He said it basically turned my personality off. My doctor didn't have a clue about this because he just listened to my self reports and was impressed I wasn't complaining of anxiety (really I was complaining I didn't even have healthy anxiety) and kept increasing my Lamictal because I was still depressed.

I've learned with any new drug it's important to listen to what your friends and family is telling you about how you're reacting and probably more so than doctors.

I also learned after Celexa being my third SSRI that I'm not willing to try another drug of it's class and likely won't even touch an SNRI either.

That sounds actually really scary. On the other hand...in some situations where I have anxiety, that sounds perfect lol so I dunno, I'm gonna fill the prescription today and see how it goes.

[Moose72]

I've twice been prescribed anti-depressants while diagnosed bipolar. The second time was about a year ago. I was at a year ago. I was out at a restaurant with a friend I began beating my fingers against the table; then, the fork and knife. I couldn't stop. After several minutes of this, my friend suggested I call my doctor. Instead, I called my friend who researches brain drugs- he's a behavioral pharmacologist. He suggested that my Celexa had made me hypomanic. But the whole time he was laughing at my rate of speech and my quick wit. I admit it was a very fun conversation.
The second time- first really-, I wasn't yet diagnosed bipolar but again was out on celexa. I had driven myself to Wendy's but when I got there I had no idea how I got there. In fact, I had no idea what they did there. I could read the menu but the words made no sense at all. I looked down one hallway them back again and had zero idea where I was or how I got there or what those words meant. I called my psych dr. - different than the one I have now- and she said, "You shouldn't have been driving!"

Some people are bipolar and get along with antidepressants. I don't. When I'm depressed, they up my anti-psychotic, Zyprexa.

[cocoabeans]

Originally Posted by JustWantToBeNormal

That sounds actually really scary. On the other hand...in some situations where I have anxiety, that sounds perfect lol so I dunno, I'm gonna fill the prescription today and see how it goes.

It was not scary for me at all because I was pretty much apathetic. Even with my experiences and refusal to take meds now, I'd say they're worth a try as long as you have someone in your life who is not your doctor that you can trust to tell you that you're reacting poorly and it's time to insist on a change or go off it.

[Melmo]

So I took my first dose Thursday at around 1pm. This morning I took another one before I went to work. The first thing I noticed, was a decrease in appetite. I didn't think I would feel anything from the Celexa yet, after less than 24 hours. I didn't finish my breakfast, and didn't feel hungry again at all until almost lunch time. I had lunch at 11am (on break at work) then wasn't hungry again until 5:30 when I had ice cream. (I have food allergies and was at the mall at that time and ice cream was one of the few things I can eat from the food court) It's 9pm and I am not hungry and won't be eating again tonight. It's crazy because I am a binge eater, and I have no desire at all to binge, or even eat at all. I feel like if I took a bite of something I would normally love, it would feel tasteless in my mouth and I wouldn't be able to swallow it. Does that make sense?
I got off work, and took the bus to pick up my daughter at daycare. We went home and soon after, my dad picked her up for the night. I went back to the mall with my sister to pick up some groceries. When we came home, I just felt like going for a walk. I walked the 15 mins to to dollar store nearby and just browsed for half an hour. Then I walked for another 45 mins. I felt extremely calm I guess you could say. I did feel a little bit anxious at the stop lights, because I always feel like everyone is staring at me but I made myself take deep breaths and I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.
It's wierd, I just felt like walking...with really no destination planned....just walking. Now I am at home and still feel calm...almost like I didn't know what to do. I almost feel like I could just sit and stare at the ceiling like I used to do when I was feeling really depressed...except when I am depressed I cry and stuff my face. I just feel kind of blank.
I read that loss of appetite is pretty common on Celexa...I'm hoping it continues, because I like not stuffing myself until I feel sick, and not thinking about food all the time.

[Melmo]

I'm very happy with the fact that I've gone through another day without the urge to binge on junk, even my cravings for having a reasonable amount were manageable. I went to do a little grocery shopping and didn't pick up any ice cream or Easter candy which has been my weakness. Not sure if its the celexa or because I have stopped dieting/counting calories and only eating when I am hungry, aswell as not restricting certain foods. Hoping it continues because I feel good.