Citalopram turning me into an alcoholic.

I started taking 20mg this medication about 7 months ago. I've always been a bit of a binge drinker but have always had some control, I'd normally drink at weekends but keep it under wraps during the week.

Since taking Citalopram I have had constant urges to want to drink alcohol. I have been drinking between 10 to 12 bottles of beer almost every day, and what's worse is I don't feel drunk afterwards or have a hangover the following day. This drug is the holy grail for an alcoholic.

I stopped taking this drug 4 days ago and guess what? No cravings for alcohol. I know I shouldn't stop the drug going cold turkey but have no choice on the matter and so far no side effects form withdrawl. My appetite has also come back a bit and now I want to eat rather then drink.

Just thought I'd warn people out there. if you take this drug and your alcohol intake goes up it could be worth stopping the medication.

I never drank until I took citalopram. I took it for about 1 1/2 years and in that time I lost my licence and crashed my car into a pole yet still drank. I had such strong urges to drink, I even drank at work and wanted to do so all the time. I later found out that I am bpd with bi polar traits and that citalopram could of been making me manic, maybe that's why I did what I did? Since not taking it I have stopped drinking

i dont think citalopram made you drink , it may have chilled you out so you drank. Plus the hangovers are useually worse after drinking on ssri meds. there is a clue on the bottle ,dont drink with this med.

No drinking but it made me very impulsive. I had no control over myself.

Because you have 2 drugs in you system , booze and citalopam mixed togeather you become an outrages loony. Im old now but i did all the booze med thing self medicate. I had my gall bladder remove and a biletrak rupture , hiospitalisted with pancreitis thats when yo have a capita drain in your penis and 20 ltr a day fluid to wash infection,that is eating you stomach wall. kidney,s half function ect ect .i still drink the odd stella but no more vodka. APART FROM THAT IM JUMPING FOR JOY

There's many people who've said the same thing whilst being on SSRI's. Search the internet and btw not everybody who drinks has worse hangovers. I had barely any hangover whilst being on this drug and I know my own mind and body and the cravings have stopped. Also I know about not drinking whilst being on SSRI's but it made me crave more alcohol so stop with the retarded smiley as you seem to be a bit clueless.

Alcohol abuse is listed in the US as a possible symptom of taking SSRI medication. It's not mentioned in the UK.

The smiley is a wink if you look harder, havent a clue i have been on meds for 40 years i may have a little info. i have never heard a ssri med make you crave alcohol, food yes . What do you call drinking 3, 4 ,5 pints or a bottle of vodka. The first one is pretty normal if you young , The second is a problem , where do do you come.

OK what I was saying even if I did NOT drink, I could still feel an odd impulsiveness.

The smiley represents sarcasm the clue is in the smiley, move your mouse pointer over it and read. Oh yes of course, you being on meds and how you react to them means I should react exactly the same way. Your 40 years of being on meds is irrelevent to how my body reacts to them. It's a bit like someone taking prozac and saying it turned them psychotic and me dismissing is but it didn't give me the same reaction. Alcohol abuse is linked to SSRI's, it's even mentioned as a possible side effect in the US and there's many people who have said they've craved alcohol whilst being on SSRI medication and funny how since I've stopped I no longer have any interest. That's not to say everyone who takes Citalopram or any other SSRI's will have the same reaction and that's not to say I won't drink again. The difference was whilst on this medication I was drinking almost every night and needed to drink whereas I had a drink before because I enjoyed a few beers now and then

Now unless you have the ability to zoom into my body and tell me my cravings for alcohol are a fabrication, I suggest you buzz off and go troll somebody else.

I don't think it is weird some people drink on the med since drinking might be an impulse, other people might act on other impulses like self harm.

Mabye because citilopram is breaking down you barriers and you feel happy, happy means party when young. i carnt say about the none hangover only pesonally. They are bad for me that now i hardly drink , a bad hangover can tip my mental state. Where when young i would shake it off, you arent doing the amout i did just to get peace i would drink a ltr vodka staight back , no break and pass straight out . Thats what i was after a release from the monster in my head if only for 1 hour. The wreckage to my body i new would come an come it did 3 years ago ,i have half my guts now, but would i have done it different NO

I saw this thread and registered so I could pop in and discuss. Yes, I too developed serious alcohol cravings on Celexa and my (former) pdoc would not believe me, and increased my dosage- which resulted in a drug induced manic state that put me in the emergency room. I was also on Xanax as well. When I informed him later, he scoffed at me and that was when I decided to fire him.

Of course, the deterioration prior to this was slow and almost imperceptible. I became dull and uninterested in life's activities and stopped enjoying my hobbies during the decade I was on both of these drugs. The pdoc naturally attributed all of this to my "illness" and would not even consider the possibility that the drugs could have been a contributor.

I am drug free today, and furthermore I refuse to touch them. They are not for everyone. I feel far, far better today and the alcohol cravings have disappeared.

Just a caution- don't stop taking anything cold turkey.

I did not feel "happy" or high on Celexa. Like the OP said, it was a craving and a compulsion and if you google SSRI and alcohol cravings, you will find plenty of info out there.

XANAX is a massive benzo, one od the stongest, so i would lok more to that than citalopram. 2mg xanax equals 40mg valium so get that a citalopram togeather you would be well chilled an prone to any strange behaviour.you carnt blame 1 med on your reaction .

I googled the citalopram an drink , and your post came up first , seems the that most is from posters who had drink probs, they started again after takeing ssri,s an not just citalopram. The finding seem to point at a relaxed state to the point of i dont give a f*** . Of course you could have craveings the main one is food , but if takeing benzos aswell the buzz factor is there , i was that man .

Exact same feeling with me. When taking this drug I did not feel high or happy, I actually felt more down and that likely was because of the amount of alcohol I was consuming.

I quit the med cold turkey because I had enough of the cravings. It's been 8 days and so far the only side effect I can notice is insomnia. If it was to get severe I do have a couple of pills left but I have no intention of taking them unless it becomes desperate. So far no depression of anything like that. I think I may get away with going cold turkey because 20mg is quite a low dose. Of course if I was on 40mg I would never recommend this. And to think my docter was thinking of putting me up to 30mg a few months ago and the only thing that stopped that from happening was I had trouble arranging an appointment. Glad for that now.

There's many people who claimed to not even like alcohol before taking an SSRI and they had cravings. It's not just Citalopram, all the SSRI's can cause alcohol cravings. Of course that doesn't mean that everyone who takes an SSRI will have this but it can be a side-effect.

It's also mentioned on Paxil, alcohol abuse is a side effect. There's a theory that SSRI's lower blood sugar, which means it makes you crave alcohol or sugar foods like sweets. The thing is, alcohol gives a high of blood sugar but for a short amount of time and then begins to lower the blood sugar even more and that's why the cravings continue. It doesn't happen to everybody.

20 MG is the recommended dose its not low, you can an many do go higher but side effect get worse like orgasm , weight gain, constipation, even impotence , i swapped to lexapro citaloprams young brother and only take 10 mg it is a stronger med . but it ENGLAND not used so much has way to expencive .My GP scripts me has mental hospital say it carnt afford it.