Anybody taken Celexa?

I've been prescribed 20 mg of Celexa daily. Anybody have experience with this medication?

Yes, I'm currently taking Celexa (Citalopram). Unfortunately, I'm taking it alongside other meds and so cannot reliably separate out its effects on their own. 20 mg daily seems to me a minimal initial/trial dose. Once you and your doctor have a sense for how you're doing with that initial dose, you might increase the dosage, add another drug, or switch medications.

Here's PsychCentral's Celexa Page.

Best wishes for good results!

Hi

I took it years ago. Prob 10. I don't remember it all, as my memory is spotty at best at times, but there aren't any bad memories that come to mind when I think of Celexa. I also had a friend taking it at the same time and she loved it. Seems like it has less side effects than some of them in this class.

Huggs

Jen

i took celexa for about 6 months and had problems sleeping. it seemed to make me aggitated - no matter how tired i was. also when i did sleep it was for very short periods and then i would literally jump awake. also, i was so thirsty all the time - it seemed nothing would help.

I am on 40 mg of the generic form of Celexa, Citalopram.
It seems to be working pretty god for me.

This drug obviously affects different people differently. For me, it had no good effects and also no bad effects. It was like taking a sugar pill.

But that was just me.

Hi,

I just started on this Sept. 17th. I do not take anything else with it.

I take it for moderate to severe depression. 20mg x2/day.
In the past for SAD I would take Zoloft or Prozac= sugar pill, could not even notice.

I was hesitant to take Celexa because I thought it would be the same way but it wasn't.

It has worked extremely well for me.
Sure, I have days and triggers but it has relieved the "pressure" of the anxiety and depression to where I actually feel better.

Some side effects have been a bit of virtigo and sweating at times. I have had mild aggitation.

I really like it. None are perfect but at least this works for me.

Keep in mind, they all work differently for different people. That is the strange thing about these meds so your doctor needs to know.
Maybe write progress daily. Then you can have something to show him/her, as well as yourself.

i used to take celexa. for the first year and a half. i went from 20-100mg a day. and then it plateaued and wasn't doing any good just bad. mostly i found my sex drive was inhibited and i was quite irritable and tired.
i'm now on effexor 150mg once a day. i switched because of the plateau and the low sex drive. plus my grandma is on effexor and seeing as my depression is genetic we thought(my doctor and i) that a med that hit 2 out of 3 happy hormones might be best for me as well.

so far so good. other than lately i been quite down. could be due to change of season?? thoughts?

Hi Guitarman,
I took it for 7 years. I took it with two other meds and it was very successful. The main side affect when I was taking Celexa by itself, was tiredness - for me. I just came off of it with the help of my doctor. One word of advice, this medication has withdrawal side affects for many people. Of course everyone is different. However, if you decide to take it make sure that you talk to your doctor about the potential withdrawal effects and be careful not to miss a day. Even accidentally skipping two days was enough for me to start to experiencing the withdrawal sypmtoms. Coming off of the medicine was a three month withdrawal process for me. The major symptoms of withdrawal were flu-like sypmtoms - nausea, fever etc. I would suggest talking to you doctor and make sure that you don't go off of it without consulting your doctor. Also Celexa is an SSRI and there are several SSRI's so if one doesn't work for you your doctor may be able to recommend another one. Let me know if you have other questions about it.
Best wishes

Thanks for this information..........Being new to it myself, this is something very good to know.

I have been taking citalopram 2 weeks now, I don't take anything esle. So far it seems to be helping with anxiety, I hadn't noticed any effect really but then today I went shopping and I didn't panic,the whole time. Hope it brings you some relief too

i've been taking celexa (citaloproam) for about 4 months now.... i take a 40 and 20 mg tablet everyday... for me it sometimes works and sometimes doesn't cause i'm DID everything i take is like that... so i'm not a good judge
alex

I took it for three months. It did not agree with me. I got a spacey sort of feeling and went off of it. Good Luck. phoenix47baby

As others have noted, all of these ssri's seem to affect people in very individual ways. It can be quite a process to find one that works for you. That said, I was prescribed celexa about 4 years ago. I was on it for several months. It seemed to help at first but then I noticed that it was really just killing off all of my emotions, leaving a vague anxiety as the only thing I could feel. I asked to be taken off of it, but that did not happen until I ended up in hospital for a few days at which point I stopped taking it without permission. That got me labelled 'noncompliant' which was not helpful. A few months later I consented to try another antidepressant. It took 2 trys to find one that works for me and I have been on the same one now for 3 years.
So my suggestions would be to keep taking the celexa until it has had a chance to work, which takes a couple of months sometimes. Then decide if there are side effects that outweigh the benefits. And try something else if you need to. Oh, and yes...do come off it under supervision (ie don't do what I did!). All ssri's as far as I know have withdrawal effects. They are not necessarily life-threatening, but can be very psychologically disturbing. Hopefully you have a doctor who understands the trial and error involved with these medications.

I have taken it for almost three years now and it has literally been a life safer for me... best when taken at night, as not to make you sleepy during the day.

I take 20 mg a day - then 20 mg 2x a day during my period.